Maydare Volume 3 Chapter 7 - The Bells of the Two Princes Ring II (Part 2)
Looks like someone is finally translating the original web novel here!
I, a student, didn’t go out to the city at night often.
At this time of the year, the leafless trees along the avenues were decorated with multicolored spell-lights, and it was a wonderful time to behold the beautiful city of lights.
However, in contrast to the surface brilliance, the back alleys reeked of gloom.
Thor and I had come to a seedy back alley bar.
We came here because, during our questioning, we learned that Frey often came here.
That guy shouldn’t be old enough to drink alcohol yet…
When we entered the bar, it was blatantly obvious that a noble girl like me and a knight of the royal palace were out of place.
Everyone was glancing at us. It was smoky. It smelled like cigarettes. And reeked of alcohol.
While enduring such suffocation and sharp stares, we approached a group of flashy women in very revealing clothing who was behind the counter.
“Frey? Oh, that gigolo with droopy eyes?”
“Yep, that’s right!”
That described him to a tee. A prince who was treated like a gigolo. That was Frey all right.
When they find out we were asking about Frey, the ladies gathered around with interested looks on their faces, saying, “What’s this? What’s this?” Apparently, Frey was a celebrity.
“He was here just a few minutes ago, but he already left. He was grumbling on about how he wanted to be alone.”
“Alone?”
“What’s the matter, did he make you cry?”
A tall lady puffing on a pipe looked at me and smiled sardonically.
“Well, I guess he did in a sense…”
He made me visit suspicious establishments I wouldn’t normally go to in the capital in the middle of winter.
But the ladies cackled.
“You should give up on him. He’s like a jellyfish.”
“Right? He gets bored easily.”
“He’s going to cheat on you, sweetheart. Give up before you get burned.”
“N-No, that’s not…”
That wasn’t what I was talking about in the first place. But it seemed that to these ladies, I was a naive young lady who was in single-minded love with Frey. They were concerned for me, telling me this and that so I wouldn’t be hurt by him.
“Milady. We should get going. We don’t have much time.”
“Ah…you’re right, Thor.”
Apparently, Thor didn’t want me to linger in this bar too long.
He put on a knightly customer service smile on his face as he placed a tip on the ladies’ table.
“Thank you, ladies, for the useful information. Please accept this tip, though it is only a little.”
“My, what a handsome young man.”
The ladies blushed at Thor’s dignified appearance.
Well, though Thor was the complete opposite of Frey, he was also pretty popular.
“What do we do now, Milady? His Highness Frey’s trail has been cut off here. We only have an hour left.”
“I know. What should we do?”
Even if we continued to gather information and look for Frey, we would never catch him because he moved so much faster than us. It was as if he knew we were chasing him and was playing with us.
Wasn’t there anything else? A place where he might go. A place where he would be caught for sure.
He grumbled that he wanted to be alone. A place where that guy could be alone…
“Oh…”
One place popped up in my mind.
“He might be on the roof of Diemo Cathedral. He was there when we first met!”
That’s right. That was where we invited Frey to join our team.
At that time, I didn’t know he was the fifth prince of this country and thought he was just a frivolous playboy.
“Diemo Cathedral…you say?”
Thor looked a bit uncomfortable.
For Thor, that place was the site of an incident not long ago. It was the place where Professor Eugene Batiste, the head palace magician, died.
It was a place of a fateful encounter, where we fought the blue clown.
However, Diemo Cathedral was located in a distant section on the other side of the city.
Even if we ran, it would take quite a while.
“Then it’s my turn. Let me take you to Diemo Cathedral on Griminde, Milady.”
“Wah!”
Suddenly, Thor took me in his arms and placed me on the back of Griminde, who he had summoned.
We soared through the air. A cold wind blew past my face, and I instinctively clung to Thor’s waist.
“This is nice. I feel very warm when you cling to me, Milady.”
“You’re treating me like a warm water bottle!?”
Under the wintry sky, the capital glittered.
