Chapter 229

In the reception room of the royal palace, a man and a woman sat facing each other.

A maid stood silently like an ornament by the wall, a little distance from the two seated across the table.

"That's why, please don't trouble Lord Clael, alright?"

"............"

At the words of the peerless beautiful girl before him—Reina Laurel—the crown prince, Eric Seincle, grimaced.

That day, unusually... no, for the first time, Reina visited the royal palace.

When the messenger from the Grand Shrine arrived as a forerunner, Eric couldn't believe his eyes.

(Until now, no matter how many times I invited her, Reina never came to the royal palace... Even when my father or mother invited her, she politely declined...)

Reina is the Saint.

Not even the king or queen can order Reina around.

In the past, there was a king who forcibly made a Saint his consort by royal decree... but he was struck by Judgment Lightning, and half the royal palace vanished.

(And yet... for such a purpose, of all things...)

Eric let out a sigh.

Reina's purpose for visiting the royal palace was to explain the hostage incident that occurred at a certain restaurant.

Eric had been working to uncover a criminal organization targeting the royal palace.

The ones who took over and barricaded the restaurant were remnants of that criminal organization.

The hostage incident itself was resolved by a mysterious individual.

When they questioned the restaurant's customers, they gave incomprehensible testimonies, saying the culprit was a mysterious macho man, a bear, a dog, a cat, or a shoebill.

The situation was so chaotic that Eric had nearly given up... until he found the name 'Clael Byrne' in the reservation list and widened his eyes in shock.

He knew that name. It was the name of a teacher at the Royal Academy, where Eric attended.

Clael had made a reservation for two.

And... Eric had a hunch about who the other person was.

He had planned to visit the staff dormitory at the academy today to talk to Clael... but just then, Reina came to the royal palace to explain the situation.

"So... Reina, you were the one who drove away those criminals?"

"Yes, that's right. To be precise, it was the angel I summoned who did it."

"By the way... regarding that matter, I was going to speak with Mr. Byrne as well..."

"That won't be necessary."

Reina cut off Eric's words.

"Lord Clael is resting quietly at home today, so please leave him be. It's a rare day off. He needs to refresh himself too."

"............"

How does Reina know how Clael is doing?

That question crossed Eric's mind... but today was a holiday at the academy.

In that case, Clael was probably resting in the staff dormitory too. Maybe they talked during a meal or something—nothing worth worrying about.

(Yeah... it's not something to worry about. Let's just leave it at that...)

Eric told himself that and stopped his thoughts before they wandered into unnecessary territory.

"Alright... then let's go with that."

Pressing his fingers to his brow as if holding back a headache, Eric squeezed out the words.

"I appreciate your cooperation... I can't explain everything openly, but the men you captured had infiltrated the royal palace with ill intent. We were searching for the remnants, so you helped a lot."

"I see. I'm glad it saved you the trouble."

As she said that, Reina looked slightly displeased.

"But... if His Highness the Crown Prince had resolved it sooner, I could have enjoyed a nice dinner with Lord Clael. He wouldn't have gotten punched, and we could have had dessert too, you know?"

"That's... my apologies..."

"Well, it's not like this is your fault, so I won't blame you. I won't blame you."

"............"

He felt like he was being blamed.

No, it wasn't just a feeling—he was being blamed.

Eric bowed his head again and muttered an apology, "Sorry..."

As royalty, he wasn't allowed to bow so easily... but this was an informal setting. Only Eric, Reina, and a maid standing by the wall were present.

Reina stood up and walked toward the door. That signaled the end of the conversation.

"Wait, Reina!"

"What is it?"

"If you're free... how about lunch after this..."

"............"

As if she hadn't heard those words, Reina opened the door and left the reception room.

"Ah..."

Eric reached out with a sad expression... but grasped nothing and let his hand fall in vain.

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