The Guide Played Her Role as a Stand-in a Little Too Well - Chapter 181
“……What did you say?”
The one with the most shocked expression was Shaelock. She looked utterly devastated as if the sky had fallen.
“Karina, you tell me. I can’t believe what the Duke is saying. What kind of trick is he pulling this time?”
Turning her gaze from Hedonia to me, she tightly held my hands and asked.
I couldn’t predict how she would react if I said Hedonia’s words were true.
‘But the truth must be told.’
I nodded.
“What Hedonia said is true.”
“You? You are too precious, Karina. I’m truly serious. Please, you should break up.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Shaelock exclaimed.
“Karina is indeed precious. I agree with that, Princess.”
Hedonia responded to her words with a smile.
Esban, frozen stiff, asked.
“Since when?”
“Since we met again. Why are you curious about that, Esban Cairoze?”
Hedonia placed his hand on my shoulder and stared at Esban.
Esban flinched at Hedonia’s words. His blinking eyes clearly showed his confusion.
His eyes, having lost their focus, turned to me. Esban’s Adam’s apple moved.
“……Still, she has been a guide I’ve known for a long time, and she will continue to be an acquaintance I will encounter.”
“……”
“Maybe… we could even be friends.”
His eyes trembled slightly, as if waiting for my response.
“……Friends?”
Hedonia tilted his head in confusion.
“Ah, because Karina, whom Lord Hedonia has declared as his lover, is my friend.”
Pheon stood up, displaying a friendly smile. Striding over to us, he went to stand next to Hedonia, who was near the sofa behind me.
“I am a comrade who shares and comforts each other’s wounds, someone to go through life with.”
Pheon smiled, listing the benefits of friendship.
“That’s right. Friends are like that.”
Next to him, Shaelock nodded in agreement and added.
“When a lover makes you upset, friends can listen to you… right?”
Pheon grinned and subtly provoked Hedonia.
He then turned his head towards me.
“Don’t despair when you have no one on your side after a fight with Lord Hedonia, Karina. The door to the Mage Tower is always open.”
“That won’t happen.”
Hedonia responded expressionlessly to Pheon’s words.
“Life is long, and you never know what might happen.”
Pheon replied with an ill smile still on his face.
“Just like no one expected Lord Hedonia to become an Esper instead of a guide.”
“That’s true.”
Hedonia muttered, staring at Pheon’s mouth.
“Just as you never know when that wagging tongue of yours will fall off.”
…Why on earth has the atmosphere turned like this?!
I felt it last time too, but you can’t put all these Espers together.
‘They don’t even try to stop each other!’
Shaelock was watching the fight with great interest, and Esban remained silent.
I had to step in.
I raised my hand high.
“Me!”
“Hmm?”
All the Espers’ gazes turned towards me.
“I want to hear about the Esper disappearance case. And also…”
I looked at Shaelock.
“I would like to ask about the invitation from His Majesty the Emperor.”
Their expressions changed.
* * *
After some continued bickering, we finally settled into our places. I sat with Shaelock, and the rest of the Espers sat across from us, facing us.
Hedonia insisted that he should sit next to me, but Shaelock used her authority as a princess to put him in his place.
“The Emperor sent you an invitation?”
Shaelock broke the silence first and asked.
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“I thought he would be troubled because of the current situation… It seems he wants to shift attention to you, Karina.”
It seemed that “the current situation” referred to the dissatisfaction regarding the Espers.
Listening intently to Pheon’s sigh, I cautiously asked,
“What do you mean by shifting attention to me?”
“Unable to resolve the complaints about the Espers, they intend to use you, a guide who has started to grow significantly under Duke Apharantes’ efforts, as a topic of interest.”
Pheon answered expressionlessly.
“Last month, he even awarded an estate to a guide.”
…I thought the estate was given for the welfare of guides, but I viewed it differently now.
