The Conversation In The Darkness
“Black Room……with this, our conversation won’t leak outside. With this, you can talk without reserve, right?”
We’re surrounded by darkness like just now. Imperial Princess Elise sits on the chair and table that’s in the middle of that. She’s beckoning us to sit in the chairs in the front with her eyes, so Shertia and I sit on the chairs.
When she made sure that we sat down, Imperial Princess Elise snapped her fingers. Immediately after, a skeleton emerged from the shadow on the ground. Shertia sees the skeleton that suddenly emerged and shrieks, ‘Hii!’.
“Geez, you shouldn’t look at somebody’s maid and be that surprised. Right, Alyssa?”
The skeleton that makes clattering sounds as though to respond to Imperial Princess Elise’s words. Heh, it appears that she possesses the ability to think. I’m looking at such a skeleton and, perhaps she thought of something, she twists her body embarrassedly. No, I’m not looking with such intentions, alright.
“To think that Alyssa has taken a liking to you. Perhaps fellow dead spirits are attracted to each other huh”
Imperial Princess Elise, who says such things as she’s looking at the skeleton that’s seemingly moving nearer to me than just now. It might not necessarily be something impossible though.
“Well, I’ll have you and Alyssa talk afterwards, leaving that aside, please tell me about that person! Ah, don’t think about trying to kill me. I wouldn’t have let you in the room without any precaution. If you don’t want that young girl, Shertia, to die”
“You’d realised huh?”
“Of course I did. I remember the traits of those that entered my faction, not to mention, the Four Beasts Houses. I’ll remember if it’s someone I’ve met before.
All of the nobles are suspicious of that man. ‘There’s no way those two will lose to the likes of burglars’, they say”
I see. I suppose that’s how unnatural Shertia’s parents’ deaths were.
“And what’s the reason you, who possesses that person’s subordinate, came to where I am with Shertia, I wonder? I’ve laid out shadows within this castle, so I know where you came in from. I didn’t notice the hole that’s dug at the underground food warehouse though. If you talk to me about the matters regarding that person, I’ll make things convenient as well”
……what I should do. I can talk about Boss and press her to cooperate, but there’s no guarantee that this Imperial Princess won’t talk about it. It’s just that, it’s already certain that the Empire will find out about Boss. Since the Suzaku or whatever returned, defeated by Boss. It’s something they’ll know sooner or later……
“I won’t go too in-depth. It’s not that I’m refusing to, it’s because I have such restraints on me. I would like you to be aware of that beforehand”
“It’s fine, of course. If I can learn even just a little, I’ll know what actions I should take when we meet”
After that, I talk to Imperial Princess Elise and Shertia about the things that are within the scope of what I can talk about. About how I had already been dead, resurrected by Boss and my true identity. I move the conversation forward with Boss being a Dark Magician. As one would expect, I can’t talk about the Dark Sorcerer.
“As I thought, you’re a dead spirit that that person resurrected! Even I, who was called a genius, could only go as far as to have a mutual understanding with Alyssa, and yet, not only your appearance, you’re even able to demonstrate your powers back when you were alive!”
Imperial Princess Elise, who looks over at me with sparkly eyes. She even comes over to touch me for the sake of verifying whether she can actually touch me. She sure is fearless huh. Although it’ll be interesting if I used Drain or something here, the conversation will cease to move forward afterwards so I’ll refrain.
“Are you afraid of me now? Shertia?”
Apart from the sparkly gaze, an anxious gaze pierces from the left. Although Shertia’s body twitched when I asked, she didn’t avert her eyes from me.
“……In all honesty, I am afraid. Even right now, I am about to shake. But, more than that, I want to be together with Chrono-san. I want to be together with Chrono-san, who helps me, for my sake, even after hearing my story!”
Before I know it, even her terrified gaze had changed into a gaze that’s filled with a strong determination. I stroked her head unknowingly.
“My my, how passionate. It’s fine and all to flirt, but more importantly, there are things to talk about, right?”
Imperial Princess Elise, who grins and looks over at us. She’s right. I’ve talked about Boss and me, so it comes down to whether this Imperial Princess will assist us with that in mind.
“Uーn, although I’d very much like to fulfil Shertia’s wish, it’s currently impossible. She’s no longer my faction after all”
“……Is that possibly because”
“Eeh, it’s as you imagined, the Azure Dragon House’s current Head of the Family, Shelcieg, moved from my faction to the First Imperial Prince, Onii-sama. Due to this, the balance of power has changed drastically and Onii-sama has become the strongest.
Let alone help Shertia; even my life is in danger. The Emperor, Otou-sama, is bedridden because of a mysterious illness, Okaa-sama and the others have been chased into the inner palace. I suppose it’s because I have some use that I’ve not been killed. In a political marriage”
‘It’s because I’m being despised by the nobles’, Imperial Princess who says and gives a bitter smile. Huh? Come to think of it
“The Imperial Princess should have a fiance though?”
“Something like that, it’ll work out somehow with a word from Onii-sama. Since there’s nobody who can oppose Onii-sama in the Empire now”
……This might be tougher than we’d thought, Boss. Well, his response is decided if I asked something like that.『So what?』, it is. If it’s that person, it feels like he’ll overturn adversity of this degree.
“In any case, I have to take Shertia and Imperial Princess Elise’s safety into consideration huh. Do you have any High-Grade Magic Crystals? Since I don’t feel secure with the amount of Artificial Magic Crystals I’m currently carrying”
“High-Grade Magic Crystals? I do have some, but what are you going to use it for?”
Something like that is decided.
“In creating Magic Tools”
I’ll make something, that I pour all the power I have into, for you to see.
◇◇◇
“It appears that, right now, Shertia is at where Elise is, Shelcieg”
“Boo, she managed to escape until here, how unsightly!”
“……My apologies, Your Highness Relviss. I will immediately capture Shertia and retrieve the Azure Dragon’s Tear……”
“I’m tired of hearing those words. Byaku, you go along as well. Be on stand by until Suzaku makes a complete recovery”
“Ayeー”
“Understood”
