The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 126

Countless curses swirled around her lips before finally being swallowed back down. She was so irritated she wanted to say something, but there was no one nearby. For example, the banished Lya.

“……”

It wasn’t that she had specifically tried to drive her away, but anyway, a major incident had occurred and Polyxene was bored these days. It wasn’t fun since the person who would enthusiastically play along with whatever topic she brought up had disappeared. It’s not like there weren’t colleagues or residents she’d gotten close to, but she had to be more careful with them than with Lya.

Anyway, her future looked bleak. She was still far from obtaining guardian qualifications, yet the second training was starting with the Thorn Forest. She found herself missing that annoying task from before when she’d wandered around greeting the hermits. Even though her legs had hurt a bit, at least it hadn’t been dangerous.

Feeling overwhelmed, Polyxene made a gesture as if to clutch her upper chest tightly with her fingers and muttered.

“This has to be a dream… Oh, that’s right! If it’s a path taken with the castle’s knights, Brother Iel might know about it. I should go ask if there’s any other way.”

Polyxene hurriedly made her way to the barracks but came up empty-handed. Iel was away from his post, and everyone refused to tell her where he’d gone. Why? With the situation changed from before, she eventually came out empty-handed with her shoulders drooping.

But then, like a dream, didn’t Iel appear right there with his attendants in tow. She was so happy she was on the verge of bursting into tears.

“Oh, Brother Iel!”

“……”

Somehow he looked terribly unfamiliar. Usually when he spotted Polyxene , he would soften his indifferent gaze and look after her attentively as if calling her over, but now there wasn’t even a greeting. Regardless, the situation was urgent on her end. She approached without hesitation and suddenly clung to Iel’s strong arm.

“Did you hear? I… um, well. I came to ask if you could possibly extend my castle residency permit period a little.”

She was about to bring up the Thorn Forest story outright when the thought suddenly occurred to her. Since the guardian training difficulty had suddenly shot up, wouldn’t it be better to ask her powerful cousin brother for help and find a way to keep living in the castle? She thought it wouldn’t be difficult since even her current residency permit was something he’d extended to the maximum and given her, but unexpectedly, Iel was inflexible.

“Polyxene , I’m merely the captain of Jupiter’s knights and don’t have that kind of authority.”

“What? But last time, you said that if I wanted to take sick leave because I got injured during guardian training or something, you could extend it by about a year…”

His cold gaze sharply swept over Polyxene .

“Do you have some other business in the castle?”

“Broth… er?”

“Quite some time has passed since you came of age. His Majesty the King is a generous person, but you shouldn’t think you can break the rules forever, Poly… xene. Either settle your affairs on your own before an eviction notice flies to your quarters, or rise up as a proper guardian.”

“…What?”

Was this really the kind and generous Brother Iel she’d known all along? She was dumbfounded by the cold words that made her doubt her ears. The scent of spring flowers blooming around them was still thick, but his decision was as harsh as distant winter.

However, Polyxene found an opening quite well. In that tone he was deliberately emphasizing, a faint tremor was hidden. The way he hesitated even when calling her name, and how he specifically mentioned an eviction notice that still had seven whole months remaining… It was clearly a misguided attitude to hide his true feelings.

He must be forcing himself to say words he doesn’t want to say, right? Hmph! Brother is also in a difficult position because of Brax, what is this?

Polyxene abandoned the foolish act of trying to squeeze out tears that wouldn’t come to gain sympathy, and instead created a worry that he would quickly notice. She slightly lowered her head, hunched her shoulders, and blinked slowly to create a frightened expression. To look similar to someone she seemed to resemble, though no particular name came to mind.

“Ahem.”

As soon as Iel, whose heart had already weakened after pouring out all those words, cleared his throat, she slowly lowered her eyes.

“Um, I wasn’t trying to make an unreasonable request. I was just surprised to hear unexpected news this morning.”