Chapter 71
The person who tackled the thug and rolled on the ground was none other than the Third Prince.
The thug and the Third Prince wrestled fiercely as they tumbled across the floor.
“Ugh!”
A single cry of pain echoed as the thug slammed hard against the wall, and both men collapsed limply on the ground.
Then, silence fell.
Alice brushed back her disheveled pink hair as she surveyed the chaotic scene.
From the first thug she had taken down, to the other thug and the Third Prince lying entangled on the ground.
In that desperate moment, she had completely forgotten that the Third Prince was also in the alley with her.
Her only thought had been to punish the vile man before her eyes.
“…I guess things worked out in the end, somehow.”
She had managed to take down both thugs, and as an unexpected bonus, the Third Prince was now unconscious too.
In truth, the Third Prince had all but given up from the moment they encountered the thugs.
Just dealing with the thugs alone would have been more than enough of a challenge.
But the Third Prince… she never expected him to throw himself bodily into the fray at the end.
Alice took a deep breath and approached the Third Prince.
He was sprawled on top of one of the thugs.
She gently poked him with a finger to see if he was conscious, but there was no response.
Unlike the thugs who had collapsed from the effects of the drug, he seemed to have truly been knocked out by the impact.
He should have just used his abilities.
While it was admirable that he had stepped in to save her, it was frustrating how the Third Prince insisted on taking the difficult path when an easier option was available.
That’s probably why he ended up injured like this.
“Ugh, so heavy…”
Alice shook her head and finally managed to separate the Third Prince’s body from the thug.
With a thud, she laid him properly on the ground. She could now see blood flowing from what looked like a head injury, as well as his split lip.
This wasn’t how she had wanted him to end up.
Though she had been pursuing the Third Prince to incapacitate him, what she had hoped for was for him to fall into a clean, painless sleep.
She hadn’t summoned the thugs herself, but… she still felt guilty about the injured Third Prince, wondering if the situation had somehow gone awry because of her.
Alice reached out towards the unconscious Third Prince’s forehead.
Gently lifting his curly hair, she saw the gash on his forehead.
“You’re badly hurt.”
Out of habit, Alice placed her hand over the wound. With the natural thought that it needed to be healed, she used her holy power.
But as soon as the light emerged, she hesitated and hastily pulled her hand away.
“…I probably shouldn’t heal him, right?”
If she used her holy power to heal him and he regained consciousness here, that would be a problem.
For now, she needed to take the Third Prince to the Duchy. That way she could get closer to Sienna, and also meet Kylus.
Still, the sight of his bleeding wound bothered her.
Alice let out a groan as she looked at the large gash on his forehead.
Maybe she could heal it just a little bit?
If she used only a tiny amount of holy power… wouldn’t that at least stop the bleeding?
After hesitating, Alice finally placed her hand over the wound again.
Just enough to stop the bleeding, not enough to wake him up.
Only a little bit.
Concentrating on that thought, a very faint light poured from Alice’s hand.
Ever so slowly, she could see the bleeding from the wound start to stop.
When the wound was about half-healed, Alice withdrew her hand.
“Haa, this is even more tiring…”
Using holy power while desperately trying to control its strength was a hundred times more exhausting than simply praying earnestly and letting it flow.
As if to prove it, beads of sweat had formed on Alice’s forehead.
She was as out of breath as if she’d just run a 100-meter dash.
As Alice was catching her labored breath, two people appeared at the entrance of the alley.
It was the red hair she knew so well.
“Duchess!!”
“My lady!”
Sienna and Ruyd rushed towards her at a rapid pace.
As soon as he saw the situation, Ruyd drew his sword and scanned the surroundings warily.
“It’s alright. They’re all down. I’m the only one still standing, Sir Ruyd.”
“No, what is… Are you really alright, my lady?”
Sienna asked as she sat down next to Alice, stepping nimbly over the Third Prince’s body.
“I’m fine…”
“How can you be fine when you’re injured? Didn’t you notice?”
Sienna furrowed her brow as she looked at Alice’s cheek.
When Alice raised her hand to touch the cheek Sienna was looking at, she felt a stinging sensation and her hand came away with blood.
“Ah…”
It seemed she must have gotten scratched somewhere when she was pushed down by the thug earlier.
“Anywhere else? Are you hurting anywhere else?”
Maybe it was because of Sienna’s worried questioning, or perhaps because the tension had eased with the arrival of allies.
Elbows, waist, hips…
All the places she had hit when falling suddenly cried out in pain.
“Who did this? No, these bastards tried to harm you, didn’t they, my lady?”
Sienna’s eyes flashed dangerously as she looked over the fallen men.
Seeing Sienna’s fierce demeanor, Alice shook her head, afraid that telling the truth about her pain would only make things worse.
