Roy stared at the last paper in front of him, then put it away again with a furrowed brow. Roy had used all his connections to find out his relationship with Cecilia. But no matter how deep he searched, Roy did not find any lines that could prove that he had indeed been close to Cecilia in the past until he was willing to tell Cecilia his secret code.
Roy felt it was unreasonable that Cecilia could suddenly know what should only be known to those closest to her. But the unreasonable thing happened. Roy stared at the files about Cecilia, then finally gave up.
Roy leaned back in his rickety wooden chair, staring at the dark ceiling of the basement where he had been living all this time. "Interesting..." he muttered softly. "You make me work harder than anyone else, Prince Cecilion."
The secret investigation was unsuccessful. Therefore, Roy thought he might only find the answer if he continued to watch Cecilia. Roy got up from his sitting position not long after. With his all-black clothes, he finally sneaked out to begin his mission as Cecilia's protector until winter came.
***
Cecilia did ask Roy to protect her, but he could only do so in secret. Roy couldn't appear openly. Therefore, he could only protect her from the shadows.
On the first day, Roy observed how Cecilia woke up earlier than the others, and then went to the Erebos Forest to supervise the construction of the trade route. Afterward, she returned to the palace to talk with her father. Only when the sun had set would Cecilia return to her room to check the documents piled up on her desk.
On the second day, Cecilia went to the throne room to attend a palace meeting that discussed issues in the kingdom. Some officials seemed reluctant to accept 'Prince Cecilion' as the new successor to the throne. However, Cecilia responded to them calmly. She showed emotional stability, and even Roy was stunned when he saw her.
On the third day, she studied seriously in the library, and then went horse riding afterward. She also took a sword training session with Sir Robert. That explained how Cecilia could be so skilled when fighting him.
For three whole days, Roy only observed. He saw Cecilia working late into the night to read reports, arrange royal affairs, and practice for herself. Roy never once saw Cecilia complain about her busy schedule. She continued to work hard, even if she was surrounded by people who could help lighten her workload.
Roy's gaze was deep. On the fourth night, Roy finally got the chance to do something for Cecilia.
Usually, Roy would spend the night on the roof of Cecilia's room. But that day, he suddenly came down when his ears caught an unusual sound from the right wing of Cecilia's palace. Roy walked through Cecilia's palace quietly. Because it was almost midnight, there was only him and the intruders in the palace.
Four people. Two infiltrators were still on the right wing while one had managed to enter the palace. Roy could also sense that one of them had entered Cecilia's study.
"Ugh!"
Roy killed the two people in the garden quickly, then sneaked into the palace, killing the other intruders. The only one left was the assassin, who managed to reach Cecilia's study. Roy saw him when he just come out of Cecilia's study. Roy moved quickly. He pulled them into an empty room and silenced them forever in one soundless slash.
None of them managed to touch Cecilia.
CLACK!
"You killed them all?"
A look of surprise almost escaped Roy's face when Cecilia suddenly walked out of her room. No, that wasn't what surprised him. Roy didn't expect other than his teacher, there was someone who could disguise their presence to the point that Roy failed to notice Cecilia had woken up before she showed herself.
"How are they?"
Roy grunted. "They can't even be called opponents. With your abilities, you should be able to defeat them without my help."
Cecilia laughed.
"I'm not that great. Besides, in the future, they won't just send amateur assassins like this."
Roy followed Cecilia's gaze. The intruders were indeed amateurs because they didn't forget to hide where they came from.
"Do you want to know who they are?" Roy asked.
Cecilia shook her head. "I don't even need to think to know who sent this kind of surprise. King Blaine has always thought that we are a weak kingdom. Therefore, he must have thought that sending a group of amateur assassins would be enough to kill me."
"Then, do you want me to kill him?"
Cecilia smiled this time.
"That's an interesting offer. But his death was ordered by someone else, Roy. My job is to make sure that man's attention is only focused on me until winter comes."
Roy fell silent. He had been observing Cecilia for three whole days. But in those three days, Roy had never once gotten a clue as to how Cecilia could know so many things as if she could predict everything.
"Roy, can I ask for your help to get rid of the bodies? I don't want a commotion in my palace when someone sees this mess."
Cecilia intended to go back to rest after she finished talking to Roy. She had lost a lot of sleep trying her best for the Magenta Kingdom. Cecilia couldn't afford to lose any more sleep.
"Why?"
Cecilia stopped when Roy asked her. She looked back. Roy frowned as if he didn't understand something.
"Why are you pretending to be weak when you can do whatever you want?"
Cecilia looked at Roy, then sighed.
"Just like you, I also have my reasons. Ensuring this kingdom remains intact is one reason. But on the other hand, I also can't just kill anyone as I please."
"Or this life will automatically reset again," Cecilia added only in her heart. Roy fell silent to stare at her. But not long after, he finally went to pick up the cold bodies of the intruders.
"Go to sleep. You've been lacking so much sleep."
Cecilia smiled when Roy suddenly lectured her. Roy didn't know how much Cecilia missed the little attention Roy gave her. Cecilia knew. Behind Roy's cold figure, there was a warm man who always paid attention to the people around him.
In every life, Cecilia has always failed to bring happiness to the teacher who taught her survival techniques. This time, Cecilia wants to change that. She wants Roy to return to his kingdom with the honor of being a legitimate royal family.
And to do that, she needs to strengthen her power first.