Chapter 19: The Carrot Prince
"They say if you stay alone in the Imperial Library until midnight, a monster
will come and take you away."
As if he had become the monster himself, the boy raised his arms, twisted his
hands, and spoke. The girl beside him merely blinked her eyes in bewilderment.
"Oh, it's just Your Highness."
"......You're no fun."
I heard you were in the library alone, so I came to scare you, but what kind of
reaction is this? Eric huffed and sat down heavily beside Elisha. Then, Elisha,
her face still expressionless, calmly replied.
"Monsters are big."
"......"
"And Your Highness is as small as a carrot."
"I'm bigger than a carrot!"
"I saw a huge carrot when I visited the kitchen the other day. If you add the
stem, I think Your Highness might even be smaller......"
"Stop talking!"
When the boy shouted, Elisha rolled her eyes and shut her mouth. Only then, as
if satisfied, Eric wore a confident smile and looked around. He had noticed it
when he entered, but because they were surrounded by bookshelves on all sides,
not even a thread of moonlight could enter.
"They said reading in the dark is bad for your eyes."
"That's why I used light magic."
"But it's barely the size of a firefly?"
"I did that on purpose."
I'm practicing how to control my powers with precision. Elisha muttered, pushing
the lump of light toward Eric. Eric stared in daze at the sight. If night
fairies existed, they would feel like this... wait. What was I just thinking?
"Your Highness."
At that moment, Elisha spoke in a small, soft voice. Eric regained his senses
and fluttered his lashes quickly.
"W-what!"
"It's approaching twelve."
"S-so what?"
"You said it, Your Highness. When it becomes twelve......"
At that moment, all the light in the library vanished. It was before Eric could
even adapt to the sudden pitch-black darkness.
"A monster will come and take you away."
"Ah!"
The girl, who had suddenly thrust her face in front of Eric’s, smiled
unnaturally. Under her chin, a slightly brighter light flickered.
"You, you, you!"
Looking again, you're not a fairy, you're a ghost!
"You won't grow if you stay up late. Your Highness should go back now," Elisha
said nonchalantly, backing away again. Her demeanor was perfectly calm.
"You are so annoying......"
"If I'm annoying, go inside and sleep. Your back will hurt if you sit here."
"No, I won't go."
"Didn't you just say I'm annoying?"
"That's a separate issue!"
Then Eric shouted sharply and finally lay down on the floor. Elisha stared at
him in bewilderment for a moment before letting out a faint sigh. The cawing of
crows echoing intermittently made the night feel strange somehow. Inside the
library, where not even a ray of moonlight could enter, there were two children
surrounded by a dim light. They looked exactly like fairies.
Chapter 19 (Part 2): The Real Dante Renard
"Wake up, Dante Renard."
"Ughhhh... five more minutes......"
"I don't think we're close enough to share sleepy murmurs."
"What the hell."
That would wake anyone up. The moment Elisha finished speaking, Dante’s eyes
snapped open and he sat up. In front of him, Elisha was looking at him as if he
were pathetic.
"You have your own palace, so why are you sleeping here?"
"Technically, this is my palace too, you know......?"
"Sleeping on a sofa is bad for your back."
"Like I said yesterday, can you please pick one? Either treat me like I'm
pathetic or be kind?"
I can't get used to this. He then stretched and grimaced. Dawn must have broken
since the sun hadn't risen yet, but when the hell did I fall asleep?
"I've finished all the work, so take it and go rest. I found your seal and used
it," Elisha said, stretching along with Dante. On the table, various documents
she had handled were neatly organized. There was so much that he had doubted he
could finish them by morning, and she was already done?
"You're not really human, are you?"
"I'm tired, so save the nonsense for later."
"I think I know why my father was so fond of you......"
He was the type to go around chanting, "My son is destined to be the High Mage
of the Imperial Palace!" every day. But at some point, he started giving me the
cold shoulder, saying, "Lady Elisha is undoubtedly the one who will lead our
empire." So my father just needed someone who was good at their job. It didn't
matter to him anyway, since he had no interest in honorary titles.
"Thinking about it, I don't think my first impression of her was bad." Or was it
actually good? It's been too long, I can't remember. While the question
naturally arose, Dante suddenly spoke up.
"Elisha, do you remember when we first met?"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, go get some rest......"
If I ask again, I feel like I'm about to be hit by a fire arrow. Dante
immediately shook his head. Thinking about it, Elisha valued rest just as much
as he did. He recalled that whenever he came to the Imperial Palace early, Eric
would say, "Elisha is likely resting in her bedroom now." As if expected, the
moment Dante finished his thought, Elisha lay down on the sofa and closed her
eyes. She looked so tired that even going to her bedroom upstairs was too much
trouble.
