Avalon’s Dungeon - CH 238

At night, when everyone was asleep except the night watchmen of Sagrado Castle, the light in the king’s office remained on.

「…Alexis-sama」

Alexis, who had been concentrating on his writing, is startled by this voice, which is barely audible, suddenly speaking into his ear.

「Oh gosh! …What is it? Fransisca?」

He looks up with sudden surprise, sees the owner of the voice, and shrugs his shoulders.

Fransisca, who was wearing only a cape over a thin nightgown, was standing close to him with her hand on the back of the chair.

「…You know, I’m getting old…」

He scratched his hair with his hand still holding the pen.

He had no idea that someone had come so close to him before he had even noticed her presence.

「I came to visit you quietly so as not to disturb you. —And I’m a conqueror of Avalon too. So, I am used to making my presence invisible.」

Saying proudly, Fransisca pulls out a nearby chair and sits down right next to Alexis.

「…Besides, we share the same bed every night. You should be used to each other’s presence.」

Fransisca gives a small smile.

Such a mischievous smile is also fresh and lovely.

It has been many years since Alexis met her, but her innocent and dainty presence does not seem to have diminished in the slightest.

People say one gets used to beautiful women, but it’s not true. Alexis thinks to himself and looks down at the papers again.

At least, it’s okay if she’s standing beside him. So he starts to continue his work, but suddenly a hand reaches out from beside him.

Fransisca took one of the papers piled up next to Alexis and started to look through it.

「Fransisca, don’t worry about it. It’s my job.」

He stopped her but she shook her head.

「No, Alexis-sama, I’m here to help you.」

「But you were supposed to be on vacation today, weren’t you?」

「The date just changed.」

Alexis stops and sighs.

「…No, it wasn’t. Don’t you understand? My position, your position.」

「…Alexis-sama… but if you keep working so hard… one day you will break down.」

Fransisca looked troubled.

「And…」

She starts to say something but stops, and without hearing Alexis stop her, she takes a pen and starts to fill out the form in her hand.

「…no one is watching us right now…」

Hearing her words, Alexis is troubled.

—She understands.

She understands that if the Sagrado officials see her working more than necessary, it will affect Alexis.

「No one is watching now, you know…」

She repeats her previous words.

Hearing this, Alexis looks at Fransisca, who is still in her nightclothes, and then reaches for her hand.

He pulls her chin and brings her face close to his.

「In other words, even if I do something “inappropriate” in this sacred place of work, no one will be watching, right?」

Fransisca just gives him a smirk.

Her white cheeks are quickly flushed with vermilion.

Her large amethyst eyes flicker with a wry smile.

「Oh, umm…」

Seeing her initial reaction, Alexis realized that it had been a while since he had approached her like this.

Well, he has been really busy these days, especially in the past week or so. While he is thinking this, his gaze stops in a certain direction.

The direction was a place where a lot of papers there.

「…Hah~」

With a sigh, he pulls his hand and body away from hers.

Alexis falls silent and faces the papers again. He feels like he has been snapped back to reality.

「Ah, um… If it’s not too much trouble I can at least serve you. Just for a little while, to take a break or something.」

Fransisca, who seemed to be concerned about the situation, called out to him in a rush.

「That’s not a bad idea, but I’m in a situation where I have to reduce my workload quickly.」

Alexis told her without stopping.

And Fransisca’s eyes blink.

「Situation?」

「Ah, yeah, yeah…」

He looks back at her as if he remembers.

After doing that, he wonders if he should say something or not.

Because this is something that should be told only after it is confirmed, he thinks. It would not be good to make her feel happy too.

While Alexis thinks about it, her concerned eyes are fixed on him.

If this is the case, it can’t be helped. Now that he has said all this, let’s get it out of the way.

So he turned to face Fransisca.

「No, you know what? I’ve been thinking that it’s time for me to take a vacation.」

「That’s very good. If you want, I can take care of your work in the meantime.」

Francisca’s face lights up and they put their hands together.

「No, that’s not what I meant.」

「…?」

Her expression becomes a little puzzled again.

「What’s the point if you’re taking the job?」

「Hmm…well, you’re right. The high government officials will be watching us.」

「No, no, that’s not it.」

Alexis’ words became more forceful.

「You know what? You’re not forgetting something, are you? Have you forgotten who you are? You’re almost—」

「Eh… Ah…」

Alexis nodded again and again as Fransisca said as if she remembered.

「Yes, yes. Did you notice?」

「It’s almost time to plant flowers in the garden, isn’t it?」

Seeing her innocent smile, Alexis’ shoulders slumped.

「No, I mean… umm, forget it. I was a fool to expect anything from you.」

At this point, she is still staring at him.

“Birthday,” Alexis says to her.

「Eh? Ah…」

Apparently, she had seriously forgotten about it until just now.

She blinks her eyes in surprise, “Birthday…”

Alexis says aloud again.

「Your birthday. We’ve never celebrated it together before, have we? We’re already married.」

「Mmm… ah, ah…」

Fransisca covered her cheeks with her palms. Then she stares blankly.

「…Fransisca?」

（Don’t tell me I said something funny, did I?）

Such a bad thought slowly came to his mind.

Maybe there is no such custom in Sagrado, again.

「Well, you know. I’m sorry to bring in a foreign custom again, but in Krangal, we have the custom to celebrate the birthdays of our close friends.」

「Yes, don’t worry. We have it in Sagrado too.」

Hearing her reply, he was relieved.

「Good. Then, I won’t have to worry about the high officials looking at me strangely.」

Alexis reiterated.

「Fransisca, since things are going so well, let’s go on a trip together. I mean, you know.」

A single coughing sound covers his embarrassment.

「…that way, no one will bother us, right?」

「Yes, Alexis-sama—」

Fransisca finally looked up.

She had a big smile on her face that he hadn’t seen in a while.

「Then we should really finish our work as soon as possible, right?」

With a smile that almost made him happy, she spoke of the cruel reality of the situation.

Still, Alexis silently sits at her desk.

「Well then, right now, no one is watching, right? Can I help you?」

Fransisca whispers. It sounds like the devil whispering.

「Yes, please.」

In a complete change of pace, he decides to drop out immediately.