The Villainess Is Being Doted on by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Country 155

5, Seeking for Clues

After a short stay in the Lapis Lazuli kingdom, they have finally arrived at the Phylargia kingdom. It’s evening and the orange-stained sky was extremely beautiful.

After crossing the borders of the Lapis Lazuli kingdom and entering into that of the Phylargia, a refreshing wind gently blew onto them. Tiararose thought that it’d not be strange if the wind spirit Slyph is there.

The gentle climate of Phylargia allowed for the numerous waterwheels. The fields were vast and it’s clear that they’re self-subsistent.

The Phylargia royal castle is extremely cute with bricks and a huge windmill.

After Tiararose and the others have arrived, they were immediately welcomed; the person who greeted them was the princess Emerald.

“Welcome, King Aquasteed. Lady Tiararose, I’m glad to be able to see you again.”

“Sorry for the sudden visit and thank you for the welcome.”

“Me too, I’ve always been looking forward to meeting you, Lady Emerald.”

Aquasteed and Tiararose returned their greetings to Emerald. They then apologized for the sudden visit.

However, Emerald just smiled and told them not to worry about it.

The royal princess of Phylargia kingdom is Emerald Phylargia.

She has light-pigmented golden hair with a loose veil over it; it is quite long and reached her waist. She has gentle drooping yellow-green eyes. Her face reveals her warmth.

Her dress was made of multiple layers of cloth which reminds one of a tribal clothes and her hair was parted in the centre, with a jewel circlet on top of her forehead.

“I’m happy to be able to talk to Lady Tiararose. Also, it’s the first time they have visited here, right?”

“Yes. They are my companions.”

After Aquasteed said that, Elliot and Tarmo took a step forward.

“Nice to meet you, Lady Emerald. I’m the aide of King Aquasteed, Elliot Coralsia. I look forward to making acquaintances with you.”

“I’m Lady Tiararose’s bodyguard knight Tarmo.”

“It’s a pleasure meeting both of you.”

Next, she looked at Keith, expecting Tiararose to introduce him.

-Should I keep it a secret that he’s the forest fairy king?

Tiararose was troubled as to what to do when Keith opened his mouth first.

“I’m the forest fairy king, Keith. I have blessed Tiara and Aqua with happiness and am now accompanying them here.”

“–!”

Emerald opened her eyes wide at Keith’s words. After that she immediately bowed.

“It was rude of me to not recognize you, fairy king. I’m Emerald Phylargia. Please take your time here.”

“Yes, thank you.”

After they finished their greetings, the maids guided them to their respective rooms.

A refreshing wind blew into the room from the window and Tiararose’s long hair tickled her. After taking a deep breath, Tiararose sat down on the sofa.

“Phew… we have finally arrived in Phylargia.”

“Are you tired? There’s the dinner with the king afterwards so it’s better to rest for now.”

“No, I’m fine!”

Tiararose wanted to find clues for Luciarose’s location as soon as possible and it’s not the time to rest now; Aquasteed smiled wryly at how Tiararose was behaving.

“I understand your feelings but…”

Aquasteed took the fruits water which was prepared and sat down next to Tiararose.

“In a while, there’s the welcome dinner by the king and in order to have a proper conversation then, it’s important to rest right now; I think we’d be able to take our time later after that so let’s find clues about the spirits then.”

“…Yes.”

Aquasteed gently rubbed Tiararose’s head and she nodded.

She then closed her eyes and wondered how she could get information about the Slyph. Right then, she suddenly felt sleepy.

“Ah…”

“Hmm?”

“…No. It’s just that I suddenly felt sleepy and it surprised me.”

“That’s normal considering how you have ridden the horse.”

Aquasteed smiled saying that it’s not strange.

“I’ll lend you my knees until dinnertime.”

“In that case, Aqua won’t be able to sleep…”

“I’m used to riding horses so it’d fine; also it relaxes me to have body contact with Tiara like this.”

Aquasteed claimed that’s why it’s fine and he pulled Tiararose towards his knees.

“It’s warm.”

“Do you think you can rest?”

“,,,Yes, I think I’d be energized.”

Tiararose giggled at Aquasteed’s question and closed her eyes once again.

She then immediately fell into a slumber.

***

Around one hour has passed and it’s time for the welcome dinner.

Philiane has not arrived yet so the royal castle maids have helped out with the preparations.

Tiararose wore a blue-colour lace dress with Marineforest’s special coral accessories. Her hair was tied up and she seems a little different from usual.

“Welcome to Phylargia, King Aquasteed and Lady Tiararose. I’m glad to meet you.”

