CH 37.3

Gustav fell to his knees. He was sweating cold, his vision was blurry and his throat was burning. He could barely keep his consciousness.

(Fufu, as expected of a holy knight… he’s still conscious, huh♥?) – Thought Natalia, as she stood in front of Gustav with pleased smile.

“Do you know why we believed Harlet, when he told us that we shouldn’t use our magic power to help other people?”

“Ugh…! Because it’s… poison…!”

Gustav was glaring at Natalia, like he wanted to kill her—

“Correct—”

—However, that only served to amuse her even more.

“—The dragon blood running through my veins is poisonous. But that’s not all, I’m from the Klingbeil household and we’re quite good at poisoning people—”

Natalia then leaned forward with a chuckle.

“—Wouldn’t you say so? I bet your body is probably going numb by now.”

“Kuh…!”

Indeed, Gustav couldn’t feel his limbs. The blood–or rather, the poison that Natalia made him swallow, was forcefully eroding the spirit power in his body. Staying on his knees was already draining everything he had.

“Hey, how does it feel to be backed into corner? I bet you weren’t expecting me to do this, right?” – Said Natalia, as she caressed Gustav’s cheek with her fingers.

“You… why…?”

“Why I’m doing this? Because you did the same thing to her . You see, Leonora is afraid of men, but you still dragged her to the confession room * . She must’ve been scared, but I bet you didn’t even care.” ( *Tl/n: Ch-26.2)

“She’s… afraid…?”

“Yes, she is–”

Natalia then stared deeply into Gustav’s eyes, before continuing.

“–Although the person herself is unaware of it, Leonora is the shining gem of this academy… but it wasn’t always like that. I know you heard some rumors about her… however, that’s not even close to the truth. The life she was leading before coming here, was a rather sad one. She was kept captive for a long time… and the people who did that to her… they used her as a disposable tool. They didn’t even give her proper food to eat. She was only allowed to dress in rags, even during winter. And her rights as a person were revoked… just because she is the child of that disaster.”

Natalia revealed Leonora’s past to Gustav. Her past was even more shocking than the rumors. It was almost unbelievable that such a young girl could’ve been through so much.

“She… what…?” – Said Gustav, in a shocked tone.

“Lord Harkenberg is trying to conceal Leonora’s past to protect her honor… and I’m helping him in the best way I can. Most of the information that we leaked about her are mass produced lies. If you’re really a seasoned warrior, then you should’ve noticed her thin body, despite being born into such a prestigious noble family, and her broken language. There’s no way such an easily frightened girl would do all that on purpose.”

Afraid of men.

Thin body.

Broken language.

Easily frightened.

Those words echoed in Gustav’s head. When he tried to threaten Leonora into giving him that magic crest * , she was indeed trembling. But then, out of nowhere, she started to laugh. That’s why he didn’t believe those rumors–

( *Tl/n: Ch-26.3)

(–No, that’s wrong. I simply chose to ignore the truth… I made her laugh…)

Deep inside, Gustav knew the truth… he simply chose to ignore it. Leonora was probably scared, at first. But because he wasn’t good at threatening people, she started to laugh.

There’s no way such a weak little girl could’ve killed his sister on purpose. She was simply desperate for a solution. That’s why she carelessly revealed Harlet’s plot.

And as soon as he realized that, Gustav felt an incredible sense of guilt washing over him. The fact that he wanted to punish an innocent girl, just because he couldn’t forgive her, couldn’t get out of his mind.

“You mistook her intentions, Gustav. Leonora isn’t calculative… she simply has a strong will to face adversity head on. And you know what we call that? Bravery… which is something you holy knights have long forgotten. She doesn’t care about appearances, on the contrary, she’s always doing her best to help others… even if she ends up hurting herself because of that.” – Said Natalia, in a serious tone.

Gustav wasn’t glaring at Natalia anymore. He even forgot about the pain that he was feeling earlier. In it’s place came disgust… disgust at himself, for breaking his vow of protecting the innocent.

“I… what did I… . ”

“Your people * only got caught up in the aftermath of the incident because the holy knights were too slow in solving that problem. When you take a shit, you have to wipe your own ass ** . But you guys didn’t do that. Instead, you blamed an innocent girl who wiped it for you—”

( Tl/n: * The original is The church people, but I changed it to Your people. ** And yes, she really said that.)

Natalia then closed the distance between the two of them, before whispering in his ear—

“—That’s why I won’t forgive you again, if you do something to her, okay?”

—Her tone was sweet, like she was speaking with a little kid.

“Well, the amount of blood that I made you swallow isn’t lethal… the numbness in your body will probably be gone by dawn. I would prefer if you stayed here, instead of going on the field trip with the primary students, but I guess you’re the best person for the job, anyway. Just don’t forget what I told you.”

