This Is a Privilege Only Readers Who Thoroughly Read the Original Novel Get

Chapter 87

Louis answered in a beastlike, gravelly voice, suppressing the rage boiling up inside him.

Creak, clack.

Hector quietly opened the door and left.

A deep, heavy sigh escaped Louis's mouth once again as he was left alone in the private room.

"Haah... worst of all."

It truly was the worst.

As the crown prince, as the empire's next ruler, what on earth was this disgrace in front of his retainers?

But he simply could not control the surging emotions.

Because today, for the first time in his life, he had tasted the most viciously unpleasant and miserable feeling ever.

'I used to wonder why commoners on the streets would spit out vulgar curses left and right.'

Now he felt like he understood a little.

It was completely different from the exhaustion he felt dealing with the aristocrats' disgusting hypocrisy or their masks of nauseating pretense in high society.

A truly primal, utterly masculine rage.

It felt like a blazing red fireball had stayed lit in his chest, making his stomach churn and boil.

Clunk.

A little later, Hector, having received a message from the Intelligence Division outside, returned to the office.

Louis forced his messy bangs back into place and put on a cold expression.

"The situation."

"It's over, Your Highness."

Hector began his report calmly, standing ramrod straight.

"Under Her Imperial Highness Princess Iveline's leadership, a face-to-face interrogation was held in the grand conference room at the main building."

"Iveline? That girl led the interrogation against the Pope?"

"Yes. And it seems His Holiness the Pope himself directly acknowledged the possibility that it was Cardinal Barneo's terrible blunder."

"..."

Louis's eyes trembled faintly.

That enormous religious order had admitted its fault so readily before the imperial family, and before a young princess at that.

"Continue."

"The Church itself declared that it would launch a thorough, no-holds-barred investigation and make this matter crystal clear."

"..."

"It seems they concluded that, unless Cardinal Barneo's innocence is miraculously proven, the Saintess will be granted complete freedom without any presumption of responsibility for this runaway incident."

"So that's how it is."

It really was nothing short of genuinely good news.

Louis slowly closed his eyes.

'The Saintess is safe now.'

She had escaped that dreadful cardinal's grasp, received complete exoneration, and become free.

It meant the frail woman he treasured and held in his heart no longer had to suffer in that dark temple.

But.

Louis could not bring himself to feel relieved even in the face of that radiant news.

"...That man."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You said the second son of Count Farne... planned the whole thing from beginning to end."

"Yes. Apparently every step, from the standoff at the academy gate to the interrogation, came out of that man's head."

It was infuriating.

The fact that the man who had brought this brilliant peace and perfect salvation was none other than someone else entirely was maddeningly infuriating.

It would have been one thing if the professors of the Imperial Academy had smoothly handled the situation through their collective wisdom.

But for a specific individual—moreover, a mere noble youth the same age as him—to have perfectly orchestrated and resolved such a huge crisis.

'That definitely means all the praise and credit will pile onto one person as if he were a hero.'

Louis's jaw clenched tight.

"...Hector."

"Speak, Your Highness."

"That man... how on earth did he make the Pope back down? What refined and meticulous diplomatic strategy did he use?"

"He didn't use a diplomatic strategy."

"Then?"

"According to witness testimony, at the front gate he silently mouthed the words 'cult child abuser' at Cardinal Barneo."

"What?"

Louis's jaw dropped.

For someone who had spent his whole life as crown prince within the imperial family's rules of etiquette and dignity, that was a word choice that completely short-circuited his brain.

"Cult? Child abuser? To a cardinal?"

"Yes. And when the knights, enraged, rushed in, it was confirmed that Professor Iris dropped lightning and turned two of them into lumps of charcoal."

"Everybody's lost their minds."

"But thanks to that, the Church's momentum was broken, and it seems the stage was set for Her Imperial Highness Princess Iveline to intervene more easily."

"..."

Louis stared blankly into space.

It felt like he'd been struck hard over the head.

'If I had stepped in.'

If he had been there, he would never have used such crude, vulgar methods.

He would have politely challenged the Church's legal reasoning and, if necessary, pressured them with imperial authority to rescue the Saintess gracefully.

But.

'What would the result have been?'

Would that elegant method have given Lily more catharsis and reassurance than that lunatic Cassian del Farne's lip-synced curse and lightning strike?

"Ha ha..."

A silly laugh slipped from Louis's mouth.

Even though the woman he'd kept in his heart had become perfectly safe.

To think his heart was boiling with such ugly jealousy just because the hero who saved her wasn't him.

"I."

"Your Highness."

"I really am... a miserable excuse for a man."

Louis had to face, for the first time in his life, the painful fact that he himself might also become a very unappealing, pathetic, 'uncool' man.

Hector could not bring himself to add anything carelessly to that.

