Meanwhile, They...

While Al was posing as Leo.

Leo, meanwhile, was desperately posing as Al.

"Prince Arnolt. The captain is asking whether he should search for Prince Leonart's ship."

"Again with that? It's Leo we're talking about; he'll manage somehow. Keep our current course. Besides, I'm feeling sick, so don't bother me with unnecessary questions. What a nuisance."

"Y-Yes... Understood."

After saying that, Leo sent the knight away, then let out a long, deep sigh.

Someone was there to grade him.

"That's a fifty. If you were Al, you'd tell the captain to handle it."

"This is hard..."

Leo muttered as he looked over at Elna.

Unlike Al's ship, which had been completely swallowed up by the storm, this ship had somehow escaped before it was dragged in.

Even so, the violent rocking had left Elna nearly hysterical. She hadn't realized Leo had switched places with Al until she finally calmed down.

Once she realized, however, she became a good adviser. It also helped considerably that Al's barrier was still in place, so they barely felt the rocking.

"Anyway, let's get through this without being found out. If this comes to light, it'll be a huge problem."

"Yeah... If only I could keep it together... I wonder if my brother's all right."

"Al's fine. Mark's with him, too, and he's good at thinking on his feet in situations like this. You're the problem."

"I know... I can't imitate my brother..."

"Fortunately, few people know Al. As long as you don't do anything unlike him, you'll be fine."

"What does 'something unlike Al' mean? And Elna, just because you're wearing spats doesn't make it appropriate to sit like that in front of me."

Saying that, Leo admonished Elna, who had her feet up on the bed.

From where Leo sat facing her, he could see up Elna's skirt. Of course, her underwear was hidden by her spats, so Elna didn't particularly care.

"That's the sort of thing that makes you unlike Al. Al wouldn't say something like that to me."

"But you're being far too careless. You should stop."

"Yes, yes. I'll be careful. But Al really wouldn't say that to me. If you let your guard down because you're dealing with me, you'll give yourself away, you know?"

"Even if you say that... What would my brother say?"

"Let's see... 'You forgot to put on your spats,' or 'White today?' At any rate, he'd make me react, then laugh."

"I couldn't say something like that..."

Apparently imagining himself saying it, Leo shyly looked away.

Elna thought this was a serious problem.

The difference between Al, who was experienced with women, and Leo, who wasn't, showed most clearly in how they dealt with women and gauged personal distance. Al could adjust himself to suit the other person, whereas Leo always maintained a set distance and valued decorum. That was the sticking point when it came to acting like Al.

"Al can easily become Leo, but it's hard for Leo to become Al... Why does it feel as though they were raised so differently when they're both princes...?"

"My brother is a free spirit, and he was basically always playing outside the castle. There was even a period when he was outside all the time, right? For some reason, he came home crying every day."

"That was because Al kept getting bullied, and I was trying to do something about it!"

"I know. You've always acted with my brother's best interests at heart, Elna."

"...Though it seems he found it a nuisance."

Elna let out a sigh.

Lately, she couldn't shake the feeling that all her efforts were coming to nothing.

She had entered the Knight Hunting Festival hoping to improve Al's reputation after reuniting with him, but the result had been disqualification. People around town were saying that he had been disqualified through carelessness despite having Elna's backing, so it had completely backfired.

This time, too, she had gone along thinking she could at least be of some help, but in the end, she had done nothing. She had even committed the blunder of being inside a room at a crucial moment. She couldn't deny it if someone said she was only holding them back.

Al was working hard to make Leo emperor. Elna thought that was a good thing. But she wanted Al to be valued just as highly as Leo.

That was at odds with Al's thinking, creating a disconnect that caused her efforts to go awry. Elna understood that. Even so, she hated seeing Al judged unfairly.

Recently, though, she had begun to wonder whether that was simply her own selfishness.

Al didn't care about his own reputation. If anything, he even seemed intent on lowering it to raise Leo's. To someone like Al, Elna's actions could only be a hindrance.

That was why she had said it, but Leo chuckled.

"He probably does find it a nuisance."

"Ugh..."

"But I don't think he sees you as a hindrance. My brother's been more cheerful since you came along, and he seems more relaxed, too. I think he probably relies on you deep down."

"Really...?"

"I guarantee it."

"But..."

"But?"

"...He hired an adventurer even though I was here."

She hesitated over whether to say it, but decided she might as well bring it up now. Pouting unhappily, Elna muttered,

Leo immediately realized that she was talking about Linfia and laughed.

"She's cooperating with us because she wants us to help her village. She offered her services to us herself; it wasn't that my brother hired her."

"I know that... But he could at least have said something to reassure me. I was trying to do my best."

As a member of the House of Valor, Elna could not directly involve herself in political struggles.

Elna found that frustrating. In those circumstances, protecting Fiene was one of the few chances she had to help Leo and Al. If Fiene were targeted, she could explain her actions even to the Emperor, and if that gave her an opening to strike at their opponents, she could somehow smooth that over as well.

Yet despite thinking that, it was Al who ended up being targeted, and he was saved by an adventurer. That adventurer then took on the role of guarding Fiene, which Elna had originally been supposed to fill.

To be honest, Elna was not pleased. Even though Al had taken into account the possibility that she might be sent elsewhere on a mission, it still didn't sit well with her.

"Are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking! I'm angry!"

"Maybe my brother thought you'd come along, Elna. If you look at it that way, doesn't it make sense that he hired Linfia? Miss Fiene could have been in danger, after all. Well, he even left Sebas behind in case of emergency."

"How can you always interpret things so favorably, Leo...? I know what Al was thinking. He figured that an intelligent adventurer who could act freely would make a better guard than someone like me, who's impulsive and difficult to use because of my position. He even praised her. He said she was smart."

Leo started to say that Elna was smart, too, but then fell silent.

It was true that Elna was exceptionally gifted at learning and retaining knowledge. She had been outstanding since childhood. But the kind of intelligence Elna meant now was not that sort. It was the intelligence needed for deception, reading people, and political maneuvering. Elna knew she lacked that. She was temperamentally unsuited to it, and in the first place, she had no desire to learn.

If a member of the House of Valor learned such things, it would threaten the privileges of the Imperial family and powerful nobles. The House of Valor was supposed to be a sword, nothing more. That was the house's fundamental stance.

That was why the House of Valor's strength rarely found much use in the Imperial Capital's covert struggles. Its power was better suited to being directed outward than inward.

"Elna has strengths of her own. There are things only Elna can do, and you can use those to help my brother. Isn't that enough?"

"I understand that. But I can't accept it... I was supposed to protect Fiene..."

"You're as competitive as ever. You've never once backed down after locking horns with someone. But Linfia probably has no intention of competing with you, and your roles don't overlap. We're at a disadvantage, we have few allies, and there are a lot of people who may be targeted. I can at least protect myself, but Miss Fiene and my brother can't. We need to secure multiple people capable of protecting them. That's probably what he decided, and if you're free, my brother will rely on you."

"Do you think so? Al seems like he would treat me as a nuisance."

"He won't. You're so stubborn. Anyway, you're the only person I can rely on right now, Elna. Stop sulking and give me some advice. What should I do when I meet Rondine's Grand Duke?"

"Honestly, Leo... Well, Al knows basic etiquette, so you can simply greet him normally. But don't say anything unnecessary. Don't praise him. Just the bare minimum greeting, all right?"

"Yeah, got it."

Thus, the ship carrying the two of them headed toward Rondine.

Without knowing that Al was being caught up in trouble while impersonating Leo.