--------------- ‌‌‌‌
Brought to you ‌‌‌‌by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 18
I couldn't feel the aura that I habitually gathered and controlled.
'What is this?'
For a moment, my mind went blank.
My body moved properly, but the manipulation of mana that flowed as naturally as breathing had become impossible.
"Will."
Crown Prince Kiaros spoke to the escort knights behind him in sudden alarm.
"I think the Dark Period has arrived."
The two escort knights he had brought to the Library were among the finest in the Knight Order.
"I'm certain. This suffocating feeling is definitely the Dark Period. I should probably summon the other escorts."
"They're already standing by outside the Library. I'll return quickly, so please remain here with Commander Fron ‌‌‌‌for now."
Will, one of the two escort knights, rushed away quickly. Fron was the more skilled of the two.
Crown Prince Kiaros was left alone with Fron, the large female knight.
While Fron surveyed her surroundings ‌‌‌with a tense expression, Crown Prince Kiaros swung his sword a few times.
'This doesn't feel right at all.'
Is this the Dark Period? I couldn't ‌‌‌even display one-twentieth of my usual ability.
It was when I reluctantly sheathed the sword I'd been holding.
"Your Highness!"
With a sharp whistle, a dagger flew through the ‌‌‌air. Fron, who had remained vigilant, immediately shielded me.
"Fall back behind me!" ‌‌
Crown Prince Kiaros stumbled backward in shock.
I was horrified that I hadn't sensed the dagger coming at all.
Normally, I would have detected the assassin's presence from the start! ‌‌
Fron deflected several daggers in an instant.
"I ‌‌wouldn't mind ripping out these bastards' guts and scattering them in the sewers—these pathetic worms daring to...."
She spat out ‌‌her characteristic rough curses while defending with all her might. But ultimately, she took a direct hit from one of the flying daggers.
"Commander Fron!"
She collapsed ‌‌‌with a thud. The dagger appeared to be coated with poison. Fron's body became ‌‌‌rigid and paralyzed in an instant.
In that moment, what flashed through Crown Prince Kiaros's mind was the Emperor's warning.
[You must never ‌‌‌let anyone outside know that you've become far weaker than you appear to ‌be.]
A chill ran down my spine.
In my panic, I had shouted out loud in the open courtyard ‌‌‌behind the Library that "the ‌‌Dark Period seems to have arrived."
It seemed the ‌‌‌assassin who overheard those words had attempted this attack.
If I hadn't spoken those words, they would never have dared target me!
"Fron!" ‌‌‌
Fron had been reduced to this state because of me.
Even as regret washed over me, two more daggers flew in succession.
With my usual ability, I could have easily evaded them even during the Dark Period. But the boy who was always so confident had lost his composure to guilt.
'Ah.'
Holding Fron's rigid body, Crown Prince Kiaros stood dazed for a ‌‌‌‌‌moment, thinking.
'Is this how I die?'
Born stronger than anyone ‌‌else, I had always believed death was a distant thing.
Yet here I was, falling into danger so easily. It was almost absurd.
I instinctively dodged the first dagger, but as my balance faltered, a second blade came hurtling ‌straight at me.
That was when it happened.
"Activate!"
A sharp voice rang out, and two scrolls flew toward me as I stood frozen in place.
A magic ‌‌‌‌circle materialized from the scrolls ‌‌and deflected the dagger that had been flying at my chest.
"Ah...."
But the distance was too great for it to be perfect. The redirected dagger grazed my arm.
Had it struck me head-on, my body would have gone rigid just like Fron's.
Clutching my arm, I spun around to look behind me.
Through the Library window, I saw that ‌‌girl from before.
"Hah, hah...."
The girl, half-leaning out of the window, was breathing heavily through her mask.
I couldn't see her expression because of the hat pulled down over her head. ‌
Yet the girl seemed terribly tense as well. She muttered to herself in a daze.
"Did... did that actually work?"
What?
Did that mean she had just activated the scroll for the ‌‌‌first time? That was unsettling in its own way.
"Seize them!"
At the same moment, Will rushed out of the Library with the knights.
They swiftly dragged out the assassin who had been hiding behind the trees.