“Other than a scratch on my cheek, I’m completely fine. And… this person collapsed while trying to save me.”
As Sienna’s threatening green eyes turned towards the Third Prince who was lying closest, Alice hastily added.
“…He was trying to save you?”
“How else would I be this unharmed? This person fought those thugs for me. That’s how he lost consciousness.”
The Third Prince had clashed with the two thugs once each for her sake, after all.
Alice emphasized the Third Prince’s righteousness, adding a slight embellishment to the truth.
And she couldn’t very well explain that she had actually taken down the thugs with her brooch.
“Ah, I suppose… You couldn’t have taken down three grown men by yourself, my lady.”
Sienna nodded in understanding, then swept a cold gaze over the two thugs, excluding the Third Prince.
“Are they dead?”
“No. I think they’re just unconscious.”
“That’s fortunate. I was worried they might die too easily compared to the crimes they’ve committed.”
Sienna’s low voice sent a chill down Alice’s spine. She flinched, but when Sienna turned to face her, the coldness had already disappeared from her expression.
“I’m so relieved you weren’t seriously injured. But why did you suddenly leave the bookstore?”
“Ah, well… I suddenly heard a cat crying pitifully… I thought something might be wrong, so I followed the sound and ended up here.”
Alice racked her brain and gave the most plausible reason she could think of, but Sienna’s eyes only narrowed further.
“…A cat?”
As suspicion glinted in Sienna’s green eyes, Alice realized this wouldn’t do and scrunched up her face.
“Mm. Now that the tension has eased… I’m not feeling too well.”
“My lady, are you feeling very unwell?”
As Alice hunched over slightly, clutching her waist, Sienna asked in alarm.
“I think I’m a bit shaken up. We should head back to the Duchy now.”
“That would be best. Let me support you.”
Fortunately, Alice’s act seemed to have worked, as Sienna forgot all about her suspicions in her worry.
As Alice stood up with Sienna’s support, Ruyd, who had been surveying the surroundings, approached her.
“My lady, you mustn’t disappear without a word. You were fortunate to receive help from another today, but… the security in this area is poor. If you had been kidnapped, it would have taken us quite some time to find you. And we couldn’t guarantee your safety during that time…”
Ruyd addressed Alice with a stern expression.
It was the first time Ruyd had spoken at such length.
It meant that even Ruyd had been shocked by Alice’s sudden disappearance.
“I’m sorry for breaking my promise, Sir Ruyd.”
“…You don’t need to apologize to me, my lady.”
“I should apologize since I acted on my own. I didn’t mean to worry you, but it seems unexpected things keep happening today… Sienna, you must have been surprised too. I’m sorry.”
While she felt sorry for both Ruyd and Sienna, she had no choice but to evade their watchful eyes in order to meet the Third Prince.
What she knew was something they couldn’t possibly understand.
She felt wronged at being seen as a thoughtless young noblewoman, but what could she do? Finding the Third Prince was the only way for everyone to survive.
“As long as you’re safe, it’s all fine.”
Ruyd said, his stiff expression softening.
“That’s right. As long as you’re safe, it’s okay, my lady. Let’s go back now.”
“Ah, wait, I’d like to take this person to the Duchy. I can’t just leave someone who saved me here like this. We should take him back to the Duchy for treatment.”
“This man… Isn’t he the one with the red eyes from before?”
Ruyd asked reluctantly as he looked at the Third Prince. He clearly didn’t like the idea of bringing him to the Duchy.
“Yes, but he saved me.”
Sienna’s gaze turned to the Third Prince.
Unlike Ruyd, Sienna looked at the Third Prince with an unreadable expression before speaking.
“Since he saved the Duchess, it’s only right that we provide him with treatment and proper compensation at the Duchy.”
With even Sienna agreeing, Ruyd put away his displeased expression.
“Very well. I’ll bring this person later, so please escort the lady back to the Duchy first, Lady Meltain.”
Later?
Alice turned to look at Ruyd.
“What do you mean by later, Sir Ruyd?”
“I need to call the security force to deal with these criminals who threatened you, my lady. I’ll follow right behind after cleaning up here, so please go ahead to the Duchy with Lady Meltain. Your wound is deep.”
Ruyd’s gaze briefly touched Alice’s cheek before moving away.
Coming separately…
While she didn’t mind about Sir Ruyd, she was worried about variables like the Third Prince regaining consciousness on the way, or Sir Ruyd returning to the Duchy alone.
After all this trouble to finally catch the Third Prince… she couldn’t let him slip away.
“…Um, couldn’t he come with us? I feel uneasy leaving my benefactor lying here on the street like this.”
As Alice looked at the Third Prince with a troubled expression, Sienna suddenly let go of her arm.
