Chapter 47
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Crown Prince's Arrival
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“It was strange, wasn't it? Did you read the article carefully? Cherry Sinclair bought a rundown house in a rural village like that?”
“That's right. Sinclair has always had an uncanny intuition.”
“Maybe she obtained some confidential information about the epidemic? The club she runs is a hub for all sorts of unimaginable intel, after all.”
“That could be it. She was always well-informed. Whenever Lady Sinclair took an interest in a business, it succeeded. She's been severely underestimated, but she's still the heiress of the Sinclair family. Maybe the person we thought we knew was just a fabricated image.”
These were the same ladies who had gossiped about Cherry Sinclair more fervently than anyone else before this whole mess began.
Aurora found it pathetic how the young ladies changed their opinion of Cherry as easily as flipping their hands, all to suit their own convenience.
*Maybe Lady Sinclair and I are the same kind of person after all.*
The kind who lose themselves under the weight of everyone's prejudiced gazes.
“And to think she's with Ethan Duncan Lancaster... I'm so jealous... Ouch! Did you just step on my foot, Lady Cotton? What? Lady Lancaster...? Oh...?”
Lady Cotton had deliberately stepped on Lady Seymour's foot as she brought up Ethan. The clueless Lady Seymour, who had been chattering loudly, finally noticed Aurora and fell silent in embarrassment.
Worried about Ethan, Aurora's expression darkened once more.
*CRASH—!*
Just then, a loud roar echoed from somewhere. It came from the middle of the street.
*Rat-a-tat-tat!*
*BANG—!*
Gunshots rang out across the street.
“Oh my goodness! They must be here to rescue us!”
“We're saved! Oh, dear God!”
The young ladies cheered, their faces filled with hope as they clasped their hands together.
*What if it's not a rescue team?*
And in that moment, Aurora was the only one entertaining such a realistic concern.
The gunshots drew closer to the salon. With each shot, the young ladies eagerly awaited the arrival of the unknown figures, their faces alight with excitement.
When the gunshots finally ceased right outside the salon, the sound of hurried footsteps climbing the stairs was followed by the door bursting open.
The first thing they saw were the uniforms of armed royal soldiers. They quickly entered the salon, aiming their guns at the young ladies, and fell into formation.
The soldiers' appearance was far from pristine. In fact, it was downright gruesome. They were covered in blood, looking like messengers from hell.
As the overjoyed ladies hesitated, their faces filled with fear at the grisly sight, a man walked through the ranks of soldiers.
Black boots, pristine white trousers, and a matching white uniform jacket adorned with an ornate knot of gold thread and gold epaulets on the shoulders came into view.
Aurora looked at the man's face.
Pure silver hair, piercingly blue eyes. A gold earring on his left ear glinted with his every move.
The man, who maintained an untainted air of nobility even amidst this chaos, was none other than Theodore, the Crown Prince of Gradon.
“M-My goodness, Your Highness the Crown Prince, what are you doing here...?”
As Lady Cotton muttered in a daze, Crown Prince Theodore surveyed his surroundings.
“This is hardly the time for formal greetings, so I will dispense with introductions. I trust you will understand.”
Unlike Prince Lloyd, Theodore was a polite and gentlemanly figure, for whom courtesy was second nature.
“Of course, Your Highness!”
Lady Cotton exclaimed, and Theodore's gaze briefly shifted to her. He calmly scanned the room.
“Wh-What's happening outside? Are the monsters all gone?”
“When will this situation be resolved?”
“I want to go home, *sob*!”
“You've come to save us, haven't you?”
The young ladies, who would normally not dare to speak a word in the Crown Prince's presence, now bombarded him with questions, trembling with fear.
But Theodore remained silent. He wasn't acting threatening, but his commanding presence was enough to overwhelm the ladies, and they soon fell quiet.
Then, at the edge of his vision, Theodore noticed a girl sitting quietly.
Wavy silver hair, mysterious violet eyes. A face that bore no resemblance to the sharp-featured Ethan.
After a brief glance at her, Theodore turned back to the crowd and began to speak calmly.
