"Hello, Prince Claus," Alice's face had a complicated expression. "… Can we talk please?"
I looked at Alice for a moment before sighing and moving aside, allowing her to enter my room.
The room where I was staying was rather plain, with just a comfortable bed and a wardrobe. I don't plan to stay in this city for more than a few days, so I did not care too much about it.
Alice did not seem to pay much attention to the room either. She just glanced around briefly before walking towards my bed and sitting down.
I pulled a chair across her and sat down as well, looking at her with a smiling look.
"How unusual, Miss Alice. I never thought you would visit me so late at night. Moreover, without your two followers."
"They don't know that I'm here… To be honest, I was not too sure about coming to see you."
I raised an eyebrow and looked at Alice curiously. Mmm… I can only think of a few reasons why she is here tonight.
Let's test the waters.
"Alice, the reason you are here is..."
Alice bit her lips and looked down. But then, as though she made up her mind, she looked at me with a determined expression.
"… Prince Claus, I… I came to tell you about Teacher Ysnay's plans."
As expected.
I fell silent, just looking at Alice's fixedly.
I don't know if to say if this is expected or unexpected.
Is it also one of Ysnay's plans?
For now, though, I should listen to her first.
"Do speak," I said, gesturing with my hands to continue.
Alice nodded.
"… To be honest, I don't know all the details. But, I know that teacher is planning to attack you tomorrow, and she will use the gods to achieve her goal."
Alice then started to talk about the details of the plan.
Actually, everything that she told me was things that I already knew, so I was not surprised. What surprised me was something completely different.
The fact that every one of Alice's words was true.
There was not a lie. Not even an attempt to twist the truth.
She even mentioned the god behind her family, and what they had planned before.
I have mentioned it more than once, but [Seers] are ambitious beings. They are born with the ability to see and manipulate fate, and it's in their instincts to put everything under their control.
But now, I can't find traces of these instincts in Alice's words.
That is truly weird.
When Alice finished speaking, I did not speak, just staring at her fixedly.
Alice did not avoid my gaze, as though she was saying that she had nothing to hide.
Seeing that, I finally opened my mouth.
"… Why are you telling me this?" I asked coldly.
The white-haired girl did not reply immediately. She just looked at me with a bitter smile.
She then spoke up.
"… Teacher… She is very pitiful."
"Pitiful?"
Alice nodded.
"… She told me a bit about your story with her, about how much she has missed you… Actually, even without her mentioning it, I could see it in her gaze… She looks so lonely, so bleak…
"… I… I don't want to be like her… Prince, I like you… I really like you… And when I see my teacher, I think about our similarities, and I can't help but ask myself, am I going to end as her?
"I don't want it. And to achieve that, I have to make a different choice than her… I guess that is the reason why I'm telling you about her plans."
I nodded.
Inwardly, though, I sighed.
Actually, I can see that Alice is being honest.
I took a part of Alice's soul the second time I met her, much before Ysnay arrived at this world. Moreover, I used my severely limited abilities over fate to cover it as much as possible thus no user of fate (Including Ysnay, and in the future, Alice) can notice it.
Thanks to that, I can see and experience what Alice is seeing and experiencing as long as I want it.
But the problem is… I have seen several seers in my long, long life.
Thus, I know that their instincts are not something so easy to defeat.
Certainly, I made a bet with Ysnay that Alice could defeat her instincts, but in all honesty, I planned to manipulate her to achieve that objective.
I have not done it yet, so this result doesn't make sense.
Moreover… How can Ysnay's plans be leaked so easily? It's obvious that someone like her would have made countermeasures against something like this happening.
In other words, everything that is happening now is under Ysnay's control.
Most likely, she is the one that manipulated Alice to come here.
The problem is that I'm not sure what is her exact objective.
Well, I have an idea, but I'm not sure yet.
"… Thank you for telling me about this." I told to Alice after being silent for a brief time. "I'm sure your information will be of help."
"I'm glad." Alice smiled softly and nodded. But then, her silver eyes looked at me with a trace of hesitation.
She then bit her lips, stood up, and walked towards me.
And before I could say anything, she moved her hand towards her shoulder and started to remove the straps of her dress.
"Alice?"
"Prince… I love you… But, teacher said that we, [Seers] are ambitious. Eventually, we will try to put everything in our control, even if it means abandoning what we love… I don't want to do that… Thus, I must do this."
She then removed her white dress, leaving her milky-white skin completely exposed.
The petite white-haired girl covered her breasts with her arms and looked at me with an embarrassed look.
"Thus, before that happens, I want to give my everything to you. My body and my soul… You are an Immortal, so you must have a way to stop me from betraying you, right? Use it on me. Please, prince…"
I looked at Alice with a serious smile.
When I noticed the determination on her gaze, I sighed and nodded.
"Very well, if that is what you want."