The Invincible Aloof Yandere Princess Falls in Love with Her Younger Court Mage's Fatherly Warmth! ~She Clung to Him So Much That the King Fired Him. When He Made Marriage His Official Reason for Resigning Under Royal Order, the Light Vanished from the Princess's Eyes~

Chapter 20: Vanishing for the Third Time

A huge wave of regret filled my chest.

Even if the timing made it impossible to avoid, that only applied if I had been acting alone. How could I not have considered the possibility that the princess might move?

I have to admire how quickly she noticed the spell formula activating from her position, but a surprise like this…

“What happened to Her Highness?! Did Commander Clay do something?!”

“No, wait—but one second she teleported, and the next she’s gone again… What in the world is going on…?”

“You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you?! —Her Highness shielded that mage and took some kind of spell! That’s why she disappeared…!!”

The audience, a little slow to react, finally began to stir. The murmur grew louder and louder until it shook the entire plaza.

This atmosphere was bad… Everyone’s blame was clearly starting to turn toward Suu-san.

There was no way Suu-san had targeted the princess on purpose, but very few people knew about this [Transfer] spell formula.

The absolute worst thing right now would be if Suu-san got accused, or even thrown in prison, and we lost any chance of getting clues about where the princess had gone. So before the nobles and the guarding knights could close in, I had to—

When I looked over, Suu-san had her eyes fixed on the map in her hands, breathing fast and shallow.

“Suu-san…!!”

And then.

The moment I called out to her.

“—N-no, it’s not me!! I would never do anything to hurt the princess…!!”

“! I know that—”

“No no no no, no…!! I’m sorry!! Please stop, don’t look at me like that! Don’t abandon me!! I don’t want to go back to that dark place, uuuuuaaaaaahhh—!!”

“Suu-san…?”

What’s wrong, Suu-san…

The way she clutched her head and thrashed her hair around was far from normal. Whether she realized it or not, she had wrapped herself in ki too, which only made things look worse…!

“Look at that! Is she still planning to attack?!”

“She’s lost her mind, Commander Clay! So she really was the one who took out Her Highness…!!”

Yeah, from the guest seats, that’s exactly how it would look.

“Maguire-san! Please hold back the knights coming this way! And while you’re at it, the shadows too…!!”

“Y-yeah. But… what in the world is happening…!”

Maguire-san had been standing near Suu-san, but he hadn’t been able to react in time to either the map’s spell activation or the princess’s charge.

Even with the speed advantage ki provides, it still wasn’t enough—so I had to admit the enemy had pulled this off perfectly.

At the very least, I had to recover the situation.

I left the hands reaching for Suu-san to Maguire-san and hurried to try to calm her down.

—But at that moment.

I sensed a faint movement of mana somewhere far away… and right after, a magic circle appeared right in front of me.

“This again—another [Transfer]…!”

Is the caster watching from somewhere?

The medium was the same as before—Suu-san’s map—and the target… ugh, I’m not included!

But this time I could make it. I had already prepared stellar essence right after the princess was taken, so if I dismantled the magic circle before it activated—

“Aaaaaahhh!! ———a…”

Through the white magic circle, my eyes met Suu-san’s startled expression.

“—…I-I’ll take responsibility…!! I will—!”

She thrust out an arm covered in ki. The hand that pierced through and spread open the circle—was it trying to protect me from the magic circle?

Ki could probably interfere with stellar essence to some degree. Suu-san’s action carried a clear intent: she didn’t want me to dismantle the circle.

It’s hard to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped…

“I’m sorry…!! I’m useless, I know. But at least the princess—I’ll—!”

The magic circle flared brighter than ever, and this time Suu-san’s figure vanished.

My outstretched hand sliced through empty air, never managing to grab hers.

In the end, only Maguire-san and I remained on the platform.

“Hey, come on, one after another…! Now Commander Clay’s gone too?! Are you okay, Albert?! Hey, wait—you over there, that side—wait, is the young lady okay?”

Passing right by Maguire-san, a small-statured shadow appeared in front of me—Karen-san.

I lowered the hand that had grasped nothing, closed my eyes, and began to gather mana. Karen-san’s face tightened as she spoke.

“Albert, even though you were right there…!! We must bring your master back safely no matter what…!”

“…I know.”

“If you know, then…!! …Your power is necessary to rescue your master! There’s no time to wallow in despair—”

“—Regent’s Adjutant Call! Now that the suspect Commander Clay has vanished, we need an explanation from you—the person who was closest at the very end—!”

A group of knights from another division rushed in, interrupting Karen-san’s words in the middle of the emergency.

It looked like even Maguire-san couldn’t hold them back forever.

But.

“—Hey, Albert!! This is getting impossible now! Commander Clay disappeared too—should I just let them through?!”

“—Albert! Hurry, your master—!”

To the calls of both of them, I………… opened my eyes and raised my hand in front of me.

I knew. My top priority was rescuing the princess and Suu-san too.

And besides.

I was angry about this whole thing. My important people were being secretly targeted one after another…!

So now. ———I’m going to go punch them myself.

I recalled the magic circle of the [Transfer] spell I had seen twice already, along with the mana I had gathered.

And I released it.