Higeki no Genkyou tonaru Saikyou Gedou Rasubosu Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu Vol 5
Chapter 0: The Unrealized Future of Two Years Ago
“I CAN’T TAKE any more of this!”
I flipped the table
and let out a strained cry. Wait, what am I doing?!
“Calm down, Alan. You
can raise all the hell you want, but it won’t make any difference.”
“How am I supposed to
be calm, Callum?!”
I stomped on the
toppled table as I shouted at Callum. My shoulders heaved with each breath, and
my stomach gave a sick lurch. I glared at him, sitting there in his fancy chair
like always, with his hands folded on top of his desk. I was so… I was so…
I’m Alan Berners. How
did I end up like this…? Oh, that’s right. I’m extremely pissed off.
“It’s all that
demon’s fault! We keep losing more knights every year, and it’s not just
because no one’s applying. The knights we already have keep dying!”
Yelling didn’t help
abate my anger in the slightest. I slammed my fists on a different table,
snapping it in half.
“Shut your mouth,
Alan. Not even children can escape the death penalty these days if they insult
the queen.”
“That’s really all
you have to say, Callum? We lost Commander Roderick…and all the new recruits.
Then, just when Vice Commander Clark was trying to get the order back on its
feet, we lost him too! Are you happy the higher-ups are out of the way? Please
tell me you’re not that sort of guy, Callum.”
“Vice Commander Alan,
do you really think I’m not angry?”
Vice
Commander. The title still sat awkwardly on me, and
I wasn’t used to it. Even so, Callum’s response made me release his shirt and
stumble back a step. It had been so long since I last saw that look in his
eyes.
“We knights… The
knights I was once so proud to count myself among are now a source of fear for
the Freesian people,” Callum said. “We fight wars against our neighboring
countries, round up innocent civilians for their rare and superior special
powers in the name of the queen, and sometimes even purge Freesian citizens who
threaten her. We carry out that sentence ourselves, over and over again!”
He looked down at his
hands and balled them into fists to quiet the tremble running through his
entire body. An intense wave of emotion had overwhelmed him, and it was clear
as day that those feelings were directed at himself.
“This isn’t…this
isn’t why…I became a knight!”
Callum howled in
despair and slumped his head. The tremble passed into his shoulders as he
released his fists. He shot me a piercing gaze the rest of the knights never
glimpsed.
“Still…we can’t just
abandon our duties as knights! We share the same will as our brothers! You and
I are the only people who can protect them!”
I understood what he
was saying; I also cared deeply for the knights who fought for our shared
ideals. And yet, I knew Callum’s desperation to protect
his subordinates was about more than just that.
Arthur Beresford, son
of our late Commander Roderick, had joined the order as a new recruit. He was
blessed with unbelievable talents. Within two or three years, he would surely
climb the ranks of the main forces. From what I’d heard, Callum himself had been
with Arthur at the moment the commander lost his life. Callum wanted to protect
the commander’s brokenhearted son if he couldn’t protect the commander himself.
Clark’s last wish had been for us to look after Arthur in his place should the
boy ever decide to enlist—and indeed he had.
All of us wanted to
keep Arthur safe. But still!
“Just think about it
for a second!” I told him. “Right now, the knights support you and me much more
than that queen. We could easily round them all up to overthrow—”
“Oh dear. And I
thought this was the last place I would ever hear talk of a rebellion.”
A menacing giggle
sounded behind me. I turned to find a girl standing in the doorway with a large
group of guards at her back. My blood went cold.
“Your Majesty! How
did you get here?!” I asked.
“I have an incredible
slave. Do you really think you and your ilk could overthrow me? I have a
special power bestowed upon me by God Himself.”
Callum stood from his
chair with a lifeless whimper, letting it clatter to the floor behind him. The
queen’s lips stretched wide into an unnatural grin.
“What am I supposed
to do about all this?” she said, voice dripping with mock lament. “I’ll have to
execute you both, but I’ll be losing even more knights
this time—and another commander and vice commander, at that.”
Her smile wasn’t one
of regret at all. Instead, it looked like unbridled joy.
If the queen’s going to
end my life, I’ll take her down with me.
When Callum caught me
gripping my sword, he motioned with his hand for me to stop. Then he stepped in
front of me and dropped to his knee before the queen.
“Please wait, Your
Majesty,” he said. “This is a result of my own failure in leadership. If anyone
is to be punished, it should be me and me alone. I am commander of the order.”
“What?! You fool! How
could you?!” I snapped.
The queen snapped her
fingers and something struck my back, the violent impact shaking my whole body.
Someone had appeared behind me and shoved me down without warning. My chin hit
the ground, and when I craned my neck to look behind me, I saw a young boy
pinning me down. He was holding a blade to my throat and glaring with flat,
dead eyes.
Callum balked.
“Prince Stale, you’re—?!”
Prince
Stale?! The firstborn prince of this country was
also the seneschal who served at the queen’s side. In the blink of an eye, the
other guards rushed over to help pin me down too.
It was no use. This
kingdom was rotten to the core.
“Let’s see… So you
want to shoulder all the responsibility, hm?” Queen Pride said. “That’s fine
with me. It’ll make things more fun.” She looked right
at me as she uttered the final words. Then she ordered one of her guards to
hand her a sword. “Stay put and look down, Commander.”
Callum lowered his
head. He was truly prepared to accept his fate.
“Alan,” he said,
“look after Arthur…and all the other knights. You’re the only one I can count
on.” He closed his eyes, refusing to look at me as he spoke.
“No, don’t do it! If
you’re gonna kill anyone, kill me! I’m the one who said it all! Callum, you’ve
gotta make a run for it!”
I rasped out plea
after plea, but Callum held still while the queen paced toward him, her smile
twitching at the corners. Bone-chilling giggles bubbled past her lips. She
stood by Callum and raised her sword aloft.
“Stop… Kill me
instead!” I screamed, my voice filled with rage and contempt. “Run, Callum!
Run!”
Slash!
It only took a
second. A spray of red exploded outward, and my friend’s head rolled over the
floor toward me.
“Ah ha… Ha ha ha… Ah
ha ha ha ha ha!”
The queen cackled,
gleeful even as Callum’s blood soaked her garments through.
Ah, this laughter… Is
this how she laughed when she killed all those innocent civilians? Why?! Why
did Callum have to die?! I’m the one who was planning the rebellion! Callum
tried to stop me! So why? Why? Why? Why?!
“All right! Who’s
next?”
“What?!”
The queen’s eyes
turned from Callum’s body, which was still spewing blood, to me. “What do you
mean, ‘what?’ You’re part of the rebellion too. Don’t
tell me you thought I was going to obey the dying wish of some criminal?! Ah ha
ha! You really expected me to spare you?! What an idiot!”
Her smile was still
jerking with little outbursts of maniacal jubilation. I tried to break free,
but I couldn’t move a muscle with the guards holding me down.
She raised her sword
over my head, sneering down at me. “Give my regards to the commander.”
“Go to hell! Callum
didn’t do anything… He left them all for me to look after!! The order, and
Arthur too!”
Callum’s words echoed
in my mind. How we had to protect the knights; how we were the only ones who
could do it. The man was right. We had a duty to protect them! But we were
about to fail, and it was all my fault.
“Alan, look after
Arthur…and all the other knights. You’re the only one I can count on.”
He left them in my care!
Callum wanted me to take care of Arthur and the knights! He said I was the only
one he could count on! So I can’t just…just…
Tears of regret
sprang to my eyes. I clenched my jaw to stop it from trembling, but it was no
use. The queen just snickered at me, enjoying my feckless struggle to escape.
“I’m glad I let you
go second,” she said, amused.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn
it all!
I couldn’t stand what
I’d done. In the end, I was powerless. I couldn’t support Callum as his vice
commander, I couldn’t watch over Arthur as the three previous commanders
wanted, and I couldn’t protect the new recruits—let alone the other knights or
the Freesian people. I would die a shameful death.
I just wish I could have
protected them.
I wanted to protect
them. I wanted to protect them. I wanted to protect them! I wanted to protect
them! I wanted to protect them! I wanted to protect them! I wanted to protect
them! I wanted to protect them! I wanted to protect them!
But I couldn’t!
The queen raised her
sword. Just as it connected with my neck, I tried to glare at her in one last
act of—
Slash!
Chapter 1: The Blasphemous Princess and the Start of the War
THERE ONCE was an otome game
series called Our Ray of Light, or ORL, as the fans
called it. The series was popular enough to get an anime adaptation. These
games were a secret pleasure of mine in the eighteen ordinary years I spent in
my past life.
Never could I have
imagined that I would reincarnate as the dastardly last boss queen of the first
game in the series. The evil queen was the source of many tragedies, and she
inflicted deep, permanent scars on the hearts of the love interests. By the end
of the game, she received the ultimate punishment for her crimes.
When I realized that
I had been reborn as this person, I set about preventing the tragedies that
happened to the characters in the game. The love interests didn’t have to lose
people they cared about. In this world, they could live their lives without those
soul-deep emotional wounds.
Still, there were
tragedies awaiting these characters that I wasn’t responsible for. The
protagonist of this world was the only ray of light capable of salvaging their
hearts.
That was how I ended
up in my current predicament.
“Tomorrow we will
confront the enemy nations of Copelandii, Alata, and Rafflesiana! Alongside
Chinensis and our newfound ally, the kingdom of Freesia, we will see that the
United Hanazuo Kingdom’s destiny is one of safety!”
I was staying in the
United Hanazuo Kingdom, far away from my homeland of Freesia. My mission was to
save the kingdom of Chinensis—the other half of Hanazuo—from the threat of
invasion by foreign countries that belonged to the Rajah Empire.
It all began with a
visit from Prince Cedric, second-born prince of Cercis, who sought an alliance
with Freesia. Cedric’s brother, King Lance, ruled over the gold-rich kingdom of
Cercis, while King Yohan ruled over the kingdom of Chinensis, a land famous for
its minerals. Cedric came to request our help after the Rajah Empire threatened
to invade.
We were Freesians.
Our kingdom was famous for its impressive power, and it was the only country in
the world whose people were born with special abilities. I was Pride Royal Ivy,
crown princess of this powerful nation.
I stood there, red
hair falling in waves and purple eyes aglimmer, to command the knights that had
traveled from Freesia to help this country as reinforcements.
I was also extremely
exhausted.
Evidently, I wasn’t
the only one. Tiara, my younger sister by two years, barely seemed able to keep
her eyes open. Stale, my adoptive younger brother by one year, shifted from
side to side to keep himself alert.
Stale could teleport
directly to me and a few other people, but this ability only manifested after
Stale met the subject numerous times and gained an understanding of their
character.
Our meetings with the
representatives of Hanazuo, King Lance and King Yohan, went well. We started
from zero and mapped out how to distribute and position troops, as well as how
to signal the end of the war to the front lines. We went over the details several
times just to be sure we had them all down. Seventy percent of the combined
forces of our three countries would head to Chinensis with King Yohan, while
the remaining 30 percent would remain behind to serve as reinforcements and
defense. We’d also deploy a Freesian communication specialist to each squadron
so that all troops could exchange orders and reports.
Cedric, Tiara, and
Prime Minister Gilbert would stay in Cercis. King Lance, Stale, Commander
Roderick, and I would take 90 percent of our knights and 15 percent of the
Cercian soldiers to Chinensis, the focal point of the invasion. From there,
they would split into border patrol setups, camps, and strongholds waiting on
standby.
Once King Lance
finished his speech, one of the guards whispered an urgent message in his ear:
“Your Majesty. There’s a situation at the gates.”
I turned to him, wondering
what was going on. Cedric leaned in to listen.
As the second-born
prince of Cercis, Cedric bore the same golden hair and fiery eyes as King
Lance, his older brother. His shoulder-length hair billowed around him, and
flashy golden accessories—such as earrings, necklaces, and golden
bangles—adorned his body. An assortment of gold rings gleamed on his fingers;
some were set with rubies to match his eyes. He wore two on both his middle
fingers.
From head to toe, the
young prince—just seventeen, like me—shone like a ray of golden light. His
well-shaped nose and long eyelashes complimented his masculine features. That,
combined with his wild golden hair, gave him the look of a lion with a flowing
mane aflame all around him.
Once the soldier
finished his report, King Lance and Cedric both furrowed their brows into a
scowl and exchanged glances.
“Let’s go,” King
Lance said.
Just when he was
about to rise from his throne, Cedric stopped him. “No. I can handle it alone.”
King Lance nodded,
and the soldier led Cedric out of the room.
“You must be
wondering what’s going on here.”
Stale startled me by
speaking quietly at my side. My black-haired, black-eyed brother watched me
through the black-framed glasses he wore only for show. We both glanced at the
door.
“I heard him mention
the front gates,” Vice Captain Eric said from behind me. His chestnut-brown
hair matched his eyes.
“Maybe they’ve had an
unexpected visitor?” Captain Alan suggested. This man, with his short,
golden-brown hair and orange eyes, was leader of the
First Squadron and Vice Captain Eric’s direct superior. Both of them protected
me as my imperial knights.
“Why don’t we go find
out for ourselves? I’m curious too,” Stale said.
At a purposeful look
from Stale, Vice Captain Eric and Captain Alan nodded and snuck off in the
direction Cedric had gone. I didn’t love the idea of leaving Tiara on her own,
especially not when she was so tired.
As I fretted over
this, I heard Commander Roderick call out to her. I breathed a sigh of relief;
she’d be safe with him.
