Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 25: Disgraceful Valor (1)
Shops and old homes lined a corner of the royal capital’s lower town, a district normally crowded day and night. Despite the midafternoon hour, however, it was unnaturally quiet.
Residents stood at a distance from one house and watched with bated breath. Several sinister-looking men crowded its entrance.
“I told you, I don’t know!”
Chelsea, the house’s owner, raised her trembling voice and glared at the men blocking her doorway. Her shoulders and legs shook uncontrollably, and tears of fear and anger filled her eyes.
“That answer causes us a problem, young lady. This is no trivial sum.”
“I’m sure Flora would never do such a thing. There must be some kind of mistake.”
“But we have the documents here. We don’t want to be rough. We’re merely asking whether you have any idea where Flora Kadira might have gone.”
Though the man spoke calmly, his voice carried contempt and menace. Behind him stood tall men in gaudy, tasteless clothes, glaring at her.
The same argument had repeated endlessly since the man claiming to be a moneylender arrived.
“You work as a laundress for several wealthy merchants and noble households, if I recall. If you can’t answer us, perhaps asking your employers would be quicker.”
Chelsea paled at the man’s ugly smile. Her employers had no connection to Flora. He plainly meant to threaten Chelsea’s livelihood until she surrendered whatever he wanted.
As a common-born servant in a vulnerable position, Chelsea would lose not only her present work but any hope of finding another position.
In truth, Chelsea had no idea where Flora had gone. She possessed no answer, yet the men refused to accept her repeated denials.
—What can I do? Kevin…
Her entire body shook. She tried to steady herself by imagining her beloved’s face, but Kevin was precisely the person she dared not seek for help.
“If you can’t answer that question here, why don’t you come with us?”
When the man took a step into the house, a sudden commotion erupted outside.
“Oh my, what’s all this fuss about?”
An unfamiliar girl’s high voice rang out, and every man at Chelsea’s door looked outside.
“Miss, will you please get out of our way?”
“What’s this all about?”
“This is none of your business. Go home!”
“Surely something serious must have happened to draw such a crowd.”
“Hey, Wait! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“What’s in here?”
The girl ignored the man trying to stop her. A cry and the sound of someone falling followed.
“How violent! How dare you shove me!”
The girl sounded almost theatrical. Then a young boy spoke calmly.
“You’ve been caught in the act of assaulting a marquis’s daughter. All of you’ll be arrested and taken to jail at once.”
Royal Guards appeared with those words and seized the men before Chelsea’s house one by one. Chelsea stared in shock. An unfamiliar girl and boy now stood at her door.
The girl wore a broad-brimmed white hat and a dress, while the boy had pulled a fedora low over his eyes. At first glance, they resembled wealthy commoners or minor aristocrats.
“Amanda, are you hurt?”
“No, nothing serious, Lord Alec.”
“You’re being a bit reckless, honestly…”
“Oh, I thought that was quite a good performance.”
Unable to comprehend what had happened, Chelsea’s eyes widened at their conversation.
—Amanda… a marquis’s daughter? The crown prince’s fiancée? Then the boy beside her must be…
The girl at the doorway turned to Chelsea, whose posture had changed entirely, and smiled gently before giving an exaggerated cough.
“I’m sorry, I think I hurt my throat a little. If it’s not too much trouble, may I come in and get a glass of water?”
“Y-Yes…”
Barely able to think, Chelsea led the boy, the girl, and the two young men who appeared to be their guards into the sitting room.
Though only fifteen or sixteen, the pair moved with a refinement their present clothes couldn’t conceal. Chelsea wondered in dismay whether she could serve such people water in the cheap cups of her lower-town home.
“I’m sorry to barge in on you like this. I’m Alexis and this is Amanda.”
“Oh, um, …….”
Their clothes suggested they were traveling incognito. Yet the boy introduced them so simply that Chelsea didn’t know whether she should ask if he was the crown prince. Amanda laughed softly.
“This is a private visit, and no one is observing us. Please relax; you need not worry about breaches of etiquette.”
Apparently realizing that Chelsea already knew their identities, Amanda reassured her, and Alexis nodded.
“Assaulting a marquis’s daughter alone won’t allow us to hold every one of those men indefinitely. But an investigation will likely uncover numerous other offenses. We should be able to detain them for some time, so don’t worry.”
Chelsea’s shoulders finally relaxed—only to stiffen again at Alexis’s next words.
“The truth is, we also came to see you. We hoped to ask about Flora Kadira.”
—Do they suspect Flora too?
Just as Chelsea thought they had saved her, this turn sent a chill through her blood.
Chelsea’s expression tightened. The two visitors appeared uncertain how to proceed.
Silence settled over the room. Then the front door flew open with a crash.
“Chelsea! Are you okay?”
“……Kevin……!”
At the sight of Kevin, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, Chelsea sprang up instinctively. Every emotion she had suppressed broke free, and she clung to him, her face streaming with tears.
Kevin sighed in relief, held Chelsea, and confirmed she was safe. Then he looked up and gasped when he noticed the figures behind her.
“Huh? Wh—Your Royal Highness? Why are you here…?”
Kevin was so flustered that under other circumstances his behavior would have been disrespectful. Alexis, however, merely looked troubled.
“Oh, dear. He belongs to the Royal Order of Knights… and my reputation with them is rather… poor…”