After she said that, Natalia took a step back and turned around, then she started walking towards the exit of the cathedral, in a rushed gait.

Once she closed the big doors of the cathedral, Natalia couldn’t help but release a relieved sigh. Her heart was beating really fast.

(\\\\\\I-I… I really did it…\\\\\\)

It was rare for Natalia to lose her cool like that, after all, she was always the most calm and collected of the three. However, not only did she poison the Sword of the Empire, but she also told him her family’s secret. She almost couldn’t believe what she did.

Natalia was lucky that Gustav was strong enough to fight back against the poison. If anything went wrong, he would probably be dead by now, which meant that she’d be in trouble. Well, she did that to protect Leonora, so she didn’t regret her actions. However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t a reckless move.

Anyway, that didn’t matter right now. Her emotions were a mess. She was feeling happy and sad at the same time.

(\\\\\\T-that was my… first kiss…\\\\\\) – Thought Natalia, as she caressed her lips with the tip of her fingers.

They say first kisses tasted like lemons, but for Natalia, that was far from the truth. Her first kiss tasted like iron. And it wasn’t romantic either.

She only did that because she wanted to punish a pathetic holy knight who was acting like a little kid throwing a tantrum, instead of helping Albert and Leonora, who were desperately trying to find a way to help everyone.

They were just children. And they needed someone with insight to point them to the right path, otherwise, they’d just keep making mistakes. But the adults were too busy playing their stupid political games to notice them.

That’s why Natalia always tried to act calm and collected, like an adult. Her cousins and friends were still young and reckless, so someone had to be the voice of reason.

However, being the voice of reason and the young lady of a family of Dukes, wasn’t an easy job. But Natalia’s romance novels helped her unwind and forget her Noble Duty.

Unlike her, the main characters of those novels were free to do whatever they wanted and love whoever they wanted.

Well, Learning about poisons wasn’t exactly an easy task, but she had to do it… that was also her job.

(\\\Haaah∼, I wish this was a fairy tale…\\\)

However, in the middle of all that silence, Natalia heard a faint whisper–

“…*Snif*…Onee-chan no baka… . ” ( Tl/n: This is too cute, so I’m not changing it.)

–That was probably Bianca’s voice… and she was sulking.

(Haaah∼, no good… I’m her big sister, so I have to pull myself back together…)

Natalia then closed her eyes and breathed in some fresh air to calm down. When she opened them, she was already back to her usual self.

Leo was running.

And his purple eyes were shining with the brilliant light of conviction.

Leo was about make a lot of money, so he couldn’t help but let out a happy smile–

(I have to finish the crest and prepare for tomorrow’s field trip!)

–After all, the Golden Spirit of Coins hadn’t abandoned him.

If Leo managed to finish the magic crest by dawn, then his only problem would be finding Carnelian, who was somewhere in the Korwitz forest. And if she blessed the magic crest, then the first phase of the water business would be complete.

That’s why Leo had to find her.

Well, finding her would be a bit difficult, to say the least. But if he was lucky, then she would make a contract with him, which was a good thing, after all, he would be able to solve the water problem that was plaguing Richard.

However, while Leo was lost in his thoughts–

“Leonora!”

–He heard someone calling his name.

Leo turned around immediately… but that was a mistake. The one who called out to him was the prince, and he was running as well.

Albert was the last person that Leo wanted to see right now, so he did what any normal person would and ran even faster.

“Wait! Why are you running away from me!?”

(That’s my question! Why are you chasing me!?)

Well, Leo knew why Albert was chasing after him, however, that didn’t mean that chasing other people was a good thing to do.

The prince certainly didn’t like his methods of making money. But they weren’t illegal, so running away wouldn’t put him behind bars.

Leo then put even more strength in his legs.

(These legs are weak, but we’ve been through a lot together! I believe in you guys! I know we can get away from this evil prince!)

He was almost there. If Leo turned to the right on the next corridor, then he would be right in front of his room, but–

“Wait, Leonora!”

–Albert easily caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

“Kyaaah!”

Because his arm was pulled too suddenly, Leo let out a startled scream. However, the prince misunderstood that as a scream of pain, so he let go of Leonora’s arm, before saying–

“–I’m sorry for pulling your arm so suddenly like that… I just wanted to talk–”

“…???… . ”

Leo was a bit confused. He thought this would be the end of the road for him, but Albert let go of his arm and apologized for grabbing it so suddenly.

(Well, maybe Albert is finally learning from his past mistakes. He even released me this time, so I’ll at least hear what he has to say…) – Thought Leo, as he stared at Albert with suspicious eyes.

“–You don’t have to be on guard. I promise I won’t touch you without your permission.”

