"Your highness!" Daisy bowed slightly when I left my grandparents' house.
"Daisy? What are you doing here?" I asked slightly surprised. Daisy pouted cutely and blinked. "Of course, I'm waiting for your highness. That is what a servant does."
"... You know that it's not the problem here." I shook my head with an exasperated expression.
"*Giggle* I'm sorry your highness. You see, I finished my duties and I was missing your highness, so I thought I could come here and surprise you."
I smiled wryly and pulled her cheeks. "Well, I'm truly surprised." I then walked towards the carriage.
Daisy pouted when she saw my reaction, but she understood we were in public so it would not be good if we are too intimate. So, she followed after me and boarded the carriage.
"Return to the palace." I ordered the coachman. He nodded expressionlessly and whipped the horses.
Daisy and I sat on the carriage and enjoyed the travel back. Before long, we both began to play around, although we made sure of not making too much noise and alerting the coachman.
But at that moment, Daisy put on a strange expression. She brought her face near my clothes and sniffed.
"... Your highness, what is this smell in your clothes?"
"... What are you speaking about, Daisy?" Drops of cold sweat slid through my back, but I did my best to keep an unperturbed expression. Unfortunately, it seemed as Daisy was pretty sharp towards this kind of things.
Daisy looked at me and wrinkled her brows with a suspicious face. "... Your highness, what happened while I was away?"
I searched frantically on my mind for a solution to this problem. I don't want to have another cold war with Daisy so soon.
At that moment, however, I noticed something outside the carriage.
Instantly, my expression changed.
"Daisy, something is wrong!" I exclaimed in a muffled tone.
Daisy put on a startled expression before understating my meaning. Instantly, her face turned pale. "... Your highness, what is it?"
I lowered my head and used Akashic Sight to analyze the situation outside. In a few seconds, a clear image of the situation took shape on my mind.
At the next instant, I let out a tired sigh.
"... They are moving very fast, huh."
"Y-Your highness?"
"Don't worry." I smiled and patted Daisy's head to reassure her. "Just wait for a moment, everything will be clear soon."
Daisy looked clearly confused, but she trusted me completely so she nodded.
A few minutes later, the carriage stopped abruptly.
"... Your highness, we are here." Came the voice of the coachman.
A nervous expression appeared on Daisy's face. If she could not understand that going outside now was dangerous, then she would be a fool.
She grabbed my arm and looked at me with teary eyes, begging me to not go outside.
But I simply smiled and stroked her face. Then, I shook off her hand and walked out with a calm face.
When I opened the door, the palace could not be seen nearby. Instead, we were in a narrow street on the noble district, filled with old-looking houses and without a trace of someone else.
"... What is the meaning of this?" I asked the coachman with a calm and steady expression. The coachman looked at me guiltily and moved his gaze away. "I'm sorry, your highness, I could not reject their proposal. It was more than enough to live a life free of worries after it."
I stared right into his eyes and heaved a sigh. "Is it so? Do you truly think you will be able to enjoy that money?"
The coachman opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. In the end, he gritted his teeth and put on a fierce expression. "Perhaps no, but I'm ready to face the risk!"
"... How unfortunate." I shook my head. "I just hope you don't regret your decision later."
"He will not, your highness." While I was speaking with the coachman, a black-clothed man walked out of a house.
The man was wearing a completely black robe. His face was covered with a black mask, and he had a sword sheathed on his waist.
As for his strength, he was at the eighth layer of mana.
Once he appeared, another five black-clothed men appeared from the surroundings. Every one of them was a powerful powerhouse, the weakest with sixth layer strength. Moreover, one of them was a mage.
I frowned when I saw them. It was obvious that this group did not have good intentions.
Looking around, I noticed a translucid layer of mana surrounding the street. I recognized it instantly, it was an isolation barrier.
They came completely prepared, huh.
"Don't bother prince." The strongest black-clothed man said. "We chose this place carefully. It's pretty near to the palace so you will not notice anything wrong during the way, moreover, nobody has lived around here in a long time, and even if someone comes close, he will not notice anything due to the isolation barrier."
"... To think someone has the galls to kill a prince." I sneered and crossed my arms calmly.
The black-clothed men's leader frowned when he saw my expression. For a moment, a feeling of uneasiness filled his mind.
However, that feeling disappeared in the next second.
Wrinkling his brows, the black-clothed man looked at my eyes while tightening the hand holding his sword.
At that moment, Daisy exited the carriage.
"Your highness!" She shouted and stood before me. Daisy then extended her arms and looked at the black-clothed men with a determined expression.
"You will have to pass through my body if you want to hurt your highness!"
The entire place fell silent when Daisy appeared. The black-clothed men's leader's gaze turned complicated and he sighed. "Your loyalty is commendable, but it's useless, young lady."
"Hmph!" Daisy snorted and continued standing before me. I smiled wryly and grabbed her arm.
In the next second, I pulled her into my embrace.
"Kya!"
"Silly girl, what kind of man I would be if I have to be protected by my woman."
"Y-Your highness!" Daisy panicked when she realized what happened, but I put a finger on her lips. "Shh. Leave it to me, I'll show you how strong I am."
Then, I kissed her forehead and walked forward.
Under the surprised gazes of the black-clothed men, I unsheathed my sword and waved it slightly. I then took a relaxed stance and looked at the group.
"Okay, who will be the first?" I smirked.
The leader of the black-clothed men furrowed his brows. The strange uneasy feeling he had was becoming even stronger. Something was wrong, he knew it.
But it was already too late.
When I saw that nobody answered, I shook my head and took a step forward.
Instantly, the leader's expression changed. "Careful!" He shouted frantically to the others.
However, it was useless.
The next second, one head flew.