We exited the room to
find ourselves in an unoccupied corridor, and Stale teleported us the rest of
the way. The image before my eyes changed from the hallway to the front gates
of the castle in an instant.
Stale had placed us
behind a bit of cover. I had to peer around it to make out what was happening.
Before I could get a good look, an old man near the gates kicked up a fuss.
“Just call for Prince
Cedric already!” he cried. “Do you want this kingdom to survive or not?! If you
won’t go get him, then let me inside! He’s the only one I’ll speak to!”
Thin hair clung to
the top of the man’s head. He shouted at the guards blocking his path, who
didn’t seem to know what to make of him.
“We can’t allow you
to enter without authorization,” they told him again and again. But the
red-faced man wasn’t giving up that easily.
“Authorization?! I
used to work in this castle! Fifteen years ago, I could stroll through these
gates and go anywhere I wanted without permission from the likes of y—”
“That’s all in the past
now, isn’t it, Lord Hanmu?”
Cedric’s cold voice
cut the old man off mid-sentence. His accessories jingled with each step as he
paced over. He stopped about three steps away, at which point the guards
readied their spears to protect the prince—a silent warning to the old man not
to come any closer.
“Oh my! Prince
Cedric, how much you’ve grown!”
The old man smiled at
him fondly, reaching out toward the prince with trembling hands. The guards
swiftly pushed him away, but he didn’t seem to mind. His creepy, enraptured
gaze remained fixed on Cedric.
“What do you want now, Lord Hanmu? Why did you ask for me, and what’s this
about the survival of Cercis? I’ll hear you out, but we’re not moving from this
spot.”
I had never heard
Cedric’s voice so frosty and dismissive. The man continued on as if he didn’t
even sense it.
“Does that mean you
remember me? When you…I mean, when Your Highness was a boy—”
“Of course I remember
you. You and former Seneschal Bertrand treated me like your toy, you old
fossil.”
Pure, icy hostility
emanated from Cedric. We could even feel it from where we hid. A shudder
scurried down my spine. Meanwhile, Cedric was burning hot, flames of rage
lighting his eyes as he glared at the man.
“Ooh! Incredible as
ever, Prince Cedric! So you really do remember me!”
I couldn’t tell if
the man was genuinely happy or simply mocking the prince. Despite Cedric’s
harsh words, the old man’s eyes sparkled with delight. He stretched out his
arms as though reaching for a hug.
“Now is the time to
rise up, Your Highness! We ought to stand not as the United Hanazuo Kingdom,
with those heretic Chinensians, but as Cercis and Cercis alo—”
“Throw this old fool
out at once! And you, don’t set foot near the castle ever again!”
Cedric unleashed his
anger at the old man. The guards flinched at the prince’s rage, clearly
flustered, then rushed forward to grab the old man and drag him away.
“Please, wait! Allow
me to speak!” the old man cried, struggling against the guards. Cedric turned
his back on him, refusing to spare him another glance, and headed back toward
the castle.
“Just a moment,
Prince Cedric.”
A new voice broke
through the commotion. Stale and I exchanged bewildered looks as we both
recognized the speaker. We forgot all about staying hidden, sticking our heads
out to get a better look.
Cedric looked just as
surprised as we were. “Prime Minister Gilbert…”
It really was him. No one could mistake that shoulder-length ponytail
of light blue hair and matching fox-like eyes. This was none other than
Freesia’s outstanding prime minister. His smile was elegant as he held up his
hand toward the guards, halting their attempts to haul away the old man—whom
Cedric had called Lord Hanmu.
Gilbert grinned at
Cedric and bowed deeply. “May I be allowed to handle this man myself?” he said.
“I’m very interested in hearing what he has to say. Could
I request, say, an hour of time with him?”
“I don’t think…”
Cedric began, but he trailed off, lost for words.
“I have nothing to
speak about with you! I’m only here for Prince Cedric!” Lord Hanmu spat.
I understood why
Cedric was hesitating. Judging by what he had already said, the old man must
have once served high-up in the country’s government, but he didn’t view
Chinensis in a positive light. I’d heard rumors about the royalty of both
countries holding on to past grudges. After witnessing the close relationship
between King Yohan and King Lance, I had assumed that this was no longer the
case—but it seemed some of those grudges were here to stay. Surely Cedric
wouldn’t want a person like that meeting Freesia’s prime minister, since we
were both about to go to war for Chinensis’s sake tomorrow.
“Rest assured, Prince
Cedric,” Prime Minister Gilbert said. “All I ask is a room inside the castle
for my use. My kingdom recently suffered surprise attacks, threats made against
our maids, intruders in the castle, and all sorts of foolish deeds, but I don’t
sense any such danger coming from this gentleman.”
Cedric flinched as
Prime Minister Gilbert’s smile curled at the corners. When he bent to whisper
in Cedric’s ear, Cedric recoiled, his face going pale.
“I-If you say so…”
With wide eyes, he
ordered his guards to show Prime Minister Gilbert and the old man into the
castle to one of the parlor rooms.
It took less than an
hour for the news of the captured Cercian “informant” to race through the
castle.
The elderly man was
confirmed to be Lord Hanmu. By the sound of it, he had secret ties to the
kingdom of Copelandii—a domain ruled by the Rajah Empire. Apparently, the old
man put up such a struggle in Prime Minister Gilbert’s care that he injured his
arms and passed out. His questioning wasn’t over, though. Cercis would get a
chance to grill him next about the origins of his ties to Copelandii.
At least Prime
Minister Gilbert had extracted the most important information before Lord Hanmu
lost consciousness. We only had a few hours left before the war would begin,
and we’d need that intelligence. According to the prime minister, the enemy
would infiltrate at dawn. That gave us less than half a day to prepare.
The original plan was
to have some troops stationed before dawn, but since we now knew the exact time
of the attack, we opted to deploy every squadron a bit earlier than scheduled.
Copelandii likely had
no interest in beginning this war with formal talks. Instead, they were sure to
invade Chinensis first and demand the latter choose between becoming a province
or colony. That was the only reason to launch a sneak attack at dawn, as Lord
Hanmu had revealed. Which meant Chinensis was about to become a battlefield.
“Shouldn’t we get
going now, Pride?” Stale asked. “His Majesty and Commander Roderick are waiting
at the front. Tiara has agreed to stay behind, as promised.”
“Wait!”
A voice suddenly
called out behind me, and I turned to find Cedric jogging our way. He’d
finished saying goodbye to King Lance before rushing all the way to the back
where we were positioned. By the time he reached us, he was gasping for breath.
“What’s the matter,
Cedric?”
Stale, Captain Alan,
and Vice Captain Eric all pulled their horses closer to me protectively,
keeping their eyes on Cedric. It was clear that they were still on high alert
around him, which was only natural considering the trouble he’d caused in
Freesia.
Cedric, seeming to
realize this, backed away a little before gazing up at me. “Take care of Big
Brother…and Bro.” Despite the simple, clumsy words, his voice broke with
emotion. He squeezed his fists and furrowed his brow, eyes blazing all over
again.
“Of course,” I
replied.
That wasn’t enough
for Cedric. He pursed his lips and peered down at his shoes. The next time he
spoke, his voice emerged quieter. “Tell me…” he began, lifting his head to look
at me. “Tell me how I can be as strong as you.”
It was neither
flattery nor an attempted compliment. The request had obviously been weighing
on his mind. He stared at me with fiery, unblinking eyes while I floundered for
an adequate response.
A crease formed in
his brow. He opened his mouth to challenge my response, but I continued before
he could.
“The same goes for
you. You mustn’t hold back anymore.”
Holding back was how
he’d spent the first three days as a guest in our kingdom. At my request, his
fiery eyes flared. His mouth fell open even wider.
I gripped the reins
tightly with one hand and turned toward Cedric, reaching out to tuck his golden
hair behind his ear. His earring jingled from the motion. Cedric shivered,
surprised by the sudden touch, so I leaned in to whisper into his ear.
“It’s all right. I
know you can protect them.”
I knew he wasn’t
mentally prepared for that responsibility just yet. In the game, it took the
loss of those he cared about for him to act. But he hadn’t suffered that loss
here, so it was entirely possible he’d remain in his current state forever.
Still, I couldn’t
allow him to lose Lance and Yohan again.
Even without
experiencing tragedy, he was capable of standing up on his own someday—just as
Arthur and Leon had. I smiled at him, hoping to convey that wish. He pressed
his lips together and scrunched up his face like he was holding back tears.
“I’ll be going now,”
I told him. “I’ll contact you once we’ve arrived.”
I sat up straight on
my horse. With a final farewell to Cedric and Tiara, I nudged my steed to
follow after Stale, Captain Alan, and Vice Captain Eric. As we departed, my
little sister cried out, “Be safe!”
“I…I’ll always hate
you!” someone shouted then.
I recognized the
voice, but the words didn’t make sense. Stale and I twisted in our saddles,
looking for the source. The knights followed our gazes with half smiles on
their faces.
From beyond the
palace gates, we couldn’t see what lay behind us anymore. But I knew what I’d
heard. That voice belonged to…
“Tiara?”
***
“Hey! Wait up!”
I chased after the
small girl while my guards and knights followed behind me. She refused to stop
even when I called out to her. The guards around her glanced between us, trying
to figure out if they should stop her or not. I signaled for them to step away
and they obeyed, allowing her to march forward on her tiny little legs. I knew
the girl running from me. Those skinny, pale arms and wavy golden hair could
only belong to Tiara Royal Ivy, Pride’s little sister.
“Wait, I said! What
did I ever do to you?!”
I could hardly
remember a time when the two of us spoke. At my question, Tiara halted and
stomped her foot.
When Pride and Stale
were on their way out, she’d seen them off with a smile and a wave. Yet without
looking my way, she’d said under her breath, “Don’t get the
wrong idea. I haven’t forgiven you for all the things you did to Big Sister.”
“Even if she forgives
you…”
The moment the gates
closed behind Pride’s group, Princess Tiara had fixed her golden eyes on me in
an open show of hostility.
“I…I’ll always hate
you!”
Why
would she say such a thing to me out of nowhere? Sure,
when I visited Freesia, I insulted Pride and made a fool of myself. Prince
Stale and the imperial knights were still wary of me despite coming here to
fight for my country. But what had I ever done to this girl?
“Princess Tiara!”
I stopped right
behind her. She balled her tiny, trembling hands into fists and whirled to face
me. Her lips were pressed into a hard, thin line, and her normally soft eyes
blazed with hatred. A furious blush lit her face as she struggled to keep her
voice level.
“You’ve done a lot, Prince Cedric!”
Her clear, light
voice was a punch to the gut. Somehow I was strangely calm as she hollered at
me, explaining how I’d offended her.
“Big Sister—no, Princess Pride is very, very special to me. She’s also
special to Big Brother, the knights, and all the Freesian people! She’s my
beloved sister. Everyone else loves her too! But you went and…and…”
The words burst free
like she’d been holding them back for some time. She clamped down on the rest
of what she wanted to say, but it built up within her until she couldn’t
withhold it anymore.
When her small lips parted
next, she bellowed, “Dummy! Spoiled brat!”
As soon as the words
were out, Princess Tiara slapped her hands over her mouth. Her face burned even
more brightly. Without so much as a parting glance, she spun on her heel and
fled.
I never realized just
how many enemies I had out there. I froze, watching her leave, when it struck
me that Princess Tiara was using the same words Pride had once used.
“I hate you!”
This was the second
time a girl, or anyone else for that matter, told me they hated me to my face.
No one else had ever said anything of the sort, yet I’d heard it twice in just
a few days, and from two sisters of the same royal family.
In truth, I was
jealous of Pride’s strength. How was she able to do things like that without
hesitation? I’d always needed others to protect me, but she commanded
overwhelming strength.
“The same goes for you.
You mustn’t hold back anymore.”
What did she mean by
that? Was she just scolding me for the stupid stunts I pulled the first day we
met? Or was it something more?
“Don’t hold back, she
says…”
What exactly could I
do? When I looked down at my fists, I saw two completely powerless hands.
Others had to take those hands and lead me; I never reached out and grabbed
anything for myself. Even if I eventually discovered that kind of strength
within, there was no time left. Tomorrow I’d face the results of all my years
of laziness.
Everything I yearned
for lay out of reach now.
“Please! Not that!”
Someone cried out in
utter desperation.
“But I… This isn’t!”
I recognized the
voices. They were people I knew well…
“Please, Prime
Minister Gilbert! Please just…”
“Princess Tiara!”
Tiara was pressing
Prime Minister Gilbert for something. The pair was too blurry for me to see
clearly, but I could tell that Tiara’s face was twisted with desperation, while
Prime Minister Gilbert wore a hesitant expression. Tiara was staring up at the tall
man. His fox-like eyes met hers, wavering with uncertainty.
They must be in the
castle. At first, Prime Minister Gilbert shook his head, but Tiara held her
ground and eventually he nodded.
“Very well…
I’ll…for…”
“Thank you so much!”
Prime Minister
Gilbert bowed his head deeply as Tiara peered up at him with sparkling eyes. He
let out a heavy breath.
“…ide… Pride… Are you
all right?”
Stale’s voice roused
me back to consciousness. My mind was still fuzzy as I turned to find him. He
was leaning against a wall and watching me with concern.
“Sorry, Stale. I’m
fine.” I offered him a smile. “I think I just dozed off for a little.”
What was that dream
about? Was it ORL? I don’t know what scene that was supposed to be.
