Suna

“Do you think they will tell us who they worked with if we threatened them?” I stepped beside Clairmont, who was eyeing the assassins he captured.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Clairmont shrugged. While he did, I saw some of the assassins tried to struggle free from Clairmont’s detaining magic. All of them had their mouths covered, so it’s hard for them to even scream. Clairmont also said that those assassins had an emblem engraved on their tongue for the purpose of suicide if their mission were to fail, so he also detained the movements of their jawline by messing with their acupuncture points.

“This ain’t some shaolin novel, though.” I eyed the floating assassins, once again having my focus strayed off from the main discussion.

“Since when acupuncture points belong to shaolin genre?” Clairmont replied. “Acupuncture points are basically pressure points that alter bodily systems if pressed by a certain amount of strength. Anyone can do that.”

Yeah, you’re the only one who can do that, though.

Still, it’s amazing that he would sometimes follow along my random train of thoughts and even gave me an answer to follow along with it. Having a random chat with him would be fun probably. I narrowed my eyes at Clairmont for a few moments, before shifting my gaze to Mielle and Kuzan who were sitting at the gazebo nearby.

Mielle seemed to be comforting Kuzan, and even though Kuzan said that he was okay, his complexion said the otherwise. I parted ways with Clairmont and went towards the two.

“Are you alright, your majesty?” I asked. I know Mielle had asked the exact same question just like I do, maybe even for several times, but I still wanted to ask.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Kuzan answered while weaving a gentle smile. From his smile, I can guess why the author of the novel depicted Kuzan as an elf with an ethereal look. If he lessened the crease between his brows, his appearance would be an apple in the eye for the girls to admire.

I then sat down on a spot across him, still studying his expression to tell whether he was tired or not, before I asked, “Do you have any idea who wanted to kill you?”

Kuzan fell silent to think.

“…I think I have.” He answered.

“Hm.” I nodded. The conversation paused a bit when Clairmont entered the gazebo and sat beside me.

“I have my suspicions for some time, but I believe that my advisor, Saul, is the one who wanted to kill me.” Kuzan confessed.

I blinked my eyes.

“Is Saul that old elf who was with you earlier?”

The king glanced at me. “…How long have you been following me?”

Since the start, I guess?

“Well,” I scratched my nape. Telling him that we have been following him since the beginning, or maybe when they were in the middle of talking might be a bad thing. The king might even be suspicious of us, and that would hinder my plan on wanting to stay on his good side. “That’s not what’s important right now. Is Saul that old elf who was with you earlier?”

Kuzan pondered a bit. “Yes, he is.”

I nodded. The conversation then continued.

“…I have long since known that Saul wanted to kill me.” Kuzan added. “I wanted to eliminate him from the royal advisor position, but he was an advisor long before I became a king, so his influence within the castle wall is huge, unlike me.”

Kuzan then stopped to contemplate on something. “I fear that going against him in a frontal assault would be a dangerous endeavour, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a plan in mind.”

“Hm.” I nodded enthusiastically.

“I see.” Princess Mielle nodded, sharing her empathy.

“Huh.” Clairmont let out a lazy remark.

“Excuse me, Clairmont. Show some spirit, will you?” Scolded me at him.

Clairmont looked the least interested in these types of affairs. Of course, he would, he was being dragged by a girl he met a few days ago and was told to help her save a country he didn’t even care about.

“Don’t mind me, just go on with your discussion.” Clairmont nonchalantly replied.

I groaned.

“Then, if frontal assault is proven to be dangerous, what are your plans, your majesty?” I asked.

Kuzan pondered a little bit more.

“My spies have reported me of the appearance of a group of rebels, who worked near the castle walls. Their work structure is reported to be meticulous, as if someone from within the castle walls is handing out information to them. My guess is that Saul is the one who lead this group of rebels, and was waiting for a good time for him to attack the palace and kill me.” Kuzan explained.

Coup d’ tat, huh?

