Raising the Princess to Overcome Death Chapter 305: Beggar Siblings - The Turned Lie

304. Beggar Siblings - The Turned Lie

"Did you hear everything the Marquis said? Then, get it done. Oh! And don't forget to contact 'Rev.' Jenia's side is taken care of, so just let him know I'll be the one contacting 'Cardinal Verke.'"

"Got it. I'll reach out again."

With that, the mirror cracked—shattering into pieces as Ray's words ended.

Lean quickly stowed the broken mirror into his coat before the Marquis could notice.

In truth, Ray probably wouldn’t be able to contact again after reaching out to Rev. But, with clever timing, he managed to leave with a reassuring remark:

- I’ll contact you again.

It was a signal, knowing the mirror would break and understanding how precarious my situation was. The ssage was loud and clear for Marquis Tatian to hear.

If anything happens to this person, the great Swordmaster will co running imdiately.

That was the real aning behind Ray’s words.

Damn it, thanks...

I almost let out a sigh of relief.

Realizing his mistake, Lean slowly exhaled the breath he had held, letting it out through his nose. Fortunately, the Marquis was distracted, preoccupied with sothing else.

"A remarkable... magic trick. I wasn’t aware there was another prince who was a mage."

He seed to be quite shocked. Lean tried his best to hide his excitent, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

The danger wasn’t over yet.

Not in front of Marquis Tatian.

Even the smallest hint could reveal that this was all just a bluff. If I didn’t keep my guard up, Ray's clever move would be wasted.

Moreover, this man was already at odds with Count Herman Forte. He wasn’t soone who would be scared of a Swordmaster far away just because he was surprised right now. Lean decided it was best not to lie any further.

"Haha! It’s flattering to be called a mage, but I can’t actually use magic. I’m not like that prince."

"Are you saying that wasn’t magic?"

"Yes. It’s just a functional mirror. It’s not much different from using the Church’s communication thods. Anyway,"

Now that the crisis had passed, it was ti to strengthen ties.

At the very least, I needed to express my intention to work with him.

"I understand why you’ve been keeping an eye on Jenia and . But you should stop from now on."

"......"

Lean took a sip of his drink, revealing his stance. The taste of the liquor, mixed with Tothr tree sap, was pleasantly sweet.

"I don’t think constructing a trade route is a bad idea. It could deal a blow to my brother, Eric de Yeriel."

Yes, I am the prince who was unjustly exiled. And there are few ways to get back at my brother, who has completely seized control of the Kingdom of Conrad.

Finally, the Marquis spoke up.

"...You have no intention of reclaiming your place."

Of course, he understood. Lean burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

A hearty laugh. That was enough.

Having ntioned 'Cardinal Verke' earlier, the Marquis would likely begin to speculate. Lean added sothing more to stoke those speculations.

"And one more thing. There’s a favor I’d like to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"I’d like to et Prince Vivian de Isadora before we arrive in Orville. Could you arrange it? By the ti he arrives, he’ll likely be busy with engagent preparations."

The situation was escalating. The Marquis shifted his posture without a word.

Lean could guess what he was thinking.

"Why?" — The question must be lingering at the back of his throat. He must be dying to ask, but he was holding back, knowing that he’d lost control of the conversation.

In the end, he didn’t ask.

"...Fine. I was planning to et with Baron Oliver Trudi myself. Why don’t you join ?"

It ant he would continue to observe, wanting to see what I was up to. Lean smiled with a thrill.

I survived. At the end of this tightrope walk, I managed to deceive this intelligent giant face-to-face.

To the Marquis, I must now seem like soone who had connections in the distant north, who had reached out to a cardinal in the south, and who was even approaching a prince from the east... A person orchestrating sothing on a grand scale.

Yet I claid to have no interest in reclaiming my royal position. If I did, I wouldn’t have agreed to constructing a trade route, nor would I have ntioned the cardinal.

Those actions would only harm the Yeriel royal family. Allowing smuggling would reduce the royal family’s inco, and securing the cardinal's support would strengthen the Church's influence.

In the long run, that would undermine the monarchy.

It could be seen as a desperate move to regain my place, but that would be a foolish mistake.

Marquis Benar Tatian didn’t think of Lean as such a fool.

Instead, he saw as soone like himself—a power player who enjoyed manipulating things from behind the scenes. And by the Marquis’s standards...

I passed with flying colors.

As the top-scoring student, I walked away calmly from the intricate steel cage of the manor, a place from which no one was expected to return alive, leaving behind the wary eyes of the strict overseer.

Phew.

*

- "Benar. You belong to ."