My memories of the
first game in the series were hazy, since I hadn’t played it through too many
times. Judging by the people I saw in the dream, it had to be the Gilbert
route. He was the “secret” character with the least amount of content, and I
couldn’t recall the context of that conversation between Gilbert and Tiara no
matter how I tried. Why did that memory come to me now?
Stale’s armor clinked
as he approached. “The sun will be rising soon,” he said.
We were in the
western tower of Chinensis. The border between Chinensis and Cercis waited at
our backs. This was one of the headquarters Stale, the knights, and I would
have to defend. Copelandii, Alata, and Rafflesiana all lay to the north of
Chinensis. That was where we believed they would mount their attack from.
King Lance was
stationed in the eastern tower, while King Yohan would be in the Chinensian
castle to the south, with each king accompanied by his own troops along with
Freesian communication specialists. These specialists didn’t send word through
normal means—they possessed specific special powers that aided in
communication. The method was unique to the individual, but it functioned by
broadcasting an image sent from a specific point of view.
Stale had proposed
that another squadron of knights join King Yohan and the specialists at the
castle, and the knights had been happy to oblige. Whatever happened in that
castle, we would be able to see it through their transmissions.
There were more camps
of knights and soldiers outside of the main bases, but for now the transmission
specialists were only broadcasting from these five points. Other specialists
were positioned throughout the smaller camps, prepared to contact us in an emergency.
“Right. Everyone
seems to be in order,” I said.
I spoke to the image
transmissions and received nods of approval from each of them: Tiara, Prime
Minister Gilbert, and a slightly separated Cedric in Cercis; King Lance in the
eastern tower; King Yohan in his castle; and Commander Roderick and his knights
at the northern front.
“Please rest at ease,” Commander Roderick said. “We won’t allow them to breach the northern perimeter. This is for the
United Hanazuo Kingdom and for you, Princess Pride.”
The commander’s blue
eyes blazed with crimson fire even through the transmission, as though it
captured his aura and not just his image. Vice Captain Eric and the others
around him looked equally determined.
Once we arrived in
Chinensis, my imperial knights had spent all night with me instead of changing
shifts. Vice Captain Eric and Captain Callum had guarded me before, but Captain
Alan took over for them. Captain Callum, who was the same rank as Captain Alan,
had reddish-brown hair and eyes of the same color.
“It means that our
defensive mission here will decide the fate of Princess Pride…and our entire
kingdom.”
All the knights fell
silent at those words; they were the same ones I’d heard yesterday. Even the
men who already knew of the blood oath—Arthur, Captain Callum, Captain Alan,
Vice Captain Eric, and the members of the Ninth Squadron—stood up a little straighter.
“Defend this land by any
means necessary! Your pride as knights depends on it!”
Commander Roderick’s
thunderous voice had boomed out like a shock wave. A deafening war cry rose in
response, loud enough to rouse the whole kingdom, or at least that was how it
felt.
That’s right. We can’t
lose.
South of the western
and eastern towers, ahead of the castle, lay the capital city of Chinensis. The
citizens of both Chinensis and Cercis had already been told to evacuate, but
that alone wasn’t enough to ease my worries.
If Copelandii managed
to invade the castle to the very south of Chinensis and force King Yohan to
surrender, it would all be over. That meant an almost certain occupation of
Chinensis, along with their ally Cercis. Due to my blood oath, I would then
burn at the stake along with King Yohan. Worse yet, if our defensive campaign
failed, the civilian population would be slaughtered or captured as slaves. I
swore to myself that we would absolutely not allow that to unfold.
“Elder Sister, may I ask
you for something before the battle begins?”
It was still slightly
dark outside, but Stale’s intense gaze bore into me when I faced him. Torches
illuminated our tower, the red glow shimmering in Stale’s black eyes. I
couldn’t bring myself to look away.
“I’m not a knight,”
he said. “I might even be the weakest person here right now.”
Captain Callum and
Captain Alan both went wide-eyed at that remark, staring at him from behind.
I understood their
surprise. Stale was far from weak. He had spent years polishing his
swordsmanship skills alongside Arthur. He trained almost every single day until
he had to begin his seneschal work. Even under the current circumstances, he
found ways to train regularly. No doubt he was a much stronger fighter than
even the Stale from the game.
“Still, I’m prepared
to swear this to you.”
Pinned beneath his
stare, I swallowed as I awaited his next words. The dim world outside gradually
lightened. The glow of the rising sun limned Stale in soft light.
“Elder Sister, I will
protect you.”
He fell to one knee
with a quiet thud. Behind him, Captain Alan and the other knights followed
suit. They looked up at me just like Stale was doing.
With each moment, the
sun climbed higher and the knights kneeling before me shone brighter. Its rays
enveloped me in a gentle hold. Stale alone knelt in my shadow, an array of
silver armor gleaming behind him.
“I, and everyone
here, will stake our lives on it,” Stale said.
Should I really be their
first concern?
This was a battle for
Chinensis. For the United Hanazuo Kingdom.
Gratitude and guilt
warred within me. That blood oath I’d sworn clearly had an impact on my
knights. I clasped my hands at my chest, glanced at one of the other images.
“What?!”
The word slipped out
of me unbidden.
It wasn’t just the
knights—the broadcast from Cercis showed Tiara, Prime Minister Gilbert, and
even Cedric taking a knee. Moreover, King Yohan and his soldiers had done the
same!
But why? It was
unthinkable that a prince or king from a foreign country would bow to me, even
if it was acceptable for my knights to do so. King Lance’s group in the eastern
tower watched this all in blatant shock, eyes bulging. Equally flustered, I covered
my mouth and watched King Yohan raise his head to give me a gentle smile.
“Yohan! Cedric! Why are
you doing this?!”
King Lance cried out, appalled.
Royalty were never
supposed to kneel to one another, not even among allied countries. Cedric
lowered his head at the scolding from his older brother…but he didn’t climb
back onto his feet.
“Lance, Princess Pride
has decided to share in our country’s fate. This is something we can do to
display our respect for her,” King Yohan said.
“Princess Pride, as the
king of Cercis, it would be wrong for me to bow to you,” King Lance said, but his
face twisted with guilt.
I agreed completely.
As I opened my mouth to tell him so, the king continued his speech.
“However, once we’ve
emerged victorious in this war, I’ll be certain to show you the respect you
deserve. I owe the kingdom of Freesia more than I could ever express with
words.”
That sentiment was more than enough for me. I
nodded and thanked him, then turned back to Stale on the floor in front of me.
He’d knelt in resolute silence the whole time I spoke with the king. But this
whole situation had come about due to his hard work.
“Thank you, Stale,” I said quietly
enough that only he could hear.
He raised his head
and offered a compassionate, genuine smile. Stale was there for me. I had
people to support me. There was no reason to hesitate now.
“King Lance! King
Yohan!”
Once I’d addressed
both royals, I held my hand out to Stale. He gripped it tightly and rose to his
feet.
“I am with you,” I
said. “We are now one with the United Hanazuo Kingdom!”
Captain Alan and the
others followed Stale and stood, as did Commander Roderick and the rest of the
knights.
The sun had nearly
crested the horizon. The fateful day was upon us. A bell clanged dolefully,
marking the start of the war.
I squinted in the
harsh morning light and turned around. The blazing star shone on the ground
below, where there were no enemies to be found. When I faced the broadcasts
again, King Lance and King Yohan had drawn their swords and raised them up. I
freed my own blade from its sheath and joined them in pointing toward the
window.
The three of us,
without any signal, cried out in perfect unison: “For the United Hanazuo
Kingdom! May we be victorious!”
We had to win for our
beloved homeland, our dear ally, and our own people. The crimson glow of the
rising sun glinted in the eyes all around me. We would follow that blazing
light of victory. I took in a deep breath, puffing out my chest, and everyone
joined in on letting out a piercing war cry.
An explosion happened
at that same moment, the shock wave washing over us.
The ground shook
beneath my feet. It was like trying to stand in a violent earthquake.
“Elder Sister!” Stale
lunged to wrap his arms around me and hold me steady. Captain Callum and
Captain Alan immediately swung into position on either side of us.
“Get down!” Captain
Callum shouted. Captain Alan folded his body over both of our heads.
“Was that an enemy
attack?!”
“Where did it come
from?! What did it hit?!”
“Give us a status
report!”
Shouts of confusion
mingled with barked orders from the broadcasted images. Past Captain Alan, I
could just make out the cloud obscuring our previously sunny day. Smoke
billowed up into the sky and choked the air out of the room. More impacts
cracked out while people shouted with increasing panic over the broadcasts. The
clamor was loud enough to drown out the explosions themselves.
“Urgent! We’re now being
hit with bombs!”
“Urgent! The front lines
to the north have been hit! The barrage is still going!”
The explosions were
all coming from the front lines to the north—where Commander Roderick was
stationed. My heart hammered in my chest as I searched for that broadcast, but
the explosion had completely clouded the image. Although I heard the knights’
yells, I couldn’t see a thing.
“The explosions have
stopped! Their origin is still unclear! The front lines are still too smoky for
a status report!”
“Please, be careful out
there! The enemies may use the cover of the smoke to make their next move!” Prime Minister Gilbert replied.
As though on cue,
angry cries rose up along with another great rumble—the sound of enemy soldiers
charging in to attack my troops. A chill raced down my spine.
“Hurry,
send backup!” King Lance cried, but King Yohan
instantly rejected the idea.
“No! You can’t act
before you know what’s happening, or you might fall into their trap!”
I agreed with King
Yohan. It was unlikely that there was only one squadron of enemy troops making
their way to—
“Eeeeek!”
The scream wasn’t me this
time. It was Tiara!
I shoved my head out
from underneath Captain Alan’s body. He withdrew from his protective position,
allowing me to pass since the explosions near us had ceased.
“Tiara! What’s
wrong?!”
“I’m all right! There
was a shock wave here! I think there was an explosion at the front gates!” Tiara said, and Prime
Minister Gilbert seemed to agree.
“The castle gates?!”
Stale said hoarsely. “Why there?! Aren’t they supposed to be after Chinensis,
not Cercis?!”
More explosions from
Tiara’s transmission answered his query. Everyone on their end of the broadcast
trembled.
A soldier suddenly appeared on the display. “Urgent! Enemy forces are converging on us here in Cercis! They appear
to be from the kingdom of Alata!”
“What the hell?!” Cedric
growled. He followed the soldier out of the line of sight of the image.
The kingdom of Alata
had even less territory than Chinensis, but right now, most of the Cercian army
was stationed in Chinensis. The few knights and
soldiers left behind would be hard-pressed to hold off the Alatian army on
their own.
“We’re the closest to
Cercis! We have to go back to help them!” I said.
“We can’t!” Stale
responded, quick to step in and stop me. “Acting now would be a mistake. The
Chinensian forces could get overwhelmed while we’re gone!”
“Has anyone discerned
the source of the bombings?!” Captain Alan demanded, voice dripping with rage.
He raced to the tower
window and stuck his head out, looking up at the sky, but he couldn’t find any
answers. Several voices responded through the broadcasts that they likewise
hadn’t yet pinpointed the source of the assault.
“Bombs don’t just
fall from the clear blue sky on their own!” Captain Alan snapped.
“This isn’t the first
time it’s happened,” Captain Callum said. “There was that battle from two years
ago.” His cohort growled with frustration, but Captain Callum was already deep
in thought. “These bombs are on a completely different level, though…”
I swallowed around
the lump in my throat. He was right; we were dealing with something we couldn’t
even comprehend here.
The Cercian prime
minister and an unusually fast-talking Prime Minister Gilbert doled out orders
over the transmissions.
“It wasn’t as thorough as
Chinensis’s evacuation, but Cercis also ordered its people to evacuate,” the Cercian prime minister said. “The enemy is advancing on the town, but we’ll try to hold steady here
at the castle for as long as we can! Right now, the northern front needs to be
our—”
“This is the northern
front! We’re requesting backup!”
It wasn’t Commander
Roderick breaking through the commotion of explosions and screams to call for
aid—a different knight was trying to reach us now. The plea came from the
northern front, which had only been a feed of screams and impacts until this
moment. King Lance, King Yohan, Prime Minister Gilbert, and I all tried to
respond, urging the soldier to continue.
“An unidentified object
in the air is currently bombing the order!” the soldier said.
“Troops are also advancing on us from the ground! They appear to be the armies
of Copelandii and Rafflesiana!”
“What damage have you
sustained?! How many knights have fallen?!” Prime Minister Gilbert asked.
I was grateful to
have his clear head on our side, asking for the crucial information we needed
even in the midst of chaos. The explosions were strong enough to reach us all
the way out here; we had to understand the state of things and what we were up
against before we could act.
“We have no casualties,”
the soldier
said. “Two are seriously injured. More have minor
wounds but are still able to fight. We’ve lost our weapons store, though. We’re
currently battling the enemy while our special power medics treat the worst of
the wounded.”
Thank
goodness. Hearing that no one had died was the best
possible news given the dire situation.
On the contrary, King
Lance and King Yohan were floored by the report.
“Only two?!”
“No casualties?!”
I understood how they
felt. To be blunt, if anyone other than our Freesian knights had been hit with
those blasts, the death toll would probably be in the two or three digits.
“Commander Roderick,
do you need backup?” I asked, the relief still washing over me.
“We’re
all right!” he responded just as an enemy soldier
screamed.
“We can hold them back
on our own for now.” The reporting knight spoke up, elaborating on Commander Roderick’s
answer. “But once things are stable in your
position, we do need spare weapons! If the explosions start up again, we might
be in trouble…”
Prime Minister Gilbert jumped in. “Is that really all you’re requesting, Commander Roderick?! After so
many explosions, the terrain has to be—”
“It’s
fine! Focus on the others, not us!” Commander
Roderick shouted over Prime Minister Gilbert. His voice came across clear and
concise even with the distance.
