# 127
Andean also turned with a frozen face.
“Who are you...?”
His eyes fell on Dearyn's face.
Dayarin felt her intestines contract due to the intensity of tension. Vandine was a great character capable of manipulating her life as he pleased.
But Diaren hid her nervousness, and deliberately smiled wider.
“I apologize for my bold intervention. I couldn’t contain my excitement and rushed in unintentionally.”
“Who are you?”
“A close friend of His Highness the First Crown Prince... This description is appropriate, I think.”
Undyne wasn't asking about her name, but about her relationship with Sirius. So Diaren put emphasis on her relationship with him.
“A close friend? It seems that my brother was not only fighting on the battlefield, but also made friends.”
Andean said sarcastically.
The smile was still drawn on his mouth in front of everyone, but his eyes were completely devoid of any trace of laughter. Deyarin's piercing gaze was chillingly cold.
But Dayarin did not back down.
Although Undyne could end her life in an instant, Dearyn was accustomed to living in this kind of danger.
She nearly died when she was cast out barefoot in the winter due to a quarrel with her brother, almost starved to death after being kicked out of the temple for defying the High Priest, and was almost killed on the battlefield several times due to irrational orders.
'Anyway, I'll be dead sooner or later!'
Deyarin has had nothing to lose for a long time.
The survivors will remain alive no matter what happens, but those who are destined to die will die.
Even the rabid dog that almost killed her eventually became her pet.
The Second Prince wouldn't draw his sword and attack her right away, right? So seize the opportunity and resist as much as you can.
"Yes, that's true. When you don't know when you're going to die, there's no room for lying. The heart opened, and the relationship became a friendship. And if we each saved each other's lives, there is no greater friendship than that."
Although their meeting on the battlefield was a lie, they were on the same side, on the same front, and perhaps they met by chance. This is enough to be considered the beginning of a relationship.
Although there was a time difference, they actually saved each other's lives.
They had faced death many times in the war, and Deyarin had almost died several times because of it in the palace as well.
“I didn't lie.”
Deyarin said it with complete confidence.
“Friendship, then friendship.”
It was clear that Andin did not quite believe what she said.
His sharp gaze was scanning her as if he was trying to detect if she was part of an enemy force recruited from somewhere.
“You wandered around the battlefield with your thin body... How come I haven't heard stories about your bravery before?”
He was now trying to question its history and credibility.
But Dayaren had already experienced that suffering, so she couldn't bear to try to deny it.
“This is because His Highness the Second Prince was always in safe places.”
She said it irritably, and Undyne was shocked by it.
…Madness seems to be contagious.
Those present heard the sound of their intermittent breathing everywhere. Even Sirius turned to look at Dearen.
They decide to act crazy together, but she's the only one who seems to have lost her mind.
“Even with a weak body, there is a lot that can be done on the battlefield. And by that I do not mean the things that Your Highness might have in mind that happen on the bed.”
Dearyn's sudden words made Undyne's eyes shake.
Her phrase “over the bed” indicated that Deyarin knew something, which was very disturbing to him.
That in itself wasn't important. The matter related to the Third Prince had been settled by the Emperor. Nothing will happen even if we talk about it again now.
But the problem is that Deyarin seems to know about it.
This means that the Emperor supports her.
Undyne narrowed his eyes.
“She seems like a very competent, close friend.”
"Yes."
Deyarin answered without hesitation.
It was a confident answer that astonished Undyne himself.
But Deyarin remained steady, nodding her head.
“I may not be good at many things, but I have great confidence in my competence.”
“Are you as good at using a sword as the soldiers of the Eighth Battalion?”
“It's not a killing sword, it's a saving sword. And I'm rather good at it.”
If the sword of justice used against evil people is considered a sword, then she is good at using it.
Deyarin was skipping a lot of details, but she tried to find any resemblance. It saves lives, and that's enough.
No one would ask her to perform surgery here and now, so she could pretend without worry.
In fact, there are many women on the battlefield.
Not only the prostitutes who followed the soldiers, but also those who worked in cleaning, washing, sewing, and cooking, and they were often women. The priests are all women, as are many female doctors.
