CPSMBD Chapter 52

Chapter 52

The Golden Orb​

While the yellow orbs had been easy to catch in my net before, this one deftly slipped through my grasp.

"Huh? What's this? Why is this orb so agile?"

Taking a closer look, I noticed it was considerably smaller than the others. Though yellow, its color was slightly different from the ones I'd seen before.

It seemed to shimmer more brilliantly...

"Wait! Could that be the golden orb?"

I called out urgently to His Highness.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

"What is it?"

The Crown Prince turned around from where he had been destroying orbs a few steps away.

"Here! Come look at this!"

I pointed at the orb that was radiating a brilliant light.

"Isn't this the golden orb?"

In the darkness, the golden orb glowed with an ethereal radiance, casting shimmers of light.

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes, peering at where I was pointing.

"You're right. The golden orb - well done, Chief Aide Violetta."

He smiled at me with satisfaction and ruffled my hair playfully.

'G-goodness! Why is he acting like he's under some fairy potion?'

I self-consciously smoothed down my hair where his hand had passed.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince was concentrating intensely on targeting the yellow orb.

He had been right earlier - you never know until you try.

If we could just destroy that orb, our team's victory wouldn't be just a distant dream.

And that dream was now within reach.

As I watched the Crown Prince nervously taking aim at the golden orb, I felt a sudden chill on my right cheek. An eerie sensation of being watched intently.

The hair on my skin stood on end.

Then I heard a guttural voice that sounded like bubbling lava:

"Grrrrrr."

It wasn't a human sound.

I wanted to call out to the Crown Prince, but my voice wouldn't come.

I needed to identify what it was, but I couldn't turn my head.

I rolled my eyes toward the source of the sound.

A pair of silver eyes gleamed at me from the darkness.

My body froze.

A Neferti - a monster that dwelled in shadows.

Why was a monster here?

I recalled General Chief Aide Kuan’s words about this place originally being a monster hunting ground.

Could it be... that it had been hiding here all this time?

At that moment-

"Chief Aide Violetta, dodge!"

As the Crown Prince shouted, the Neferti lunged at me.

I'm going to die.

A primal fear of death unlike anything I'd ever experienced before coursed through my entire body.

I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my face with both arms.

In that instant-

BANG!

A gunshot rang out.

It came from the Crown Prince as he fired at the golden orb.

After what felt like an eternity, I heard his voice.

"...Chief Aide Violetta, are you alright?"

"Am- am I not dead?"

My voice trembled.

"No, you're not dead. Open your eyes."

Since I didn't feel any pain, I could trust his words.

"Y-yes. I think I'm okay..."

When I opened my eyes and lowered my arms, I saw the Neferti's corpse collapsed right in front of me

.

Blue blood was pooling from its head where the fatal shot had struck.

Death had been instantaneous.

If it hadn't been for the Crown Prince, what would have happened to me?

A chill ran down my spine.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No."

Looking around, I noticed the Crown Prince had fallen to the ground.

I rushed to his side.

"Your Highness! Are you alright?"

The Crown Prince grimaced as he pushed himself up.

"Damn. I lost my balance when I had to quickly pivot to take that shot."

As he tried to stand, he clutched one arm and drew in a sharp breath. His expression was concerning.

"What's wrong? Did you hurt your arm?"

"Yes. I think I twisted it when I fell. It's not serious."

"Oh no! We need to get to the operations center right away so a physician can examine you."

"That's probably best. But why was there a monster here?"

"According to General Chief Aide Kuan earlier, this used to be a monster hunting ground... Perhaps they missed removing some of the monsters from back then?"

"Since Nefertis hide in darkness, that's possible. This could have been disastrous."

I nodded in agreement with the Crown Prince's words.

"Ah, right! Your Highness, what about the golden orb?"

"I missed it."

"Oh no! What should we... This is all because of me..."

