"Lily, we need to talk."
The quietness of the library went away as Andre confronted Lily who was doing her paperwork on the table of that library. Lily turned her chair in Andre's direction as she abandoned doing her paperwork. Andre didn't sound too happy about things.
"Well, sure, but why are you disturbing me while I am doing my work," Lily asked.
"Well, there is this letter," Andre said as he gave Lily the letter.
One might wonder why a letter could cause such a ruckus when the sun was still on the east. Well, that letter was coming from royalty, this royalty in particular, who was the highest royalty among the royalties. Or, if it was put in a simpler term, the king.
"Ah, pa finally sends me something important," Lily said as she opened the letter.
Andre didn't open the white envelope that was sealed with red wax. He was sure that it was something very confidential, especially since the courier that gave it to him dressed in a formal outfit instead of a regular adventurer outfit that he usually saw.
"What is the letter all about?" Andre asked.
"I haven't read it yet. Be patient." Lily opened the letter.
Lily's eyes moved from right to left, she read the letter that was written by his father words by words. Andre looked at her face, it was the face of someone that was surprised. She smiled as she read the letter, letter by letter.
Andre was curious and he approached her. She was smiling over and over. It might be good news, but Andre wanted to confirm the good news first. He didn't want to jump to the conclusion too fast. It could be disastrous if he assumed something without knowing the real deal.
"Finally, the old man comes to his common sense," Lily said.
"What do you mean?" Andre asked.
"Here you go," Lily gave Andre the letter.
The letter was written by a quill, it was noticeable from the characteristic of the handwriting itself. Furthermore, there was also a stamp on the bottom of the letter. The content of the letter itself was an invitation to go back to the castle. However, the rest of it only contains a regular letter between a father and a daughter. There would be a party in the castle as well, so yeah, it was also an invitation.
Andre judged that Lily was finally tired of being put in that mansion as an Ace in case the Empire broke through the front line. However, Lily didn't seem to want to use her angelic power to beat the empire down. Well, it was good news for her, Andre thought.
"Weird…" Andre muttered as he put the letter on the work table in that library.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked.
"Why did your father put you here in the first place?" Andre asked, out of his curiosity.
There was absolutely no reason for Lily to be put in the war zone, even if she was an angel. She was a princess, that thing alone should be enough reason to put her in the middle of the capital, not on a border region. There was something fishy behind that letter.
"He said that I needed to defend the border region," Lily said.
"There is someone more capable than you. I don't think that is the exact reason," Andre said.
"What is the reason though?" Lily asked.
"It is a question that I will ask, but well. Since you are clueless as well, I won't ask. By the way, with sugar or not?" Andre offered the princess a cup of tea.
"Sugar, please," Lily said.
Andre and Lily conversed, not much was talked, but Andre asked for permission to bring a void backpack with weaponry. At the very least, he wanted to bring his camouflage uniform and his assault rifle. Lily asked why and Andre said that it was for her protection during the journey to the capital.
Lily kept asking until Andre said that it was better to be prepared than to be caught with your pants down. Lily lent the void backpack and Andre packed it with his AK and his own clothing such as the butler outfit. He had a bad feeling. Especially since he had experienced something similar to what the princess had gone through.
The princess didn't pack anything practical. As far as Andre helped her to pack her luggage, he noticed that she only brought fancy dresses. It made sense since they were going to the palace. But, Andre suspected that it wasn't the original purpose of the invitation. Still, he also took into account that he was paranoid by nature. He didn't believe that nothing would go wrong, he believed that everything would go wrong.
Everything was too unusual. He would say that something was off, he wasn't sure what was it. The letter also said to bring her grandmother along. It could be an evacuation. 'Perhaps?' Andre thought. It was no use to think about it all day long. His job was as a butler, not a strategist, but when the time came, he would act on his own.
Besides, the system demanded him to do something to unlock the options on that system itself, especially the shop section. As far as he was concerned, there was something that needed to be done. There was no idea about what he had to do, but it could be something that involved exploring the world.
They would go to the palace using the carriage. They would go when the sun had gone down. The carriage would be escorted by other three carriages consisted of soldiers that were stationed in that mansion. Andre wouldn't join the escort team since it wasn't his job to escort the princess when the escort team was available.
Later that night…
The carriage moved on top of the gravel road. Lily and Andre were in the same carriage. Her grandmother was inside of that carriage as well. Three of them were chatting, but Andre also had the chance to tell them his story when he was still alive.
"So… you were like those "special" mercenaries, dear lord," grandma said.
"Special? I think so," Andre said.
"We call them Bounty Hunters. They are not your average mercenary. Most of them used to be the kingdom's most elite soldiers. They are dangerous, we often rent them for assassination," Lily said.
Bounty hunter and mercenary were almost the same in Andre's opinion. Since he used to be both, he knew that bounty hunters usually very skillful since they dealt with a more dangerous job than an average mercenary. He remembered that a fellow bounty hunter managed to wipe out one base due to an assassination request.
"They are bad news. I don't want on the receiving end of their sword," Andre said.
"Me neither. I heard rumors that one of them managed to kill an angel. Killing us is not an easy task," Lily said.
"Angel slayer? That's quite a title if I must say," Andre said.
"Well, some of the mercenaries are proud of the title that the other mercenaries give to them. For example, I have heard title such as "Demon Slayer" or "Dragon's Friend"," Lily said.
"I see. Well, I never meet one, and sure as hell, I am not planning to meet one in a bad circumstance. However, I will be sure to rent them when the opportunity comes," Andre said.
"Yeah, it's a good decision. Grandma, what does pa want from me?" Lily asked.
"Probably he just wants to be closer to you, dear," she said.
From what Andre could conclude, he wouldn't assume that Lily was close to his father at all. Even the way that she addressed him wasn't something that Andre would expect from someone close to their parent. Still, Andre could be wrong.
"I don't think so, ma'am," Andre said to the grandma.
"I understand what you mean young man," grandma said.
"Great, I appreciate that," Andre said.
The trip to the capital would take three days at the very least, they still had a long way to go. Andre and Lily would have to enjoy the long journey inside of the carriage. They might stop in multiple towns, but it would be only for sleeping and nothing more.
The road to the capital was relatively safe due to the presence of the soldiers around the road. Not to mention that there were several patrols on the road that connecting one town to the other. They recognized the princess, and they saluted at her carriage as well.
However, all of those things didn't remove the doubts on Andre's mind. He was sure that something was fishy. He had the feeling that he would find that out the hard way. He had to be ready for anything that would happen because the princess… wouldn't see it coming.
'I have a bad feeling…'