Chapter 86
“Indeed. We were really lucky.”
‘Phew…’
Minerva, who had been worried that Lloyd might mention the earrings, let out a sigh of relief.
Then she whispered so that only he could hear.
“Thank you, Duke.”
“It’s nothing. We’ll talk about the earrings later.”
Minerva nodded with a slightly serious expression.
From that expression alone, Lloyd was certain that she had some idea about something.
But for now, he should pretend not to notice.
Lloyd instructed Pablo.
“Pablo. Prepare a horse to escort Her Highness back to the palace.”
“Me?”
Minerva pointed at herself as if to ask why she needed to go to the palace.
Minerva had just escaped death.
The same was true for Lloyd, but Minerva had made it rain, so she had done enough.
Worried that she might be in danger again, Lloyd carefully suggested:
“Wouldn’t it be better for Your Highness to return now?”
She did want to go back, concerned about Aslan and the power of magic.
But it was too early to leave now, and it was obvious that people would talk. Moreover, Minerva couldn’t turn a blind eye to the disaster before her.
“The more hands, the better. We won’t be able to clear all these rocks today at this rate. I’ll help until more people arrive. I’m strong.”
Minerva dismissed the maid who was trying to hold an umbrella over her and instead accepted a hair tie.
She tightly tied up her long hair for ease of movement and carefully assessed the extent of the damage.
It was too serious for Lloyd to stop her, so he just followed behind her.
The mine had collapsed completely.
The entrance was completely blocked, and it was hard to hope that people inside were still alive.
But at the very least, they had to recover the bodies of the deceased to return them to their families.
Additionally, Minerva gritted her teeth and vowed.
‘And I’ll take care of that bastard Archibald.’
She should have him hanged in the square and let the bereaved families stone him to death.
Minerva struck the rocks with a sledgehammer as if she were looking at Archibald.
Seeing her take the initiative in hammering before anyone else, the knights hurriedly joined in the rescue operation.
Lloyd did the same.
As strong people broke the rocks with hammers, others cleared away the debris.
Minerva was so dedicated that it was hard to tell if what was flowing was rain or sweat.
In between work, Lloyd glanced at Minerva and found himself thinking:
‘How can she be like that?’
As a child, Lloyd had hated Minerva.
Although she hadn’t done anything wrong to him, he hated how she seemed to live in her own world, acting superior.
It was easier to hate Minerva than Priscilla.
Living as neighbors, he came to have a personal fondness for her, which turned into respect.
But now that she was about to return as an imperial princess, he thought she would never return to the person he had liked back then.
Yet Minerva had tried to help Lloyd even when she was in mortal danger herself.
And she started the rescue operation before anyone else.
Lloyd felt ashamed of himself.
How could Minerva be like that?
Even Lloyd, who was confident in his stamina, felt tired and wanted to rest.
Minerva must be tired too, but she showed no sign of it.
Minerva had always been an extraordinary person.
Her flaw had been a lack of humanity and compassion, but now that even that flaw had disappeared, she had become incomparably more admirable than before.
‘Perhaps the miracle that happened earlier was because heaven was watching over Her Highness…’
Miracles, God. He didn’t believe in such things.
But for someone like Minerva, it wouldn’t be surprising if miracles did occur.
Bang! With many people working together, the entrance to the mine became slightly visible.
“This should be enough to enter.”
Just as the knights were gathering to form a search party to go inside, a voice was faintly heard from the mine.
“Is anyone there?!”
As light seeped through the collapsed entrance, the miners were desperately calling for help.
“We’re here from the Grand Duchy to rescue you! Are there any casualties?!”
“There are some seriously injured, but everyone is still alive!”
All the miners they thought were dead were safe!
Everyone present, unable to believe this miracle, looked at each other with emotional eyes.
Immediately, the knights began bustling about to rescue the miners.
If they had all lost their lives, Lloyd wouldn’t have been able to show his face in Cat’s Eye with a clear conscience.
Strangely, when with Minerva, everything seemed to work out well.
From Ayla’s situation until now.
Lloyd approached Minerva, who was drinking water, and spoke to her.
