The atmosphere was tense enough that even others could feel it.

No one spoke a word……no, they didn’t dare say a word until the person in the center spoke.

They reached for something on the table……something very important to them.

「……Rei, is this your doing?」

Rei nodded at Frizione’s words, which were spoken with a firm determination.

The atmosphere had been calm until she entered the cabin, but the moment she did……or to be precise, the moment she saw what was on the table inside the cabin, Frizione paused.

The items on the table were……the dried meat and dried fruit Rei had found in the cabin earlier because he had been feeling hungry.

Frizione’s expression softened slightly……just slightly, as Rei admitted his guilt.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how Frizione’s expression would be if Rei hadn’t admitted it.

Fortunately, only four people were in the cabin right now, Rei, Frizione, Angela, and Widele.

The rest of the White Rose Knights, who didn’t think too well of Rei, were keeping watch outside the cabin.

Some of them had recieved specialised training and were pretending to be gardeners, partly as a precaution and partly because Angela had realised they didn’t get along well with Rei.

「This dried meat and dried fruit were specially prepared for me to eat when I relax here. They are precious items made by the castle chef with no regard to cost. They are indispensable when spending time here. This……this……」

Frizione usually gave off a warm and gentle impression, but that was nowhere to be seen right now.

The way she looked at Rei with such a fixed gaze made it hard to believe she was a princess……especially not the First Princess with the right to inherit the throne.

If Rei continued to do nothing, something bad would definitely happen to him. Judging that, he decided to divert Frizione’s anger.

「Um, I’m sorry. But, Widele said that I could eat whatever I could find inside the cabin. I was just following what she said.」

『What!?』

Both Widele and Frizione responded at the same time, but one was with surprise while the other was in anger.

Frizione felt betrayed by her trusted subordinate while Widele was angry for being thrown under the bus.

However, it was true that Widele did say to Rei he could eat the food that was inside the cabin, so she couldn’t really make any excuses.

「Widele? Could you explain this to me?」

「Ah, no. Well, Your Highness Frizione, I wasn’t……」

You sold me out. Widele looked at Rei like that, so Rei gently averted his gaze.

They were supposed to be having an important conversation regarding the future of the First Princess’ faction, but for some reason, the topic had turned to dried meat and dried fruit.

Angela watched the exchange between Frizione and Widele for a while before clapping her hands loudly.

The sound echoed strangely through the cabin, attracting the attention of not only Frizione and Widele, but also Rei.

「Your Highness Frizione, let’s put the matter aside for the time being. In the first place, the reason we came here to meet Rei was to discuss what we should do from here on.」

「……You’re right, Angela.」

Frizione finished her talk with Widele for now. But, before facing Rei, she turned to Angela for a moment and muttered softly.

「You were having a leisurely chat with Rei all this time, but now you’re telling me to play my role as princess properly.」

It was a soft mutter, but Angela could hear it clearly.

Naturally, she wanted to say something back in response, but realised that the conversation wouldn’t progress at all if she did that and stayed silent.

That said, she would settle things properly with Frizione once the current matter at hand was over.

It was the exact same thought that Frizione had been thinking of regarding Widele just before.

Frizione seemed to sense the uneasy auro coming from Angela. Wisely, she didn’t say anything more either as she sat down on the sofa.

The cabin might have been a place for her to relax most of the time, but now was not the time for that.

Although she knew that, Frizione still felt more relaxed inside the cabin, probably because it was now almost a conditioned reflex.

Angela and Widele stood behind Frizione, who was sitting down.

As guards, they never expected to be able to sit to begin with.

「Now then, Rei. First, let me be frank with you. The condition written in the letter is that I will serve under Mercurio. I intend to accept the condition.」

「Really?」

Rei spoke up with an surprised expression on his face.

He hadn’t expected Frizione to accept Mercurio’s condition so easily.

However, Frizione continued speaking as if she didn’t notice Rei’s reaction.

「That condition is fine. However, I would prefer that there be as few fights as possible.」

「……Uh?」

Rei didn’t understand what Frizione meant. Unlike his response from a few seconds ago, this time Rei was really confused.

The rebel army and punitive forces had already fought and both sides, or more accurately, just the punitive forces, had suffered a great number of casualties.

Even if they were asked to avoid fighting as much as possible, in such a situation……

「That’s impossible.」

There was no other way to put it.

In fact, Rei didn’t think it would be possible to stop the fighting at this point.

From the rebels’ point of view, the war situation was overwhelmingly in their favour. Moreover, as the name ‘rebel army’ suggested, they were currently being treated as traitors of the Bestir Empire.

Having pushed things so far, it was only natural that the rebel army, or rather Mercurio, would want to eliminate, but not kill, his two older brothers, who both had a higher right to the throne than him.

