"Mom?!" Clare exclaimed in shock when we saw Melia walking down the hallway.
Clare grabbed Rae and was about to run, but...
"Young lady, if you run away now, you'll be severely punished when I catch you," Melia said in a stern tone that even gave me goosebumps, even though I thought I was safe... I guess...
Of course, her words had an immediate effect on Clare, who froze, unable to move.
As soon as the woman approached, she looked at me and smiled.
"Hello, Miyabi," she said.
"Hello..." I said and fell silent.
Melia turned her gaze to Rae.
"I take it you're Rae? I'm the mother of that girl hiding behind you. My name is Melia, but you can call me Mom," Melia said, looking tenderly at Rae.
"Okay... Mom..." Rae said quietly, blushing.
"My daughter-in-law is quite sweet, and my daughter has good taste," Melia said, nodding.
"But that doesn't mean you have to act like a lustful animal in heat," she said sternly, looking past Rae.
"I..."
"No need, I'll talk to you later... For now, I want to know more about Rae," Melia said, taking Rae's hand and walking into the garden.
Clare simply sighed and trailed behind them. Which was quite funny.
While they were walking, I simply stood nearby and listened as they talked about various topics, from their favorite foods to where Rae grew up.
So the topic of rumors in the capital arose...
"Clare, Rae, I'll be honest with you, the capital is unsettled right now. Your open declaration of your relationship... well, many people didn't like it, so many noble families began pressuring the king to take action, and one of the proposed solutions was to marry Clare to the First Prince..."
"No way!" Clare shouted, interrupting her mother.
"And what did the king say about this?" I asked, ignoring Clare's outburst of anger.
"Nothing so far, but the noble families are putting pressure on him every day, and there's also a faction that supports Clare, and this faction is made up of families headed by women. Either they're widows, or the family title is hereditary, but that's irrelevant," Melia said with a sigh.
"Everything's heading towards civil war..." Melia said, trailing off.
"What do I care what they want? Let them fight to their heart's content," Clare said haughtily.
"Clare, tell me why you're studying at this academy," her mother asked.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean, if a civil war breaks out, the kingdom's defenses will weaken, and the empire, the kingdom's direct enemy, could invade the kingdom and annex it, like other smaller territories," I answered for Melia.
"Yes, the empire, whose empress is the goddess of the sword, has been pursuing a policy of invading and seizing the territories of neighboring kingdoms since the beginning of its reign," said Melia.
"Then what can we do?" asked Rae.
"In a good way? Clare must marry the prince…"
"I…"
"Clare, let me finish and don't interfere," her mother said sternly, to which Clare simply nodded.
"As I said, to appease the nobles, Clare must marry the prince, but your father and I understand everything and don't consider you a bargaining chip we can use. Clare, Rae, I want you to come to the king for an audience in a month, and then you must convince him to approve of your relationship. This will in turn rein in the noble families, since if the king agrees, you'd better talk to the princes too, so they'll support you," said Melia.
After a short conversation and... a scolding of Clare for her inappropriate behavior in society, Melia headed home while Clare watched her mother leave.
"Miyabi..." Clare would have said, but I simply nodded to her.
"I will help you," I said.
Meanwhile, Rae shifted her gaze from me to Clare.
"What are you talking about?" asked Rae.
"We're going to kill the king and most of the nobles," Clare said, shocking Rae.
"What are you talking about?! And Miyabi, didn't you say you can't raise a sword against the innocent?!" Rae asked me.
"Rae, what you said in class was nonsense I heard somewhere. And besides, neither the king nor most of the nobles are innocent," I said.
Well, I personally would never raise a weapon against women and children. As for men... well, I've killed more than once, even though they didn't do anything, but their lustful, lustful gazes directed at me already sealed their fate.
"?" Rae stared at me, uncomprehending.
Sigh...
"Clare, explain to her what I found five years ago," I said, to which Clare nodded.
Five years ago, while I was still searching for portals, I stumbled upon an outpost of knights from the kingdom. But as soon as I tried to pass through, I was immediately attacked, thinking they could catch me.
I, of course, took care of the attackers and began investigating the outpost, which turned out to be a front for slave traders and was also connected to a dozen other similar outposts.
I also destroyed these outposts, freeing the children and women held there. Later, from the papers I found, I was able to piece together a complete picture of what was happening.
As it turned out, the king himself was sponsoring the slave traders, and he was supported by many nobles. But that's not the worst part. According to the papers, the king had been "supplied" with girls aged 12 to 16 for several months... And I don't even want to think what happened to them...
Ultimately, I continued the cleansing, freeing the slaves, and of course the king found out about it. But since there were no witnesses, he didn't know what I looked like. Even though he ordered his accomplices to find me, they stopped supplying him with girls because I left him a message that he would be the next one to die... He must have been quite frightened, so they increased their security, but he still didn't touch the girls.
I could have killed him, but I didn't want to change the canon too much, and now that Clare herself is going to kill him, screw the canon that doesn't exist!
Well, let's hope the princes don't do something stupid when they see their father dead.
Well, I have proof, so I think everything will be fine... probably...