Perhaps it was because the magical illumination was even more sparkling than usual at this time of year, but I could see couples flirting down there. It was somewhat vexing.
“Oh, look, Thor! It’s Frey…!”
However, on the gradually approaching roof of Diemo Cathedral, a familiar silhouette was listlessly lying there alone.
I jumped off the dragon and landed on the roof of Diemo Cathedral. Frey let out a pitiful “Uwah” at my dynamic entrance.
“W-What are you doing here, Leader! You scared me~~~, I thought my heart was going to fly out of my chest.”
“I’m the one who’s surprised! I couldn’t catch you at all!”
“Hah? What do you mean?”
Frey knew nothing about the situation.
I turned to Frey and gave a summary of the events.
About how the hand mirror I found did indeed belong to High Consort Alicia.
About how in order to read the mirror letter, we needed two passwords, or else the letter would disappear in less than an hour…
Frey was listening to my story with a look of complete incomprehension on his face.
“...Frey. Prince Gilbert knew one of the passwords.”
“So?”
“You must happen to know the other password, don’t you?”
“...”
Frey shifted his gaze to the side, perhaps because he did remember. And then, he laughed scornfully.
“Oh, I see. So Gilbert sent you to me because he wants to open his mother’s mirror letter. In his mind, he’s making it so that everything he did to me never happened. And Leader! Don’t get pushed around by him after everything he said to you!”
Frey, looking displeased with many things, turned his back to us and was about to go off somewhere again.
If he escaped here, it would be difficult to find him again in time. I grabbed Frey’s robe and held it tightly.
“Wait, Frey! You can’t run away!”
“...Run away?”
Frey looked back at me with somewhat cold eyes. He no longer trusted me, as if I was a traitor who had switched to the enemy’s side. That was in his look of rejection.
“Leader. When did you become Gilbert’s ally…”
“No! I’m on your side!”
“...Huh?”
I got carried away and grabbed Frey by the collar.
“I’m on your side! I don’t care about Lady Alicia or Prince Gilbert!”
I blurted out something outrageous.
This was just as Thor had settled Griminde down and was coming up next to me.
He was silently watching over us.
“You said you were having a pretty good time at school, didn’t you? You don’t really want to live a dull grey life, a life that’s slovenly and haphazard. I mean, you’re a member of Garnet Team 9, so I won’t let you do that!”
“L-Leader?”
“If you are still bound by the last words of your first love, then replace them immediately. Open Lady Alicia’s mirror letter and face it properly, and after that, you’re free to do whatever you want!”
He could abandon his position as a prince and live as he did until now.
He could resolve himself and live as the fifth prince.
He could start a new love.
He could study hard with us. I highly recommend this one.
“...Haha. That’s impossible for me.”
But Frey let out a hoarse laugh and muttered a string of pathetic words.
“I can’t, Leader. I’m not qualified to look at Lady Alicia’s mirror letter.”
“...But, Frey―”
“I was pretty much raised by Lady Alicia. It must have been very hard for her to raise the child of the woman who was trying to ruin her. She must have hated me deep down inside. If there’s any of her true feelings or bitter words towards me in her mirror letter…I…”
I can’t bear the thought that I might be rejected again.
Frey told me that without any attempt to hide it.
He was a defeatist and a cowardly man until the end.
He was convinced that he was hated and despised because of the strong rejection he was given by the dying Alicia. He still did.
That was the spell of words. It was a kind of magic.
“Wait, why!? Why are you crying, Leader!?”
I guess I was somewhat influenced by Frey’s words.
Tears were spilling down my face.
“That is scary. I’d be cowardly if I thought the person I love might reject me.”
“...Hah??”
Frey looked like he didn’t understand anything, but Thor, realizing that I was crying, ran up to me and offered me a handkerchief.
“What’s wrong, Milady?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just a crybaby.”
Then I scrubbed my face with Thor’s handkerchief. His scent calmed me down a little.
