Chapter 17

Chapter 17 \nVol 3: Chapter 17\n

* Lulusha *

One small, hard bed and a toilet – that was about all in Lulusha’s cell. Arrested for the crime of “national treason” that she has no idea of. She talked about everything that happened in the labyrinth during the interrogation, but still she ended up imprisoned here. The iron door to her cell, the sole doorway to the outside, remained shut.

「What the hell is going on…」

Although she couldn’t sleep on the first day due to vexation and anxiety, on the second day, the exhaustion of the labyrinth capture caught up with her body and she slept all day. And now, on the third day, she could afford to process her situation calmly.

She knew that there were people who didn’t want her to succeed. But she strived not for herself, but for the Empire. She believed that if she could produce results in the labyrinth capture, they would understand.

「I did all that and it got me to this sorry state, huh…」

She suggested inquiring with her subordinates, but was refused. She was told that their testimony was unreliable because they were also believed to have colluded with Lulusha. The official who conducted the investigation firmly believed that Lulusha had not sent any liaisons to report, and she is a traitor who used the Empire’s military force for her own gains. He rejected her pleas, saying, “Show me proof that you sent out the liaisons.”

Lulusha sent regular liaisons requesting for aid, but all seven of them were said to be missing. Some hated Lulusha – a woman and also a half human, but it’s strange that not a single one of them delivered the report.

「Did someone kidnap them? It’s unlikely that they went missing within the labyrinth. The passage wasn’t that complicated, and we didn’t encounter anything while withdrawing.」

She heaved a sigh. Even though there is clearly something more important for them to do than locking her up in this place. The lives of the seven liaisons were at stake.

「Or perhaps, those seven have been bought off and will only appear after I’m dead?」

A self-deprecating laughter escaped Lulusha’s mouth. That being the case was probable, she thought. Now that she is trapped in such a place.

Anger, regret, sadness, frustration, despair, anxiety – a mixture of emotions swept up. Lulusha slumped onto the bed and covered her face. Overtaken by her emotions, she began to cry, but clenched her teeth to not let out any noise. There was a guard outside. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t report her reactions to others. She didn’t want to give the bastards who locked her up that pleasure.

She wanted to protect her pride, at the very least.

「Even so… I wasn’t able to thank them properly.」\n

After enduring for 30 minutes, her heart calmed down.

And this time, she remembered the people who saved her.

The adventurers who came to her rescue when she was in a predicament. The boy said he had something to talk about with her—but it’s probably impossible at this rate.

「I wonder how they defended themselves against the automaton’s emotional attack. It’s truly interesting. Does it not work on a pure human? No, then the adventurers hired by the accompanying company shouldn’t have been affected, either. Hmm…」

Lulusha began to ponder on it. It was more in her nature to think about the labyrinth than to think about conspiracies.

CLICK — the sound of the iron door being unlocked brought her back to her senses.

Behind the slightly opened door, the jailer Lev appeared and said bluntly.

「Get out. You have a visitor.」

Visitor? For someone who committed a grave crime?

For a moment, she thought if it was the boy, but there’s no way an outsider could come to visit.

However, Lulusha got out because she didn’t feel like staying in that cell for too long. When she was handcuffed, frustration of being treated like a criminal when she was actually innocent boiled up again.

The visiting room was also a bland room, but it was about three times as large as her cell. Lulusha was surprised to see the person sitting in that room and knelt down.

「Your Highness Anastasia! Why are you here!?」

The lemon-colored dress was made of fabric that is rarely seen in this country, indicating that she was an esteemed personage.

However, what stood out above all, was her smooth, white skin. Her platinum blonde hair was silky, matching her skin, and a diamond-studded gold hair clasp at the back. The long ears popping out of her hair indicates that she is of the elf race – not just any elf but a High Elf.\nThe sapphire blue pupils gleamed from her long-slit eyes – almost like a jewel.

Her healthy pink lips were smiling, but no words came out of them.

A bandage with a curse seal was wrapped around her throat, the only part that gave off a strange presence.

『Please stand.』

Anastasia showed a memo paper to Lulusha as she tried to kneel on the spot—Anastasia could not speak.

「However…」

『It is all right. Please sit over here.』

While Anastasia wrote rapidly with elegant writing, Lulusha thought it would be disrespectful to make her write once again for the same matter, and so sat across from Anastasia.

Anastasia beckoned the jailer and slipped a small gold coin into his hand. The jailer left the room, smiling broadly. Anastasia and Lulusha were alone in the room.

「Is it okay?」Lulusha asked, feeling anxious about the jailer who left.

Anastasia shook her head from side to side with a smile – meaning it’s okay.

In any case, the handcuff was equipped with escape prevention magic. It is something that explodes the moment you try to forcibly unlock it or get out of this building.

『It is unbelievable that you would commit treason.』

「Of course I am innocent!」

Even though Lulusha wasn’t asked for it, she told Anastasia everything she said during the interrogation. Lulusha noticed as she kept explaining – that she really wanted someone to believe her.\n\nWhen the two first met, Anastasia wrote so and showed a smile, full of loneliness.

Anastasia was welcomed politely and she was told she would be near the Emperor whenever there was a national event. High Elves live longer than the Lev people, who have the same lifespan as the human race. So instead of having her as his wife, the current Emperor treated her as a High Elf princess, as if she were a “decoration.”

Lulusha, who was treated like a ”tumour” in the Empire, got along with Anastasia in a kinship sort of way.

「Even if I am put to the death penalty, I pray that Your Highness will find happiness.」

『Please don’t say such sad things.』

『Has anyone else visited?』

「It seems difficult to overturn this situation. I don’t have that many allies, after all. Deputy Director Abba of Foreign Affairs Bureau also came here once, but he saw my father as a rival, so he interrogated me through-and-through and left. I’m sure he’s probably celebrating right now.」

『Is there anything I can do? 』

「Just the thought is more than enough. Oh right, if anything happens, could you please thank the adventurers called Silver Balance who saved my team in the Labyrinth of Fear?」

Adventurers?…As if asking that, Anastasia tilted her head.

That gesture was so cute that many guys would have fallen for her right then and there.

「It seemed that there was something they wanted to tell me, but in the position I am now… I don’t mean to request this of Your Highness, but…」

『Please don’t be reserved.』

The conversation between the two continued after this.

Lulusha felt at ease during this period.