Prime Minister Gilbert narrowed his eyes with a
scowl, but shook that off a moment later and went on giving orders. “Then send backup to Cercis. The town is sitting in harm’s way. We
request transportation specialists from the nearest western tower. Send more
men from the eastern tower to make up for the departing troops.”
“I’ll send them there
myself,” Stale said. “Have all the knights returning to Cercis follow me.” He
followed up with a meaningful look at Prime Minister Gilbert, who nodded in
understanding.
“Much appreciated.”
“Elder Sister, I’ll
only be away for two minutes,” Stale told me. “Whatever you do, don’t step away
from your imperial knights!”
Stale then rushed off
to a place where the other camps wouldn’t be able to see him through the
transmissions. He was going to use his teleportation power to send knights to
Cercis as reinforcements. Surely Cercis could weather the attacks.
Roooooar!
A fresh explosion
boomed nearby. Everyone plugged their ears, and we swiveled toward the source
of the sound. The people on the other ends of the transmissions shouted in
turn:
“They’re back!”
“Look to the sky!”
“What is that?!”
The knights around us
stuck their heads out of the windows and pointed upward. “You can see where the
bombs are coming from!” one of them reported. Captain Alan, Captain Callum, and
I all rushed to get a look for ourselves. Our mouths fell open when we glimpsed
what lay outside the tower.
The blimps flew high
enough in the sky to avoid the blowback from their own weapons. Some flew in
from the north, so numerous I couldn’t even count them. The other ones must
have come while we were still reeling from the first blast. These must have
been the cause of the explosions and smoke still clouding the transmission from
the north. And now one of those blimps was heading toward the top of our tower.
King Yohan, King
Lance, and Cedric cried out from their transmissions.
“So many!”
“This is bad!”
“You have to get out of
there!”
The communication
specialist barked an update: “The Fifth and Sixth Squadrons request permission
to retreat!”
At that, I murmured,
“Thank goodness.” At least we could see the enemy this time around.
Two figures pounded
up the tower’s spiral staircase and burst into the room.
“I’ve returned, Elder
Sister!” Stale said.
“Are you all right,
Your Highness?!” Arthur asked.
I turned to greet
them, reassured by their presence. Arthur must have rushed to our camp the
moment he heard the explosions. As a member of the Eighth Squadron, he was free
to detach from the unit and act on his own.
“I’ve sent off all
the reinforcements!” Stale told me. “What’s happening here now?!”
“The Fifth and Sixth
Squadrons are on standby!” Captain Callum added.
Arthur and Stale
joined us at the window to get a look at the situation in the sky.
“The problem is how
they’re managing to detonate those bombs,” Stale said, glaring at the blimp
above us.
The rest of us nodded
in agreement. If the bombs detonated easily on impact, shooting the blimp down
could still result in widespread destruction.
Arthur set one foot
on the stone window frame. “Then we need to bring that blimp down somehow.”
I tilted my head to
one side, trying to get a read on him. It seemed like he was working out a
plan, but the blimp was still far beyond our reach. Stale couldn’t get a good
enough look at the passenger pod to teleport anyone there. He furrowed his brow
at Arthur, probably as curious about what the knight could be thinking as I
was.
Arthur calmly turned
to face the rest of the knights. “Excuse me! Where are the weapon reserves?”
One of the men gave
him the location, then tossed him a spare sword to use. Arthur thanked him,
gripping the new sword in one hand and his own sword in the other. Captain
Callum and a few other knights asked if he needed help making it there.
“No, I can get it
done by myself. Please stand back, Princess Pride. This will be dangerous,”
said Arthur, unsheathing the spare sword.
Fwoosh! The sound tore through the air, booming in our ears. I crouched to
watch, but the sword was already long gone, leaving nothing but a breeze in its
wake. For a moment, I thought it must have missed, but then Captain Alan
clapped Arthur on the back and cheered, “Hell yeah! That’s our Arthur!” He must
have grazed the side of the blimp with pinpoint precision, in true Arthur
fashion.
“I thought it might
crash if the hole was too big,” Arthur said. “Should I try it again?”
Captain Callum
quickly made to stop Arthur, who wasn’t yet satisfied with the results of his
absurd throw. The captain pointed up at the deflating blimp steadily sinking to
the ground. Soon it was low enough for us to get a good look. The knights at
the tower dashed up the walls to reach it.
“Great job, Arthur!”
the knights said as they passed. These were troops with wall-running and
gravity-negating special powers who’d been waiting at the base of the tower.
They ran up the walls as though they were perfectly flat ground. Stale and I
watched out the window as the knights leapt up to the blimp. It had descended
gently enough that no bombs would go off thanks to the impact.
“Argh!”
“What?! How did
they—?!”
A few surprised
shouts were cut off by the clang of swords clashing. It appeared we’d subdued
the enemy. Our knights took control of the blimp, lowering it to the ground at
a steady pace.
“Urgent report! The
attackers originated from the kingdom of Copelandii!”
“Each blimp has about
six bombs on it! The fuses are lit before they drop!”
“We can neutralize
them by taking out the pilots, the strings holding the bombs, or the fuses
themselves!”
Having finished
surveying the blimp, the knights gave their reports. The communication
specialists passed along this vital information to the rest of our troops, and
I followed up with my own orders.
“Fifth Squadron!
Sixth Squadron! Freesian royal order!” I cried. “Eliminate any and all blimps!
Once you’ve done so, we’ll march from the eastern and western towers. If you
find yourself without a task, then go to Cercis as backup, secure weapons for
the front lines, or tend to the wounded.”
Now that we knew what
the bombs looked like and how they worked, they were ours for the taking.
The Fifth and Sixth
Squadrons consisted of knights who specialized in shooting, be it through sheer
skill with a firearm or with special powers. Depending on the power, their
shots were essentially guaranteed to land. This rendered the task of taking out
individual pilots—and the blimps themselves—child’s play.
Each transmission
issued a swift response. Even the men at the front lines of this gruesome
battle let out raucous cheers.
“Let’s shoot down
whatever blimps we can from the western tower too!” Stale shouted. “Don’t let
them reach Cercis!”
The knights responded
affirmatively, and the captains barked out orders. After a short wait, the
knights fired up at the distant blimps in the sky. Some jumped up at an angle
to reach the blimps, while others aimed directly upward. It wasn’t just the Fifth and Sixth Squadrons either. Any of my
kingdom’s brilliant knights could take on the swarm.
The once fearsome
brigade of blimps looked as harmless as party balloons.
***
“That’s their
commander! Take him out first!”
At the front lines of
the defensive battle to the north, among the screams of fury from the Freesian
knights, came a storm of enemy troops dashing from the center of an explosion.
The initial barrage
had carved out a large area where the knights I commanded had set up our
headquarters. Those headquarters were now little more than a crater in the
earth. Fissures sprawled from the center of that crater like spiderwebs. Once,
that spot had stored our spare weaponry, meaning we were starting this battle
with a dwindling stash of supplies.
Fortunately, my men
had avoided major injuries as a result of the explosions. Troops with special
powers had erected protective walls the moment the bombs started falling.
Others had simply leapt away or moved their squadmates out of the blast radius.
Still others weakened the impact of the bombs or threw up shields.
My men on the front
lines had been given these shields—crafted by the vanguard units with special
powers—for a variety of uses. They could absorb the force of any attack,
including bombs, which was most of the reason none of my men had been injured.
Though useful, the shields were hardly plentiful.
The blast had also
turned the ground around us into treacherous terrain, riddled with cracks and
crevices. A single collapse could cause even worse
injuries than those sustained from the actual bombs. Two knights ended up
severely wounded after falling at unfortunate angles. Others suffered injuries
when enemies charged the pits they’d fallen into before they could climb back
up.
Despite being
commander of the entire order, I myself had been wounded. I managed to shout
orders to Pride and the others from the bottom of the crater, but I knew I
wasn’t visible on the broadcast itself. I urged my communication specialist not
to convey my predicament; Pride would certainly come running herself to help me
if she heard. I couldn’t allow the northern front to monopolize any more
fighting power.
Knights were trying
to reel us out of the crater using ropes and special powers, but it was slow
going. Moreover, enemy troops kept pouring in to cut us down. Others stood at
the top, firing guns and arrows at us. The incessant attacks complicated our attempts
at escape.
Then a bomb dropped
behind us, sending a few of our rescuers flying into other craters. A third of
my knights had to battle within the craters, and the mounting number of wounded
was making it harder and harder to escape.
Some men tried to
jump down and provide backup, but I ordered them to stop. Those on the high
ground had the advantage in this battle. We couldn’t lose that and put more
knights in harm’s way. That being the case, the hostile forces of three
countries combined already put my men at a distinct disadvantage in terms of
sheer numbers.
We focused on getting
the most gravely injured out of the craters first. The ones with special powers
freed them from the pits or provided the medical treatment they desperately
needed. But as leader of the order, I couldn’t escape and
leave my men behind.
This kinda reminds me of
six years ago.
As I fended off the
enemy onslaught, I couldn’t help thinking of one particular incident six years
ago. Back then, the ambushers had been at the top of a cliff, shooting down at
our knights below—myself included.
“This is different,”
I muttered, though I wasn’t entirely convinced.
The enemy soldiers
clustered in a group and charged me. I raised my sword, barking out orders as I
parried blows and cut them down. Knights rushed to my side to repel the enemy
along with me.
“This time, my
soldiers can fight.”
It was like watching
dominoes fall. We cut through the soldiers in the front, then continued forward
in a wave. Our small force neutralized over a dozen enemy soldiers.
“Fire! Send backup!
Aim for the knights in front!” an enemy screamed above us.
I looked up and found
a row of soldiers approaching the edge of the crater and turning their guns
toward the knights below. They loaded their weapons, and their leader raised
his hand.
Bang bang bang!
Shots cracked out
from our side of the battle. The enemy commander’s eyes went wide in shock as
blood burst from his head. He collapsed to the ground, as did the rest of his
troops.
“If you know how to
shoot, then you’re on gun duty now!” Eric yelled from the top of the crater.
“Everyone else, hand over your guns! Don’t let them fire
a single shot at your fellow knights or our commander. Take them out before
they can shoot!”
Knights grouped up
with their leaders, brandishing still-smoking rifles. Eric was the one who’d
taken out the enemy commander, displaying his skill with firearms. He was also
the first to shoot down a blimp the moment it drifted into view.
It had only been six
years since Eric entered the order as a new recruit. Bearing witness to his
growth brought me a swell of pride.
“And this time, I
have the finest men at my side.”
Our foes spilled over
the cliffs and into the craters. They crowded the pits, some even charging in
atop horses.
I surveyed the
situation with my sword at the ready. When the time was right, I surged toward
the enemy and met them with my knights backing me up.
“But most of all…”
I was still reliving
that day six years ago, talking to myself the whole time. I charged at the
enemy horseman. The horse raised its front legs to trample me, but I buried my
sword in its body. I kicked the collapsing creature away and delivered a killing
blow. As the horse succumbed, it crushed the rider beneath itself.
Two more cavalrymen
came my way. As I weighed how to engage them, a new threat rushed up behind me,
bringing his sword down toward my head.
Clang!
I swept my blade up to meet the enemy’s, and he
hurtled back to the ground. Then I made a beeline for one of my fallen
soldiers.
“These guys don’t
know what they’re doin’!”
Crack!
Both blades flew
through the air, causing them to stiffen. The force of the impact flung one of
the enemy soldiers off his horse. He managed to retrieve his sword and came for
me again.
Clang!
It was fruitless. The
sword grazed me, but my very skin repelled it, like I was made out of iron. I
punched the stunned enemy, knocking him unconscious, and the other man slashed
at my neck.
Shiiing!
A harsh metallic
screech greeted his blow. Our adversaries didn’t realize they couldn’t harm me
this way. My special power granted me invulnerability to slashes, which had
earned me the nickname “The Unmarred Knight.”
I didn’t waste time
cutting down the bewildered soldier. Instead I ran, grabbing a free horse’s
reins and swinging up into the saddle. At first, the animal resisted its new
rider, but it soon calmed beneath my practiced hand and obeyed my commands. I
spurred it onward into a gallop.
“This time, I can
move!”
I charged headlong
into the enemy forces. None of them were a match for the calculated
swordsmanship of the strongest Freesian commander.
***
Many Cercian citizens
had stayed in town instead of fleeing, hiding in evacuation shelters. Soldiers
patrolled the port, waiting with trading vessels. If the battle reached the
town, civilians could evacuate to the ships to spare as many lives as possible.
These ports, which Chinensis lacked, afforded Cercis’s people a swift means of
escape.
An enormous ship
approached the Cercian border. It was only a single vessel, but it was probably
larger than any ship the Cercians had ever seen. The galleon rose up like a
sailing fortress on the water. It bore small cannons on each side and a larger
one right in the front, making our intent absolutely clear.
The Cercians boarding
their vessels regarded our ship with fear, some peering through the windows to
get a better look. Even the soldiers at the port gripped their small firearms
hesitantly, unsure if it was worth firing.
They should have
known that Copelandii, Alata, and Rafflesiana had no need for such a massive
ship. But I knew the soldiers stationed here feared this ship was arriving from
the Rajah Empire.
“I guess we showed up
a bit late,” I said. “I just hope Pride is safe.”