“...a doctor then.”
“Yes, the soldiers of the Eighth Unit who fight in the most dangerous places are the ones most vulnerable to injuries. I saved his life when he was about to die. There is no closer relationship than that between the one who saved his life and the one whose life was saved.”
There was no loophole in Deyarin's words.
However, Endean couldn't shake a suspicious feeling. There must be something else.
As he thought back, he remembered the moment he tried to make fun of Sirius' hair color. At that moment, his focus was on Sirius, he didn't even notice Dearen, but now he realized that she was right.
“The doctor seems to have other skills, doesn't she?”
Endin couldn't believe that Dearyn was just an ordinary doctor. Every suspicious behavior on her part was enough to arouse his suspicions.
Even if there was a real connection between her and Sirius from the days of the war zone, it would not be enough to justify her presence now in the heart of the palace's conflicts. There must be something bigger behind it. It must be discovered quickly.
“Oh, you mean it.”
Dearyn said as she looked at Endean's finger that pointed at Sirius' hair, and smiled weakly.
“When you roll in the middle of battle, you learn some side tricks.”
She wondered to herself if classifying her holy powers as 'tricks' was blasphemous, but she quickly abandoned the idea, staring fixedly into Endean's eyes.
In fact, Deyarin's plan was solid and complete even before she entered the room. No matter how Endean tried to attack her now, she was ready.
“So… my brother must be lucky to have a loyal friend who also has those tricks.”
Endean took a step back. He had no choice but to insist on questioning any further would make him look ridiculous.
“Of course, I'm probably the greatest gift he's ever received.”
Dearyn laughed loudly and looked around.
Her laugh was so loud that the others, despite their nervousness, couldn't help but smile with her.
Even Endine's frozen lips had to force a smile.
"So, have a good time. I have to retire now."
Although what he did was a retreat, Endin turned around gracefully and quietly left the concert hall.
As the Second Crown Prince exited, his entourage immediately followed, including the Deputy High Priest, Mirian.
“Didn’t that woman use a holy power?”
Mirian is still amazed. The young man and his friend, who had come to her asking to forget the pain of love, now appeared as the first crown prince and his closest confidant! Real shock.
She still couldn't understand why they tried to deceive her in the first place. No matter how hard you tried to think, you couldn't come up with a logical explanation. Her mind was a complete mess, just like Endine's.
“I met her in person once. I even held her hand.”
Endean said as he quickened his steps towards the Second Crown Prince's Palace, giving Mirian a sidelong glance.
Being a priestess, she must have a good knowledge of holy power.
"I didn't feel any holy energy from her. I don't think she's a priestess."
Mirian is confident in her strength. She is, after all, the most powerful priestess in the palace temple.
If there was a stronger priestess than her who appeared on the battlefield, she would definitely know about it.
"Witches in the alleys use similar tricks. Conjuring books and a few ingredients can create an effect that looks real. I think that's what happened."
“So, the First Crown Prince surrounded himself with a cheap street witch?”
"Maybe she was just part of his entrance scene, and she may have real abilities in secret. Or maybe he already has a deep friendship with her."
“Hah! What does he intend to do in the palace with that naive thought?”
Endain bitterly mocked Mirian's innocent assumptions.
He was convinced that Deyarin was hiding something bigger.
friendship? trust?
It's all worthless. The First Crown Prince's return with such force must have huge support behind him.
“Was Sirius really part of Unit Eight?”
“…I will investigate.”
Both of them, except for the first period, were not close to the war zone and did not know the details themselves.
The eighth unit brought together soldiers from different backgrounds without distinguishing between identities, and was managed in a way that made it difficult to distinguish who remained and who died.
They trained, fought, and were drawn to rest as a herd, without distinction or tracking.
“Find the truth no matter what it takes.”
He should have eliminated her in front of him immediately. He left her, and now the problem is getting worse.
Worse still, the commander in charge died in the final battle, so the mission was handed over to Robin, who ruined everything.
He was negligent. He thought that those who remained were just broken dogs not worth following.
Endin made an angry sound as he clenched his tongue with his teeth, then continued down the dark corridor.
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