Chapter 216: Hold Hands When Things Seem Hopeless

“If we’re here then it’s the same as saying Prince Nico and Lei-sama are here!”

“B-but…”

Even if Hans said that to Nico’s guards, they probably weren’t going to leave Nico.

“Easter wants to capture either Prince Nico or Lei-sama. Their lives aren’t in danger right now. It’s important to keep these two hidden until Kingdom’s army fights back!”

“But…”

“Even if we’re both here, it’ll only give us a small amount of time before the two are caught. If that’s the case, then we should be decoys or act like fools.”

Hans is right.

Nico is worth a lot. He is the direct heir of Kingdom, but even if Kingdom no longer existed, his large amount of magic can be used in many ways in the future. So, he won’t be killed.

Then what about me? When I was a year old and my only worth was the colour of my eyes, people might have thought that it would have been fine for me to be gone from Kingdom, or worse, dead. But now, perhaps people know that I have enough magic power.

That should increase my value and make them want to kidnap me.

And even if it’s complicated to get here, they’ll reach here eventually if they go through all the doors. It’s probably only a matter of time before we’re captured.

What’s the point of having two guards when that happens?

“You guys probably shouldn’t be here either.”

“This is our job. We can’t leave here unless we’re ordered to.”

For example, Nico’s still a small powerless child even if he tells them to leave. They won’t leave this door even if Nico or Hans tell them to leave.

“Then, act like fools.”

“Act like fools?”

The guards at the door looked like they couldn’t understand what Hans had said.

“You haven’t seen Prince Nico or Lei-sama. You can hear that there is a lot of noise in the castle, but you don’t know what’s going on because you can’t leave your station. Pretend you don’t know anything even if the Easter soldiers come and ask them who they are and what they’re doing like you would any suspicious person.”

“Hmm. It’s hard to pretend that we don’t know they’re here since we know they are.”

“Do your best. If you can’t pretend they’re not here, then leave.” Hans’s harsh words continued.

“We’ll do our best.”

“Do your best. Then, Prince Nico and Lei-sama.”

“Hmm. Be careful.”

“I will.”

“Hansh.”

Hans reached out as if he was going to hug me for a second but pulled back. I nodded firmly.

“Treashure your wife.” (Treasure your life)

“… Yes!”

We watched as Hans and the other guard ran off, then entered the barrier room which had been opened for us. Nico looked up at the soldiers and said, “You guys treasure your life too.” However, I didn’t have the right to tell them this, so I didn’t know what to say to them.

So, Nico’s words were also my words.

“Yes. Prince Nicholas and Leila-sama, please be careful.”

Then, they closed the door.

The barrier room was as quiet as it had been when we arrived and there was a large pedestal with five magic stones in the middle.

What should we do now? I understand the situation somehow, but I did my best to stay out of Hans’s way and tried not to think about it too much. But Otou-sama is far away near Wester, so who the heck will come to save us?

Suddenly, a sense of hopelessness overcame me.

“Lei.”

Nico squeezed my hand which I had clenched at the side of my body.

“Lei I can’t hold your hand if you have it clenched like that. See.”

“Ai.”

I relaxed and reconnected my hands with Nico’s. We can’t go anywhere in this small room.

“We’re finally in the barrier room, let’s take a look at the magic stones.”

“Nico…”

Is this the time to be saying that? I looked up at the head-taller Nico accusingly and met his calm eyes.

“Let, let’s find out what we can do here and what we can use from here first.”

Yes, we went here because it’s hard to find.

“There’sh a shecreth bashe here,” I muttered, and Nico nodded.

“That’s right, we only came here the first time. However, I asked the soldiers to bring lots of things here.”

“Ai!”

“We have to check what they brought.”

“Ai.”

I think we should check the waiting room first, but Nico pulled my hand and headed straight to the pedestal.

“Why?”

“Didn’t you say that Albans and Lisburn went far away?”

“Ai. Otou-syama wenth tho Weshther. Oh.”

This meant that the two of the Four Marquises haven’t put any magic into the magic stones for a while.

“Of course, if they can’t make it back in time then we have His Majesty, father and uncle, so it’s fine. But…”

“If everyone hash been caught…”

“Then won’t the magic stones become empty?”

We stopped, and quickly climbed the chair next to the pedestal.

“It’s thin…”

“Lighth pinw. The magic wiww be gone shoon.”

But that doesn’t mean that we are going to do anything about it.

“Alright. We’ve confirmed this. Next is the waiting room.”

“Ai.”

Apparently, the pursuers aren’t here yet. Nico reached out a little and opened the door while listening to the sounds in the corridor. The room was well-kept, and the door didn’t make any sounds when it opened or closed. We closed the door just in case.

“There are two beds. One door leads to the washroom, and…”

Nico put his hand on the other door handle.

“It won’t open. I guess that’s that.”

I wish it was a secret escape route.

When we opened the washroom, there were cups and other items for drinking tea. In short, it’s like a hotel.

“The shecreth bashe ish under thhe bed.”

“I wonder if they actually put stuff in there for us.”

We laid down on the carpeted floor and flipped the covers of the bed.

“There!”

“Bag!”

Nico quickly dove in and pulled out a large bag. But then he dove in again and pulled out another bag.

“It’s pretty heavy. What’s in it.”

“Leth’sh woow.”

One bag contained a blanket, a lamp, a simple cooking set, and other camping equipment that would never be used in the castle.

“I guess they just left the stuff they were told to here.”

“Whath abouth thhe othher one?”

“Mm.”

The other bag contained just what we needed now.

“Bread, shweethsh, (some kind of food I can’t decipher), fruithsh.”

“There’s quite a lot.”

There was enough food for all the Four Marquis children to spend the day with Nico, in other words, there was enough food for seven people.

“There’sh thwo of ush sho we can eath thhish for thhree daysh if we’re carefuw.” (There’s two of us so we can eat this for three days if we’re careful)

“We won’t have to hide for that long, right?”

The two toddlers were being realistic, but had become a little more cheerful.