Chapter 109
The princess cried.
So up until now, crying must have been enough to resolve things?
Don’t cry—take responsibility.
That was the cynical thought of someone like me, who had never once solved anything in life by crying.
Yeah.
I was sulking.
Because that princess had fired a gun at me and the cat.
“If you are royalty of a nation, then take responsibility for what you’ve done. Don’t try to solve things with tears.”
Arden said exactly what I was thinking as he stepped out of the clock tower first.
“Escort the princess.”
He said this to someone who appeared to be the princess’s secretary, who was fidgeting anxiously.
“P-Princess….”
The secretary hurried over and wrapped a cloak around the shoulders of the sobbing princess, shielding her face as much as possible while leading her away.
The capital guard standing outside looked at the princess with cold eyes.
“……”
“……”
“……”
A blade-like silence.
Unspoken condemnation.
The princess, likely feeling that for the first time in her life, flinched and trembled.
“Um, Sir Arden.”
One of the capital guards approached Arden hesitantly, even though Arden didn’t spare the princess a glance.
Looking closely, it was the gunner who had fired at me earlier.
I hadn’t noticed at the time because everything was so rushed, but thinking back, it seemed like he had deliberately aimed to miss—toward my feet.
Before the gunner could speak, Arden spoke first.
“Where are the captain and vice-captain of the capital guard?”
“They’re on their way.”
“Why aren’t they here yet?”
“They’re no longer active-duty soldiers, so… running this distance in one go like we can is a bit difficult for them.”
“When they arrive, tell them to come directly to the Crown Prince’s Palace.”
“Pardon?”
“Tell them to come to the Crown Prince’s Palace.”
“…Yes, understood.”
Arden’s presence was so cold that the gunner didn’t dare ask anything further.
“Tell them to run.”
“…Yes.”
The gunner nodded, hesitated, then spoke again.
“Um, but the Holy Maiden Sena of Magic—”
“She wasn’t there. It seems she escaped.”
“That’s a relief—ah.”
He covered his mouth, realizing he’d spoken his thoughts out loud.
As he hurriedly tried to change the subject, his gaze landed on me.
So you really did mean to miss, I see.
I’ve only just met you, but I love you.
“Huff, huff.”
Seeing me lift my front paw in friendly greeting, the gunner tilted his head.
“Where did that puppy suddenly come from?”
“He was inside the clock tower.”
“Inside the clock tower?”
“……”
Arden didn’t answer further, but the gunner must have read “abandoned dog” in his eyes.
“What kind of bastard would abandon—!”
“May his descendants suffer for generations!”
“May he get married and then be abandoned by his wife on their honeymoon!”
The other capital guards, who had been watching Arden’s reaction, joined in with their fury.
“Enough.”
Arden cut them off and looked down at me in his hand.
“…I’ll take him and scrub him clean.”
“Huh?”
You, Arden?
Me?
Wash me?
Scrub me?
No!
“Huff! Huffhuff! Huffhuffhuff!”
“Ugh.”
Arden pulled me away from his body and wrapped me tightly in a handkerchief.
“Stay still. You’re getting dirt everywhere.”
I’m not dirty!
And just like that, I was rolled up like a burrito and escorted away—
To the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Save the magical holy dog…
And then, here, I learned one shocking fact.
“I don’t even know where to begin criticizing this.”
The Crown Prince’s Palace office—
…or at least, what I assumed was an office.
I wouldn’t know. It was my first time here.
Anyway, since Arden had told the captain and vice-captain to come to the Crown Prince’s Palace, this had to be the place.
He’s probably reporting today’s events to His Highness and pushing for their punishment.
But was it okay to just barge into the palace at this hour?
With a dog, no less?
I tilted my head, preparing to bow deeply to His Highness the Crown Prince inside.
The face everyone’s been curious about—the dignity of our nation. I’ll confirm it myself.
But the Crown Prince wasn’t in the office.
Instead, Arden strode forward and casually sat on the empty desk.
“Yip!”
I screamed, shocked by his unimaginable impudence.
Arden, is your social life really going to be okay like this?!
