“Well, all things ended well, and our clan received a lot of help, so it doesn’t matter who was praised for it. Thanks to Your Highness, we had the chance to meet someone impressive and learn a lot, so we are very thankful.”

“Just call me Liry. Whenever I hear anyone referring to me in any other way, I can only hear the sarcasm in their voices, but since you are friends with Reina, I think that I can trust you all to be my friends as well.”

Liry showed this amazing smile after that which made the group feel a bit guilty. It was an innocent and bright smile like a pure rose in the middle of a dead forest. The group could understand why Reina said that. While showing a smile like that, most people would feel like helping such a sweet girl.

Zelos only felt wary of her, though. The smile made him feel like he had eaten something bad during breakfast. It wasn’t forced or some sort of trait, but he could tell that it made him feel sick for some odd reason.

“I can see some wisdom in her eyes, behavior, and words. A lot of wisdom, in fact. Despite that, she is able to maintain that kind of smile. I guess that must be why her smile makes me feel uncomfortable. It is the smile of someone who knows that they are in a bad spot and might die soon after losing the last family that they had, but they still don’t lose hope. The issue is that she isn’t planning to fight to her limits for her life.”

“Well, it would be my honor, Liry.”

Heirina smiled, and she looked genuinely happy. At the same time, she was confused. She wanted to ask about Huxi, why she asked him for help, and why now she looked all alone. Still, that would be a troublesome topic in the first meeting.

“Since that is the case, do you want to stay for my birthday party? It will be in one week, and I am sure Dad will be happy to see more people there, too.”

Everyone looked at Zelos in order to make him stay quiet, and they could tell that he was about to ask how many people would be there. He just shrugged.

“If there will be a lot of food, then I am game.”

“We will gladly accept your invitation, Liry. We will be staying in the city until then.”

“Why don’t you stay here as guests, then? We will have a lot of time to talk. I don’t have much else to do here either.”

Zelos wanted to ask how come she could say so many lonesome things in a row. He was even starting to feel a bit sad. Staying in the castle when they didn’t know what would happen or when the emperor might die would be the worst thing possible for them. Still, Heirina ended up making her choice.

“We will gladly accept the offer. We just need to bring our things from the inn. I hope that you don’t mind.”

“Of course not! This will be amazing! I can’t wait!”

Such a dazzling smile… Zelos couldn’t help but feel that he was being purified while looking at it. Maybe that was why he felt bad again. He needed his impurities to feel normal. In the end, the group got up and then left the palace and headed to the inn.

“Are we going to run at full speed back home now?”

“Zelos… how can you say such a thing? I am starting to think that you are colder than the worst type of people I have seen on the battlefield.”

“Perhaps I am. What about it?”

“... I gave her my word and we are going to return. I might be many things, but being a liar isn’t one of them.”

“I just hope that you have considered the merits and the demerits of this properly.”

In the end, Heirina was the leader of the mission, so Zelos had to follow the orders until he knew that he would get himself killed by following those. Once that happens, it would be time to bail without hesitation.

“I wished that my sister were sweet like that.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Everyone looked at Irlan with suspicious eyes. That had been a very weird statement. Still, no one disagreed that Liry was a very sweet girl. Maybe it was because of that reason that she hadn’t been killed yet. Or maybe it was because of Huxi.

“What does Huxi do here?”

“He is one of the officers of the largest clan in the country, the only one that has five thousand people in it. I understand what you are thinking. He doesn’t seem to be an enemy of the princess, but he can’t control the clan to do what he wants like protect the princess. They receive direct orders from the emperor, but when that isn’t the case…”

“The prime minister, huh? I guess he wouldn’t go as far as to do anything troublesome that would make Huxi clan suspicious of him. In that sense, I guess all the sides in this power struggle are trying to find the best way to blame the death of the princess on each other.”