Meanwhile, Thor was staring hard at Frey…
“But, you know, Frey. Even if she had complicated feelings about it, Lady Alicia, who brought you up to be a fine prince of the Kingdom of Ruschia, is truly a noble and splendid High Consort. Do you know the last wish she secretly entrusted to Prince Gilbert?”
“...Wish?”
“She told him to keep you away from the palace until you came of age.”
“...”
Frey looked shocked for a moment. It was so palpable that my chest stung.
And then, he turned his face away.
“I know that. I was told in person to get out of the palace.”
“Don’t misunderstand! Lady Alicia was concerned about your safety. She died of illness just as Consort Lara’s evil deeds were about to be exposed.”
I took a breath and began to recount the detailed story Beatrice told me.
At the time of Lady Alicia’s death, the royal court was embroiled in various complicated struggles for power.
Apparently, it was said that Consort Lara’s reckless behavior was also because a certain faction encouraged her to do so.
“At that time, there were forces that wanted to take advantage of you, Consort Lara’s son, when you were alone, and forces that wanted to make away with you. To keep you out of their clutches, they restricted your powers and drove you out of the palace. If she died, she would no longer be able to protect you…”
The footage left in her hand mirror from that time.
——I’m sorry, Frey.
Her words were recorded clearly.
“Prince Gilbert, following Lady Alicia’s last wishes, kept you away from the palace for a while. Even if he said harsh things to you, it was to ensure your safety. Perhaps he was jealous that his mother had expressed more concern for your well-being than his own…so maybe that was why he was a little harsh on you.”
Indeed, Prince Gilbert was haughty, self-important, and exclusionary.
He had railed against me many times, so I still didn’t think I could like him.
But I couldn’t deny the facts. Prince Gilbert probably didn’t hate Frey with all his heart. He might hate me, but…
“Frey, you’re alive now, aren’t you? That’s the result.”
The result of Prince Gilbert’s promise to the High Consort to always protect you, his little brother.
“...”
Frey was at a loss for words.
But he didn’t deny my story, perhaps remembering how his life was threatened at that time.
“...What the hell is that…Saying all that now, what am I supposed to…”
Frey slammed his hand against the roof railing, as if to vent his complicated emotions.
“Lady Alicia is not here anymore. No matter what the mirror says, it doesn’t matter if she isn’t here!”
“Frey…”
More than anything, Frey was still in despair over the fact that Lady Alicia was no longer in this world.
Even if he understood it all, he would never be able to express his gratitude towards the person herself again. Frey was surely unbearably sad about that, and didn’t want to look at that mirror.
But Frey had to make a distinction somewhere and make a choice.
Would he overcome the presence of Lady Alicia and live as a prince in the royal palace, or would he take a different path?
“Hey, Frey. …Look at this.”
I resolved myself and unbuttoned the breast buttons of my blouse in front of Frey.
Frey was startled to some extent.
But he definitely saw what appeared on my chest.
“To tell you the truth, I was chosen to be one of the Guardians of the Savior.”
I wasn’t one of the original Guardians, instead of a Guardian who was moved up after a spot was empty, but I was chosen.
I had no self-awareness about it, and there wasn’t much I could accomplish. An inexperienced Guardian.
“It’s funny how the descendant of the〈Scarlet Witch〉, who killed the Savior five hundred years ago, is the Guardian of the new Savior, isn’t it? But there are a lot of people who don’t find that funny, and even now, it hasn’t been made public.”
“...Leader, you—”
“I wonder what will happen if it is made public. I…Sometimes, I also want to run away.”
Frey seemed to understand many things just looking at the crest.
“...I see. So that’s why Gilbert always flared up at you.”
And then he chuckled, like there was something funny.
“Excuse me.”
That was when Thor suddenly stepped in between me and Frey.
He buttoned up my open blouse and tied the ribbon neatly. That must have taken a second.
“Ah, sorry, Thor. I showed Frey the crest and left it like that.”
“Milady. Are you a fool?”
“Huh?”
Thor suddenly scolded me. He was smiling, but his eyes were dark. I was stunned.
