A week had passed since house arrest began. Life in that mysterious room was remarkably comfortable.
Whatever I wanted was delivered as soon as I asked, and there were no interrogations to speak of.
I'd already been through a period of self-imposed seclusion before this house arrest, so there was no particular stress—maybe I actually had a talent for shut-in life. Ritz and Luke could absolutely never pull off the shut-in lifestyle, so maybe being good at it was one of the few talents where I could surpass them.
Now that I had this gift, wasn't there some field where I could put it to use...
As I lay sprawled on the bed, kicking my legs idly while entertaining such pointless thoughts, the space in front of the door suddenly warped.
A sight you'd never see in everyday life. When the distortion vanished, the person standing there was none other than the princess of Ygdala—Selen.
"Klye, it seems you've been living quite comfortably."
Why was Selen here...? Well, whatever.
She'd caught me in an embarrassing position. But there was no way I could have predicted Selen showing up out of nowhere, no matter how cunning I was.
There was no point trying to play it cool now, so I spoke while still flailing my legs.
"Ah, Selen. I was just in the middle of recharging my energy."
"My, how extraordinary... Humans adopt such peculiar poses to recharge their energy!"
"Well, it's, um, something like meditation."
"You weren't doing this when you came to Ygdala..."
"That's because, well... when I was in Ygdala, there wasn't really any need to do it, per se..."
"!?"
Come to think of it, I genuinely had no memory of what I'd even done in Ygdala. What on earth had I been up to...
I sat up and turned to Selen, who looked entirely gullible and was taking my words completely at face value.
"So anyway, what brings you here? You even used teleportation magic. If you came to rescue me, I appreciate the thought, but I'm fine. No problems at all, not the least bit troubled."
Teleportation was a grand spell. For humans, the limit was drawing complex magic circles at both the origin and destination before activation—the fact that an individual could cast it freely was something only someone like Selen could manage. It seemed even the Empire hadn't developed countermeasures against that.
But while I appreciated the sentiment, it was entirely unnecessary.
If I took Selen up on her offer and fled, I'd become a fugitive—and if it was discovered to be her doing, it would cause trouble for Ygdala too.
I already knew from Mary's words that the situation I'd caused had been resolved, so the best thing to do now was stay put and behave. Besides, this house arrest was pretty comfortable...
At my words, Selen smiled sweetly and nodded sagely.
"Exactly, exactly, Klye. I came here to confirm that you're living comfortably and without any hardship."
Wait... why would you need to confirm that...?
"I'm perfectly comfortable. Even without 'Easy Vacation.'"
"Good. That's all I needed to know."
The shirt-type Treasure Weapon "Easy Vacation" was an extremely useful Treasure Weapon that kept its wearer comfortable in any environment, but I wasn't so weak that I couldn't be comfortable without one. It wasn't like I was Selen, who'd needed the Treasure Weapon just to feel comfortable in Ygdala.
Actually, my "Easy Vacation" was still with Selen, lent to her back in Ygdala... Well, never mind that for now.
I wasn't inconvenienced at all without the Treasure Weapon, and once I got out of here and settled down, I'd ask for it back. I was a comfort powerhouse, after all.
At that moment, the door was knocked. Before I could even urge Selen to leave, the door opened.
The person who walked in was—Franz.
"Thousand Transformations, it's time—!?"
Franz's eyes locked onto Selen, who was sitting there perfectly composed. Selen addressed the wide-eyed Franz with a cheerful smile.
"Franz, I've confirmed that Klye is living comfortably and without any hardship. Please continue to take care of him."
"...Tch. Fine. You win. We'll do as you wish... but you're going to follow the rules to some degree. Zebuldia is a nation of law, after all."
So that meant acquittal... Thank goodness!
I did feel sorry, of course, but I hadn't done it on purpose either. Yeah—if any issues came up from this, I'd do my best to resolve them, and I hoped that much would be enough to call it even.
I let out a relieved sigh and spoke to Franz.
"Acquittal, you mean? Oh man, that's great. Life in this room hasn't been bad, but I was hoping I'd get to go outside eventually."
"......"
