Chapter 141: The Princess is Meguri!?

“Two Meguris!?”

We, who infiltrated the Royal Castle in search of Meguri, encountered two Meguris there.

“Why is Mofumofu…”

My voice slipped out unintentionally, but thanks to the Invisibility Magic, our identity hasn’t been revealed yet. Though only Mofumofu, who jumped out, was found.

“Megurielna, is this child your friend?”

Then, the Meguri who entered this room first speaks to the Meguri called Megurielna while holding Mofumofu. Umm, this person is probably Idola. Hmm, confusing.

“Y-Yes… it’s my, or rather, my acquaintance’s pet.”

She seems to know Mofumofu, so is this Megurielna the Meguri we know?

“Oh my, your friend’s? Then they must be worried. We must return him immediately.”

“Or rather, why is Mofumofu in such a place…”

“Is your name Mofumofu?”

“Kyuu!”

The other Idola, who was jumped on by Mofumofu, holds him and strokes him gently.

“Kyu kyuu!”

Stroked Mofumofu is making cheerful sounds, seemingly enjoying it. Even though we were found infiltrating the castle, you are carefree.

“Fufu, cute. Would you like some sweets?”

“Kyuu!”

When Idola offers sweets from the table saying so, Mofumofu stuffs his cheeks with expensive-looking sweets deliciously.

“Look Megurielna, he’s cute!”

“Actually, he is a very dangerous creature…”

“Oh my, that’s not true, right? You are a gentle good boy, right?”

“Kyuu!”

“…Playing innocent.”

While being fed sweets by Idola, Mofumofu continues to be stroked as she pleases. Well, Mofumofu is still a newborn baby after all. Even if he’s a monster, he probably won’t be seen as a threat.

“…”

In contrast to those two, Meguri was looking around the room restlessly. What’s wrong?

“What’s wrong, Megurielna?”

Idola also seemed concerned about Meguri‘s behavior and asked her.

“Lady Idola, you might be a little surprised now, but could you please not raise your voice?”

“E-Eh? I don’t really understand, but alright.”

Idola tilts her head in wonder, but perhaps trusting Meguri, she nodded despite not understanding.

“Thank you very much.”

Meguri hid Idola behind her back and turned toward the window, in other words, toward us, and said.

“Rex, no, everyone is there, right?”

With this assertiveness, Meguri seems convinced we are here.

“Guess Mofumofu gave us away.”

“Probably.”

“What do we do, everyone?”

I look at Jairo and the others, seeking judgment on what to do. It seems better to listen to Jairo and the others’ opinions this time.

“Isn’t it fine? Since we seem to be exposed already.”

“Right, or rather we came to find Meguri from the beginning anyway.”

“Understood.”

Getting confirmation from Jairo and the others, I cancel the Invisibility Magic.

“Eh!? People!? From where!?”

With our sudden appearance, Idola raises a voice of surprise. But perhaps because she was told not to be surprised by Meguri beforehand, she doesn’t seem to be panicking.

“Megurielna, who on earth are these people!?”

Idola asks Meguri, who knows the situation.

“Lady Idola, they are my adventurer friends.”

“Oh my! Adventurers!”

Introduced to us, Idola‘s eyes become full of curiosity.

“Appearing suddenly from nowhere, adventurers are amazing!”

“No, that is because it’s them… Haa, from the right, Jairo, Mina, Rex, Liliera.”

“Ah, hello.”

“Ni-Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Rex, Lady Idola.”

“I-I’m Liliera!”

When we greet her, Idola straightens her posture while smiling.

“Nice to meet you, I am Idola, Idola Cel Isca Tion.”

Idola pinches her skirt and returns a graceful bow befitting a noble lady.

“I think you know, but this person is the Princess of this Kingdom of Tion.”

“I-I see… wait, Princess!?”

Hearing Idola is a Princess, Liliera raises a voice of surprise.

“Now now, calm down, Liliera-neesan.”

“That’s right, if you make too much noise, people will come.”

“Eh? Ah, sorry.”

“Ah, that’s okay, I’m preventing sound from leaking with wind magic right now.”

“Oh my, was that so? Then it’s okay to speak louder.”

“Wait!? Why is everyone so calm!?”

Liliera raises a confused voice at our calmness.

“No well, at the point she lives in the castle, I anticipated she’d be a princess.”

I had many opportunities to enter castles in my previous and the life before that too. Quite a few royals invited me to their rooms to let me tell stories as a sage or hero. …Well, there were even more people who called me under the pretext of listening to stories, though.

“Well, we heard to some extent from Meguri…”

“S-Sorry. Given the circumstances.”

“Th-Then I was the only one who didn’t know Meguri was a princess!?”