I stood on the deck,
wearing armor over a blue uniform that fluttered in the wind. Despite my
intention to join the battlefield, I spoke softly. I couldn’t stop thinking
about what lay before me: the danger threatening Cercis and Chinensis—and
Pride.
“No… Knowing you,
you’re perfectly safe,” I said to myself, as casually as though I were
arranging for a cup of afternoon tea. “I’ll get to see you soon.”
I was the firstborn
prince of Anemone, Leon Adonis Coronaria.
“I hope you like my
present.”
The largest trading
country in the world had just joined the battle.
***
“Anemone? Leon? How is
that possible?!”
I couldn’t contain my
shock at the unexpected report. Leon, firstborn prince of Anemone, had just
sailed into a Cercian port. Prime Minister Gilbert was filling us in on the
pressing news from his post in Cercis—he’d been told as much by the soldiers
guarding the area.
“I don’t understand
either,” he
said. “But I don’t believe the soldiers would be
mistaken. Did Prince Leon ever mention this, Your Highness?”
I would have stopped him
if he’d told me about it, I thought. Anemone’s
military power is only a bit stronger than Hanazuo’s in the first place! How
could they even think of making an enemy of someone like Rajah?!
“Stale!”
No longer able to
hold back, I turned to Stale at my side. He understood without me saying
another word. It’ll be faster to teleport to Leon directly
and ask him myself!
Captain Alan and
Captain Callum had to come with me as my imperial knights. I took their hands
and granted Arthur temporary command of the area. Then the four of us
disappeared in a blink.
***
“Leon!”
As soon as the scene
changed, I’d found an armor-clad Leon standing right in front of me. He turned
at my cry, beaming brightly. “Pride!”
“Why did you come
here?! Anemone was just supposed to provide support!”
His kingdom was never
meant to get mixed up in the war effort. They’d already provided weapons, as
planned; the Freesian castle was well stocked thanks to their help. That
should’ve been the end of their participation.
I leapt toward Leon
and grabbed the blue fabric of his uniform. His sweet smile betrayed no hint of
surprise. “Yes, I know. That’s why I brought you all these weapons.”
He gestured through a
heavy-looking open door to the armory. A plethora of weapons filled every
single corner of the room. It seemed like an even bigger storehouse than the
one at our knights’ headquarters. Brand-new, flawless weaponry gleamed even in
the shadows of the storeroom. Captain Alan let slip an awed “Whoa!” behind me.
Even Captain Callum blinked his reddish-brown eyes more rapidly than usual.
“I didn’t think we’d sent
Freesia enough, so I brought along all these presents,” Leon said.
Presents was an interesting word for the deadly weapons arrayed before me, but
Leon was right that the initial provisions he’d provided seemed like nothing
compared to all this. With these, our army could fight for two days straight
without any trouble. In all honesty, after what had happened to the front lines
in the north, this unexpected gift was a huge boon. We’d also been told that
Cercis and Chinensis—two peaceful nations—had few weapons to start with. The
entire situation was different now because of this delivery. But
still!
“You can’t do this!”
I said. “If you join us now and the unthinkable happens, Anemone could fall
into the hands of Rajah and—”
“Our promise.”
Leon spoke quietly
and suddenly over me. He reached out his long pinky toward me, giving me his
best puppy-dog eyes.
I squeezed my lips
together and fell silent. Stale furrowed his brow in suspicion at the whole
scene, but Leon was right. We had made a promise back
when Cedric was visiting the castle and Leon had shown up out of concern for
me.
“Pride… If this happens
again, will you please reach out to me for help?”
He wanted me to rely
on him. I just never imagined the offer extended to a battlefield!
Much as I wanted to
refuse him, Leon’s gaze weighed heavily on me. He wiggled his pinky finger to
remind me of the promise we’d made. Soldiers’ shouts and the roar of falling
bombs in Cercis—and, even more loudly, in Chinensis—offered a dramatic background
to our staredown. Commander Roderick and Prime Minister
Gilbert had all but begged for extra weapons through the transmission earlier.
“F-fine… Thank you,
Leon. We’ll accept the supply of weapons.”
My shoulders shook as
I forced myself to accept Anemone’s offer. Leon lit up and waved Stale toward
the weapons storeroom. He must have been expecting us to show up together.
“Prince Stale, please
return and take more whenever you find yourself in need.”
Leon was one of the
few people who knew about Stale’s power. Judging by Leon’s behavior and his
unperturbed smile, he’d been planning to make use of Stale’s special power all
along.
“Thank you,” Stale
replied. “There’s no time to argue, so I’ll send these ahead right away.” He
asked Captain Alan and Captain Callum to pick the weapons that would be most
useful to the knights. Captain Alan threw in a few unusual requests for weapons
that were new to us all, but Captain Callum kept him focused on the task at
hand.
In the meantime, I
updated Leon on the state of the war, summarizing it as best I could in the
time we had. When I told him how much this delivery actually helped us, Leon
sighed with genuine relief.
“I’m glad I could
help. Now I can leave the enemy soldiers who are already here to the local
troops and Freesian knights. I’ll work on preventing any more Alatian forces
from setting foot in Cercis.”
“Huh?!” Every muscle
in my face tightened at once. Leon tapped his chin with a finger. “Um, Leon…
You’ve made the delivery already. I don’t want you and your men getting roped
in any further.”
“No, we’ll be fighting
too. That’s why we came here. Father already gave his permission.”
Leon signaled to his
knights. In response, they cried, “All troops to the second armory!”
There’s a second
armory?!
“I’m the one who
sailed all the way here from Anemone,” Leon told me. “As its prince, I think
it’s only fair that you allow this.”
You
did?! I couldn’t believe my ears. When I
tentatively asked him if he was serious, his response was an immediate yes. Leon had managed to navigate the most efficient,
five-day route between Anemone and Cercis. Inexperienced sailors couldn’t even
dream of making that trip! I knew that he was in the habit of visiting ships
and participating in trade, but I had no idea he’d been studying sailing as
well.
“But, Leon, I don’t
want your entire country roped into this war because of me!”
Leon loved his
homeland more than anything. I found it difficult to imagine he would put his
beloved people in danger for my sake. I gazed up at him, and he offered me a
charming smile.
“Don’t talk about
yourself like that, Pride. Besides, it’s not merely for your sake.”
He squeezed my right
shoulder, complimenting how I looked in the scarlet uniform and armor, then
slid his hand down my arm to lift my hand.
“I want Anemone to
become a land its people can be proud of. It’s about more than being protected.
We should protect others too. I want us to rush to the aid of an ally, a sworn
friend, when they’re in crisis.”
“Also…” Leon lifted
his gaze from my hand. “Anemone is strong under my rule.” The light in his
jade-green eyes glinted like the edge of a knife.
That look, and Leon’s
generally sensual bearing, sent warmth creeping through my body. My heart
pounded at the intensity of his charm and allure. I’d never felt it at this
level before. It was frightening, exciting, and impressive all at once—nearly
impossible to resist. I forgot all about the fact that we were standing on a
battlefield. My mouth fell open in bewilderment. This is bad.
Leon’s charm is too strong!
Leon smiled at my
flustered state. He lowered my hand and casually turned to watch over his
knights as they prepared for battle, as though nothing had happened between us.
“Prince Stale, could
I request one of your communication specialists to join up with our party? I
think it would be helpful to be able to transmit our status to the rest of you
as well.”
“Understood!” Stale
responded while teleporting the many weapons away. I was busy ordering my
body—still under Leon’s spell—to start functioning again.
Leon instructed his
knights to anchor the ship a little ways away from the port once everyone
disembarked. It would make it harder for the enemy to capture the vessel. The
knights nodded, then left the ship along with horse-drawn carts of luggage.
“Oh, and Pride?” Leon
said, stopping before he disembarked. He set his hand on my shoulder, smiled
sweetly, and brought his lips close to my ear. “You’re an incredible person. I
promise that.”
It had been a long
time since I suffered such a direct hit from ORL’s prince of sensuality. Leon
left me standing there with my face burning as he mounted his horse and took
off into Cercis with his knights.
He was the true
picture of a knight in shining armor.
***
“What’s happening,
Commander Roderick?!”
My subordinates
hurled questions across the battlefield, but I was too preoccupied with cutting
down enemies to respond. The situation unfolding in front of my eyes was beyond
bizarre. I could only mutter under my breath, “What the hell’s going on?”
It wasn’t that we
were struggling; my knights slayed foe after foe in quick succession. A few
even stole horses to launch counterattacks, as I had. We were holding the line
well, so there was no reason to report anything to Princess Pride.
The problem was that
the enemy just kept sending more soldiers. And though they wore armor and
carried swords, they lacked vigor in a way I just couldn’t put my finger on.
The fierce fighting spirit from their initial assault seemed to have drained
right out of them. All that remained was the dull desire to kill us.
I fought back,
worried that they might have something up their sleeve, but I easily dispatched
them with a single strike. Though I thought we might have
taken out all of their best soldiers already, the gap in their skill told me
something else was going on.
Brow furrowed, I
waded through the oncoming enemies. It dawned on me then that these men weren’t
just weak—they were barely holding their swords properly. The first wave of
soldiers had been nothing compared to us Freesian knights, but at least they
were trained for combat. These men barely even knew how to handle a weapon. It
was as if they were handing out swords to random civilians and dragging them to
the battlefield.
“Don’t tell me…”
I gulped. I continued
to hack at the enemies, but the doubts gradually took root in my mind. Sucking
in a deep breath, I turned to my subordinates.
“All knights! Take
your shields and fall back! Immediately!”
I yelled as loudly as
I could, urging my knights to heed me. The men knew to obey an order from their
commander first and ask questions later. Those with shields created with
special powers picked them up and began to retreat.
“The enemies here
aren’t soldiers!”
I hurried my own
horse away from the scene. The enemies chased after us, clearly desperate to
draw blood. They probably knew what was coming for them; they had their own
orders.
“These people…
They’re slaves meant to be sacrificed!”
As I shouted, some
sixth sense tickled at the back of my mind. I looked up just in time to spot a
shower of bombs pouring down from above.
There was absolutely
no sign of where they’d come from.
The world went white. An
avalanche of power and heat exploded over me and my knights.
My ears rang long
after the blasts and shock waves subsided.
I couldn’t hear
anything but the ringing in my head. I focused on breathing, gulping down
lungfuls of air.
Just like the first
time, this barrage came from a source we couldn’t identify. I had managed to
protect myself with a shield, but then more bombs landed all around us. Even
with our shields, I knew that not all of my knights would manage to protect
themselves from the blasts.
Once my ears stopped
ringing, I crawled out from behind the shield and stepped into the smoke
wafting across the battlefield. When I asked if the rest of my knights were
safe, I got responses from all of them, although some sounded more like groans
of pain. We’d definitely sustained some injuries.
“The enemy is falling
back! If you can get out of the craters, do it now!” I rasped through a dry
throat.
Not a single enemy
soldier who’d been sent as a sacrifice was still moving. We could retreat
without any more concern of being shot at from above. But the blast had sent
knights flying in all directions. I could move, but some of my men were
seriously hurt. If we sustained another bombing out of the blue, we’d probably
lose a handful.
Anyone who could
stand either rushed back to camp or helped injured knights get out of harm’s
way. Knights who managed to scale the craters lowered ropes for men with
special powers who could aid in transporting the wounded to safety. This took
time, but it was faster than making them climb out of the craters on their own.
“Commander, behind
you!”
Eric’s shout arrived
an instant before a surge of tremendous bloodlust washed over me. I spun to
find well-armed soldiers pouring into the crater from the enemy’s main camp.
This had to be the real enemy army at its full power. Their weapons and the way
they carried themselves were totally unlike what we’d seen earlier.
I nearly told the
whole order to rush down into the craters, but I quickly realized that would be
a misstep. We were outnumbered. Losing our advantageous position at the top of
the cliffs would be devastating.
I tossed my shield
aside and raced toward our base, carrying the two injured men under my arms.
“Climb up already!” I
shouted as I ran. “The enemy’s approaching!”
My men swiftly took
aim at the attackers from the top of the cliffs, but we were so few compared to
them. The enemy soldiers also appeared to be wearing finer armor—the bullets
simply ricocheted off rather than harming them. They let out a triumphant roar,
charging even faster toward our injured knights.
“Commander, leave us
and go!”
“You must make it out
alive!”
The two knights in my
arms begged me to abandon them, but I could never leave a man behind. Besides,
I probably had as little chance as they did of evading this pursuit.
I set the two men
down to rest alongside the other gravely injured. They croaked out pleas for me
to run, but I didn’t look back. I gave our knights on the defensive line a
reassuring pat on the shoulders and strode out in front of the entire group.
“We’ll stop them
here, so save yourself, Commander!” one protested.
“No. I can’t leave my
men behind when there’s not a scratch on me.”
Gripping my sword, I
faced the swarm of enemies only a few meters away. I ordered the rear guard and
backup to use their guns and special powers if they could still put up a fight.
“If this is where I
die, I’d rather die knowing I fought to protect my men instead of abandoning
them to save myself,” I said. “That’s what it means to be a knight.”
At those words, my
men ceased their pleas for me to flee to safety. They stood resolutely beside
me, swords in hand.
The enemy advanced.
They let out hoots and hollers, rushing onward in a murderous wave like some
snarling beast thundering in to devour us. Their voices reverberated through
our armor. The ground shook beneath my feet from the force of their
stampede, but I lowered myself into a strong stance and prepared to meet the
mass of dripping fangs and snapping jaws.
