My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

Huge thanks to Sam for the kofi! ^_^ Two bonus chapters today, enjoy! ?

***

Lelia couldn’t believe her ears.

[T/N: Well, I can’t believe my eyes too… Romeo is- xD]

What is he talking about?!

“Romeo, you’re good. That’s a very great idea.” Kalix gave a thumbs up. 

Smiling as if nothing major had happened, Romeo added;

“It just sounds right. I can say I want to bring my fiancée to the last banquet party tomorrow.”

“….”

Lelia rolled her eyes without moving a muscle.

“Are you going to enter the Imperial Palace as Romeo’s fiancée?”

Lelia quickly calculated the possibility of complications.

“….”

“Frankly speaking, it’s not a bad idea.”

As long as she doesn’t meet Perseus. 

But they’re talking about the Imperial Palace. The chances of meeting the Emperor are high and potentially dangerous. Besides that, a prince’s fiancée would be considered hi ranking. If Emperor Perseus decides to have a formal meeting with her, she will  be quickly caught. 

“I was afraid I’d run into the emperor. So I was planning to sneak in.”

She didn’t have to steal anything, she just had to go into the cabin and press the search button for the ingredients. 

Lelia cautiously asked, “Isn’t the emperor going to attend the banquet? He may recognize my face and have questions.”

“Is that so? From what I’ve heard, they’re not planning to attend the last banquet.”

“The status of fiancée to a prince is too dangerous. They may think I’m a high-ranking aristocrat, and news might reach your home country…”

Lelia hesitated, so Romeo thought for a moment.

“Maybe we can say you’re a distant relative.”

Lelia nodded for a moment. It would be easier to deceive you just in case.

[Then I only have one chance tomorrow…]

“Well… I might want to stay longer in the Imperial Palace. I heard there are actually many more guests staying this time.”

Romeo’s comment left Lelia silent and distressed.

“Are you all right?”

No matter how you look at it, this method is too dangerous.

It will be over in a day, but if you stay in the castle for a longer period of time, the danger will only increase. She didn’t have time to extend her stay.

The plan seemed completely different from her original one.

Lelia thought twice about the idea and eventually came up with a good idea of her own.

“Originally, I was going to sneak into the Imperial Palace by myself.”

“Did you learn swordsmanship, or martial arts?” asked Kalix unexpectedly.

Lelia shook her head.

“No, I have enough medicine to put the gatekeepers to sleep.”

“Alchemy?”

Romeo’s eyebrows furrowed. 

Lelia quickly added her statement, in case he was suspicious.

“Yes, the people who raised me after I escaped as a kid bought it for me.”

Romeo nodded with an “Ah” at Lelia’s words.

[As long as I’m not suspected of being an alchemist.]

If she is suspected of being an alchemist, she may be accused of being Leo’s killer again. It sounds better if someone else bought the medicine.

“Well, let’s do this,” Kalix waved a big hand and looked around.

Lelia looked at Kalix anxiously.

“Tomorrow is the last day of the banquet. Romeo will attend it, and I’ll help Lelia infiltrate the castle.”

“Hey… really?” asked Romeo in irritation.

“Yes, isn’t it a perfect plan?”

“What’s perfect? You want me to go to the party alone? I… I don’t want to go, so you;re the only one who wants to force me to go!”

“What should I do? We’ll be less suspicious if one person is present. You want me to go to the party alone? I can’t. My eyes spasm when I see the lights in the banquet hall.”

“…….”

Romeo’s lips closed tightly when he blinked. Kalix shrugged his shoulders, holding back his laughter.

Lelia glanced at Kalix’s eyes.

His eyes were covered by a black blindfold.

Kalix will eventually lose his sight, and will eventually only be able to distinguish people  by the black outline of their figures.

It will happen in the near future.

” I see…” replied Romeo helplessly. 

Kalix asked Lelia, “What about you?”

Lelia nodded nervously. It had to be better than being Romeo’s fiancée and entering the castle through the front door.

***

Lelia changed her mind.

[It would’ve been better to be Romeo’s fiancée and enter the castle normally.]

It was late at night on the next day.

As they’d planned yesterday, Lelia headed for the deserted northeast gate with Kalix.

The door over there was a very small entrance, so there weren’t that many guards.

Originally, Lelia planned to sneak past the soldier and walk through the gate. It was safe because it was a medicine that only veiled the mind while remaining conscious.

In fact, Lelia did use it.

As soon as they passed the gate, something unexpected happened. When a hazy soldier wavered at his post, Kalix struck the soldier in the back of the head.

“…….”

So now the soldier was flat on the ground and unconscious.

“Of course you did that… You are going to draw attention to us.”

Lelia said while gritting her teeth in anger. Kalix shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

[I should have come alone.]

She had planned to come alone. The problem was that Kalix followed her, worrying that she was going to be in danger. 

Kalix was too tall and muscular to be sneaking around. His silhouette was just too big.

