I’ve never been into a prison before, but I have a friend who did. He was only detained because he went outside during the curfew hours for minors. Visiting him was funny as heck.

***

Three days have passed since I returned to my body. So far, there’s no problem with it and I can at least move my arms without feeling any pain like before. However, using magic seems impossible at the moment.

Currently, I’m trying to do something with Shell. Sitting on the bed in my room all day felt empty. Maybe I got too used to being busy that doing nothing makes me feel bored to death.

“Shell, how long can you stay in armor form again?”

[Roughly 7 hours, master.]

“Are you sure you want to do this, Key? Moving too much will strain your muscles.”

“Cherry, if I don’t move, I’m the same as a corpse. Besides, it’ll be an exercise for me. Sitting all day makes me feel like I’m getting choked.”

“Oh? Then how about having a spar with me? I noticed that I grew dull when I fought the prince. Fighting strong opponents will make me regain my old self again.”

“F-fighting is not allowed!”

“…I’m just going to go out for a stroll though.”

Currently, my three fiancées are in my room. The rest are with dad since he’s working on the project I gave him.

About Lapis, she’s with Thema in the palace right now. I have her help Thema in moving her belongings from the palace to this mansion. This mansion is so big that even with the staff it can’t be full of people.

I originally planned to keep my condition a secret from Thema too, but she found it sooner than expected. It’s so annoying she overheard us about the project battleship.

Anyway, it’s time for me to sit up on the bed. Since I still can’t muster enough strength to lift my back, Jane has to support me in doing so.

“Activate P.A.”

[Executing Physical Augmentation, >]

After saying something robot-like, Shell’s crab body glows in bright light. Next, it bursts into the air and starts to envelop me from my legs up to my neck.

As expected, I can feel my body getting stronger to a certain degree. Though my physical body is weak, this boosted state is still slightly stronger than an average human can be.

“Same as ever. The composition of magical script the familiar has is certainly amazing. An average magician can’t summon a familiar close to Shell.”

Well, Cherry’s opinion of it is on the spot. Though the base spell when I summoned Shell was a regular Familiar Summoning magic, I modified it nearly every day to strengthen him thus making him stronger than Cherry’s Familiar.

After the light subsided, Shell has transformed into an armor that’s close to my Wrathful Arms armor. If I have to name it, I’d call it Fury Arms. There’s no helmet in this form for some reason…

“Does it hurt anywhere?”

While looking at my body, Jane asks me with a tone full of worry.

Before answering, I move my arms and fingers and check if I could move without feeling any pain. And just as expected, it doesn’t hurt. But it itches instead.

“Aside from the itch I feel, there’s no problem with my condition in the Armor. Also, Shell, augment and integrate the wing rig to spine and joint exoskeleton. I want to strengthen the weight support function.”

[Yes, master.]

After modifying the structure of the part I pointed out, I could feel my back stronger than before. It feels comfortable.

Slowly, I apply some strength to my knees while slowly putting my body’s weight on them. After that, I slowly stand with outmost care. By the way, I’m not using my own strength.

“Okay, okay! Careful.”

“Don’t rush it.”

“I’m not rushing.”

Though Jane’s support isn’t that much help, Cherry’s worry is like she’s scolding me. Matt on the other hand, she’s just looking at me without doing anything. At least she understands.

When I was able to finally gain my balance, I tried twisting my body a bit and it seems that there’s no problem with it for now.

“Okay, now that I’m able to move again. I’ll start working again-”

“Idiot, I know you’ll say that.”

Just when I turned a heel to the door, Matt smacked me behind my head. Did she know what I was thinking?

“You’re still far from recovering even half of your strength. Don’t work for now.”

“I know you’re worried and all, but I can’t stay here bed-ridden forever. I’m delayed with my work and I need more time to think about my plans that got messed up.”

“Even if you say that, I’m your wife. If I say no, it’s a no.”

Matt stubbornly declared so in front of my face. And for some reason, Jane and Cherry stood by next to her.

“I agree with Miss Matilda. And also as your wife, we’re worried about you.”

“I hate to agree with Matt, but she’s right. Your wellbeing is our number one priority. And since I’m the only one healing your body, you should listen to me the most.”

While saying that, she looks at Matt with a smug on her face. They’re still competing? Anyhow, I should calm them down before they would get angry.

Come to think of it, did they just call themselves my ‘Wife’? They’re thinking too advance about it.

“Fine, I won’t work for today. However, there’s something I need to do. It’s very important and should not be delayed.”

***

“W-welcome Marquis Chardelier, to the Castle Dungeon.”

“You seem nervous, warden.”

With a shaking voice, the dungeon’s warden welcomes me with a bow. I know that he’s scared of me because of my full armor. It’s quite daunting or so Cherry said.

