Charlotte’s bedroom wasn’t so big you could play soccer in it. There was a large canopy bed with elegant silk curtains, a conference table, comfortable chairs and a sofa. The furniture, including a bookcase, was neatly arranged.
The dressing room was also inside the bedroom, and there seemed to be a large bathroom as well.
Although the royal class dormitory was also quite impressive, it was incomparable to the princess’s bedroom, of course.
Suddenly, I became curious.
Would Charlotte dress herself or would the maids dress her? In the dormitory, she would do everything herself.
Of course, there are some types of clothes that cannot be put on or taken off by oneself. In such cases, would she have to borrow someone’s help?
But, I didn’t ask.
I looked around the bedroom and finally spoke my thoughts.
“The bed is… too big?”
“……Really, I have to give you credit for your perspective.”
Charlotte said, pointing to the huge bed that was more than twice the size of a king-size bed.
It was not only horizontally, but also vertically that it was so long.
“But, surprisingly, your words are right. That bed is too vast. However, I realized it was uncomfortable only after trying to sleep in the dormitory bed.”
The dormitory bed was also large, but not to that extent.
I’ve seen people living in dorms narrower than this. It’s only slightly bigger than a studio apartment.
“I always had to crawl all over the bed to get out of it, but apparently dorm beds only require one sideways roll?”
It was funny to hear Charlotte say that she realized she’d been sleeping in an uncomfortable bed her whole life until she tried a smaller bed.
It’s cute how she said it.
You can get down from the bed by rolling over once to the side. That’s great.
Imagining Charlotte doing that made me laugh, I couldn’t help but laugh, regardless of the seriousness of the situation.
“Do you want to lie down?”
“…I know you think I’m an asshole. But, you know I’m not that bad, right?”
I have some dignity too! I’m not one of those people who roll around in bed, giggling, right in the fucking princess’s bed!
Charlotte laughed, covering her mouth at my reaction.
“Why? Honestly, the bed is so big that even if we sleep at both ends, our fingertips won’t touch all night, no matter how much you move.”
“Why are you saying that?”
I asked, finally convinced that Charlotte had lost her mind.
Charlotte didn’t show me around her spacious bedroom.
It’s a bedroom, so there might be some sensitive items. There were a few portraits, but I didn’t ask about the people in them.
An adult woman who looked like Charlotte.
There was no need to ask her name. It would be a painful reminder for Charlotte.
At that moment, something that was hardly recognizable as human…
I stopped thinking.
“Wanna see something interesting?”
“What is it?”
Charlotte grabbed my arm with a meaningful smile and led me somewhere. She headed toward the wall where the bookshelves were, where there was a column-shaped groove in the wall.
“You know how there are secret passageways in novels and stuff that nobles and aristocrats use to escape when things go crazy?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
Charlotte inserted her necklace into the groove on the wall, which was carved to resemble a column.
-Clunk
With a sound like that, the wall began to rotate, and Charlotte and I were carried to the other side.
As the rotation came to an end, I couldn’t help but be startled.
“…What is this?”
“Isn’t it amazing?”
In front of us was a staircase that went down.
The bedroom was on the second floor.
But this staircase seemed to be designed to constantly descend to the basement, not the first floor.
“This is the secret passage of the Spring Palace.”
“…Isn’t this an important secret?”
Charlotte nodded nonchalantly.
“Yeah. I bet only the Emperor knows this besides me. Dyrus and of course Turner also have no idea.”
Charlotte shook her necklace.
“This is the key.”
It must be an item passed down from generation to generation among the owners of the Spring Palace.
“…Shouldn’t I not be seeing this?”
“Why?”
Charlotte looked puzzled.
“We’re friends.”
Still, it’s a little….
It’s getting a little scary….
“So, where does this lead to?”
“This is the heart of the empire, and secret passageways are nothing to sneeze at.”
Charlotte led me down a long flight of stairs and into a room at the end.
The secret passage ended there.
There was only one room. However, there was definitely a way there.
Not a path, a portal.
“What’s this…?”
“If this is an escape path, it should be able to go anywhere.”
There was a warp gate here.
A very tiny warp gate. Of course, it is currently inactive.
I don’t know how far it can go, but if it is connected to another warp gate within the city, it could be a perfect means of escape.
“Could you use spatial teleportation magic inside the palace?”
“Surprisingly, you can, but you can’t do it in certain areas?”
Charlotte said it as if it was nothing.
What’s the reason for telling me these things?
She’s telling me a very important secret just for fun. There was no ulterior motive.
It’s like she’s a kid bragging about, “I have this in my house!”
When the gate incident breaks out, this also needs to be considered. As it is in an inactive state, it is not known whether monsters will come out even here, but it is a place that must be checked.
Even after leaving the bedroom, Charlotte guided me around here and there.
There were numerous spaces, but there were few or no people there.
Therefore, it felt empty overall.
“It’s a big place, but there aren’t that many spaces, and it’s a lot less crowded these days.”
It wasn’t as lonely as the White Palace in Arnaca I visited last time, but the Spring Palace also looked lonely.
It’s a different kind of loneliness.
The White Palace looked like the kind of place that was always lonely.
The Spring Palace didn’t look like that kind of place in the first place.
