I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
“Your Highness Leonard, Your Highness.”
“…Your Highness.”
Arkin stood up and saluted.
Raven, who didn’t know Leonard, discreetly bowed his head and followed behind, only catching up with the conversation.
What’s going on?
After a light salute, I looked at Leonard.
“What’s the matter, Your Highness Leonard?”
“I came to speak with Lottie.”
Turning his head, Leonard smiled apologetically at Arkin.
“You had a guest.”
Subtle pressure. Arkin blinked.
“Oh…”
Understanding Leonard’s meaning, Arkin took Raven’s hand.
“I was just about to go to another room to teach the young Count some lessons.”
“Is that so? It seems like good timing. I apologize, Arkin.”
“No need, Your Highness Leonard.”
Arkin, holding books, pulled Raven towards the room.
“No, Arkin. You don’t need to leave.”
Smiling while sitting on the sofa, I said.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but wouldn’t it be right for someone who came to visit without even saying that they would be to wait?”
Isn’t that right, Your Highness Leonard?
As I smiled, silence fell in the room.
Not only Leonard but also Arkin, Raven, and Betty froze.
The momentarily startled red eyes widened and then quickly narrowed.
What the hell?
‘What are you doing!’
As I engaged in a staring contest with Leonard, Arkin, who approached swiftly, grimaced.
‘He’s Prince Leonard! He’s not the kind of person who will just come to you carelessly.’
‘So what? You’re more important to me.’
Arkin froze for a moment.
Satisfied with my response, he pursed his lips back and forth.
The blushing cheeks were a bonus.
‘Who would like to hear that?’
Ahem, Arkin cleared his throat softly.
‘It might be urgent. I mean, it’s not just anyone who shows up unannounced.’
‘But you came after making prior arrangements, didn’t you?’
Despite Arkin’s insistence on playing with me for days, he received lessons. Since some progress was made in the lessons, there was some time for rest.
But suddenly being pushed aside by Leonard who appeared out of nowhere?
I couldn’t tolerate that.
‘I’m fine.’
Arkin chuckled while flicking his fingers.
‘Instead, will you tell me later what happened?’
With that said, Arkin left with Raven, and he picked up the half-frozen Betty and led her out of the room.
In an instant, only Leonard and I remained in the room.
What on earth is going on?
Today I planned to play with Arkin to my heart’s content and then roll around in bed reading novels in the evening.
“Hah.”
When I sighed openly, Leonard’s eyes twitched.
“So, what’s going on, Your Highness?”
“I’ve heard the story, but your personality has changed a lot.”
“It’s because I’ve been through a lot.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Moreover, it seems like you’ve become quite close with Arkine. It felt awkward for me.”
“Maybe because I’ve been beside him and treated him well. He tends to follow me.”
Because you didn’t pay attention to him, he probably didn’t follow you.
With a meaning that contained – I smiled, and Leonard’s expression subtly changed.
Why, what’s up?
“So, what’s going on? It doesn’t seem like you’ve come to have a casual chat.”
Let’s get to the point.
Leonard, who smiled at my words, took a seat on the opposite sofa.
“You’re proficient in Runter, the ancient language, right?”
“…?!”
I asked to get to the point, but suddenly it came up like this?
But who mentioned this again… Ah!
“Did Her Majesty the Good Empress tell you?”
Leonard nodded casually.
“I actually came from the palace of Her Majesty the Good Empress.”
Damn.?
‘No way.’
I hesitated.
How old was the Empress this year? I think I heard she’s about eighty. Then, the year of birth is…
I briefly counted with my fingers.
‘Damn, this young one.’
I paused.
No, the baby was born not long ago, right?
If born in the AD, it’s still a baby. A baby.
Hmm…
Does calling the Empress a baby sound a bit strange?
Then, a little kid? Or a child? A teenager?
“I had a problem and went to seek the wisdom of the Empress. And you were recommended by her. Exactly.”
“Go there once and leave it to her. With her interesting talents, she might be able to solve your problems.”
“- She said.”
…This kid. I shook my head nervously.
“Seems like there’s something you want to ask me about interpreting Runter.”
“That’s right.”
“Well, honestly, I don’t quite understand.”
I rested my chin on my hand.
“No matter how Her Majesty recommended me, you don’t know my skills, Your Highness.”
“That’s true.”
“No matter how proficient I am in ancient language, there may be others who can interpret Runter besides me.”
