“I see why father called Eleonora back now, but having the other girl take part in it…” Valiria wondered in a low voice as her father gave his speech during the ball. “I have to check with them later.”
The king was still talking about what he planned to do and what this whole ‘national security’ was about, but I could see people already flocking to Illia and the second princess. It was very worrying, to say the least, but there was little I could do now that she was so adamant about not joining my group.
All I wanted was to have her enjoy the social proficiency some of my companions had, and I couldn’t understand why she was so against it. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand her words from earlier… Maybe if I got more information about it.
“Why was your sister away until now?” I asked while remembering the girl that, other than her face and hair color, had not a single thing in common with Valiria. If it wasn’t for both of them saying so, I would still be unsure if they were sisters.
Hearing Valiria saying they were twins too was even more of a shock, but I was past this point by now.
“Well, in a simple way, Eleonora dislikes the court. She is very against staying still and acting as a princess for some reason, so instead, she roams around the kingdom like some sort of rogue law enforcer, or a spy.” The princess tried to explain with a complex expression on her face. “It’s… It’s very worrying, to be honest. How she risks herself all the time was always a problem for me, but if I ask her to stop, all she says is that ‘it is the best way’ and keeps going. Makes me a little happy that she was forced to settle down and protect your friend for now… I mean, that is probably why she is here for now, and I do not believe they will risk someone without magic too much.”
A rogue princess for Valiria’s regal princess then. They seem to have a good relationship, even if a complicated one… I’m glad it looks like Illia will be in a somewhat safe position for now, although I don’t get what exactly the king wants her to do.
“You should worry about yourself first, Hayato. I’m sure you understand that we’re on the eve of risking our lives for the greater good.” Calixto, the tall and, by the maid’s accounts, very handsome guy close to me added as he seemed to notice what I was thinking. He was a very powerful mage capable of using both fire and ice magic while also being Randoul’s, the old mage that vanished, youngest son, so his words had weight.
When I first met him during the event King Hellion organized to find members of the expedition, I thought he was some stuck-up rich guy like the ones from my school, but it ended that he was just a little blunt. Some days of talking with him made me understand that he was a very earnest and pragmatic guy during any important matters, but would loosen up when we were resting or in some calmer situation.
My face when I visited his mansion and saw his many, and I say many, pets and how he cared for them was a real something.
“You say this, milord, but isn’t this group a little too strong?” The red-haired maid, Dori, who acted as Valiria’s personal maid and, if what I heard was right, bodyguard, added from her place close to the sweets table. “A hero that could beat the whole royal guard, a princess with two rare elements, the archmage’s prodigious son, the best maid ever, and a real-real forest person! I’m sure this is pretty much a dream line-up here.”
She was a little unusual from what I knew of real maids even if somewhat in line with the cafe version of them. A little too mischievous too, but a good girl still. She was always eager to let me help with her job, although I knew it wasn’t really a good quality, and someone easy to talk with, something I was lacking right now.
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Her only real problem, in my eyes, was her preposition of getting into trouble. One of the first times we met already involved an army of bandits, and that was only the first time something of the kind happened in less than a month.
“The best maid ever wouldn’t forget half the tasks she’s given.”
“That’s… Errr… Teehee?”
“Maybe I should call… Hmmm… What was her name? Eleonora’s maid…”
“No, no, no, no! Don’t go calling Evelin on me, please! Her training is way too much for mere mortals…”
“Sigh… Anyway, I believe we should avoid overestimating our capabilities. It is, as my father also said, a very powerful group, but we never know what we will find there.”
“I agree with you, Your Highness.” Calixto nodded while leading our group away from the focus of the ball to rest for a moment. “We have a lot going on, but it’s never that easy.”
Our little companion, the elf Lhoris, also nodded in her usual silent agreement while Dori passed her a plate full of random desserts. She was actually called a forest person who lived in the fey forest here, but I couldn’t see it as anything other than an elf.
I was still unsure if she could talk or not, though. I had yet to hear her saying a word since the day we met, that same event the king did, though she wasn’t one of the candidates and only joined after some troublesome events happened on that same day.
Either way, she only communicated with signals and movement, so I was a little unsure of what happened there even now. It was lucky that we were around, though. It’s worrying to think what would have happened there if no one was around at the time…
“What you’re all saying is fair, but we can’t do much about it right now, so why bother worrying?” I answered instead with my eyes focusing on keeping an eye on the pompous people who would soon get close again. “Do what we can and worry later, is what I say.”
“That’s a very dangerous way to look at it, Mr. Hayato…” Valiria sighed at me while I could only shrug it off as is. “Especially if we consider that my father is making this whole huge move more to focus on Eleonora and your friend. It’s at least a sign that, unless we go fast and succeed for sure, the kingdom itself may be at risk.“
“Again with it, eh? I Illia said almost the same to me. I’m sure politics is important and all, but isn’t the world in danger right now? Even if the other countries want to make a move, I’m sure they wouldn’t…”
“That’s very naïve of you, Hayato.” The smart-looking mage admonished me. “Demons are always a thing even if we deal with their leader and stop the incursions, so that’s no deterrent. The real deterrent is you, and only you. While you are around and waving your overwhelming powers, no one will try being aggressive with Prourene, but if anything goes wrong during the expedition...”
“Our soldiers are more powerful than any others on average, but our kingdom is too small to take everyone head-on, and they know that. Without the hero, taking us down isn’t that hard.”
“So this whole thing with Illia…”
“Yes. Father is either trying to trick everyone into thinking we have a hero in reserve or he saw something in that girl that would have her be a good deterrent too.”
“That’s worrying…” I mumbled again since, once more, I couldn’t avoid worrying that I would be throwing someone unrelated into this mess due to a whim. Just seeing how Illia was forcing her smile in the middle of the ballroom was already bad enough, so if I repaid her with a whole struggle, then I would feel even worse.
But while I was focused on the blonde and the weirdly dressed princess, I felt a chill on the back of my head and a tug on my shirt, so I turned back to my party in confusion.
“What’s up?”
“You really should learn to pay attention to your surroundings, Hayato…” Calixto sighed again while I tried to understand his expression of disappointment and some other weird stares I was getting from my companions. “Maybe our problems won’t even be dealing with the source of the demons if things go like this.”
“Heheh, it’s fun to watch and it gives me…” Dori stopped in the middle of her phrase as a clearly angry Valiria stared at her for some reason. “I mean, I’m sure everything will be fine for you, princess. Hayato isn’t that blind, maybe… And I’m not involving myself, trust me.”
“That we will see…”
“I really don’t get what’s happening here…” I commented in confusion, but soon noticed that it was a terrible idea to do so…
Most of what I remember from this ball after this point was how thoroughly chewed I was in the princess’ lecture that followed, and how I was still unsure of what was happening.