[Angelica's POV]
"Your Highness, may I ask for a little of your time?"
Julius looked back at her, his eyes showing a mix of emotions.
"Yes."
He simply nodded.
They left the hospital ward where the prince and his entourage were being either treated or checked for injuries. Julius didn't have any, thanks to Leon's consideration.
She was now glad he ended the fight the way he did. Making the prince surrender himself without physically harming him would prevent others from putting problematic accusations against him.
She didn't want him to suffer for her. He had already done so much for her. She couldn't let him be in trouble for helping her.
Reaching the hallway which didn't have anyone else, she finally spoke.
"I believe you already know this, but I have changed the conditions. Rather than being separated from the one you love, I want you to…"
She paused, looking at the man she once loved. For the longest time, she had adored and revered this person.
And now, she found it hard to believe it, but she felt nothing for him. No love, no hate, nothing.
Maybe a little bit of disappointment, but that's it.
"… I want you to formally apologize to my family for breaking this engagement. And explain to them your reasons for doing this. That's all."
The prince simply nodded.
"Understood. I will do so. Is there anything else?"
She thought about it.
Did she want to talk about it? About her new feelings? Did she want to bicker? Or maybe make peace?
In the end, she decided against it all.
"No, Your Highness. That is all. I came here to formally tell you this and… I wish you well, Your Highness. I won't bother you anymore."
She bowed slightly, showing the least bit of etiquette needed in front of royalty.
Not having anything else to say, she turned to leave.
"Angelica."
She stopped and turned back, looking at the prince in confusion.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"I… I'm sorry."
It would be a lie to say she wasn't slightly taken back by his sudden apology.
"Pardon?"
"I have been thinking…" (A/N: Something very rare for the power rangers, mind you.)
The prince began, then pausing for a short moment to collect his words, he continued.
"… and I've realized that I might have been a little too discourteous to you. But I hope you understand that I had my reasons. Marie… she's someone who has become really close to my heart in a very short time. She has done things for me that no one has ever done and she treats me differently. I now believe it was simply inevitable that I would have broken the engagement. But we didn't have to do it the way we did. So, I'm sorry."
She looked at his face and after a short pause, simply nodded.
"I pray that you find your happiness."
With those words, she left.
With the last remaining bit of fondness that she might have had in her heart for the prince, she decided not to say what she was thinking on his face. That, she didn't care for his reasons or even him anymore.
This meeting was just so she could get her final closure and move on.
From now onwards, she would find her own happiness.
And she also had to go and properly thank the man who had helped her. She needed a way to return this massive favor.
***
-Three days later-
My initial plan was to leave the same night as the duel, but some things happened that delayed my trip.
First of all, even before the royal palace could send their envoy, Duke Redgrave sent his. And by an envoy, I mean, the Duke's son, the next Duke came himself to the academy. What a surprise.
The good-looking blonde ikemen had a long talk with Angelica and I had to be involved for a portion of it because I was her champion in the duel and thus related to the matter.
I was curious as to what action they'll take, and to my amusement, they had decided to formally file a complaint to the royal family for this matter. The prince's very public declaration was a pretty big deal for them, after all.
It was important to note that Angelica was still the Duke's daughter and this incident was a cause of shame for the entire Redgrave household. So, they would wait for the formal letter from the royal family mentioning the breaking of the engagement between Angelica and the prince and then have a meeting to discuss the matter more personally. Of course, this portion of the information wasn't told in front of me, but I had Eris listening in to their conversations, so I was in the know-how.
Angelica didn't seem all too bothered by this whole matter on the outside. Her inner self was still a bit shaken, however. In the end, she was still a 15-year-old girl. This incident could become a major trauma for her.
It was only because she was a strong-willed girl that she was able to cope with it so well.
To allow her to recuperate, her brother later requested me in private to take her away from the academy to help her take her mind off of this whole incident.
Understandable, but I couldn't help but find it a little unsettling that they were showing so much trust in me. They didn't even send a single guard with her and only a few maids. Not that I would have allowed a bunch of armed dudes on my ship. I could easily take care of her safety. Not to mention I had sentinels loaded on the ship in case of an emergency.
It was after I read his
Of course, they had a hidden agenda here. Using Angelica's connection to me, they were possibly subtly trying to lure me into their faction. Or at the very least, trying to make good relations with the "S-rank prodigious adventurer".
Having someone like a rising star in their faction would likely boost their position. They especially needed something like that now when their faction would face a backlash from this whole incident.
Good old mother fucking politics. Fucking hate that shit.
But anyway, since I had already offered her a trip to my island even before that and didn't mind forming a connection with the duke, I accepted it. But I was careful with my words in case they got any wrong ideas here. Didn't want them to think I am submissive or anything just because I so easily accepted to help their daughter and was nice to them, after all.