“I received a letter of notice from the King himself. I’ll guide you to where the prince is locked up right now.”

While saying so, he lifts his head while getting a torch from one of the knights with him. When he turned a heel towards the dungeon’s hall, every one of the knights then forms a square formation around me like I’m some sort of a VIP. Oh wait, I am.

After that, we follow the warden down the dark hall.

“So this is what a dungeon looks like…”

“Stay close to me, Jane. And watch your step.”

Currently, only Jane is with me. Cherry and Matt didn’t want to see the prince but don’t want me to go alone. They argued about who will come with me, but it stopped when I picked Jane who was just trying to stop their fight.

“I’m curious. Why do you want to see the prince?”

While wrapping her arm around mine, Jane asks me with full of curiosity.

“There are things I want to ask him about. But rest assured. I’m only here just to talk.”

When I said that, I could hear one of the soldiers murmuring something. I think it’s about my armor and words not matching with the situation. I’d get angry at him because of eavesdropping, but I can let it pass for now.

“What kind of questions would you ask?”

“Hmm… Maybe about how to destroy the kingdom…”

At that moment, every one of the soldiers guarded me flinched like they got struck with lightning. Well, because of that joke, I confirmed that every one of them is eavesdropping.

“Don’t joke something as dangerous as that!”

“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help it.”

After laughing for a bit, the soldiers let out a sigh of relieve. All of them probably understand that I am capable of doing such after I defeated the prince.

“On a serious note, I’m not really going to ask him about that. I’m just going to talk with him about this kingdom’s future and his sister’s future. Since Thema’s going to become my wife, he’s basically my brother-in-law now whether I like it or not.”

“Oh, how thoughtful. You really are a good person.”

To hear that coming from Jane who tried to murder him….

“Well, yeah. I’m just doing this for the sake of formality. Though Thema might not like me romantically, but it’s still my responsibility as a man to make her at least change her opinion of me in a good way.”

“…”

“Come to think of it, I forgot to ask your parents’ permission to marry you. I’ll send someone to bring them here before our wedding.”

“…hmmmm!”

Looks like I tugged her heartstrings. She’s hugging my arm tightly while covering her face with both hands. I think she’s trying to hold-in her squeal.

“We’re here, sir.”

Interrupting the mood, the warden stops in front of a cellar door.

Since it’s too dark, I grab the torch he’s holding and tried to illuminate the cellar.

While trying to see the end of the cellar, all of a sudden, I heard a voice.

“So you’ve finally came to see me.”

It’s probably because of his status as a prince, but he looks like he’s not inside a prison. He still looks like before only without armor. Still, he looks like he’s looking at some garbage while looking at me. Damn, I want to smash that face.

Talking slow steps into the light, I could hear the sounds of chain getting dragged on the stony floor. When I finally see it, I could see chains around his leg that’s attached to the wall behind him.

“Are you here to say my execution’s schedule?”

“I sure wish that was the case, but no.”

He looked like he wants to come close, but the length of the chains limited his distance.

“So, what did you come here for?”

“I know you have a good idea what I came here for.”

Frelisk made a snicker while listening to me. I think we’re on the same page.

“And why would you think that I will acknowledge you to be my sister’s groom? Your existence alone endangers this kingdom.”

“You’re the last person I want to get called dangerous, prince. The only reason that you’re alive right now is that you are a prince.”

“Should I say ‘thank you’ for not killing me? Breathing the same air as you is already intoxicating. I would’ve preferred death than meeting you again.”

If I have the right to kill this guy, I would’ve done it before he started talking shit.

“Listen here you piece of shit. I am trying to be a nice guy, but if you continue on antagonizing me, I’ll make sure you’ll live your life like you’re living in hell.”

“Key, calm down! You’re hurting him.”

Because of what he said earlier, I lost myself in anger and didn’t notice what I was doing to him. Before I even noticed it, the armor’s arms has already extended inside the cell breaking the small gap and grabbed Frelisk by the neck and lifted him up in the air.

“S-sir Chardelier, please don’t kill him! Even if he’s inside his cellar, he’s still our prince.”

When I looked at my side, I saw the warden begging for the prince’s sake. He’s bowing to me on one knee with his head down.

After calming down a bit, I let go of Frelisk’s neck like tossing garbage away making him sit on his bed.

“You should understand now what I’m capable of doing. Do you still think I can’t protect this kingdom?”

Before he could answer, he massages his neck while looking at me with an angry face.

“Can you? I alone nearly killed you. What can you do if you’ll face a hundreds of me? Do you still think you can win against the Gods?”

Hundreds of men that is equal to Frelisk. That sound like a big bad news.

No, no, no, no. Let’s not be pessimistic about it. It might be an exaggeration on his part.

