Chapter 31
Clatter—
“Ughh…”
The day after responding to Austin’s call and finally receiving guests as a member of the Ather family, Eric rode in a carriage early in the morning toward the Winterrose estate, lying slumped with a deathly face in the jolting vehicle.
Next to him, Lillian, who had been suffering from motion sickness despite barely having left, lay sprawled out as well.
“Your Highness… could we possibly take a short break? I haven’t done my magic training yet today.”
Seeing her desperate plea on her worn-out face, Eric shook his head, glancing at the Winterrose family’s carriage ahead through the window.
“Bear with it for a little while. We’re all going together, and if you suddenly stop the carriage and start casting spells into thin air, what do you think they’ll think over there?”
“Well… maybe… that we’re crazy?”
He could understand the desire to faint from severe motion sickness, but there was no reason to act out when there was no particular purpose. He didn’t need to bend over backward to accommodate someone who came just to stretch their hands, nor did he need to signal them unnecessarily.
“Ugh… if that’s the case, couldn’t they at least give us a better carriage? I’ve heard the bigger it is, the less motion sickness you get.”
Lillian, knowing this as well, rubbed her queasy stomach and grumbled, but didn’t stubbornly insist on anything. No matter how bad the motion sickness, it was still bearable compared to the hellish training under Lady Leona.
“Miss Lillian, you seem to get along very well with Your Highness,” Malefica said.
“Huh?”
Some time had passed. As the exhausted Eric dozed off, bowing his head, Malefica, who had quietly been observing the two from the corner, spoke softly.
“Hehe… R-Really?”
Lillian gave an awkward smile and scratched her head in response to her question.
From the Nibosus Mountains until now, she had seen Malefica quite often, but it was still uncomfortable dealing with her.
A beautiful cleric who always kept a smile on her face, competent enough to carry the church’s orders directly and meet with the duke in private. She was kind to everyone, with a good reputation even among the flirtatious knights and the staff.
Eric, who was exhausted from daily grueling training, had few opportunities to talk to her. Above all, he seemed to view her with an unconscious sense of discomfort.
“I heard you graduated from the academy with excellent marks. If it’s not too rude, may I ask how you came to serve Your Highness?”
Breaking the awkward silence, Lillian, with a shy expression, answered with a small voice.
“W-Well, it’s nothing. I did pass the entrance exam at the top of my class, but during the semester, my grades were always at the bottom, except for written tests. After graduation, I wanted to become a combat mage, but no one would accept me, so I worked in research at the Mage Tower.”
Before meeting Eric, she had lost her dream and spent meaningless days mechanically researching the assignments given by the Mage Tower.
“Then one day, the duke’s house posted a notice seeking a personal mage for Your Highness. I thought, ‘this is it,’ and immediately applied. The Ather family is responsible for defending the northern regions of the empire, so I figured coming here would allow me to go to the battlefield too.”
Recalling the first step she took in this harsh northern territory and her first meeting with Eric, she smiled softly to herself.
“Especially since Your Highness Allen is already famous as a young hero of the Ather family on the battlefield…”
The day she had flung open the training hall door where she would serve him, she hadn’t been greeted by the heir she had expected, nor the youngest son, but by that infamous rascal—Eric. How shocked she had been!
“…Still!”
Yet, she remembered how, despite her overt disappointment and fainting, he had shown concern for her. Now, watching Eric slumped and asleep in the carriage, she glanced at him and softly said:
“Still… I like Your Highness.”
She smiled gently and muttered the embarrassing words, causing Malefica to blink, clearly surprised.
“N-No! I didn’t mean it like that!”
Lillian, peering down at Eric’s peacefully sleeping face, noticed Malefica’s gaze and quickly waved her hands in embarrassment.
“…It was the first time. The first time someone didn’t scold me for fainting after using magic just once, but instead praised its power.”
The knight and personal mage who always accompanied Eric had never reacted like that. Malefica, trying to tease Lillian for minor weaknesses, was instead baffled by her sincere praise for Eric.
Eric’s notorious reputation and the stories knights whispered about duels with the youngest prince were all true, yet what Lillian had witnessed firsthand was far removed from that image.
It was as if, in an instant, he had become a completely different person.
“I see… But I’ve heard most mages prefer research positions. Why did you choose the dangerous path of a combat mage, Miss Lillian?”
Clatter—
Eric bit his lip in contemplation for a moment, then quickly tried to shift the conversation. Just then, the carriage slowed, despite the sun not having fully set. Malefica looked out the window, curious.
Screech—
“The terrain ahead is rough. If we push through at night, there’s a risk of an accident. We’ll camp here tonight and depart at first light,” Leona explained as she opened the door and started unloading some supplies. Malefica quietly nodded.
“Yaaawn.”
Eric, awakened, got off the carriage and leaned against a nearby tree, shaking off sleep. He observed Leona and the Winterrose knights busily preparing the camp.
“…What’s with this mood? Did something happen between John and me?”
“N-No! Your Highness. Nothing happened… nothing at all.”
Seeing Lillian sneaking glances at him, Eric frowned at her reaction, then at Malefica.
‘Seems like something did happen.’
Had some conversation occurred in the carriage while he dozed off? That crafty paranoid might have tried to catch Lillian in some trap.
He looked at Malefica with mixed feelings, and when she noticed his gaze and smiled, he returned a slightly awkward smile.
‘Might need to give her a little warning. She hasn’t caught me in any real mistakes yet, but you never know when someone might.’
Just then—
“Your Highness.”
Eric stood as Malefica approached, letting out a low sigh.
“…What is it, Cleric?”
“Oh, come now. Why so formal? You agreed to just call me Malefica. Have you forgotten, or are you keeping your distance intentionally?”
Sitting beside him with a teasing smile, Eric didn’t hide his discomfort and narrowed his eyes.
“Hehe, just kidding, just kidding.”
What was this paranoid woman even suspecting? Had she caught something in the conversation with Lillian? Eric watched her carefully, then relaxed when she leaned back with a smile.
“By the way, you seem close to both Lady Leona and Miss Lillian. Have you known each other long?”
Afterwards, Malefica turned slightly to face him, staring at the large fire set up for the cold night as she spoke.
“Not that long. I met them after I decided to seriously learn the sword.”
Eric, observing them finishing the camp preparations, replied calmly:
“How long have you been with those two?”
It was obvious from just overhearing stories at the estate that she wasn’t asking out of ignorance.
‘Looks like she didn’t get much from them.’
It seemed she wanted to guide the conversation to get some information.
“Oh? Really? Despite that, they seem to trust you beyond a simple employer relationship. Any secrets to that?”
Malefica’s cheerful smile prompted Eric to respond confidently rather than say what she expected.
“If you’re really curious, would you like to see for yourself?”
“…Huh?”
Surprised by the bold suggestion, Malefica blinked. Eric smiled meaningfully.
No matter how suspicious she was, Malefica, being someone constantly paranoid due to her incompetence at the church, would continue to suspect him. Better to let her check in a controlled manner.
“During this expedition, you can see for yourself.”
If she couldn’t understand this, it was her own fault.
Stop prying through others. If you’re curious, see and judge with your own eyes.
“I’ll show you how I earned the trust of Lady Leona and Miss Lillian. And…”
Malefica’s cold gaze rested on Eric as she said:
“Whether you’re truly the kind of person a cleric would need to be suspicious of.”
Her tightly pressed lips trembled slightly, her smile gone, leaving her looking serious.