The sounds of flesh colliding gradually subsided, and Lerialia gently caressed Marquis Benar Tatian's stomach.

Her golden eyes, twisted with desire, blazed as she embraced him with lust and ambition.

Naked, elegant, and sad. The girl with a self-destructive smile suddenly woke up with a start, saying "Huh?"

"Did you sleep well?"

The light was blinding.

Normally, she would shout, "Ahhh! Brother! Close the window!!" but this ti, Lerialia quietly rose from bed.

Her long hair flowed smoothly down as the sunlight bathed her entire body, making her glow white.

She had a strange dream.

Pushing herself up from the soft bed, she exhaled a breath that felt damp and excited. However, she quickly smiled brightly and answered,

"Yeah!"

It was the usual Lerialia.

She washed her face in the water her brother had brought, then changed her clothes. But this ti, she did sothing different.

"Can you tie my hair?"

"Sure."

"Actually, I’ll do it myself."

With the hair tie clenched between her teeth, Lerialia deftly gathered her hair into a bun.

Her fingers moved quickly, twisting her hair into place. In no ti, she had tied it up into a neat bun.

Her neckline, now fully exposed, seed especially graceful.

Noticing the subtle change in his sister’s deanor, Lean let out a faint sigh.

Having eaten well recently, Lerialia had started to grow, her figure becoming more defined. Lean silently followed her as she walked ahead.

"Are you free today, brother?"

"...Yes."

In truth, he wasn’t.

He had to et with Jenia for engagent preparations and discuss matters with Count Edlin and Count Peter. But today, it felt like he needed to stay close to his sister.

"Great!"

Lerialia bead. Recently, she had been learning the martial art of Hiveruna, and she was eager to test it out on her brother.

Heh! This is the perfect chance to break his annoying habit of pinching my cheeks!

After finishing breakfast together, Lerialia headed to the front yard.

Her friends, already outside exercising, greeted her warmly.

"Lerialia? What brings you here?" — But then they flinched. Lerialia flinched too.

"You look so pretty today."

"Yeah, who did your hair?"

A group of friends gathered around her.

Lerialia could see the emotions swirling in her friends' eyes. It was as if she could reach out and touch their feelings. Ah, so this one likes that person... This one is jealous of ... Every emotion was crystal clear.

But not knowing how to deal with them... Well, in truth, what she really wanted was to prod at those gaps in their emotions, to stir things up a bit. Yet, she held herself back.

Ending with a secret wink at Santian Rauno, who was staring at her blankly, Lerialia marched toward the sandy area where her brother stood.

"What? What are you planning?"

"I’m going to hit you now, brother. Get ready. You've been bullying lately, but I’ll have you know, I’m—"

"Pfft!"

Lean burst into laughter at the sight of his little sister clenching her fist and making small cracking sounds.

To him, she was nothing but adorable.

"You’re laughing?"

Today, her brother was going down.

Her teacher had been coming on weekend mornings to teach Hiberuna, but Lerialia never attended because mornings were simply too early for her.

Instead, she had been practicing with Santian. Thanks to the new room (because of that window...), she finally managed to attend a class last weekend.

And she had been praised endlessly.

The teacher said that with proper training, she would be more than capable of defending herself. Her friends, who were her age, were already no match for her.

So, her skinny brother? No problem.

It was a bit painful, but she needed to fix his bad habit of pinching her cheeks. He could go and do that to Sister Jenia, not her...

Huh?

Her fist shot forward quickly, but it swung through empty air. Of course, she hadn’t hit too hard, but her brother simply stood there, smiling, hands behind his back.

What just happened? Did I misjudge the distance?

She swung again—this ti, aiming a kick.

Though, as his sister, she didn’t think it would be right to kick him in the head, so she targeted his shoulder instead. But once again, her kick missed, slicing through nothing but air.

"???"

Her brother hadn’t even moved!

His feet were still planted in the middle of the sandy yard.

Realizing that she had just danced around by herself, Lerialia’s face flushed red in embarrassnt.

Was it because it was still morning and her eyes were a bit blurry? She rubbed her eyes vigorously, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you done?"

"What? Ahhh!!"

Her brother lunged at her like lightning.

He grabbed her by the shoulder, twisted her arm behind her back, and scooped her up, hugging her around the waist.

Lerialia, now slung over his shoulder, shrieked as Lean spun her around and around.

"Put down! Now!"

"Nope. Oh, dear, our little sister. You've put on so weight, haven't you?"

"In front of my friends? What are you doing, ugh…! I said stop pinching my cheeks!"