“How can a maiden of your age do such a thing in front of a man? Isn’t that unthinkable? Aren’t you too defenseless!? I mean, why is your Guardian’s crest in a place like that? I don’t understand…”
“T-Thor…?”
Thor had stopped working…
Well, sure, I might have been a little shameless, but it was Frey, and the only other person here was Thor.
But Thor had a really scary look on his face.
I got a little teary-eyed after being scolded by the person I liked.
“Bu-ha! Guardian guy, you really are funny. Don’t worry, pretty boy. At Leader’s level, I don’t think anything of her.”
Towards Frey, who was shaking his head in a “good grief” way, Thor drew his sword with a dark face.
“...You may be a prince, but I will not allow you to insult Milady. I shall slay you.”
“Oh, you’re gonna do it, pretty boy? I’m telling you, I’m not very strong. But if you slay me, you’ll be guilty of treason.”
“Hey, hey hey hey, stop it, both of you~~! We don’t have time. We have to go back to the palace now!”
A mysterious fight between men was about to begin, so I got in between them to separate them.
And then, it happened.
Someone dressed in a robe, riding a pegasus, descended from the cold winter sky. That person immediately removed their hood. Their long beige hair, tied back, was swaying.
It was Prince Gilbert.
He came here immediately after finishing his official duties.
“So you really were here, Frey.”
“...”
“Because when in doubt, listen to the bells of this cathedral. That was…what Mother always told us.”
Prince Gilbert seemed to remember this place, and he was holding the mirror in his hand.
Frey and Prince Gilbert stared at each other for a while. Or rather, they glared at each other.
Frey, in particular, had a somewhat complicated look on his face, but then immediately snickered.
“I heard all about it, Brother Gilbert. So~, do you have anything to say to me~? You could have left a scar on my face, you know~”
Even at this point, he was nastily provoking Prince Gilbert.
However, while impatience showed in his expression, Prince Gilbert slowly bowed his head.
“I’m sorry for hitting you. You hit the nail on the head, and blood was rushing up to my head, so I raised my hand against you.”
I was shocked. Prince Gilbert had put aside his pride, bowed his head, and honestly apologized for what he did.
This seemed to be surprising to Frey as well, as his eyes fluttered.
“You’re right, Frey. I put my loyalty to Airi above my duties as a prince. No…it was my own selfish, unrequited love. And yet, I tried to force you to do the duties of a prince, to do troublesome things.”
He spoke plainly, but his words were many, as though he was telling them to himself.
Prince Gilbert stripped away the silk cloth and held out the hand mirror to Frey.
“You despise me. That’s fine. But now I am a lost child. I have no idea what is important or what I want to accomplish. I need guidance, and I would like to receive the words of Mother. I want to see her again as she was before her death. …Frey, please. Tell me your password.”
“...”
At Prince Gilbert’s earnest words, Frey raked his hand through his bangs and let out a long sigh.
“You really do have a way with words, Brother.”
Then, he faced his own half-brother with a serious face.
“You are single-minded, stubborn, and prideful. But on the other hand, you never make excuses. You never doubt what you believe in. I still don’t like you very much. We’ve become polar opposites, like water and oil.”
Clenching his fist tightly, Frey opened his mouth again.
“...’Ring the bell with all your strength. Until it shatters.”
He recited the other password. It was indeed absorbed into the hand mirror held by Prince Gilbert, and the words were written in a glowing light.
“Oi, Gilbert. You should thank Leader. She showed me something good, and this is your reward.”
“Something good?”
Frey grinned and pointed his thumb at the space above his heart. Prince Gilbert seemed to realize what he was talking about.
“Wha…hey, Frey!”
As for me, my face turned so red that it felt like my head was boiling.
There was no need to disclose such things.
“As expected, I shall slay him.”
Thor pulled out his sword with a deathly serious look on his face and once again prepared to cut down the fifth prince.
Oh no, at this rate, Thor was going to be a traitor who killed a prince…!
“Pan-paka-paaan! Congratulations!”
Go, Thor! Kill the lecher before he realizes that young women grow up into older women!
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