It’s a feeling that it wasn’t originally a lonely place, but because of that, it became all the more lonely.
Somehow, it felt like it was dying.
After touring around the palace, a lot of time had passed and the light of the setting sun was pouring in.
“Nothing much to see?”
I chuckled at Charlotte’s words.
It’s a bit strange to say that a palace with a small warp gate in the basement is nothing special…
“I want to say ‘what are you talking about’… but honestly, you’re right.”
In the end, that’s all there was to it.
“I appreciate your honesty.”
Charlotte seemed to like my answer.
The palace is just a huge building, with numerous empty spaces. Charlotte was not the owner of the palace, but merely someone who lived in one of its rooms.
The warm sunlight that painted the hallway red only emphasized its loneliness, with so few people to enjoy its beauty.
As Charlotte finished touring the palace, she turned to look at me.
“This is strange.”
“What is?”
“To be honest, I always wanted to do this once.”
She had a lonely smile on her face.
“I wanted to bring a friend here and say, ‘I live here.’ Show them around and tell them that living in a place like this isn’t really that great. I just wanted to do it once.”
Charlotte looked like someone who had suddenly had her wish granted.
Even though I had only come with her because I had insisted, Charlotte had secretly been hoping for this.
“You, you seem to know me well, Reinhardt. It’s strange, really… How do you know me so well? You… seem to always be there when I need you.”
I seemed to know exactly what she needed right now.
Someone to be there for her.
That was what she needed.
“Actually, I’m leaving Temple soon.”
With those words, my thoughts came to a stop.
I don’t know what the warning was, but maybe it wanted me to know this eventually.
If I continued to spend my time worrying about other things, Charlotte would suddenly disappear.
I would have spent a frustrating time not knowing why she had disappeared. I even wouldn’t be able to ask Bertus if she was okay.
Bertus.
Charlotte.
Has Bertus finally defeated her??
What about the murder in the Palace of Spring? Did Bertus try to kill Charlotte and failed? If so, that would mean trouble on Bertus’ part, so why?
Is the Spring Palace so deserted because of the imperial conflict, and has Saviolin Turner been assigned Charlotte’s bodyguard, just in case?
“Is it because of Bertus?”
Charlotte’s reaction to my question was strange.
“If so, what are you going to do about it?”
“…what?”
“If I ended up losing the battle for the throne, and that’s why I’m like this, and that’s why I’m quitting the Temple……. If that’s what it is.”
Charlotte looks at me.
“What are you going to do?”
“So, what happens next?”
I already know the answer.
“The fate of the losing faction in a succession struggle for the throne is obvious. It would be either that they would die immediately, or die later on.”
Charlotte gazes at the scenery outside the palace.
“They could be quietly executed in exile, as per the pleadings of the officials to get rid of loose ends. Or they could die in a way such as being attacked by bandits or being ambushed on their way to exile… Either way, they won’t survive.”
After explaining that, Charlotte looks at me.
“If that happens to me in the future, what are you going to do?”
There was no long deliberation.
No, there was no deliberation at all.
“I’ll save you.”
“How?”
“Somehow.”
“Anyone can say that.”
“No.”
Ignoring Charlotte’s words, I take a step towards her.
“Did you forget about my supernatural ability?”
“….”
“If I believe it, it will happen.”
Charlotte was looking at me quietly.
“I’ll save you. That’s how it’s going to be.”
“You’re being pushy.”
Unreasonable.
“Right, it’s pushy.”
I was looking at Charlotte
“But I forced myself to become a supernatural ability user and succeeded in magic enhancement. And again, I was able to force myself to enter this Spring Palace by forcing myself to act like a beggar on the street.”
In this life, which has been reached by force. I will use force once again. I’ve made my absurd demands into reality.
I believe that it will be the same this time.
“I will save you no matter what, and if I fail to save you, I will kill Bertus.”
”!”
Anyone can say that they will try to save you no matter what.
But not anyone can say that they will kill the next emperor if they fail to save you.
Charlotte was so surprised by my words that she was gaping.
I will do it.
While Bertus may be my friend for now, if he kills Charlotte, he can no longer be my friend.
Charlotte tried to understand the meaning of my words, but eventually gave a disappointed laugh.
“What are you doing all of this for? Even if I think about it, I really don’t understand why you have to go this far, saying those things to me. I really don’t know…”
“Because you’re my friend.”
Charlotte’s words of concern were repeated several times today.
With the final echo of those words, Charlotte finally stopped speaking.
After a long silence, Charlotte forced a smile and looked at me.
“It’s a shame.”
What was she so disappointed about?
“I know you’ve been worried about me all day today. But it’s enough now.”
The reason for my strange behavior today had been noticed by Charlotte.
“It’s not because of Bertus. So…”
Charlotte pinched my cheek lightly.
“You won’t have any chance to make mistakes this time.”
She’s making a face as if she’d been given the death sentence. Not even my determination could change it.
“Thank you, Reinhardt,” Charlotte’s eyes were filled with tears.
“I wanted to hear you say that you would cause trouble for me.”
I may not have a chance, but hearing those words was enough for Charlotte.
She was crying and laughing at the same time, as if words alone were enough to comfort her.
Please report to us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!