The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent

“Lucas, what do you think about Sylvia?”

“Uh?”

At the sudden question, Lucas struck a blank expression. What did he think about Sylvia?

However, there must have been some meaning behind the Emperor’s words. At the very least, it wasn’t just some casual inquiry about his opinion. No matter how he answered about his thoughts on Sylvia, there would surely be other directives from the Emperor.

If he showed even a hint of not understanding Sylvia properly here, Lucas could be classified as a “useless human” by the Emperor.

Well, considering that Jayden, who was hopelessly clueless, didn’t get treated that badly, it might be a bit of an overreaction.

“……”

So, Lucas pondered about Sylvia.

With her unchanging expression and always polite manners, if Lucas were to even touch her, she would retaliate immediately. At first glance, her personality might seem bad, but she actually had a gentle side. Especially towards Alice, she was rather dull.

It didn’t seem like it was simply because they were the same age. Sylvia, who strangely had an adult-like demeanor for her age, often acted as if she were taking Alice’s place. If there was something to be considerate about, she would indeed be considerate, and if there was something she could give way to, she would.

What’s more, she didn’t just apply this ‘usurping’ attitude to herself but extended it to all the “Emperor’s children.” Even if it was someone else’s turn after Lucas or Jayden, if it overlapped with Alice’s chance, Sylvia would shield Alice like a shield so that she could benefit first.

Unfortunately, it seemed Crown Princess Alice was completely oblivious to Sylvia’s feelings.

Just recently, it was supposed to be Lucas’s turn to have an audience with the Emperor after Sylvia. Lucas himself didn’t have much to say, but the Emperor seemed to have something important to discuss.

Yet Sylvia casually sent Alice in first.

…… If Sylvia hadn’t sent her in but rather Alice barged in on her own, she would have been scolded by the Emperor. However, since the Emperor knew Sylvia had sent her in, he didn’t blame Alice.

And in truth, Alice would likely have noticed it subconsciously. That’s why she was getting even more irritated with Sylvia.

If Sylvia were truly an emotionless automaton, Lucas would not have interpreted her actions as ‘having a gentle heart’. He would have thought of it rather as a mechanical action to protect the Emperor’s only real blood.

But Sylvia was not a heartless wind-up doll. She would get annoyed if Lucas or Jayden bothered her, and would run away, dodging around. Of course, the way she did it was not just the innocent game of hide-and-seek of a “child,” but approached the level of a skilled infiltrator hiding and lying in wait.

It was like that when she returned from her mission this time as well.

Sylvia had a rather displeased expression. At first glance, one might think it was because Lucas was beside her, but in Sylvia’s hand was a newspaper with a huge headline about the Count being murdered.

She had already witnessed Sylvia kill someone before, but… this murder was not a random act. It was an assassination thoroughly planned and executed by Sylvia herself.

“Her heart… is a bit… gentle?”

“Ooh.”

At Lucas’s evaluation, the Emperor lifted his tail slightly, smiling.

“Did something go wrong?”

That smile felt weirdly uncomfortable, so Lucas asked with a slightly playful tone. Of course, Lucas always had a playful demeanor in front of anyone.

“No, that’s not it. In some sense, it aligns with my thoughts.”

But if his thoughts matched perfectly, there wouldn’t have been a need for phrases like ‘in some sense.’

“Isn’t that why Your Majesty was soft on Sylvia? You know her personality…”

The Emperor could be so cold-blooded as to order a twelve-year-old to assassinate the Count, but at the same time, he was genuinely affectionate toward children, or at least that’s how it appeared to Lucas, who had been with him since childhood.

If he had thought Sylvia would fail, he wouldn’t have entrusted such a mission to her.

“That might be true.”

The Emperor gave another ambiguous answer.

As Lucas looked up at the Emperor with a blank stare, the Emperor asked again.

“Lucas. Can you imagine beating Sylvia?”

“That’s—”

He was going to say, obviously, but Lucas stopped.

“……”

And soon became serious in thought.

Could he beat Sylvia?

