Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Three: Impure Friend
“So, it has already been four days since Mr. Julius disappeared.”
Karen barely suppressed a click of her tongue, mainly because Waltride was so close by.
When she woke up, Isaac, who seemed to be the culprit who summoned the monsters, was already dead. The black stone that Isaac presumably used to summon the monsters had vanished without a trace, and Julius had gone missing.
Karen, who had been laid in a bed that was clearly Waltride’s in Waltride’s new tent, sat up and groaned. Perhaps because she sat up suddenly, her head ached.
After helping Karen sit up, the princess thrust a water pitcher at Karen’s mouth. Though she nearly drowned from the clumsy assistance, Karen gratefully drank the water since her throat was parched.
“He said he’d return right away… Karen, are you angry with me?”
“I’m not angry at you, Lady Waltride.”
“Really? Even though I let Julius go alone?”
“The one I’m angry at is Mr. Julius for going alone. Even high-ranking adventurers have been disappearing, so where did he go and for what!?”
Irritated, Karen touched her earlobe. When she touched the golden stone piercing that remained cold, anxiety welled up inside her. What if this piercing had grown hot while Karen was sleeping? But even more frustrating than that was the fact that whatever might be happening, Julius might not call Karen for help.
Anxiety and irritation mixed together, making her want to tear at her own hair.
“Well, in any case, why don’t you eat something? You must be hungry.”
Saying this, Waltride picked up the tray that had been placed on the desk and set it beside Karen’s bed. It appeared to be barley porridge. She picked up the bowl and spoon, then brought the barley porridge to Karen’s mouth.
“Come, eat and cheer up.”
“Wait. I’ve been wondering since earlier, but why is you taking care of me, Lady Waltride? Why am I sleeping in a place like this? Until now, I’ve been sleeping on that sofa over there, right?”
“I couldn’t let a friend sleep on a sofa.”
“Huh!?”
Karen’s face reddened at Waltride, who said this with a sparkling smile.
“Come now, friend. I shall feed you porridge with my own hands. Say ‘ah.’”
“Wait. Um, about being friends?”
“I heard from an adventurer that you think of me as a friend.”
“Uncle Sepl!”
Karen slammed her fist into the bed.
Karen, a commoner, simply thought of the princess as a friend on her own.
There was no need to tell the person herself about that.
“Come, eat, my friend Karen.”
Contrary to Karen’s expectations, Waltride had a beaming smile on her face. Karen, who had wrapped herself in the sheets out of embarrassment, poked her face out from the sheets and said:
“…You seem happy. Even though a commoner like me was calling you a friend without permission.”
“Of course I’m happy! It’s my first friend in my life!”
“But you have Lady Irmlinde and Lady Dorotea.”
“They are certainly friends. But they were sent by their families with the intention of becoming my closest companions. They’re probably expected to serve as a safeguard in case I’m somehow restored to power.”
It was quite a harsh assessment of Irmlinde and Dorotea.
But for nobles who lived by their families’ will, it was probably an unavoidable truth.
“Is it really okay for you to say that? Both of them worked so hard to protect you while you were unconscious.”
“Hm!? You mean they deliberately kept me unconscious? I’m grateful for that itself, but… Karen, did you tell them to do that?”
“I didn’t have to say a thing. Everyone unanimously agreed it was best to keep you unconscious. Plenty of things have already been found out, you know.”
“But if all my faults have been exposed, shouldn’t they be disappointed? Would they really still treat me this kindly?”
“Even though you’ve been found out by me, I still think of you as a friend on my own.”
When Karen said this while turning bright red, Waltride looked blank for a moment before her face broke into a smile.
“Indeed, that’s true.”
“That aside, I’ll eat by myself, so please give me the porridge bowl and spoon.”
“No, I’ll feed you.”
“It’s strange for a princess to feed a commoner!”
“Since we’re friends, it’s not strange!!”
Waltride apparently desperately wanted to feed Karen. The way she insisted was like a small child throwing a tantrum.
As Karen gave up and accepted Waltride’s feeding, Dorotea announced, "An adventurer has arrived.”
“Sis… I heard you woke up, Is it alright if I come in?”
Thor entered the princess’s tent with the same casual energy he used when walking into his sister’s room, making Karen flop over on the bed.
“Thor, this is the princess’s tent!?”
“Huh? Ah—excuse the intrusion!”
“Mm. Welcome.”
Though Waltride nodded magnanimously, now that Karen knew that Waltride, whom she had thought of as a friend on her own, apparently also considered Karen a friend, she didn’t want to be seen as someone who let her younger brother do as he pleased just because she was the princess’s friend.
Karen straightened her back and said sharply:
“Thor, Lady Waltride is a kind person and treats me very well, but that doesn’t mean you can be rude. Be polite.”
“If you say so, Sis, got it!”
“No, no, there’s no need to worry about such things!?”
Thor gave a perfect, cheerful answer while Waltride tried to stop it for some reason.
Waltride leaned close to Karen and whispered.
“It seems your B-rank adventurer brother believes you and I are friends. Because of that, he treats me very kindly. Others have noticed, and it feels quite pleasant. I would like him to act freely as my friend’s brother.”
“That’s completely self-interest… no wonder you so readily became my friend.”
“Aah, my cheeks are being squished. This is a first! Is this what it means to be friends…!?”
While Karen was being careful not to take advantage of her position as Waltride’s friend, Waltride was fully intending to take advantage of it. In any case, the source of the information that Karen thought of Waltride as a friend appeared to be Thor. Thor probably heard it from Sepl.
After Thor watched Karen squish Waltride’s cheeks to her heart’s content, he approached Karen.
“Sis, about Julius.”
Karen leaned forward on the bed and grabbed Thor’s clothes.
“Do you know something!?”
“Yeah. Can we talk alone?”
“I’ll excuse myself.”
Even though it was Waltride’s tent, Waltride considerately stepped outside.
Thor got straight to the point, starting with the conclusion:
“Horst Brahm. I seriously doubt he’s the one who gave Isaac that monster-summoning stone… but at the very least, I think he’s the guy Julius went to see last.”
Somewhere in her heart, Karen had already anticipated this.
Not feeling the slightest bit of surprise at herself, Karen held her head and let out a deep sigh.
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