* * *

"Today, thank you so, so much!"

In front of the academy's main gate.

Normally, I'd have been reduced to walking everywhere on my own two sturdy legs.

But today was different.

Whinny! Prrr.

Well, well.

Look at all that energy.

So you've sent a carriage for me, have you?

'And with a holy white horse, no less.'

This is why people need to change jobs once in a while. And run away from home once in a while.

If you're obedient, people don't know how precious you are.

From being tortured by a bona fide psychopath to becoming a VIP whom the Pope had personally ordered to be escorted.

For a runaway ninja, that's definitely top-class VIP treatment.

"I said I got it, so get on already. The night air's cold."

Even with my offhand reply, Lily smiled warmly while holding the carriage door handle.

Then she bowed deeply once more.

"Thank you so much for saving me today."

Saved you? What a joke.

Anyone would think she was some princess locked in a tower.

"You're exaggerating."

"It's true! Sir Cassian is my benefactor, my guardian, and... the most wonderful person ever!"

"..."

The corners of my mouth curled up before I realized it.

I know it's a cheesy, awkward expression.

So if I said I liked it, I'd really sound like a pervert, wouldn't I?

I tried to keep my expression under control, but the so-called dad smile was starting to creep up from somewhere and slip through.

'Seriously.'

She was twenty, a proper grown adult.

But for a twenty-year-old, the kid was definitely far too blindly earnest and cute.

And she'd even been poisoned to death before the regression, too.

I scratched the back of my neck and fell into some absurdly frivolous scientific and philosophical contemplation.

'Because this is my second go at life.'

If I added my previous life's age to my current age, would my mental age be around my mid-to-late forties?

Or maybe, since I'd gone through the same heavy burden twice in two cycles, I was just a twenty-something with double the fatigue concentrated into me.

Depending on where neuroscience places the continuity of the self, my position could get a little dangerous.

'Whatever.'

Who cared anyway.

Anyway, the one wagging her tail in front of me right now definitely felt more like a dog, or a well-behaved youngest-sister type kid—basically a niece—than a woman.

If I think of her as a dog when I'm in my twenties, and as a niece when I'm in my forties, that's that.

"If you stand there any longer, you'll catch a cold. The coachman won't be off work any earlier, so hurry up and get in."

"Yep! See you tomorrow, Sir Cassian!"

Clunk.

Lily answered cheerfully and slipped into the carriage.

Only after I watched the carriage gently turn and fade into the darkness did I finally stretch out.

"Haah. That's one down."

Now that I'd cleared one big mountain, the only thing left was one slightly delicate private errand.

"Shall I go look for Elysia now?"

I rubbed my chin and looked up at the night sky.

Just moments ago, after reducing Crown Prince Louis's psyche to dust, Elysia had left me with one final line.

'Whether it's the Rosenberg residence or the academy garden, I'll quietly wait wherever you're comfortable.'

"What kind of Schrödinger's meeting place is that supposed to be?"

The logic has completely collapsed.

It's not like she can use clone techniques.

How are you supposed to wait quietly when there are three possible locations?

'The beginning and end of that sentence don't even match.'

The fact that the rational, logical Lady Rosenberg had made such a grammatical mistake meant she must have been rambling in a desperate situation.

She had, after all, coolly shoved the facts into the Crown Prince's face and sent me a sweet, affectionate look.

But when it came time to specify the place, she probably got so embarrassed she just blurted out nonsense and ran away.

So, really.

I could just go home like this, wash up, stretch out, sleep soundly, and then tomorrow after sunrise when everyone went back to the academy as normal, I could naturally go find Lady Elysia.

Then Lady Elysia would probably say something like this, with a very haughty expression.

'I was a little flustered yesterday and ended up saying some strange things, which caused confusion. Sorry.'

Very neat and tidy.

A rational route with no need for either of us to feel embarrassed and no wasted energy.

But.

'At the very least, I should help the villainess get her head back together.'

The mental state of the original-certified, bona fide overdoer had to be handled with care.

She was probably feeling very down right now.

If I thought back over what happened earlier.

Honestly, her attachment to the Crown Prince didn't seem nearly as deep or intense as I'd expected, and it didn't look quite the same as the version I'd read in the original.

And.

Hmm.

Anyway, I didn't know what to make of the favor-filled, affectionate look she'd given me, and it was a little burdensome too.

Still, after having it out with the fiancé she'd loved her whole life, there was no way she'd be fine.

And I absolutely refused to accept a worldline where Elysia's mind got shattered.

I turned around and headed for the carriage.

Because I knew exactly where she was right now.

She probably wanted to run away somewhere empty, feeling incredibly tangled and miserable.

'Where, in the original novel, does Lady Elysia hide when she feels like that?'

This is a privilege only readers who have thoroughly read the original novel get.