“Huh?”

“....”

“.....”

All of their faces paled. I could see a few of them shiver.

“Do not worry, your highness and young ladies. I have made the proper arrangements to catch them if they ever ran. My subordinates should be after them now.” Helen stepped forward to give reassurance at that moment.

“Wow. As expected of miss Helen!”

“So cool!”

“She’s so awesome~!”

The girls were looking at Helen with passionate eyes. One of them looked especially in love.

Helen cleared her throat.

“Clyde seems to know why they were here as well so I will let him speak.”

All of them turned towards me. I looked at Charlotte.

“Do they know about the thing?”

Charlotte seemed to understand my question and nodded.

“Yes. I have told them about the Divine Elixir. It is necessary to gain their trust this way.”

‘I guess she didn’t tell them where then.’

It was stupid to reveal everything to your allies. One of them could even be a part of her enemies. She might’ve mixed a few lies in the truth. Well, she already revealed the potion—even though there was risk of enemies being among the noble girls—so she must’ve had another reason for why she did it.

“Have you given the location to where the elixir’s production method lies to anyone outside and inside the faction?”

She shook her head.

“There is no production method left.”

“Eh?”

“I destroyed it after the treatment was successful.” She pointed to her head. “I memorized it so there is no worry if I need it again in the future.”

‘I forgot that she can memorize things after seeing it just once. As expected of a genius huh...’

Charlotte had the rumoured photographic memory that allowed her to remember things with just one glance. That was how she could memorise an entire textbook like it was nothing. It was no wonder that she managed to get the student council president nominee.

“We won’t have to worry about them blabbing to other people since we’ll capture them. The only worry I have is that we might not be able to extract any useful information.”

“What do you mean, miss Helen?”

One of the girls, Mika spoke up. She was a short girl with short auburn coloured hair styled into a bob cut. She was the definition of the word cute.

“They might have the same curse that Pina has.”

“Ah...”

“That is indeed possible...”

“That’s why we can’t expect anything from the spies.” Charlotte turned towards me. “That is why I called Clyde. Well, this was the other reason. The main reason was because we rarely spoke after he came back to the kingdom.”

They looked at Charlotte as if they didn’t understand.

“We need the genius of the mage who managed to decipher the 27th rune found in the Red Abyss.” She smiled. “We need the wandering mage called Light.”

Light. Known as the anonymous genius mage that shook the continent with his record breaking deciphering skills. The rune I deciphered changed the lives of non-mages across the continent. No one had the worry if they could cast magic or not. This was basically something that caused my name to be written up in the Magic Association’s hall of wizards. I was listed as the top ten contributors to magical science.

As I had mentioned before, if you use the rune spell long enough, there were chances of your body developing its own mana core after getting used to its essence. It was called core construction.

“Ah!”

“That’s right! If it’s sir Clyde then he can do it!”

The girls looked at me with sparkling eyes on their faces.

I frowned.

“But...”

I could see a sad expression appear on Charlotte’s face. It looked like she had lost all hope.

“I wanted to at least find out before the party that’s happening in three months... So mother can enjoy her day instead of constantly looking over her shoulder.”

Tears dared to come out as her face grimaced. The girls gathered around Charlotte and comforted her.

I sighed. Was it because she cried? I felt like I could even fight a god to see a beautiful girl like her smile.

“I expect compensation if I have to put myself out there as this Light guy.”

Her eyes sparkled.

“Of course, of course...”

“I’m not making any promises. As my main class is arcane mage, I have to risk myself to work with curse magic.”

Curse marks were originally casted using miasma. Only necromancers had the abilities to cast such dangerous magic. Since I had arcane mana, I had to put myself in risk of consuming the dark energy released from the mark.

‘Well, I can have Erica heal me if anything bad happens.’

“I’ll see if I can succeed in finding a way to release it. Can you give me a picture or description of the mark?”

“Yes.”

She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a rolled scroll.

“This is what I’ve found so far. Even after reading the entire text, I have no idea what to do with it.”

“Hmm....” I cocked my head and closed my eyes. “This’ll be troublesome... But okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Clyde.”

Charlotte had a refreshing smile on her face. It seemed she fully trusted me with the task.

‘Maybe one of Rolath’s rings can help me. I also have his book...’