Well, the part where the Grey Legion has strong forces isn’t a joke, but I can’t say that they’re all as strong as Frelisk. Now that I think about it, Senmael (refer to C21P1) had a power surge when a god possessed him.

Maybe Frelisk is right, but—

“I already prepared a countermeasure against such.”

When I said that, he suddenly frowns while looking me eye to eye.

“You’re lying.”

He doesn’t believe me alright. Well I can’t really blame him. The Battleship project has barely started.

“I can make this ‘lie’ the ‘truth’. And even if you don’t believe me, I can protect this kingdom without breaking the connection in the alliance.”

“So you came here to boast about it then. How audacious of you…”

“I’m not here to boast about it, I’m here to tell you that I’ll give you a chance to change sides. I’ll give you all the time in the world to think about this.”

As I turn a heel, the rest of the knights followed suit which startled Jane.

“Think about this carefully, prince. IF you value this kingdom, you’ll do anything to protect it. Since it’s your sister’s wish, it’s not my duty to protect this place.”

I didn’t look at him to see his reaction to my words, but I know that he’s thinking about it deeply.

***

“See! You shouldn’t have moved from your bed. Now your arm’s broken.”

So Jane and I returned to the Mansion. We didn’t do much after meeting the prince so we just kind of headed home after it.

Right now, Cherry’s healing my left arm with a worried face. Jane is out with mom in the kitchen preparing dinner so it’s just me, Cherry, and Matt inside my room.

“That’s weird. I don’t feel any pain from it at all.”

“Your nerves were cut so you don’t feel it! Geez! This is going to take days to restore properly.”

I didn’t really expect my arm to break after choking Frelisk. Though I was aware of how strong I was doing it, I couldn’t feel my own arm at all. Even my skin can’t feel the slightest touch. Though I say it’s broken, it’s not gory or anything.

“But even if your hand’s broken, you’re lucky enough to have your mana ley-lines undamaged.”

While in his little crab form, Shell climbs up my bed while looking at me.

[Master, it may be my fault for responding to your subconscious. I shall accept any forms of punishment.]

“We’ll turn you to dinner then.”

[…]

“We won’t, Shell. And don’t say such things Matt, it was my fault.”

“Cheeky…”

While saying so, Matt pulls my cheek to her direction. I can see her smiling though despite her angry tone.

All of a sudden, the door opens up and Mom and Jane enter the living room along with a girl I don’t recognize.

“I’ve brought the organizer for the wedding!”

“What the hell, mom? You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Seriously, slamming the door in the middle of the day in this quiet mansion… No wonder Louise is rowdy too. They’re like two peas in a pod.

“Oh shut it, I just got too excited. Anyway, she arrived just now so I wanted her to meet you immediately.”

“Why didn’t you say something about this beforehand?”

“It’s a surprise.”

Anyway, it also surprised Cherry. Though in a different way, she stopped healing my arm and rushed to mom.

“Oh! This is great! I actually forgot about this. Thanks you, mother.”

While jumping in joy, she holds mom and hugs her tightly. Mom looks a bit bother by her large chest. Well, they are a bit larger than hers.

“Anyway, she’s the daughter of a noblewoman that’s friend of mine. She says that she’s one of the best wedding organizers here in the capital.”

While getting showered with compliments, the girl grabs the hem of her dress and lifts it up while bowing to me. It’s been a while since I’ve seen an elegant bow like this to be honest.

“My name is Faunellia von Eishen’ard, the first daughter of Earl Eishen’ard. It is truly my pleasure to be of service to the household of Chardelier.”

“Say, do have a fiancé, or a lover?”

Before answering, she flinched from my question and then blushed a bit. I’m not being rude, I’m just curious if wedding organizers are in a relationship or not.

“N-no… I never had one or have a fiancé yet.”

“Really? What a waste. You’re quite pretty to be single.”

“Eh?”

I’m telling the truth. She is pretty. Though she isn’t at the same level as Cherry and Matt, she’s above average at least. Or maybe it’s just my favoritism over short bob-cut hair?

“Key!”

“You may be allowed to marry as many as you want, but we don’t allow it.”

“I-I think I’m fine with it, maybe.”

“Ow! Ow! Ow!”

All of a sudden, Cherry and Matt pulls both of my ears from different directions. It feels like they’re going to get ripped off.

After letting go, my ears feel like a pair of beating hearts. It’s pulsing in pain!

“A-Anyway, can I entrust you my wedding ceremony, Miss Eishen’ard?”

“Please, call me Faun instead. I prefer getting called by that name.”

“Oh, then call me Key too, Faun. Let’s not be strangers, ok?”

Since I said that casually, her eyes grew in surprise like she heard something weird. Moreover, Cherry and Matt are looking at me like they’re going to explode in anger.

Anyway, I just ignore them and turn my attention to mom.

“Well, I’m fine with anything the girls want. You can discuss it without me.”

