Chapter 10 — A Secret Pact
Chapter 10 — A Secret Pact
Translation: Godtl
At Lelia's words, everyone made strange expressions. As if they'd seen something unsightly….
"So please. Huh? I'll grant each of you one wish! So let's keep it a secret. The priests will agree anyway. You just need to keep your mouths shut!"
"…."
"Hah…."
"Kalix, Griffith. I know you nearly died… but still, I'm asking you. Huh?"
"…I don't mind."
Kalix answered after thinking for a moment.
"…If you say that much."
And Griffith also agreed.
"No way! Captain, did you get hit in the head? Use your brain a little! You just woke up, maybe your head isn't working right?"
"You… be quiet, will you?!"
Romeo raged, but Lelia shouted him down.
"…."
Romeo fumed like last time, then just left the sickroom altogether.
"That bastard, he… daring to do that to the Captain…."
Lelia muttered, and Oscar grabbed Lelia's arm and calmed her.
"C, Captain. Calm down… H, have patience…. Romeo is always w, weird like that…."
"Sigh… right, I need to be patient."
Kalix, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, asked.
"Hey. But why does that guy who just left and this one call you Captain? Why are you playing Captain game?"
"It's not a Captain game…. They just, I guess they want to. They call me that because they want to. What am I supposed to do about it?"
Lelia answered curtly.
'Though I did directly tell Romeo to call me that….'
Kalix looked at Lelia quietly. Lelia also gazed back at him with a sullen expression.
Wait a moment.
Don't tell me….
"Hey, Kalix, you're not planning to…."
"I'll call you Captain too."
Too late.
Lelia's face scrunched up completely.
"You said they call me that because they want to. I want to call you that too, so I will. No complaints, right?"
"No…."
Lelia wanted to take back her own words from just moments ago.
Just then, Griffith also grinned broadly and spoke.
"Then me too."
"No…."
No, why on earth… why on earth!
'This wasn't in my predictions….'
In the end, Lelia somehow ended up making four heroes who would defeat the Mad Dragon in the future into her subordinates.
'Now I can't even say something like there are four of them….'
Anyway, the rest of the heroes were people who hadn't stayed at this temple in their childhood.
Lelia thought what could she do, let it be whatever, and lay back down on the bed.
'Don't know, don't know. They're calling me that, what can I do.'
Anyway, once they returned to their home countries, they would be people she'd never see again in her lifetime.
Officially, Crown Prince Leo would die not long after returning to his home country.
When the victims of the accident personally asked for it to be kept secret, the priests thought this was a stroke of fortune for them.
The high-ranking priests came personally to Lelia, Kalix, and Griffith and bowed their heads.
They declared that such a thing would never happen again, that safety would be thoroughly maintained, and that they would investigate the culprit thoroughly.
'Like hell they'll investigate.'
Lelia sneered.
Even in the original work, they claimed they would investigate thoroughly, but in the end nothing was ever revealed. Because it was something a high-ranking priest had done in collusion with the Emperor of the Ascard Empire.
At that time, the only witness had been the victim, Kalix.
Kalix must have known even back then, when he saw the wolf turning to sand and vanishing. He knew who the culprit was that had done that to him.
'Trying to kill a child like that. Wicked bastards.'
Lelia thought she absolutely had to tell Kalix that before returning to her home country.
When you go back, give up the throne quickly and leave to become a mercenary. You're someone who can become the best.
Anyway, after that incident, peace returned once more.
For several days, Lelia just lazed around in her room. The priests couldn't even bring themselves to tell her to attend prayers, and merely bowed their heads like sinners whatever Lelia did.
If there was anything uncomfortable....
'Why do these bastards keep coming to my room to hang out?'
All four of them would gather in her room every morning. As if punching in for work.
Naturally, they too didn't attend prayers, and somehow they ended up spending the whole day together, only sleeping in separate rooms.
That too was short-lived.
Soon these guys had the priests bring beds right into Lelia's room.
The one fortunate thing, if anything, was that instead of the bedroom where Lelia's bed was, they brought beds into the empty room next to it, one after another.
'Ugh. This is still uncomfortable!'
You crazy bastards. I'm a woman!
Since she couldn't tell them the truth, she was the only one seething with frustration.
From that day on, a bizarre and uncomfortable cohabitation with four little brats began.
Lelia wanted to spend mealtimes apart from those guys, at least.
So that day, having woken up early alone, she hurriedly washed and headed to the dining hall.
