Trio's Journey / The Horizontal Flying Princess's Regret / A Magician Whose Potential Was Wasted

"I refuse," Pierre replied almost without any hesitation.

"Prelati, please forgive me, but I cannot agree to such a strange request," he said firmly, his gaze direct.

Pierre wasn't so confused as to let a girl of unknown origin follow him and Jeanne back to Domremy Village.

That was not the situation he had anticipated at all.

However—

Just as if she had already known that Pierre would refuse her, Prelati replied unhurriedly.

"That's not strange at all~" she said, tilting her head slightly.

"When you're out and about, you always meet all sorts of people... some make me feel interested, some make me feel bored," she continued, her violet eyes looking at him intently.

"And you belong to the kind that makes me feel interested," she added, a playful smile on her lips.

"And because I find you interesting, I think going back to the northern village with you is something worth trying, what's wrong with that?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at him with curiosity.

"That's obviously wrong," Pierre didn't get drawn in by the purple-haired girl's words.

"How you view me, that is indeed your freedom," he said calmly, his gaze steady.

"But it doesn't mean that whatever you want to do, I have to accept it. Those two things cannot be equated," he explained, his tone firm.

"Oh~" Prelati rested her chin on her hand and nodded. "Now that you put it that way, it does seem to be the case," she conceded, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"It seems I have to come up with something that makes you think I'm worth taking back with you~" Prelati showed that eerie smile again.

"Then how about I take responsibility for ensuring your safety on this trip?" she offered, her violet eyes looking at him expectantly.

"..."

[You didn't think this kind of promise meant anything to you.]

[And if you really wanted to be realistic, you felt that even without the Prelati in front of you, you could ensure your adopted sister's safe return to Domremy Village.]

[However, you were a little curious as to why Prelati dared to make such a promise.]

[And she understood this curiosity as you thinking that the "bargaining chip" she had offered was not enough.]

"Then—" Prelati patted the bag on her waist, and the sound of gold coins clinking came from inside.

"I'll take care of your expenses on this trip," she offered, her violet eyes looking at him intently.

"By the way—"

"I'll also answer any questions you want to know about that magician," she added, a playful smile on her lips.

"With all that, you should finally think I'm someone suitable to bring back to the village, right?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at him expectantly.

"..."

[Prelati's words made you even more cautious.]

[Because you knew that the more eager a person was to accomplish something, the more it showed that they had an urgent need for it.]

[Just like how you wanted to gather information about that English magician so much, it was all for your adopted sister.]

[However, you also realized a possibility that was quite likely.]

[That was that the Prelati in front of you might really be doing this because she found you interesting.]

[After all, from the moment you met her, she hadn't shown any normal reactions at all.]

[You hesitated—because you really wanted to get information about that magician.]

"Let me think about it for one night first," Pierre said, then stood up and walked towards the room he and his adopted sister were staying in.

Watching his retreating figure, Prelati revealed a rather frightening smile.

There was one thing she hadn't told him.

The "interesting" she spoke of was not such a simple concept.

[You returned to the door of the room you were sharing with Jeanne.]

[You originally wanted to sneak in quietly.]

[But the moment you opened the door, you saw an unexpected scene.]

Jeanne, who had been sleeping in bed, had somehow sat up and was looking at Pierre, who had just opened the door, with a pout.

"Brother!" she exclaimed, her blue eyes looking at him with a hint of anger.

"Why did you go out while I was asleep...? Were you going to meet some wild woman?!" she demanded, her voice a little sharp.

"..." Looking at the angry Jeanne, Pierre didn't hesitate and immediately explained.

"I couldn't sleep, so I just wanted to go for a walk," he said gently, his gaze loving.

"However, I did meet a girl," he admitted, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Listen to me first—" He sat down beside her and recounted what had just happened.

[You told your sister Jeanne about what had just happened in the hall.]

[Of course, you only selectively told her some things; you didn't tell Jeanne about the promises Prelati had made later.]

[And she looked a little surprised after hearing all of this.]

"This..." The blonde girl seemed to have forgotten how to blink. "Did the English really hire such a powerful magician?" she asked, her blue eyes wide with surprise.

"That's right," Pierre nodded, indicating that his adopted sister was right.

"So she might be able to provide us with some useful information... maybe it will come in handy someday," he added, his gaze thoughtful.

Jeanne was by no means the kind of person who would make trouble unreasonably.

She understood her brother's difficulties, and her anger quickly dissipated.

"I understand," she said softly, her blue eyes looking at him with affection.

"In that case—"

"Let her go back to Domremy Village with us," she suggested gently.

