Chapter 83 : Ice Castle (5)

The appearance of Prince Lorath made us uneasy. Of course, Princess Lasiell was also with him.

On the other hand, the prince seemed quite pleased to meet the princess inside the labyrinth.

“I think I need an explanation of why you’re here.”

Now that I think about it, it was quite absurd that the prince came to where we were.

After all, the prince must have entered the labyrinth before us.

“Why should I explain to you why I’m late when you’re the one who was late because you’re incompetent?”

Princess Lasiell expressed her disgust on her face when she met the prince and then spoke.

“I was just concerned, but if it upset you, I’m sorry.”

“If you’re going to keep saying disgusting things, just go away.”

“It seems like you might need my help.”

“Help? I don’t need it! I found that castle first, and it’s mine, so don’t touch it!”

“Anyone can see that it’s impossible for just your team to conquer that castle. Wouldn’t it be better to face reality?”

The issue that had been worrying us ever since Prince Lorath appeared came up in conversation.

We were the first to discover the Ice Castle, but there was no way Prince Lorath would just let it go when it looked so tempting.

Considering his relationship with Princess Lasiell, Prince Lorath would never let the Ice Castle pass.

“Wouldn’t you feel bad seeing me hurt because of greed? It’s admirable that you’re working hard for our empire, but from now on, it might be better to leave it to your brother.”

“You don’t care about me; you’re just threatening me because you’re greedy.”

Princess Lasiell’s eyes filled with rejection, anger, and malice.

“If you struggle alone to keep that big thing and end up losing it to another country, how will you endure that betrayal? Don’t be so greedy.”

“Why would another country take it? I’ll conquer it. I have no intention of failing… Ha.”

Getting angrier, Prince Lorath’s tone grew more intense, but suddenly, Princess Lasiell let out a deep sigh, paused for a moment, and spoke.

“Fine. If you’re so confident, then go ahead and try. Conquer it first.”

“…Conquer it first?”

It seems the prince didn’t expect the princess to say this. Until just now, he had been shouting that the castle was his, but suddenly, with the princess telling him to go first, it made him uneasy.

“Yeah. Do it.”

“…Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I’m giving in for the empire. Why? If you don’t want it, fine.”

“It can’t be. My little brother has finally come to his senses, and I’m so moved.”

Even though he was uneasy, Prince Lorath couldn’t pass up the opportunity and accepted the princess’s proposal.

In reality, the princess’s approval probably wasn’t that important to him.

He had probably expected Princess Lasiell to get really angry, but seeing her unexpectedly concede without much fuss seemed to disappoint him, as he made a face like he was unsatisfied.

It seemed like he was hoping the princess would get more upset by his expression, considering he wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“Anyway, he’s such a jerk.”

Our team members were just as surprised by the princess’s calm consent.

“Is this okay?”

“The princess must have her reasons.”

“It might actually be a good thing. Honestly, we wouldn’t have been able to conquer it ourselves.”

If we had been managing to conquer it well, that would have been one thing, but we were actually struggling, overwhelmed by the number of monsters and unsure of how to proceed.

In that situation, someone willing to take the first hit would be welcome. Let them handle it, I suppose. The real problem is…

“If Prince Lorath easily conquers the castle, we’ll look like fools who didn’t do anything.”

But looking at Princess Lasiell’s expression, it didn’t seem like that would happen.

“Ah! And if you need help, just ask. Don’t let your pride stop you from asking for help and end up getting innocent people killed.”

“That sounds like something you’ve been telling me all this time.”

After hearing the prince’s words, he couldn’t hide his shock and replied.

“Exactly. You’ve been acting like you’re better than me like an old-timer, but in the end, you’re afraid of looking bad because you can’t follow your own advice.”

“…I understand the intention behind your advice, but nothing you hope for will happen. Don’t expect too much and just relax. It’s better for you to leave the labyrinth now. Would you really be happy if my little sister died here without even being able to bring back a body?”

That last statement sounded even more terrifying than a death curse.

It was spoken with pure sincerity, as if wishing for it to happen.

Maybe because there were many people around, the prince lowered his voice when speaking, but it made the others think the prince was truly a considerate older brother, worried about his careless younger sibling.

“He’s good at managing his reputation.”

