Raising the Princess to Overcome Death

Chapter 199: The Beggar Siblings - Mentor

199: The Beggar Siblings - Mentor

The boundary between dream and reality is vague.

Lena, following her brother and ‘Sister Jenia,’ arrived at a theater, tilting her head in puzzlement. It was her first time there, yet it didn’t feel unfamiliar. When a chubby man questioned, "Is that your boyfriend?" Lena felt even more confused as she almost remembered his name.

Lena wandered around the busy theater, repeatedly muttering, "Huh?" and "What?" in dumbfounded surprise.

"Where have you been? It's about to start. Hurry and get ready."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll head to the dressing room right away. Leo, I need to go work for a bit. The shower room is over there."

She was starving.

As Jenia disappeared, Lena felt a desperate hunger. Washing up was good, but she could hardly endure the dizziness from hunger.

"Brother, I'm hungry..."

"Lena, let's just wash our faces and go eat first."Leo, entering the shower room, sat his sister on a chair in front of a wooden bathtub. He struggled briefly to fetch fresh water from the well, but his hunger left him weak.

Cursing the well for lacking a pulley, Leo grabbed a water jug with some water left in it. He tied his sister’s hair and said, "Let's wash your face. Lower your head." As he tried to wash her...

- Gulp.

Lena hurriedly drank from the water jug. Leo shouted, "Don't drink it!"

After much trouble, the face washing was done.

Although Lena was disappointed as she licked the water off her face, Leo quickly dried her face with a towel. He hastily washed his own face and went outside.

The Orange Theater had a cafeteria for the troupe members. It was a small annex attached to the theater. Despite washing their faces, they still looked like complete beggars and wouldn't be allowed to eat.

Leo pleaded with Ober, who guarded the theater entrance, to get permission from the cafeteria lady. The lady scolded,

"I told you not to bring beggars here!"

But Ober caught her interest by saying,

"He's Jenia’s boyfriend."

"Hmm~ Now that I look, he's quite handsome. Jenia must have high standards. She acted like she wasn’t interested in men... Oh my, this little girl is so pretty. Is she your sister?"

In the cafeteria lady’s fuss, the beggar siblings safely finished their meal.

Lena and Leo returned to the shower room. After washing with the fresh water they had painstakingly fetched, Ober brought them clothes.

They changed into the white priest robes and the flashy theatrical costumes they had worn in the last session, shedding their beggar appearance. Waiting for Jenia, they decided to watch the play.

There were plenty of seats available in the theater.

Today, the Rauno family members were all coming to watch the play together. Perhaps because it rained in the morning or the news of the play hadn’t spread well, only about half had arrived. They would arrive around the start of the second act.

The curtain rose, and the lights came on. Lena and Leo, sitting close to the stage, watched the play they had seen before.

While Leo pondered what to do next, Lena absentmindedly stared at the boy sitting next to her.

He looked familiar.

Old, worn-out memories. It felt like meeting an old friend, and she couldn't take her eyes off him. As the boy with curly hair, who seemed bored with the play, twisted around, he met Lena’s gaze.

In the dark theater, the boy and girl stared at each other. As the boy gathered the courage to speak, Jenia, dressed as 'Leicia,' the sister of Toddler Akiunen, shouted on stage,

"Your Majesty-! Make this man noble-!"

At that moment, she recommended 'Banun Launo' to the king.

"Hi there... Hello?"

"Oh, hi."

"Who are you? I'm Santian Rauno."

"I'm Lena. By the way... Have we met before?"

Santian shook his head. His heart raced as the incredibly pretty girl recognized him, but he answered honestly.

"No. This is the first time."

"I see... Well, nice to meet you. Can I call you Tian?"

"Huh? Well, sure. My friends all call me that. How old are you? I’m..."

"Shh! Santian, be quiet."

As he was cautiously starting a conversation, his parents beside him admonished him. However, their hush didn’t last long, and the boy and girl began whispering again, while Leo watched his sister with a complex expression.

- “I’m not a child!”

Why did I say that? In the previous playmate session, I told Rev, “Remember clearly. This isn’t about you. Let your sister do what she wants. She’s a hundred times better than us.” ─ throwing a warning to my future self.

Rev was dumbfounded.

He couldn’t understand his friend, who had become such a doting brother after a journey to gather barbarians, and neither could I. Even if I made all possible concessions, Lena was still young...

‘There’s no way he forgot his vow not to use his sister?’

I was puzzled. Only a few hours into this round, Leo, carrying traces of Minseo, kept the warning from the previous Leo de Yeriel session in his heart for now.

The urgent task was to regain {Bloodline}. It was the most clear path to making Lena a princess, and if I didn't take control of the Conrad Kingdom now, it would significantly hinder the next playmate scenario.

There was a high possibility that I had to clear all three scenarios: playmate, betrothed, and beggar siblings. Hence, in the last playmate round, I staged a rebellion in the Orun Kingdom, and the Conrad Kingdom intervened. It might have been because Prince Eric reacted overly sensitively due to the presence of Leo de Yeriel, but there was no guarantee the same thing wouldn't happen again.

