NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88
Bella was a character that existed even if only as a setting. Even if she doesn’t appear dead in the main story, she at least shows up in flashbacks. They managed to fill it with just one illustration, even without modeling.
She currently speaks in a soft voice, but that’s just because there are people around. In reality, her personality is much darker. She usually walks around with her eyes half-closed and a smirk on her lips.
It seems like she’s always exposing her cleavage, regardless of the situation.
And she was dressed like that now.
She wore a tight tank top with a very short jacket, leaving her cleavage fully exposed. Honestly, if someone wore that in a subway, it would be awkward enough to find a place to look.
But from my 21st-century perspective, it felt a bit embarrassing; in this world, such an outfit was genuinely hard to imagine. And the fact that it’s a Crown Princess dressing like this just adds to the strangeness.
“Ah.”
Alice, who returned after finishing her order, grimaced at Bella, who was sitting in the vacant seat.
Of course, Bella didn’t seem to care much about Alice’s reaction.
This was why the relationship between Claire and Alice in the original work didn’t easily close the gap.
From the moment she was born as the Emperor’s daughter, Alice was able to grow up without any shortage, regardless of how bizarre the Emperor’s affection may have been. She wore clothes made from the finest materials and had meals made from expensive ingredients. Sure, she worked hard, but her background was good enough to support that effort.
However, Claire did not have that. Claire, who had been sold to the brothel and suffered all kinds of terrible things, couldn’t fully empathize with Alice’s worldview and clashed with her at every turn.
The other children of the Emperor were likewise. None lived as dark a life as Claire’s. Only Bella, who had experienced a lot, could empathize with Claire, and they were able to get along well.
By the time Claire entered the academy, it wasn’t so strange that she was like Bella mk2.
Of course, instead of Claire entering as the Emperor’s child, I was here, and I didn’t really know if they were cautious because of me or if they genuinely believed there was no need to send a false Crown Princess or Prince into a dangerous place, but anyway, Bella ended up surviving. Since it was only my presence that changed, it would probably be fair to say she survived because of me.
“…Why are you here?”
Alice sat down, sounding displeased. Bella still propped her chin up and shrugged her shoulders.
“Did you come to see your little sisters after a long time?”
“That’s impossible. We’re not that close.”
“How sad.”
Bella sighed dramatically, a bit exaggeratedly, making it easy to tell she didn’t mean it.
“Even if you’re not that close to me, our cute little sister and I are quite close!”
“You and Sylvia?”
“……”
I silently watched the two of them. I didn’t think my interruption would stop their bickering, nor did I think their argument would escalate to a dangerous level.
“Why not? Sylvia doesn’t really bond with others. Isn’t it okay to say we’re somewhat close?”
“If you’re saying that, I—”
“Isn’t it a bit naive to think that just because you’re close to them, we wouldn’t be? Relationships are meant to overlap in different ways.”
“I doubt you’re one to talk about making connections.”
I turned my gaze toward the waitress. From the moment we entered the shop until now, she had been dozing off, barely awake. There weren’t many customers, so it seemed she had nothing to do. Perhaps that’s why Alice went straight to the register instead of waiting for her.
“It’s hard for me to believe what you’re saying, so just tell me your purpose? Going in circles won’t help anyone.”
“Are you trying to protect me as a little sister? Honestly, it feels like you’re the one being protected rather than the other way around.”
“……”
Seeing Alice glaring at Bella, I slowly opened my mouth.
“What brings you here?”
“Of course, it’s…”
“If you really wanted to bond, you could have visited me whether I was at the academy or outside.”
I continued looking at Bella as I spoke.
“Isn’t there something you wanted to convey by showing up like this? Lucas didn’t reveal himself until he had something to say either.”
“……You talked with Lucas?”
“He mentioned that he would kill me someday.”
“What?”
“Really!?”
Bella responded incredulously, while Alice erupted in anger.
Seeing Bella’s reaction, it seemed Lucas had left the Emperor’s side right after their conversation in Winterfield. I suppose if Lucas was still there, there would be no reason for Bella to visit like this.
“……Lucas said that? Really? Him? To you?”
Bella, looking genuinely surprised, was a sight I was glad to witness now.
“What reason?”
Alice, equally incredulous, reacted the same way, but I didn’t feel the need to explain anything to her and just gave Bella a sidelong glance.
“……”
Understanding what I meant, both Alice and Bella fell silent for a moment.
“……Huff.”
Bella let out a sigh as if the table would crumble under her weight.
“Well, okay. Thinking it over, I can roughly understand why he said something like that.”
She then brushed her hair back with her hand.
“It looks like it’s about to get busy.”
Muttering that as if in lamentation, Bella continued her story as if to emphasize that it was sincere.
“You know about the casino near Northwood, right?”
“The Empire’s largest casino built in the middle of the forest.”
I naturally knew that.
And thinking of the events that would emerge around that casino, which was just entering June, I recalled something.
“Did the Papal State forces infiltrate the casino?”
“Infiltrate the casino with Papal State forces…”
Bella opened her mouth almost simultaneously with mine, and upon hearing our voices overlap, she closed her mouth.
“……Did you know?”
“……”
I chose not to answer.
Alice stared at me, still with her mouth open, expecting an explanation.
“So, do you know who infiltrated as well?”
“Isn’t it one of the Cathedral Knights?”
“Just saying a Cathedral Knight does not specify for sure. Although they’re few enough to count one by one.”
Bella asked, as if probing me.
“If you want to bring someone who wouldn’t attract suspicion, it would be better to sneak in someone who wouldn’t be suspected at all.”
“……”
I nodded to Bella, encouraging her to continue.
“Every Cathedral Knight here is also a nun. So if one of them is dressed provocatively and comes in, an average person wouldn’t even realize that the person was a knight from the Papal State.”
That’s how it was in the original as well.
Who would think a nun dressed in a bunny outfit would be a knight?
Moreover, her personality was hardly nun-like.
“……So?”
Bella asked with a serious expression, different from her usual self.
“But a devout Cathedral knight would be highly opposed to behaving in such an unholy manner, and the Papal State likely wouldn’t want to provoke the precious knight unnecessarily. So the one who came up with such an idea would be a rather peculiar character with such a personality.”
And there was only one such crazy female character among the Cathedral Knights.
Well, I suppose most of the Cathedral Knights are fanatics in their own way, but there’s one who’s crazy in another sense.
“So, who do you think it is?”
“Isn’t it Eliza?”
“……”
At my answer, Bella’s expression slightly hardened.
Alice still couldn’t close her mouth, in shock.
Of course. This was probably hot-off-the-press news even in the Empire. Moreover, in the original story, it was information obtained rather by pure coincidence.
Seeing me impart such information so casually that it seemed I had known it all along would naturally make them wary.
“……I think I can understand a bit why Lucas said he would kill you.”
Well, not for that reason, but it’s true that it’s somewhat related to my abilities.
“……”
Without saying anything, I turned my gaze and finally noticed the waitress waking up and moving.
As the waitress approached with the completed parfaits in hand, Bella didn’t pry deeper into the matter.
She looked at me with eyes that seemed to harbor doubts, though.
…Alright.
It looks like I don’t have to completely give up on the ‘mystery’ act just yet.