The next day, I went back to the castle to inform Alice about my departure, when she suddenly forced herself to stand up and walk forward.
Of course, her attempt quickly failed as she fell towards my direction.
"Alice!"
Fortunately, I was just a meter away from her when it happened. I caught her body, her hands clutching on my collar as if not desiring to let go.
"Are you... leaving?" Her voice sounded similar to a whisper, Alice's eyes avoided mine but her clutches became more firm. She was pressing her body.
I had no clue what's going on with her whatsoever, but her question piqued my interest.
She knew I'm leaving?
"Yes, unfortunately." I pretended to be sad and empatgetic, stroking her head. "However, I'll be back in a week. I have other important matters to attend to, Your Highness. But I promise you that after coming back, we'll start the operation for your legs."
"But..."
Alice became hesitant, but eventually let go when I used my other hand to hold her's. I urged her maid with gesture to push the wheelchair forward.
"Alice, how did you know I'm going away anyway?"
"I don't know... I just had a feeling."
I supported her body and made her sit down on her wheelchair. Though, her other hand remained tugging on my hem.
"Are you leaving today...?" She looked at me with a face full of hopefulness.
Stroking her head gently, I smiled. "Yes. I just came here to inform you about my departure."
Truthfully, I'm planning to enter the Labyrinth tomorrow and not today. I still have to inform the two later at night about leaving and check on Solis' current "living conditions" later... I can't have her dying as of yet.
And thus, I'll make sure to solve the puzzle on 8th floor and defeat the boss this time until I reach the 11th this time before I leave the Labyrinth. For that, I might have to stay a week or two.
Though hesitant, Alice finally let go of my clothes and freed me. With that said, I took something out of my pocket ring and handed it to her.
"...What's this?"
"It's a ballpoint pen. A pen for short."
Curious, she asked, "Pen? What does this do?" while scrutinized it.
"It's so that you can continue writing more easier."
"How did you—"
"I heard from one of the maid that you like to write novels during your free time. Since I won't be able to come to your 18th birthday the next day after tomorrow, I decided to give you an advance gift."
"....."
"I figured that using a quill is hard; your wrist must have been hurting after using it for a long time. And so, I decided to make that specifically for you."
I took out a pen that had the same design as her hidden inside the side of my collar.
"Look! I have that too! The design for both is identical."
Alice momentarily became red for a moment before she shook it off.
"Thanks! I'll make sure that I treasure it."
"Right, you can easily refill it if ever it ran out of ink. Just take this off and—"
And so, I took my time to explain the pen's function that took for about a couple of minutes.
After our quick exchange, I left Alice with her maid.
I was about to leave the castle when I encountered the queen walking towards my direction.
"Your Majesty...?" I called out to her in confusion. She approached me and stopped in front of me, her eyes observing me with curiosity.
"Are you leaving? I see, then do be careful on your journey." She smiled, her expression becoming soft. It was as if she felt relieved for my departure, causing me to become more confused.
The Queen noticed this, giggling upon seeing my expression. She was about to add something when she suddenly stopped. She placed her other hand on her tummy area.
"I think I'm about to give birth..."
Oh, she's about to give birth...?
Shaking my head helplessly, I heaved out a short exasperated sigh.
Soon, I quickly came to a realization.
"...Wait! I'm not ready to become a father!"
"....."
Wait, I read the wrong script...
"I mean, I'm not planning to play doctor."
This time, I received a smack in the head.
...
..
.
Moments later.
While rubbing my forehead, I looked at the Queen, who seemed really annoyed by what I said. Her arms was crossed on her chest, her gaze was focused more on the surroundings.
"So you're about to give birth... Then, why aren't you panicking?"
"It's fine. I can prevent myself on giving birth for a whole day. I'll give birth tomorrow. Calling the doctor now seems like a lot of work; I'll just rest later."
"Isn't that bad!?"
"Not really," Her Majesty shakes her head in denial, her voice calm. "It's just a perk of being a devil."
"...."
The news of her pregnant really is a shock. Nonetheless, she's about to give birth... Hmmm, did she cheat on the King?
"I don't know what you're thinking, but why do I feel annoyed?"
Right... I guess that's impossible.
"...Can I leave already?"
***
An hour later.
'You bastard! You ignored me for an entire week!'
Ah... I clearly forgot about her.
During my whole journey with the two, I managed to finally able to prevent Otuk—I mean, Yuki from hearing my thoughts. It was an honest improvement for my privacy.
'I can still clearly see you what you're doing by using my astral form, dumbass!'
I'm going to come up with a solution for that later...
Clearing my throat, I looked around to see if anyone was nearby. After I'm done checking, I tilted my head to look up a certain direction from the sky before I spoke up.
"So... Where are you right now?"
'I'm stuck!'
"Stuck where actually?"
'In the ground! I got buried alive!'
Oh... Wait, what?
'I'm still alive, fortunately... But I'm seriously going to die if you don't act fast!'
"Why did you even got buried anywaysStop asking questions already and move...! It's so dark in here and my mana is about to ran out!' Her tone was laced in panic.
"Where are you anyway...?"
It took her quite a bit of time to explain where she was.
"I see... I'll come to you after my date."
'Okay... Wait a minute, don't go—'
Our conversation were abruptly cut short. I put on my mask, tidying my clothes and left to enter the black market.
...
..
.
Upon arriving, I was immediately greeted with an unexpected event when Reaper suddenly pulled me along side her, shielding me from the blade that was flying towards my face.
"Let's go!"
She pulled me away from the scene as people with red mask attacked us from all direction.
...What the fuck is happening?