Shadowless Night

of succession was that he wasn’t a person who was interested in power in the first place.

Laheansi, not wanting to be engulfed in the chaos, withdrew from the battle early and entered the temple.
Ricardis often saw him whenever he stopped by the Great Shrine.
Seeing that he was idling and playing well, this role fit his aptitude.
On the other hand, the young 6th and 7th Princes were discouraged and well-behaved under their proud brothers.

Ricardis thought that no one would be involved in this fight except himself and Elpidio.
But once again, he slowly made the connections.
He realized that without the 1st and 2nd Princes, Diech would be fairly close to the throne.

‘Ah, is it like that?’ In a fight between two giant beasts, the loser will die, and the winner will be seriously injured.
Diech is holding his breath, waiting eagerly for the time when the winners and losers are clear so he can push his claws into the wounds of a shaky victor.

“…”

The two men had grave expressions on their faces.
Rosaline has recently learned to read the atmosphere between people.
In this seemingly heavy-looking situation, one shouldn’t bring up personal stories to suddenly break the tension.
No, it’s not a bad thing, but she’s roughly learned that it won’t be of much use.

Therefore, she only played with her thumbs, scratching them against each other, and did not speak.
Rosaline was hungry.
An emptiness that could not be filled by eating just a few pieces of fruit and bread ran through her stomach.

Just then, a ‘pleasant’ sound rang out. Grumble, grumble. The two men, who had been talking with their foreheads wrinkled, stopped speaking and turned their heads to Rosaline.

Rosaline smiled and looked at them. ‘That’s right.
Did you hear that? I’m hungry, you know?!’ She had such a clear expression on her face that they mistakenly thought they had heard it wrong.
But even at this moment, her stomach continued to assert itself.

As Ricardis’ facial muscles twitched, he looked at Rosaline’s abdomen while Rosaline nodded broadly. ‘Yes, it’s from my stomach.’ She was even about to raise her hand.

“Umm… Sir Rosaline…”

“Yes! Your Highness!”

“Are you…”

“Yes!”

“…hungry?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

She answered so vigorously.
Ricardis thought that nobody was this lively even at the senior knight ceremonies…

Ricardis’ expression was somewhere between smiling and crying, and he could only cover his face with his hand.

“If someone is unwell… then they should eat when they’re hungry…”

“That’s right!”

“You should go back and rest.
It must have been a hard journey from Vista.”

“There are not many escorts.
I’ll stay by your side.”

“These days, the number of assassins has gone down drastically.
They seem to be hiding in Balta.
There’s nothing to worry about.”

With Haqab’s help cut off, Elpidio, who was in a hurry, also sent out assassins whenever he could.
However, there was no way that the Knights of the White Night, who had blocked Black Moon assassins, could not deal with these domestic hitmen.
Thanks to this, Ricardis had more pleasant days than usual.

“I will watch over you.”

However, Ricardis’ words did not work, but it’s not like he expected them to in the first place.
Isserion joined in and comforted her.

“Won’t you take a good rest today, Sir Rosaline? Isn’t there a festival today? The streets are overflowing with food, attractions, and food.”

Ricardis looked at Isserion.
Did he just say ‘food’ twice? Somehow it didn’t seem like a mistake.

“… I will stay by His Highness’ side.”

The repeated word, ‘food’, created a look of dismay on Rosaline’s face.
However, rather than leaving Ricardis behind as soon as possible, she looked determined to starve for three days.

Ricardis crossed his arms and exhaled lightly through his nose.
He could give her orders as a superior, but it was clear that Rosaline would still escort him while hiding, as she was not a good listener even if he was the prince.
Ricardis pondered and nodded his head.

“Come to think of it, I have something to do at the festival.”

“Is that so?”

Rosaline’s face lit up, while Isserion’s crumpled. ‘There is no such schedule, Your Highness!’ A retort was on his lips, but Ricardis met Isserion’s eyes tiredly.

“I have business.”

And so, Isserion was blocked before he could even speak.
He shuddered in anger.
He could only swallow all the words that came up his throat. ‘Cannot be done.
Dangerous.
What are you thinking? Does it make sense?’ He had to put those words to sleep.

T/N: Ricardis’ only business at the festival is to feed Rosaline.

E/N: The Sun, the Wind, and the Traveler is an Aesop fable.
Full story here: https://read.gov/aesop/143.html.
Basically, to see who was stronger, the Sun and the Wind competed to remove the clothes of a passing traveler.
The Wind blew hard and aggressively, but the Traveler just wrapped his cloak tighter.
The Sun shone hot and bright, and the Traveler took off his clothes.
So, the Sun was “stronger.” Isserion is lamenting that it was not a gentle and warm sun-like attitude that caused Ricardis to lower his shields.
No, it was the storm of chaos that is our Rosaline who tore through them like paper.