Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 149: A Meeting with a Friend
Sebas hurried Tauro and Aeris into a carriage, and they left the inn.
“By the way, Sebas, are you still serving His Highness?”
“Yes. I remain in His Highness’s service.”
Sebas answered Tauro without hesitation.
“And this carriage?”
“His Highness believed that sending a royal carriage would attract too much attention and cause you trouble.”
“So he remembered what happened last time.”
When a royal carriage had collected Tauro during his previous stay in the Royal Capital, the resulting commotion had forced him to change inns. Prince Fleue hadn’t forgotten. This time, he had instructed Sebas to use the kind of carriage an ordinary noble might employ.
“Of course. His Highness still considers you an important friend. He said he didn’t wish to inconvenience you.”
Sebas smiled as he spoke.
Aeris listened in growing bewilderment. The casual mention of a prince – and the revelation that Tauro was his friend – was far beyond anything she had imagined.
As far as Aeris knew, Tauro was a commoner who had lost his mother when he was young, fled his violent father at the age of six, and become an adventurer at eight. She couldn’t understand how such a boy had formed a connection with royalty.
Even his apparent ties to nobles had seemed indirect, established through Sharga, the scholar he had met during the dungeon investigation, and through the Garfish Company.
Come to think of it, several of the nobles they had visited had seemed to recognize Tauro. Because every meeting had focused on Aeris, however, she had never learned why.
As Aeris’s thoughts continued to circle, Sebas noticed her expression.
“Lady Aeris, is something troubling you?”
“No… I simply never knew Tauro was friends with a member of the royal family.”
Aeris answered honestly.
“I’m sorry,” Tauro said. “I kept quiet because I was afraid people would misunderstand if I talked about it carelessly.”
For the first time, Tauro explained that he had previously visited the Royal Capital as a Reversi instructor.
“Then, when I bought Reversi from the Marches Trading Company and played against you at home… you lost on purpose, didn’t you?”
Aeris had once proudly told Tauro that Reversi was popular in the capital. He had then lost to her in almost every game.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Oh, never mind! I know you were only letting me win.”
Aeris puffed out her cheeks and pretended to be angry, though no one in the carriage believed she truly was.
While they talked, the carriage reached the royal palace.
The brief, peaceful mood vanished, and Aeris’s nervousness returned. Although her father had been a leading figure among the kingdom’s neutral nobles, Aeris herself had never dealt directly with the royal family. It was only natural that entering the palace would intimidate her.
Tauro, by contrast, felt more nostalgic than nervous.
“Is this your first time inside the royal palace?”
As Sebas led them through the halls, Tauro tried to ease Aeris’s tension.
“Of course it is! Children don’t normally come and go from the palace!”
Her nervous reply echoed down the corridor. Aeris immediately covered her mouth and looked around.
“There’s no need to worry,” Sebas assured her. “This section belongs to His Highness Prince Fleue. No one will rebuke you for making a little noise.”
Aeris bowed gratefully.
Soon Sebas stopped before a massive door Tauro remembered well. He knocked and announced that Tauro and Aeris had arrived.
“Come in.”
The door opened. Fifth Prince Fleue stood silhouetted against the light from the window, his pointed ears revealing his elven blood.
The chubby young prince Tauro remembered was gone. In his place stood a tall, slender boy.