LIEWB 43

Chapter : 43

Even at this late hour, Adrian was still busy, working through the mountain of documents piled atop a large mahogany desk. Only when I had fully entered the room did he walk over to the reception table.

‘Whoa, the physical presence…’

He walked so gracefully that it seemed effortless, and maybe it was because he was a prince, but his gait was as elegant as that of a runway model.

Perhaps in this genre, the higher one’s status, the better-looking they are by default?

Even his ominous-looking red eyes—something that could have felt threatening—were somehow made more alluring by his absurdly attractive features. Adrian looked perfect from head to toe.

I had been momentarily dazed, but came to my senses when he sat across from me, and quickly greeted him.

“Your Highness, it is an honor—no, a great honor to see you again, noble Prince.”

This cringe-worthy line was one I had memorized from the etiquette book I studied before coming here.

Still, my Intelligence stat was now a whopping 15.

I couldn’t say my memory was good—any book I read vanished from my brain within a day—but I could still recite what I’d memorized an hour ago.

‘Well, that’s a relief.’

Feeling a bit proud, I straightened my knees after bowing and looked at the Second Prince.

But then…

“…?”

Why does he look so surprised?

As if… he wasn’t expecting this?

‘Is it because of my Infamy stat?’

Thanks to my recent efforts, my notoriety had been spreading rapidly. Still, I didn’t think I’d gone so far as to offend royalty…

But then again, the mechanics of this world might not align exactly with my assumptions.

“…Have a seat.”

“I am forever honored by your grace, Your Highness.”

“Hm.”

“…Is something the matter? Are you unwell?”

“…Your tone has changed.”

“Ah.”

Well, of course it did. Back then, I didn’t even realize he was a prince, and I ended up conning him with a fake mana stone.

Things escalated quickly that time, and we kind of glossed over it, but today was different. I had no idea how he might react.

“You’re the noble one blessed by Demeter, carrying the blood of Bregenz! That day, I was in such a state of disarray, I must have acted with grave disrespect…”

Worried that I might get roped into another strange quest, I maintained extreme politeness. But Adrian waved his hand like he was tired of hearing it.

“That’s enough. Just speak comfortably.”

“Uh?”

Did he just say… speak comfortably?

I looked at him, startled, but the prince wore an unreadable, ambiguous expression.

Was he testing me? Or just messing with me?

But he didn’t seem like he was trying to mess with me…

In that case…

“Sure, fine then.”

I dropped into casual speech.

The air went cold.

Silence.

And then a weird moment of eye contact.

‘Wait… was that not okay?’

I caught a flash of disbelief in his red eyes and quickly corrected myself before he could say anything.

“…Actually, no! Hohoho, how could I dare speak casually to the noble prince!”

Maybe my dramatic flip-flop amused him?

Adrian just stared at me, as if in disbelief, then finally opened his mouth.

“…No, just go ahead and speak how you were.”

“R-really?”

I asked again, but instead of answering, he undid the top button of his shirt like he was suffocating.

His long, slender neck caught the light, and the movement of his Adam’s apple and the prominent veins drew my gaze.

He really did have main character energy.

I stared, almost drooling, before catching myself and sitting upright.

“…Alright then.”

I replied with a hint of shyness.

Even though I switched to fully casual speech, Adrian didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

Well, this world wasn’t exactly a normal one anyway… maybe this was normal here.

I organized my thoughts and jumped straight to the point.

“Did you check the mana stones I brought?”

“My adjutant will check and report shortly.”

“Oh, you mean Sir Brandt?”

“He’s Viscount Brandt.”

Oh… right.

…Which meant I had nothing else to talk about until Brandt came. That was a problem. What should I say?

Trying to shake off the awkward silence, I spoke again.

“Uh, so…”

Now that I was using casual speech, I couldn’t exactly call him Your Highness anymore.

Sensing my hesitation, he offered:

“Rian.”

“Huh?”

“If we meet outside, it’ll be easier to use that name.”

“Oh, uh, sure. Then you can call me Adel. My name’s kinda long anyway…”

As we settled on nicknames for each other, my mind wandered to Randolph.

I had told Adrian about Randolph’s identity that day…

“Did you find that assassin?”

“If you mean the guild leader, no. He’s gone missing.”

Makes sense.

The guy who mined those mana stones for me was Randolph, after all…

“So are you tracking him?”

“He left a closure notice, so we assumed he fled the country. The investigation’s been closed. But the more important thing isn’t the assassin, but who hired him.”

When did he put up a closure notice?

I was a bit impressed with Randolph’s quick cover-up job, but more importantly, they weren’t investigating him anymore.

That was great news. It meant I could keep using him for my purposes.

“So, did you find any leads on the client?”

“We suspect it’s a follower of the Evil God.”

Randolph had said the same thing, but it didn’t seem wise to let on that I already knew.

Still… why would a follower of the Evil God try to assassinate the emperor? The crown prince is a solid successor. Killing the emperor wouldn’t really destabilize the Empire.

There were no royal-related events during the one year I played Ark, and even when I reached the Crown Princess ending, it was the same.

Wait a second… does that mean he could be the culprit?

‘This guy might be the mastermind. And now that I think about it, it was weird how he bought those mana stones at five times their value…’

Mana stones—especially high-grade ones—could be used for many things.

They could extend artifact lifespans, store divine power… but most importantly, they were practically military goods in this world.

I glanced at Rian with suspicion and cautiously asked,

“…Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Why did you buy the mana stones from me? What are you going to use them for?”

Silence.

…Why the silence? Did he realize I knew something? Was he about to kill me?

Or maybe…

“It was part of the deal.”

“Huh?”

“You agreed to sell your goods if I found you trustworthy. That was our condition.”

Oh, right.

I had offered to sell the mana stones first, not him.

I felt a bit guilty for suspecting him…

‘No, wait.’

I forced my brain to stay sharp.

In this SSS-rank survival world, there’s no such thing as coincidence.

Still, since we were now calling each other by nicknames, I figured I could confirm things slowly over time.

Knock knock.

Right then, Viscount Brandt knocked and entered the room.

It had taken longer than I expected, but then again, moving and inspecting a hundred mana stones wasn’t exactly a quick task.

“Is everything in order?”

“Yes. The quantity and quality match exactly what was promised.”

At last, I could breathe easy.

I had checked everything myself before coming, but even a minor mistake could have ruined the atmosphere.

As I finally let my guard down, the two men quickly wrapped up their conversation.

“Good work. Escort the lady and pay her the agreed amount.”

“Yes, understood.”

Brandt turned to me with a gesture.

“My lady, allow me to guide you out.”

“Ah, yes.”

I gathered my belongings and stood up, about to follow Brandt without thinking—until I turned around to Rian and remembered:

“See you again! Sleep well!”

Yes—raising the affection of a potential mastermind meant I must never skip a cheerful farewell.

Surprised by my energetic goodbye, Rian hesitated for a moment, then finally replied,

“…You too.”

As I left the room, I was greeted by Brandt’s shocked face.

He clearly hadn’t known about his boss’s peculiar tastes, but I chose not to comment and simply walked on.