One enemy raised his
sword aloft. Before he could bring it down, I slashed at him from the side,
defeating him swiftly. A man behind him immediately leapt in for a follow-up
attack. I blocked it with the special power of my left hand, leaving him for
another knight to finish off.
A man on horseback
made to mow us down, but I sliced through his throat before he could trample
us. Just then, a metallic noise rang out among the screams of the enemies:
countless rifles had been hoisted up and pointed in our direction. Those of us
who could move would be able to dodge, but they weren’t aiming at us—they aimed
toward the back, where my most gravely injured men sprawled out helplessly.
One knight flew
backward to protect them with a shield. Still, it wasn’t large enough to cover
all of the vulnerable men. Others tried to rush over with their own shields,
but it was too late. I had already thrown my shield away to carry my men, so I
could do little but charge ahead to throw the enemy off. Several triggers
clicked all at once, ready to dish out death.
“Gimme a break!”
A silver beam of
light shot through the air. It streaked down from the cliffs and rained upon
the enemy riflemen, tearing them to pieces. One, two, then three—it eliminated
enemy after enemy before they could even fire back.
My knights were just
as bewildered as our enemies. Everyone looked around for the source of the
attack. I soon spotted a white uniform—definitely one of my knights. When the
interloper turned, his silver ponytail swishing from side to side, my jaw
dropped.
It can’t be…
“Arthur?” The name spilled
from my lips.
The knight turned to
face me, and there he was: Arthur, my very own son.
“You’ve done well.”
He offered us a strangely formal greeting and a reverent dip of his head,
averting his gaze.
One of the enemies
hollered, emboldened by Arthur’s timid display. His fellow soldiers joined him
in surging toward us again.
Then Arthur cut down
all ten men at once. He sliced through the necks of the advancing enemies as he
sailed past them, his strikes perfectly aimed at any joint not protected by
armor. Arthur plowed forward with that momentum, slaying the troops as he went,
felling them one after another. With one swift motion, the enemy soldiers
exploded into showers of blood.
“Don’t come near us.”
His curt warning contained more malice than all of the enemy forces combined.
Distant riflemen
readied their guns nonetheless, and Arthur scooped up a sword from one of his
victims. He hurled it like a spear, skewering two men at once.
Then he fixed his
eyes on me. “I’ll cover you if you’re retreating, Commander.”
The enemy hadn’t
reached us yet. If we could fall back just a few dozen meters, we would reach
the cliff, and the able-bodied members of the order could retrieve the injured
knights. Arthur was offering us a means to escape this horrible situation and
regroup.
“Okay. Once all the
knights are evacuated…” Arthur continued, not waiting for my reply. He spoke
with command, as though announcing his intent rather than asking for
permission. “I’m going to head to the enemy camp directly.”
He pointed ahead at the
enemy base, his gaze unwavering as he stared at the distant clifftop.
“Will you join me,
Commander?”
He grinned, and it was the first time he’d shown
such a brash smile since swooping into this battle. I wasn’t just Arthur’s
commander in the order; I was also his father. And I could see that there was
challenge in his expression, something out of character for him.
I joined him at his
side. The knights behind me were helping the injured men up. They’d rushed over
to aid in the retreat, taking people back to our camp as quickly as possible.
Arthur and I followed them, running backward in the same direction. The enemies
weren’t going to let us off that easily. They chased after us, making the earth
tremble beneath their pounding feet.
Arthur and I plunged
our swords into the ones closest to us.
“Why’d you come down
here alone?!” I demanded as we fought. “Don’t you get why the knights are
waiting on top of the cliffs?!”
“Y-you’re really
lecturing me right now?!”
Something sparked
within all our enemies at once. They threw their swords at me, forcing me to
use my own blade as well as my special power to block their attacks. Arthur
seized the opportunity to fly in and cut them down. The sweep of his sword was
little more than a flash of light, and then blood sprayed into the air. We
kicked the injured enemies away and kept moving.
“Why shouldn’t I have come?!” Arthur asked me, though he cooled a
bit as he continued to speak. “I… The whole reason I wanted to become a knight
was…”
“I bet you’ve almost
gotten yourself killed a bunch of other times too, and you kept it from me and
Mom.”
The words Arthur had
said so long ago suddenly replayed in my mind.
Our enemies had
frozen after seeing the men in front get kicked backward. He used their
hesitation as a chance to charge forward and fell even
more of them. Enemy riflemen raised their guns, but before they could pull a
single trigger, I fired at them first.
“I wanted to join the
Eighth Squadron because…”
“Just so you know, you
won’t be able to hide it from me anymore.”
Six years ago. Those
words echoing in my head were from six whole years ago. Back then, Arthur had
given up on being a knight. But on that day, he told me he’d changed his mind.
This time, the
enemies in front of us took out their rifles in tandem. Before they could lift
their weapons, Arthur and I leapt forward together and chopped them down. They
dropped their guns as their hot blood splattered against our cheeks.
Soldiers pulled up at
the very rear of the battle, their guns a distant glint. I readied myself to
face them, but Arthur jumped in before I could take aim. He raised an enemy
sword high.
“It was all…so I
could stand beside you, like I am right now!”
Arthur hurled the
sword. The enemy didn’t even have the chance to fire; the blade pierced through
their necks.
“’Cause I’ll be there
with you on the battlefield next time.”
That was what Arthur
had said six years ago. Neither Vice Commander Clark nor I understood why he
wanted to join the Eighth Squadron at the time. All he told us was that there
was something he wanted to do.
The Eighth Squadron
operated in a different style than the other units; its members were fiercely
independent. Arthur had chosen it for a reason. The Eighth Squadron’s special
privileges allowed its members to operate under their own discretion. On a battlefield
or during an operation, they could act however they deemed
best. With my unit gone, only the Eighth could choose to stand with me.
Arthur retrieved his
sword and slashed his way through the enemies before him.
I shook myself out of
my reverie to focus on the enemies around us. My own men were still retreating.
I backpedaled to stay near them and grabbed Arthur’s uniform. He stumbled,
surprised by my tug, so I barked out, “Keep your back against mine!”
I never thought I’d get
to feel that same joy again at a time like this.
“Yes, sir!” Arthur
held up his sword and glanced backward.
I swallowed down the
passion surging in my chest. It longed to burst free and overwhelm me, but I
needed to stand firm with the vice captain of the Eighth Squadron and fight. I
gripped my sword. By the time I took a single breath, the enemy had regrouped
and were flying at us with swords raised.
“Take them out while
you retreat!” I said. “Don’t take a single step further into enemy territory!
Stay with the men we need to protect and make sure they get out alive!”
I fought off multiple
attacks while giving Arthur my orders. We had to stay together in a tight
formation. He was only one man, after all.
One knight had come
as a reinforcement, yet he faced a swarm of enemies. It was unthinkable for a
single soldier to change the tide of a battle.
He was just one
knight—but uninjured and brimming with youthful energy. And this one knight had
been promoted to vice captain of the Eighth Squadron earlier in the year. He
was just one knight—but also the youngest vice captain in the history of the order. The one knight who’d dueled every other knight
in the order, aside from the captains and vice captains, to win the coveted
title of imperial knight. Just one knight who, right before my very eyes, was
cutting down ten enemies with each slash of his sword.
That one knight was
my son—my pride and joy.
“I’m not goin’
anywhere, obviously!” he yelled right back as he took out any enemy foolish
enough to go after the retreating knights.
Just one knight. But
somehow, I knew there was no chance of defeat now.
“Fight at my side,
Arthur Beresford!”
***
It all started about
half an hour ago.
“I’m sorry for the
delay, Arthur!”
Princess Pride had
just teleported back to the tower after meeting with Prince Leon. She
apologized for leaving me in charge while she was gone. I responded in a daze,
too distracted to pay attention as Her Highness told King Lance and the others
that Anemone was joining the war. All I could think about was the transmission
from the front lines in the north.
The unexplained
explosions had started up again. And no matter how many times I asked for
reports from the north, I never once heard my dad respond. The communication
specialist could only tell me that the knights’ status after the bombings was
still unknown—commander included. That was when I knew I had to go.
Prime Minister
Gilbert followed up with, “The soldiers are currently
bringing in a vital witness who can testify as to the current state of the
battle.” But a status report wouldn’t change the fact that Dad and his
knights were being targeted right now.
“Your Highness.”
My voice came out
deeper and steadier than even I expected. Princess Pride turned her purple eyes
on me. I really didn’t want to leave her side, but I had no choice.
“I will protect you,”
I told her. “This sword exists to keep you safe.”
I want nothing more than
to protect her. That’s why I want to be with her and stay by her side so badly.
But I’m still a knight, after all.
I set my hand on the
pommel of my sword and wrapped one finger at a time around the grip. The metal
sang beneath my fingertips, reminding me of the battle to come. With a sigh, I
released the words I knew I needed to tell Princess Pride since the moment she’d
returned to the tower.
“That’s also why I
have to go.”
Somehow, I managed to
remain calm as I delivered the news. I didn’t know if I would make it in time.
The front lines in the north were far from here, and the trip would be a long
one, even by horse.
Nevertheless, I
couldn’t just stand around and helplessly watch the action through a damn
transmission again. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened all those years
ago.
Princess Pride
nodded. Her eyes never left mine as she agreed to my request. I didn’t even
realize what joy her response gave me until I felt the
smile tugging at my lips. I was finally the one who got to head to the
battlefield, not her.
“I’m gonna bring this
war to an end,” I declared.
I was so proud of
myself. Finally, I had an opportunity to be the one to run in and help.
As a member of the
Eighth Squadron, I was free to act as I pleased. I could stay at her side the
whole time, or I could go help Dad, the commander of the order. That freedom
was the whole reason I’d wanted to join this unit in the first place.
“Good luck out there,
Arthur,” she said gently.
For a moment, I
hardly breathed. It was so unusual hearing her speak with anything less than
forceful command. Princess Pride took another step toward me. I stiffened as
she reached her fingers out and gently stroked my silver ponytail. Then she
brought her hand to my cheek.
“I know you can do
it.”
My eyes flew wide. I
couldn’t tear my gaze from the smile on her face, bright and warm as a ray of
sunlight. Heat balled in my chest and spread throughout my entire body. I really
felt like I could make it in time. I had to ball my hands into fists to keep
from shuddering.
Instead of lowering
her hand, Princess Pride brought her other one up to my other cheek. She
clasped my face between her hands and stared straight up into my eyes.
“That’s because…” Her
clear voice trailed off. Between the electric sensation from her fingers on my
skin and the sight of her beautiful face so close to mine, I could hardly stay
on my feet. The world whirled around me, as though I were drifting through a
dream. I had no idea what she was going to say next.
“You’re my hero,
Arthur. You always have been.”
Princess Pride
squeezed my face just a little bit more, pulling it down closer to hers. She
stood on tiptoe, tilting her head upward, and then…she pressed her lips to my
forehead.
My heart stopped when
those tender lips brushed the thin skin of my brow. Electricity sizzled through
my body to the very tips of my fingers. I froze, body going stiff and mind
churning to a halt as the heady scent of flowers filled my nose.
“It’s for good luck,”
she said in silky-soft tones, “so you’ll make it home safely. It’s from Tiara
and Stale too.”
A
good-luck charm. I knew what the kiss meant, and I
likewise understood that she was in total support of my decision to go to the
battlefield. It was the ultimate validation of me as her knight. I wasn’t the
little kid from six years ago who could do nothing but sit there and cry.
Princess Pride herself was acknowledging that.
My face burned. I
couldn’t even manage to blink. Princess Pride lowered herself back onto her
heels, but remained so close I could have leaned forward and brought our
foreheads together. Years ago, all I could do was stare up at her. Now she was
sending me off to war as her hero.
The numbness slowly
ebbed, and my breathing steadied. I still felt like I was floating, and I
couldn’t convince my lips to stop smiling. Once I finally remembered to blink,
I found a hero smiling back at me—one I’d always looked up to.
With a sweeping bow,
I expressed my deepest gratitude. I told Captain Alan and Captain Callum to
look after her, unsheathed my sword, and stepped up onto
the windowsill. I was prepared to take the plunge onto the battlefield. There
was no time to bother with the spiral staircase; I had to get to Dad as quickly
as possible.
“I’ll return as soon
as I can,” I said.
The princess smiled
at my parting words. I etched the image of her into my mind as I leapt out of
the window. I gave myself up to the momentary sensation of weightlessness,
focusing on my destination.
“Damn it, Arthur!”
I was already falling
when the voice called out to me. I turned in midair to find Stale right beside
me.
“Stale?!” I cried.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
He must have
teleported to me. But Stale would never be able to handle this fall like I
could. I opened my mouth, ready to ask him why in the world he’d come with me.
“Don’t you need my
help?!” he shouted.
The look on his face
said it wasn’t a question—it was an offer. He was twisting around in the air,
but there was a triumphant smirk on his face.
I understood right
away. I flashed my friend a toothy grin, feeling appreciative.
“I sure do!”
I reached for Stale’s
shoulder. For just a second, I caught a glimpse of my face in the reflection of
Stale’s eyes. I looked so damn full of life.
“I need it more than
anything!” I said.
With that, Stale
reached out for me as well. The grin on his face was as intense as mine. A
light shone in the darkness of his jet-black eyes. Though
it should have been obvious, I realized that Princess Pride wasn’t the only
person rooting for my success on the battlefield.
Our fingertips grazed
as we stretched toward each other. Finally, we found our grip and clasped our
hands together. Just before the scene before me vanished, Stale sent me off
with one last shout of encouragement.
