Chapter 29: Secrets and Shadows in the Palace

Imperial Palace Study.

Rubia was glaring at Lucy with her cheeks puffed out.

Her face, full of anger, seemed to have a lot to say.

Soon, questions like, “Why did you leave the palace?” “How did you catch the kidnappers?” “How long have you been going out without permission?” came out at a rapid-fire rate.

Lucy calmed her down by showing her palm.

Then she began answering the questions one by one.

The story of how she found Perry’s location and how she used him to defeat the kidnappers and rescue Perry.

After hearing the story, Rubia briefly exclaimed, “As expected, she is the daughter of Satan…” and then glared at Lucy with a pouty face.

Her expression was full of discontent.

No wonder, because the princess went into the kidnappers’ den alone.

As a close associate, it was a story that could be admired but never praised.

“If you knew the kidnappers’ location, you could have sent the knights, but why did you invade them yourself?

What if something went wrong with the royal body?”

Rubia was preaching obediently.

Lucy listened to her sermon while nodding her head.

Of course, she could manipulate Rubia’s memories through brainwashing, but that wouldn’t be possible.

Memory manipulation is an act that violates the dignity of life.

It wouldn’t matter if it was a complete stranger, but Lucy wasn’t so broken-hearted that she would do something like that to Rubia, who had been kind to her until now.

In the end, Lucy was listening to the sermon obediently.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah.”

“But I don’t know how to report this.”

Rubia caressed her cheek with her hand.

She hadn’t yet reported Lucy’s return to the palace to Arasia.

“About that.”

“Huh?”

“Can you keep this a secret?”

“B… a secret?”

“I don’t like being scolded either, so I was kidnapped and somehow escaped.

How about something like that?”

Lucy quickly tried to persuade Rubia.

They needed to get along with each other for their future lives.

Rubia hesitated for a moment at that suggestion, but then her head snapped up as if she had a good idea.

“Okay, it’s my fault for not being able to protect Perry, but there’s one condition.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Promise me that you’ll never go out without permission again.”

“……”

It was Rubia’s way of preventing her from running away.

Having seen Lucy’s mysterious appearances right before her eyes, she decided that simply locking the door wouldn’t be enough to prevent her from going out without permission.

She probably just left it to her conscience.

It was a bit of a difficult condition for Lucy, but she decided to go along with it for now.

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah..”

“Then here’s the promise.”

“?”

Rubia held out her pinky.

Lucy blinked her eyes.

‘Little promise? It’s not that kid… Oh, it’s that kid.’

Lucy had no choice but to link her pinky with Rubia’s and make a promise.

To never go out without permission again.

Of course, she had all sorts of plans in her head.

Not long after, Arasia, who had heard the report, hurriedly came to check on Lucy’s well-being.

“Lucy-lady! Are you okay?”

As soon as she entered the room, she stroked Lucy’s cheeks with both hands and examined her closely to see if she was hurt anywhere.

Her grape-colored eyes were hazy.

Lucy, who found the gaze burdensome, tried to avoid eye contact.

After examining her for a while, Arasia sighed in relief as she brushed her chest.

“I’m so glad you’re not hurt, and….”

She suddenly knelt down.

Abres and the Imperial Knights behind her also began to kneel down.

“I’m truly sorry, even though I was there… I’m no longer worthy of being a guardian.”

Arasia felt a great sense of responsibility for not being able to protect Lucy.

And that’s because not only did she allow the enemy to invade, she also allowed the princess to be kidnapped.

It would be natural to take responsibility.

“It’s okay, we escaped somehow… But how were the enemies able to invade the palace?”

Arasia’s keen eyes became serious upon hearing the question.

“After investigating, we found traces of magic being used in the underground vault.

It seems that there was an accomplice inside.”

“What does that mean?”

She hesitated for a moment before answering as if she had a definite answer.

“… There seems to be a traitor inside.”

“Hmm.”

“We are investigating that part in detail, so if you wait, we will definitely catch the culprit.

If we catch the culprit….”

Arasia bit her lip as she imagined the culprit.

It was a rare anger for someone who was usually so gentle.

“Then, please do your best.”

“Yes! We will definitely live up to your expectations.”

