Volume 3
Chapter 6 – Love at First Sight
Almost half a day has passed since I sent out Fran.
Though it worries little, I can do nothing but hope.
Regretfully, the only thing we could do right now is wait for the good news.
“Allan-sama, would you like another cup?”
Cecil took the empty cup placed in front of me.
“I’ll have another. How is Effie?”
I asked for the other companion of ours.
“If it’s her, she has gone crazy for some reason about some play with the innkeeper here”
“Oh, that one……Well, it’s better than going out without having a goal in mind”
Though the old innkeeper was surprised for the fact that I was an elf, when he saw Effie, he went at loss for words.
Here is a rarer being than an elf, a spirit.
And those two right now, are going crazy about a chess-like game.
They should have been done around noon, but was it still going on?
“It looks like you’ve been abandoned after losing to you, Allan-sama.”
“I’m troubled that I couldn’t refute about that”
I was also invited to have a match with them, in which I easily won over them.
Though it’s vexing for them, I actually had an intensive training on this by my father.
That ‘going easy on someone’ didn’t fit in my dictionary anymore.
While I was lost in thoughts, someone knocked the door.
“Yes, who is it”
“Cecil, it’s me”
“Fran-san! I’m going to open it now”
As soon as Cecil opened the door, there revealed the figure of Fran as I saw her in the morning.
“Thanks for the good work, Fran. You can rest for the time being.”
I urged her to sit on a chair, but she shook her head side to side.
“Before that, I have a child that I want to introduce to you first”
“A child you want to introduce?”
“Yes. Helena, you can come in”
As she gave the signal, a girl appeared from the other side of the door.
She stood at the entrance, then lowered her head to us.
“N-nice to meet you! My name is Helena……”
She introduced up to that point……and stopped there.
After landing her eyes on me, she stared, wide eyed.
“Wow……it’s really like the prince of my dreams……”
We couldn’t help but smile wryly at her reaction.
“Well, I’m a real prince though”
“Uwaa, it talked!”
“Heyhey, I’m a genuine elf you know. Of course I could eat and talk”
“Ah! I-I’m sorry…… I thought you were a statue for a moment”
“Quite an amusing one, this kid”
I stood up and went in front of Helena.
“I’m Allan. Prince of the Country of Elves. Nice to meet you, milady. I thank the heavens above to be able to meet such a wonderful woman today”
After that, I knelt, took her hand and kissed it.
Though that was pretty theatrical, seeing Helena with her eyes sparkling made me want to try something from her expectations.
But somehow, it feels like a shoujo manga though……
“Hawaaa……”
Helena was…… quite blown away, or so it would seem.
“An Elf Prince…… a real Elven Prince……”
“O oi, are you alright?”
“Eh? Ah yes! I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay. For now, please sit next to Fran”
Helena walked to Fran with a tense gait.
After confirming it, I returned to my seat.
I immediately drew the main subject.
“So, Fran. Is Helena the key?”
“Yes, I think so. If it works well, you may meet the king in a few days.”
“To that extent …”
If you look at the security of this town, the area around the king should be more strictly guarded.
To be able to receive an audience smoothly like this is pretty remarkable.
However, no matter how I look at Helena’s appearance, she didn’t give a noble-like vibe at all.
“Uhm, I’m sorry but, I couldn’t understand well what you are saying”
Helena raised her hand with a question.
“Oh yeah. We have to explain the issue yet to Helena.”
That being said, I told Helena the purpose of the trip and the circumstances leading up to this point.
“… Amazing, world peace! Really like a fairy tale!”
“There will be enemies and obstacles that will stand before us if it’s a fairy tale, so I don’t really want it to appear like one, especially in front of me.”
“I agree. I also don’t want my head to be bitten of by some kind of dragon”
I and Helena nodded mutually.
Well, this is better than an assassin aiming at the branch, or a princess who has quite the circumstances behind her.
“And, to exchange branches of the King Tree, I need to meet with the King here-”
“We would like Helena to cooperate with that.”
“Oh, I understand!”
Helena immediately agreed to the words of me and Fran.
“Really? But I think I haven’t explained it further yet.”
It seems that Fran who was the one who invited her was also surprised by this.
“It’s amazing to be able to cooperate with the elves, and moreover the prince itself! I will do it!”
Helena’s eyes shone brightly as ever.
“So, Fran-oneesan. What should I do?”
“Well, that’s …”
Fran thought about it.
“Nevertheless, an oneesan, huh”
To the extent that the figure that was closing her heart for a while ago seemed to be a lie.
“Prince, please stop laughing”
“Who’s laughing here? Isn’t it good, oneesan?”
“Geez……”
Oh, Fran threw a tantrum.
“Ah, uhmm……”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Can I call Prince-sama oniisan too?”
“So it leads to this, huh. Well, because we will be companions from now on, you can call me oniisan or oniichan or aniki or whatever you like”
To tell the truth, I was an only child, so I never had the experience of having brothers and sisters.
Calling me like this, it felt quite comfortable.
As I thought about that, the door was suddenly opened.
Allan-kun, let’s have a match again!”
Thus entered Effie.
In my hand was a pawn of the board game.
Well, it seems that the special training with my father has finally kicked in once again.
“If I win, I’m allowed to monopolize you tonight. Deal?”
“That was a quite one-sided deal, however”
“My my, do you dislike me now?”
“Of course not”
Cecil, Fran, and Effie. I’m happy to be partnered with anyone of them.
“Uhm, what does that mean?”
Fran asked Helena, who seem to not understand the situation.
“If you win the game, you can be alone with the prince.”
“Eh…… wait… eeeeeeeh!?”
“Ara, does the child over there also want to participate?”
“No, Helena is …”
“I-It’s my first time, so if Onii-san is okay with it……”
When I was about to stop her, the person in question suddenly blurted that out of the blue.
“Ufufufufu, so, what will you do, Allan-kun?”
“Onii-san……”
Don’t tell me, Helena’s actions until now is because……
Did she fell in love at first sight? With me?”
Well, I’m happy about god’s will turning in my favor, and I don’t have any reason to decline either.
“I understand. I will take responsibility if anything happens”
When I told her that, she happily accepted it.