“Thank you very much for arranging us to meet despite the sudden visit.”

“Thank you very much. I’m very glad to meet you.”

The person who has welcomed them to the dinner was the King Edmond Phylargia.

He has chestnut brown hair and long chin. His eyes were yellow-green like those of Emerald and were slightly droopy too. He’s lean and was around fifty years old.

He had Emerald at a late age and he spoils her a lot as the only daughter of his.

After ending the greetings, the peaceful dinner banquet has finally started.

With trifle talks, Edmond asked them about their visit.

“It’s about magic and cultural exchange… right? Phylargia is very rural so I’ve looked forward to today.”

Edmond said that and laughed.

Like he has just said, they have visited on the premise of magic and cultural exchange with Phylargia.

With these two as the topic, they would be able to talk more about the history and the wind magic power in a natural way.

Aquasteed smiled and shook his head, exclaiming that it’s not rural.

“Phylargia’s wind feels really good and the sight of windmills spinning in the streets was extremely beautiful. Was this place abundant with wind since before?”

“Yes. The wind is something that Phylargia is proud of and it has become an important part of our life. We have high mountains and deep valleys so wind often blows.”

“I see…”

Indeed, with such geographical landforms, it’s easy for wind to form.

Aquasteed thought about it and talked about history to Edmond. Who knows, the topic of Slyph might be brought up.

“Marineforest has fairies since the olden days, but we do not really have ruins or cultural treasures like that. Does Phylargia have something similar…?”

“If it’s about ruins, we have a few…”

Edmond replied Aquasteed’s question with a smile.

After that, he continued talking but unfortunately it was not the information that they were seeking for and the dinner ended.

Even so, it seems like Edmond does not know about Slyph.

***

Tiararose and the others returned to their rooms and took a breather after changing their clothes.

“We weren’t able to get any information…”

“Yes… It seems like King Edmond really does not know about that,”

“I wonder if Slyph is not in this country. I thought that he might know about the location of Gnome.”

With no clues, they have to think about their next step.

However, right now, they have to confirm if Luciarose’s magic power was in the vicinity. Tiararose, Aquasteed and Keith headed to the rooftop.

“Keith, can I leave it to you?”

“Yes, Aqua. You should do it together too.”

“I got it.”

From now on, they are going to sense for Luciarose’s magic power in this country. They might not know about her precise location, but it might provide some clue.

Keith was concentrating and light green magic lights floated up in the surrounding. Aquasteed did the same and golden light started to float.

Tiararose was captivated by this scene.

–Amazing.

However, while she was thinking of that, the voice of a third party “amazing!” echoed.

“Is this the light of magic? It’s extremely beautiful.”

“Princess Emerald!?”

Emerald looked relaxed but Tiararose and the others were panicking.

That’s because they know they’re acting suspiciously as they’re using magic on the rooftop. Perhaps, she might think that they were trying to cause harm to this country.

“Ah, damn it, I didn’t notice since I’ve focused on finding Lucia.”

“Princess Emerald’s presence is thin…”

Keith and Aquasteed muttered softly and decided to abort their plans.

What excuses should they make? However, before they could do so, the princess surprised them.

“I can do it too. Hey, Slyph, please lend me some power.”

Emerald said that and a dim light covered her entire body. There’s a gentle and yet strong yellow-green light which reminds one of the wind.

It was extremely beautiful and ethereal- but it’s not the time to be captivated by them. That’s because Emerald just said something that they could not overlook.

“Wind spirit–!?”

Along with Tiararose, the three spoke in unison.

Right then, Emerald’s eyes started to sparkle.

“Eh, you guys know about Slyph? Well, thinking about it… there are fairies in Marineforest so it’s not strange for you guys to know about the existence of spirits.”

Emerald smiled wryly and stretched her hands out into the air.

“Welcome, Slyph.”

“—What, Emerald?”

After a small breeze, the wind spirit Slyph took Emerald’s hand and appeared.

“You might misunderstand and think that I’ve used magic, but I just borrowed the Slyph’s power. I didn’t expect the truth to be out.”

“…Who are these people? One of them doesn’t seem to be human.”

The wind spirit Slpyh.

Slpyh has yellow-green hair tied up in a ponytail. She’s a young lady with determined green eyes and appears to be in her late teens.

She wears extremely revealing outfit and looked like she’s judging them.

Tiararose was worried as she thinks she’s not leaving a good impression, but Keith next to her just laughed.

“That’s perfect. We happened to have something we need to ask Slyph about.”