"And she was just telling me to go to my own manor to sleep." Dante carefully
lifted the stack of documents, trying not to wake Elisha, and summoned a magic
circle under his feet. No matter how much he thought about it, he didn't know
how things ended up this way, but since they had, there was nothing to be done.
"Elisha seems a bit different from what I thought, too......" When I saw her in
the Imperial Palace, she was as cold as ice, but seeing her here, I can't tell
if she's cold or warm. She’s still scary, though.
* * *
"Do you remember your first impression of Elisha?"
Inside the Emperor's office, Dante, after placing the documents before Eric,
threw out a sudden question. Eric immediately frowned.
"Are the preparations for the meeting so boring that you have time for such
questions?"
"What question did I just ask? All I remember is handing you the documents
silently with my mouth shut."
"If only you couldn't speak."
"Well, being a mage requires a bit of eloquence." Dante shrugged nonchalantly
and rolled his eyes. Eric let out a small, disbelieving laugh and began to scan
the documents Dante had brought. Watching him, Dante unconsciously held his
breath.
Somehow, I feel like a student who copied his homework standing before the
teacher.
"......It was strange."
At that moment, Eric spoke casually. Dante’s eyes widened. I almost bit my
tongue.
"W-w-w-what was strange? The documents? The ones I approved? Or the ones I
rejected? W-what is it?"
Elisha is so competent that I just trusted her, but he says it's strange? Or
could it be that he noticed it wasn't me? Wait, wouldn't it be better if I got
caught?
"Should I let him find out...?" Just as he was steeling his resolve.
"I'm talking about what you asked." Eric replied, setting down the documents he
was holding. Dante felt the strength drain completely from his body.
"Oh, it was that."
"What did you think it was?"
"That the documents were strange?"
"Of course, that's strange too. You can't be this competent."
"I've always been competent."
Elisha and Eric, their standards are just too high. This is simply unbelievable.
Dante grumbled, frowning as if he were wronged. When I think about it, Eric is
worse. At least Elisha apologizes when she says something harsh.
"Thinking about it, Elisha might be too good for him..."
"But why did you ask that all of a sudden?"
At that moment, Eric's cold eyes fixed directly on Dante. Dante, who almost bit
his tongue again, grimaced as much as he could.
"Oh, just out of curiosity."
Because I couldn't stand seeing you so relaxed after you were the one who caused
this mess, you bastard.
"Just out of curiosity?"
"I was just wondering how your relationship deteriorated to the point that
Elisha even thought about leaving, and I guessed that your first meeting must
have been strange too, so I asked......"
"......"
"What did I just say?"
I think I just said something I really shouldn't have said. I think the words I
was supposed to bury in my heart just slipped out!
"......Follow me, Dante Renard."
"Are you going to bury me? The conference of allied nations is just around the
corner, and losing two prominent mages would be a huge loss for Cardion......"
"It's not that, so just follow me. There's something to investigate regarding
the monster that appeared on the outskirts of the capital last time."
"Really? You're really not going to punish me?"
His expression is murderous enough to demote me. When Dante refused to let go of
his suspicions, Eric let out a small sigh.
"Just know that I'm holding myself back because, as you said, you are a valuable
asset to Cardion."
"You say that as if you'd throw me away the moment I'm no longer valuable."
"You're stating the obvious."
His blue eyes glinted as they pierced Dante for a moment. Dante froze in place
and forced a faint smile.
"My tongue is the real culprit here..." Just as he began to move stiffly.
"It's true that my first impression of her wasn't good." Eric said, his tone
softening slightly.
"And I don't think we've had only good memories of each other since then,
either."
To the point that thinking about it brings nothing but regret. Eric swallowed
his next words, his thick lashes lowering. My clumsy feelings and our harsh
words to each other. Actions that were conveyed differently than intended.
Perhaps the reason Elisha left my side was the sum of all those things.
"If only I could get her back......" But there was no use crying over spilled
milk; all that was left was regret. And now was the time to prioritize fixing
things over regretting them.
"As for a first meeting with Elisha." Eric, who had started walking, stopped and
turned to Dante with a lazy smile.
"Wasn't yours more disastrous?"
"What?"
"You don't seem to remember."
I feel like it was only yesterday you were crying and begging to quit being an
Imperial Palace mage. After saying his piece, Eric turned and began to walk
away. For a moment, Dante couldn't process what Eric had said and stood rooted
to the spot.
Did I really do that?
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