Subaru Natsuki, who returned from the new Three Kingdoms

"That's right, talk to us?"

McCrotov nodded.

"We'll just exchange a few words."

Inside the main hall, everyone's eyes were focused on Subaru Natsuki.

Russell Ferro's face darkened.

Almost forgot, the Prime Minister has always wanted to see Subaru Natsuki...

I never imagined that even at this critical moment, the enemy would lead their troops to invade the palace...

Even the Prime Minister hasn't given up on this idea...

Could it be that we can't kill this kid...? Russell vaguely sensed that things were starting to develop in a direction he couldn't accept.

"Okay."

Subaru Natsuki, however, had already stood up straight and followed Mycroft away.

As a result, when he passed by Capela...

Capela suddenly spoke in a sinister tone:

"Don't forget to bring me along."

Natsuki Subaru glanced down at her and answered without the slightest hesitation:

"Of course! Do you think we don't know anything about military matters?"

"A mount and its master must not be separated for twenty-four hours."

"Isn't this common sense? Our family has a general in the family, after all."

Capela's lips twitched slightly, but this time he still didn't choose to retaliate with a foul mouth.

Instead, the moment Subaru reached out and touched her, she immediately activated the power within her body.

Not only herself, but also the witch factor within Subaru Natsuki's body was activated by her.

A dark purple light flashed directly along Subaru Natsuki's clothes.

The wound on his shoulder closed up quickly, and the pain in his leg subsided in just a few breaths. His body, which had been unsteady on its feet just moments before, was back to its full strength in the blink of an eye.

If there's one downside, it's that as his mental state returned to its peak, Subaru Natsuki realized... he seemed to have sobered up...

As a result, the sharpness in his eyes that came with the clarity he had just felt also faded.

Reinhard, who was watching Subaru's every move closely, widened his eyes as he witnessed this scene.

"Did Subaru get controlled by her again just now?"

Such a vicious witch cult!

I will never let you get away with this!

Reinhardt's fists clenched so tightly they cracked!

Unfortunately, Subaru Natsuki had already followed Mecox into the still relatively intact side hall. Reinhard, who had no right to stop the Chancellor's actions, could only hold onto his Dragon Sword and watch the black-haired figure disappear behind the door.

The door to the side hall slowly closed.

Half of the noise outside was shut out.

Only Subaru Natsuki, McCrotov, and Capella, who was hanging from Subaru Natsuki's waist, remained in the room.

"Old man."

Natsuki Subaru casually found a chair and sat down.

"What do you want to talk to us about?"

McCrotov did not answer immediately, nor was he angered by Subaru Natsuki's frivolous and calculating manner.

His gaze gently fell on the head that was mostly covered by the cloak, but his thoughts had already returned to the prison a few days ago.

At that time, Subaru Natsuki was drinking in his prison cell.

He had just regained his senses and immediately observed the young man who was moving freely in and out of the prison.

The young man casually placed a human head beside him, as if it were just an item he carried with him.

Although it was too dark for McCrotoff to see the entire head clearly, he was confident that he would not mistake that face.

That's Capela.

Or, to put it another way: [Capella Emeralda Lukenica!]

The princess who was a favorite in the royal family decades ago...

In the present-day Kingdom of Lugnica, Mycroft, who has served the royal family for decades, is one of the few remaining people who know about what happened back then...

At the time, his only focus in prison was escaping and getting the message out.

I can only keep this thought to myself for now.

Now finally...

McCrotov raised his eyes, his aged but not cloudy eyes fixed on the ceiling, and slowly said:

"Did you know that because of a pact with the dragon, the bloodline of the Lugunica royal family produces a hero with special talents every few decades?"

Natsuki Subaru rolled his eyes.

"But what does this have to do with me?"

"You summoned us to talk just to discuss the royal family's genealogy?"

"Please allow me to finish speaking." [Please don't force me to harm your scales.]

McCrotoff didn't respond to his words.

The old man raised his eyes, his cloudy gaze passing through Subaru Natsuki, as if he were seeing the royal palace from decades ago again.

“Decades ago, another such figure was born into the royal family.”

"Back then, I had not yet reached the position I am in today, but I was fortunate enough to witness that princess grow up from childhood."

McCrotov's voice was slow.

Before uttering a single word, he seemed to first search through his memory to make sure he hadn't missed any detail.

As his tone grew more forceful, Natsuki Subaru's expression, centered around Capela's waist, gradually darkened.

They even looked somewhat pitiful.

But surprisingly, she did not interrupt Mycroft.

It seems she also wants Subaru Natsuki to know these things...

"When the princess was just born, the old king personally carried her through the palace corridors."

