I was carried into a room and laid down on a bed .
The blood from my nose had dried due to the cold air outside, and someone was in the process of wiping it clean .
I took that as an opportunity to wake up .
“Ugh… where am I…?”
I made a show of looking around everywhere confused .
It was another private room . While the dimensions were the same as the room Zack was using, this room was a lot more modest, containing only necessities and no leisure items .
Clara was beside the bed, and one of her faction men was standing at the door giving me the stink eye .
“I'm so glad you're alright . You were struck hard so try not to move right away . ”
“Huh, aren't you…”
“Oh pardon me, I've yet to introduce myself . Though it's likely you already know, I'm Clara Oriana . ”
“M-my name's Cid Kageno . I, uh, see you took care of me . My utmost thanks…”
I spoke in a shaky voice as if trying my best not to offend the royalty before me .
“It's all right . In the first place, you were unluckily caught up between our dispute . ”
“No, I—”
That was when the man in front of the door clicked his tongue .
“Lady Clara, I believe you've done enough . We have no need to concern ourselves with him any longer . ”
“Guin… I understand, but he's still not able to move with his injuries . ”
“He might be a ploy to approach you, milady . We do not have time to deal with such minor things . We have a duty to our people, do we not?”
The guy called Guin was looking at me in contempt .
“You're not wrong, Guin, but that doesn't make it fine to ignore someone so injured right in front of me . ”
“Please under—”
“Enough . Guin, he doesn't know anything . And to my eyes, he seems no criminal . Is that not so?”
Clara turned her eyes to me .
“I, yes . I accidentally ran into bodies left in alley by OWL . They said I was suspicious and…”
“If I can't even help a single injured boy, how could I possibly try to protect my country?”
Clara declared and grasped my hand .
“—By your will . I shall be outside . ” Guin said and then left the room .
Before the door was fully closed, he gave me one last mean glare . But if I wasn't seeing it incorrectly, it wasn't just at me, but also towards Clara .
Once the door was shut, Clara let out a sigh .
“I apologize . He means well for me, it's just…”
“No, I'm alright . ”
“Everyone's under a lot pressure . Even I… The one who's supposed to have this role isn't even me, but…” Clara spoke glumly .
“Um…”
“Don't worry about that . It's really none of your concern after all . You're, not from Oriana, are you?”
“Th-that's right . I'm a student from the Midgar Magisword Academy…”
“—Eh? The Magisword Academy? Then, do you perhaps know of my sister?”
Clara turned and faced me curiously .
“Er, yes, I do know Miss Rose . I've spoken to her before . ”
“You have? Then do you know about the incident where she killed my father?”
“… Yes . I was among the spectators when it happened . ”
“Are you sure? Was it really her who did it…?”
“Yes, it was definitely Miss Rose . ”
“So it was…”
Clara's shoulders drooped in defeat .
“Father had been strange for some time before, and I knew that she was looking for the cause . Really, why did it have to end up like this… Everyone is calling her a traitor to the nation now . I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to…”
I was somewhat at a loss as to what I should say .
I let out a sigh and decided to just speak what's on my mind .
“The way I saw it, she had an important reason for doing what she did . I don't know what that reason was, and I can't say if you'll be able to accept it even if you knew her reasons . What I do know is that Miss Rose had done it with the utmost of resolve . ”
“Resolve… is that how it looked? Haha, thank you, that made me feel somewhat better . You know, I really loved my sister who could do anything and everything . I looked up to her . So when I heard of the tragedy, I couldn't, I still wanted to believe in her…”
Clara shook her head side to side, as if driving away the negativity .
“You must've gotten along with her well . ”
“Well actually, I faced her once in the Senbatsu Tournament during the G.o.d of War Festival . ”
“You have! What happened?”
“I completely lost . ”
“Well, you do look terribly weak . ”
Clara said with a mischievous grin .
“Cid, may I call you Cid? You can simply call me Clara as well . ”
“That's kind of…”
“Oh, no need to be shy . In here, I'm a prisoner same as you . ”
“Uh, well… then sure . But only when in private, please?”
“Right . If Guin were to find out, I'd never hear the end of it . That aside, tell me more about how my sister was at the Academy . ”
And that's what I did for the next few hours .
This might not seem like the thing a mob should be doing, but not to worry . I can fix it . I am simply one of Miss Rose's many mob friends and because of that fact, I am a mob who Clara can talk to .
152 . The Princess's Mob FriendI was carried into a room and laid down on a bed . .
The blood from my nose had dried due to the cold air outside, and someone was in the process of wiping it clean . .