“Get it done, Arthur
Beresford!”
The world
disappeared. When it returned, I had arrived at the battlefield where my dad
was fighting.
***
“Stay back… I told you
not to come any closer!”
My sword locked
against an enemy blade before I kicked him away. I took him out with a swift
chop to his neck. The next soldier leveled his gun at me, so I switched to mine
too, shooting him through the forehead before he could so much as blink. An
enemy in front of me used this opportunity to charge, but I scooped up my sword
and ran him through in one swift motion.
Everyone within reach
of my blade was dead. I walked backward, keeping up with the retreating
knights. Guns cocked around me, but when I turned to the sound, ready to
unleash more death, I found the weapons aimed at Dad instead of me.
“Get down!” I cried.
I picked up a sword
off a fallen enemy and tossed it at the soldiers with the rifles. Screams rose
and flesh squelched as it pierced two of them at once.
“Did Harrison teach
you that?” Dad asked, amused.
“He didn’t teach me!” I replied. “That guy’s always throwing knives and
swords straight at us!”
More and more people
in the Eighth Squadron had picked up throwing knives after watching how Captain
Harrison fought. Personally, I preferred a sword. Not that chucking a sword was
something I’d given much thought before now.
Enemy soldiers
pressed closer. Gunshots rang out in the distance. Dad and I leapt to dodge the
bullets before charging the new wave.
“All units! Fire at
the enemy!” Vice Commander Eric shouted.
Bang
bang bang! Hundreds of bullets cracked through the
air, mowing down our foes.
I glanced behind us
and found that the knights at the top of the cliff weren’t just our usual
riflemen. These other knights pointed brand-new firearms at the enemies across
the crater, as well as the ones pursuing us across it. The extra weapons must
have come from Prince Leon and Stale.
The bullets pierced
right through the enemies’ armor. I wasn’t sure whether it was because they
were a lot closer now or the guns were just that high-quality.
“This will help us
endure a bit longer!” Dad said.
He retrieved a sword
off an enemy who’d died in the gunfire. With his other hand, he plunged his own
sword into the body of an approaching soldier, then pushed that man into
another one behind him.
The fighting down in
the crater had gotten easier now that we had the support of the knights firing
atop the cliff. The enemy hesitated to charge us, fearful of the hail of
bullets, which gave Dad and me a chance to cut down anyone foolish enough to
advance on us.
Just as Dad had
predicted, the slowdown in the battle’s momentum only made it easier for us to
do our thing. The knights carrying the injured had just reached the camp at the
top of the cliff. Meanwhile, other knights lowered ropes to assist anyone who could
still climb on their own. They hauled up the most severely injured using
special powers.
I kept looking back
at them to check their progress as I dodged bullets and swung my sword at our
adversaries.
“Commander Roderick!
Vice Captain Arthur! All of our men have made it out of the crater!” one knight
shouted.
Dad and I both
turned, confirming that the evacuation was indeed over and all the injured
knights had reached safety.
“Hell yes!” I
whooped.
“Let’s go, Arthur!
We’re joining them up there!”
I shouted my
agreement before cutting down ten enemies hoping to hinder us. Next, I sliced
away the men fighting Dad, piercing their sides and then knocking them down
with my fists. With our path clear, we sprinted for the cliffside.
“Don’t let them get
away! That big one’s their commander!” Vice Captain Eric ordered.
One of the enemy
soldiers spurred his horse straight at Dad, raising his sword high. But he soon
collapsed, struck by bullets from above. All this still wasn’t enough to stop
the mass of soldiers from charging at us, though.
We’re not gonna have
enough time for either of us to climb the ropes at this rate, I thought as I ran.
The knights were
supporting us from above, but we’d be sitting ducks for attacks as we climbed
those ropes.
“Commander, I’m goin’
up ahead!” I shouted, willing my legs to go faster.
A rope dangled in
front of me once I reached the base of the cliff. Instead of grabbing it, I
turned back toward Dad and got down on my knees.
“I’ll send you up!”
Dad’s eyes went wide
when I shouted at him. He shot me a questioning look, but I refused to back
down. When he picked up speed, I knew he’d made up his mind. He jumped forward,
and once his feet landed on my hands, I launched him up with all the force I could
muster.
“Arthur, get up here
quick!” Vice Captain Eric called, louder than the rest.
“Got it!”
I stood, digging my
heels into the ground to keep from toppling over. The enemy was getting closer.
I needed a running start, but I wouldn’t have time for that with those soldiers
so near.
Out of other options,
I picked up an enemy’s sword at my feet and threw it as high as I could. With a
crunch, it sank into the cliff wall. Figuring it was
deep enough, I jumped up into the air after it.
I couldn’t make it to
the top without that running start, so I landed on the sword sticking out of
the cliffside. All it took was one more powerful leap for me to reach the very
top of the cliffs. By the time I looked down, the sword was collapsing along
with the wall. The landslide buried the enemy soldiers pursuing me. I yanked
the rope back up just to make sure no survivors could follow.
“Sorry that I didn’t
use the rope you sent down there for me,” I said to the senior knight who’d
supplied the rope. When I went to hand it back to him, he gaped at me like I
had two heads. Perplexed, I braced myself. “What’s the matter?” Had I missed
something?
“Arthur, what the
hell is your special power?” a knight called out.
Suddenly nervous, I
squeezed the sword at my hip. “It’s the power…to make plants grow healthy.”
That only seemed to confuse them more, but I couldn’t reveal the whole truth.
One of the knights asked how the hell I was so physically gifted.
“Is it the same power
as your captain?!”
“How could you send
the commander flying up so high?!”
“How many meters was
that?! You didn’t even get a running start at it!”
“You appeared out of
nowhere, like His Highness…”
One after another,
they voiced their speculation and amazement. I wanted to offer some sort of
response—that Dad only got that far because he was a great jumper, that Captain
Alan was stronger and a better jumper than me, or whatever else. But my senior knights
were all patting me on the back and telling me what a good job I did, so it was
hard to reply.
“All units!
Attention!” Dad barked.
Everyone fell silent,
standing up straighter. Dad leveled a stern glare at each of us in turn. I
swallowed down my anxiety.
“The only thing we’ve
done is escape danger—just this once. This is far from over,” he said, crossing
his arms.
I could tell that
he’d already caught his breath. We all knew he was really telling us not to let
our guard down.
“We’ll celebrate
later. First, I want communication specialists to make reports to all bases.
Tell them that every unit should rearm themselves if they’ve received weapons
provisions. Don’t stop firing at the enemies. We’ve made
it out of the craters and we’re back on the high ground. All captains need to
contact me with damage reports. We can’t relax until we know where the bombings
are coming from. Until then, the whole lot of us need to prepare for more
explosions.”
The knights responded
affirmatively to each of Dad’s orders. He was right; we were still under
attack. Though we’d handled the aftermath of the blasts, we didn’t know what
the enemy might throw at us next.
“Once you’re prepared
for battle and have finalized your formations and war plans, we’ll divide up
into squadrons and charge the enemy base,” Dad said.
I’d been looking down
at my feet, but I whipped my head up at that. Our eyes locked. He then moved
his gaze across all the other knights.
“Riflemen will
continue to protect our base and provide covering fire. Anyone else who can
move, follow me.”
We raised our voices
in agreement. Dad met my eyes one last time. “I’m sure
that’ll include you,” he seemed to be saying. I nodded back and raised
my chin, prepared to meet the enemy again.
***
Chinensis was one wing
of the United Hanazuo Kingdom and the Rajah Empire’s original target in this
war. The people of Hanazuo, with Freesia and Anemone for support, were putting
their lives on the line to protect the eastern tower, western tower, and front
lines to the north. They were also protecting me, the king of Chinensis.
“Once we’re ready for
battle at the western tower, we’ll be heading out to support Cercis!”
“We’ve finished
preparing at the eastern tower! We’re coming to you now for backup, Yohan!”
Princess Pride was in
the western tower, close to the border. It was there she’d dispatched
reinforcements to Cercis. From the eastern tower, Lance instructed troops to
head south and join me at the castle. I watched the broadcasts and took in the
reports from Freesia’s communication specialists, but remained silent.
The war would end as
soon as I surrendered. I gazed at Princess Pride and Lance through the images,
steeling my resolve as the Chinensian king.
That was when the
situation took a very sudden turn: Chinensis was attacked from the south. My
guards reported that the southern castle wall had been destroyed. It was an
ambush from the territory behind the castle. Thanks to the information Prime
Minister Gilbert had extracted from Lord Hanmu, both our towers were ready to
react.
A soldier rushed into
the room. “King Yohan, enemy troops have broken through the southern wall of
the castle!” The man pointed southward, sweat dripping down his face. He was
clearly shaken to his core, and I understood why.
Originally, we’d
planned this defensive war under the assumption that I was Rajah’s ultimate
target. Our goal was for the knights and soldiers to prevent enemies from
approaching my castle while also stopping invasions from the north, western
tower, eastern tower, and various other locations. But with our attention drawn
to the barrage of bombs, we’d failed to notice the approach of the enemy from
the southern border. The castle wasn’t defended well enough to repel this
latest attack. Enemy troops would surely overwhelm us.
Already, thunderous voices roared outside the castle. Lance was heading our
way, but the enemy would reach me first.
War cries rose
outside. The only relief I felt was knowing that none of my people resided
along the now-broken castle wall. This also made it easier for the enemy to
breach our southern castle, since little stood in their way. Compared to losing
Chinensian citizens, though, this was the preferred outcome.
“God…I thank you for
your mercy.”
I spoke quietly
enough that no one would hear me through the broadcast. I’d never imagined that
Cercis would become the first target of this invasion. Perhaps it was because
they knew Freesia would support us, or maybe their intention was always to
crush the United Hanazuo Kingdom entirely. If we were defeated here, we’d lose
not only Cercis but also the Freesian crown princess, thanks to her blood oath.
I gripped the sword
at my hip with trembling hands. I was prepared to die—offering up my own life
to God was something I’d always been ready to do.
Footsteps pounded
toward my door, a torturous sound in these circumstances. Roars and whoops
echoed in the halls, but I could not tell if they belonged to friends or foes.
Metal clashed and screams pierced the din. It could have been my castle’s
soldiers or maybe Freesian knights; either way, they were sacrificing their
lives for us.
Guards and
communication specialist knights surrounded me. They readied their weapons,
glaring at the door as it rattled under the enemy’s assault.
I couldn’t die yet. I
couldn’t surrender either. Being defeated now would seal more than just my own
fate. There was Chinensis and its people, Cercis and its
citizens, and Princess Pride of Freesia, among others. I couldn’t condemn them
all to such a horrible end.
I pulled out my sword
and faced the door, then glanced at the window. Could the enemy come crashing
in that way instead? I tried to position myself so that I covered both points,
even as screams and gunshots continued just beyond the door.
“Don’t be afraid, King
Yohan.”
A calm, quiet voice
reached my ears. I whirled toward the broadcast to find Prince Stale speaking
to me.
“Your Majesty, do you recall the earlier report? Word reached you that Commander
Roderick and a vice captain held off the invading troops and safely evacuated
the injured knights back to their camp.”
I did indeed. When I
heard the news that just two men had fought off countless enemy soldiers, I
couldn’t believe my ears. It was beyond comprehension. But it was true that the
Freesian knights had yet to suffer a single casualty.
“That vice captain’s
name is Arthur Beresford. He was promoted to vice captain of the Eighth
Squadron this very year. The five knights stationed at your castle belong to
that same unit.”
I gulped at Prince
Stale’s words. At yesterday’s strategy meeting, I’d mentioned my plans to have
only communication specialist knights and Chinensian soldiers stationed at my
castle. Immediately after, Prince Stale had pointed not at the northern front lines,
where we imagined the bulk of the invasion would take place, but rather at the
area south of my castle.
“Those knights were
personally selected by Prime Minister Gilbert and Commander Roderick after I
requested defense for your castle,” he said now.
I never imagined such
a thing would be necessary. Preventing the enemy from reaching the castle was
our entire goal in the first place. We didn’t think a country like Copelandii
would bother devising such sneaky strategies to attack a tiny country like ours.
Most of all, it
didn’t seem like a smart plan to leave multiple knights here when we were
already so outnumbered by enemy soldiers elsewhere. I’d wanted to divide up our
fighting power among the main camps instead of devoting resources to a
secondary target like my castle. But Prince Stale insisted that I take just
five knights for protection, which Lance and I both agreed wouldn’t negatively
influence the tide of the war.
Prince Stale was
truly a clever man. His judgment at the meeting had been correct. We were
ambushed from the south, exactly as he feared. I bitterly wished I’d taken His
Highness’s advice right from the start and allotted more manpower to the
castle.
As I prayed for
forgiveness, Prince Stale continued speaking as calmly as ever. Even with this
turn of events, his expressionless face did not waver.
Crack!
The window shattered
in a shower of glass. I dropped to the floor, and my guards covered me to
protect me from the shards. From where I lay, I could just make out some
newcomer’s legs.
“So this is the king’s room?!”
“We’re the first
inside!”
“You’re tellin’ me
that twig’s the king?!”
A roar of voices
rushed toward me. These intruders must have scaled the castle wall to smash
their way in through the window. And now that they’d found a route inside, more
would surely follow from below…or so I thought.
Something tore, and
the enemy soldiers vanished from the window. A second later, there came a
high-pitched scream. Even the enemies already inside the room froze in
confusion. Just as one tried to stick his head out and see what was happening,
a blade slashed through his neck.
