I, Reincarnate as the Leader of the Villainous Knight Order - Chapter 175: I Want to See You

Chapter 175: I Want to See You

(Note: Special for this chapter, dialogues in telepathic are written in this bracket: ‘………’.)

Four days later, when the First Knight Order was originally supposed to be the escort. I arrived at the royal palace’s carriage stop with Felix, Clarisse, and Ernest.

By the way, the day before, I had taken Simon and the others for a preliminary inspection as escort. So they already ate the meat skewers.

Which is why I left them behind.

You could say bringing them along yesterday was like feeding them bait to shut them up.

If it were just a subjugation mission, fine—but Simon and Gaspard are far too dangerous in too many ways for a city escort.

Even yesterday, they almost picked fights with townspeople who were staring too much. And they even tried to slip into back alleys—it was a mess.

Since this is supposed to be a secret outing, only Ernest and I are accompanying them as guards.

Naturally, unseen by Felix and Clarisse, the First Knights and Felix’s guards have been pre-positioned around the area.

It seems Clarisse has never gone on a secret walk with her brother Ernest. So she looks very happy.

And then…

“You actually came too…”

“What? Of course I came, Clarisse-sama invited me!”

She’s supposed to understand that if something happens, Ernest and I will prioritize protecting Felix and Clarisse—which means she’s the most in danger.

No, judging from that airheaded face, she’s not thinking about that at all.

Probably because she’s only ever seen the safe life inside the academy. It seems she doesn’t understand how dangerous it is outside for someone who’s first in line to the throne.

But Aria doesn’t seem to realize it. That there’s something even more troublesome than that kind of danger.

When Aria appeared at the meeting place, Clarisse gave her a smile.

“Aria, you came! Now, let’s get in the carriage. I’ve really been looking forward to this.”

“I was looking forward to it too!”

After exchanging greetings with Clarisse, Aria turned to me with a triumphant smile.

I stayed silent, and mounted the prepared horse with Ernest. While the engaged couple held hands and boarded the carriage.

It was only then that Aria seemed to realize—she would be riding in the same carriage with those two.

We began moving with Ernest and I riding on either side of the carriage to guard it.

From the window, I could see the engaged couple sitting facing forward. And Aria was facing them. She could only force a smile.

Come to think of it, I wonder how Orel and the Saint are doing.

Maybe I should write a letter to Annabella.

And what about Jest and Jeanne?

Maybe they’re being considerate because I’m busy. But it’s about time they came to visit.

Sure, having a big bed all to myself is nice. But there’s a certain comfort in hearing small, quiet breathing next to you.

While I was thinking about that, we arrived at the street with the meat skewer stalls.

Of course, we couldn’t drive the carriage right up to the front. So we got off a short distance away.

Aria wore her usual uniform and robe. But Felix and Clarisse were dressed more simply. They looked like lower nobles.

Since Ernest and I were dressed like knights, anyone who knows what they’re looking at would realize they’re not actually lower nobles.

Rather, anyone in the Eldrasia Kingdom seeing foreign knights with them would figure out it’s Princess Clarisse.

In that sense, maybe Aria’s presence helps throw off any suspicion about the group’s true identity.

“That’s the stall.”

Aria pointed to the meat skewer stall and explained to Felix.

“Ho, it certainly smells delicious. Then I shall do the ordering… Ahem. Shopkeeper, I require five skewers.”

“Uh… um…?”

Looks like he’s ordering for Ernest and me too.

But the shopkeeper was confused by the unfamiliar, formal language.

From behind Felix, I opened my hand toward the shopkeeper to show it meant five skewers.

“Ah, yes! Coming right up! Three copper coins per skewer!”

The shopkeeper now understood the situation. He gave a customer-service smile and handed over five freshly grilled skewers.

“…Like this?”

“Sorry?”

Seems like Felix has never bought from a food stall before. He doesn’t know how to receive the skewers.

At that moment, Aria accepted them in his place. And both Felix and the shopkeeper looked visibly relieved.

But the next moment, the shopkeeper’s face froze.

Because Felix had pulled out a gold coin.

One copper coin is about 100 yen. A silver coin is 10,000 yen. A gold coin is 1 million yen.

So the shopkeeper’s reaction was perfectly reasonable.

Next to Felix, Aria also couldn’t take her eyes off the gold coin.

Can’t be helped.

“Felix-sama, I don’t think the shopkeeper has change for a gold coin. At the very least, you should use silver coins… ideally large copper coins or small copper coins.”

Naturally, I couldn’t address him as “Crown Prince” in public. So I used his name.

But Felix gave a troubled look. He glanced down at the bag he took the coin from.

“But… there are only gold coins in here.”

Come to think of it, for royalty and their noble entourages, merchants usually come to their residence if they want to buy something. So they don’t carry small change.

Probably not even their attendants considered the need for copper coins.

Proof of that is in Ernest (royalty) and Clarisse (also royalty) also looking troubled together.

“Then allow me to pay this time.”

“But—”

“It’s rare to get a chance to do a favor for royalty of a friendly nation. Please help me if something happens in the future.”

“Understood. I appreciate it.”

When I smiled, Felix put the gold coin back into the bag. Though he looked a bit flustered.

After I paid, Aria handed out the skewers to everyone.

But if both Ernest and I ate at the same time, we couldn’t guard them properly.

I figured I’d wait until Ernest finished eating first. Just then, a voice suddenly echoed in my head.

‘Juuustan~! I wanted to see you sooo badly, I came~!’