The Villainess Who Looks Like a Little Girl Is in the Arms of the Ice Prince (Who Is Sometimes Cute) - Chapter 10

“Spit it all out.”

“Eeek! Mercy, mercy!”

I had summoned Enzo, my fiancée’s personal attendant, to the imperial guard training grounds inside the royal castle without giving him a chance to argue.

It was currently patrol hours, and there was no one around. That was the reason, even if things got a little rough here, it wouldn’t be a problem.

I pressed the tip of the rapier I wore for self-defense right up to the nose of the man called Enzo, but—unfortunately, he didn’t seem the least bit shaken, and I felt like sighing. As expected, he wasn’t some half-baked man.

“Don’t mess with me.”

Since the confession the other day, I had learned that Yuliana Logier had been turned into a four-year-old by the magic of the Witch of Time and had come here in place of the princess.

If this reached the Emperor’s ears, diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Chevran would be severed, and Yuliana would be imprisoned.

It was hard to believe that the Jewel Kingdom would make such a gamble, one that would turn the Empire into an enemy, all on its own. Their backer was likely either a faction that held a grudge against the imperial family, or perhaps one of the recently annexed countries that were strongly resistant. There were plenty of possibilities, and I was in the process of investigating.

Reporting to His Majesty could wait until we understood the background.

That aside, I couldn’t help but be bothered by this attendant.

“You, who wield something as im-pos-si-ble as dark magic, just who are you?”

The only magic systems that were established were the four elemental magics of fire, water, wind, and earth. Yet this man wielded dark magic, which existed only in ancient magic texts. The idea that he was a disciple of the ‘Witch of Time,’ who was reclusive and whose whereabouts were unknown, was also, by common sense, impossible.

“That was careless of me. I never imagined Your Highness was so well-versed in magic systems.”

“Answer me. Are you one who has o-ver-come death?”

A few steps ahead of me, as I carefully raised my killing intent, his narrow eyes, which seemed to see nothing, curved into an arc, increasing the eeriness.

“Hmm… Honestly, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“When I noticed, I had come to this world from another world. Maybe, as Your Highness says, I died. But here I am.”

“If you’re from another world, then it wouldn’t be strange for the magic system to be different, I suppose. But dark magic?”

Enzo’s words had a strange persuasiveness to them whether it was magical power or charisma, I couldn’t tell.

Yuliana seemed to trust him, but I remained wary. The attendant, detecting even that shift in my feelings, deliberately lifted the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t do things like control people’s minds, you know.”

“Words can be twisted any which way.”

“If I did that, my master would be sad, so I won’t. I’d like you to at least trust my loyalty, you know. Even so, I’m a coward who’s scared out of his wits inside. I was just an ordinary salaryman before.”

“Sala… ree man?”

Just as his eyes seemed to straighten from their arc, Enzo suddenly bent at a right angle, lowering his head as if offering it. No matter how skilled he was, if I swung my sword in this defenseless posture, he wouldn’t get off lightly.

“Your Highness. Please, I beg you to take care of Lady Yuliana.”

“… ‘Beg,’ you say?”

When I questioned him, Enzo lifted his head and relaxed his entire body with a sigh.

“She is noble and hardworking. But she was never rewarded.”

It was easy to imagine that someone as capable as her would have been ostracized in a small country.

Because temporal power is something that, if you work behind the scenes thoroughly enough, you can overturn. Of course, a certain level of status was necessary in noble society, and Yuliana had that.

“There was no one who could tolerate an existence that was too wise. How unfortunate.”

“To grasp it in an instant, you really are a terrifying person, aren’t you? … If Lia-sama were wiser and stronger than even Your Highness, what would you do?”

If “what would you do” meant “what would you do,” there was only one answer.

“I would welcome it. There’s no such thing as too many good personnel.”

“Eeek!”

“The Emperor doesn’t need to be superior to all people. He just needs to use them. If someone thinks they’ve surpassed me, I’ll simply work harder to surpass that in turn.”

Hearing my words, Enzo nodded his head in small, rapid motions, looking genuinely pleased. What a strange man.

“You included.”

“Guh!?”

As I slid my rapier back into its scabbard with a click, Enzo’s eyes widened.

“Hoh. So, your eyes are black too.”

“No, yes, that’s right, but… Me too!?”

“Not because you’re a rare dark magician. It’s because you’re a man whom a person of Yuliana’s caliber trusts completely. Your demeanor, abilities, and knowledge are all impeccable. I’d even want you in my office.”

“Not as a spy?”

“Of course, I’d want that too, but I doubt your work would satisfy me. You move solely for Yuliana’s sake not for the Empire.”