Moreover, the next rebellion would involve not only clearing the playmate scenario but also the betrothed scenario, so thorough preparation was necessary. 18/22. There weren’t many chances left.

So, in this round, the task was... to defeat Eric de Yeriel, the prince who worships the terrifying evil god Oriax.

Leo shivered.

I remember the eye that stared at me through a hole in the dark night sky. Whenever the curiosity-filled rotten blood swirled, my body swayed with it, and the [Footprint of Oriax] debuff imprinted on my forehead caused me to dissolve.

Even though I had become a Swordmaster, he was still a formidable opponent. At best, I might be able to break through the protective shield that encased Prince Eric. But even that was uncertain.

Thus, I needed insurance.

Taking power would be straightforward enough by leveraging the legitimacy of the unjustly ousted prince, Leo de Yeriel, to seize control of the knights. What I needed was a card to help capture Prince Eric, and that was Cardinal Berg.

Cardinal Berg had defeated Prince Eric in the ending where I died to Oriax, and he had demonstrated immense power in the playmate round where he was an apostle of Barbatos.

Well... he did die without putting up much of a fight against Rev, but to be fair, the odds weren’t in his favor then. I wasn’t in great shape either.

In any case, if I could win over Cardinal Berg, the rest was a matter of time. If necessary, I could even kidnap the cardinal and throw him in front of Eric to force him into revealing his power. But that seemed a bit extreme, so Leo pondered more deeply.

There was a more conventional route through Cardinal Berg’s hidden son, Count Gustav Peter. Last time, I failed because I kissed Princess Chloe de Tatian...

‘Oh, wait.’

I also had to deal with Gilbert Forte. If left unchecked, he would get Lena expelled from the cathedral.

But that damned bastard... No, that guy was the son of Count Herman Forte, and messing with him carelessly would cause a huge uproar.

Although I was now a Swordmaster and could somehow handle it, delaying could risk Prince Eric de Yeriel ascending to the throne.

If that happened, it would be difficult to corner him. The danger of apostles worshipping evil gods was not just their power but the inability to prove they were apostles.

‘Is there a way to deal with Gilbert Forte without killing him or kissing Princess Chloe? Should I reveal that I’m a Swordmaster? No, that would get me stuck here.’

Leo wanted to leave Orville quickly. When he gathered knights to overthrow Prince Eric previously, it was partly due to a lack of time, but he also wanted to prevent Sir Bart from killing Philas Tertan.

‘Because of Harie Guidan.’

When I was an apostle of Barbatos, I had cruelly killed her, and seeing her return with empty eyes after losing her beloved was heart-wrenching. In the last playmate round, Harie was mesmerized by the {Bracelet of Barbatos} and never regained her senses.

I know I’m in no position to help anyone, but there were benefits to aiding her. Harie’s lover, Philas Tertan, was the grandson of Duke Lappert Tertan.

If Harie, the daughter of Marquis Guidan, and Philas were united, it could be helpful in the next rebellion during the playmate round.

However, Sir Bart's attack on Philas Tertan would occur in late autumn, far away at the Irotashi River in the Conrad Kingdom. I needed to hurry to prevent it. That’s why I hastily proposed to Jenia.

Leo pondered, 'I must also handle Katrina somehow...'

While thinking about what to do during their stay in Orville, the play ended.

Leo stretched, thinking it was just the end of the first act.

However, Jenia, having removed her makeup and approached, informed him it was the end of the second act. Since she had no role in the third act, she led Leo to her room. Meanwhile, Lena and Santian, who had become quite friendly, said their goodbyes.

The third floor of the theater was unchanged. The rooms were cramped and poorly maintained, with laundry hanging everywhere. Through open doors, former prostitutes smoked in unmade beds.

Lena and Leo passed by rooms filled with fabric for sewing or messy birch bark intended for weaving. Eventually, they sat in Jenia's room.

Unlike the other rooms, it was quite large and well-equipped, and they chatted.

Nothing noteworthy was said.

Jenia asked, “You mentioned going to the Conrad Kingdom together. May I ask why and when?” but Leo had no immediate answer.

He still needed preparation. However, he promised they would depart within a week and asked her to be ready. He assured her he would explain the reason when they left.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jenia smiled.

“But if, by any chance, we have to walk, I must decline. If you need help, please let me know. I have a decent amount of savings.”

“That won’t be necessary. Just take care of my sister for a few days. I’ll be busy with some matters. But I’ll visit every day. Lena, so you...”

Worried that his sister might throw a tantrum at being left behind, Leo was relieved when Lena didn’t. She was engrossed in exploring the familiar room and sniffing the Liatris flowers on the table.

“Ah, ah, achoo!”

Lena sneezed.

She looked at Jenia, who handed her a handkerchief to wipe her nose, with a peculiar expression.

Although proud of his sister’s calmness, Leo felt a bit sad. He promised Lena, “I’ll come back tomorrow,” and left the theater.

Whom should he visit first?

After debating between Count Gustav Peter and Katrina, Leo decided. Using {Tracking}, he found her and soon faced a troubling scene.

A fallen sword. Katrina knelt, crying out,

“Master!”