***

Since I don’t really want to join the planning, I just leave the planning to them. Of course, I limit the expense to be used for the wedding. There’s no telling how much they’ll try to spend if I don’t limit it.

Right now, it’s just me inside my office. Though I am here, I’m not working or anything. I’m just holding the book I use to communicate with Lithius. Probably because she knows my situation, she’s not trying to connect to me.

Anyway, she isn’t the real reason why I’m in the office.

Leaning my head on the chair’s back rest, I roll it to my left looking at the wall.

“So, what’s the negotiation’s status?”

“I just received a word from my elders. Your entry to the Endless Forest is still being debated.”

Like a water mixed with paint, she becomes visible while walking towards me from the wall. Unlike the usual, she looks extra serious right now.

“Why are you hiding?”

With a flick of her fingers, the curtains fall down and cover the windows making the room dark.

“I’m being followed.”

“By who?”

“I don’t know. But I feel like they’re related to the auction.”

So it’s probably a shady group related to the black market. Maybe I should get in touch with the king about this matter. He might know something about this.

“It’s probably because they suspect that you’re elves too. Come to think of it, it’s very obvious that you are just by looking at your eyes.”

When I said that, she shakes her head in denial.

“That is not a problem. Our eyes are only visible to you since you have a high magic aptitude. Unless some buyers there have a high level revealing magic, they can see through our camouflage.”

“But that would be impossible because you can see them if they used such thing. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

Standing in front of me, she takes out something from her coat’s pocket.

“I told my elders about your situation. In exchange for deducting the amount we needed to return, we’ll give you a medicine that will restore half of your body’s function including your control over your mana.”

Opening her hand, I can see a very small vial that’s not bigger than my own thumb. Inside it, there is a colorless sparkling liquid inside it. It looks very weird though since it looks like magical saliva to me.

“What’s it called?”

“Uhmm… I can’t say what it’s called. But I guarantee you, it’s not a poison.”

“That just made me doubt you more.”

For some reason, she looks a bit flustered when I asked her about it. Her eyes keep averting from mine.

I don’t really trust that expression of hers. She looks exactly like Cherry when she was making some weird potion before. But still, I can trust her that this isn’t a poison. After all, she saved my life before.

“I guarantee its effectiveness. That cam-made by me after all.”

“Were you about to say something else?”

“N-no! Not at all.”

Those panicked eyes are so suspicious.

“Well anyway, I’m drinking this now. I have to recover quickly after all.”

“W-wait! Wait a minute!”

Just when I was about to pour the liquid into my mouth, Philillia pulls my hand stopping me.

“I still haven’t put the last ingredient yet.”

“So this is an incomplete potion?”

Without answering my question, Philillia cuts her thumb with her teeth deep enough to make it bleed. After that, she makes her blood drip a bit inside the vial and then gave it back to me.

“Now it’s done.”

“What?”

“W-well… the last ingredient needs to be a fresh elf’s blood. But mixing it beforehand can reduce its effectiveness so I had to do this here.”

Oh! That actually makes sense.

“Well okay, I’m going to drink it now.”

After I said that, I drink the bloody-ish vial of mysterious liquid and swallowed it in one go.

For some reason, the taste is familiar.

It’s gammy, a weird aftertaste, a bearable familiar smell, and it feels thicker than water.

“Come to think of it, my mother told me that it has a weird side-effect.”

“SAY WHAT!?”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice after what she said. My voice is so loud I could see her skin getting Goosebumps.

“I-it was probably just a l-lie though… It’s my first time to make this, but she guaranteed that it works.”

“Why didn’t you say anything BEFORE I drank it!?”

Since she’s walking back away from me, I stand up and grabbed both her shoulders. Wait, I’m standing?

“S-see! It works!”

She’s right, it did work. I’m not using strength amplification from the armor, but my own strength.

“Shell, remove equipment and go to Marie.”

[Yes, master.]

The moment, Shell detaches from my body, I could feel my own weight now. Since it was too sudden, I staggered a bit. Luckily, Philillia is there to catch me.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And also, you owe me an apology.”

While supporting me with my arm around her shoulder, she gives me an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry for overreacting.”

After saying that, both of us started giggling. We couldn’t help but find it funny.

“So… are you feeling anything odd?”

When she asked me that, I begin to examine myself, physically of course…

Hmm… aside from feeling very hot all over, I can feel my lower half going hard for some reason. Maybe it’s because of Philillia’s chest touching my side since the last minute.

As I look at Philillia, for some reason, she looks prettier than before.

“I-is there something…”

For some reason, she falls silent halfway while looking at me. D-did she read my mind just now?

“S-sir… that’s… we can’t…”

Huh? Weird, her face is getting closer to mine. I could see her cheeks becoming rosy while looking straight into my eyes.

“…sir…”