The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

I was thinking about a lot of things on my way to Elna’s.

How should I ask her.

What should I do if she refuses?

There are a lot of things going on inside my head right now.

I was welcomed at the gate as usual and I entered the Brave mansion.

“Al. What’s wrong?”

“Elna…….”

Elna came out to greet me.

I would have liked it if it is Anna-san instead.

To be honest, I can’t bring myself to look at Elna in the face.

But this unnatural attitude wouldn’t be overlooked by this childhood friend of mine.

“What happened?”

“Well…..”

“It’s useless even if you tried to hide it. Let’s head inside..

Saying so, Elna guided me to a guest room.

The maids were preparing us tea and sweets in there.

Seeing that, Elna asked them to leave the room. Immediately after they left, Elna sat on a chair facing me and get straight to the matter.

“I will ask you again. What happened?”

“……something terrible.”

“Is that so. Do you need my help then?”

“…..yeah.”

I nod without looking at her face.

What a way to make a request.

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to look at Elna’s face.

Just what kind of face should I make?

My mission, in the end, is for our advantage in the succession war. With Father’s evaluation on the line, I can’t turn my mission down this time.

That’s right. I am weighing my sister’s safety against the throne. And because I couldn’t choose either one of them over another, I came to Elna.

The inner palace is the world of women. Even a guard has to be one. That’s the superficial reason, not the fundamental one.

We finally gain the upper hand. Father is looking at us favorably. I don’t want to throw away such an advantage.

However, I can not forsake Christa.

I can’t choose.

That’s why I want to rely on Elna. Being such a miserable person, I don’t dare to look Elna in the face.

Even so.

“Alright. I will go to His Majesty and decline the mission.”

“!? Is that okay…..?”

“What?”

To such a swift reply, I unintentionally raised my head.

Doing so, I saw Elna with the usual expression on her face.

Her face looked like there’s no problem at all.

“But……what would happen to your honor if you decline……?”

“It’s not just a problem with my honor here. But you need my help, right? Then there’s nothing else to consider.”

“…..I have to leave the capital to deal with the matter about a marriage proposal to my sister. To smoothly advance our progress in the succession war, I have to prioritize making this marriage talk as favorable as possible…….that’s the reason I came to you, you know?”

“You can’t let it go because it is important right? I don’t know what you want me to do but if it is something necessary I will lend you a hand.”

“Why……”

“I told you right? I will never abandon Al. did you notice? You have been making a very difficult expression since you got here you know? I don’t know what happened but you need me right? If that’s the case then I can abandon a mission or two for that. You already thought about it and came to me because it is something that you can only rely on me aren’t you?”

Elna indifferently said so.

It is not as simple as that.

If that’s the case then I wouldn’t feel this guilty.

As the daughter of the Brave house and one of the imperial knights, declining a mission is a big deal for Elna. Of course, Father doesn’t like forcing people either. The Brave house who can wield the holy sword is important to the Empire, Father wouldn’t want to deteriorate the relationship between them and the imperial family.

Still, this will bring shame to her name.

“Isn’t honor important to you……?”

“It is. But, my oath is more important than my honor. If you say that it is necessary then I will do anything. Alright, tell me. What do you need me to do?”

Elna is making an unusually soft smile.

That smile pierced my heart.

But I can’t help but feel guilty at that smile.

“……Christa has an innate magic ability. It’s precognition.”

“….that’s surprising. Have you been hiding that all this time?”

“It manifested around three years ago when Christa saw the death of the Crown Prince. Since then, there are a lot of futures that she saw both ones that came true and ones that don’t but pretty much all of the future that directly involves her will come true.”

“So it is that pattern this time right.”

“Yeah. Do you remember Rita? The girl that played with Leo before.”

“Of course. Is that girl involved?”

“…..Christa said that she died. Right in front of her.”

Elna’s eyes turned sharp at my words.

Christa basically never leaves the castle or the inner palace. The fact that Christa is directly involved means that someone from the castle or the inner palace is involved.

