Raising the Princess to Overcome Death Chapter 70

70: Engagement - Room

“Are you okay?”

Leo couldn’t hold back and asked.

“Uh? Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”

Lena waved it off as if it were nothing and approached the startled horse, grabbing the reins.

She calmed the horse by stroking its cheek as Noel had taught her and then mounted it again. The two continued riding.

Lena watched Leo’s back as he rode ahead.

‘Leo... has changed.’

She knew he had been avoiding her lately. He no longer visited her, initiated conversations, or smiled as he used to.

Initially, she thought his personality changed because he had some kind of enlightenment that improved his swordsmanship.

After hunting the Noguhwa, she thought Leo felt guilty and blamed himself for her injuries.

But just now...

The old Leo would have rushed over immediately when she fell off the horse, fussing over her. At the very least, he would have dismounted and approached her.

But Leo didn’t do any of that.

He stayed on his horse, asking only a single question about her well-being.

A chilling thought crossed her mind.

‘Could it be that Leo... No, that’s ridiculous. I’m overreacting. Just because I fell...’

Lena shook off her paranoid thoughts and focused on riding.

The horse seemed to sense its owner's anxiety and ran nervously.

The next day, Lena and Leo arrived at the border crossing and stayed overnight at a nearby inn.

Lena grew anxious when she saw Leo book two rooms.

There was no time for embarrassment.

“Leo, do we really need two rooms? There’s a twin room with two beds. It would be much cheaper...”

She even explained in case Leo didn’t know what a twin room was, but he didn’t change his choice.

Leo only said “Sleep well” and went into his room.

She couldn’t stand it.

In her room, Lena felt an overwhelming pressure in her chest and ran outside.

She went to a tavern, bought a barrel of liquor, and returned to the inn, banging on Leo’s door.

“Leo! Open the door!”

“...What’s wrong?”

Leo opened the door, looking utterly exhausted. He almost looked like he was about to cry when he saw the liquor barrel at Lena’s waist.

“Let’s talk.”

Lena tried to enter the room.

But Leo didn’t move aside.

Their eyes locked in a brief staring contest before Leo turned his head and stepped aside.

Lena hesitated, her feet feeling glued to the ground.

‘Did he just... try to keep me out?’

She couldn’t believe it.

She felt suffocated.

The fear that the suspicion she had dismissed as paranoia might be true was terrifying. Leo was pushing her away. No, maybe he even hated her...

“Are you coming in or not?”

At Leo’s question, Lena quickly entered the room.

She chose to confront it head-on.

Taking a deep breath, Lena put the liquor barrel down and sat on the floor. She patted the spot next to her, signaling him to sit.

But Leo ignored it and sat on the bed instead.

Finally, Lena couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Leo, what’s wrong with you?”

“...What?”

“What do you mean, what? You know exactly what I mean. Why are you treating me like this? At least tell me the reason. Did I do something wrong? If I did, I’ll fix it. Did I say something wrong? Right? Tell me.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you acting like this?”

“No, seriously... Leo, I know you’ve been avoiding me. At least tell me why. Please? It’s hard for me.”

Lena put her hand on Leo’s knee, asking earnestly.

Leo couldn’t answer for a long time, staring at the ceiling before he finally spoke.

The hand on his knee was painful.

“I’m just tired lately.”

“Tired of what? Am I the one making you tired? No, right? Tell me.”

“No. I just haven’t been feeling well.”

“......”

That was a lie. Leo was healthy and had never even caught a cold.

Sensing no more honest answers would come, Lena dropped her head and mumbled.

“Then... won’t you drink with me?”

“...Sure. Let’s drink. You brought good stuff...”

They filled and emptied their glasses in silence. The awkwardness hung in the air, neither of them speaking.

Finally, Lena drained her drink and,

- Bang!

threw the glass against the wall.

The wooden cup fell to the floor and rolled.

“Leo! Why are you acting like this! Do you hate me? If you do, at least say so!”

Lena shouted, her breathing heavy.

“Look at me! Don’t turn away!”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“....”

Leo felt like he was losing his mind.

Leo had been planning to find Cleo de Friderick after his father had told him to travel to the Holy Kingdom. He intended to keep his distance from Lena and, upon arriving in Lutetia, use his tracking skills to find the prince and introduce Lena to him, forging a connection between them.

Living with Lena when she was expelled from the capital church and briefly working as a blacksmith, Leo had heard that the prince often went hunting outside. He planned to locate him, similar to the strategy he had devised in the previous childhood friend scenario. However, this was not an easy task.

In the childhood friend scenario, Lena was a friend.

They were close enough to potentially become lovers, but Lena’s dream of becoming a priestess was a barrier.

Introducing her to the prince wasn’t as emotionally taxing.

But in this betrothal scenario...

It felt like dying.

‘Should I just give up? Apologize to Lena now?’

What would I do then?

Apologizing and improving the relationship immediately would be good. He wanted that. But there was nothing to do afterward.

Leo had racked his brain, feeling miserable about treating Lena poorly, desperately trying to think of something he could do to clear the scenario besides breaking the engagement.

One idea was to find and help the other Lenas and Leos from different scenarios.

Since he knew how those scenarios would end, it seemed worth trying.

But it wasn’t feasible. The betrothal scenario started later than the other scenarios.

Unlike the other scenarios that began in the summer, the betrothal scenario started in the same year but in winter. So, the childhood friend and beggar siblings scenarios were almost over by then.

He suspected that the other scenarios were progressing the same way as Leo’s previous playthroughs.

It was as if a new game overlayed and saved over an existing game...

This suspicion was reinforced by the tracking skill he had acquired before.

