The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Chapter 100

“...”

“...”

After Bella took Verati away, we remained in our seats for a while, each of us lost in thought. Alice, who had been tense, finally let out a deep sigh, while Claire and Leo, who were caught up in the unexpected situation, still looked dazed.

Eventually, Alice couldn’t handle the silence any longer.

“Ugh, seriously!” she shouted, turning sharply toward me.

“Say something!”

“What would you like me to say?” I asked earnestly, and Alice looked at me with a mixture of frustration and embarrassment.

“You know... like, how dangerous it was for a princess to be there or that there was no need for me to be directly involved in such a risky plan.”

“Are you asking me to scold you, Your Highness?”

“No, that’s not it...”

Alice glanced around nervously, her cheeks reddening slightly.

“Well, yes.”

I replied calmly, “Of course, it was something that could have been handled by someone else, and there was a real risk of unforeseen complications where Your Highness could have been severely hurt.”

“...”

Alice’s shoulders slumped at my words, and I couldn’t help but think the white bunny ears she still wore seemed to droop as well.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that what happened was something you accomplished.”

Upon hearing this, Alice lifted her head, and her ears seemed to perk up slightly.

In truth, it would’ve been challenging for anyone else to pull off a plan like this.

Lucas was absent—whether he was running away or simply away on an extended errand, I wasn’t certain. But in any case, assigning a task to someone who wasn’t present was impossible. Even if he’d been available, Lucas was too well-known. Verati would have likely bolted the moment she saw him.

Jaden was also unsuitable for similar reasons.

Bella, while adept at gathering intelligence, had to remain unseen. Someone else had to handle the capture, and Verati, who was often surrounded by crowds, had to be lured somewhere less populated to minimize civilian casualties.

If Bella had taken care of the capture herself, her face would have been exposed to Verati. While eliminating Verati might have been an option, it would only provoke further scrutiny from the Theocracy.

The same held for my other sibling, who performed similar work to Bella and was already stationed in another country for intelligence gathering.

Which left only Alice and me.

Since the Theocracy viewed me with extreme caution, they couldn’t dismiss my presence, while Alice, whom they likely considered inconsequential, was ideal bait.

The Theocracy had directly observed me assuming the role of the Emperor’s proxy, a position that Alice might one day inherit.

Perhaps, from that observation, they made a crucial error in judgment—believing that Alice had no chance of becoming the next Empress.

Well, their assumption was understandable.

The current Emperor was an unusual figure by any standard, and despite the lack of blood relation, there were no official distinctions among his children. One of them was already a Knight Commander, while another was serving as the Emperor’s full proxy at a young age.

To those who hadn’t overheard the private discussions between the Emperor and his children, the confusion was understandable.

Alice’s position made her the perfect lure.

Verati would have been caught regardless, but the royal family’s goal was to extract Verati without drawing attention to the Northwood duchy.

Removing Verati without alerting Duke Northwood was critical, and if Alice hadn’t volunteered to act as bait, things would have been far more complicated.@@@@

Alice looked directly at me, her expression calm, her clear eyes shining with determination. Her gaze wasn’t one of interrogation, nor was it one a princess might use to demand answers.

Rather—

“As your sister, not as a princess, I want to know.”

Alice paused before asking softly, “The ability you have... is it foresight?”

“Are you referring to the same kind of prophecy as those recorded by the ancient scribes of the royal family?”

“Yes.”

“No, it isn’t.”

I could answer that much with certainty.

“Then is it some sort of advanced calculation, a prediction derived from careful analysis?”

“No, it’s not that either.”

I could also answer that with certainty.

If I had such powers as Laplace's Demon, where I could perceive the world with perfect clarity and predict the future, that would be one thing. But even if the laws of physics worked the same in this world, such abilities were beyond me.

“You say it’s neither calculation nor prophecy, yet you can somehow know the future?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Would Alice be able to figure out my ability from this exchange?

Maybe, or maybe not.

If it wasn’t prediction or calculation, the only remaining answer would be that I had already experienced that future firsthand. If even that were denied, it would imply that I simply acted as I wished, and everything worked out accordingly, which would imply a divine level of control.

I doubted Alice would assume I was some kind of god, so she could probably guess the nature of my ability without me explicitly stating it.

If I truly wished to hide my powers, I wouldn’t have answered her questions in this way.

But for some reason, I wanted to answer like this.

It wasn’t a logical conclusion, just... something I wanted to do.

“...Alright. I won’t press for more details.”

After a moment of thought, Alice concluded with a glance at the wall clock.

“You must be tired. Thanks for staying up so late with me tonight.”

“It was my pleasure. I wanted to accompany you.”

I gave her a slight bow in response.

Honestly, I would have gone even if she hadn’t asked.

There was no need for Alice to apologize to me.

If anything, I’d almost spoiled her plan.

“If you ever need me again, just call on me.”

“...Alright.”

Alice nodded, accepting my offer without hesitation.