Runter was the oldest language among ancient languages. Therefore, those who could interpret it were rare. Even if you searched the entire continent, maybe one or two?
But that doesn’t mean there was none. You’d find them if you looked.
“Especially here, it’s the royal palace, right? There must be someone among the linguists who can interpret Runter even a little.”
Why did you leave them alone and come to me?
“Please tell me the exact reason you came to me.”
“The exact reason…”
Hmm, Leonard cleared his throat briefly and continued.
“First of all, I can’t get any help from the scholars at the palace.”
“Why? Ah.”
I frowned.
“Is it something inside the tower?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And it’s something that shouldn’t be known as much as possible.”
Leonard nodded. The palace, the temple, and the tower each held their power. So, even if the relationship between the tower and the palace isn’t bad right now…
‘He can’t rely on the palace scholars.’
It’s an internal matter.
“And what else did you find out?”
“Yes.”
He replied, brushing his hair back.
“Is it just a temporary secret?”
“How did you know that?”
“Well, if it’s a secret that needs to be kept until the end, His Highness wouldn’t mention it, and he wouldn’t come looking for me either.”
He would have found an independent ancient language scholar no matter what.
“That’s right.”
Leonard nodded with a smile.
“You seem to have become much more clever, Lottie.”
“I’ve always been a genius.”
From the moment I was born to the moment I die and am reborn. There has never been a moment when I wasn’t a genius. So, the divine also came to find me. Ah, that one.
“Hehe.”
Leonard chuckled softly, understanding my words as a joke. The wall I had erected seemed to waver slightly.
“Yeah, I failed to recognize the genius.”
Truly. When I looked at him awkwardly, Leonard apologized, extending his hand. But the wry smile didn’t easily disappear.
“Anyway.”
Leonard continued, wiping his face with his hand.
“As you expected. There are still ancient texts that the royal family or others don’t want to disclose.”
Leaning against the back of the sofa, Leonard said.
“If you help me, there will be sufficient rewards, of course, and I’ll keep the fact that you can interpret Runter hidden or that you helped.”
“….”
“Your goal seems to be to live quietly, unnoticed, and for a long time. Am I mistaken?”
“You’re quite perceptive.”
“I’m a genius too.”
Leonard laughed shortly in response. Don’t laugh, it’s endearing.
“So, what’s the matter?”
Better to get this out of the way quickly.
“Do you happen to know anything about magic?”
“A little bit.”
Actually, I know very well. After all, I was an 8th-circle mage before.
But I couldn’t show that I knew, so I pretended to know only a little, and Leonard began to explain.
“The important thing in magic is to build a circle and learn spells and magic circles.”
However, creating new magic and researching it is also important.
“Restoring lost spells is also very important.”
“You found a book with ancient spells.”
“That’s right.”
“The book is written in Runter.”
“Yes, and the owner of the book was very skilled in Runter.”
Leonard sighed softly.
“Some people who knew a little tried to interpret it, but they all failed.”
Hmm, so he came to me because I’m good at it.
Alright, it’s better to interpret it quickly and send him away.
“So where is the book?”
To my question, Leonard simply chuckled.
Wait a minute.
It’s ‘still’ a secret within the tower.
“…Do I have to go to the tower?”
“Yeah.”
Tower? Toweeerr??
I’d already had a tough time after attending the ritual, and now I have to go all the way to the tower?
Am I crazy?!
Sure, using the teleportation magic circle would get me to the tower quickly. But…
‘That’s extremely nauseating.’
Even a healthy person often experienced extreme motion sickness until they got used to teleportation magic circles. And now I’d be feeling that?
‘Surely, I’ll be vomiting and feeling nauseous for months.’
I won’t die, but I didn’t want to lie in bed suffering for months after just one teleportation magic circle.
I grinned.
“I’m not going.”
“Lottie.”
At my firm answer, Leonard seemed taken aback but quickly continued speaking.
“Of course, I’m not just asking you to come. You’re a princess, and the tower is far away. I’ll offer adequate compensation.”
Even so, I’m not going.
“At least consider the money.”
…Maybe I should give it a try.
Oh, the money is…?
It’s not that there aren’t any now, but the more there are, the better.
“And Her Majesty mentioned that you’re looking for a remedy.”
“So?”
“If you perfectly interpret the book, then as a reward, you’ll receive a leaf from the world tree that was kept in the tower.”
“I’ll go.”
I have to, then!
When should I leave?
Tomorrow? Today? Right now?!