The Villainess Enjoys Her Seventh Life as a Free-Spirited Bride (hostage) in a Former Enemy Country
chapter-103-2-30041322

Her guesswork about Leo was wrong.

With Leo’s combat skills, the reason he was taken in by the Duke’s family forcibly, and the reason he accompanied them on the festival trip were all for a different purpose than she had assumed.

――Leo is not there to kill Young Miss, but to protect her!!

Leo committed a blunder in her past life.

Rishe thought of it as failing to accomplish his mission as an assassin. However, if Leo was not an assassin, but a guard, then his failure was for failing to protect Myria and the Duke.

It was for this reason that the Leo in her knight life has always been bitter about something.

Maybe it was his anger at himself for failing in his previous mission and wounding the duke.

He also wished for His Highness Arnold to guide him to become stronger…Not for assassination skill to kill someone, but to protect them…

Rishe clasped her hands firmly, and then calmly asked Leo.

“Are you Myria-sama’s bodyguard?”

“I’ve been disqualified now. I took my eyes off her and put her in danger, and you saved her.”

“You said that one of your enemies is the Archbishop of the Krushade Order. Is the Archbishop and Bishop Schneider who are after Myria-sama?”

“…”

Leo fell silent and looked away.

But his other statement should not be overlooked.

“Why do you say that Garkháin is an enemy?”

“We, the people of the Order…”

Leo exhaled briefly.

“If we don’t do something…Garkhain will annihilate us all…”

“!”

Rishe gasped when he uttered the words as if knowing the future.

Are you saying that the Order reckoned at this point that His Highness Arnold will attack them in the future?

As soon as she learned this, one of the questions boggling her was cleared up.

Arnold advised the Duke that Myria was being targeted. However, the Duke didn’t suspect the Order and entrusted Myria to them for the festival.

It wasn’t because Arnold’s advice was untrustworthy.

On the contrary… His Highness Arnold’s advice sounded like a warning to them.

If a father was told that his beloved daughter was in danger of being assassinated by someone who had no reason to kill her…

The father would be alarmed and would rush to serve their purpose and leave the place as soon as possible.

What if His Highness Arnold had even calculated that last night?――Meaning, in order to fabricate a reason to immediately antagonize the Order, hasten the execution of the festival.

Why would Arnold go to such lengths to deal with the Order?

The more she thought about it, the less she understood. But for now, she had to hurry up.

“I’m sorry, Leo.”

“Are you sure of this level of restraint? It’ll take some time, but I’ll escape it.”

“That’s fine. I’m not your enemy.”

Her breathing became smoother. If she could just get a few more minutes, her poorly rested body would be able to move.

“I want to protect Myria-sama. On top of that, I don’t want His Highness to come into conflict with the Order…I’m sure our interests are in line.”

“…”

Leo raised an eyebrow and then muttered.

“The real thing? Are you really the Crown Princess of Garkhain?”

“In order for that to happen, I’ll have to finish the engagement annulment ritual and return home. If he gets into a fight with the Order, they won’t let me continue with the annulment ceremony.”

“…”

“Hey, Leo.”

Rishe recalled her knight life and smiled.

In that life, Leo always looked rankled.

He didn’t join their circle and just stared at the training from a distance, but Rishe couldn’t leave him alone.

She repeatedly tried to talk to Leo at every turn, but he always chased her away in annoyance. She did that for almost five years, so it was no wonder that Leo had said such a thing to her earlier.

“I’ve always considered a boy who looks a lot like you as my little brother, so I was kind of happy when you got mad at me for talking like an older sister.”

“Nah …”

“I’ll talk to you later, if I can. I’d love to discuss with you some things.”

When Rishe was about to walk away, Leo flung a word at her back.

“Goddess Tower!”

“!”

Rishe looked back in confusion. Leo buried his head deeply and continued without looking at her.

“The Archbishop and Myria didn’t really go to the cathedral.”

“Eh…”

“The cathedral is used for large-scale events involving hordes of people, but the really sacred ceremonies are held in the Goddess Tower at the far end of the Grand Shrine.”

The map of the Grand Shrine that she had been taught in her maidservant life appeared in her mind.

What was called the Goddess Tower did not exist in the future that Rishe knew. Instead, a place that was once abhorred as a sealed tower existed behind the Grand Shrine.

“Thank you, Leo.”

“Do you believe me? I might be lying.”

“That’s all right.”

Rishe chuckled. It wasn’t a ladylike smile, but a mischievous boyish smile, like she used to have in her knight life.

“I have a feeling that if you lied to me just now, you’d yell out later and tell me, ‘It’s a lie.’”

“S-Shut up!”