"Almost everyone in the royal family has visited her. The older princes call her their precious treasure, the maids compete to comb her hair, and even the most serious old knights soften their voices when they see her."

"She was loved by everyone from a young age."

"Everyone loves her, and the reason goes far beyond her royal blood."

"Also, because of her bright personality and beautiful appearance, she would greet everyone she met."

“The palace servants remembered her name, and she remembered the names of those people.”

"When the new apprentice in the kitchen first met her, he was so nervous that he couldn't speak. So she stood by the stove and talked to him for half an hour until the boy dared to raise his head."

Natsuki Subaru's eyelids drooped.

McLutov did not stop.

"The princess loved to bask in the sun and also enjoyed listening to the knights talk about distant battles in the courtyard."

"She would be happy because of a late-blooming flower, and she would argue for a long time with an old man over an injured demi-human child on the street."

She said that if royalty only knows how to sit on high places and accept worship, they are not qualified to let others entrust their lives to them.

As the old man finished speaking, a very faint smile appeared on his lips.

The smile appeared for only a moment before being suppressed by a deeper weariness.

"She possessed talents that amazed everyone and was qualified to be queen. At that time, almost everyone in the royal family believed that she would one day wear the crown."

"To resolve the demi-human conflicts that had not yet fully intensified at the time, and to lead Lugnica into a new era."

"At that time, she was a precious jewel cherished by the entire royal family."

Natsuki Subaru raised his eyelids slightly.

"and then?"

McCrotov's gaze fell to the ground, and the warmth in his voice gradually faded.

"Until that day, everything changed."

“A strange disease swept through the royal family, and she became one of the first to fall seriously ill.”

"At first it was just high fever and pain. She would still smile at everyone from her sickbed and say that she would get better soon."

"The royal family summoned the kingdom's best physicians, searched through all the ancient texts, and even sent people to search for magic that could cure her. During that time, the lights in the palace were almost never turned off."

"Everyone believes she will survive."

"Because she was like this since she was a child. She would get up by herself after falling down, and she would comfort the people around her who were crying when she had a fever. She was so bright that even I once believed that the disease would not really take her away."

McCrotov paused for a moment.

"But I was wrong."

"The pain didn't stop because of her smile."

"Her body grew weaker day by day, and her skin and flesh began to turn pale and dry... She spent more and more time looking in the mirror, asking the people around her if her face had changed. At first, everyone would rush to answer no, but later, fewer and fewer people answered."

"Some people started avoiding her gaze."

"Someone stopped talking as she entered the room."

"The people who used to surround her bedside have gradually become just those who send their greetings through the curtains."

Capela's expression remained unchanged, but he closed his eyes.

Natsuki Subaru did not notice this subtle action.

He was frowning as he looked at Mycroft, clearly still feeling that this story of the old royal family was too far removed from his own life. If he weren't afraid of inadvertently turning against his own people, he would have already stormed off.

"Dragon blood."

McCrotov slowly uttered those two words.

"That was the last resort the royal family could seize. After making a pact with the dragon, the dragon's blood was bestowed upon the royal family of Lugunica by the dragon, becoming one of the royal family's secret treasures."

Legend has it that dragon blood can cure all diseases, but no one knows how effective it really is.

"With no other options, the royal family had no choice but to inject dragon blood into her body."

McCrotoff's fingers slowly tightened.

"The dragon blood did indeed keep her alive, but the immense curse it contained turned her body into a chaotic mass of flesh."

"From that time on, she was almost unrecognizable as human. She herself had to endure the torment of the curse every moment."

"After that day, no one in the palace could look at her the way they used to."

Capela's lips had begun to tremble.

A few strands of golden hair slowly grew longer and emerged from behind her head, rising slowly like startled snakes. They didn't attack anyone, but simply hooked onto Subaru Natsuki's cloak at the side of her waist, pulling the fabric little by little to her face.

She hid herself in the shadows.

McCrotoff continued speaking:

"Initially, the old king would visit her every day."

"But as time went by, fewer and fewer people went to that room. Until there were none left at all, not even anyone brought food..."

“I think someone wanted to starve her to death, but with the Dragon Blood Curse, even starving to death was a luxury for her. She was left all alone, suppressed by the pain brought by the Dragon Blood Curse to the point that she could hardly move.”

"She was left tormented by hunger and loneliness, shrouded in a room where there was no sunlight. Yet she couldn't even die."

"Because she has not died yet, some people have begun to fear her appearance, some worry that she will affect the succession to the throne, and others feel that a princess who cannot appear in front of the public in her original form will become a stain on the royal family."