Chapter 40: You Certainly Understand the Human Heart
As thoughts flashed through his mind, Shirou met the gazes of Erica and Liliana and said to them with a smile:
"Princess Alice should be waiting for us at the [Council of Sages]. Let's head over and take a look."
Alice Louise Of Nafal, as the former Speaker of the [Greenwich Council of Sages], was now merely a special advisor. Consequently, she did not reside at the Council headquarters. As the daughter of Duke Golding, she naturally lived in a villa within the wealthy district.
Shirou soon arrived at the entrance of a villa with Erica and Liliana.
Calling it a villa was an understatement; it was more akin to a palace-style structure. It was significantly wider and grander than the surrounding villas, resembling a princess's castle from a storybook, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.
As Shirou stepped forward to enter the front hall, he was suddenly stopped by the knights stationed as guards on both sides.
"Apologies, sir. Do you have an appointment?"
There were no snobbish gatekeepers snapping at the protagonist as one might find in a clichéd novel. These two guards were not only properly dressed but spoke with a very polite tone. If these two had known the nature of the existence they were facing, they likely wouldn't have been able to maintain such composure.
The guards were unaware of how dangerous it was to obstruct Shirou, but Erica and Liliana were so nervous that cold sweat began to bead on their foreheads. Erica subconsciously swallowed hard and quickly looked at the two guards.
"We were invited by Princess Alice."
Upon hearing the name "Princess Alice," the expressions of the two guards instantly turned reverent. They hurriedly bowed low to Shirou and the others.
"Our sincerest apologies. Please forgive our abruptness just now. Please, enter."
After they stepped aside, Shirou didn't pay them any mind. He had no interest in settling scores with two knights, especially ones who understood etiquette. As they walked into the front hall, Erica and Liliana finally breathed a sigh of relief. Erica gently patted her chest to soothe her frayed nerves.
"It seems Princess Alice already gave word."
Liliana nodded as well.
"Yes, otherwise they wouldn't have let us in so easily."
It was a Duke's residence, after all; they wouldn't let people in simply because someone claimed to know Princess Alice. It was clear Alice had notified the staff in advance.
As expected, the path ahead was unobstructed. The three of them crossed the flower garden and entered the main building. At the doorway, a woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses blocked their path. She was dressed luxuriously yet elegantly, with well-maintained skin. Although she was nearly thirty, at first glance, she gave the impression of someone in her early twenties. Only upon closer inspection would one notice a temperament that no twenty-year-old could possess.
"Hello. I am the housekeeper of the Duke Golding household. Princess Alice sent me specifically to welcome you."
Hearing this, Shirou couldn't help but chuckle.
"We're already at the door. What's left to 'welcome'?"
The woman identifying as the housekeeper immediately put on an apologetic expression and bowed deeply to Shirou. A glimpse of fair, milky-white skin flashed into Shirou's vision—a true testament to the "human heart" (beauty).
"I am truly sorry, King Orihara. We did indeed intend to welcome you at the airport, but while waiting there, we suddenly encountered tsunamis and storms—natural disasters that humans simply cannot contend with. We truly had no way to continue waiting there..."
The housekeeper's answer left Shirou momentarily speechless. After all, while those disasters weren't directly caused by him, they were certainly related to him. In a sense, it was an indirect consequence. If Shirou hadn't fought Zeus, Zeus wouldn't have summoned the other two Main Gods from myth.
Though in the end, Shirou had dealt with them all in one go.
Now that the three Great Main Gods—Zeus the "God King," Poseidon the "Sea Emperor," and Hades the "King of the Underworld"—had all died by Shirou's hand, most other third-generation deities probably wouldn't dare come knocking. Even if they held a grudge, they wouldn't come looking for him openly; after that battle, the other gods should know they were no match for him.
Of course, since those deities couldn't be found for the moment, Shirou had no intention of wasting time thinking about meaningless things.
After his thoughts settled, Shirou cleared his throat, looked at the apologetic housekeeper, and spoke.
"Fine, I understand... Where is Princess Alice?"
Hearing this, the housekeeper quickly straightened up. Her upright posture further emphasized her proud curves, though Shirou didn't dwell on the view. Compared to the
housekeeper, Erica and Liliana were clearly more dazzling; the only thing they lacked was perhaps the "fullness" of the housekeeper's heart.
"Please follow me."
The housekeeper lowered her posture in response and led them into the house, then up the stairs to the third floor.
The place where Princess Alice lived was extremely luxurious, situated in Hampstead, one of London's few high-end residential streets. It was the kind of garden residence that money alone couldn't buy. Within this castle-like home, her room was undoubtedly the most exquisite and opulent.
Princess Alice's bedroom was decorated in a primitive yet elegant style. Upon entering, the most eye-catching feature was the princess bed at the far end of the room, obscured by gauze curtains. Behind the thin veil, the silhouette of the young girl lying on the bed was faintly visible, lending an air of infinite mystery.
"Has it already become this serious?"
Seeing that Princess Alice remained lying flat on the bed even after he entered the room, Shirou couldn't help but frown slightly.
At that moment, from behind the curtains, Princess Alice spoke in a weak, apologetic voice.
"I am truly sorry, King Orihara. You can see my condition... my physical state has reached the point where even lifting an arm is difficult. I truly have no way to get out of bed to welcome you..."
Listening to the girl's frail words, Shirou walked to the side of the princess bed and reached out to pull back the thin gauze curtain.
The girl's stunning features were instantly revealed to Shirou. Even though her body was covered by the quilt, its silhouette showed how thin and weak she currently was. Her pretty face was pale, her lips lacked color, and her eyelids drooped as if she might fall asleep at any moment.
Her slender neck was exceptionally fair, appearing even whiter under the sunlight filtering through the curtains—an unnatural skin tone, like a patient who had just undergone major surgery.
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