The underground prison of the Imperial Palace.
In a dark cell where the only light came from torches lining the corridor, a man let out a groan.
“…Ughhh. Damn Imperial bastards… I’ll… kill them all…”
Taurus, the former first prince of the Cretia Kingdom, was muttering curses that hardly made sense.
Following previous events, he had been imprisoned in the deepest part of the underground cells and his regenerative abilities were sealed by the saintess’s divine power.
Many had tried to extract information from him regarding the Heavenly God Cult, but despite brutal threats and torture, he never opened his mouth. So, until another method could be found, he remained locked away in this prison.
Step, step—
“How pathetic you look.”
“Who… Wha—! Deputy Cult Leader?! How did you—!”
Taurus was startled by the voice that spoke to him without warning.
The man he had once spoken to through a crystal orb before the wedding was none other than the deputy cult leader of the Heavenly God Cult. That man had somehow appeared in the prison without being detected by anyone.
Though dumbfounded, Taurus, despite having his hands and feet bound, tried his best to bow his head in respect. The deputy cult leader waved his hands dismissively to stop him.
“No need to strain yourself in such a state.”
“M-My apologies…”
“More importantly… you lost, didn’t you? Even with the power granted to you?”
His tone was flat, devoid of emotion, but within it lingered a subtle trace of anger. Sensing a fear unlike anything he’d felt before, Prince Taurus tightly shut his eyes.
“I-I’m sorry!! Please, allow me to atone for this mistake with my life—”
“How amusing.”
“F-Forgive me… huh?“
He had fully expected the deputy cult leader to take his life on the spot for his failure, but surprisingly, the response wasn’t entirely negative.
“A new Lord… and yet, in the flow of the stars, there was no sign of a new star’s birth… Could it be that he was born under the energy of defiance against the heavens…?”
Though his face was hidden, it was easy to sense that the deputy cult leader, who was muttering incomprehensible terms, was genuinely delighted.
Taurus hadn’t been under the deputy cult leader’s favor for very long since joining the Heavenly God Cult, but never once had he seen the man smile so brightly.
A mix of joy and terror stirred within Taurus. The joy of being the first to witness such a glorious sight, and the fear of not understanding what had brought the man such pleasure.
“You’ve done well. Thanks to you, I’ve learned that another Aura Lord exists in this era. It seems I’ll need to move up the schedule for the plans I’ve set in motion.”
“Th-Thank y—”
Slice—!
“Guhh! Cough! D-Deputy… Cult Leader…?”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? That you would repay this failure with your life.”
His vocal cords had been severed, leaving him unable to speak.
His windpipe had been cut, and he couldn’t even wheeze or gasp. He could only fully feel the agonizing sensation of the blood that had filled his body now gushing out all at once.
Splat, splatter—
Taurus’s neck was nearly severed in half.
With his regenerative powers sealed, he bled out onto the floor, and before long, his entire body went cold as his life came to an end.
“Still, may you come to understand what a great blessing it is to atone for your foolish mistake with your life.”
And just as he had arrived with no sound and no trace—
The deputy cult leader silently exited the prison with a calm and unhurried stride.
***
“So… you’re saying the prince is dead? In prison? Someone slit his throat?”
“That’s right.”
I had just woken up when the princess brought me the shocking news.
Sometime late last night, judging by the timing, someone had broken into the underground prison, killed Taurus, and escaped.
However, only the corpse remained; there was not a single trace, no mana, and no evidence left behind by the culprit, so the investigation had made no progress.
“Some believe that an assassin was sent to eliminate the prince in order to prevent any information leaks. But judging by how they pulled it off without leaving a single trace, this wasn’t the work of an ordinary individual.”
There was no way the imperial palace could have such poor security.
After all, it was the most secure place in the entire empire, given that it housed the imperial family.
And yet someone had infiltrated such a place, completely unnoticed, left no trace, carried out the assassination, and escaped without being seen?
It was something truly impossible.
Except for one group.
“It must have been the Heavenly God Cult…”
No one knew exactly who they were or what they wanted, but it was clear that they were far from ordinary.
Wait a second…. wasn’t this just supposed to be a normal dating sim game?! Why did these bizarre freaks keep showing up?!
“Fortunately, there were no additional casualties besides him. Most likely, Taurus was silenced to prevent him from leaking their information.”
It might have sounded casual, but in reality, it was an incredibly frightening statement.
