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“Ah, Cyril. You came to see me today as well?”

“…Fol, please stop it with the scandalous jokes.”

Even though Fol had escaped her fate of an untimely death, she was still in the Student Council’s office all by herself, as usual—or, to be more specific, she was accompanied only by her maid, Lia. Could it be that she didn’t have any friends in her class?

“Hey, you are thinking of something rude just now, aren’t you?”

“Ah, I was wondering if perhaps you don’t have any friends…”

“This isn’t a situation where you can ‘be honest and you shall be forgiven’, you know? Although my illness was kept a secret, wouldn’t it be suspicious if I were to suddenly change my behaviour? So I am doing what I always have.”

“…I see. So you’re not denying that you don’t have any friends.”

“Are you trying to make me cry?”

“Comforting you would be too troublesome, so please forgive me.”

“…Geez, what do I do with you?”

She chuckled, laughing at me. I might have treated her like a loner earlier, but she was much more cheerful than the first time I had met her. It was proof that she now felt at ease.

“By the way, what did you actually come here for?”

“Truth be told, I have a favor to ask of you, Fol.”

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

“I haven’t even–”

“–said anything yet? But you saved my life, and, in the current circumstances, I can guess what favor you came to ask of me. Therefore–”

Right after Fol raised her index finger, there was a knock on the door behind me.

The visitor turned out to be Prince Lancelot, whom Fol had apparently sent for in advance. The favor I wanted to ask of Fol was to deliver a message to Prince Lancelot. The fact that Fol had foreseen this and sent for Prince Lancelot to come here for my aid—it could be summed up in four words: as expected of her.1

However–

“………….”

Prince Lancelot and I silently faced each other inside an adjacent room of the Student Council’s office. Apparently, this Prince had come running once he was summoned by his beloved Fol. But since Fol told him something along the lines of ‘I’m not the one who needs you to take care of something, it’s him,’ he looked somewhat sullen.

…Although his behaviour was appropriate for his age, and he did usually behave much more grown-up than Prince Alforth, I still thought it improper for a Prince to be sulking so openly. Ah, although, as a guy, I totally understood how he felt.

“So, what business does the butler have with me, then?”

“I’ll get straight to the point. Would you make a deal with me?”

“A deal with you, you say?”

He raised his eyebrow and then immediately signalled for his servants to leave. Although we were of the same sex, a situation in which a Prince and someone else’s servant were by themselves inside a private room was unprecedented. Apparently, he truly did seem to trust me, as someone who had saved his cousin’s life.

“Then, this deal you speak of, is it about Miss Sophia?”

“Yes. And for Your Highness’ information, it concerns Her Highness, Folcenia, as well.”

Prince Lancelot narrowed his eyes. At the same time, his aura took on a dangerous hue. He probably thought that I intended to use Fol’s treatment as a bargaining chip, in exchange for him blocking Lady Sophia’s marriage.

I purposefully let him misunderstand. If things stayed as they were, Fol would survive, but there was still a possibility that I\'d take Fol hostage, solely dependent on my mood. Even if that wasn’t the case, I wanted him to understand that, if I was gone, the same thing could happen. Also–

“Please take a look at this.” 

I held out a sheet of paper to him. Written down on it were the schematics of the magical tool that I wanted to develop.

“What… is this?”

Oops, I guess he wouldn’t understand just by seeing the schematics. I inadvertently ended up handling things like I usually did with Imperial Princess Charlotte.

“Broadly speaking, this is a magical tool that can pull out a person’s powers and store them in a magic stone.”

“Oh? Then, you mean to say that, if you had this tool, you could control the amount consumed by magic stones?”

“Yes. You could say that would be its primary function.”

When it came to the efficiency of converting powers, the overwhelmingly more efficient method was to directly use a spell. However, when—for example—someone had to use a light for a long period of time, it was much easier to install and activate a magical tool. In that sense, this magical tool would be able to reduce the amount consumed by magic stones.

“However, is that truly possible? I’ve never heard of storing powers into a magic stone before.”

“It’s possible. Nevertheless, even if it was impossible, that’s irrelevant. The important thing is the fact that the spell used within this tool is different from the ones developed so far.”

Spells to extract other people’s magic had existed since the old times. However, the amount of powers they could absorb was quite small, and so it was pointless to use it on people with high magical resistance. Therefore, Fol couldn’t use them. However, I was able to absorb her powers.

This didn’t mean that my talents were extraordinary. It was simply because the spell I used was from my previous world, so it was more efficient at absorbing magic than this world’s spells.