I just remembered that I hadn’t read his diary yet.

I put the scroll in my spatial storage ring.

‘I’ll have to read it later.’

“By the way, Clyde. I won’t be able to attend your birthday. I apologize in advance for my absence. But I will definitely send presents.”

“Ah, there’s no need to apologize, princess.”

“It’s a shame that miss Arielle couldn’t be here either.” Judith Smiths said with a sigh. “What is she doing at the moment anyway?”

“She’s training under the Tigress of the Sword from what I heard from Clyde.”

All of their eyes widened.

“Eh!?”

“That Tigress of the Sword, Rosetta!?”

“The demon of the battlefield!?”

“What’s with your guys’ reactions?”

Charlotte looked at them with a confused expression on her face.

“My brother went there before but he left the very next week.”

“Really? Why?”

“He said that the training was too hard. His first test was to stay standing while being stabbed multiple times.”

“....”

“...”

“Then they had to fight an A rank monster with a knife carved from stone.”

“....”

“Okay. Enough, Judith. We get it.” Charlotte heaved a deep sigh. “How is Arielle even coping at Rosetta’s training facility?”

“Hahaha....”

I laughed dryly so as to avoid answering the question.

Her stamina, endurance and overall strength was much more than the average knight. I knew first hand how it felt being pinned under the arms of a female swordsman. She did most of the leading during our night together.

I glanced towards Helen who was standing with her eyes closed.

‘If Helen is near master rank then how far has Arielle gone?’

◇◆◇

“Thanks for visiting today, Clyde. I hope we can get together again like today.”

“Bye~!”

The girls waved Clyde goodbye after they saw him off at the front door. They were also about to leave after all.

The sun was already setting in the distance. The entire kingdom was bathed in the brilliance of its orange hue.

Charlotte looked at Clyde’s departing back with a sad expression on her face.

I had the thought of killing him that night yet here I am holding tea parties with him....I really am a monster.

She heaved a deep sigh before turning to her faction members who were silently gazing at her.

“What do you all think after meeting him?”

She directed her eyes to the two newcomers.

“Impossible... A boy that young has so much magical talent...”

Patricia Agnus, from a marquis household couldn’t believe what she saw. She had heard from the others of Clyde’s magical talent but it was too good to be true.

Andrea Bonte, a young lady of a count household, was the other one who couldn’t acknowledge Clyde’s abilities. To say the least, he was the key figure of whether they’d become successful in ranking up in noble status. She couldn’t blindly follow Charlotte just from hearing her words. That was the original purpose of the meeting.

If he managed to break the curse mark then they’d be able to pinpoint the criminal who instigated Melodia’s poisoning, that would allow them to seize that criminal and receive a reward from the king himself. It was no secret that the king held great affection for his wife. Even more so than his second wife.

All they needed was a name then they’d hunt that person down.

“Your Highness...Was what he said true? That he can destroy the entire Kion district?” Patricia asked to make sure.

Charlotte smiled wryly. That alone told them that his words earlier wasn’t a bluff.

‘Has he truly grown this much stronger after his recovery?’

“I hope he succeeds. We can only trust in his abilities.” Andrea and Patricia’s doubtful expressions vanished. They were finally accepting him.

“Yes. I’ll need Clyde to do this before the banquet in the royal palace. The real battle of succession begins after the banquet.” Charlotte muttered to herself with a troubled expression.

Helen walked towards the front of the group and looked at all of them.

“As her Highness said, we’ll need to act quickly. I’ll keep the spies alive for the time being so that we can confirm whether or not the two names will be the same.” Helen said.

“But... If it isn’t and there’s more, then...?”

The girls looked towards Charlotte. The princess was chewing on her lower lip in frustration. Anyone could tell how annoyed she must’ve felt.

She spoke after a brief moment of silence.

“If there is more than one enemy then we go with plan B: Identify opposition, no matter how small their hostility might be, and eliminate them.”

A heavy silence was cast upon the room at the princess’ words.

“I will bear responsibility if it is found out that we were the murderers. All of you will have to leave the kingdom if anything goes amiss. I deeply apologize for dragging you into this...”

Charlotte lowered her head.

