Reborn As A Nephilim: The Rise of A Manaless Prince

"Arv?"

Hearing the familiar nickname leave Lillianna's mouth, it was like all of the colours in Arvell's eyes were reduced to grey.

'Does she know? What led her to figure it out? Was she awake all this time? What else does she know?'

A torrent of thoughts flooded Arvell's mind as he tried to piece together just how much Lillianna knew about him.

"Arv? Is that you?" Lillianna asked once more in a groggy tone.

She proceeded to rub her eyes once more in an attempt to fully wake herself up.

Only then could she get a better look at Arvell's face.

Lilliana's face froze and was drained of all its colour.

It was as if someone had punched her in the gut.

"Arv-ell?"

Arvell, hearing the confusion in her voice, inwardly sighed in relief.

'It seems she doesn't know. Could she have just been having a dream? Of me? What was she dreaming of?'

Arvell forced an awkward smile as he greeted Lillianna.

"Hello princess, did you have a good sleep?"

Lillianna's face went red as she tried to hide her face in embarrassment.

"Don't tell me I…."

"Fainted? Yup."

Arvell's words made her remember how they ended up in this mess.

The dungeon, the slimes, the fall, everything.

Lillianna raised her head from her hands and tried to survey the surroundings.

"Where are Julius and Marisa?"

Arvell could hear the undisguised worry in her voice.

"Frankly… I don't know. But after we made it out of the fall, Those slimes fell and chased us. There wasn't enough time to beat them and chase after us, so I guess those two probably made it out."

Lillianna exhaled in relief.

"That's good."

Watching her actions, Arvell smiled wryly.

"If anything, I would worry more about our current situation."

"About that…" Lillianna looked around at the unfamiliar area, illuminated by the countless mana crystals hanging down from the ceiling.

"Where exactly are we?"

Arvell shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't really know, but we took quite the fall. We might be almost 2-3km underground right about now."

Lillianna's eyes widened in shock.

"How did we survive the fall? This makes no sense!"

Arvell looked at his shoulder with a pained look.

"I grabbed you and August before stabbing my sword into the nearest wall. It seemed that was the only way I could stop us from plummeting to our deaths."

While he was uncomfortable lying to her, this was the only way to keep his secret safe.

Arvell even changed out of the shirt his wings tore apart and switched to another to hide the traces.

Lillianna felt like there was something wrong with Arvell's words.

She ultimately just nodded.

"T-thank you. If it wasn't for you, I'd-"

"There's no need to thank me," Arvell cut her off, "I was only helping my teammate."

Lillianna flashed Arvell a grateful smile but still shook her head.

"That isn't enough. If a royal family member doesn't properly reward someone for their contributions, it won't look good for our image. So once we get out of here, I'll ensure you're properly rewarded."

As much as Arvell wanted to decline, it was confirmed that he could use the extra money.

After all, the elixirs he needed to get stronger weren't cheap later.

Ultimately Arvell just nodded his head.

"Thank you for letting me do this," Lillianna said as she sat back and leaned against the wall.

Arvell smiled lightly in response.

"So, you were calling me Arv earlier… Was that a nickname?"

As this was one of the few chances he had to talk to her one-on-one, Arvell decided to try to go for broke and ask her.

While he felt dirty asking her like this, he wanted to gauge her feelings for him.

Did she still like him as she did in the past, or did that liking boil away into rage and disgust?

Not only was there a war between their countries, but it was already common knowledge that he was found to have no mana a few days before his' assassination.'

There were more than enough reasons for Lilianna to hate and despise him, but Arvell wanted to reject this idea.

If he discovered that one of the few people in this world he still cared about hated him… His already fractured heart might grow even more broken and distorted.

Lillianna's face froze at Arvell's words.

"Um, that…."

She'd been inwardly hoping that Arvell hadn't heard her earlier grumblings or at least forgotten about it.

Unfortunately, Lillianna had underestimated the memory and hearing of a Nephilim.

"From how you're reacting, that nickname belonged to the former prince… Am I correct?"

Not really able to refute Arvell's words, Lillianna nodded conflictedly.

Arvell looked up at the ceiling that was faintly shining iridescently.

"I heard you two were close growing up…."

Lillianna was about to respond before stopping herself.

Regardless of her feelings, there was a war between their two countries, in which countless lives were lost.

One of the main reasons the war started was because of Arvell, after all, so frankly, it was a given that it was hard for her to openly admit to that, no matter how much that was true.

Furthermore, she'd gotten re-engaged, so if people were to think she still carried feelings for her ex-fiance, it would create an unnecessary stir.

While she held no particular interest in her current fiance, especially since she knew what kind of person he was deep down, she had to keep up appearances as a member of the royal family.

No matter how much she despised her current situation.

"We weren't that close. In fact, it was more of a diplomatic marriage than anything else. We just got along on a surface level to keep the relationships between our two respective countries."

Hiding her genuine emotions behind her false smile, Lillianna responded with her usual scripted answer.

Arvell wasn't the first one to ask this question, and certainly not the last, so frankly, she'd gotten so used to answering in this way that it was believable.

Arvell felt like a knife was lodged into his chest but kept his usual composed smile.

"I see…"

Knowing that the little girl he grew up with never even cared for him was a blow, unlike what Arvell had felt.

It was as if his whole world was crashing down.

An angry voice resonated in his mind as Arvell began wondering if everything was a lie.

'Are you an idiot?'