"Franz, you do understand, right?"
Selen spoke to Franz, who had gone silent and was trembling, as though driving the point home.
I didn't know what they were talking about, but had they gotten close while I wasn't looking? They had mentioned something about diplomatic relations with Ygdala, after all...
At Selen's words, Franz clicked his tongue again.
"Tch. I know. I'll make things as convenient as possible for you. But this is the last time we bend the rules. If anything like this happens again, I'm pulling the plug."
"Understood. That's all I need to hear."
"You don't understand a damn thing, do you..."
Selen was in high spirits, but Franz didn't exactly look like things were going well. One minute in the room and he'd already cursed twice and clicked his tongue twice—I was keeping count.
Selen, as a high-ranking Spiritfolk, was probably unfamiliar with human society, so she'd likely said something willful. I cleared my throat softly and tried to mediate as a small apology.
"Come on, you two need to get along. Selen, you can't just go around saying whatever you want—poor Franz. I'm sorry, Franz. Selen just doesn't have much common sense."
"Nn... ggh... ugh..."
I didn't fully understand why, but he'd gone completely speechless, reduced to incoherent noises.
Franz's face was turning red by the second. I averted my gaze, escaping into my own little world. Time to stop saying anything else unnecessary.
"I wasn't saying anything willful—but fine, I'll be more careful. By the way, checking on Klye's well-being doesn't count as being willful, does it?"
"Of course that's—"
"A—Of course that's NOT okay!!!"
Huh...? Why not?
I blinked in surprise at Franz's fury. Selen coming to visit me had nothing to do with Franz.
Or maybe it was a matter of Selen's position. The idea of a Ygdala princess wandering freely through the imperial capital might genuinely be concerning.
"N-Now, now, calm down. Franz, I get how you feel, but that's Selen's decision to make, isn't it?"
"Like hell it is! You damn fool!"
"Oh, hey, what about this—if the problem is that Selen's a princess, then maybe Franz could give her permission to visit? You've got to give her a little freedom—she did come all the way to the capital, after all."
"That's right, human of the left wrist. Grant me permission."
"Just—come on, let's go!"
For some reason, Franz pulled out a pair of handcuffs and locked them onto my wrist. He'd just said I was acquitted—did they really need to cuff me during transport?
They were sturdy-looking handcuffs. That said, if I truly had Level 8-class strength, I could have broken them easily enough... So it really was just for show, then.
As I stood there looking confused, something seemed to snap in Franz, and he turned to glare at both me and Selen, practically shouting.
"Listen! Follow the rules! Obey the law! That's all I'm saying! Visits are strictly prohibited! Absolutely not! You may be able to teleport here, but you won't be able to get back out!! Don't cause me any more trouble!"
Why was he so opposed to Selen and me meeting? What was the big deal about getting together... I was always at the Footprints Clan House, and honestly, the Footprints Clan House seemed plenty safe—unlucky enough for me to have lived there for three years.
Well, Franz was probably just a little on edge. Once he had some time to calm down, he'd realize he'd gone too far... The Empire was supposed to be a nation of freedom, after all.
"Tch. Hey, you lot. Escort Princess Selen outside."
Franz issued the order in a suppressed voice to the knights waiting outside.
The subordinate knights escorted Selen with graceful, courtly gestures. While Franz's attention was on Selen, I raised my index finger to my lips, signaling her to hold off on arguing for now. Selen smiled and gave a small nod. That would do.
"Well then, Selen, see you next time. Good luck with the diplomacy."
"Yes. It looks like things will work out thanks to Franz. Franz, I'm counting on you to take good care of everything."
"............Damn it. Come on, Thousand Transformations. It's going to be a long journey. You'll need a blindfold too. Got it?"
"Huh...? Yeah, yeah, sure?"
A long journey? Why would it be a long journey? And a blindfold...?
I furrowed my brow for a moment, but then decided not to worry about it. I'd been acquitted, after all.
Franz had said I needed to follow the rules, so maybe there were some tedious procedures or regulations to go through.
Having gotten away with something truly outrageous, the least I could do was keep my mouth shut and go along with it.