I cupped my chin. Though, given the situation, it won’t be called coup d’ tat if almost everyone within the castle walls sided with the old advisor. The difference in number between the king’s group and the advisor’s group is huge.

“Do you perhaps, have any allies beside you that would help you win this war, your majesty?” I asked. Even one ally apart from us is better than none.

“I do.” Kuzan’s statement won a low sigh of relief from me.

I mean, of course he would gather allies with him if he wanted to protect the throne. To add, it’s been a long battle between him and Saul, so the numbers should be quite commendable.

“Almost 80% of the Marquessate, Duchy, and County family of this country is my ally. I also have the leader of the informant guild and the commoner’s union backing me up.” Added Kuzan.

Hm.

Wait, if Kuzan already had this huge of an army behind him, how was it possible for him to lose his country?

I can’t really ask the reason from Kuzan even if I wanted to, because it’s from the novel and I know it’s not a good idea telling people about it. Our conversation was halted when we heard a guard hollering his majesty’s name from afar.

“Your majesty? Your majesty!” The guard’s voice filled the surroundings.

Kuzan stood up and replied, also with a loud voice. “I’m here. What’s with the commotion?”

The guard trotted towards the gazebo and abruptly knelt down in front of the king “Pardon me, your majesty, but the princess has returned.”

“The princess?” Kuzan’s face was shrouded in confusion. Though, in the next moment, his face lit up in happiness while telling the guard to show him the way.

It seems that Elfina had returned safe and sound. What a relief. Me, Clairmont, and Mielle followed Kuzan from behind.

“Elfina!” Kuzan hollered from afar.

Elfina who just stepped down from her horse turned to look at Kuzan, before blooming a wide smile and accepted his hug. From afar, they were exchanging words of gratitude and relief.

“Is that the elf princess? She is as beautiful as the rumours said.” Clairmont commented.

I nodded as a response. “Of course, she is. Not only she is beautiful, she is also kind, polite, and even has a huge sense of empathy.”

Clairmont glanced back at me. “How do you know that?”

“Well, I saved her from a near death situation and dropped her at a village nearby so she could return here.” I said, trying not to smirk proudly. The plot had changed a bit with the princess being alive, but it still won’t guarantee that Rustaval won’t fall into ruin. I was still thinking about Kuzan’s words, though.

“You saved her?” Mielle small voice appeared from between us. Ah, I didn’t realize that Mielle was here with us.

“You can say that, I guess?” I answered, now hesitant. The little pixie then squealed in excitement. As she did, I gazed at her as I pondered. Is it really okay to drag the pixie princess into this dispute? She wasn’t even involved in anything thus far.

“Are you okay with being in on all of this?” I asked.

Mielle’s bright smile toned down a bit. Her expression then changed into a serious look. “I have decided to be his majesty’s ally the moment I heard about the situation in Rustaval.”

“You did?” My eyebrows raised a bit.

Mielle nodded, before she added. “The palace is shrouded with negative aura, and the advisor emits the most amount of negative aura. Eliminating him might erase the aura and give the pixies who lives in Rustaval their lives back. Other than that…” Mielle smiled a bit. “I don’t want to lose this place that some of us call home.”

Mielle was right. I might call Rustaval as a place that I wanted to save so I could make Elfina happy and prevent Kuzan from being miserable, but for them, this is their home, their birthplace.

“Isn’t your pixie kingdom your true homeland?” Clairmont butted in.

And here we have Clairmont who didn’t know how to read the air, plus being a spoilsport.

He flinched a bit upon receiving deadly glares from me and Mielle.

Because Kuzan said that he wanted to have a private time with Elfina to catch things up, me, Clairmont, and Mielle were sent back to the banquet hall.

“How about the assassins that were captured?” Mielle suddenly asked while we all headed in the hall’s direction.

“The guards probably handled them or something. Or they would just release the assassins after giving them an earful for messing with the plan.” Clairmont answered.

“Oh.” Mielle remarked.

The three of us then went silent for the rest of the trip.