NOVEL NEXT Chapter 228
<228 - Not a Secret>
Arcadia was saved thanks to Oknodie.
The Sebiche Family narrowly escaped collapse.
The cold reception from the public toward her became confused.
Now that the family has not crumbled,
Is it okay to continue to ignore the Arcadia Princess?
What if she makes a glorious comeback?
While many feel fear and are wary of her, Arcadia paid no mind to the disposal of the betrayers.
“I survived with my hands stained with blood from Oknodie.”
This is a debt.
The family fell, she was expelled from the Academy.
Moreover, she might have been chased and captured by those coveting the family’s wealth, destined to either become a slave or lose her life; a life bound by a debt, at best.
Then she too must repay an equal debt.
Instead of turning a blind eye to the dubious darkness surrounding Oknodie with, “It’s the Foundation’s issue,” or “That kid will manage somehow,” she must face it head-on and unravel it.
And steadily pull her from the shadows into the light.
This is the only way to repay the debt.
Once she set the standards, the method of repaying the debt was determined.
“Jezel. May I ask you to provide information to help Oknodie, despite my lack of shame?”
“It seems you have a debt of the heart.”
Indeed, she is sensitive to people’s feelings.
Unlike Kanilian Truffle, who pondered over Arcadia’s complex emotions through a long tale, Jezel pierced right through her thoughts with a single line.
Given the circumstances, it was astonishingly quick.
“I understand your feelings, but Your Highness is still in a precarious situation. The Sebiche Ducal House has lost their title and been downgraded to count.”
“…Still, the family’s outward finance has ceased. They cannot recklessly harm someone like me, who presumably holds the slave ledger.”
“But you have not regained your position as faction leader. You disappointed your followers and relinquished that seat. Those who view you as an enemy will grow more hostile to overcome their fears.”
“That level of difficulty is not much. Using the information I acquired while playing faction leader and the children’s relationships, I can shatter the rival factions into dozens of pieces.”
Arcadia has remarkable political skills.
She is good-natured and considerate, yet maintaining the lofty rank alongside a ‘kind’ but weak character speaks to her innate strength.
If an unskilled person wishes to live kindly, one of either the guardian or themselves must wield extraordinary power.
Jezel admired such good-hearted people.
Those who do not lose their goodness in positions that require them to be evil shine brightly.
That light, though perhaps not as radiant as Oknodie’s, made Arcadia splendid enough to be considered a business partner, earning Jezel’s respect.
With that respect in mind, Jezel honored her request.
“Understood. If I try to break Your Highness’s stubbornness, my waist would fold first.”
“You’re no longer the duke’s daughter, so stop calling me that.”
“Should I call you the Countess then?”
“Just my name will suffice.”
“As you wish, Lady Arcadia.”
Exchanges of light banter and laughter were short-lived.
Jezel took out a notepad from her pocket and tore a page off.
“Here you go.”
“This is…?”
“It’s the result of my investigation into the Foundation’s subsidiary group, the Pierrot Masked Group, which Oknodie summoned for the last mission.”
“…Considering that I might have received a dangerous task from the Destroyer professor from the Academy, I was planning to dig there first.”
“Trust me. That place has the Thief Guild’s information networks tightly shut down. With Your Highness’s current intelligence, you’d be caught in no time.”
“Really, is there no other way?”
“The Thief Guild held the information support for the Warrior Party even in the Demon Realm, so we can safely say their skills are overwhelming. If you were to clash with the information sources of the underworld, you would suffer substantial losses.”
Let alone the diminished power of the Sebiche Family, now merely counts, it was no match whatsoever.
“Okay then.”
Gracefully resigned, Arcadia examined the notepad.
Her expression hardened as she looked at Jezel’s notes.
After seriously reviewing the content, she held up a note and asked back.
“What’s this record?”
“As you can see, it’s a record of the Pierrot Masked Group’s nationwide routes and the villages that perished along the way.”
“…Do you think Oknodie’s hometown is among them?”
“There might be even worse than that.”
“Worse?”
“A village that Oknodie himself destroyed.”
Without missing a beat, the Princess’s hand swiftly extracted a gun from the holster clinging to her thigh.
“…You. How can you say something like that about Oknodie? You thought that child was kidnapped by them, yet you say such horrid things!”
“Why do you think it’s something that shouldn’t be said? It’s an organization that kidnaps kids and raises them as killing machines. Have you never thought for a moment that they would test Oknodie’s ‘loyalty’?”
“!!”
“Stop it. Your Highness is far too precious a being to delve into such matters. If you find out how filthy the information ends up in my hands, you’d want to become blind and deaf.”
It was not an attitude that mocked her as a sheltered noble lady.
