By Zephyria 
“What’s wrong?”
Sakira asked, tilting her head with a hand on her chest. At her words, Aska and Abyss, who had been glaring at each other murderously, turned their gazes this way.
“My heart suddenly hurts a little.”
“Yes? Your heart?”
To be precise, it wasn’t so much pain as… a feeling I couldn’t quite describe. It was like a tickle, or like being nibbled at little by little by a small bug.
“Could your health be deteriorating again?”
“You’ve often seemed to get better only to get worse, so it might be happening again this time. Shall I call a physician?”
While they were bewildered, I suddenly realized Aska was being too quiet. The two of them were fidgeting and showering me with questions of concern, but Aska didn’t move an inch.
There wasn’t even a question of whether I was okay or where it hurt. Because of the hood, it wasn’t even certain if he was looking here.
It wasn’t that I was upset that he wasn’t worried about me, but I disliked the attitude of the person who would be in charge of my treatment from now on. Of course, it was practically a feigned illness, but shouldn’t he at least show the courtesy of asking about the symptoms if the patient was in pain?
While I was thinking such thoughts, crushing the candy I had pushed to one side of my cheek, Abyss asked.
“Maybe it’s because you’re tired from all the events today. Would you like to rest today and we can talk tomorrow?”
“That would be better. I’ll start preparing your bathwater.”
I sighed and stopped Sakira, who was getting up from her seat.
“It’s not that bad, so continue with what you were saying. Since he doesn’t seem willing to reveal his identity, let’s postpone that discussion. Tell me who I am first.”
But she kept just moving her lips as if it were difficult to say in Aska’s presence, so I said again.
“It’s okay, just say it. It seems like everyone here knows except for me anyway.”
Abyss and Sakira exchanged glances for a moment before getting up from their seats as if they had made up their minds. Then, they knelt down and bowed, pressing their foreheads to the cold floor.
“Kyle is the Imperial Prince of the great Actan Empire.”
I was dumbfounded by the unexpected words. I had just thought I was a nouveau riche or a nobleman with a bit of money, but suddenly I was royalty?
“His Highness suffered a serious injury in an unfortunate incident about five years ago and lost his memory. I was His Highness’s royal guard, and at the time, I was on a long-term mission abroad.”
It seemed like the details hadn’t even come out yet, but my head already hurt. With the sudden flood of information, I asked one question at a time.
“What unfortunate incident?”
“It refers to the incident where a tear appeared in the sky above the Imperial Castle, and a strange creature now called a Magical creature appeared. Due to this incident, the late Emperor passed away, and Crown Prince Mahir immediately ascended the throne.”
“……”
It was a simple explanation, but it was a story with a lot to think about. I paused for a moment, then asked, just in case.
“Did the Crown Prince and I have a bad relationship?”
“I left the capital a very long time ago, but I can confidently say that there is no one who doesn’t know of your deep friendship.”
“Then why am I wandering around like this?”
I couldn’t understand why an Imperial Prince, who wasn’t even in normal health, was wandering from country to country, hiding his identity. Since they had a good friendship, it didn’t seem like a power struggle or succession issue, so what on earth was it?
“That is…”
Abyss couldn’t answer easily. It seemed like there was something behind it, but I asked about something else first.
“At that time, you were on a long-term mission abroad, so how did you save me? You were the first to find and save me, right?”
“I had been waiting at the port for two days as part of my mission.”
“What mission?”
“It is to secretly send the people Kyle sent abroad and create forged identities for them.”
No, what kind of royal guard duty is that… Isn’t that just someone who does chores? While I was dumbfounded, I suddenly had a thought and turned to look at Aska.
“Could it be that you’re also someone I secretly sent away?”
“No.”
I knew it. He’s hiding it so desperately, there’s no way I could find out that easily.
“Then did I get hurt because of those Magical creatures or whatever?”
“It’s not certain.”
“If those monsters suddenly poured out, a lot of people must have died and gotten hurt.”
As I said with a frown, Abyss shook his head.
“I understand that there were no civilian casualties.”
It was fortunate, but even if they suppressed the monsters quickly, was that even possible? Before I could ask, Abyss continued.
