???: [――Leave the Kingdom together with Old Man Rom. If you do that, your safety will be guaranteed.]
In the middle of the night, she woke up to a presence entering her bedroom and shuddered.
The first thing that pierced through her mind was disappointment in her own loosened vigilance.
In the slums where she had originally lived, everyone around her was an enemy. There was no time or place where she could let her guard down. That was why she never lowered her defenses, even in her bedroom.
That should have been her source of pride for having grown up in the slums for fifteen years――,
???: [I'm sorry for all the complications and self-reflection that's being posed on you, but you're not losing sleep over it, are you?]
Felt: […Hey you, I don't know who the fuck you are or where you're from, but do you even know who you're picking a fight with?]
With a low-voiced threat, she argued back while still lying down on the bed.
Being treated with contempt was naturally the shameful sight it was, but she wasn't going to tolerate it indefinitely. So,
Even if this rubbed the other person the wrong way, she absolutely refused to grovel.
???: [You sure are acting tough, huh? Let me just tell you right now, that damn Reinhard is…]
Felt: [Screw you. Why did Reinhard's name come up when I'm the one that messed up, and now I gotta wipe my own ass?]
???: [――――]
Felt: [I'm telling you, don't think you can get away with this for free. If you show me an opening, in an instant I'll… oh?]
She had intended with determination to bite his unguarded windpipe. However, her intent was dampened by the intruder's strange reaction.
Standing beside the bed, the intruder looked at her―― suddenly, for some reason, his shoulders shook, and he began to chuckle a small laugh.
Felt: [Wh-What the hell's so funny?]
???: [Hey, don't use such a loud voice. I'm not sure if you can see what's going on here… Well, you're just being yourself by not calling Reinhard at this point, aren't you?]
Felt: [Huh?]
She turned her head with a frown to the intruder, whose voice sounded somewhat distracted.
The initial sharp intensity was gone, as was the feeling of him doing something untoward if she moved. You could call it carelessness and it would be so, or you could call it intuition and it would be so.
In any case, it did not result in her regretting having turned around.
The intruder had done nothing to her, and more importantly, the person standing there was a familiar face.
Felt: […Bro, what the hell are you doing here?]
???: [For no reason at all. My demands… wait, were you still half asleep and you didn't hear me?]
Felt: [No, I heard you saying something about taking Old Man Rom and leaving…]
The demand did not match her impression of the person in front of her―― a familiar, black-haired boy.
Looking at the boy, she saw he was unarmed, despite coming to threaten her.
He did not appear to be carrying a weapon, nor was he prepared to restrain her. As she slowly lifted herself off the bed, he did not tell her to wait or stop.
Naturally, she felt foolish for being so cautious, and roughly scratched her golden hair.
Regardless of the situation, there was no mistaking the fact that she had been caught off guard――,
Felt: [Like, how did you even manage to sneak in? That damn Reinhard isn't home tonight, but there's other scary people here in this mansion…]
Black-haired Boy: [Yeah, there are. Flam and Grassis, yeah? The bodyguard twins, they might look cute, but they're really good at what they do, so they gave me a hard time.]
Felt: [――――]
Black-haired Boy: [And by a strange coincidence, I also know the three thugs you're taking care of here at your place. I guess this is what they mean when they say that it's a small world.]
When he had calmly pointed out those who should have been in the mansion, she fell silent.
Upon hearing that, she could feel a cold sweat breaking out on her back; and, gritting her teeth, she realized that her vigilance had been loosened in earnest.
The boy before her, his demeanor was certainly almost the same as the one she knew.
However, that in itself was unusual.
He had broken into a mansion that was difficult to infiltrate, even late at night, and moreover, he had managed to breach her guard and was now standing beside her bed, all the while remaining unchanged from before.
Felt: [――. What happened to the others? If you messed with them…]
Black-haired Boy: [No mercy? Don't worry. I'm not a kid who would retaliate just because I've been beaten up. And if you were to make a fuss, Reinhard would immediately come running.]
Felt: […And if I were to raise my voice, the same thing you did to them would happen to me, wouldn't it?]
Black-haired Boy: [Yeah, you're not wrong about that. So please don't. If you don't, then…]
Felt: [If I don't?]
Black-haired Boy: [――I'll keep your family's secret private.]
He bent down slightly and whispered in her ear.
This was not a bluff or a random remark: she knew this by intuition, without the need for evidence.
And, in this case, "Family" could only refer to one person in her life.
Felt: [What do you know about Old Man Rom?]
Black-haired Boy: [A lot. I know a lot. In fact, it's not just about Old Man Rom, but I know far more about you than you do yourself…Though, I kinda feel like a stalker saying it like that.]
Standing in front of her, the boy shrugged slightly and touched his neck―― rather, the crystal hanging from it, with a wry smile as if he were sharing a joke with a friend.
The bizarre atmosphere made it impossible for her to deny him in this instance.
Black-haired Boy: [If you want to know all the details, I can tell you, but your family is quite the enemy of the Kingdom. If they were to find out his identity, they'd one hundred percent have him arrested and executed. It's at the level that you, and all the members of your Camp, would all be implicated. I really don't want to be doing that, either.]
Felt: [What the hell are you even talking about…?]
Black-haired Boy: [I'm going to suggest it from my own mouth. …I may have come across as a little bit of a douche.]
The boy scratched his cheek and showed no significant reaction to her swearing. It was as if he was already fully prepared, and all he had to do was to make her nod her head.
Felt: [――――]
Perhaps, the boy was not in a situation that granted him as much leeway as it appeared.
In fact, if Reinhard were to be called, whatever the situation was, it would be turned upside down in an instant. However, it did not seem like he was anticipating that to happen.
If Reinhard were to be called, surely information would be circulated that would put her family in danger.
Black-haired Boy: [If you can understand that much without me having to explain everything, then you must be a good candidate for King.]
Felt: [――Geez, that just sounds like sarcasm to me.]
Whether he was aware of it or not, his words seemed like a natural provocation.
Then there was a long, long silence――,
Felt: [――I understand. I'll do as you say.]
Black-haired Boy: [Is that so. That's good. Well then, I've prepared various escape routes for you.]
As she nodded, he suddenly looked relieved, and the boy pulled a bag from under the bed. When she looked at its contents, everything was meticulously provided, and the preparations were thorough.
It was really eerie how everything had been studied and planned to such an extent, sending shivers down her spine.
Black-haired Boy: [Go straight to Old Man Rom's room. I've already talked to him too.]
She had no interest in learning how he had accomplished it, and she did not bother to inquire.
Accepting the offered bag, she glided past the boy while still in her sleepwear, enjoying the feeling of being in control of everything. Just before leaving the room, she halted her step――,
Felt: [――Not trying to be a sore loser or anything, but that face of yours looks like the devil, bro.]
Having spoken those words, she swiftly exited the room without waiting to witness his reaction.
There seemed to be no possibility of victory. Now that he had become their adversary, not even Reinhard, or…
Feeling such bone-chilling fear, the blonde royal selection candidate withdrew from the Royal Selection.