Chapter 89 — Yeongum's Secret
Chapter 89 — Yeongum's Secret
Translation: Godtl
[What's wrong?]
[No, I just saw some strange text floating in the air. Griffith, you don't see it?]
[...Not at all.]
"!!!"
Lelia covered her mouth in surprise.
The system window that appeared as usual contained an unknown conversation instead of Alchemy's words.
At the same time, those words sounded as if they were whispering in her ear, and this was definitely....
'These are Romeo and Griffith's voices!'
Lelia called out to Alchemy in her mind in surprise.
Alchemy, what did you just do?
[system: Information collection complete.]
[Ending system hacking! ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧ Would you like to check Special Affinity Target's affinity?(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧]
'No! That's not important right now!'
[The quest has been completed and the next quest will proceed.٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ Would you like to check it now?]
'Just wait a moment!'
Lelia waved away Alchemy's system window and looked at the other speech bubble window hidden behind it.
But that speech bubble was already fading away.
Just before the speech bubble disappeared, Lelia barely managed to witness the conversation.
[So, did you look into Leo?]
[There are too many strange points. But there's something even stranger, about Lelia...]
Unlike before, the voices were very faint, but it was definitely a conversation between Griffith and Romeo.
After the speech bubble completely vanished, Lelia paced anxiously.
It seemed the game system had encountered an error while doing something to check Romeo's affinity.
Just moments ago, Romeo had witnessed a speech bubble floating before his eyes.
'What on earth are Romeo and Griffith discussing right now?'
That speech bubble from earlier was definitely a conversation between Romeo and Griffith in real-time.
They must be having a conversation in the room across from here.
Though they hadn't said anything to Lelia, it seemed the two had been separately looking into 'Leo's' death.
There were so many other things on her mind that she hadn't even considered that possibility.
The problem was that ' Lelia' was mentioned in their conversation.
What exactly were they finding suspicious?
After pacing for a while, Lelia came to her senses belatedly. This wasn't the time.
'I'd better leave tonight instead.'
"There are too many strange things. But there's something even stranger, about that girl Lelia...."
"Why?"
"She said she's Princess Iris's daughter, right? But according to the records, on that day, the late empress who died also gave birth."
Inside Romeo's room, where soundproofing magic had been cast.
At Griffith's words, Romeo tilted his head in confusion.
"That is strange... What about Leo?"
"That's also... something that doesn't seem to add up."
Griffith's expression as he answered was not good.
This morning, Griffith had visited a secret room inside the imperial castle's chapel.
There, records written by priests dispatched from the Temple to the five empires' imperial families were kept.
The very existence of these records was something even the emperors did not know.
Under the pretext of maintaining peace among the five empires, the Temple was recording secret information through the priests they had dispatched.
These records encompassed everything from trivial matters to the most confidential—the royal families' weaknesses, ugly secrets, rumors, and more.
However, since the priests only recorded what they personally heard and saw, they couldn't necessarily be considered completely accurate.
Griffith, who knew about these records, had secretly sneaked a look at them this morning.
He had gone secretly, for if the Temple found out about this, there might be an uproar.
Anyway, accessing the records required priest-level divine power, so it wasn't difficult for him.
Griffith asked.
"Did you find out anything else?"
"No. But what Lelia said back then is true."
Indeed, coming to the Auraria Empire, he was able to learn much more than what he had investigated on the distant battlefields.
So Romeo had looked into various things, and the result was that what Lelia had said was true.
Most people who knew about Emperor Raideus were dead, and the criminal who killed 'Leo' had also been executed at that time.
Romeo and Griffith looked beyond each other's eyes as if gauging the other's intentions.
Romeo broke the silence and asked.
"Tell me more about what you mentioned earlier. What exactly was written in the records about Leo?"
"...."
Griffith didn't answer, pressing his fingers firmly against his temples as he gazed at Romeo.
Honestly, he didn't really want to say.
Because Romeo clearly also knew something more and wasn't saying it.
Wasn't looking into' Leo 'meaningless now anyway?
Leo is alive, so what's the problem?
However, Griffith hid his inner thoughts and answered casually.
"Just that his reputation wasn't particularly good. It seems the priest disliked Leo."
"...."
At those words, Romeo had an expression that said he expected as much.
Griffith vaguely guessed.
'Romeo, you knew from the start, didn't you?'
It was absurd.
Even though he knew, he hadn't said anything....
In truth, Griffith had been puzzled the whole time he left Auraria and went to the Temple.
About ' Lelia's' existence.
With those doubts in mind, when he returned to Auraria and saw Lelia dressed as a man, he felt faintly but with certainty.
That ' Lelia' was the 'Leo' he knew.
But there were many strange points.
How exactly could such a thing happen, and whether it was even possible.
'Lelia's' very identity was suspicious, and looking at the priest's records, it was even stranger.
The priest had recorded this about 'Leo':
His conduct was extremely violent, he was neurotic about everything, and he tormented his subordinates.
This was a completely different person from the Leo he knew.
Griffith, who had been uncertain, was able to confirm it this morning when he saw that record.
That the Leo who had come to the Temple was Lelia.
He didn't know which of the two was the real Leo, but anyway, the Leo he knew was certainly alive and living as Lelia.