As for the punitive forces, Shurus had expected to lose the battles, but the defeat had been ever greater than he had planned.

In Kabajid’s case, the night ambush had completely wiped out his punitive force without the rebels taking any loses, destroying his reputation as the First Prince.

Even if all parties were asked to avoid fighting, Rei didn’t think any of them would agree to it.

Rei turned to look at Angela and Widele, but the two of them intended to do everything in their power to make their master, Frizione’s, wish come true.

「I know it’s difficult. But if no one tries it just because it’s difficult, the civil war will never end. The citizens of the Bestir Empire will fight each other in bloody battles and the resentment, hatred, and misery will pile up. And, as a family, I want to stop this civil war where brothers are fighting each other.」

What a naive joke. That was what Rei thought when he heard Frizione’s words, but he didn’t say that out loud because Frizione’s eyes showed that she was serious and had no plans to back down.

「……Well, I don’t have any authority regarding the matter. For better or worse, my position is nothing more than an escort, as I said in front of the cabin. You can discuss the conditions with Mercurio directly, not me.」

In the end, Rei decided to postpone the discussion.

Of course, he wasn’t wrong. In fact, he didn’t have any authority regarding Frizione joining forces.

(Although, after sneaking out of the castle and Imperial Capital to join the rebel army……I don’t think Kabajid or Shurus would welcome her back if she suddenly decided the conditions didn’t suit her. If that happens, will she retract her naive opinion and join the rebel army……or will she put herself forward as a third force? Either way, it’s going to be tough.)

When the time came, what choice would Frizione make? Rei didn’t know, which was why he looked forward to it.

「So, regardless of your thoughts about the matter, may I assume you are fine with joining up with the rebel army for now?」

「Yes. Whatever we do, it’s true that we need to talk to Mercurio and Vihera first.」

Seeing Frizione nod and speak without hesitation, Rei nodded back without saying anything more.

「I understand. So, when can we leave? The sooner the better.」

The face of Kabajid, whom he had encountered in front of the castle, crossed Rei’s mind.

He had no proof that he had been discovered, but he couldn’t forget the gaze that seemed to peer into his heart and see right through him.

There was also Dune’s encounter with Widele.

Because Dune’s attention had been on Widele, he hadn’t seen through Rei’s true identity.

But, what if some time passed?

Maybe Dune would remember him at some point.

Thinking like that, Rei honestly wanted to get out of the castle as soon as possible.

……In actual fact, not just Kabajid, even Shurus had found out that Rei was in the castle.

The only reason Rei was still able to stay here safely was because Shurus believed that Kabajid was planning something and didn’t want to get caught up in his plots by reckless attacking Rei.

In Shurus’ case, he also had some desire to keep Frizione out of danger.

Regardless, for that reason, Rei wanted to leave the Imperial Capital as soon as possible.

「Yes, that right. I’ve been quietly preparing things since before Widele returned, but you should expect things to take some amount of time.」

「What do you mean by a certain amount of time.」

「If we want to be completely prepared, it will take months. If we don’t want to wait that long and just be prepared enough for the time being, it will take a few days. If we just grab what we need right now, then maybe tomorrow.」

「I would prefer tomorrow……」

As he spoke, Rei turned to Angela and Widele.

However, they both shook their heads silently.

「I thought as much.」

Rei understood that escaping the next day would be unlikely.

It was clear from Frizione’s response that not everyone was ready and the nobles in her faction wouldn’t have heard anything about Rei yet.

Besides, if they were to escape the castle the next day, they wouldn’t even have enough time to gather weapons and armour.

It would be hard for Rei to escort a group of people with no weapons or armour and he wasn’t particularly keen on handing out the equipment inside the Misty Ring, most of which were spears.

taking all that into consideration, the best choice was naturally……

「Please do it as soon as possible.」

That was all Rei could ask.

They probably understood what he meant. Angela and Widele both nodded in reponse from behind Frizione.

Frionze herself nodded in understanding as well.

「That’s probably the only option. Personally, I’d be more comfortable if given a few months.」

「That’s impossible. If it takes that long, my stay here will be at its limits and there will undoubtedly be new developments in the civil war.」

Besides……Rei thought to himself.

(I can’t just leave Set alone. I told him to hunt and eat the local monsters and animals, but he’s very much a social animal. If I’m not careful, he might get lonely and try to enter the Imperial Capital. There’s a barrier of some kind, so it’s probably impossible from the sky. ……Would he force his way in through the main gate? I really odn’t want to imagine that.)

The image of Set flapping his wings and charging at full speed towards the main gate crossed his mind.

Seeing that, the guards naturally had to respond……and as a result, the commotion that awaited them grew bigger than they could ever imagine.

「……Yeah, I think it would be best if you prepared as soon as possible.」

Knowing how attached Set was to him, Rei spoke while looking off into the distance.

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