"Ahahaha! Look at her go!"

Lerialia flailed wildly.

Her struggle irritated Lean for so reason, so he finally set her down, feeling a bit sour.

"You’re a hundred years too early to challenge your brilliant older brother."

"Ugh... T-Tian... I lost."

Lerialia ran off, fleeing to Santian. Perhaps because her bun had co undone, the mysterious aura around her from earlier disappeared, and she returned to her usual self. Santian, seeing this, bead at her.

"You really lost? I thought you’d win... Sorry."

"So, it was you who filled my sister's head with false hope?"

"Ah... H-Hello, sir."

"Good. Perfect timing. Co here for a mont."

"Wha—! What are you going to do to Tian? He didn’t do anything wrong!"

"Quiet down. I just need to ask him sothing."

"I’m coming too!"

Lean took Santian aside and sat him down by the edge of the yard.

There was no need for pleasantries with a kid this young, so he got straight to the point.

"What’s the relationship between Rauno and Laono? You know, don’t you?"

"H-huh? W-what?"

"I’m asking, what’s the connection between Rauno and Laono. If anyone knows, it’s you."

Santian fidgeted nervously, licking his lips.

Having been dealing with people like Count Gustav Peter, Joseph Rauno, and Marquis Benar Tatian, Lean found the boy’s expressions easy to read. But then, Santian played dumb at the last mont.

"L-Laono... What’s that?"

"What? Tian, you fool! How can you not know Laono? We learned about it in history class. Now that I think about it, you said back then that there was sothing only you knew..."

But before Lerialia could finish, Santian jumped up, startled.

"Agh! I said it was a secret!"

"Even though you didn’t tell anything, why are you acting like this?"

"I said even ntioning it to others was a secret!"

"What?"

Lerialia’s expression hardened.

"...Is my brother 'others' to you? You’ve really disappointed ! Let go of my hand!"

She yanked her hand out of Santian’s grasp with a sharp tug, leaving him dumbstruck and whining in pain.

"L-Le, Lerialia. I’m sorry, I didn’t an to—"

"Don’t call Lerialia! I’m Lerialia to you, and I’m your elder, Santian!"

"But, Le—ugh..."

"Okay, that’s enough."

Seemingly shocked by the sudden change in how she addressed him, Santian Rauno was almost in tears. Lean, feeling things had beco much easier, patted both the boy and the girl on the shoulder.

"Friends shouldn’t fight. But friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other either. Apologize, both of you. Lerialia, you too."

"I don’t care if he’s keeping secrets, but the way he acted—"

"Ah, no buts. Apologize."

Lerialia puffed up her cheeks in a sulky expression.

Santian, his voice barely above a whisper, muttered,

"I’m sorry, L-Lerialia... nuna."

"...Hmph!"

"Alright, alright. Shake hands. You two should stay close as friends. Now then..."

Lean grinned as he gently probed again.

"So, what’s really the connection between Rauno and Laono? Co on, no one else will hear about it."

"My parents told not to tell anyone... Uh, but you’re not 'anyone,' are you?"

Seeing Lerialia’s narrowing eyes, Santian quickly changed his tune. After hesitating for a mont, he finally confessed.

"Our family is descended from the famous 'Banun Laono,' the first noble. I heard we changed our na because we’re no longer nobles, and the Laono na was too famous."

"Is that all?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, that’s all."

That can't be all, can it?

Lean tilted his head in confusion.

The surna he saw at the mysterious northern temple had been 'Rauno,' not 'Laono,' which was the version commonly known to the public.

It was a case of truth and lies being swapped.

The world knew Banun as Banun 'Laono,' while the 'Rauno' family mbers were openly displaying the surna they were supposed to be hiding.

Thousands of years had passed, long enough to muddle everything.

But why had the first noble family changed their na in the first place?

Thinking back, this wasn’t a recent occurrence. The second and third saints revered by the Cross Church, Constantino and Lazar, also had their surnas wrongly recorded as 'Laono.'

So, it wasn’t that the family had fallen and changed their na; it was sothing else—sothing much older—that caused the shift to 'Laono,' and that version stuck over ti.

In modern tis, as Santian said, the Rauno family changed their na back, burdened by the weight of a na too famous for non-nobles to bear.

At least that mystery was solved. The Rauno family really were the descendants of Banun Launo.

But I still don’t know why they’re involved with us. Saying it’s because Banun was the first vassal of Toddler Akiunen...

It’s not enough.

There was still so missing link that I hadn’t uncovered yet.

Lean sighed, thinking that the 'beggar with the broken arm' likely held the key to the answer.