No, this was not about emotional evaluation but simply assessing it based on skill.

He wasn’t sure what would happen if Sylvia didn’t wield a weapon. Whenever Lucas swung his sword at Sylvia, she always did her best to evade it. When measuring physical abilities, Lucas had a slight upper hand, but given that Sylvia was only twelve years old, it was to be expected.

But… he couldn’t imagine a moment when Sylvia wasn’t armed.

From the day she was first brought here in her childhood, Sylvia had always been armed.

No, there were moments when she wasn’t armed. When attending important events or needing to wear attire that wouldn’t allow her to hide a weapon. At least when she was comfortably resting, it seemed like she wouldn’t be armed.

But still—

Oddly, Lucas felt that when it came to fighting someone, Sylvia didn’t strike as someone who would be defenseless.

It wasn’t because he had never seen Sylvia fight with her bare hands.

It was just that he felt confident that whenever he intended to ‘fight’ against Sylvia, she would always ‘certainly’ be armed. Perhaps when he really tried to attack, Sylvia wouldn’t be there, and the area would be rigged with bombs, and the actual Sylvia would likely be far away, aiming an Ergensense rifle at the back of Lucas’s head—he had this strange certainty.

Because that’s how Sylvia had always acted.

Even when he thought she could never see him, she would evade him by a mere half-step at the moment she lunged.

Even if she approached stealthily enough that even the Imperial Guard wouldn’t notice, Sylvia would effortlessly realize Lucas’s position.

As if she were reading the future.

“Yeah, I feel the same way.”

As if he understood what Lucas was thinking, the Emperor nodded.

“No matter what I do, even if I imagine summoning thousands of soldiers to kill her, I cannot imagine ‘an unprepared Sylvia’. If I were to lay a plan that she could never evade, surely Sylvia would not be there. In my mind, that’s how Sylvia exists.”

The Emperor leaned toward Lucas as he spoke.

“Now, let me ask again. Do you think Sylvia is just gentle-hearted?”

“……”

“Yeah, maybe that’s it. Maybe despite having the capability to swiftly eliminate everyone in this Imperial Palace just with her small body, she refrains from doing so. Perhaps it’s because we feel ‘sorry’ for her. But do you think ‘that’ Sylvia is really acting like that?”

“…Uh…”

Lucas hesitated to answer.

“The reason I told you to kill the Count this time was precisely because of that. I did not pass any information to Sylvia regarding the Count. I just said ‘kill him’. I didn’t tell her how to do it or why. And I entrusted you with the surveillance mission. The reason I chose the Count is simply because he was someone Sylvia would extremely loathe.”

Indeed, Sylvia had previously been involved in supplying orphans for ‘sale’. If she had had the insight she possesses now back then, she would never have thought of that place just as an orphanage.

And she would not have burned that place down in such a way.

“If Sylvia weren’t an emotional being, she would have certainly removed the Count as per my command and returned. Yet, somehow, Sylvia figured out only a few days later that the Count was a customer of that orphanage. Moreover, she blew up every carriage following him. Do you understand what this means?”

The Emperor leaned even closer toward Lucas.

“Sylvia… means that she’s not by my side thinking of my interests or what benefits it brings to the country. She’s simply here because she wants to do what she wants to do right now, and in reality, she has a very self-centered personality. Think about it. If the Count had been a good man, someone who loved the people of his territory, how would Sylvia have acted? Do you think it would have been possible to stop Sylvia even if she disobeyed my orders to protect the Count?”

That was hard to say.

He couldn’t know, but… he didn’t think she would have acted like this as she did this time.

“Do you plan to… eliminate Sylvia?”

At Lucas’s question, the Emperor burst into hearty laughter. As he looked at the Emperor in shock, the Emperor said,

“Oh my, I’m so sorry. That’s a misunderstanding. On the contrary, I think that’s why I find Sylvia charming. In reverse, as long as we cater to Sylvia’s whims, she will continue to be here. And she will bring victory to us. Oh my, it seems I need to be even more careful as a father from now on.”

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