Even though Albert said he didn’t need to be on guard, Leo couldn’t simply believe him. His arm was hurting a bit and he couldn’t let his guard down.

“R-really…? You weren’t, chasing me, because you, were angry?” – Said Leo, with tears in his eyes, as he held the magic crest over his chest.

“Angry!? N-no I–!”

Albert tried to explain himself, but as he started, he saw Leonora flinching. She probably got startled by his loud voice.

The last thing he wanted was to make her even more scared of him, so he took a deep breath and started again.

“–You got it all wrong, Leonora… I’m not angry at all. It’s impossible for me to be angry with you. I just… I can’t stand to see you doing everything on your own–”

After hearing that, Leo got even more confused. He didn’t know if the prince was trying to set up a trap * for him, or if he just wanted to help him with his current task.

( *Tl/n: The original is a trap with words, but that’s too big, so I changed it.)

“–I know I don’t have the right to stop you, but seeing that is painful for me–no, for all of us. You have friends… and we can help you. Please, don’t forget that.”

Albert did his best to sound as friendly as possible… but to Leo, it sounded like a threat–

I know I can’t stop your new business, but we’re your friends, so you should let us in on it, too. Don’t forget that you owe me one for letting you in on that business meeting.

–It’s like the prince was a thug trying to extort money from him.

As a commoner, Leo couldn’t refuse the crown prince’s royal decree. He had to obey Albert, even if he didn’t want to. However, following his orders would only waste his precious time… and that’s something that Leo couldn’t afford.

“We don’t, have enough, time! I have, to do this, alone!”

(Doing a business meeting with everyone, just to explain what I’m going to do tomorrow, will take a lot of time! So that’ll have to wait!) – Thought Leo, as he tightened his grasps on the magic crest.

“You don’t… have enough time? What do you mean by that?”

“The Spirit Festival, is right around, the corner! And I have, to finish the, magic crest–!”

When Albert heard that, he couldn’t help but grip his fists tightly until they turned white.

(I knew it… she’s trying to solve everything on her own again…)

Like him, Leonora was also doing her best to find a way to help the people of Richard… however, she was doing that on he own. It pained Albert to think that she would rather seek the help of a priest, instead of relying on him. But he didn’t have the right to complain, after all, he scared her on the day of the Winter Festival.

“–We can’t waste, anymore time! That’s why, I have, to do this, on my own!”

“Leonora…… . ”

In order to save everyone, Leonora didn’t mind sacrificing herself… and Albert knew she was ready to suffer the consequences of her actions, but he wanted to prevent that at all costs. He wanted to help Leonora… however, the person herself kept insisting that she had to do it on her own.

So, with no other choice but to do something reckless, Albert bit the tip of one of his fingers—

“Albert-sama!? There’s blood—!”

“—It’s okay… I’m doing this for you, Leonora. I don’t want you to suffer on your own, so please, share that burden with me.” – Said Albert, with a smile.

—Then he extended his hand and grabbed the magic crest that Leonora was holding.

“Blood Crest.”

As soon as Albert chanted that spell, the blood that was oozing out of the tip of his finger began to spread throughout the cloth, creating an even more complex magic crest.

“T-this is…!?”

“This crest is a lot stronger than the previous one. The dragon blood will repel any outside interference, so it won’t malfunction like last time. With this, you’ll probably have a bit more time to do other things.”

Albert then handed the magic crest back to Leonora, but as soon as he did that, a severe headache assaulted him. Albert was feeling a bit light headed from using too much Blood Magic, however, he couldn’t simply faint in front of the girl he loved–

“You’re not alone, Leonora… please, remember that.”

“Albert… sama…?”

–So he turned around and left.

Leo was confused. He kept staring at Albert’s retreating figure until he was out of sight, but he still couldn’t understand what happened.

(Eh…? So he want’s me to share the profits with him, since he helped me with the crest?)

Of course Albert didn’t mean it like that, but Leo’s brain revolved around money, so he couldn’t help but interpret it that way.

(Ah, now I get it! So that’s why he was angry on the day of the Winter Festival! He wanted a share of the profits, but since I did everything on my own, he didn’t get a chance to shine!)

Leo then looked down at the Blood Crest that Albert had created. The design of the crest was really complex. Leo wouldn’t be able to replicate it even if he wanted. Only someone as skilled in magic as Albert could do something like that, so giving him a share of the profits wouldn’t be a problem.

The prince was suposed to be a scary man when he was angry… or so Leo thought! But in reality, Albert was just another money hungry beast, just like him!

(Hmm… maybe Leena was wrong about him…?)

Leo didn’t know if Albert was a genuine good guy, or if he was just faking it, however, he completed the crest, so that would be enough of an alibi… for now.

“Thank you, Albert-sama… . ” – Said Leo, in a low tone, as he remembered the retreating figure of the prince.