Hopefully, at Your Mercy

“I do?”

Delinda’s eyes blinked slowly again.

“Yes. You do.”

“Oh, I guess so…”

Delinda rubbed her nails, glancing away from her opponent. It was a habit. Iskan watched as her left thumb skimmed her right hand’s nails.

Delinda became curious. Why is he suddenly talking about the way she blinks? Is it something she shouldn’t do here?

Or is he playing a trick on me?

He might not be aware of it, but where she lived, people often interpret the act of saying useless words to another person to continue a conversation as “playing tricks.”

But Delinda soon withdrew that thought because Iskan’s expression was infinitely cold.

Even if I saw a sea turtle eating weeds, it would’ve been more friendly than him.

Aha. He’s not playing tricks on me.

I heard the sound of movement in the distance. Looking over, Duke Schultz was entering the hall again.

Delinda hurriedly grabbed Iskan’s collar as he turned to face the duke.

“Your Highness, I am not a wizard. I’m not a maid like I said I was yesterday. As you can see now, I am the princess of the Schultz family.”

Delinda decided to tell him the truth. She had a hunch that if she dealt with the situation lukewarmly, they could come to a mutual agreement where he might spare her life.

I wanted to get rid of Iskan’s doubts about me. Of course, I didn’t know if he’d believe me or not, but that’s something to worry about after trying to change things.

I haven’t lived much yet.

“Yesterday, I disguised myself as a maid and secretly ventured out to learn more about the Spirit Stone. No one around me knows much about the Spirit Stone. It’s too much to ask my father…”

I don’t even know how to read…

“Your Highness is aware, correct? About the current situation involving Duke Schultz? I was worried when I heard he intended to start a business using the spirit stone because of the mystery surrounding it. I couldn’t just sit still.”

“…”

“That’s why I left the mansion and wandered around. And then I ran into that situation. No matter what I say, I know you’ll be suspicious, but that’s really all there is.”

Will he believe me?

Will my sincerity work on him?

Standing in front of anxious Delinda, Iskan was silent. He glanced toward the nearing duke and then slowly faced Delinda again.

“You’re honest. Honesty is not a weapon for the nobility.”

“Because of Your Highness’ personality, I think you’ll understand if I tell you the truth. In fact, it doesn’t really matter to Your Highness if I die, does it?”

He didn’t kill a person, but he disposed of the garbage.

It’s not a crime to deal with those who threaten the lives of the imperial family. Even if I talked about witnessing the scene, it wouldn’t bring any harm to Iskan.

I believed my worries were irrational, but I still felt the need for protection because something worried me. More so because I couldn’t understand why the noble prince was wandering the alleyways dressed as a commoner.

Wasn’t it strange? To say that he was simply inspecting the alleys was questionable.

But that’s none of Delinda’s business. Right now, it was important to just appeal that she was not a threat.

“If you wanted to kill me, you would have last night. There was nothing stopping you from killing ‘Del,’ who was only a servant of a noble family.”

“…”

“Not to mention… seeing as you didn’t look very surprised to see me today, it means you already knew I was here. For example, having someone follow me…”

Delinda continued, glancing at his expression.

“Anyway, you’ve come to find out I’m not a very important person. So don’t kill me. I don’t want to die. I never will! I didn’t follow Your Highness. I really just happened to stumble across the place.”

It’s not like I attempted to assassinate you or anything, unlike the person who died at Your Highness’ feet. Why would I? With what ability?

I spoke honestly because I thought the method would work on Iskan. He didn’t look like the type who could be misled by vague statements and deceitful ploys.

Iskan gave no answer. He stared at Delinda in silence then quietly asked as the duke approached.

“You said you don’t want to be suspected?”

“No, never.”

Receiving her firm answer, Iskan slowly smiled.

“Then the princess should speak a little less intelligently.”

At the end of his sentence, Iskan turned back to the duke. The sound of his measured footsteps slowly faded away.

Delinda, who was left behind, let his words stupidly echo in her brain.

You should speak a little less intelligently.

He didn’t realize I wasn’t the real princess, did he? Does that mean he finds me suspicious because I don’t seem too stupid?

But Delinda soon shook off her worries. She was fortunate that he didn’t appear to be intent on killing her right now.

* * *

Entering his office, Iskan roughly threw his cape over the sofa.

“Calot, you have a daughter.”

“Excuse me? I do?”

Calot lifted his face and responded stupidly, meanwhile eating snacks on the sofa.

“You have a daughter with magic, and you’re hiding her identity from the world. Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have a daughter.”

To have a daughter but to never have been in a relationship. He didn’t even want to entertain the idea. Calot grumbled discontentedly.

Sitting in his chair, Iskan skimmed through the stack of papers piled high on the desk. He pulled out a document related to the Grand Duchy of Anagroke.

“You’re a wizard. Imagine it.”

It has been a month since he, the prince, grand duke and lord, left his territory.

Despite being away from home, work continued to rush in, and a line of jobs were awaiting his approval. The paperwork in his hand said the main water pipe broke due to heavy rain.

Calot, who was lying on his stomach, rolled around. He was eating snacks, so a lot of crumbs accumulated around his mouth.

“Becoming a wizard makes your life difficult. It’s hard to get married when stuck inside a tower. If someone wanted their daughter to live a normal life, they could hide her. If you possess magic, all your energy goes toward subduing the demons, making life miserable because you never know when you’ll die.”

“I see.”

“Yup. I can’t be killed by the demons since I have skills that are superior to anyone else, so I’m enjoying my life to the fullest, modestly hiding my skills, but with mediocre skills—”

“But there’s no need for her to pretend to be a fool.”

Calot was about to launch into an episode of self-praise when Iskan interrupted. Calot shrugged his shoulders, undaunted by Iskan’s disregard.

“Perhaps she pretended to be a fool to avoid being sent to the academy? The moment you enter the academy, it’s mandatory that you measure your mana.”

“Mandatory…” 

“Yes. People are always divided by labels there. This guy’s a wizard, this guy’s a paladin, this guy’s a nobody. For your information, I purposefully cheated my mana to graduate as a normal wizard. I was such a great student that even the professors were fooled.”

Calot added to his own boast.

Iskan leaned lazily against the backrest. Calot’s bragging seemed to go unnoticed.

The academy…

The majority of the Bakhyan Empire’s nobility enroll in the academy as children. The nobles unable to enter were either on the verge of bankruptcy and lacked the money for admission, or they were idiots who couldn’t enter—such as Delinda.

“I didn’t go to the academy either.”

He murmured, recalling the past. Calot, making out Iskan’s words as he spoke himself, laughed and interjected.

“That’s because Your Highness is the son of the imperial family.”

“…”

“Now, by defeating the demons—which the empire views as the bane of its existence—you have risen in status from your past position as the dregs of the imperial family.”

Tmp.

Iskan threw a bundle of papers on the desk and attentively shifted his gaze to Calot.

“…”

“…”

Calot’s head dipped down. He enthusiastically ate his snacks as if he couldn’t feel Iskan’s stare.

I can’t feel it. I can’t feel it.

Calot pretended to ignore Iskan’s gaze and only lifted his head when Iskan changed the subject.

“Someone broke through your space distortion spell.”

“What? That’s impossible. No one can break through my magic except for Your Highness. My mana is the best in the empire.”

Calot’s normally cheery face showed an emotion that he hardly ever experienced. Displeasure.

“Who the hell was it? The one who dared to break through my magic?”

“A person walking down the street.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Calot tossed the bag of snacks away.

Just some random person on the street neutralized his magic?

Impossible. First of all, there was no way that a “person who was just walking down the street” could exceed the power of his magic.