In that regard, it is advantageous for us to have Elna who holds the highest court rank of the Brave to escort her.

Even if someone tried to do something, only a few people have the ability to do so with Elna around.

“I can just remain by Her Highness Christa to guard her right? that way I can protect Rita as well.”

“Yeah…..there are only a few who know of Christa’s precognition ability. Even Father doesn’t know about it. You can’t use this as the reason to turn down your mission you know?”

“It’s alright. My next mission will be near the big lake after all.”

“…..You, don’t tell me?”

“If I told His Majesty that I am not good with water, there shouldn’t be any problem right?”

“That might be the case but…….you will be leaking your weakness you know? Is that okay? You hated that right?”

“I still hate the idea even now. It would be like admitting my loss if I turn down a mission and I will be laughed at if people know that the daughter of the Brave house is afraid of water after all.”

“Then…..”

“But my oath is more important than that. You are in trouble, right? Will you be fine without my help? What would you do? You came to me because there’s no other choice left right? Then I will help you. There’s no meaning if my oath is just a word after all.”

Saying so, Elna rises up and comes to me.

She then put her forehead on mine.

I’m surprised at her sudden action but Elna started speaking with a small voice.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s alright. I will protect everything Al wants to protect. I won’t let anything be taken away from you. I will be your power. So don’t make such a painful expression like that anymore.”

“Elna……”

“It’s alright. Al, you didn’t abandon Her Highness Christa. The succession war is important, so is Her Highness Christa. If you can’t protect either one of them, I will protect them for you. Al has to work on that marriage proposal for the succession war right? I will protect Her Highness Christa for you.”

“…..I don’t want that child to feel sad anymore…..when her mother died, she looked like an empty shell but she finally started to smile….take care of my sister…..take care of Christa for me. There’s no one else beside you……”

“Leave her to me. We are both childhood friends and cooperators, right? You can tell me anything. No matter what happens, I will be your power.”

Saying so, Elna took a step back.

She then showed me a cheerful smile.

I’ve seen that smile before.

When I met her for the first time, that was her smile when she told me that she would protect me.

I see. She has never changed since then huh.

Elna was and is still my friend.

—————————————————————

“Al-niisama! Don’t go…….!”

“Christa. You can’t trouble Al you know.”

In the end, Elna turned down her mission using the lake as the reason.

She honestly confessed her fear of water to Father.

For me and Leo, she forced herself to act as our guard last time but since she knows that she will definitely be a hindrance to the mission this time, she wants to turn down her assignment.

As expected, Father acknowledged that and dispatched another imperial knight on the mission instead.

Then Mother told Father that she wants Elna to act as her guard because she wants to hear more stories about us, a plausible reason.

Father gave his permission. He is probably thinking that it is a good opportunity to give Elna a vacation as well.

And right now I am saying goodbye to Mother and Christa before I leave the capital.

“Elna will be with us you know.”

“No……! I want to stay with Al-niisama…..!”

“….Christa. Do you trust me?”

“Un…..”

“I see.”

While stroking Christa’s head as she is hugging me, I am a loss.

Even if I forcefully left, Christa probably wouldn’t trust Elna here.

Well, I don’t mind that but I want her to be able to trust Elna if possible.

So I voice my thoughts out loud.

“Then I will leave my most trusted sword with you.”

“A sword…..?”

“Yeah. it’s the best sword in the whole continent. It will protect you from any opponent. So if you have any trouble you can rely on it. If you feel like it is helpless then you can call its name instead of mine. It will definitely come to save you.”

“But….”

“Still unsatisfied? It’s the sword that I trusted the most you know? It has protected me many times already. even so, are you still unsatisfied?”

“…..uUn.”

“Good girl. It’s alright. Elna will protect you and Rita for me.”

With that said, I tightly hugged Christa and turned away.

Elna was standing there.

“Take care of my sister.”

“Please leave her to me.”

With that short exchange, I started walking forward.

I didn’t look back.

There is nothing to worry about anymore after all.