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Volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 13

Translation by burnt.marshmallows
Editing by Team Foxsunes

「My my, that is sadly painfully true. Even I never thought that they would take such strong-handed measures. It would have been great if I could get them to release Agedilus by asserting my authority, but if they argued back about how Agedilus attacked the Priest in question, I wouldn’t have a firm argument either. Clementine, isn’t that the same for you as well?」

「That is, certainly true.」

「Right?」

That’s why the feeling is mutual. Sir Klanven said with a gentle smile. The Princess glared back at him with a vexed expression, appropriate of her age. Why did Sir Klanven seem so much like a brat, even though he’s supposed to share the same blood as the Princess, who is so loveable? This isn’t the time to be messing around. I wanted to rant about it out loud, ignoring the position that I was in right now.

It seemed that the Hero noticed how hard I was fighting to keep myself from acting impulsively, as he placed his hand on my shoulder. Feeling the gentle sensation, I could feel my exasperated heart start to calm down. That’s right. I needed to calm myself down right now. Telling myself that, I adjusted my position on the chair. 

As he looked at me, Sir Klanven started nodding deeply, with a smile that looked like one of admiration, saying「Even so」

「Although the priest in question did act barbarically on his own accord, ignoring orders from us, the higher-ups, attacking him with offensive magic was pretty bad. Filmina, you might have noticed it as well, but that was probably the moment that gave rise to the reason for the priest to capture Agedilus. But of course, that was probably what Agedilus was aiming for I guess」

「You’re probably right. He probably understood that as well, which was why Agedilus let them take him away obediently.」

The Princess also nodded in response to Sir Klanven’s words. The Hero and I looked at each other. We then both tilted our heads. 

「Princess, Sir Klanven, what do you mean by that?」

「What we mean is that, the reason Agedilus attacked the Priest was probably so that he could substitute the problem.」

「「Substitute the problem?」」

Hearing the Princess’s response, the Hero and I repeated her words together. What did she mean by substituting the problem? What could you substitute in what way to make it better? I would think that it’d be pretty hard to find a problematic situation worse than what we have now. A pained expression appeared on my face unconsciously. Seeing that, the princess made a similarly pained expression as she continued to speak. 

「If the reason that you guys took Noct in was as per the official announcement, then you guys would not be in the wrong at all. I’ve repeated this a countless number of times, but it would mean that all you did was 「place him under your supervision」. If you guys were just working hard to protect the country, then we would have no reason to blame you guys. 」

「Rather, it would be right to say that the reason Agedilus was captured this time, was because he attacked the priest of a large temple.」

Hearing Sir Klanven’s words, the image of that man breaking the Magic Seals by force and knocking the Priests down with violent winds reappeared in my head. So that’s what they were referring to, I nodded.「And that’s where the problem lies」Sir Klanven said as he lifted up his index finger.

「There is no way that Agedilus would use his magic by just leaving it to his emotions. He probably used his magic in a very rational way.」

「……What do you mean by that……?」

「The priest in question contacted me, boasting proudly that he had caught Agedilus for「committing the grave sin of siding with demons」, but in reality, Agedilus’s only sin should be that he「harmed the priest of a large temple」. In other words…….」

「ーーIt means that I, do not directly bear any sins? 」

Without waiting for Sir Klanven to finish his sentence, I spoke to try to finish it for him. In response, SIr Klanven shrugged his shoulders slightly and nodded, saying:「I guess that is what it means」. The Princess called out to SIr Klanven in a deep tone:「Uncle」, but her voice seemed somewhat distant from me.

「The reason Edi let himself get caught was」

The reason that man used his magic at that time. It wasn’t just because I was getting shouted at and because they slapped me on the cheek. If it was as the Princess and SIr Klanven are saying, then there was only one other reason left that that man was captured.

「It was to protect the baby and I, wasn’t it?」

Neither the Princess nor Sir Klanven nor the Hero replied. No one said anything in response to my words. But that silence was more telling than any answer could ever be. 

Ah, that was right. To be very honest, I knew that too, even if they hadn’t told me. I understood that. It was just that I didn’t want to realize it. I had just been looking away. I didn’t want to think once again, that I was a burden to that man. 

The fist that I made with my hand on my lap trembled. The Princess placed her hand on that hand of mine. There was no way that I could feel her warmth or anything through the magic communication stone. Yet, I couldn’t help but think that the Princess’s hand was very gentle and warm. Although she was in the Royal Capital, far away from me, I felt as though she was right beside me. And because of that, the feeling that that man wasn’t here with me felt all the more stronger. 

「Filmina. Even if the priest in question tried to take you in, unlike Agedilus, you have done no wrong and there wasn’t a reason for him to do so. If he wanted to capture you too, it would be safe to say that he would have had to capture you together with Agedilus. But he probably wasn’t able to do something as foolish as taking you in because of the baseless claim that「you might be expecting the Demon Lord」. Moreover, we would never have let that happen. So you can rest assured.」

The Princess declared firmly. In response, I silently nodded back at her. I couldn’t tell her that if I could, I wanted to be captured together with that man. It would have been fine if it were just me, but I probably would have done anything in my power to escape if it meant that something could possibly harm the child in my belly.

That man noticed how I felt. That was why he let himself get captured so that we could escape. I should be thanking him, but I couldn’t help but want to ask if there could have been a better way. He really was a clumsy person.

I suddenly felt my nose choke up as I silently looked down at my knees. Suddenly, the princess poked me gently on my forehead. Of course, I couldn’t feel anything. But I was sure that her action was brimming with a force to make me look ahead. As I looked up, I saw the Princess look at me with an expression that looked mixed with exasperation. 

「Filmina, think about it. It is probably true that Agedilus did what he did with the two of you in mind, but I really don’t think that was all there was to it.」

「What?」

I tilted my head in a bid to ask what she meant by that. The Princess furrowed those beautiful eyebrows of hers and continued to speak with the same exasperated look. It took me a while, but I finally realized that the exasperation in her expression was not directed towards me, but that man. 

「There was no way that that man could keep quite seeing you get hurt. I think that rather than blowing the priest in question away with a single blow, he probably would have wanted him to vomit out his own blood. That man let obediently let himself get captured, but that’s probably not something that’s going to stay that way forever.」

「Ah, I agree with that very much as well.」

「Hehe. It seems that Agedilus never changes. I am sure that our goddess is happy seeing how well this couple gets along. 」

The Hero agreed strongly with the Princess’s words, and Sir Klanven laughed out loud. The lady-in-waiting who was standing by in front of the door also let out a sneaky laugh. With their laughter backing me, I tried to nod in response to what the three of them said, but I couldn’t in the end. There was certainly truth in the words of the Princess and the others. But more than that, I couldn’t help but feel that they were just saying those words after considering how I felt. I forced a smile.

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