"Is the orb important right now? If I'd shot the golden orb, you would have been eaten by the Neferti. You're unharmed - that's enough."

My mind suddenly went blank.

I didn't know what expression to make or how to respond.

Every muscle in my face felt frozen stiff. I rolled my eyes and mumbled something noncommittal.

"Y-yes. That's right."

Perhaps my strange behavior caught his attention? The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes as he observed me.

Then he smiled mischievously, his dimple showing.

"W-what, what is it?"

"Well? Did your heart flutter a bit?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

I jumped to my feet, shouting.

Is it the weather that's making my face so hot? I fanned myself frantically.

"L-let's get moving. Since a monster appeared, we should report it to the operations center. Others could get hurt too."

I walked ahead stiffly. I heard the Crown Prince calling from behind.

"Chief Aide Violetta. I'm injured. It's difficult to move. Shouldn't we use your teleportation stone to get to the operations center?"

Ah! I'd forgotten he was injured in my flustered state.

"I-I knew that. I was planning to use the teleportation stone to get to the operations center."

The Crown Prince smiled knowingly, as if he could see right through me.

'How embarrassing.'

Hiding my flushed face, I took out the teleportation stone from my pocket and grabbed the Crown Prince's sleeve.

As white light burst forth, I felt the sensation of being pulled somewhere.

When we teleported to the operations center and they realized the Crown Prince was injured, the operations committee fell into chaos.

"What? A m-monster?"

"Yes. A Neferti was hiding in the hunting grounds."

"This is terrible."

The operations committee head turned pale at my explanation.

The committee members rushed outside to assess the situation and suspend the competition.

Soon after, the palace physician arrived to examine the Crown Prince.

Though not a major injury, the diagnosis was that his arm had fractured when he fell and caught himself wrong.

Bandages were wrapped around the Crown Prince's left arm. Fortunately, it wasn't his dominant arm.

As the treatment finished, a loud horn sounded announcing the end of the unity competition.

The operations committee's investigation fortunately found no other monsters besides the Neferti in the hunting grounds.

Since the competition was already nearly over, they decided to determine the winners based on the points accumulated so far.

All that remained was the announcement of the results.

***

The staff from the assistant's office, who had been lounging in the tent before hearing belatedly about the Crown Prince's injury, came rushing in.

"Waaaaaah! Your Highness, Your Hiiiighness! What are we going to do? This is all my fault. I should have stayed by your side no matter what. If I had, this wouldn't have happened."

"You can't even protect yourself, how could you protect anyone else...?"

The Crown Prince gave Head Chamberlain Dominic, who was making a scene, a dry look.

"Your Highness, are you alright? You're not badly hurt, are you?"

Brahe, sporting a large bruise around one eye, hovered anxiously around the Crown Prince while holding back tears.

Secretary Derek and General Chief Aide Kuan stood in a corner, quietly whispering to each other.

"How will His Highness handle his duties now that he's injured?"

"Indeed. It's especially concerning that it's his arm that's hurt."

These people... they're not worried about His Highness, but about the upcoming work.

But I could sympathize with them. I was worried about the same thing.

Just then, a horn sounded announcing that the winners of the unity competition would soon be revealed.

We went outside the operations center to hear the results. The Crown Prince came with us.

Though Head Chamberlain Dominic and General Chief Aide Kuan tried to convince him to rest, the Crown Prince dismissed their concerns, saying his injury wasn't serious.

The Emperor stood on the platform and spoke into a voice amplifier.

"I thank you all for participating in this unity competition despite your busy schedules. Though there was an unfortunate incident, thanks to the Crown Prince's quick thinking, we were able to conclude this competition without serious incident."

The Emperor turned his gaze to the Crown Prince.

"Friedrich, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Father."

"Good. I'm relieved there were no casualties. Now then, I shall announce the first-place winner of this unity competition."

I heard Brahe swallow hard.

"The first place in this unity competition goes to...!"