A Captive Prince Awaiting Execution Falls In Love With A Young Lady - Episode 3

The next day.

“So? What is it?”

Sirius wiped the oil paint off his fingers with a rag and asked again.

His voice clearly had a suspicious tone, and he even had a “shady” expression on his face. He crossed his arms, embodying his displeasure.

Judith, who is right in front of me, is gripping the bottle tightly with sparkling eyes.

“That’s why! They say there’s a ghost trapped inside here!”

Sirius stuffed the old cloth into the pocket of his leather apron and sighed.

Once again, I stared at the bottle that Judith was gripping tightly with both hands.

Because it is dark green, I can’t really tell what is inside.

Judging by its shape, it might have originally been a wine bottle. In fact, the edge of the label is still partially attached at the top, leaving a brownish stain, suggesting it was hastily removed.

But more importantly, the new label that was placed on top was what mattered.

It says “Ghosts inside” there, after all.

“Let’s sit and watch closely, Sirius! You bring the stool!”

As instructed, Judith sits down forcefully in the only chair available. In contrast, she carefully places the bottle on the table.

Judith sighed, turned on her heel, and walked around to the front of the campus. She picked up the stool that had become completely caramelized over the past few years, waved her hand, and approached Judith, who was flailing her legs.

“Where did you find something like this?”

Sirius sits on the stool, furrowing his brow.

Judith comes every day in the early afternoon.

Mr. Sanders takes away Sirius’s lunch and leaves the room, but Judith stays in the room and spends time with Sirius.

That’s been the trend in recent years.

“Yesterday, before returning to the mansion, I went to the night market with Mr. Sanders.”

“Huh?! That’s dangerous!”

Sirius’s eyes widened. Mainly, the good citizens of the imperial capital are in danger.

“It’s okay. Look, I have this too.”

Sitting on the chair, Judith taps her waist lightly while swinging her legs. The waist belt of her one-piece dress. There are two tonfa batons inserted there.

It’s dangerous. Dangerous elements are being left unchecked.

After all, Judith skillfully wields a baton.

They are skilled at using their hands, and their wrists are probably very flexible.

Not only does he swing it around to strike the opponent, but he also quickly switches grips, using the long shaft like a scythe to grab and twist the opponent’s neck, a technique that can only be described as lightning-fast. Yet, why is he so bad with the spear?

“Mr. Sanders is also amazing at martial arts, you know.”

“Mr. Sanders is more afraid of daggers than martial arts!”

How many times have I seen the sight of someone mounting an enemy they have kicked down and plunging a dagger into their neck?

As expected of the guard assigned to the daughter of the Marquis of the Imperial Court. She’s the strongest and most terrifying.

I can’t believe these two are being released into the night court.

“If the anti-social forces are affected, that’s one thing… But I hope no innocent civilians are being sacrificed just because of your appearances!”

Even though Kyuchuu Haku is the safest place in this country, there might still be lecherous individuals who, fueled by alcohol and depraved thoughts, might approach this 16-year-old and adult woman.

“You guys, it’s like you don’t know how to control your strength or you have this self-contained sense of justice… Anyway, the citizens are in danger.”

Of course, Sirius was not only concerned about ordinary people but also about Judith’s reckless sense of justice.

“Why don’t you ever worry about me?”

“By the way, you’re not wandering around the capital at night again, are you?”

“I didn’t do anything like that. It’s a misunderstanding.”

“You’re speaking in broken sentences. So, that pair must be you two.”

“Huh? W-What are you talking about?”

“That duo from last year. The ones who took down the anti-social forces hiding in the Imperial Capital under the guise of ‘restoring order’ or whatever!”

“Th-they’re saying it’s different! That’s a mysterious beautiful girl and a beauty, right?! They even introduced themselves like that!”

“…It’s so like you to call yourself a beautiful girl. You and Sanders-san were really getting into it and striking poses, weren’t you?”

“Hey! Stop it! That’s my dark history! …Ah”

“See!”

Sirius stands up with momentum.

I knew it.

Last year, there was a mysterious duo who annihilated the anti-social forces that had been hiding in the Imperial Capital.

Sirius absolutely thinks it’s these two.

After being furious with Judith, who kept denying everything even when pressed, and seriously scolding her to “stop because it’s dangerous,” the two mysterious individuals have not been seen in the imperial city since.

That’s why Sirius was absolutely convinced that it was this duo.

“Y-You see, yesterday was different! I didn’t want to meet Mrs. Simpson, so I was wandering around the city at night, and look, look at this! I found this!”

I was planning to scold him more, but Judith suddenly held the bottle up to Sirius.

“…So? What is this?”

Sighing, Judith sits down in the chair.

“Ghost Bottle”

Judith speaks carefully, pausing between words.

“Hmm.”

Sirius sat on the stool again and looked at the bottle.

I’ve heard about it through rumors.

The sorcerer defeats the high-level spirit and seals it in a bottle. That is the ghost bottle.

“The sorcerer who gave me this ghost bottle said that after a fierce battle, they managed to trap the spirit in this bottle.”

Judith passionately recounts the story told by the sorcerer.