"Hmm~"
Having shaken off the sticky ones who had been following her for days, she felt so good that she even hummed a tune.
Lelia entered the dining hall and sat in an empty seat. Despite the early hour, several children were already eating.
After sitting and waiting a little while, a servant soon brought her meal.
It was a fresh salad with boiled beef, warm bread, and a savory soup filled with mushrooms, vegetables, and meat pieces.
'If it were up to me, I'd never go back and want to live here forever.'
Having three proper meals a day served to me is so wonderful. Plus, they perfectly consider the nutrition when preparing them.
Light breakfast, substantial lunch, splendid dinner.
Moreover, if you want, you can come eat more anytime. They don't mind even if you eat five meals a day.
'I need to eat as much as possible here and get healthy.'
I couldn't eat much when I was young, so I need to eat diligently now to grow. Once I return, I probably won't be able to eat properly again.
Lelia began eating heartily, and thanks to being focused on the food, she didn't notice the gaze of the surrounding children.
"That's the one."
"They say those kids call that one 'Boss'?"
"They say it's the Crown Prince of Auraria."
"So cool…."
The girls whispered while looking at Lelia.
And after Lelia finished her meal, when she was eating the post-meal dessert and drink the servant had brought—
"Hi?"
"…."
Lelia turned her head in surprise.
A pretty girl was sitting in the seat next to Lelia, smiling.
'She's pretty.'
Lelia thought unconsciously and returned the greeting to that girl.
"Hi."
"…His Highness the Crown Prince of the Auraria Empire. Right?"
"…Hmm. Yeah."
Lelia tensed for a moment.
'Don't tell me she's a noble from the Auraria Empire?'
When the temple gathered young royals to the neutral zone, they calculated the average age of young royals from each nation. Then they selected the age range that would capture the most children and requested that children of those ages be sent.
The Emperor of Auraria, knowing his son's age fell exactly within that range, screamed his lungs out.
"Kreuz Temple bastards! Damn sons of bitches!"
However, after sending Lelia off, he became very calm.
Having regained his reason, the Emperor examined the list of noble children to send with Lelia. First, children who had seen the real Crown Prince's face couldn't be sent.
Fortunately, he had overprotected the Crown Prince since childhood, keeping him close, so there weren't many children who knew his son's face.
The Emperor selected only children from the lowest-ranking nobles possible to send with Lelia.
Knowing this fact, Lelia still avoided the girl's gaze just in case.
She didn't want to show her face in detail.
'Still, the Crown Prince has similar hair and eye color to me….'
It won't be a big problem later.
In the first place, if she stays here safely and returns, the current Emperor and Crown Prince will die anyway.
"I came from the Nikea Empire. My father is Count Cherdes."
"Ah, really?"
Knowing she wasn't from Auraria, Lelia brightened and looked at the girl again.
When Lelia smiled brightly, the girl's face briefly reddened.
"Um… well. I just wanted to get to know you too. You're usually only with the boys."
"Ah, those guys?"
"Yeah… everyone calls you 'Boss'?"
"That's just, well."
Lelia shrugged indifferently as if it was nothing. Somehow felt like she'd become a cool man….
'Even though I'm just an elementary schooler at best.'
Lelia felt slightly pathetic about having been proud of herself for a moment, but without showing it, she smiled at the girl.
It didn't matter with the four guys she'd taken as subordinates, but she wanted to manage her image with other children.
Somewhat gentle, yet dignified and righteous— that kind of image?
"Hey, um."
"What is it? You can ask me anything you want."
"Has Lord Griffith ever mentioned me?"
"Huh?"
"Well… actually Lord Griffith is my fiancé."
"…."
Ah. Was that it?
Lelia thought for a moment then said.
"I don't really have deep conversations with him. I don't really… eat together with my subordinates much either."
"I see…."
That's when it happened. The large door of the dining hall burst open.
"Boss!"
Kalix could be seen approaching from afar, waving his hand. And the other three guys too.
'They're already up. Those sticky ones.'
"Th-then let's talk again next time. Bye."
The girl who had been sitting next to Lelia started in surprise, then stood up and left.
The girls who had been waiting for their turn to talk made sad faces in the corner.
"You bastard. Why did you go alone! Do you know how surprised I was when you weren't in the room!"
Kalix, who had come close, hit Lelia's back hard and said.
Either call me Boss or just casually— pick one, just one….