“It was during Khalifa’s birthday banquet, so the capital’s security was very strict, and the Sa Dillin’s magic circle was activated the moment the Magical creatures tried to invade.”
“Magic circle?”
“The founding Emperor engraved powerful Protection magic on the outer walls of Sa Dillin. Since then, the Imperial Capital has not been invaded for about 1,000 years, so I thought it was just a legend, but it was a stroke of luck. The moment the Magical creature touched the curtain of light from the magic circle, it burned to death. Most of the Magical creatures died then, and the remaining ones were quickly dealt with by the Imperial Castle royal guard.”
As I listened to the story, I felt like I was remembering things little by little. It was only to the extent that words and place names came to mind sporadically, but it felt like a sign that I was regaining my memory.
“But why did my father die?”
Why did the Emperor die, not other nobles or royal guards? He would have received the most protection first. Did he perhaps go out and fight himself?
I asked with a puzzled expression, but Abyss’s expression was strange. He seemed flustered and surprised.
“Why? If he was the Emperor, isn’t he my father? Or was I a bastard or something, so I didn’t usually call him that?”
“No. According to what His Majesty Mahir, the current Emperor, announced, Khalifa and Kyle personally repelled the Magical creatures in Talim.”
He lowered his head even further as he spoke, so I couldn’t see his expression, but I felt strangely uneasy. Then, Sakira, who had been quietly beside me, said.
“Talim is the castle where Kyle usually resided.”
“So we were together that day? I got injured fighting the Magical creatures, and my father died in battle?”
“That’s what I heard. And…”
Sakira hesitated before saying mournfully.
“The Imperial Princess Consort… has also gone missing.”
Perhaps because I had already heard many stories about getting married and divorced, I didn’t feel anything special about the words Imperial Princess Consort. I took a sip of the slightly cooled tea and asked.
“You still haven’t found her?”
“No. A large amount of Aegis’s blood was found at the time of the incident, and judging from the amount spilled… perhaps…”
Does that mean there’s a high probability she’s dead? Even so, the reason she’s still missing might be because they haven’t found her body.
“Then am I also missing?”
“Yes.”
The situation was much more serious than I had thought. I just thought I had been hurt by someone who held a grudge over a woman or something… It wasn’t a problem of that level.
Then, I suddenly turned my head. Aska was still wearing the stuffy hood, sitting with his arms crossed and leaning against the back of the sofa. I stared at the dark mass and asked.
“Aska isn’t the Imperial Princess Consort, is he?”
“……Excuse me?”
Abyss’s dumbfounded voice was heard. Aska also turned his head towards me, as if he was surprised. I could feel him being dumbfounded beyond the robe.
“Have you never seen the Imperial Princess Consort’s face?”
“No. Perhaps even in Talim, only a handful of servants have properly seen Aegis. According to Fatima, almost… no, Kyle was so worried…”
“What worried?”
“This and that… Anyway, Aegis was a small woman. If she’s still alive, she’s in her late 20s.”
Was she older than me? Aska said he was twenty and he was a big man, so even the slightest possibility had disappeared.
“But why did you suddenly think that…”
Abyss asked with a bewildered face, as if he couldn’t understand at all.
There was no denying that I had made a somewhat hasty judgment, but it would be strange not to suspect Aska, given his behavior.
First of all, he wasn’t hesitant to touch me, and his eyes were full of longing and worry when he kissed me or looked at me. Of course, it could all be acting, but judging by what I could see, it was certain that he had a great liking for me.
“I just guessed because he seems to know me well.”
As I answered vaguely, Abyss shuddered.
“That’s definitely not the case. We wouldn’t even pick such a frivolous person as a Servant in Talim.”
His tone and behavior were certainly far from those of royalty. That was the same for me, but I lost my memory, so I was an exception.
By the way, Aska didn’t react much even though he was being told such bad things to his face. Was he just too annoyed to say anything?
“He’s 20 years old.”
I said to Abyss and Sakira, looking at Aska quietly.
“Ah, yes…”
“Thank you for letting us know.”
The two of them, who had been standing there blankly, made awkward expressions.