Chapter 27
“Lady Payson!”
Elion hurriedly approached Rubiana.
“What’s the matter? Are you alright?”
“T-there… a s-snake…!”
“A snake? Where?”
When Rubiana pointed at the bushes with her trembling hand, Elion immediately drew his sword and strode toward them.
While parting through the shrubs, Elion lifted his head and asked,
“I don’t see any snake.”
“No, it was definitely there. I saw it clearly.”
Her shoulders were stiff with tension, her voice quivering.
Rubiana inwardly praised her own acting and sank deeper into her role.
Watching her actress sister in her previous life was finally paying off.
Elion carefully examined the bushes, then sheathed his sword.
“It must have run off. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you, Your Highness. It seems I’m always relying on your help.”
“I really didn’t do anything this time, yet I’m receiving another thank-you.”
“You came running, and that alone made me feel safe.”
“…”
Feeling awkward at being thanked for nothing, Elion avoided her gaze.
Then, something caught his eye.
Something that did not belong on this secluded, overgrown road.
“What… is that?”
Watching his eyes lock onto the tree’s base, Rubiana smiled triumphantly.
Yes! That’s right, look closely. That nasty thing is exactly what’s been weakening the capital’s barrier!
Her heart beat wildly with excitement.
“…What is it?”
Feigning innocence, Rubiana stepped closer to him.
She followed his gaze to the base of the tree.
A black mana stone the size of a child’s fist was embedded there, surrounded by geometric magic-circle patterns.
“Oh? There’s one here too!”
She pointed at the next tree, then checked another.
“Here as well!”
There were five magic circles in total, each centered around a mana stone.
Elion’s expression grew grim as he examined them with tightly pressed lips.
“What are these? Don’t tell me… someone set up a barrier?”
Rubiana deliberately emphasized the word barrier, still wearing her innocent, clueless expression.
One of Elion’s eyebrows twitched sharply, rising high.
“A barrier?”
As she expected, he reacted immediately to the word.
“A barrier… I’m not sure. Hold on.”
Elion walked about ten steps away and contacted Fred through his communicator.
A short exchange followed, and the communication ended.
Returning to Rubiana, he spoke apologetically.
“I think we need to confirm what this is. My men are bringing priests here now. So about the circus…”
“It’s fine, we can go another time. Figuring out what this strange magic circle is matters more right now.”
It wasn’t like she wanted to watch the circus anyway.
She wanted to come here.
Hiding her true feelings, Rubiana nodded gently.
“Thank you for understanding, Lady Payson. Then perhaps you should return home for now?”
“Ah…”
She hesitated.
It wouldn’t look good to be seen lingering alone with him when his men and priests arrived.
But… this is something I accomplished. The first thing I’ve done as the heroine. I want to see it. I want to stay.
After organizing her thoughts, she looked up at him.
“If it’s alright with Your Highness, I’d like to wait with you. You’ll be coming to our estate afterward anyway.”
“Well, it might take a while, and it’ll be boring. Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
His blue eyes searched her face, silently asking, Are you really sure?
To dispel the doubt, she once again decided to tug at his sympathy.
“Honestly… I feel safest when I’m with Your Highness. So I’d rather stay…”
“Oh…”
Blaming his own lack of foresight again, Elion finally nodded.
“Alright. As you wish.”
“Yes.”
Thirty minutes later, Fred arrived with elite knights and the priests in charge of managing the kingdom’s barriers.
The priests’ eyes widened when they saw the mana stones and magic circles embedded in the trees.
One priest spoke.
“It appears these magic circles really have been disrupting the capital’s barrier.”
“So we’ve finally found the cause.”
Elion and the knights sighed in relief.
Rubiana cheered inwardly.
Ahh, so satisfying! I finally feel like the heroine! You did great, Rubiana! Truly!
The memories of her desperate efforts flashed through her mind.
Lying about wanting to see the circus so she could walk here with Elion.
Setting aside her pride as a heroine to beg the Duke—the mastermind—for help, desperately at that.
Pretending she urgently needed the bushes to make the carriage stop here.
A noble lady sprinting into the shrubbery because she had to “relieve herself”—humiliating, but necessary.
Sacrificing the small for the sake of the great was absolutely the right call.
While everyone marveled at the magic circles, Fred leaned in with a grin, whispering just loud enough for only the two of them to hear.
“Do you know how shocked I was? Hearing that His Highness suddenly canceled his visit to the Grand Temple and instead headed to a circus theater?”
“Oh my.”
“…”
Remembering that Elion had told her he had no other plans, Rubiana’s eyes filled with questions.
Elion’s expression, meanwhile, stiffened awkwardly.
“And to make such an important discovery on the way to the circus! If you had gone to the Grand Temple, you wouldn’t have found these magic circles, would you?”
“…”
Fred, too focused on his musings, failed to notice the murderous glint sharpening in Elion’s eyes.
“Ah… what is life? Sometimes the side road really is the better one, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Sometimes it’s okay to be a little distracted, right? Effort is important, but luck is just as crucial—”
Elion finally growled,
“Will you shut that mouth?”
“Eh? Ah… y-yes.”
Seeing his lord’s tensed jaw muscles, Fred trembled and clamped his mouth shut.
Then Rubiana began her turn.
Her red eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Your Highness, so you really were supposed to go to the Grand Temple. Then why did you tell me you had no other plans? Could it be… you really wanted to see the circus?”
“…Let’s say that’s the case.”
Elion ran a hand down his face, flustered, and Rubiana silently laughed. He was adorable.
Thankfully for Elion, the priest spoke again.
“It’s strange, though. These circles aren’t located near the main barrier lines.”
“That’s why they were so hard to find. The enemy was clever.”
“Yes… embarrassingly, it seems they understand the barrier better than we do. We’ll study this incident thoroughly.”
“I leave it to you.”
Listening to them, Rubiana struggled to hide her excitement.
As expected, the priests recognized the magic circles—but had no idea why they were placed here.
Watching their serious expressions, she bit her lower lip.
It’s because… this is the only place where all the capital’s barrier layers overlap.
A fact only she knew—from reading the original novel.
As did the ones who placed the magic circles.
But no need for me to mention it. They’ll figure it out eventually.
Pretending to know too much would only invite suspicion.
A transmigrator had to be cautious.
Act ignorant when you know; act knowledgeable when you don’t.
While she quietly maintained her innocence, a priest who had just finished a communication approached Elion.
“High Priest and the Saintess are on their way here.”
Since it was an issue tied directly to the capital’s safety, the highest authorities were coming themselves.
“That’s good. Then we can fully resolve this today, right?”
“Yes. With them here, nullifying the five circles will be quick.”
“Understood.”
Hearing that the High Priest and the Saintess were coming made Rubiana’s heart drop.
I don’t want to meet her.
Even though she had finally accomplished something as the heroine today, she was still unstable, her life still fragile.
She could collapse coughing blood again at any moment.
Florencia, however—the Saintess—was different.
She was already following the original plot: tampering with the barrier, visiting Omar to craft mana stabilizers for Elion.
And her obsession with Elion was extreme.
Just the fact Rubiana had been alone with him could make her a target.
Meeting her now would be disastrous.
Decision made, Rubiana looked up at Elion with a troubled face.
“Your Highness… I think I should head back. With the High Priest and Saintess joining, I don’t want to get in the way of such important work.”
“You wouldn’t be in the way.”
“But still…”
“…Alright.”
Seeing that he didn’t question her further and simply nodded, Rubiana felt relieved.