“…Hold on for a moment. If I’m not mistaken, you have certainly absorbed…”

“Her Highness Folcenia’s powers, yes.”

With his conjecture confirmed as fact, Prince Lancelot’s face lit up with astonishment and hope. 

The moment these feelings reached their peak, I said, “With this magical tool, it should be possible to draw out Her Highness, Folcenia’s powers.”

“I-is that true?! Is such a thing truly possible?!”

“There are some requirements that have to be met, but, as long as we can take care of those, the manufacturing of this power-absorbing magical tool is possible.”

Considering Fol’s magical resistance, it was more likely that the magic within the stone would be used to withdraw her powers rather than charge the stone. But it was certain that it could extract Fol’s powers. This meant that this tool could become an emergency measure in case that Fol became unable to release her own powers, for example, if she fell unconscious.

“That’s a wonderful idea. However, it’s meaningless if it’s impossible to actually manufacture it. What are the requirements that need to be met?”

“There are a few problems, but the biggest one is the device required. It needs the latest model of a design manufactured by the Flamefield Empire.”

“…I see. A device from the Flamefield Empire, huh? Since His Highness Harold and Her Highness Charlotte are here at the moment, I should be able to get my hands on it if I ask them for it.”

“I have a few conditions regarding that.”

I put the brakes on Prince Lancelot, who seemed about to run off right at that very moment. I requested for him not to disclose the true intended purpose of the device. Moreover, I requested that he obtained it through the LaCour Company, as I had prepared a fabricated intended use for it.

“Through the LaCour Company?”

“Yes, they’re a trustworthy company, so they’re the best choice for keeping the original purpose a secret.”

“…Alright. Is that the only condition?”

“There’s one more. I need at least two devices. Considering I might need spares, I would like to be provided with at least four.”

“Understood. If this will lead to Fol’s safety, I shall do as you say. So stopping Miss Sophia’s engagement is the requirement for acquiring this device, right?”

His statement seemed to heavily imply that this wasn’t a question, but confirmation. 

“Then, I’ll have to think of a reason that won’t lead to worsening our relationship with the Flamefield Empire, and convince my father, as well,” he muttered.

“No, you needn’t do that. I will prepare the data to persuade His Majesty the King.”

“…You will…? What are you saying?”

“Why do you think I want several devices, and requested for you to keep the reason for obtaining them a secret?”

“About that…”

He gave me a probing look, apparently wanting to say something. It seemed that he also knew about Lady Sophia’s Magical Overcharge Illness. Therefore, in response to this questioning gaze of his, I shook my head in denial.

“I intend on using a spare for her.”

I was always by Lady Sophia’s side, and besides, when dealing with someone like Lady Sophia, whose magical resistance was low, even other magic users could handle her disease. So it was a magical tool that, if possible, I would like to possess for Lady Sophia’s sake, but it wasn’t indispensable.

“Then, the other one is for… It can’t be. Ah, however…”

“I am not certain of it yet either. Therefore, I am still in the middle of gathering information.”

But, most likely, I wasn’t mistaken. Originally, according to ‘The Eve of the Festival’ of ‘Espressivo of Light and Darkness,’ these two Flamefield Empire Royals were supposed to come study here starting from next year.

However, they suddenly pushed their arrival forward. No matter how interested in a magical technique they might be and no matter how low their chances to inherit the throne were, it was very strange for them to rush here so quickly that they didn\'t even have the time to prepare their uniforms. Why were they in such a rush? The answer was in each and every one of Imperial Princess Charlotte’s deeds and words.

“…What a surprise. If it’s true, then that makes getting a bargaining chip for blocking Sophia’s engagement easier. Moreover, the Flamefield Empire would be indebted to us as well.”

“Then, do you accept the deal?”

“Sure. Follow your heart and create all havoc you desire.”

Thus, I made a deal with Prince Lancelot. I didn’t even get the chance to make use of the words ‘Dollmaker of Frau’ that I had prepared as my trump card. Hence, I decided to give it to him as a present the next time I got the chance.

Thank you for reading! A bit of a shorter chapter, but we got some pretty significant clues this time！

Next chapter is the final part of ‘Lady Sophia\'s Wish\' and it\'s a longer chapter, too! Interesting things are going to happen… :>

Loving all your comments, too! Always fun to go through them! I really appreciate every single one of them.

If you\'d like to support the translation, you can buy me a coffee!

1. raws say one word: ‘sasuga’ but I had to use more words, hence the change in number