"Yeah, that's the only way," Pierre agreed.

[You and Jeanne reached a consensus.]

[You spent a peaceful night.]

[You had originally planned to tell Prelati about this the next day.]

[However—]

As the first rays of sunlight shone into the room, a knock came at the door.

Jeanne rubbed her sleepy eyes, still looking groggy.

"Who is it...? Disturbing so early in the morning," she grumbled softly.

Unlike his adopted sister's complaint, Pierre immediately got dressed and went to answer the door.

But after opening the door, he was taken aback by the person standing in front of him.

It was Prelati.

She blinked her beautiful purple eyes and looked at Pierre, who had come to greet her.

"Hi~" she said cheerfully, a bright smile on her face.

"It's been a whole night~... You should have thought about how to answer me, right?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at him expectantly.

"..." Before Pierre could say anything, Jeanne suddenly jumped out of bed behind him and stood in front of her adopted brother.

"Who are you—?!" she demanded, her blue eyes looking at Prelati with suspicion.

"Why are you standing so close to my brother?!" she added, her voice sharp.

"Eh?!" Jeanne's sudden appearance startled Prelati.

She looked at Pierre beside her, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"You yesterday—"

"You didn't tell me you had a younger sister, did you?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at him with curiosity.

"That's right," Pierre said, gently patting Jeanne's head with a smile.

"I indeed didn't mention that," he admitted, his gaze loving.

"Sorry, Prelati, this is my younger sister, Jeanne D'Arc," he introduced them.

"..." Prelati looked around the room, then sneered.

"Heh," she scoffed softly.

"Your relationship is really good, huh... even at this age, you're still sleeping in the same room?" she remarked, her violet eyes looking at them with a hint of mockery.

"..." Jeanne's expression immediately became uneasy—after all, Prelati's words had hit a sensitive spot for her and him in a way.

Although the two of them were not blood-related, such intimacy was indeed a bit beyond the norm.

However, Pierre wasn't nervous at all.

He had already thought about how he should deal with this kind of question when someone asked.

"Prelati, it's just to save some gold coins," Pierre explained calmly, his gaze steady.

"You wouldn't want to find your bag empty when you want to drink, would you?" he countered, a playful smile on his lips.

"..." Prelati pouted.

"True," she conceded.

"If you can save money, there's indeed no need to spend extra," she added, her violet eyes looking at him thoughtfully.

"Let's not talk about that—"

"About the suggestion I made."

"We agreed," Pierre replied. "You can come back to Domremy Village with us," he added, his gaze gentle.

Perhaps having received the answer she wanted,

A hint of joy appeared on Prelati's face.

"That's good," she said, her voice a little brighter.

"In that case, let's hurry up and get on the road," she urged, her violet eyes looking at them with anticipation.

"You guys also want to go back to that village sooner, right?" she added, tilting her head slightly.

[And so, the journey of the trio began.]

[Out of politeness and the gentlemanly demeanor that men should have, you gave the space in the carriage to your sister Jeanne and Prelati.]

[However, you didn't expect Prelati to take this opportunity to inquire about you from Jeanne.]

The carriage moved slowly along the country path, leaving two lines of tracks.

Prelati looked at Pierre, who was acting as the coachman, a hint of curiosity in her purple eyes.

"Say, Jeanne," she began, her violet eyes looking at the blonde girl.

"You and your brother, which magician are you the children of? I've never heard of you before," she asked, her violet eyes looking at Jeanne with curiosity.

"Eh?" Prelati's words startled Jeanne.

"A magician?" she asked, her blue eyes widening in surprise.

"What magician?" she added, looking confused.

"..." The purple-haired girl turned her head and looked at Jeanne, who was wrapped up like a small dumpling in her adopted brother's clothes, with a puzzled expression.

"Your brother is a magician... don't you know about this?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at Jeanne intently.

"A magician?" Jeanne's eyes widened a bit, a wave of surprise washing over them.

She shook her head, denying Prelati's statement.

"I don't know... he hasn't told me he's a magician," she said softly, her blue eyes looking at Prelati with confusion.

"..." Prelati fell silent.

She glanced at Jeanne beside her, then looked at the coachman Pierre in front, seeming to understand something.

"Oh~" she quickly changed the subject.

"Then maybe I remembered wrong?" she said, a playful smile on her lips.

"Please pretend I didn't say anything—!" she added, winking at Jeanne.

[You didn't know that Jeanne and Prelati had such a conversation in the carriage.]

[You were even more unaware that Prelati had noticed something.]

[Night fell.]

[You arrived in a village.]