Everyone nodded after hearing that as well… It made perfect sense. They couldn’t mess up now. A single mistake would cost years of power struggle in the country. Still, if Zelos and the others were able to realize that much, how come Huxi wouldn’t have done the same? He seemed a bit foolish and free spirited, but it was hard to deny that he was pretty smart when it comes to battles since he always arrives on time.

Before long, the group packed their things at the inn and then grabbed their horses and returned to the palace. The guards this time didn’t try to stop them and they were informed about their invitation… while seeing their confused expressions, Zelos realized something else. They couldn’t stop Liry from doing a lot of things without risking getting on the bad side of Huxi clan, the princess knew that as well.

Regardless, Liry welcomed them back with a large smile and soon guided them to some rooms close to her bedroom. The rooms were completely empty… She was supposed to have some servants to help her, but that wasn’t the case now.

The group didn’t even have time to unpack in their rooms and the girls were called by Liry to see her room and talk there for a while. She seemed like that type of girl and Edea as well, but the other two would feel like fish out of water.

“It feels like they will get along pretty fast… what should we do in the meantime, Zelos?”

“What, indeed…”

Zelos decided to train to kill time and think about what he learned that day before considering his options. The group found the princess, and they found it odd since she is a pretty happy-go-lucky girl despite the fact that no one wants to see her on the throne, a woman leading any country is unheard of, and she also doesn’t look like she wants to lead it.

Thanks to all that, Zelos wants to return as soon as possible since they finished the main mission, but Heirina had other plans. She didn’t say that out loud, but she was interested in the princess and wanted to learn what kind of person she was on a deeper level. The reason for that was the fact that she was supposed to be the next ruler and Heirina didn’t want to see some scheming people trying to rule the country. That would never work since they would see everyone else as mere pawns.

“We can’t move freely in the palace, but we should be fine in the area where the princess lives. We need to be cautious to avoid problems.”

“Right… they will be fine as long as they are with Kaitrine, but I guess we will have to keep the perimeter a bit safer, huh?”

Irlan wasn’t good at that kind of thing, but he had good instincts. He would be able to tell if people around were spying on them somehow. In the end, they took a good look around the area, but they didn’t find anything odd… even beyond the area, things were way too quiet in the palace. Was it because of their arrival, or was it because of something else?

“The prime minister shouldn’t live here, so people who want to bet on him would stay close to him. That would explain why this place is so empty… people are flocking to him to get on his good side. Since he has the power while the emperor is sick, he can also decrease or increase the number of people working here.”

Before long, lunch time came, and the girls left the room to grab the food. It seemed that Liry had to do even that now, but she didn’t mind. The others also looked quite relaxed after talking with her for a couple of hours. In any case, Heirina stepped away a bit while they headed to the kitchen.

“Did you find anything odd?”

“No, at least for now.”

“Since we are here, we will have to keep our guard most of the time, but we won’t be able to do that while interacting with Liry. At least not Edea and me. Kaitrine can, but you two will have to keep your distance and do that.”

“I figured as much.”

Heirina nodded and then she joined the girls on the front. In the kitchen, they found some servants carrying food for the guards and they looked pretty nervous when Liry approached. Those guys were guilty because they wanted to keep their positions, but they didn’t hate the princess for wanting to see her demise… they just didn’t want to get on the bad side of those who might be planning to dispose of her.

Still, Liry ignored them and just grabbed some bowls of food for everyone and gave them. At least they didn’t try to stop her. The only problem was that Zelos felt like asking for two more bowls just to be safe.

“Well, I will keep my eyes open to see if some food will be left. If that happens, then I will grab more the next time. I am not sure I can keep leaving the palace, so I should stuff myself here for free.”

While Zelos was thinking about that, the group began to eat. During the whole time, Liry looked ecstatic… It made Zelos wonder how much happiness she had daily when she was acting like that. If she were truly happy most of the time, she would have shown some signs that she was forcing herself, but not a single sign of that was shown.