"Sorry, Princess. I"ll be back right away"

I asked the Crown Prince to make some time for me and headed for the designated location.
The Crown Prince must want to quickly be alone with Princess, but I want to talk with him directly no matter what.
The designated place is the office where I had talked with him the last time.
The only presence is the Crown Prince. Haa, I breathed out since he"d already cleared out the place.
―――― I think the words Scheat said on that day were meant to teach me what to do next.

"I took over your job"

I met Scheat in the Royal Capital by chance.
I could only stand there frozen by the words I heard from him.
The words he said went round and round my head. Even after he"d left, I couldn"t move from the spot, I was simply stunned.

―――― My job.

My a.s.sa.s.sin days. Back then I had always completed jobs I"d undertaken.
I"d not once failed.
That"s why there"s only one thing that an undone job brings to mind.
On that day, the day before crus.h.i.+ng Red, I personally got a "request to a.s.sa.s.sinate foreign royalty" from guild master Gill.

"Request to a.s.sa.s.sinate foreign royalty"

Together with it I was handed bulky doc.u.ments, but I didn"t look over them. Because, I didn"t intend to undertake it. ―――― I wanted to crush Red.
At that time that was fine. But now I can only regret it. Had I at least read through the doc.u.ments, I would know various information, such as who"s the target and what is the deadline.

"It can"t be helped even if I think about it now"

I shook off my regret. There"s no point thinking about what I didn"t do and what I should have done.
What I can do. I will do that.

Reaching this point, I finally understood.
What Granny was saying all this time. The imminent choice is not whether to talk about myself to the Crown Prince. Probably, it"s this.
Whether to leave Princess and go to Sahaja. That was the choice over which Granny advised me to take a short pause.
While I went out to town with Princess today, I was thinking. Although I was playing with Granny"s black cat, my head was full of that matter.
Whether it"s correct for me to move. My thoughts continued going round and round.
Thinking as Hiyuma, I naturally should prioritize being together with Princess.
But, there are things I can see thinking about it calmly.
It"s as Granny said.
Is there a meaning to me being by Princess"s side now.
Isn"t the strongest Crown Prince always sticking to her under the guise of honeymoon period a good reason for me to move freely. Besides, I noticed.

"After all, Granny is incredible…"

The warning regarding Sahaja was in the end to make me reach this conclusion. Recalling that Granny gave me considerable help while calling it a hint, a wry smile escaped me.

"Really, Granny is soft on Princess"

But, thanks to that I was able to make the right choice.
I again resolved myself and entered the office where the Crown Prince is waiting.

"For you to want to meet me… Has something happened to Lidi?"

As soon as I entered the office, those words were thrown at me.
Leaning against the desk looking at me with a slightly tired expression was the Crown Prince of the Wilhelm Kingdom, Prince Friedrich.
My master"s, Princess"s fiancé.
With his unrivalled beauty and strength he"s called flawless… He"s a man deeply in love with Princess.
Hearing him first of all ask about Princess like usual, I thought that after all he"s a good partner for Princess.

"Rather than something happening to Princess… I"m trying to make her even a little safer"
"What do you mean"

His gaze became sharper. I got a little closer to the Crown Prince and, looking him in the eyes, said.

"I am now going to Sahaja"
"What?"

Raising his body, the Crown Prince frowned. But looking into my eyes, he must"ve noticed. He immediately nodded.
As expected of his perceptiveness.

"… I see, information gathering, huh? But is that fine?"
"I"m not particularly doing it for you. Sahaja is aiming at a.s.sa.s.sinating Wilhelm royalty. There"s a decent possibility Princess will be targeted too. That"s why I"m going. That"s all"

I talked to the Crown Prince about the doc.u.ments I received at the end of my active service. I decided I can"t spare information at least this time.
I understand it will ultimately be connected to protecting Princess.
When I talked about the mission I had received on that day and what Scheat taught me, Crown Prince made a deliberating face.

"Apostate took over your job… huh. Is there no doubt that the client is the King?"
"Yeah. We were in the King"s faction, and the guild master said, "It"s a request from the country". Besides, that King wants me no matter what, he"s still trying to invite me"
"Invite?"
"Using Apostate he"s asking me if I won"t come to him. Honestly, it"s bulls.h.i.+t. Who would go to the man who had destroyed his family"

I spat out these words.
I know with certainty that Scheat"s client is the King. Since he took over my request, I have no doubt. I had thought it to be the case, but that confirmed it.

"An a.s.sa.s.sination request from the King of Sahaja. And the presence of Apostate in Lindwurm. The target is… in all probability me"
"I think so too. But, there"s possibility of it being the King… or if you are targeted, Princess will definitely be included"
"That"s right. Sahaja is definitely anxious to kill me. As for targeting Lidi… It sounds unpleasant, but not incorrect"
"I would do that too"

I mentioned the point of view as an a.s.sa.s.sin, only to be glared at.
His gaze felt menacing.

"Oi oi, I"ve accepted Princess as my master, okay? It was only my opinion as an a.s.sa.s.sin. If I were to kill you, I would aim at Princess. That"s simply the truth. Of course, I won"t let that happen now"
"Then why do you need to leave Lidi"s side at this time. You"re Lidi"s escort, right? Client and target. Do you need to know them so much you"ll go?"

What he said is reasonable, but I don"t intend to step back. I fended off the dangerous gaze.

"As I said before, there are doc.u.ments. There, more information is written. The most important is the time limit. When is the time limit of the contract. It"s important, okay? We are professional a.s.sa.s.sins. We won"t aim at the other party after the time limit pa.s.sed. Conversely, we are the most desperate to a.s.sa.s.sinate just before the time limit. Failure is almost synonymous with death. We"ll take any measure to kill. It"s essential to understand that"
"I see"
"And then"
"Nn?"

I paused my words and fixed my eyes on the Crown Prince.
This is something I haven"t told Princess.

"Don"t you want evidence? It"s an opportunity to obtain serious evidence like doc.u.ments for the a.s.sa.s.sination request, you know?"

Hearing my words, the Crown Prince blinked his eyes.
His expression told of his surprise.

"Well… Certainly it would be irreplaceable proof. There"s nothing better than obtaining it. If we had it, even if the war resumed, we could progress talks favorably… and we could hold onto it as a trump card against that country"
"That"s how it is"

That"s why I"ll go, I again informed him. But the Crown Prince seemed dubious.

"You"re exclusively Lidi"s, right? For you to take initiative not for Lidi, but for our country…"
"Of course it"s because Princess will soon marry you and someday become the Queen. If Wilhelm becomes firmer, Princess who will become the Queen will also be safer, right? There"s nothing incorrect in how I act"

The Crown Prince showed a little surprised face and the text moment raised the corners of his mouth.

"I understand your thoughts. Then next. Has Lidi accepted this matter?"
"We talked a while ago. Saying she wouldn"t object if it"s my decision, she sent me off without properly hearing me out"
"It"s just like Lidi…"