Confirming Canon

Switcheroooooooo

You know what to doooooo

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I held back the long groan and looked ahead.

A few meters away from us was the protagonist of this world, Arthur Leywin, curled up in pain. His increased pulse and dilated pupils convinced me he was not faking it.

'His beast will should not have activated at this point.'

While it was true that he frequently experienced short bursts of pain form his core after inheriting the Dragon's will, it shouldn't have acted right now.

To a certain degree I could predict the butterfly effects that could occur from my involvement, but it is impossible to not let something slip my radar every once in a while.

'Still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth'

The first thing I did after learning of Tessia's disappearance was not to search for her, but to look for the cave Arthur had been training in with Sylvia.

An ordinary cleanup would've yielded no results.

Considering it's the Asuras who are involved in this skirmish, they'd probably cast a thorough cleanse spell here to remove any trace of their presence.

But there is a trace they can never erase, not unless their core efficiency is 100%...

Residual mana, incomparably purer and denser than the atmospheric mana. The motes of mana scattered around the high rock indicated their involvement.

Ah right, I never mentioned that did I?

Hmm…..how do I even say it. I cannot see mana the same way as Arthur did during realmheart, but I can feel it.

It was not any different from the regular mages of this world, but the sensitivity I possessed was off the charts.

'Focus'

I cut off that train of thought and set Tessia down.

A part of me wished to assume him as a reincarnate different from king Grey, but his mannerisms were exactly like I expected King Grey to have.

A calm analytical gaze, trying to learn as much as he could while struggling with his inner demons…

The boy was sincere in his wish to help out Tessia escape the slave traders, but alas, he couldn't move due to the backlash.

"Take this." I held him up by the shoulder and handed some herbs.

The Crimson Nirnroots blended with Purple Mountain flowers acted as a painkiller and immediately took effect.

"….Thanks" Arthur spoke, his voice laced with fatigue.

"I'm sorry for being unable to help, I'm….sick you see." Regardless of his vigilance, he spoke with a smile on his face.

Right, in his eyes, I'm a kid while he's a grown man.

"It's alright. But would you mind coming with me, I can't just let you go after you involve yourself with the princess of elves."

Flinch—!

For a brief moment I saw his face harder, but it was wiped away immediately. If I had to give a prediction of his thoughts, he didn't want to go with us, but upon noticing our age, he didn't take us as a threat.

"Your beast will is causing bursts of pain right? I know people in the kingdom that can help you with it. If you leave it be, it'll only get worse until your core shatters."

"…"

"I'll take you silence as a yes, in the meantime could you look over the princess for me. I have to give a report to the king."

"Wa-wait you can't just leave her like that! You've known me for more than a few minutes only!"

"It's okay, if you do something shady, our soldiers will hunt you down to the ends of this world until you're ripped to pieces."

"Uh…."

He seemed taken aback by what I said….which really isn't that odd. After all, I've been vague in my wordings. He doesn't know what the line is. So even a scratch on her face might get him in trouble.

But by the moment he realized it, I was already out of sight.

I never planned to go back in the first place.

'Show me who you really are, Arthur.'

Are you king grey who'll try to keep his distance from her but eventually warm up, or are you someone else wearing his skin, lusting for the princess.

I know I've said I won't get involved in these matters, but I can't turn a blind eye to such things completely.

If he really is, King grey, I'll leave those two and wait it out until they start crushing on each other. If he's not, well I suppose a good chess piece for free is in my hands then…..

.

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{Tessia POV}

That bastard!

I chomped down on the bear leg meat as I felt the urge to kill him.

'How dare you leave me here, I'm a princess dammit!'

"Slow down, or you'll choke."

The other boy spoke as he roasted the meat on the bonfire.

It had been a few hours since I woke up, and got briefed on the events that transpired. The noteworthy thing was that Andrew found me while I was fighting the mage and took care of it, before he left me lying on the ground with a male stranger he apparently 'vouched' for.

Had I not remembered seeing Andrew's face before fainting, I wouldn't have believed him. But alas here we are…

The sun had gone down and we decided to rest before continuing our journey.

It was a little awkward at first when we just met, but he seemed like a decent boy. The shocking thing I learned was that he was an awakened like me and Andrew.

Auburn hair, white skin, blue eyes…..he was objectively pretty. But there was something off about his gaze, it was familiar.

Right, Andrew had a similar gaze…

But there was a significant difference.

While Arthur seems to suppress his emotion, Andrew did not. To him, everything and everyone seemed to have an equal priority.

'Tch'

Does that make sense? Shouldn't it be treason to treat the princess the same as a commoner.

Although the ones charged with treason received the death penalty by law, I suppose I could save him by asking for a pardon.

'Maybe, they'll be merciful and lock him up in a room instead of killing him…'

Yeah, serves him right!

'And since he's my teacher, he should still be teaching me inside that room. I'll be the only one who can see him, even the servants cannot enter it. It's only right that a pupil has special privileges…'

Yeah….serves him right?

'I hope that happens, the I'll be the only one close to him. If he dedicated his entire life to me, I suppose I could let him have some power by marrying him, it's the appropriate reward for teaching someone the princess.'

YES THAT IT!

"What are you thinking right now?"

Arthur spoke with the chiken still inside his mouth, interrupting my musings.

"Nothing important, I'm just missing my parents. And please talk after you're done chewing your food."