She and the knights left again to investigate the incident.

Even Lucy got up from her seat.

It was late in the morning outside.

If she slept now, she would be able to get a little rest.

Then Rubia said, “I’ll prepare a new room, please wait a moment,” and ran out of the study.

“The room flew away, huh…”

Lucy, who had nothing to do, got up from her seat and went to the room where Perry was resting.

The servant’s room.

Perry, whom she had just laid down on the wooden bed on one side, was sleeping soundly.

As she approached quietly, Perry opened his closed eyes.

“How’s your health?”

“Okay.. cough.. cough..”

He seemed to have a cold.

It was expected, since he crossed the cold northern region in thin clothing.

Lucy tried to stop Perry from getting out of bed and laid him back down.

“I’ll tell Rubia, so get some rest for a few days.”

“Yes, over there.”

Perry said, half covering his face with the blanket.

“Thank you for coming to save me.”

Lucy scratched the back of her head as if in trouble.

“You don’t have to be thankful; it was because of me that you were kidnapped in the first place.”

The starting point of all the incidents was when he asked Perry to act as his stand-in.

Since that was the case, he couldn’t hear any words of gratitude.

Perry shook his head.

“It was the first time someone fought for me.

That’s why I was honestly happy when you came to rescue me.

Thank you, Princess…”

Perhaps because he was tired, Perry fell asleep while he was talking.

Lucy looked down at the sleeping Perry and quietly sank into a deep sleep.

‘Hmm… I should prepare some precautions for this kind of thing next time.’

In the meantime, Rubia, who had prepared a room, was looking for her outside.

The newly arranged room was a VIP room located on the middle floor of the palace.

Perhaps because of the recent intrusion, the room was located right next to Arasia’s bedroom.

Lucy quickly changed into her pajamas and lay down on the bed, and at that moment, she noticed something strange.

A makeshift bed was placed at the end of the room.

Why are there two beds in the room?

As she was about to wonder, Rubia spoke first.

“My bed.”

“??”

Lucy asked several question marks.

Rubia showed a bright smile and explained the situation.

“I’ll sleep here for the time being, okay?”

She said that, but the words ‘No unauthorized outings’ were written on her face.

Lucy let out a faint sigh without anyone knowing.

2.

The investigation into the incident was ignited, and it didn’t take long to figure out the truth.

As a result, it was revealed that the traitor who had conspired with the kidnappers was the ‘Minister of Finance.’

However, he could not be arrested.

By the time the guards raided his house, the Minister of Finance had already taken poison and committed suicide.

There was a suicide note he had left on the table, and the details of the incident were revealed through that note.

The contents of the suicide note stated that his daughter had been kidnapped and was being threatened, and that he had no choice but to betray the palace.

He also desperately asked that his family be pardoned, as he would pay for his crimes by committing suicide.

Fortunately for him, there was no system of collective punishment in Helators, so his family was not punished.

In addition, although the mastermind behind the kidnapping incident had not yet been revealed, the imperial family concluded that this incident was a plot by the ‘Northern Forces!’

Anyway, that’s the end of the case.

Lucy returned to the academy.

After a series of events, there were two changes at the academy.

First, the academy’s security had been upgraded even further in preparation for an emergency.

Second…

“I heard the news. I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“I heard it too. I heard you beat the kidnappers to death and escaped, right?”

“You’re amazing.”

For some reason, the story that ‘you escaped while the kidnappers were off guard’ had been distorted among the students into ‘you returned after cutting off the enemy commander’s head.’

Thanks to that, Lucy was surrounded by her classmates from the morning breeze and was bombarded with questions.

“That’s not wrong, but… huh?”

At that moment, a golden-haired female student she had never seen before quietly entered the classroom.

At that, the noisy classroom suddenly became quiet.

“Isn’t that the girl who was absent on the first day?”

“Yes, that ugly daughter of a traitor.”

“What on earth did you do to come to school?”

“If it were me, I would have followed my father and committed suicide.”

Whispering voices.

All her classmates glared at her with hostile eyes.

A blonde female student tried to pretend not to hear and sat down.

Lucy glanced at her.

The name tag on her uniform read… Abet.

She was the biological daughter of the finance minister who had committed suicide not long ago.