I Secretly Healed the Illness of the Twin Princesses While Wearing a Mask, and Now the Entire Kingdom Is in an Uproar ~Please Stop Trying to Expose the Street Healer~ - Chapter 44

Time went back a little. Franc Medix was in trouble.

“Tell me where Asuku went.”

“I don’t know.”

“Hm. There’s no point in lying. You should tell the truth.”

“I don’t know.”

The room had only a table, chairs, and a lamp.

It was an interrogation room in a separate building used by the Discipline Committee.

Victoria Shiru Xylica, the second princess of the Xylica Kingdom, had borrowed it from the committee by pushing her luck, just to question Franc.

“Hm, alright, then. You gave me no choice. I’ll use my secret weapon.”

Victoria pulled out a small bell that fit in her hand.

Franc’s eyes widened.

“Is that ‘a magic tool that detects lies’?”

“Yeah. I asked the shark lady from the Discipline Committee, and she lent it to me because she thought it looked fun.”

“Shark lady… Lucan? I’ll have to poke her nose next time.”

“You can’t lie in front of this tool. Now, tell me where Asuku went.”

“…”

Victoria stepped closer, but Franc stayed silent.

“…Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“It seems Princess Victoria doesn’t know how to deal with this magic tool.”

“Deal with it?”

“Yes. If you don’t say anything, it won’t react. You could stay silent to avoid lying, while also not telling the truth.”

Franc knew she wasn’t good at talking. She chose to stay silent without hesitation.

But Victoria didn’t panic.

“Hm. That little trick won’t fool me—”

Ding.

The clear sound of the lie-detecting magic bell echoed through the room.

Victoria froze.

“…Hm. Honestly, I didn’t think such a simple trick could nullify this tool. As expected of you, sister-in-law.”

“Don’t call me sister-in-law. I’m not your sister.”

“You can still say that after seeing this?”

“That is…”

Victoria pulled out a document with a large seal.

“Hm. Engagement papers, stamped by my father.”

“!?”

Franc froze again.

The engagement papers stamped by Victoria’s father, the king, were not ordinary.

Once signed, the contract could never be broken.

“W-why…”

“My father liked Asuku from the start. When I said I wanted to marry him, he just said, ‘Hm? You want to get engaged? Aah, that boy is fine.’ And that was it.”

“So casual… But still, it’s impossible. Even if the king allows it, there’s never been a marriage between a viscount’s son and a princess.”

“Hm. Anything new has to start somewhere, Maidall said that to me.”

“But he’s pretending to have no healing talent and acts useless. Many important nobles will surely oppose it.”

“Hm, that’s fine too. I’ve always liked gathering information. I just lightly threatened, or rather persuaded, the powerful nobles with shady pasts.”

“Wait, did you just say threatened?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Ding.

“…If Asuku himself, or his family, signs this document, the engagement is official.”

“I won’t sign it.”

“Hm. That’s why I’ll ask the head of the Medix family, your father, to sign and not you, sister-in-law.”

“Stop calling me sister-in-law! Father isn’t foolish. He won’t let Asuku suffer for no reason. He’d just say no.”

“It’s no problem. If I tell him your mother would find out he went to a bar with a young, cute girl, he’ll sign it.”

The magic tool didn’t ring.

Franc’s face twisted at the thought of her proud father going to that kind of place.

“…Even if I knew where he was, I wouldn’t betray my brother. Even if I were tortured, I wouldn’t say a word.”

“I see. Then fine. If you don’t talk, I’ll tell Christina that the person behind Faceless is you, sister-in-law.”

“I think he went to the Rudelhardt Empire.”

In less than a blink, Franc sold out her brother without hesitation.

“Why the Empire?”

“That boy isn’t very clever, or at least, he pretends not to be. He tends to act on impulse.”

“Hm. Being proactive is nice.”

“…At that time, the person he landed near was a transfer student from the Hero Academy, Ridiel Leendiel. So it’s likely he went to the Empire.”

“Hm. Got it.”

Victoria nodded as she was satisfied with Franc’s answer.

Just then, someone knocked and entered the interrogation room.

“Your Highness Princess Victoria, please excuse me.”

“Oh, it’s the shark lady.”

“I’m Lucan Shahr. I have a small matter with Franc—”

“Humph!”

Franc flicked Lucan sharply on the tip of her nose as soon as she entered.

“Ow!? W-why did you suddenly attack my nose!? That’s sensitive, stop it!”

“You joined Princess Victoria’s joke too eagerly… So, what do you want?”

“Ah, right. Earlier, a knight came and asked me to give this document to the young lady of the Medix family.”

Franc took the document from Lucan and checked its contents.

Then she froze.

“Sister-in-law? What’s wrong?”

“Don’t call me sister-in-law… Something a little troublesome has come up.”

“Troublesome?”

Tilting her head, Victoria listened as Franc explained the document.

“It seems that an important fortress in the northern part of the Rudelhardt Empire was attacked by monsters and fell. The students from the Hero Academy will temporarily pause their studies and go with the kingdom’s reinforcements to the Empire to retake it. They want me to go along as well.”

“…The Empire is a friendly nation. If it falls, the kingdom will face monsters immediately. Sending reinforcements makes sense, but I don’t understand why a student like you would go.”

“Because I’m the kingdom’s best healing mage.”

“You’re still full of yourself?”

“Shut up, Lucan. And it’s not just me saying it, it’s a fact… If he’s in the Empire, I need to go get him quickly. This works out perfectly.”

Franc muttered under her breath.

At that moment, Victoria noticed something about the document Franc was holding.

“This reinforcement army, it says Jiluo Arnall is the commander-in-chief.”

“…Ah, that’s true. Well, he’s the heir to the Arnall Duke family, so they probably put him in charge to give him prestige. The real commands will likely be handled by the knights accompanying him.”

“That’s not the problem. If sister-in-law and Jiluo Arnall go, then it’s certain—”

The interrogation room door swung open again, and Christina appeared.

“I’m going with the reinforcements too!!”

“…I knew Christina would definitely say that.”

“Wow, Franc, you’re so popular.”

“…Shut up, Lucan.”

Franc flicked Lucan’s nose in reply to his teasing.

Putting that aside, Franc turned her thoughts to her missing brother.

(If he’s really in the Empire, it wouldn’t be strange for him to be heading into a battlefield with injured soldiers. I need to warn him first. Maybe I should have Ruu deliver a letter?)

At this point, Franc had no idea that Ruu might accidentally burn the letter.

A few days later, Franc left with the reinforcements and headed for the Rudelhardt Empire.

◇　◆　◇

At the back of the magic academy, out of sight of everyone.

Veltica and a few people dressed in white robes were having a secret meeting.

“Veltica-sama, what shall we do?”

“…That rotten, long-tongued fool actually did it.”

“!?”

Veltica, who usually stayed calm and polite to everyone, clenched her fists.

The white-robed followers shivered at her anger.

“You broke the vow first, Zenapart.”

“V-Veltica-sama?”

“…We’ll mobilize all the neutral factions of the White Church. Gather fully armed in the Empire. It’s the perfect chance to wipe out the extremists.”

“Y-Yes!!”

To calm her rage, Veltica quietly looked up at the sky.

◇　◇　◇

Afterword

One-Point Story

Author: “When a shark attacks, hitting its nose works best.”

F: “It’s rare for a shark to attack anyway.”

If you thought, “The way they dodge stuff is just like siblings,” “A document with the king’s seal is really strong,” “Lucan is weak in the nose… hehe,” please leave your thoughts, bookmarks, ★ ratings, or reviews.