Chapter 219.
Alphonso, drawn out from the banquet hall by Yuria and Arelia, looked unhappy and glum as he grumbled, "I want to be with Dad and Den."
Yuria put her index finger over her mouth and whispered, "Shh, we’re gonna get caught. Be quiet."
Yuria and Arelia glanced at Hestia and Gallahad, who were heading towards the Red Dragon Knight’s stable. They breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that they’d fortunately not been caught since there was no response.
"Dad and Den are working. Don’t interrupt their work during the banquet, and just be obedient and help us."
Alphonso nodded with a bored expression at Yuria’s nagging. "But why are we following those two?"
Yuria blushed lightly and scratched her cheek. "Well, that’s, they’re cool-”
"Because they’re suspicious,” Arelia said firmly, cutting off Yuria. "Why are they just leaving the banquet hall?"
Alphonso tilted his head at Arelia’s words. "Isn’t it the same for us, as we’re also leaving the banquet hall?"
When Alphonso hit the nail on the head, Arelia was furious. "We...!"
She was about to yell when she put her hands over her mouth to stop herself and looked at Hestia and Gallahad again. She confirmed that fortunately, there was no response and spoke quietly, putting her hand on her chest.
"We have a justification for monitoring them, so it’s okay," said Arelia.
Alphonso wondered what reason they had to monitor them, but he did not voice these thoughts. Arelia looked at Hestia with a jealous look.
"I’m sure she’s going to meet someone." While saying so, she touched her bare neck, which lacked a necklace.
"Who?" Alphonso and Yuria asked, not understanding Arelia’s words.
Yet, Arelia put her index finger to her mouth instead. "Shh!"
Arelia, looking at Hestia and Gallahad again, bit her lips slightly, thinking she should have worn the Thousand-Year Amethyst Necklace.
Kwang!
Suddenly, something broke the stable, and the three-headed dog, Cerberus, rushed towards Hestia.
"It’s danger-!"
Arelia caught Yuria as she tried to run out. "Our opponents are the Crows. I’m sure it’s a pet dog."
Yuria was dumbfounded by Arelia’s words but was amazed to see Cerberus running to Hestia before it flipped onto its stomach and showed an obedient posture.
"Cool..."
Arelia spoke with a sullen look on her face as Yuria seemed to admire them. “Tch, what’s so cool? Oops!"
Before they knew it, Hestia was saddled on top of Cerberus and began to move rapidly.
"Hurry, let’s go!" Arelia ran, dragging along Yuria and Alphonso.
However, she lacked the physical ability to chase after the Crows and Cerberus, who was classified as a demon. Instead, Arelia said, "Let’s fly."
Yuria was taken aback by this suggestion. "Uh, but flying is prohibited in the capital, right?"
When Yuria hesitated, Arelia firmly spoke. "It’s okay. Alice told you before that if you don’t get caught, it’s fine. Oh, did a friend named Den say that instead?
"That’s true, but-"
"Flight!" Arelia flew into the air with magic.
She couldn’t cast magic on herself because she was an anti-magician, but she was able to cast magic on the clothes and shoes she was wearing. Yuria followed her with an expression of interest as she watched an anti-magician use magic.
"Wait for me!" Although Alphonso was not proficient in magic, he followed them into the sky.
* * *
I carried Hestia noona and ran easily across the roofs, asking, "What are you up to?”
My third sister looked like she didn’t know what I was talking about, and I couldn’t read Hestia noona’s expression for a different reason than Elder Weger.
"Don’t pretend you don’t know. I’m talking about the reason you got caught so obediently. No matter how weak you are, it’s suspicious that you got captured without the least bit of resistance."
Elder Weger’s expression could not be read because he had fine control over his facial muscles. On the other hand, Hestia noona’s face couldn’t be read because she was so deceptive, she was able to convince herself. Of course, I was the one who taught her that, but my third sister’s ability to deceive herself far exceeded my own.
"Oh, an ulterior motive. Of course, I have that."
"Instead of insisting that you don’t have one, you say you do have one?"
Hestia noona smiled and spoke as I was dumbfounded. "You wouldn’t believe me if I said I didn’t have one, so why even ask?"
"Well, that’s true."
Nodding passively, Hestia noona gently wrapped her arms around my neck. "You’re carrying me like a princess rather than on your back because you’re afraid I’ll use anesthetic or sleeping pills on you."
I nodded lightly at my third sister’s words. In fact, while learning alchemy under Elder Mirpa, my tolerance was developed to the point where most drugs did not work. It didn’t matter what Hestia noona tried to do with any drugs, but I carried her like this as a precaution. How would I know if Elder Mirpa prepared sleeping pills that work on me?
"By the way, what do you mean ‘carrying like a princess’- Uwaaack!"
When I pretended to throw up, Hestia noona became furious and put me in a headlock. "You punk! Do you know how popular I am in the village?”
Her popularity in the village was certainly partially due to her pretty face. A hyung I know that likes Hestia noona said that there was something about her having a rare weak constitution in the village that drew out a protective instinct. As for me, I couldn’t understand it.
"Even the people who like noona will probably run away if they discover your true nature.”
Upon the truth of my words, Hestia noona kept me in the headlock and gave me a whack on the head. "Ayt! Ayt! Ayt!”
