The Former Holy Knight. Having Lost My Job and Childhood Friend, I Decided to Start a Dark Guild - Chapter 77

Prince Raymond’s room was a place where only a very limited number of people were allowed entry. Naturally, this was my first time stepping foot inside.

As Kano and I entered the room, the magical chandelier hanging from the ceiling lit up. Illuminated by the light were gold desks and large lounges, all exuding luxury. The room extended beyond just one floor, with multiple doors installed along the walls, leading further inside.

However, there was a strange sensation. The drowsy air of Gigastone Castle seemed even denser here, making my whole body feel heavy. From afar, I could hear the whispering voices of a man and a woman, though their words were indistinct and unclear.

“Kano, be careful, we don’t know what might happen.”

As I turned to say this, I noticed something was off. Kano’s eyes were glazed over, and she was yawning repeatedly.

“Don, I’m so sleepy…”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Kano tried to resist by pinching her cheeks and slapping her face, but eventually, she started muttering sleepily about dinner time and fell completely asleep. I had no choice but to carry her to a lounge and let her rest there.

It was safer for her to sleep here than to continue with me. I needed to find Cecil and Lily as soon as possible and then escape with Kano.

I surveyed the room and opened the nearest door. What I saw next was a bizarre scene.

“What is this room…”

All around the room were projections of Cecil. There were images of Cecil I didn’t even know existed, from her childhood, wearing a noble school uniform, to when she was appointed as the commander of the Holy Knights.

There were also pictures of Cecil with a young Prince Raymond. I knew they had been acquaintances since childhood, but I hadn’t realized their relationship went back to when they were so young.

And in this room, filled with images of Cecil, I found one of myself that left me utterly stunned.

On the desk in the center of the room were several projections of me being torn apart by a knife. A picture of Cecil and me taken during a picnic was almost unrecognizable; my face was stabbed over and over.

The room also contained a bed, and on it slept a woman in underwear with long golden hair reminiscent of Cecil.

As I stood dumbfounded by the oddity of this room, I suddenly heard a girl’s voice.

“Leon-san, there’s no time, hurry.”

Turning around, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a girl running away. I recognized the side of her face.

“It’s Lily…”

Exiting the room, I saw Lily run through another door. I chased after her, crossing the dark room. The room Lily entered was the one from the projection Nadale had shown me.

In the center of the room was an opulent bed with a canopy. Cecil was floating above it, eyes closed, dressed in a thin white saintly robe, enveloped in a green light.

Beyond the bedroom was a glass-partitioned magical shower room, from which I could hear the cheerful humming of Prince Raymond taking a shower.

“What on earth is happening?” I wondered aloud, as another girl’s voice reached me.

“Cecil-sama has not yet succumbed to Prince Raymond. She put herself to sleep willingly after casting a barrier to save everyone from the sleeping spell.”

Turning towards the voice, I saw a girl in a white dress standing in the corner. It was undoubtedly Lily Ludwig, the special heretic.

Lily said, “But Cecil-sama is slowly being consumed by my power, and the strength of her barrier is beginning to weaken.”

I stared at Lily silently. Cecil and I had once helped a lost Lily return to the Ludwig Mercantile.

Today’s Lily looked the same as back then—lost, full of uncertainty, and not at all like someone who would cause such an unprecedented crisis at Gigastone Castle.

I said, “Lily, cancel your skill right now, wake everyone up, and let’s leave this place. Then you can go home and live with your parents again.”

Lily shook her head sadly. “I can’t do that. Unless Prince Raymond orders me, I cannot undo the skill or leave the room.”

I had expected something like this. A girl alone couldn’t have caused such a national crisis without someone else involved.

I glanced at Raymond, who was leisurely showering, and thought I might have to force him to give the order. Just as I was about to step forward, Lily spoke in a sorrowful tone, “You should be careful.”

“If anything happens to Prince Raymond, the knights under his command are set to attack Duke LeBlanc and the nobles opposing him. I didn’t want to do this…”

It was one of the worst scenarios I had imagined. The Duke and the nobles, surrounded by controllable knights, were essentially hostages. If that spell were

 triggered, the future was easily imaginable.

A question crossed my mind.

“Lily, what does Prince Raymond want? Killing nobles and causing unnecessary wars, along with Cecil losing her saintly powers, would benefit him in no way.”

Lily looked at the sleeping Cecil. “Prince Raymond desires only to take Cecil’s purity and conceive a child with her. That’s all he wants—really, just that.”

“Are Prince Raymond and Cecil not in love?”

Lily shook her head. “Cecil-sama does not harbor good feelings towards Prince Raymond. Knowing this more than anyone, Prince Raymond plans to control her using a special aphrodisiac.”

With each word, Lily’s face twisted in pain. “My skill is gradually weakening Cecil-sama’s barrier. Once it’s gone, Prince Raymond will force her to take the aphrodisiac and take her purity. Afterwards, he plans to kill Duke LeBlanc and blame him for the crime of defiling a saintess.”

The depth of Raymond’s vile plan left me speechless, tears welled up in Lily’s eyes. “I don’t want to hurt Cecil-sama or kill anyone…”

“There must be a way. You brought me here because you want my help, right?”

Just then, the sound of the magical shower stopped. Through the frosted glass, I saw Raymond reaching for a bath towel.

Lily frowned and said, “Leon-san, you are the only one unaffected by my skill.”

“If you can enter the dream world where Cecil-sama and the others are trapped and awaken them, perhaps…”