What she really meant was that the culprit behind this incident could easily kill anyone, regardless of who they were, if they wanted to.
Knowing that a deadly assassin like that could target you at any time….any ordinary person would spend their nights wide awake in fear.
“Thanks to that, the imperial palace is now under the highest level of security. No one’s ever shown infiltration skills on this level before. There have been people who infiltrated the palace before, but they simply excelled at escaping. No one’s ever been this skilled at infiltrating to the point of leaving no trace at all.”
“This is serious…”
“His Majesty is quite troubled by it as well. S-So, um… because of that… Mars, I was hoping you could serve as my bodyguard for the next few days…”
“Oh my, Princess? You should trust your own knights. As a ruler, faith in your subordinates should come naturally… honestly.”
The noble lady, who had been listening in from the side, covered her mouth with her hand as she cut in to tease the princess.
Before the break, I had called all the club members together to make an announcement, but somehow, we ended up hearing about the commotion in the imperial palace during that meeting.
“Unfortunately for you, he already agreed to be my personal guard.”
“What? Is that true?”
“Yes, well… His Majesty asked me for a favor.”
It was more like a threat, really.
What was I supposed to do? Refuse the emperor when he told me to guard his daughter?
“A personal defense bracelet with a teleportation spell?! And look at how thick this shield is! Isn’t this practically a national treasure?!”
“With this, Mars can protect me anytime I call for him. And since it’s an Aura Lord protecting me, it’s perfectly trustworthy.”
“Hmm… then doesn’t that mean there’s no real need for him to be by your side all the time? If you can summon him instantly, it shouldn’t matter where or with whom he is, right?”
“That’s true.”
Because of that, I was at least fortunate enough to keep some privacy.
All I wanted was a normal academy life. Not to be trapped in the stiff, etiquette-bound imperial palace. I hated that thought more than anything.
“Lady Eus… you’ve been quite rude for a while now… Are you saying you wish for a princess of the empire to lose her life easily?”
“Oh my~ Speaking like that now doesn’t sound very threatening~ I know Mars’s personality quite well. He’s the type who hates being confined in stuffy places like the imperial palace.
He’d much rather spend his vacation with me in the Eus territory, where there are lots of sights to see and fun things to do. That would be far more to his liking, you know?”
“You…!”
“Um… I actually have somewhere else to be?”
“Huh?!”
“Huh?!”
Whoosh!
The two of them turned their heads toward me at the exact same time.
Yikes, look at those bloodshot eyes. If it were nighttime, I probably would’ve peed myself.
“Where are you going? Who are you meeting?!”
“You’re leaving me behind? Where do you think you’re going?!”
“I mean… I should at least go home first…”
“”…Ah.””
It was my first school break since entering the academy.
That meant I had spent the past few months far away from my family.
“It got really annoying once people found out I was a Lord… My father kept pestering me to come down quickly…”
He was a kind man who loved the people of his territory, but he wasn’t the type to extend that kindness to the shameless leeches trying to cling to his son.
Still, the fact that he was urging me to come back like this must have meant those parasite-like people were being especially bold.
“Hmm… If it’s to meet your family, then I guess…”
“I suppose there’s no helping it…”
I wasn’t sure what exactly they had come to terms with, but judging from their responses, it seemed they had accepted something in my answer. And then Pollo cut in.
“Oh, Mars! Since you’re going back, I want to visit your place too!”
“Yeah? I doubt much has changed, though.”
“That’s fine! I want to see Luna again; it’s been a while.”
“Luna?”
Maybe it was because an unfamiliar name had come out of his mouth.
The saintess who had been quietly listening to our conversation spoke up.
“Brother Pollo. Who is this Luna person…?”
“Oh. Luna is a childhood friend of mine and Mars’s! She’s the daughter of the couple who work as servants for Mars’s family. We’re the same age, so we used to play together all the time when we were little.”
Whoosh!!
These two always acted like they didn’t get along, so why were they so in sync right now?
“Childhood…”
“…Friend?”
“Yes. She gets shy about it, but Luna really likes Mars. Since they haven’t seen each other in months, I’m sure she’ll be really happy to see him…”
As if that would be true. She was probably having the time of her life without me around.
She even got to enjoy not hearing my nagging anymore.
“Hey, Mars Noctus.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“I’m coming too.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m also going.”
“…Huh?”
Huh?
“If Brother Pollo is going, then… I’ll go with you as well. Consider yourself honored!”
And you too…what now?!
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