Next, the royal envoy came to meet me the day after the duel and he had a piece of surprising news as well.
It seemed the King himself ordered me to make an appearance in the royal court in a week's time to "give my statement on the matter".
This part was a little confusing and possibly concerning. But I was ready to deal with whatever they throw my way. I'll be going to the royal castle in 4 days and see what they want. Right after I spend a few days testing the facilities… by which I mean I'll be checking out all the rides and enjoying the hot springs and resorts. The good stuff.
I'll also see if I could get any information in advance. It could be the time I tested one of the infiltration drones Eris had in her ship's arsenal. Eris is OP in this world and I fucking love it!
Finally, the last and possibly the most troublesome matter.
I no longer had the knowledge from Manga to govern my future actions. The story from the 10 or so chapters that I had read was finished and now I was in the blank. I already knew it was bound to happen, so I had decided on the best course of action beforehand based on the future events from the game that now seemed to hold less and less relevance as the story progressed differently than in the game.
I could technically be annoyed and asked that the Game should have given me the Manga's knowledge as well, but eh. Honestly, I had stopped expecting from the Game a while back.
I would deal with things on my own. I didn't need to be spoonfed all the time.
I was already strong as an individual and I had a substantial military of my own in the form of Eris's main body, Partner, and the various sentinels that were being produced even now. In the worst-case scenario, I could just go nuclear and get enough World Points by ruining this kingdom and maybe the entire continent by offing the nobles and royals that piss me off.
But that was the last resort, in case I couldn't come up with anything else or in case I was insatiably furious about something for some reason.
I should state that I was not a mass murderer by any means. At least, not when it came to humans and beings similar to them who can think and reason, not unless they absolutely forced me to go down that path.
But it's always better to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
I just hoped that, for their own good, they won't push me to press the big red button that has "NUKE" written in bold and capitals.
***
We were currently on the large airship that Eris constructed to act as a substitute for her main body. Her main body was way too large and way too eye-catching due to its futuristic and threatening design to be used so freely and so, this cruiser acted as a decent replacement and also what the rest of the world thought was my main lost item. It lacked greatly in terms of firepower compared to Eris' main body and was built for comfort and ease, rather than warfare. But behind the harmless-looking design seemingly made for comfort and luxury, the ship in truth had enough firepower to destroy the entire royal capital if not hindered.
(A/N: I am going with the Manga version of Partner rather than the Anime version. The anime version seems like a futuristic battle cruiser with its all-metallic and sleek design while the Manga version looks more in line with modern-day cruisers if a bit odd-looking.)
Eris named this ship 'Partner', so don't blame me for the unoriginal-sounding name. It's all on her this time. Me not doing anything to change that name even though I had the power to do so has nothing to do with it. Definitely not.
I was currently on the main deck, near the control unit of the ship, lounging on the comfortable cushioned chair, donning sunglasses, and sipping on some cola.
'Ah, this is life~ I love being rich.'
The weather was quite pleasant, with gentle winds caressing my body, while the sun was shining at just the right temperature to feel pleasant on the body.
On my right, two more lounge chairs were situated with two blondes occupying them.
Turning a little to see how they were doing; I saw them relaxing as well.
"Mn~ This is quite relaxing, I must admit. It's been a while since I went on a long trip. I am surprisingly looking forward to it."
Angelica, lying on the other end of our trio arranged in a semi-circular fashion spoke, noticing my gaze. She wore a classic Victorian-looking white dress with red accents and a big green bow on the back. While it seemed to somewhat resemble the clothing the commoners wore, it was far too well-crafted to look like so. I mean, you didn't see commoners wearing fancy white silk gloves on their hands with everyday clothing.
This was her "incognito" dress from what I understood. I decided not to comment on it whatsoever other than a simple compliment. She did look quite nice in it. But it was just her body. She looked quite nice in everything she wore. But I digress.
"I'm glad you are enjoying it. If you need anything, it's more than likely that Partner is equipped with it. It's built for comfort, after all. So, relax as much as you like."
"I see. I'll keep that in mind. Speaking of, I am still a little baffled to see these… metal golem artifacts you have. It's my first time seeing such strange-looking golems in real life. I remember reading about their existence in some of the history and archeology books, but they are still quite unique and impressive. More than I imagined."
She commented while glancing at the floating robot with just a torso, head, and hands, carrying a silent vacuum and cleaning the already shining floor of the deck. It seemed to have detected a single spec of dust and had decided to just wipe the entire floor clean once more while making sure that it didn't bother us.
Interesting strategy, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was an efficient one. Probably not. But then again, I didn't care enough to tell it so. If it wanted no dust to be present here at all, it was free to act as long as it didn't bother us.