Jezel genuinely believed she wouldn’t be able to withstand information worse than this.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Given my life debt, I’m not cowardly enough to turn back just because I’m scared of uncovering darkness. I may tolerate the name Sebiche, but I won’t turn a blind eye to the name Arcadia in the face of fire.”
“I feel uneasy thinking I might have incited you with mere words. Please, don’t delve too deeply. For us now, the extent we can poke is limited.”
As Jezell confirmed Arcadia’s unexpectedly strong mentality, she tore another page from her notepad.
“Go find this student.”
“Jaku. A Lower Class Student of the First Year. A student who caused a Dark Mana explosion in the Mana Sensitivity Test. Can this student assist in tracking the Pierrot Masked Group‘s incident?”
“Indeed.”
“Who is he that he has access to such information?”
“He is a Foundation Scholarship Student. A person likely to have stained his hands, just like Oknodie.”
“!!”
“However, you must be extremely cautious in your approach. If you approach carelessly, the Foundation might suppress you, or he might act rashly.”
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of losing the first button I’ve finally secured.”
Arcadia confidently turned around, assuring that she wouldn’t worry.
*
To learn about someone, it’s good to know what he usually does and which facilities he often uses by tracking his routes.
Once you’ve recognized the routes, it’s necessary to naturally approach him and start socializing.
“Excuse me, is Jaku here?”
“Jaku? If it’s that kid, he should be in the Training Room.”
“How nice… That Jaku is receiving attention from another female student again.”
The Lower Class Students glared at Jaku, just coming out of the Training Room, with green eyes of envy and jealousy.
Jaku, wiping his curly hair with a towel, dried the sweat on his forehead.
A few passing female students stole glances at him or passed by while giving each other thumbs up, intensifying the stares from the male students.
“Hey!”
“…What do you want?”
“Are you Jaku?”
“Come with me. If we chat here while being glared at, I’ll end up looking like a pin cushion from all their stares.”
Jaku led her out to a moderately quiet outdoor terrace in the Training Facility’s first-floor relaxation area.
The breeze was cool, and the scenery was nice, but rumors had spread that second-year students occasionally appeared, so fewer people used it, making it an excellent spot for avoiding others while chatting.
“What do you want?”
“Actually, I came on someone else’s request. May I ask you a question?”
“No.”
“Aww, just one, please.”
“…Then just one.”
A strange light stand-wielding female student.
The cute Titosso had an easy time unlocking Jaku’s heart.
“First, please accept this letter!”
The sender of the letter Titosso delivered was, of course, Arcadia.
As he tore open the letter and looked at the contents, Jaku realized he had gotten himself into an annoying and dangerous situation.
“Hoo.”
Sighing amid his complicated feelings and scratching his curly hair, he caught a glimpse of Titosso, sitting across the table, gazing at him with sparkling eyes.
“Is the matter concluded?”
“The letter. It’s a love letter, isn’t it?”
“…You don’t know the content?”
“I was just asked to pass it along. However, it’s the first time I’ve experienced a princess writing a letter to a male student asking it to be delivered.”
“It is not a love letter. That’s nonsense.”
“Aw, what a pity.”
Momentarily frowning, Titosso quickly brightened up, clasping her hands and smiling cutely.
“Ah right. After you read the letter, I was told to ask this question, so please listen.”
“…What now?”
“If there’s an opportunity to repay the debt to Oknodie, would you be willing to help?”
What an unsettling opponent.
The letter mentioned knowing his identity.
Sending an innocent girl while shaking people’s hearts, as if claiming that it’s not for a bad purpose.
Still, he felt a bit relieved.
At the very least, they hadn’t exposed his identity for malicious use.
“Of course. If it weren’t for that kid, I would have been expelled from the Academy before even taking the midterms.”
“Wow! That’s great. Then let’s go meet the princess together!”
“I’d rather not.”
“Aww, why not?”
“Is that even a question?”
Titosso.
She is cute but such a foolish girl.
“Inviting me to a spot to strategize helping Oknodie when he’s there—what is this, some kind of torture?”
This was the problem.
The sender of the letter tried hard to hide her identity, yet the one handing it over kept referring to it as “a letter from the princess,” revealing the source entirely.
Inviting the number-one person who shouldn’t be brought to a meeting to help Oknodie.
Was she playing with him?
Such suspicion bubbled up.
“Ah, I’ll continue chatting casually while pretending I didn’t see anything!”
“…Is that alright? What exactly are you thinking?”
Jaku’s protests made Titosso laugh shyly, like a harmless small animal.
“I felt a bit shy about going to give a letter to a guy all alone! So, I brought along my closest friend, Oknodie.”
What a wonderfully innocent reason.
*
“So you brought both Jaku and Oknodie, huh?”
“Yes! I did well, didn’t I?”
Arcadia’s fist trembled with frustration at Titosso’s innocent expression.