[You decided to rest here for the night.]

[You arrived at the local inn.]

Having just received the key from the landlady here, Jeanne very considerately picked up the box containing her and her adopted brother's belongings and walked towards the reserved room.

Pierre was about to follow when Prelati grabbed his shoulder.

The boy turned around and looked at the purple-haired girl he had only just met.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his brow furrowed in curiosity.

"Nothing," Prelati said, looking directly at Pierre, a hint of complex emotions in her eyes.

"Come out and chat for a while later," she requested softly.

[You felt that Prelati's expression was a bit off.]

[You realized that she might have something important she wanted to say to you.]

[You hesitated for a moment, but in the end, you decided to agree to this request.]

"Okay," Pierre replied, nodding slightly.

"But I have to tell Jeanne first," he added, his gaze gentle.

"Mmm," Prelati hummed in agreement.

[As agreed, you comforted Jeanne and made up an excuse to go out.]

[She didn't suspect anything, just hoping you could come back soon.]

[You left the room.]

[You met Prelati, who was waiting for you.]

[You and Prelati left the inn—you didn't want your adopted sister Jeanne to see you meeting with Prelati.]

[You arrived at the village road outside.]

The land of France was still shrouded in the cold winter, and a chill enveloped this not-so-large village.

Pierre's hands trembled slightly—he had given all the thick clothes to his adopted sister.

And Prelati's voice floated over with the chill.

"Are you cold?" she asked softly, her violet eyes looking at him with concern.

"...A little," Pierre admitted, his breath misting in the cold air.

"Then give me your hand," the girl said.

"Huh?!" Pierre looked at her in surprise.

"Hurry up," she urged gently.

Although he felt a bit puzzled, hearing Prelati's tone, Pierre hesitated for a moment, then reached out his hand as she requested.

His hand was grasped by the purple-haired girl.

And the moment they touched, a wave of warmth immediately spread through him.

Pierre instantly understood what was happening—Prelati had used some kind of warming magic.

"You..." Before the boy could finish his sentence, the purple-haired girl looked at him and spoke first, preemptively.

"Why are you hiding your identity as a magician from your sister?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at him intently.

"Huh?" This made Pierre pause. "What are you talking about?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Don't play dumb with me," Prelati's gaze sharpened.

"You... haven't mentioned to your sister that you're a magician, have you?" she asked, her violet eyes looking at him intently.

"..."

[You were initially a bit surprised—because you knew you hadn't mentioned anything about this to her.]

[But you quickly realized what had happened—Prelati and Jeanne had some related conversation in the carriage.]

[Jeanne's reaction made her realize this.]

"Well, that's nothing," Pierre replied, meeting the purple-haired girl's gaze.

"Even if I don't tell Jeanne I'm a magician, it won't cause any problems, will it?" he asked, his gaze steady.

"That one thing alone indeed doesn't have any problems," Prelati conceded.

"But—" Prelati stared at Pierre.

"You're hiding this identity so you can take good care of her," she stated, her violet eyes looking at him intently.

"You, as a magician, how can you have such thoughts—?!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief.

"..."

"What's it to you?" Pierre retorted, his gaze firm.

"Of course it's related!" Prelati gripped Pierre's hand tightly, tiptoed, and brought her cheek quite close to his.

"You're a magician! A genius magician without a family!" she declared, her violet eyes sparkling with intensity.

"Someone like you can't be found even in a hundred years!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with passion.

"You shouldn't be taking care of some younger sister... someone like you should leave your mark in the history of magic!" she insisted, her grip tightening on his hand.

"She—?! She's just delaying you!" Prelati concluded, her voice sharp.

"Enough!" Pierre roared, shaking off Prelati's hand.

"You wanting to study magic is your business, I just want to take good care of my younger sister," he said firmly, his gaze resolute.

"She is the most important thing in my life... no magic is worthy of being compared to her!" he declared, his voice filled with emotion.

Perhaps realizing that he had gotten a bit too excited as well, Pierre took a deep breath.

"Sorry, let's just talk until here today, I have to go back and be with Jeanne," he said softly, trying to calm himself down.

"Goodbye," he added, turning to leave.

Watching Pierre's retreating figure, Prelati's expression gradually twisted.

"No, absolutely not!" she muttered, her violet eyes filled with a dark determination.

"For a genius magician to waste his talent taking care of his younger sister... that's too absurd!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief.

"This is wrong!!!!!" The purple-haired girl clenched her fists, looking as if she had made some kind of decision.

And it would turn into a deadly killing intent towards Jeanne at some point in the future.