“It’s a common trick,” Sirius began to say but then closed his mouth.

Because Judith, speaking with such passion, was adorable.

Desperately trying to convey what the sorcerer must have said through gestures, Sirius is making every effort.

Their movements and manner of speaking are very charming.

“That’s how it is.”

After speaking at length, Judith let out a sigh, wiped the faint sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, and then offered the bottle she was holding to Sirius.

Sirius will receive it.

Because it is a dark color, I can’t really tell what is inside. Or could it be empty?

When I lightly shook it as a test, I heard the sound of water.

“Ahhhhh! Stop it!”

“Whoa! What!?”

“The spirit inside is getting drunk!”

“Huh. You get drunk?!”

“Of course! If you swing it that hard!”

“By the way, is there something inside this? I can hear some noise.”

“That’s why the ghost… See! If you hold it up to the light, it will dissolve!”

“Can it be solved?! Or rather, is there really a ghost inside?”

“Of course, here you go!”

With a smug look on her face, Judith took a piece of paper out of her pocket and spread it out on the table.

“What is this?”

“Certificate of appraisal”

“Certificate of appraisal?”

“A sorcerer has another sorcerer check and confirm that the spirit is properly contained inside.”

“Recent scams are getting really elaborate… So, how much did you pay for this?”

“………Well, you know?”

“Well, no! Did you go on a spending spree?!”

“I didn’t! I was actually planning to eat cake with Mr. Sanders and go home, but that cake and tea money just disappeared!”

Sirius quickly recalled the prices of the cake shop that Judith favored. It was for two people.

Well, it’s not cheap, but it’s not expensive either. Moreover, if you had bought a ghost bottle and eaten the cake, that would be one thing, but from the way you’re talking, it seems you gave up on the cake. Considering that judgment, Sirius decided not to say anything more.

“So? The story is that you bought it because the ghost bottle is rare?”

Sirius, sitting on the stool and scrutinizing the bottle, asks.

“No, it’s not that. It’s this.”

“Yeah”

“I was thinking of putting it in Ijet-kun.”

“What?”

“That’s why we should give the contents of this ghost bottle to Ijet-kun.”

Sirius looks at the direction Judith is pointing.

The corner of the room.

Right next to the four-poster bed.

What is propped up is a scarecrow for spear thrust practice, Ijet-kun.

“Somehow… I thought, maybe Ijet-kun actually wants a soul.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Yeah, but. Sirius said yesterday, right? That we’re moving in the middle of the night.”

“I didn’t say it moves at night! I get startled when I wake up in the middle of the night and see it, so please take it back…”

“Surely, moving around at midnight is because they crave souls.”

“It’s not! Listen carefully, Judith!”

“Well, that’s true. If you only have the body and no substance… then you’re just like a doll.”

“Scarecrows are also dolls!”

“So I thought I’d put my soul into it.”

Sirius found Judith smiling brightly in astonishment.

As always, it’s outlandish. I can’t keep up with the ideas.

“They were selling ghost bottles at a perfectly reasonable price.”

Judith casually took the bottle from Sirius’s hand.

“I will now put this spirit into Ijet-kun.”

“Stop it! Don’t do things you don’t understand!”

“It’s not something that’s hard to understand! Look at this appraisal report? See? The one trapped here is a man who was abandoned by his lover 40 years ago, drank to drown his sorrows, got drunk, was attacked by a thug, and died resenting the world…”

“I don’t want the spirit of some incomprehensible man!”

“Oh really? Then ask that sorcerer to deal with the other ghosts…”

“Not that! Hey, Judith!”

Before anyone could stop her, Judith quickly grabbed the bottle and walked over to the scarecrow, Ijet-kun, as if to dance.

“Ijet-kun. Right now, I’ll give you my soul.”

With a satisfying pop, Judith removed the cork.

In front of the hurriedly approaching Sirius, Judith stabbed the neck of the scarecrow with the mouth of the bottle.

“Aaaaaah!”

Sirius is shouting, but…

I immediately gasped.

The reddish-brown water gushed out from the scarecrow Ijet-kun’s torso, making a splashing sound.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!”

“What, what, what, what!? Is this blood!?”

They both scream and leap back while embracing each other.

“……Wine……?”

While holding Judith in his arms, Sirius squints and mutters.

The bottle that was stuck in Ijet-kun’s throat.

There was probably still some red wine left there.

Because the cork was removed and the bottle was inverted, the contents leaked out. It seems that red wine leaked out from the many holes in Ijet-kun’s body, which were made by Judith’s spear thrusts.

“I was surprised… I thought Ijet-kun had acquired a soul and his body had been completed, and that’s why blood was gushing from the wounds.”

“Did you think that much in just a few seconds, Judith?”

“Well, I’m glad. Now I can relax, Sirius.”

“What! Where!”

He let out a ridiculous scream.

Judith, who was enveloped in his arms, looked up at him with an innocent smile.

“Now, with this, Ijet-kun won’t be wandering around at night anymore.”

“Isn’t it going to move?! Isn’t that old man inside going to move or something?!”

Despite Sirius pleading, “Please take it home,” Ijet-kun left it in his room.