"It hurts! Stop!"
"What hurts, you have a strong body!"
No matter how strong your body was, even a high-ranking knight of the empire would probably pass out from one of her head whacks. That is, on the premise that they got hit, of course. No matter how strong noona was, as someone who’d never learned martial arts, she could not beat a high-ranking knight.
... Probably.
"So, what are you up to?"
Hestia noona just smiled at my question. This smile made me feel highly uncomfortable. However, since I couldn’t force her to tell me, I couldn’t help it.
“Anyways, tell me how you’ve been doing,” Hestia noona asked, her face showing her interest.
I was in such disbelief at her casual attempt to dig up my information that I burst into laughter. "Hahaha, I’ve told you through the letters. I was on vacation traveling around the Demon’s Territory."
"Ayy, you’re lying. It seems like you’ve been hanging out with the princess-nim.”
"What do you mean by that?"
Hestia noona seemed a little confused as I looked at her incomprehensibly. "Huh? No? That’s weird. I’m sure the third princess...”
Third princess? Ah, are you talking about the third princess, Arelia? To tell you the truth, she was a friend of a friend, and I didn’t know her very well. Of course, after magic school, she did sometimes follow Yuria and Alice to the boarding house. But because I purposely avoided her, you could say we only knew each other’s faces.
"Then what’s that?" I looked in the direction where Hestia noona was pointing to, seeing Yuria, Alphonso, and third princess Arelia flying towards us.
I’m glad I wore the mask, not the glasses. Recognition interfering magic doesn’t work on Arelia; I could have been caught here.
Then, Arelia pointed at me and shouted, “Ah, as expected! They were together!”
‘As expected’? What do you mean, ‘as expected’? Did she happen to know that I’m Denburg Blade? Since my fourth sister discovered me, my uncle, the prime minister, and the emperor probably heard about it.
However, it would be strange for this intel to get to a single princess who did not participate in politics. I thought it was information shared by as few people as possible, but does everyone actually know about it?
My head was spinning quickly as I tried to get a grip on the postwar situation when Arelia cried, "You! What’s your relationship with Lupin?"
What relationship? So she doesn’t know who I am? If so, then it was fair to say that it was very unlikely that Yuria and Alphonso had discovered my identity.
When Arelia asked this, Hestia smiled with interest and looked at Arelia and me alternately. What does that smile mean?
"Well, what’s the relationship? Is it okay if I say it?"
My third sister asked playfully, and I sighed, "Of course not. No, why are you asking in the first place if you don’t have any intention of saying it?”
From Hestia’s point of view, it was clear that she didn’t want many people to know my identity. The more people who knew about me, the more I would hide, which meant there would be fewer chances she could push me into a corner like today. For my third sister, it would be more advantageous to take action later in a situation where she had appropriately inferred my radius of activity.
"Well, why do you think?” Hestia noona asked with a playful smile. First of all, I didn’t know why, but I could see from her smile that she was thinking about screwing me over.
"Tell me! What’s your relationship with that woman?" Arelia had tears around her eyes, and Hestia couldn’t hold back her laughter, grunting like someone who was resisting being tickled.
What the heck is going on?
While I was bewildered, Hestia noona whispered in my ear, "Kukuku. Ehew, you idiot."
Why are you whispering all of a sudden?
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, but that’s very insulting. However, since I don’t know what you’re talking about, I can’t refute it.”
Hestia noona struggled as she began to laugh her head off once again.
I was going to tell her to stay still since it was already difficult carrying her, but Arelia cried out with tears in her eyes, "What was the waltz you danced with me on that night!"
At Arelia’s cry, Hestia looked up at me. "What? You were also having a secret love affair?”
"What do you mean secret love affair. I didn’t do anything like a waltz." The only time I waltzed was when I learned it in etiquette class.
At my statement, Arelia looked shocked, and Yuria looked at me like I was trash. Then, Hestia noona started laughing frantically again. Alphonso and I just stood there dazed because we didn’t understand what they were talking about.
"Keup! Huhuhu!"
“Kuk! Kukukuk!”
Arelia was actually crying, and Hestia noona started crying from holding in her laughter.
No, what is this situation? I want someone to tell me.
Yuria pulled a magic wand out of her pocket space with an indignant look and shouted at me, "You’re an enemy of women! Two-timer! I can’t believe you made both of them cry! I will punish a piece of trash like you!"
No, only one person was crying while Hestia noona was laughing her head off. But two-timer?
"Excuse me, I think you’re misunderstanding, but first, please calm down.”
"How can I calm down! A societal evil like you must be punished!" After shouting, Yuria prepared to shoot an ice arrow.
"Wait a minute! I’m innocent!" Two-timer! What bull crap are you spouting?!
If I indeed had been involved with other people, I wouldn’t have felt it was unjustified, but it was disgusting for someone to think I was involved with my sister. I was almost about to throw up blood from the unfairness.
"Innocent! How can you say that in this situation?!" Yuria shot an ice arrow at me in indignation, and I quickly avoided it.
"Wait! Hurry up and clear the misunderstanding." Hestia noona kept giggling, unable to hold back her laughter despite my request.
"Taking a woman hostage! What a piece of trash!" Yuria released a ferocious spell.
What? This is unfair!
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