"Yeah, they are pretty impressive robots. The technological marvels of the previous human residents of this world. They achieved a lot even without magic."
"So, it is a lost item too?"
"Well, I guess it is."
'Does it still count as a lost item if another lost item (Eris) constructed it in the present? Eh, who cares for technicalities? She can think what she wants.'
"Amazing. And to have multiple of these… robots?… you truly are an impressive person, Leon."
"Why, thank you. I struggled for many months, risking my life, before I discovered my first lost item. It's so worth it, though. I can't imagine living without it."
'Especially without Eris.'
She seemed to be in deep thought while listening to my words. She finally came out of her stupor and spoke.
"I see. I wonder… if it isn't a bother, would you mind telling me about your adventures? It sounds quite intriguing. I have only heard rumors and have second-hand knowledge about your exploits during your days as an adventurer. How did you manage to do it at such a young age? To have achieved so much while being the same age as Olivia and I."
I turned my head to look at the sky, recalling my days as an adventurer. It was filled with mostly me trying to find and explore dungeons and kill monsters to raise my level and collect lost items I knew about and could get my hands on.
"Hmm. It's a rather long story. But since we still have a couple hours before lunch and have nothing else to do, I suppose I can tell you about it. But I'll tell you; I'm not much of a storyteller, so it probably won't be anything great."
"I understand. Please, don't force yourself on my behalf. I'm just curious, that's all."
"Mmhm."
I turned briefly to look at the third member of our trio. She was lying silently in between us.
"…"
'Hm, guess she fell asleep. Oh well.'
It might have something to do with the fact that she was being fed sweet after sweet by the "maid" robots—yeah, they actually wore maid outfits on their completely robotic and genderless bodies— who seemed to be in line with my curious desire to see her get chubby.
Well, jokes aside, I was glad to see her enjoy herself a little more freely. It was a progress from the initial reserved and timid attitude she had when I first met her.
And while she was still pretty timid and nervous, she at least felt comfortable around me.
Interestingly, she was also getting close to Angelica who didn't seem to mind her company. In fact, she seemed quite happy that she had a fellow female to talk to. Olivia had apparently spent a fair amount of time with her in the past few days, consoling and helping Angelica as much as she could.
Things seemed to be progressing nicely for me and the girls seemed to be doing better as time progressed. Hopefully, the trip would form bonds of friendship between the two blondes. They could both do with a close female friend.
Smiling at the cute and kind girl currently sleeping peacefully, I turned to look at Angelica before I started telling her about my life and adventure. Of course, I cast a silencing spell around Olivia so as to not disturb her sleep.
And as I told her the story, unexpectedly, I found it quite nice to have someone listen to all my (abridged and censored) hardships in this world before I reached the position where I currently was.
It might look like I had it very easy in this world— and I, in fact, did have it easy in the world nowadays— but I had to struggle a lot during the starting months as an adventurer. Even the 2 monotonous years I spent leveling up and gaining reputation was a big struggle in and of itself.
I didn't have the tenacity and self-control provided by a skill like Gamer's Mind to aid me. Only my own sheer willpower and desire.
That was a major reason why I was glad to have Eris with me. She made things much more bearable and easier. I didn't want to imagine the struggle I had to go through to be as strong as I was. In fact, I doubted I could even attain this level of wealth and power without her help.
Case and point, Eris was the best thing this world had to offer.
I wondered how much WP I could earn from this passion project of mine. I had gotten a substantial amount since the last time I checked.
[World Points: 97,425/1,000,000]
I was almost reaching the 100k mark.
***
[Marie's POV]
"W-Wait a minute…"
She looked at the man standing in front of her, wearing silly-looking attire, finding his words hard to believe.
"What do you mean 'Everyone's been disowned'?"
"It is exactly what it sounds like. Prince Julius has been disowned for his reckless and unthoughtful recent actions… He's no longer 'His Royal Highness'. Furthermore, the other four have also been disowned for similar reasons. I have with me the letter from their families and fiancées."
The man replied curtly.
It seemed she was in for a really bad day today. And she had ignorantly thought all the money she had lost in the duel was the worst that had happened to her in a long while. But this was much worse!
So, it was no surprise that she started bawling once she heard the stupid reasons from the 5 themselves that led to this situation. The 5 handsome idiots had brought this on themselves by valiantly announcing to their families and fiancees that they wanted to break their engagement so they could live with her. And much to her surprise, this had happened even BEFORE the duel happened.
Those idiots! Why were so stupid?! Did they not realize that they had dug a massive grave for themselves?! Who the hell will feed them?! She was broke, damn it!
She couldn't help but mentally cry in frustration.
'WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!?!?!?!'
***