"Kweek! Kek kek! Kuooogh!"
The culprit they had captured was a small monster with pointed ears and green skin—a Goblin.
Will muttered in shock.
"A Goblin...?"
"We believed they had been exterminated, but it seems ‌‌some remnants survived."
"But did Goblins ever possess this level of intelligence?"
It was shocking.
Goblins were low-rank monsters.
Yet this low-rank monster had not only tracked me but also eavesdropped on our conversation ‌‌and attempted an assassination?
It was something no ‌‌‌one could have imagined.
"For now, I don't want to cause a commotion here."
I looked around and gave a quiet order, my paralyzed arm stiff, but I forced myself to ‌‌remain composed.
We had captured the Goblin alive, ‌‌and we would need to investigate it further back at the palace.
Will also lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Yes, Your Highness. Let us return quickly."
"Very well."
The escort knights agreed to withdraw quietly for now, keeping their identities concealed.
Crown Prince Kiaros turned around, surrounded by the knights. The Unknown Girl stood by the window, watching them.
Given the ‌‌‌distance and the ‌hushed tone of their conversation, she wouldn't have heard what ‌‌‌he and the knights discussed.
Yet she surely understood ‌‌that she had saved him.
"You there!"
In any case, I owed my life to this mysterious girl. There was no time to ask her to come down for a proper conversation.
Crown Prince Kiaros shouted loudly enough for the window to hear.
"I am in your debt! Come to Count Kalto's Residence later!"
Count Kalto's Residence was the nearest noble estate from here. ‌‌
I desperately wanted to repay her, but I couldn't publicly reveal ‌‌where I was staying. So I mentioned a nearby location instead.
'I must send someone to Count Kalto's Residence immediately.'
I planned to instruct them to treat any girl who arrived there with utmost hospitality and send her to me.
The silhouette of the girl I had passed so carelessly moments ago was now vivid in my mind.
'If she wraps her face that tightly, does she perhaps have some form of social anxiety?'
The way she had gripped the pen with her small hand by the window, concentrating like a painting come to life. ‌‌‌‌
'I don't know for certain, but she seems quite shy....'
The girl, whose appearance I still couldn't discern, tilted her head at the window.
Then, cupping her hands around her ‌‌‌mouth, she shouted without hesitation.
"How dare you order around your lifesaver!"
She ‌‌clearly had no idea ‌‌‌he was the Crown Prince, but ‌Crown Prince Kiaros was shocked nonetheless.
A ten-year-old arrogant boy had only ever been surrounded by people who deferred to him.
This was the first time anyone had scolded him in such a teaching ‌‌tone.
"If someone saves your life, you should at least face them and thank them in person!"
Crown Prince ‌‌‌‌‌Kiaros was taken aback.
Was that how it worked? Did that come before promising a great reward?
Since ‌‌‌‌I had never imagined anyone would save ‌‌‌my life, it was something I had never considered. ‌‌‌‌
"You should at least figure out exactly what you're grateful for, shouldn't you?"
The girl spoke with admirable composure. She was definitely not the shy type.
That was when it happened.
"Your Highness, Fron's breathing is deteriorating. If it's a deadly poison, you're in danger too from the blade's contact."
Will whispered urgently while carrying Fron. Her tongue had already stiffened, and she could barely speak. Of course, Crown Prince Kiaros's arm was also becoming ‌‌‌increasingly rigid.
"Both Fron and Your Highness need to ‌‌‌see a physician immediately." ‌‌‌‌‌
There was truly no more ‌‌‌time to continue talking with that girl.
To make matters worse, the captured Goblin ‌was also resisting fiercely.
This could attract unwanted attention and become troublesome.
In ‌‌the end, Crown Prince Kiaros shouted once more toward the girl at the window, whose face he couldn't see.
"Come to Count Kalto's Residence, and I ‌‌‌‌will grant you ‌‌‌‌whatever you desire! I swear it on my honor!"
"Anything?"
"Yes! Anything you ask for!"
"Hmm...."
As they hurried away, the girl, who had been thinking seriously, called out after them.
"I want to marry a man with an absolutely, absolutely, absolutely enormous amount of money!"

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------