“Your Highness. Thank you so much. Everyone’s lives were saved thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me? It was heaven’s help.”
Minerva politely declined Lloyd’s excessive gratitude with a conventional phrase.
Lloyd felt a wall in those words.
It felt like she was guarding against Lloyd as a person, not just being cautious due to the situation as she had been in Mente Viscounty.
She seemed somewhat angry.
It didn’t seem to be just because he had hidden being the Duke.
Lloyd hesitated, then gathered his courage and finally spoke.
“I truly wish to have a friendly relationship with Your Highness.”
“…Thank you?”
“So.”
As Lloyd bowed deeply, Minerva was startled.
“What are you doing, Duke!”
“If you could tell me what I’ve done wrong, I’ll do my best to make amends.”
Looking at Lloyd’s bowed head and slightly trembling shoulders, Minerva wondered if she had gone too far.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to say that she wasn’t angry.
“I’m not sure what the Duke is talking about.”
Even though what happened in the original story hadn’t actually occurred, from the moment she learned he was the Duke, she felt a sense of betrayal and anger rising from deep in her chest.
It was a thankful act to take in and raise a child who had lost its mother.
But in the end, that child was driven to death.
Even if the current Lloyd hadn’t done anything wrong, her heart wouldn’t listen to reason.
In the end, she chose avoidance.
“And there are more important things than that right now.”
Saying that, Minerva left to check on the condition of the rescued people.
Lloyd watched her retreating figure with a heavy heart. The steadily falling rain hurt.
It would be better if she would clearly tell him his mistake, like when she had told him about the person abusing Ayla, but Minerva kept her mouth shut, pretending not to while guarding against him and resenting him.
Since he, who prided himself on being sensitive to people’s emotions, felt this way, it must be true.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, a nearby knight approached Lloyd and asked:
“Your Grace, are you alright? Your eyes are red.”
“…My eyes?”
“Yes. It doesn’t seem to be a burn, though…”
Through the gap in his mask, Lloyd felt his face.
His eyelids did feel hot.
No, to be precise, it was his eyelids.
Ah. He shouldn’t have hated Princess Minerva back then.
It seems he’s receiving as much hatred in return as he had felt for Minerva back then.
* * *
News that Minerva and Lloyd were safe also reached the ducal residence.
The excited Ayla emerged from the curtains and brought armfuls of dolls that had been neatly arranged on the bed.
“Here, let’s hold these and wait patiently now that we can relax.”
“They look weak.”
Dogs, rabbits, baby bears, and so on.
All the dolls Ayla had looked like they couldn’t fight at all.
Aslan preferred dolls that looked unconditionally strong.
“Don’t you have anything else? Like a lion?”
“I don’t…”
Ayla trailed off, then glanced sideways and furrowed her brows in trouble.
Aslan’s shoulders slumped again.
Seeing an opportunity to score points, a knight with a gentle appearance approached.
“Is there anything you need?”
“…My lion.”
However, Aslan still answered briefly with wary eyes.
The knight was hurt inside but, putting aside personal feelings, asked:
“A lion?”
Ayla answered instead of the wary Aslan.
“She means Aslan’s lion doll. It seems we left it in the annex.”
“I’ll bring it right away.”
Just as the knight eagerly responded, wanting to make a good impression on Aslan.
Aslan suddenly jumped out from behind the curtain, leaping high enough to clear the knight.
By the time the knight turned around, Aslan was already blocking the door.
When did she get there?
To the knight who stood with his mouth agape, wondering if he was seeing things, Aslan shouted threateningly, spreading her short arms as wide as possible.
“No! You can’t enter my and Mom’s house!”
Grrrr.
Aslan growled low like a beast.
Both Aslan’s physical abilities and her strange powers.
The knight, perplexed by the situation, stammered:
“B-but you just said you needed the lion doll…”
“I’ll go get it myself!”
“Ugh…!”
The knights painfully covered their ears at how loud the sound coming from that tiny body was.
This combination of high pitch and vibration.
Behind Aslan, with her hair all puffed up, the illusion of an alley cat boss flickered.