No, I didn’t know that either.

“Wrong.”

There, it was Meguri who denied it.

“I am not a princess. I am Lady Idola‘s body double.”

” “Body double!?” “

“Exactly. Megurielna is my body double.”

Idola joins the conversation as if continuing Meguri‘s words.

“Since you came all this way, please sit here. Megurielna, could you make tea?”

“Certainly.”

Saying so, Idola invites us to the table. Looking at Meguri, she nodded silently, so I sit on a chair first. Prompted by that, Jairo and the others also sit, and finally, Liliera sits on a chair reservedly.

And when Meguri places tea for everyone on the table, Idola speaks.

“Fufufu, I didn’t think Megurielna would bring so many friends.”

“I-I apologize.”

“It’s fine. I’m not angry. Rather, I’m happy. Because given your role, you can’t interact deeply with people much, right?”

“Is that so?”

“Wait, Rex!?”

When I join the conversation, Liliera tries to stop me in a flustered manner.

“It is fine, Lady Liliera, please feel free to talk to me too.”

“Y-Yes!”

Yeah, Liliera seems too nervous to talk. She was more dignified with the Sky King, but I guess it’s different when it’s a real princess of the country she lives in.

But children of important people often seek stories of the outside world. Because of their position, they can’t go out easily, and even if they do, they are surrounded by guards and can’t enjoy it much. So many are happy when treated frankly. Well, some get angry if you do that, but you can tell those people by their attitude and gaze the moment you see them.

“Hey, won’t you tell me stories about you and Megurielna? I only know Megurielna who I meet in this room and the back room.”

What Idola asked for first was stories about Meguri. But stories about Meguri, huh. What should I talk about?

“I hear everyone is an adventurer, but what is your relationship with Megurielna?”

Perhaps sensing we were perplexed about what to talk about, Idola narrowed the topic to our relationship. This person is skilled at steering conversations.

“Umm, we… or rather Mina and I are Meguri… no Megurie… eh-“

“Jairo, Meguri is fine.”

“O-Oh! Got it. Umm, right, we are Meguri‘s childhood friends!”

“Megurielna‘s childhood friends?”

Idola tilts her head in wonder.

“Lady Idola, until it was decided I would work as Lady Idola‘s body double, I was receiving training to become a guard. The place I lived then was a village located away from the Royal Capital.”

“Oh my, was that so!”

Heh, so Meguri knew Jairo and the others because of that.

“Th-That’s right! Mina‘s grandpa and Meguri‘s grandpa were acquaintances, so the grandpas became friends and told us to get along and brought her to us.”

“Oh my, what a wonderful encounter!”

“Heheh.”

“So you were a trio of close friends.”

“Ah, no, four people. There is a boy named Norb not here, and that child is in another place for some business.”

Mina supplements Idola‘s words.

“Oh my, is that so. I wanted to meet that person named Norb too.”

Come to think of it, Norb hadn’t returned home either. I hope no one being at home doesn’t worry him.

“Huh? But in that case, why did you know Meguri‘s true identity? Isn’t it a problem if it’s revealed that Meguri is Lady Idola‘s body double?”

Liliera voices the doubt that came to mind. Ah-, come to think of it, that’s true.

“Ugh…”

For a moment, Meguri made a groaning sound but immediately behaved as if nothing happened.

“Ah-, that. When we were playing together a long time ago, we decided on a penalty game where the loser had to tell a secret. And at that time, when Meguri lost, she told us.”

” “Is it okay to tell that!?” “

At the unexpected content, mine and Liliera‘s voices overlap.

“……Ch-Child’s talk, so.”

Yeah Meguri, you can’t deceive us with that. Cold sweat is pouring down.

“Considering the content is content, I thought ‘no way’ too, but Meguri has been going back and forth between the Royal Capital and that village regularly since long ago, and Grandfather repeatedly emphasized to take care of Meguri. So, thinking ‘just in case’, I told Jairo and the others to keep quiet. But silencing this guy was reeeally hard work.”

“No, because usually you wouldn’t think it’s true, right?”

“…”

Meguri has become expressionless as never before. No no, rather with that face, far from hiding agitation, you look nothing but agitated!?

“Pfft… Ahahahahaha!!”

Then, Idola, who was listening to Jairo and the others’ story, started laughing loudly.

“Ahaha, Megurielna! You did such a thing! Ahahaha.”

“I-It was when I was a child without discretion…”

Despite saying so, Meguri‘s face is bright red. It might be the first time I’ve seen Meguri this expressive despite being expressionless.

“Fufufu, wonderful! Tell me more about your stories!”

Thus, prompted by Idola, we told the story of our meeting with Meguri and our days after becoming adventurers.