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And, it wasn’t just Redas who went and greeted Inglis and Rafinha.

「「「Welcome! We’ve been waiting!」」」

Knights of the Imperial Guard Order under Redas’ command. They bustled in a large crowd, bowing their heads to Inglis and Rafinha fervently.

「W-, what?! Something is off?」
「Y-, you’re right…」

The number was too many for a mere welcome. There were enough of them to surround Inglis and Rafinha in a circle.

「Come, you two, this way. His Majesty is waiting.」

Said Redas, apparently he would be their guide. Indeed they saved their King’s life, but did that give them enough warrant for such an extravagant treatment?

Confusion still in their mind, Inglis and Rafinha continued to follow Redas from behind. The other Knights followed them in a circle. Was this some kind of protective formation?

「……Th-, they’re kind of pretentious huh, Glis.」
「You’re right, Rani……Perhaps we should be careful……」

Inglis and Rafinha started to whisper to each other.

「Eh? What do you mean?」
「Maybe they’ll lead us to a trap and attack us all at once there?」

Such a rigorous escort atypical for mere students of the Knight Academy. It was as if they were treated like some princesses of a Kingdom or the most important bigshots.

「Eeh?! We didn’t do anything wrong!! Or maybe we actually did? After all, you were going so wild back then, Glis……」
「My fault?」
「Well, you picked a fight with a Highland envoy then kicked him away to oblivion…… Also, picked up His Majesty’s fallen off harm and fixed it. You did a lot of things, you know?」
「Aah……」
「Not to mention, that Abel kid, he died at the end, right? It wasn’t you who killed him, but……」
「I also bear the fault…… I guess.」
「Maybe? They might say he died because he was injured so badly beforehand.」

Ultimately, it wasn’t Inglis but the leader of the Ironblood Chain Brigade, Black Mask, that delivered the final blows to Archlord Envoy, Abel. However, it was also an indisputable truth that Inglis had dealt a major blow to Abel before that. Saying that she was responsible for Abel’s death on the battlefield was not an overstatement.

「W-, well, don’t you think they can stretch it like that?」

As it turned out, Abel was a huge player of one of the two major factions of the Highland, which was the Church Founder’s Union. The Union had no intention to reconcile with this country, but…

For example, if they changed their policy after Abel’s death and would accept reconciliation in exchange for offering the person responsible for Abel’s death, then it would be way faster to put all the blame on Inglis compared to chasing after Black Mask whose whereabouts were unknown.

King Charleas seemed to accommodate any kind of high-handed oppression from the Highlanders, so it was not entirely impossible.

「Even if it came to that, I’ll still look forward to it, you know? Fufufu…」

From what Inglis could see, King Charleas was by no means incompetent. That was why he should know that he couldn’t capture Inglis with just this much, regardless of how much of an elite squad the Imperial Guard Order was.

In other words, Inglis could conclude that he prepared some kind of trump card to oppose her. She would like to see it. It was just, if it came down to that, they wouldn’t be able to feast on the food, so…

「S-, stop it! We’ll be rebels if that happened!」
「Perhaps. But it’s okay, I will tell them that you’re not involved in it, Rani.」
「I don’t want that! We’re a family! We’re basically sisters, and we will be actual sisters in the future, too.」
「No, I have no intention to…」

For Inglis and Rafinha to be actual sisters, that would mean Inglis and Raphael would have to… Naturally, Inglis wouldn’t want that to happen, at all.

「Still, aren’t we supposed to be together forever? I won’t let you be all by yourself, okay!」

Perhaps anxiety started to get on her, Rafinha grabbed the sleeves of Inglis’ dress tightly. She looked so cute to her, Inglis couldn’t help but squint.

「Okay, I understand. It’ll be fine.」

Then, as their hushed discussion was finished. Their noses were suddenly attacked by a most pleasing scent.

They had infiltrated the Royal Palace as maids the other day, so they had a general idea of the internal structure. This was near the kitchen. Which meant… A feast is being prepared?!

「Ah! Uwaah, smells sooo good!」

Rafinha couldn’t help but exclaim.

「Of course, we have the feast ready! Please listen to what the King has to say to you first, and then we’ll have our big celebration!」
「But what are we celebrating?」

Asked Inglis. As a result of the recent incident, not only was King Charleas unable to achieve the reconciliation he aimed with Church’s Union, the damage suffered from the engagement with the Ironblood Chain Brigade was not small. That incident provided Inglis a good fight and training, and she was deeply satisfied by it, but it gave the country not a single upside.

It’s one thing to invite someone over dinner to thank them for the work they had done but to throw a huge celebration party was odd. Just what in the world was happening?

「I still can’t say it to you, but you’ll know it soon enough. Please look forward to it.」
「Hey, hey, Glis. It seems that there’s nothing to be worried about, huh?」
「Maybe?」

Redas’ expression was full of elation and joy, he didn’t seem to bear any lies. Besides, if they were to ambush Inglis, they didn’t need to bother to prepare a feast beforehand.

However, she still couldn’t get behind the reason for throwing a party at all. But that was beside the point, the point was that the feast had become reality. To be honest, she couldn’t hold back her joy.

「Th-, that’s great! I’m really happy!」
「Yeah, me too Rani.」
「Come, the audience hall is this way. Let us go.」
「「Yes!!」」

With excitement filling their chests, Inglis and Rafinha stepped into the hall where King Charleas had been waiting.