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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Lellia Auraria
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An incredible amount of snow had fallen.
So much so that the door couldn't be opened. As if that weren't enough, another heavy snowfall began before the first had a chance to melt.
Thanks to this, Lellia was isolated in the tower for a while, unable to go outside.
She filled her stomach with the sweet snacks she had brought from the temple and used her firewood sparingly.
It was a tedious time, as she couldn't even go out to gather twigs. Lellia spent all day sitting at her desk, just waiting for the time she could send letters to her friends.
If she had her way, she would send messages without rest, but wouldn't it be strange for the Crown Prince to sit at his desk all day?
She didn't want to needlessly arouse any strange suspicions from her friends.
She felt sorry for deceiving them, but if she was going to do it, she had to do it thoroughly. For Lellia, that was the greatest courtesy she could offer her friends.
Time passed like that, and eventually, the piled-up snow melted completely.
While out gathering twigs, Lellia realized that the knights who had been watching her were all gone.
Emboldened by this, she gradually expanded her range of movement. Still, just in case, she didn't go too far. It could be dangerous.
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
That day, she was struggling to move a ladder to pick tree berries, a source of food for birds in winter.
‘I suppose I won't need firewood much longer.’
She should have been happy to see the weather growing warmer, but Lellia felt the opposite.
In fact, the person in Auraria's imperial palace most worried about Crown Prince Leo might not have been the emperor, but Lellia.
Because the day the Crown Prince died would be the day her contact with her friends was severed.
Lellia took the berries back to the tower and then, just in case, loitered near the main palace.
‘Could it be…’
The atmosphere among the servants coming and going from the main palace was unusual. Every single one of them wore a grave expression as they hurried about.
“His Highness the Crown Prince… The culprit…”
“His Majesty himself is conducting the torture… in the prison… How could someone he trusted so much…”
“To think he would pass so easily…”
Lellia, who had been hiding and eavesdropping on the servants' conversation, was so startled she clapped both hands over her mouth.
Then she scrambled back to the tower as if fleeing.
‘Crown Prince Leo must be dead already…!’
As soon as she returned to the tower, Lellia went to her desk. A large pile of letters she had exchanged with her friends was stacked there.
‘What do I do? To think he's already dead…’
Lellia paced anxiously around the desk.
‘Is there any way to let the others know…?’
They'll be so sad when they hear the tragic news of his death.
“……”
Lellia sat at her desk, agonizing for hours on end. No matter how much she thought, she couldn't come up with a good plan.
‘If I reveal the truth myself, I'll be killed. But if I can make someone notice…’
Lellia thought of the two among her four friends who were most likely to be quick-witted. Griffith and Romeo were less dense than the other two, so they might figure it out.
In that case…
Lellia didn't sleep a wink that night, remaining at her desk the entire time.
And just as dawn was breaking.
Suddenly, a tremendous noise erupted from outside the window.
Boom! Craaash.
Bwoooo…!
Along with the sound of something exploding, the blast of a horn could be heard.
Startled by the sound, she looked out the window and saw smoke rising from the direction of the main palace. She could also see roaring flames.
‘Could it be that Emperor Perseus has already launched his attack?’
If so, soldiers would surely swarm this tower where Lellia was.
Lellia made her decision, took out a fresh sheet of paper, and gripped her fountain pen. There was no more time to hesitate.
She had written countless sentences in her head, but in the end, what she wrote was just two words.
Lellia Auraria
Her real name.
Surely, someone would realize. At least one of them.
Lellia removed the mana stone from the fountain pen, then carefully hid it with the letter under the wooden floorboards. Then she climbed into the wardrobe, curled into a ball, and covered her ears.
She had pretended to be mature in front of her friends, but in the end, Lellia was still just a ten-year-old child. The banging sounds surging from outside made it difficult to think straight. Her heart pounded violently.
The sounds of soldiers battling continued for two full days.