“Kalix… I think you’d better stay here… Keep a lookout on who’s coming.”

“You’re going in alone? It’s dangerous…”

[It’s more dangerous to go with you.]

Lelia swallowed the words and smiled sweetly.

“I think it would be safer if I just went quietly by myself. There is a way for me to hide for a while, even if you get caught.”

“Then… shall I take off this soldier’s armor and wear it?”

Lelia glanced at the fallen soldier.

[I don’t think it’ll fit…]

Lelia nodded, and let him do whatever he wanted.

“Then I’ll be back. Don’t get caught.”

“You can trust me, sister.”

“…”

The sound of a ‘reliable’ brother.

Lelia bit her lips and headed into the castle.

By now Romeo will be attending the banquet alone and smiling forcibly.

The thought made her laugh.

***

As she headed for the cabin, Lelia recalled her childhood memories.

[I heard that there are many new buildings built on the southwestern side of the palace grounds.]

This section was no different than before.

Lelia walked on a dark path, clutching several magic vials she had brought just in case.

While walking through the small forest, soldiers were seen walking around the perimeter. 

Lelia quietly hid from them.

Long after they passed, Lelia began to walk again.

It was quiet here because the last banquet was being held in the main castle.

[On the day of the last banquet before she fled, she went to the hut…]

She returned to the tower without finding anything in the cabin. As soon as she walked inside, she faced Cedric, Damien and Julianna.

[I had to apologize for hurting Julianna.]

She felt depressed when she remembered that day.

Then Lelia was kicked out of the tower and went back to the cabin to nurse her grief.

It was okay…

It was okay because she had friends.

She was really back here with the ‘help’ of Romeo and Kalix.

That fact alone encouraged her a lot.

Lelia eagerly walked toward the cabin.

Then she noticed something.

[Wait, what is that?]

The way to the cabin.

Lelia stopped near the tower where she used to live as a child.

[I knew they built a new building from what Romeo had mentioned. But…]

She didn’t expect them to build such a big and colorful building.

[How wonderful…]

Lelia turned around with a bitter look on her face.

It must have been the result of the emperor or twin brothers’ efforts for Julianna.

It wasn’t long before she stood outside the cabin, it was still the same. Lelia felt as if time had stopped in her childhood.

[It’s not time to be sentimental.]

Lelia checked the surroundings and slowly pulled on the unlocked door to the cabin.

She took a step inside. 

The cold air left her breathless.

“……!”

Moonlight was shining through the window, the only light inside the cabin where no candles had been lit.

Lelia made eye contact with someone sitting in a chair.

It was Emperor Perseus.

Time seemed to have stopped.

“Elle…, Elizabeth…?”

A frowning Emperor Perseus mumbled slowly. Seeing that his low voice was a little slurred, he was probably drunk. A bottle of liquor on the table confirmed it.

“Elizabeth…? Oh, my God… You….”

“…….”

Lelia looked at Emperor Perseus with a stony face.

Unlike the expressionless Lelia, tears were in the corner of his eyes. He must be drunk and mistaken her for Elizabeth.

Her appearance resembled her mother to such an extent that even the Duke and Duchess of Superion sometimes mistook her for her mother. Emperor Perseus deserved to remain in the dark.

He slowly lifted himself up.

He seemed to be reeling from the alcohol.

Lelia looked around the room, and then fixed her eyes on the Emperor.

The hesitation was brief.

Whoosh!

Lelia opened the lid of the medicine bottle in her right hand and sprayed it on Emperor Perseus.

“Why, of all people…” she murmured bitterly against the emperor.

Silence.

“…….”

Emperor Perseus was about to approach Lelia, but fell to the ground unconscious.

It was an anesthetic that knocked the opponent out.

[Why today?  Alone without an escort?]

Lelia frowned.

Well, Emperor Perseus used to come here without escort.

[It’s not the first time I’ve been conceited.]

Lelia stared down at the emperor, who had fallen into a light sleep.

Nine years later, he was still as young and handsome as he used to be.

[This is not the time…]

Lelia glanced at Emperor Perseus over and over again, eventually she fumbled for her necklace. When she touched the jewel, the alchemy tool appeared in the air. She quickly opened the special materials window and pressed the search button. 

Soon after, an illustration of a flying dragon appeared.

• ~~Yeah~! (ง˙∇˙)ว~(ว˙∇˙)ง Searching for special materials~~

After that phrase, the number of the gauge started going up.

The material that Lelia had to find was a material called ‘Crystal of Memories’.

It was one of the ingredients to cure her grandmother’s illness, which she couldn’t find no matter what she did. Lelia was sure she would be able to find those particular ingredients in this place.

[It must be here because this place holds memories of my mother and grandmother.]

• 75%

[Hurry up…]

Lelia only looked at the numbers impatiently. It was when the gauge reached 79%.

“…!!!”

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand grabbing her ankle.