You would think that royals wouldn’t care too much about such things…

But it seems like he wanted to be emperor that badly, even if it meant going this far.

Suddenly, I looked over at Melody.

“What’s wrong?”

“You were interested in him before.”

“Yes.”

There had been times when I openly provoked him to do something.

“Do you still have an interest in him?”

“Yes. But I thought he had more patience than I expected, so I decided to watch carefully.”

“Hmm… Was it the right thing to give Prince Lorath a chance?”

“We have no other options right now, and even if we resist, they wouldn’t just let it go, so I think the princess’s choice was correct.”

“I think so too. But honestly, it’s surprising.”

Until now, the princess had always been furious whenever Prince Lorath was around.

I was curious about how she came to make such a choice.

After receiving Princess Lasiell’s approval to conquer the Ice Castle, Prince Lorath seemed to have no more regrets and settled down in a spot away from our camp.

Princess Lasiell also glared at him fiercely and gave him a clear signal to leave, so it was a relief that he obediently moved.

“I think everyone is uncomfortable with the choice I made.”

When Prince Lorath’s group had completely disappeared.

Everyone was wondering why Princess Lasiell had given up the opportunity to conquer the Ice Castle without consulting anyone.

Even though Princess Lasiell was the leader of the team, making a unilateral decision without the consent of her team members could create resentment.

“You might have been angry because I gave them the opportunity without hearing anyone’s opinion.”

“No, I’m sure Princess Lasiell didn’t allow it just to favor the prince. I trust you.”

The surprising thing was that the leader was calmly waiting for her words because he trusted the princess.

I also agreed with the leader, as I was certain that Princess Lasiell wasn’t the type to give up the opportunity just for Prince Lorath.

“Right. From what I see, that castle is not easy to conquer. It wasn’t even within our level to conquer it alone. Of course, they might succeed in conquering the Ice Castle, and I wouldn’t mind if that happened.”

“Wouldn’t you regret it? I don’t think you’d like the opportunity going to Prince Lorath of all people…”

“Well, anyway, the prince can’t conquer that Ice Castle alone.”

“Excuse me?”

“I found out which path he took to avoid meeting us in the labyrinth. The path he chose was the one that many people had already traveled.”

“Oh!!”

Now I understood why Princess Lasiell had given the opportunity to the prince.

“It seems like the path we took was a shortcut compared to the one known to the public. And although he arrived first, eventually, other people would start gathering near the Ice Castle as time went on.”

As we all knew, the Ice Castle couldn’t be conquered in just one or two days.

It was impossible to monopolize it alone anyway.

There was no need to act greedy and make things awkward by refusing to give it away.

“So, are we just going back now?”

We hadn’t made a loss with what we had gathered so far, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to turn back.

But the princess shook her head, indicating that she wasn’t planning to do that.

“No, we still have things to do at that castle.”

The princess began pulling something out.

It looked like a small piece of paper that resembled a map.

“What’s this, Princess?”

“It’s a fragment of a map that shows the interior of the castle.”

“A fragment of a map that shows the interior?”

“We were lucky. It was found during the process of dealing with monsters. It’s not a full map of the castle, just part of a path, but it’s a very important clue.”

Princess Lasiell then explained further.

The map fragment showed the location of a hidden path, and our new goal was to find that path.

“But what if this map isn’t just ours? Couldn’t others find it while dealing with monsters too?”

“The map fragment will likely have other pieces, yes. But we’ve got the best part. Let’s beat everyone to the place and get everything before they do.”

We were going to get to the treasure before anyone else, sweeping it all up before anyone else could find it.

“How fun is that? We let others do all the hard work, and we just take the best part.”

Princess Lasiell’s playful smile made us cheer quietly so that the prince’s group, who was not far away, couldn’t hear us.

“Hehe, as expected, our princess always has a plan.”

The leader, who had shown a sharp demeanor during the fight, now had a friendly smile, like a farmer who was just pleased with the situation.

“Hmph! You always just say you’re fine with whatever I do.”

“Since childhood, Princess Lasiell, you’ve always been so capable, just like Princess Kanai, haven’t you?”

To most people, being compared to someone else might not feel good, but to Princess Lasiell, being compared to her older sister was the greatest compliment.

“Anyway, I’ve thought everything through, so don’t be too disheartened, everyone.”