Andrea smiled wryly. It was the first time Charlotte had ever bowed her head to someone of lower status than herself. One could tell from that alone that she was truly sorry for everything that could go wrong if they messed up.

“For us to help and stand next to the future queen, we must take the necessary risks involved. Please raise your head, Your Highness.”

“That’s right! We already came this far!”

“I agree. There’s no need to stop now that we have come this far.”

“Girls...”

Charlotte felt like tears were about to cone out. Her emotions were beginning to show the more they spend time with her. Charlotte was never this way when they grew up together.

What caused her to change, was the question on all of their minds.

“Our first step is to get rid of the republicans.” Charlotte walked towards the corner of the room and pointed at the map on the wall. There was an X drawn on a certain location. “We start with the country nobles first. There’s no telling if the Republican nation has sunken their claws into other nobles like they did with Count Cleve Vitian.”

The fact that he was the only noble that disagreed with the new tax that was implemented by the Royal Court was already suspicious. The others didn’t even flinch at the mention of tax rising. This was true for lower nobility such as Barons and Knighthood households as well.

‘He was already wealthy enough so why did he act so rashly back then?’

Charlotte turned towards Helen and ordered.

“Find out where they are keeping Count Vitian. We need to know the real reason he committed treason.”

Helen bowed with her right hand on her chest.

“I will dutifully carry out your order. However, in order to do that, it will take a while to–“

“Use my name as you see fit. That should be enough to shorten the process. I assume that won’t be a problem?”

Helen smiled.

“Very well.”

She bowed one more time before leaving the room. Her footsteps disappeared a moment later.

“Your Highness, are we including Lady Kenia in this?”

Charlotte shook her head.

“It’s strange that she joined our faction with a reason such as taking the winner’s side. We can’t trust her yet. For now...” Charlotte looked towards her friends. “We’ll take the first step and continue from there.”

◇◆◇

When Charlotte returned to her room, she threw herself onto her bed with a long sigh. All six of the girls left a while ago after bidding her farewell. They didn’t forget to give Charlotte words of encouragement to boost her confidence a bit.

She took off her uncomfortable heels and wiggled her toes. The fresh air between her toes felt refreshing.

“Ugh...Standing for so long is so tiring. Finally free~”

She took off her dress and laid back down in only her underwear. The sweat that accumulated trickled down her body as she wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.

She pushed a button on her bedside table. A hologram popped up a moment later after she thought of who to call.

It had the face of a certain woman on it.

–Oh my , my. Charlotte dear?

It was Olivia.

Charlotte hid her expression of detest and spoke in a clear, composed tone.

“Greetings, Miss Olivia.”

–What can I do for my little flower~?

Charlotte could hear someone snoring in the background. She squinted her eyes and saw her father lying on the bed.

‘Did they do it earlier?’

Her question was answered when she saw Olivia stand up to go to the window. She was naked.

Charlotte hid her disgust and spoke again.

“If it wouldn’t be a bother...Can I ask you to have dinner with me?”

–Oh my! Truly? Receiving such a request from a beautiful young maiden!

“....”

Olivia narrowed her eyes and bit her lips when she saw Charlotte who was in her underwear. It was a lustful gaze unbefitting of a married woman.

–Are you sure it’s just an invitation to dinner?

“Miss Olivia...” Charlotte rubbed her forehead.

–Kyahahaha! I’m joking. But I must say, you have an amazing body.

“Will you accept or not?” Charlotte was beginning to get irritated over this woman’s remarks.

The purpose for calling Olivia was to invite her out to dinner. During those few hours that she was occupied, Charlotte’s spies will infiltrate Olivia’s office and bedroom to see if they could find out anything that involved her mother’s poisoning. She had done this with other nobles before.

No leads had been found yet.

–Alright. I haven’t had a break in a while. When do we meet up?

“Tomorrow at 6 in the Mana Garden’s restaurant.”

–Perfect! I’ll be there. Be sure to make yourself look cute. Fufufu.

Charlotte ended the call. Olivia’s voice alone was irritating her.

“I promise that If I find out that you were the one that was responsible for my mother’s years of suffering...”

Charlotte looked into the distant night sky with hollowed eyes and an expressionless face. The window was still open so the cold wind was entering the room. It brushed past Charlotte’s blonde hair.

“—I’m going to bury you alive.”