I took that as an opportunity to wake up . .
.
“Ugh… where am I…?”.
I made a show of looking around everywhere confused . .
It was another private room . While the dimensions were the same as the room Zack was using, this room was a lot more modest, containing only necessities and no leisure items . .
.
Clara was beside the bed, and one of her faction men was standing at the door giving me the stink eye . .
“I'm so glad you're alright . You were struck hard so try not to move right away . ”.
“Huh, aren't you…”.
“Oh pardon me, I've yet to introduce myself . Though it's likely you already know, I'm Clara Oriana . ”.
“M-my name's Cid Kageno . I, uh, see you took care of me . My utmost thanks…”.
I spoke in a shaky voice as if trying my best not to offend the royalty before me . .
.
“It's all right . In the first place, you were unluckily caught up between our dispute . ”.
“No, I—”.
That was when the man in front of the door clicked his tongue . .
“Lady Clara, I believe you've done enough . We have no need to concern ourselves with him any longer . ”.
“Guin… I understand, but he's still not able to move with his injuries . ”.
“He might be a ploy to approach you, milady . We do not have time to deal with such minor things . We have a duty to our people, do we not?”.
The guy called Guin was looking at me in contempt . .
.
“You're not wrong, Guin, but that doesn't make it fine to ignore someone so injured right in front of me . ”.
“Please under—”.
“Enough . Guin, he doesn't know anything . And to my eyes, he seems no criminal . Is that not so?”.
Clara turned her eyes to me . .
“I, yes . I accidentally ran into bodies left in alley by OWL . They said I was suspicious and…”.
.
“If I can't even help a single injured boy, how could I possibly try to protect my country?”.
Clara declared and grasped my hand . .
“—By your will . I shall be outside . ” Guin said and then left the room . .
Before the door was fully closed, he gave me one last mean glare . But if I wasn't seeing it incorrectly, it wasn't just at me, but also towards Clara . .
.
Once the door was shut, Clara let out a sigh . .
“I apologize . He means well for me, it's just…”.
“No, I'm alright . ”.
“Everyone's under a lot pressure . Even I… The one who's supposed to have this role isn't even me, but…” Clara spoke glumly . .
“Um…”.
“Don't worry about that . It's really none of your concern after all . You're, not from Oriana, are you?”.
“Th-that's right . I'm a student from the Midgar Magisword Academy…”.
“—Eh? The Magisword Academy? Then, do you perhaps know of my sister?”.
.
Clara turned and faced me curiously . .
“Er, yes, I do know Miss Rose . I've spoken to her before . ”.
“You have? Then do you know about the incident where she killed my father?”.
“… Yes . I was among the spectators when it happened . ”.
.
“Are you sure? Was it really her who did it…?”.
“Yes, it was definitely Miss Rose . ”.
“So it was…”.
.
Clara's shoulders drooped in defeat . .
“Father had been strange for some time before, and I knew that she was looking for the cause . Really, why did it have to end up like this… Everyone is calling her a traitor to the nation now . I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to…”.
.
I was somewhat at a loss as to what I should say . .
I let out a sigh and decided to just speak what's on my mind . .
“The way I saw it, she had an important reason for doing what she did . I don't know what that reason was, and I can't say if you'll be able to accept it even if you knew her reasons . What I do know is that Miss Rose had done it with the utmost of resolve . ”.
.
“Resolve… is that how it looked? Haha, thank you, that made me feel somewhat better . You know, I really loved my sister who could do anything and everything . I looked up to her . So when I heard of the tragedy, I couldn't, I still wanted to believe in her…”.
Clara shook her head side to side, as if driving away the negativity . .
“You must've gotten along with her well . ”.
.
“Well actually, I faced her once in the Senbatsu Tournament during the G.o.d of War Festival . ”.
“You have! What happened?”.
“I completely lost . ”.
“Well, you do look terribly weak . ”.
Clara said with a mischievous grin . .
“Cid, may I call you Cid? You can simply call me Clara as well . ”.
“That's kind of…”.
.
“Oh, no need to be shy . In here, I'm a prisoner same as you . ”.
“Uh, well… then sure . But only when in private, please?”.
“Right . If Guin were to find out, I'd never hear the end of it . That aside, tell me more about how my sister was at the Academy . ”.
.
And that's what I did for the next few hours . .
This might not seem like the thing a mob should be doing, but not to worry . I can fix it . I am simply one of Miss Rose's many mob friends and because of that fact, I am a mob who Clara can talk to . .
