Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 63

“Yulisha? What are you doing here?”

Michelle called out to the familiar-looking girl crouching in the corridor.

I had seen her before, though we had never spoken directly. Since Michelle knew her, I decided to observe for now.

“Huh? Wait… Michelle? And… Lax-sama!? It’s been so long!”

Apparently, she remembered us as well. Since she had already spoken to me directly, ignoring her wasn’t an option.

“It’s been a while. Did you come as part of the Crown Prince’s delegation? But they already left. Why are you still here?”

“Well, actually…”

Judging by the troubled expression on her face, I had a feeling something was off.

And sure enough—she had been left behind.

A diplomatic mission abandoning one of its attendants was unthinkable.

Yet, the fact remained—she was still here, stranded in a foreign country.

When I asked for details, she hesitated before answering.

*”The closer we got to this kingdom’s capital, the more tense the delegation became. I’m not particularly skilled at my duties, but until then, I had been managing well. However, as soon as we arrived, even the smallest mistakes were met with severe reprimands.

“In my panic, I lost track of the Crown Prince’s schedule, and because of that, he couldn’t visit a place he had been hoping to see. That mistake led to a scolding… and I was ultimately dismissed from the delegation.”*

“That’s awful… I can’t believe Prince Lienfeld would do something like that. But… you’re here, so it must be true.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke.

Sure, losing track of the schedule was a serious mistake, but the delegation’s itinerary had been flexible.

They didn’t have to leave immediately.

Why was it such a big deal that he couldn’t visit one location?

Something wasn’t adding up.

“Where was he trying to go?”

“Well…”

Yulisha hesitated at Michelle’s question—not because she refused to answer, but because she found it difficult to say.

“Since you’ve been abandoned here, we have a responsibility to understand what happened and arrange for your return to Elver Magic Kingdom. It would help if you could tell us.”

“Yes… The Crown Prince wanted to visit the royal cemetery in the capital.”

“The cemetery?”

That was an odd place for a foreign royal to visit.

What business would he have in another nation’s burial grounds?

“Did he give any reason?”

“Yes… Apparently, a famous magician named Hamnapamuna was buried there. He wanted to see the grave.”

“I see…”

It wasn’t entirely unbelievable.

The royal family of the Magic Kingdom was obsessed with magic, and it wasn’t unusual for them to visit the graves of legendary spellcasters.

Many powerful mages left behind magical artifacts, seals, or experimental spells in their tombs.

But that still didn’t explain one thing—

Why didn’t Lienfeld simply request permission to visit?

If it was a research matter, all he had to do was inform the King and arrange a time.

Even if it had to be postponed, he could have stayed longer to visit later.

The delegation’s schedule had plenty of room for adjustments.

“In the end, we passed by the road next to the cemetery just before our departure… and that’s when the Prince suddenly became furious.”

“That makes no sense at all.”

“After that, I was scolded again… and left behind.”

“…What?”

“I didn’t know what to do, so I just wandered the streets…”

Yulisha looked embarrassed as she spoke, probably because she saw her own mistakes as humiliating.

Her situation was undeniably pitiful.

And then—

Guuuuuuuuu…

A loud growl echoed from her stomach.

“I see. So hunger finally caught up with you.”

“It’s embarrassing, but… I haven’t been allowed to eat since the cemetery incident, so I’ve had no strength left…”

Of course.

Starvation made everything worse.

“Here, eat this. It’s rations for dungeon exploration, but it’s designed for survival in uncertain conditions. It’s easy to digest, so it shouldn’t upset your stomach.”

“Ah, thank you so much!”

Yulisha took the food from me, bowed her head, and quickly began eating.

It wasn’t tasty, but it would at least keep her going.

Even so, something about Prince Lienfeld’s behavior seemed off.

The way he acted during this visit was drastically different from the person I once knew.

“Thank you very much, Lax-sama, Michelle-sama.”

“Yeah.”

After eating the ration and resting for a bit, Yulisha had mostly recovered.

She thanked us properly once again.

She seemed to share a close relationship with Michelle, but despite that familiarity, she still maintained proper decorum in her posture and speech.

That didn’t strike me as someone incompetent at her job.

Yet, here she was—abandoned and lost.

“But… what should I do now…?”

Someone as composed as her was now completely lost.

We couldn’t just say, “Well, good luck with that,” and leave her here.

“For now, why don’t you come with us? We’re staying at a hotel, but if there’s a spare room, we should be able to arrange something. We’d need the approval of the acting Viscount of Riofendarl, but that shouldn’t be an issue.”

Michelle made the offer.

As expected, Shifa immediately agreed.

“If she’s Michelle-san’s relative and someone Lax-san is familiar with, there’s no problem at all.”

Apparently, she had spent the day having tea with the head of a viscount household she was acquainted with.

When she mentioned being lonely because we had spent the day apart…

Well, as for the rest of that night…

(There’s probably no need for imagination here, but just in case…)