When using the tracking skill to think about the other Lenas and Leos, he could sense their direction, but not for the childhood friend scenario.

That scenario had ended before winter arrived. They had been killed by Sir Bart on the banks of the Irotashi River, hence there was no direction to sense.

There was no way to help a completed scenario.

The beggar siblings scenario was not over yet. He could sense the direction of the siblings with the tracking skill.

But war had broken out last month.

If his guess was right, the Leo in the beggar siblings scenario had already assassinated Toton Tatian and was probably on his way to being adopted with a spring in his step.

Knowing the outcome, Leo wanted to go and help, but distance was an issue. Even riding straight and fast to Orville would take three months.

Moreover, he couldn’t cross into the war-torn Bellita Kingdom directly. He would have to detour through the Holy Kingdom and the Kingdom of Orun, consuming a lot of time.

Even if he could enter an enemy country during wartime and get permission from the Holy Kingdom, by the time he arrived in Orville, Prince Leo would have been exposed by Count Peter.

‘Why does the betrothal scenario start so late...’

He considered visiting the Kingdom of Orun or the Bellita Kingdom just to prepare for the next scenario.

Not to help the previous scenario but to prepare for the next one.

Whether Lena Ainar would agree to follow him was uncertain, but if he visited Orun, the next childhood friend scenario’s Leo could meet and join this Leo Dexter.

Childhood friend Leo would have to wait a while, but there was potential to rally the oppressed barbarians in Orun and start a rebellion.

Though it wasn’t easy to predict what would happen when the two Leos met, it seemed better to have two people rather than one.

But Leo had to abandon this plan.

It was premature. It didn’t seem feasible to aim for the throne in the next childhood friend scenario. Even with seven people, it would be difficult.

Going to the Bellita Kingdom was also ruled out.

The next beggar siblings scenario guaranteed a clear method to achieve the goal through the {Bloodline} event.

In that scenario, Leo planned to move to the Conrad Kingdom as quickly as possible to find Sir Bart.

To follow the beggar siblings, they would have to travel across the vast continent from the Astin Kingdom to the Conrad Kingdom.

Not in a straight line, but detouring through the Holy Kingdom and the Kingdom of Orun due to the war.

It would consume too much time.

Unless he was sure that he could secure the prince’s help after the {Bloodline} event succeeded, he couldn’t afford to waste a playthrough unnecessarily.

At that moment, Lena couldn’t bear Leo’s prolonged silence and suddenly stood up.

She felt like she might burst into tears.

The anger that had boiled up seeing his torment had cooled off.

‘He said he doesn’t hate me. There must be a reason he can’t talk about. There must be...’

She believed Leo’s words firmly.

“...I’m going to bed. Good night.”

Biting her lip to hold back her tears, Lena left the liquor barrel and trudged back to her room.

Alone, Leo sat in sadness for a while, then drank the remaining beer.

The journey continued.

Lena and Leo crossed the border into the Holy Kingdom using the pass issued by the lord. They asked for directions to Bidorinin Castle and arrived there today.

Lena looked around the castle and said,

“This castle is small. They said it was built for military purposes, but it doesn’t seem like it. Don’t you think?”

“...Yeah.”

Leo’s response was indifferent, but Lena was used to it now.

She hadn’t changed much.

She still forgot things and packed clumsily, still asked random questions sometimes.

The difference was that she was more proactive in trying to get Leo’s attention.

A few days ago, in a village, Lena bought some local candies and insisted on feeding Leo herself.

She finally got him to eat one and smiled with satisfaction, while Leo tasted the sweet candy with bitterness.

Lena and Leo went to the inner castle. Showing the proof issued by the lord of Avril Castle to the guards, they were soon led by a butler to the reception room.

After a short wait, the lord of Bidorinin Castle appeared. He was an elderly man, dressed plainly like a commoner.

“Welcome. I am Baron Berger Agata. It’s a pleasure to meet knights on a training journey.”

“Apologies for arriving unannounced. I am Leo Dexter, and this is Lena Ainar. Thank you for welcoming us.”

Leo greeted with the decorum of an imperial knight from the time of the Arcaea Empire, attempting to offset the penalty from the achievement of killing nobles.

[ Achievement: Noble Murderer - All nobles feel a slight fear of you. ]

Baron Berger Agata flinched, sensing something off about Leo, but smiled warmly at his courteous manners.

“Oh... It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a knight use that old etiquette. In such a remote mountain castle, there are no prior engagements. Shall we sit and talk?”

Lena, Leo, and Baron Agata sat in the modestly decorated reception room, sipping oolong tea and chatting.

Since they were there to request help, Leo skillfully suggested a “noble’s conversation.”

The baron, who had few opportunities to converse with other nobles in the northern mountains, happily accepted this diversion.

However, the conversation didn’t last long.

Lena, initially excited about the oolong tea, soon grew bored with the difficult-to-follow conversation.

Eventually, she yawned.

Baron Agata chuckled.

“It seems the lady knight is quite tired.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry. It’s just that...”

“Lena must have been made a bit sleepy by the oolong tea. It’s like alcohol in that way.”

“Yes! I think I drank too much.”

“Oh dear, I should have offered something else... I should have considered you must be tired from your journey. Shall we call it a day?”

The baron called his butler to prepare rooms for Lena and Leo, then left.

The butler asked,

“How would you like the rooms? As knights, shall I prepare separate rooms?”

Before Leo could answer, Lena interjected.

“No, one room, please. We are engaged.”

“Understood. This way, please.”

What?

Leo’s face turned white with shock.

This was bad.

the room the butler showed them had only one bed.