“Eeek!” Enzo hopped around in place with a mysterious, bouncing step—to be honest, it was creepy.

“… What is that?”

“Ah, I’m just so excited! I was thinking that what I’ve done might finally, finally be rewarded!”

“Rewarded?”

I’d heard that this attendant met Yuliana ten years ago and had spent eight years with her.

They must have been days of extraordinary tension. Once, at a soirée where the eastern continent nations mingled, I exchanged greetings with a prince of the Jewel Kingdom. A cheap man who seemed to flaunt a shallow pride. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the excellent Yuliana would have been in danger of being eliminated.

“I’m finding a suitable match for Lia-sama, creating a route for her to be doted on, and guiding her to a happy ending.”

“I don’t understand.”

Was it the language of another world? Not just the endings and intonation, but even the words were incomprehensible—how troublesome.

“It’s fine. It’s my self-satisfaction. As Your Highness says, I might already be dead. Even if I think this is a dream, I can’t give up. At the very least, I want to see Ria-sama become happy with my own eyes.”

“What are you saying? You’re alive right here in front of me.”

“Is that so?”

Enzo’s eyebrows drooped instantly, and he seemed to have lost all the venomous confidence he had earlier. I see, if he thought he might already be dead, that would explain why he accepted phenomena beyond common sense.

Realizing that this guy was also a troublesome man, I extended my right hand. It was bare, without a glove. Naturally, Enzo was greatly flustered.

“Wha!? Ooooh, this is too great an honor!”

“Indeed. For someone of your status to touch a member of the imperial family should be impossible. But it’s fine.”

After making a loud gulp sound that was audible even from here, Enzo grasped my hand in return. His palm was warm and covered in sword calluses, proof of effort and training.

“I’ll speak my true mind. I look forward to working with you from now on.”

Enzo, who had timidly returned my handshake, teased me, perhaps to hide his embarrassment.

“Well~, shaking hands with the wicked, ruthless Ice Crown Prince is just too much of an honor.”

“Hoh.”

As I narrowed my eyes, a dry, crackling sound echoed through the air.

“Gah!”

“Wicked and ruthless, is this what you mean?”

In the blink of an eye, Enzo’s right arm, from his hand to his upper arm, began to freeze.

“This is bad!”

Contrary to his words, Enzo seemed to be enjoying himself, and I wanted to see how he would handle this magic, but—

“Your Highness!”

“Your Highness!?”

We had been spotted by imperial guards who seemed to have returned from their patrol. They rushed over in a fluster.

“Tch.”

“Kuhihi. You got off easy, didn’t you?”

“…”

(Perhaps I’m the one who got off easy.)

Shaking his head just once, as if to shake off some eerie something creeping up from the soles of his feet, he let go.

“It’s nothing. Stand down.”

“… Yes!” “Yes!”

The two knights, their faces pale, immediately stopped in their tracks. When I snapped my fingers with a click, Enzo’s arm returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

This afternoon, in my office, there was supposed to be the usual study session with Yuliana and Etogal. Before that, I had to read the reports that had come in from the surrounding regions.

“… Don’t be late.”

“Yes!”

Turning my back on Enzo, who replied, and the two knights who promptly saluted with a crisp snap, I began to walk away.

I could hear Enzo making an exaggerated excuse to the knights who had rushed over after being dismissed.

“Ah, it’s my fault, really. I said I’d never seen ice magic before, and he went out of his way to show me~”

“His Highness did!?”

But it was in vain, and the rumor that ‘the wicked Crown Prince who mercilessly freezes even his fiancée’s attendant’ spread a-gain. Well, it was more convenient that way.

The desires swirling around us. The more we kept them in check, the better. At the very least, to ensure no harm came to Yuliana, it was best to direct the hostility toward me.

If it were just about being strong-willed and wise, there were others. But a duke’s daughter with a straight core, who possessed the courage to plunge into difficulties without fearing for her life, was rare.

In her, who looked straight back at me—this me whom everyone feared and averted their eyes from—I sensed a human dignity and charm. I wanted those beautiful amethyst-like purple eyes to keep watching me forever. A desire to have her, no matter what, swirled within me.

“Heh. To think there’s a woman who could make me, of all people, want something this much.”

Even though her body had been reverted to that of a four-year-old, it seemed she would still age. In that case, if I waited about twelve more years, she would become a debutante.

“Twelve years, huh.”

That was more than enough time to obtain not just her status or position, but everything about her.

—Behind me, as I walked with a heart leaping for the first time in a long while, icy footprints formed.