Only then did Arden look down at me in his hand, click his tongue, and place me on the desk.
From the moment Arden entered the Crown Prince’s Palace, the aged coachman who had been following behind him asked,
“Your Highness. That puppy is…?”
Your Highness.
That puppy?
Your Highness.
That puppy?
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Your Highness…!
“Yiaaaaak…!”
“…He seems like a very sick puppy.”
“Yiaaaaaaak!”
Do I look sick right now?!
I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard.
In shock, I rolled around on the desk. Seeing me flailing with my mouth open, Arden picked up a quill from one side of the desk.
He scratched the top of my head with the tip, then pushed the quill away.
Like I was a block of tofu.
“He’s a stray I picked up outside.”
“A stray? What kind of bastard would—!”
“We’ll talk about that later.”
Frowning, Arden briefly explained the incident at the Opera Cernier.
The kidnapping of the High Priest by assailants.
Foreigners who colluded with them to set a trap to capture the Holy Maiden of Magic.
The capital guard who followed a foreigner’s orders as if they were imperial commands, the vice-captain who committed insubordination blinded by ambition, and the missing Holy Maiden…
Who wasn’t actually missing—she was right here.
“What?!”
The fake coachman gasped in disbelief.
Right?! Imagine how shocked I am!
Arden—Arden…!
“Yip!”
“…Is that puppy really okay like that?”
“That’s strange. He was fine just a moment ago.”
“Maybe it’s because he suddenly came into a warm room.”
“Hm. First, dismiss the vice-captain from his post.”
“Understood.”
The fake coachman nodded.
“That’s not just dismissal—he should be imprisoned. Putting a foreigner’s command above that of an investigator representing royalty— isn’t that treason?”
It seemed he wanted to use this opportunity to oust the guard captain and take his place, but even lining up for power has its limits… He kept scribbling in his notebook, letting out hollow laughs.
He wasn’t a coachman—he must be the Crown Prince’s aide.
Which made it even stranger.
Even stranger!
“He said there was no need to follow the orders of a mere royal knight.”
“What? Has he forgotten that His Majesty personally granted that knight his authority?!”
“Has this been reported to His Majesty?”
“Of course. An immediate report was already sent.”
Calling in the entire gun corps when there’s a bomb in Ruahr? The aide shook his head.
“They probably didn’t realize how big this would become when they started.”
“They took it too lightly.”
“With judgment that poor, he didn’t deserve the vice-captain’s seat anyway.”
“What will you do about the guard captain?”
“She also followed a foreigner’s orders, but… I heard she later stood up to the princess.”
“You can’t replace two leaders at once,” Arden said.
“For now, tell her to focus on resolving the bombing incident. We’ll decide her fate afterward.”
“Understood.”
The aide nodded, then asked,
“Ah, but what about the Holy Maiden of Magic, Sena?”
At the sudden mention of my name, I stopped rolling around and sat up.
“There were testimonies from guards who said they saw the Holy Maiden’s clothes damaged at the top of the clock tower, and her hair color changed.”
“……”
“We tried to draw a portrait, but no one saw her face clearly. Did Your Highness see her, by any chance?”
“……”
Gulp.
Without realizing it, I swallowed and looked up at Arden.
But Arden’s response was ambiguous.
“We’ll discuss that later.”
After a pause, he added, his expression unreadable,
“It was far away, and the moon emerged from behind the clouds at the time. The light could have caused a misunderstanding.”
“Understood.”
“You may leave. Once you’ve整理ed what needs to be reported to His Majesty, return.”
“Yes. Shall I bring food for the puppy?”
“And something to scrub him clean.”
“Yes.”
The aide bowed and left.
The door closed silently, leaving just Arden and me.
“……”
“……”
“Yip.”
What is this. Don’t tell me I’ve already been found out?
Is he about to interrogate me properly now that we’re alone?
Tense, I looked up at Arden.
Looking up at a human in a dog’s body is rough on the shoulders.
But Arden wasn’t paying attention to me at all.
Touching his lips absently, he murmured,
“Senior Seraphina…”
“……”
“…an exhibitionist pervert?”
“Yip!”