Griffith leisurely lifted the teacup on the table.
He didn't know why Leo was hiding that fact, but he intended to pretend not to know until the end.
Until Leo told him directly. Given the various circumstances, there must certainly have been a reason. The Leo he knew wasn't someone who would do such things without reason. Of course, he was angry about being deceived, but the fact that Leo was alive made everything alright. Romeo seemed to be of the same mind.
"...."
As Griffith had expected, Romeo was also certain that Lelia was Leo.
However, right now it was uncomfortable to the point where he couldn't properly think about that.
Because of the unidentified vision that had appeared before his eyes earlier.
Inside a square frame, unidentified characters had been floating. They disappeared in an instant and hadn't appeared since....
'Did someone use magic on me?'
At first, he suspected Griffith right in front of him. Even though Griffith had no mana, he possessed pure and powerful divine power.
With that level of power, creating a vision before Romeo's eyes wouldn't be difficult.
But Griffith didn't seem to know that anything had happened at all.
That vision had only been visible to him.
Moreover, recently he had felt like someone was peeking into his mind for some reason, and he thought this might be the doing of the same person.
"By the way, what did you mean about alchemy back then?"
"Ah, that."
At Griffith's words, Romeo's expression darkened.
Actually, not long ago, because of the unidentified alchemical potions Lelia carried, he had written to Griffith to ask.
Whether he had heard any stories recently about an alchemist with impossibly exceptional skills appearing.
"The alchemical potions Lelia uses are a bit... strange."
"Why?"
"She had all kinds of medicines I've never seen before. If someone made medicines of that caliber, they'd be quite a famous skilled alchemist. It doesn't make sense that I wouldn't know about them."
"Hmm...."
Griffith tilted his head. This story was also unexpected.
Was Leo an alchemist? He couldn't feel any mana or anything similar from him at all....
The two sighed at the unsolved problems.
Griffith wanted to run to the room right across and grab Leo by the collar and demand answers.
'Leo, what exactly are you thinking?'
At the very moment Griffith harbored his doubts, Lelia was thinking this:
'I need to escape to the territory quickly.'
Lelia breathed roughly as she drove her horse.
As soon as the sun set and darkness fell, she slipped out of the imperial palace and obtained a horse.
Then she left the capital immediately.
She felt sorry for her friends, but there was no choice.
Given Princess Julianna's personality, she would certainly report her once she discovered the sacred artifact was fake.
'The twin princes would also excitedly tear me apart.'
They would likely fabricate charges and pin them on her.
She didn't want to suffer at their hands anymore.
Especially with Griffith and Romeo already suspecting her.
Though passing through the capital late at night required very troublesome and strict procedures, Lelia passed through easily using an alchemical potion.
After reaching the forest area, she planned to use another alchemical potion.
It couldn't take her all the way in one go, but it was a potion that could transport relatively long distances in a brief moment.
Using that, she could reduce the time and arrive at the territory in just two weeks.
When coming from the territory to the capital, she had used the magic circle created by Emperor Perseus, but returning that way was impossible.
That magic circle could only be used by authorized trading guilds or individuals who paid an enormous sum.
Anyway, she had alchemical potions, so it didn't matter.
She didn't have the money to pay for using the magic circle, and if she used it, she'd have to share a carriage with others.
Being alone was more freeing.
Yes, it was fortunate to be alone.
"……."
Suddenly Lelia stopped her horse and looked back.
She should be driving her horse vigorously. But somehow she kept wanting to look back.
It must be because of the friends she left behind at the imperial palace.
Her heart ached at the fact that she had to leave behind friends she had barely met, even though they were under the same stars.
She had carefully arranged the clothes Romeo gave her in her room and left a letter of thanks.
And she had also made plenty of painkillers and sedatives for Kalix and left them behind.
'It's a shame I couldn't see Griffith and Oscar more before leaving.'
Still, she was happy to have spent quite a long time with Romeo and Kalix and made memories.
Lelia gazed toward the imperial palace for a while longer, then steeled her heart and began driving her horse again.
The next day, late afternoon.
BAM! Romeo's door was roughly thrown open.
It was Kalix who opened the door and entered.
Romeo, who had been conversing with Griffith who had returned an hour ago, made an expression that if saying, "I knew it."
After all, no one but Kalix would disregard etiquette so completely and kick the door open.
"Hey! Lelia has disappeared!"
What?
Griffith and Romeo's expressions crumpled.
Kalix was wildly waving a thin piece of paper. and Romeo took it and read it. it turned out to be a letter Lelia had left behind.
The letter said she was heading to her hometown first, along with words of apology and gratitude.
"...."
"Poor guy... He probably thought we were all perverts just because he's a cross-dressing man and got hurt. It's all because of you two, Griffith and Romeo. You heartless bastards."
"...."
"...."
Griffith and Romeo looked at Kalix as though they were watching the village idiot.
Kalix, who had been muttering something sullenly, said "Ah!" and added one more thing.
"By the way, where did Oscar go? I went to the mansion he said he was staying at, but no one was there? He didn't go somewhere else too, did he?"
At those words, Griffith and Romeo's eyes flashed.
Could it be...?!
Romeo and Griffith ran to Lelia's room and let out hollow laughs.
Griffith asked, "Is tracking possible?"