“A large-scale disturbance is spreading across the nation. But do not worry. The royal family of Gradon has declared martial law and is successfully controlling the situation. From this moment on, you must follow the military's instructions and move calmly. Can you do that?”
Of course, the claim that they were successfully controlling the situation was a stretch.
They were not only failing to control the situation but also failing to stop the spread of the virus. Even Gradon's military structure had collapsed. The soldiers with Theodore now were the royal guards from the Crown Prince's palace.
But he couldn't reveal the full truth. For now, reassuring the people was the priority until they could be moved to a safe location.
“Yes, yes! Of course, we will!”
“Y-You're saving us, right? Does that mean we'll all survive?”
“Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you for saving us!”
The young ladies burst into tears, thanking Theodore profusely. Theodore turned to the military commander and nodded. The commander then stepped forward and addressed the ladies.
“Please form a line and come this way.”
The ladies exchanged glances, then hesitantly got up from their seats and began to move as the commander instructed.
In the midst of the commotion, Theodore slowly approached Aurora and greeted her.
“I've been looking for you for quite some time, my lady. It's been a while. I believe we met at the graduation ceremony of Loubridge Benton College.”
Theodore smiled warmly at Aurora. They had exchanged brief greetings on the day of his and Ethan's graduation, when Aurora had visited the school to congratulate her brother.
“Ah. I-I remember, Your Highness.”
“Sir Ethan once asked me to protect you if a situation like this ever arose.”
“My brother did?”
Aurora asked, her face filled with surprise. Theodore recalled the words Ethan had once spoken to him.
“There may come a time when I can't protect Aurora. When that happens, I'm counting on you to look after my sister.”
“What? Why make such a grand request to protect a lady who's safe in the Lancaster estate? And what kind of situation would prevent you from protecting her?”
“My father is hiding something about Aurora's adoption. I don't know the details myself.”
Of course, Ethan hadn't made the request because he had foreseen the apocalypse.
But with Ethan's last known whereabouts being Brunel, the one who could protect Aurora in the capital was not him, but Theodore.
“Don't you miss that fellow, Ethan?”
“I-I do! Is my brother safe?”
“I'm quite curious myself whether he's safe. I have some things to ask him. So, I was thinking of going to look for him now.”
Theodore extended his hand to Aurora.
“What do you say? Will you come with me? It could be dangerous. Right now, I can't even guarantee my own safety.”
Aurora stared at Theodore's large hand for a moment before nodding vigorously and taking it.
“I'll go. I want to find my brother.”
To do that, they had to go to Brunel.
* * *
I moved the large rocks for the catapult up to the observatory.
“If they're too heavy, they won't fly far, so we need rocks of a moderate weight like this. I'll have to get more from outside later. We'll probably use up all the ones we've prepared today.”
I muttered as I placed a rock on the catapult's arm.
It was my first time using one, so I was bound to fail a few times. If I was unlucky, I might not even hit the statue after using all the rocks.
*Wait, let's not think like that.*
We had no Plan B, so we had to hit the statue.
“Let's worry about that after we've been to the village. If we can contact the capital, we might not even need to.”
If we can contact the capital.
Ethan was being optimistic. I didn't want to be a hope-killer, so I kept my mouth shut.
Didn't I say it before? We needed hope right now. To stay sane.
I silently checked the condition of the elastic bands and adjusted the position of the catapult arm. In the distance, I could see the girl's statue. It was tiny.
*I talked a big game, but...*
What if I fail?
Brunel was such a small village that you could see it all from Happy House, but the catapult wasn't very accurate, and its range was probably only about 200 to 300 meters at best.
*Still, I have my monstrous strength.*
The catapult I built worked by pulling back the arm and using the recoil to launch the projectile, so the pulling force was the most important factor.
In other words, as long as I was strong enough, I could roughly hit the target even if the accuracy was a bit off.
“Wait, didn't something just move over there?”
Staring intently at the girl's statue, I spotted something moving behind a tree in the square.
Ethan, who was next to me, immediately raised his binoculars and scanned the village.
“Damn it.”
I heard Ethan curse under his breath beside me. Puzzled, I looked over at him.
“It's Ludpersher. He's managed to stay alive, somehow. The problem is, it looks like he's stranded in the middle of the square.”