Chapter 253: Princess talk 1

The heavy four-horse carriage rattled as its wheels rolled over the gravel incline of the hilly pass. Outside, the evening sun poured amber and violet hues across the rugged southern ridges, casting long, peaceful shadows over the path ahead.

Up on the driver’s bench, Cinon held the reins with steady, stone-faced focus, while Baron Kiliyan sat miserably beside him.

Inside the carriage, however, was a completely different world.

Eren sat slumped back against the velvet-tufted cushions, practically smothered beneath an avalanche of sleeping, breathtaking women. His battered limbs throbbed with a dull, hollow ache, but he didn’t dare shift an inch.

To his left, Aria had wrapped both of her slender arms around his forearm, her blue curls spilling across his sleeve, gripping his sleeve as though he might disappear again if she loosened her fingers for even a heartbeat.

Tucked against his right side, Norelia was curled up like a tired kitten, her petite frame pressed against his ribs, one small hand clutching the front of his dark linen shirt, her breathing soft and rhythmic against his neck.

And then there was Emma. The fierce, terrifying Swordmaster who had sworn to beat him within an inch of his life was now slumped completely against his right shoulder beside Norelia. Her wild pink bangs fell across her brow, her tanned cheek nestled softly into the crook of his collarbone as her arms circled him possessively in her sleep.

Eren gently leaned his head back against the cushion, looking down at their resting faces. Beneath the faint glow of the carriage’s mana lamp, the dark circles under their eyes were impossible to miss.

A quiet, profound warmth settled deep inside his chest. He lightly rested a hand over Emma’s fingers and gently tucked a stray strand of blue hair behind Aria’s ear.

"They didn’t sleep for an entire week."

The cold, melodic voice broke the silence of the carriage.

Eren looked at Princess Seraphina sitting opposite them. Her snow-white hair caught the faint lamplight. Curled beside her on the cushioned seat was the Shadow Cat cub.

A faint, crooked smile touched Eren’s bruised lips. "Yeah. I can see that."

Seraphina let out a slow, quiet sigh, her piercing ruby eyes searching his tired face before flicking toward the window. "Care to explain why you sent the Crown Prince and a bloodstained Saintess off into the southern countryside alone?"

Eren rested his chin lightly above Norelia’s head. "Because Rujgard wasn’t just a lawless border town having an administrative hiccup, Your Highness. It was involved with The Substance."

Seraphina’s fingers reflexively tightened against the silk fabric of her dress. Her red eyes hardened, the dark implications hitting her with icy clarity.

"The Substance..." she murmured, her voice dropping to a tense whisper. She took a breath, meeting his gaze. "Even so, all three Lords are dead. The fourth ran away. If the leadership is wiped out, what is the threat?"

Eren shook his head with a dry, bitter chuckle.

"Those four leaders were middle management."

His gaze darkened.

"There’s something far bigger lurking behind them. An abyss so deep that even the darkest ocean looks like a puddle. They call it the Syndicate."

Seraphina stared at him, her lips parting in quiet disbelief. "The Syndicate...?"

"Which is exactly why I couldn’t leave a trail connecting us," Eren explained softly, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the girls.

"Alice and I vanished from the Royal Academy at the same time. If Rujgard’s entire ruling class gets massacred, and twenty-four hours later the Holy Saintess and an infamous Academy troublemaker stroll back through the capital gates side-by-side... every informant with a brain will put the pieces together. Especially with Whisper out there, knowing full well a golden-haired girl used divine mana."

He tilted his head toward the southern window, where two distant horses were likely trotting through the valleys.

"So, we give them a decoy. Alice and Theo spent a week taking portraits of meadows, beaches, and taverns down south, establishing a loud, public, romantic alibi. And we took another detour as a group trip."

Seraphina leaned her head back against the carriage wall, looking at him with a mixture of exasperation and quiet fascination. A faint, elegant smirk touched her regal lips.

"The logic is absurdly theatrical," she murmured, her ruby eyes glittering softly in the dim light. "Completely unhinged. But... better than nothing."

Eren let out a soft snort, his eyelids growing pleasantly heavy under the steady rock of the carriage.

The carriage fell into silence, save for the steady rattle of the wheels and the faint, sleepy purr of the shadow cub curled beside Seraphina.

The princess shifted her gaze from the darkening hillside outside, her ruby eyes settling on the tangled heap of limbs across from her. Norelia’s small face was still buried in the linen over Eren’s ribs, her breathing tiny and steady, while Emma’s tanned arms were locked around his shoulder with an almost combative tenderness. On his other flank, Aria remained fast asleep, cheek pressed into his arm, guarding her territory even in slumber.

"It really is strange," Seraphina murmured, leaning her back against the tufted leather.

Eren barely opened one blue eye, his voice low so as not to disturb the weight on his chest. "Strange what, Your Highness? The fact that I make an exceptionally comfortable human pillow, or that I survived impossible territory?"

Seraphina folded her arms across her chest, the corner of her lips twitching with quiet skepticism. "All of it. Look at them, Eren."

Her gaze lingered first on the petite lecturer, then on the sleeping pink-haired warrior.

"Lady Norelia is the scholar who achieved top-tier spells that even a veteran mage couldn’t, also being a prodigy in mana engineering. And Emma..." Seraphina tilted her head slightly. "The youngest Swordmaster on the continent. Half the high knights in the Regulus Empire know her name, just like Sword Saint himself."

She met his blue eyes directly, her red gaze piercing.

"Yet here they are. Two generational prodigies, clinging to you like terrified maidens." Seraphina paused, a flicker of memory crossing her aristocratic features. "Do you know what happened when we first met up after your brothel stunt?"

Eren’s brow arched in genuine curiosity. "Enlighten me."

"Emma slapped her," Seraphina said plainly. "Right across the face. In front of my entire retinue. She grabbed Lady Norelia by the collar, shaking with rage, screaming at her for letting you run, demanding to know why she was kept in the dark while you gambled your life on conspiracies."

Eren went still. His hand resting over Emma’s knuckles tightened by a fraction.

"And do you know what happened five seconds later?" Seraphina continued, her voice quiet, almost fascinated. "Lady Norelia didn’t retaliate. She just took it, wiped her cheek, grabbed Emma’s wrist, and begged her to help to find your. They didn’t speak another word of blame."