The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Meeting Charlotte outside the meeting hall turned out to be more difficult than expected.

Unlike the Emperor and Alice, whose relationship was strained and one-sided—where Alice clung to the Emperor almost desperately—Charlotte and the King shared a much healthier father-daughter bond. While it wasn’t as warm as an average family’s relationship, familial affection undeniably existed.

And because of that, the King had likely predicted that Charlotte would try to help me.

To prevent this, he must’ve thought the best course of action was to keep us from meeting altogether.

Of course, such “methods” didn’t work on me. Unless my abilities were nullified, I could rewind time as many times as I needed to.

Additionally, I could now pull off things I never would’ve imagined in my old world. Back when I was a company worker with a growing belly, the thought of sneaking onto rooftops or rappelling down windows wouldn’t have even crossed my mind. But in this world, I’d undergone all kinds of training.

So climbing up onto the roof near Charlotte’s room, securing a rope, and descending down to her window was perfectly doable.

“...”

Charlotte didn’t seem like she was confined to her room. More likely, she’d simply been told, “Don’t meet with those people.”

Seated in a chair, her expression was dark, though she didn’t appear thin or pale. Then again, it had been less than a day since I’d last seen her.

“You might be the only princess in the world who scales rooftops just to see a friend’s face.”

Charlotte opened the window for me, her tone sardonic.

I didn’t bother responding and quietly slipped inside.

Charlotte’s room was... pristine. Of course, my room back in the Imperial Palace had been equally spotless. There was no reason for a royal’s room to be messy when servants cleaned it hourly.

However, the atmosphere of Charlotte’s room was warmer, more feminine compared to mine or Alice’s. It wasn’t necessarily “girly” but carried a certain elegance.

The predominant aesthetic of this world was Victorian-inspired, albeit refined with a more modern sense of design. Still, there was no avoiding that slightly antiquated charm.

For instance, the chairs prepared for guests were embroidered with floral patterns, and the table had several ornate decorations. It was tasteful—luxurious without being excessive.

“Did you come here because of what’s happening outside?”

Charlotte’s question broke the silence as I surveyed her room.

“Not exactly. I came to check if you’re alright.”

“...I’m in my room, in my home. Why wouldn’t I be alright?”

Judging by her expression, though, she didn’t look alright.

With everything happening, I was sure her mind was overflowing with worries. Still, telling her that outright wouldn’t do much good.

“Considering there’s someone climbing rooftops and sneaking into a princess’ room in broad daylight, I’d say things aren’t quite alright.”

I couldn’t exactly tell her, “You don’t look okay,” so I opted for a joke instead.

“...”

And, of course, the joke backfired magnificently.

“I heard an explosion outside a moment ago.”

“...”

Uh.

Well, that had happened.

There had been snipers positioned on the roof, so I’d set off a small explosion to distract them.

“It was outside the palace and in an empty area. It’ll just blow over as a minor incident.”

I answered calmly, and Charlotte shot me a glare—

—only for that glare to melt into a sudden laugh.

“Pfft.”

Her laughter, starting as a soft snort, quickly turned into genuine mirth. It wasn’t a sarcastic laugh, either. Judging by how it grew louder, Charlotte truly found the situation hilarious.

“...Haah.”

After laughing for some time, Charlotte looked at me—now frozen in place—and spoke with an incredulous tone.

“Unbelievable. Isn’t the person sneaking into a princess’ room in situations like this usually a prince who’s fallen in love with her?”

“If setting off explosives and climbing through windows are crimes, then I’ll accept responsibility for those. But that part? Not my fault.”

If I’d ever been given a choice between becoming a devastatingly handsome man or an extraordinarily beautiful woman, I would’ve proudly chosen to stay a man.

*

The commotion in the meeting hall had subsided, but in truth, the kingdom didn’t have many options.

After all, someone had to investigate the Holy Nation.

Of course, that didn’t mean we’d be marching in today or tomorrow. There were mountains of issues to sort out first: the kingdom’s stance, the divide between the royal family and the nobles, the chaos slowly spreading in the Empire, and the confusion within the imperial military, whose supreme commander had vanished. Those problems wouldn’t disappear just because we’d decided to “go to the Holy Nation.”

Moreover, while the nobles had held their tongues in front of me, I’d heard they’d erupted into arguments as soon as I left the room.

But still, there was no alternative.

If the light rising from the Holy Nation vanished and the Emperor emerged unscathed, this would all blow over as a harmless misunderstanding.

Yet few among the kingdom’s leadership seemed optimistic. Despite the rhetoric about maintaining ties with the Holy Nation, at the end of the day, it was still another country. And while many nobles were devout followers of the Goddess’ faith, plenty of others were not.

Ignoring the situation entirely would be a blow to the kingdom’s pride.

“Besides, Iberia has started to move as well.”

Charlotte slid a sheet of paper across the table toward me. It featured a photo capturing the Holy Nation’s distant situation and a brief report on the Iberian Kingdom.

The Holy Nation was a small city-state nestled between Belvur and the Iberian Kingdom. Like Belvur, Iberia was heavily influenced by the Goddess’ faith. However, perhaps because of that, Iberia was pushing to “verify” the situation in the Holy Nation.

Given the Holy Nation’s history, Belvur had a stronger justification to investigate, as the territory had originally been ceded to the Holy Nation through negotiations with Belvur.

Still, delaying would only work against us. The longer we waited, the more nations would begin to take an interest in the Holy Nation’s affairs.

“This doesn’t look like a newspaper.”

“Belvur has already adopted some advanced technologies where it matters. Believe it or not, we have a few aircraft of our own. During the hours you were sleeping, there was ample time to gather information. There’s even an embassy in Iberia. It’s not quite on the Empire’s level, but still.”

“No, it’s not that.”

I pushed the paper back toward Charlotte.

“The Empire relies too heavily on the Emperor. It’s not that we lack intelligence divisions or that the military and nobles are incapable of gathering information, but...”

Ultimately, the Emperor was the one holding the most critical pieces of information, and he rarely shared it. Those tasked with gathering intelligence were often individuals dispatched directly by the Emperor himself, not imperial agents.

“Is that so?”

Charlotte smiled faintly at my explanation—an expression that was surprisingly pleased.

“Are you sure it’s alright to show me this kind of information?”

“Didn’t you come here because you wanted to hear it?”

Her words made me pause.

Well... not exactly. I’d come to see if she was alright.

As the King had predicted, Charlotte wouldn’t be able to follow us. In the original storyline, Belvur had been in complete chaos, so the kingdom couldn’t keep track of Charlotte’s whereabouts, which allowed her to travel with the party. But now? Belvur was less chaotic than the Empire.

Even if she couldn’t come with us, I just wanted to see her face and talk to her.

Not just Charlotte—everyone else in the group, too.

“...”

Seeing me lost in thought, Charlotte furrowed her brows again.

“For the record, even if you tell me to ‘stay here,’ I’m not going to.”

While not on Alice’s level, Charlotte was still perceptive when it came to reading the mood. Perhaps that was her royal blood at work.

“The kingdom will go to great lengths to keep you here.”

I pointed out the obvious, and Charlotte’s gaze flickered toward the window.

The window where my rope still dangled.

...Uh-oh.