“These men are the best
of the best,” Prince
Stale said. “They’ve served in the Eighth Squadron
even longer than Vice Captain Arthur. That especially goes for one of them…”
The enemy soldiers
cried out in fear and confusion. Yet Prince Stale and the prime minister both
looked terrifyingly composed. Cedric, standing beside Prime Minister Gilbert in
the transmission, was the only one shouting with concern. Another pained scream
reached my ears. I worried it was one of my own men, but then I realized no one
had yet managed to kick down my door and barge into the room.
“What the hell are
you doing?!” an enemy shouted.
The remaining foes
leveled their firearms at us. My guards responded with their own rifles, taking
up a defensive position. Terrified by the unexplained disappearance of their
fellow soldiers, the enemy looked on the verge of panic—prepared to pull their
triggers and shoot wildly and hysterically.
A black shadow
appeared out of nowhere.
“You there. How dare you
think you can sneak past me to get to the king?!”
It was truly
instantaneous. A slight breeze tickled my cheek, then a knight stood before me
where no one had been a moment ago. He planted himself behind the men who’d
entered through the window. Through a mess of long, black hair, his purple eyes
burned like embers.
“Their leader, Captain
Harrison Dirk.”
An enemy who’d been
on the verge of firing whirled around…but it was already too late. Captain
Harrison chopped off his hand. It fell still gripping the trigger. More blood
sprayed into the air, and suddenly the other intruders collapsed.
Only the man who’d
lost his hand was still alive. He howled in pain, clutching at his spurting
stump of an arm. The black-haired knight approached him from behind and kicked
him to the ground.
“The man in front of you
right now, Your Majesty, is Vice Captain Arthur’s direct superior.” Prince Stale spoke as
though he’d expected this outcome from the start.
Captain Harrison
raised his head. He glared through his jagged bangs at the man beneath his
boot. “Why did you try to sneak past me by going through the window? Answer
me.”
Even though I wasn’t
his target, I shrank away from his icy gaze. Captain Harrison’s victim only
managed more ungodly wails. The captain ground his boot into the man’s back.
“Can’t speak? Very
well. I have no use for a man weak enough to lose his fighting spirit after a
single severed hand.”
With that, the
captain brought his sword down, silencing the vulnerable enemy soldier in one
swift blow. He kept his sword out and glanced around the room to ensure no
other enemies lurked about. Then he bowed toward me and
the people watching us through the broadcast before promptly disappearing
again. A breeze whispered past me, just like when he’d appeared. For a second I
worried I’d imagined the whole thing.
“My apologies, King
Yohan,” Prime
Minister Gilbert said, eerily at ease. “The members
of the Eighth Squadron are a bit unique, but none of them will ever fail a
mission. I hope you can pardon their occasional lack of manners.”
I blinked, simply
trying to make sense of the broken glass and slaughtered intruders all around
me. “That’s perfectly fine,” I eventually responded, turning to the window.
Outside, there was
nothing but silence. The Eighth Squadron must have been responsible for that. I
was willing to bet that Captain Harrison was to thank for the fact that the
enemy had never breached the door as well.
“Their orders are to
guard everyone inside the castle—including you, Your Majesty—and eliminate any
enemy intruders,” Prince Stale said, and I flicked my gaze back to the broadcast. “Anyone who broke through the southern wall will be dealt with by
other knights, guards, or King Lance’s soldiers…but please leave your safety
and that of your castle in the Eighth Squadron’s hands.”
He wore a serene
grin, as though all of this was so predictable and routine. I regarded the
young prince more warily. He had known to station five
knights of the Eighth Squadron here at my castle today. He’d even managed to
convince Lance and me that a mere five knights could get the job done, asking
Prime Minister Gilbert and Commander Roderick to specially select men who could
protect the castle.
“If
it were me, this is where I would attack.” The
prince’s words echoed in my head—more so than the looming invasion of
Copelandii or Rajah, more so than even the knights of the Eighth Squadron who
cut down foes in the blink of an eye. The only thing I could think about was
how the young strategist, Prince Stale, would surely make for the most
terrifying enemy of all.
***
“Prince Cedric! Please
don’t stand so close to the window!”
My guards shouted and
pulled me backward. The battle cries of our enemies still rang in my ears,
growing into a yowl of pure rage. That cacophony came from just outside the
window, where a swell of enemy troops surged over the ground, their bloodlust a
palpable miasma.
“We were outnumbered,
then. I bet they broke through the first barrier,” Prince Stale said with a
click of his tongue.
The enemies had
likely made it through the castle gates. Even more spilled toward us now.
Still, we had guards and knights inside the castle yet; we would survive if we
just held out until Pride’s reinforcements showed up. If we couldn’t
hold our ground that long, the enemy would surely flood into this very room and
slaughter every last one of us.
Prince Stale had been
with Pride at the western tower, but he teleported here to serve as the first
wave of backup. I had to sit back in the castle, powerless, while Prince Stale
worked out a plan for us. No, not “worked out.” He was
already carrying out whatever plan he’d devised.
“Gilbert! Away from
the window!” Prince Stale shouted.
Prime Minister
Gilbert was creeping up to the same window I’d just been told to stay away
from. He assessed the enemy troops below, but doing so placed him in the sights
of enemy firearms. The knights rushed forward to drag him back when an enemy
appeared at the window.
Princess Tiara let
out a shriek. Another knight raced over to deal with the intruder.
There had to be more
scaling the castle walls. They started popping up in the window, just like
they’d attacked the Chinensian castle. When they spotted us, they acted swiftly
to kick the window open, but not swiftly enough. Prime Minister Gilbert got there
first, smashing the window with his fist so he could grab the enemy by the neck
and lift him up.
“Greetings, sir,” he
said. “What an amusing fellow you are, sneaking in through the window for a
little rendezvous.”
Glass lay scattered
around them. Prime Minister Gilbert easily swung the man inside with one hand
and slammed him into the ground. The blow sounded incredibly painful. Before
the man could regain his footing, knights surrounded him.
“We should take them
out before they can climb up,” Prime Minister Gilbert declared, staring back
out the broken window.
Someone shot at him
from below, but he sidestepped it with ease. With each new enemy who tried to
climb into the room, Prime Minister Gilbert stomped on their hands and bashed
in their faces to send them crashing back down. He signaled for the knights and
guards behind him to shoot down at the attackers.
All I could do was
stutter back at the smiling prime minister. He left the defense of the window
to the guards and strolled over to the first enemy he’d pulled into the room.
“I really did feel
like there were too many of you,” he said. “The communication specialists made
the front lines to the north sound like the main battle, yet you also attacked
the castle head-on. With so many men split between two places, you attempt to
invade in the south as well? You’re spreading yourselves too thin.”
Prime Minister
Gilbert smiled wider at the restrained enemy soldier. He looked the man up and
down, then nodded to himself.
“These men must be
slaves from Copelandii or one of the other two countries. They thought they
could send out soldiers with no combat training and overwhelm the castle with
numbers alone. Does that sound about right?”
Despite framing it as
a question, he looked like he already knew the answer. One of the knights
jabbed a sword into the enemy’s neck, and the man gulped before nodding his
head over and over. Satisfied, Prime Minister Gilbert thanked the man and
ordered the guards to take him away.
“He’s very honest.
Perhaps he has some valuable information. Please place him in the same cell as
Lord Hanmu—you may find him much more helpful than the latter.”
Lord Hanmu paled at
the idea of sharing a cell with an enemy soldier. The guards unceremoniously
hauled them both off.
Prime Minister
Gilbert delivered that terrifying order just as softly as everything else. The
slave soldier left the room without resisting, but Lord Hanmu struggled against
the guards. He even begged me for help. First it was,
“Let’s save Cercis together,” and then, “But you’re its true leader!” It turned
my stomach. Refusing to meet his eyes, I squeezed the pendant under my shirt
until he was out of the room.
“These individual
soldiers don’t seem very good at fighting,” Prime Minister Gilbert went on.
“I’m sure we can defend the castle easily as long as we keep a cool head. On
individual power alone, we certainly have the advantage.”
From behind him,
Prince Stale glared and pushed on the black frames of his glasses…until his
eyes suddenly went wide.
“Elder Sister!”
It happened in a
flash. His head jerked toward the window like he’d just heard something, and
then he disappeared. It had to be that teleportation power of his.
“What the hell was
that?!” I asked. “Where’d Prince Stale go?! There’s no way he just heard Pride
calling for him.”
The cacophony kicked
up by the enemy troops would have drowned that out for sure. Plus, she couldn’t
have arrived at the castle so soon. Could she? I rushed to a window to check.
“Stand back, Prince
Cedric! Stay away from the—”
Crack! Crack crack!
Just as a knight
warned me to get back, the window exploded.
Thunk!
Red erupted before
me—the blood of the enemy. A knife stuck out of my would-be assassin’s throat.
After a gurgle, the man collapsed. I turned to find my rescuer, and my eyes
nearly popped out of my head. Everyone else was just as aghast.
“Princess Tiara?!”
Her blonde ponytail
was still swaying from the force of her throw. She glared back with ferocity,
the spitting image of her older sister.
Logically, I knew it
couldn’t have come from her, but my eyes told me differently. The dead man had
a knife in his neck, and its handle led right back to her. Princess Tiara had
yet to stand from her throwing position, and she was staring me down.
“Did you just—”
“Please don’t move,
Prince Cedric. It’s dangerous.”
Fwoosh! Swish! Swoosh!
She cut me off when I
tried to question her. Silver trails whisked past me as she flung tiny knives
hidden all over her body. The moment the knives whistled past, death rattles
burst out behind me. I spun on my heel and found every single enemy soldier who’d
crashed into the room now collapsed on the floor with knives jutting from their
prone bodies.
“Princess Tiara! What
did you do?!” Prime Minister Gilbert asked. Even he was staring at her with his
mouth wide open.
By the look of it, I
wasn’t the only one who’d never suspected she was more than just a fragile
princess. The prime minister seemed more ruffled by this than by several
enemies bursting into the room. Princess Tiara merely dipped her head at him.
“I’m sorry, Prime
Minister Gilbert,” Princess Tiara said. “Big Sister and Big Brother don’t know
about this either.”
Her tiny eyebrows
drooped back into a dainty expression, and she seemed for all the world like
the same Princess Tiara I’d always known. Prime Minister Gilbert and the
Freesian knights stared at her, speechless.
“Princess Tiara,” I
managed. “Don’t tell me… The other day, you actually…?”
The memory was still
fresh. Considering the situation and our positions, it couldn’t have been
anyone but her. It hadn’t even crossed my mind at the time, but now I was
certain.
Princess Tiara
scrunched her brow while I struggled to form words. It was nothing like the
delicate look she’d shown Prime Minister Gilbert. She pressed her finger to her
lips and shushed me, urging me to drop the subject.
So it is true.
I closed my mouth as
she demanded, and she strode up to me.
“Please don’t
misunderstand,” she said. “I’m still just as mad at you!”
She was still mad at
me. That meant she’d just been hiding her anger ever since the battle broke
out. Her words churned in my mind as I surveyed the dead bodies. I crouched to
get a closer look at one. The hilts of her knives jutted from their flesh; I yanked
them free to get a closer look. They seemed ordinary enough, but they were
definitely the same slender knives I’d seen before.
Cleaning the blood
off the blades, I stowed them in my jacket. They were the only type of weapon I
could use right now. I couldn’t put my life on the line for my country like our
soldiers, couldn’t overwhelm the enemy like the knights, couldn’t command troops
like Yohan and Pride. I wasn’t even someone worth protecting like Lance.
Pride, a woman, was
putting her life on the line in battle. Stale, the younger prince, was
commanding the situation and strategizing. Prime Minister Gilbert was cutting
down enemies himself. Even the second-born princess, a girl far younger than me,
was fighting.
I was the only
powerless one, forced to sit back and contribute nothing whatsoever.
***
“All units, charge!
Eliminate the enemies approaching the castle and make a path for me to go
forward!”
Our foes surrounded the walls, but my knights
and I didn’t even slow at the sight. In fact, the moment we’d heard about the
enemies charging the castle, we’d left the western tower to rush in as backup.
The road was already a war zone by the time we reached it; even civilians were
being attacked. Knights leapt in to aid them, but it trapped them there on the
road. The farther we proceeded, the more we got sucked into these side battles
in our attempt to guide citizens to safety. Before long, I had to whistle for
Stale to join us.
He must have assumed
I was in some immediate danger. The last time I’d whistled for his help, I was
falling off a cliff.
He leapt onto a
waiting horse and drew his blade, ready to take on the distant enemies. “I’ll
join you in pushing toward the castle,” he said. “I’d like to see the battle
for myself, since we were all worried about this.”
Captain Callum and
Captain Alan rode at my sides, while the rest of the knights gathered
protectively around Stale. The enemies turned from the castle, their target, to
face our new charge. They raised their swords and roared, pointing their guns
at us. My knights took them down before they could pull the trigger.
Our knights had their
rifles trained on the enemy in an instant. They fired from horseback, some
using special powers to ensure every bullet struck an enemy firearm. While the
enemy scrambled to recover their weapons, another knight would shoot them through
the head. If they went for their swords instead, someone would cut them down
first. There were other knights with special powers that allowed them to shoot
streams of water or flames at the enemy from a greater distance. Every last one
of them was so strong and capable, special powers aside. My chest swelled with
appreciation.
“Princess Pride, if
we enter the building up ahead, we’ll have to dismount our horses!” Captain
Callum called to me, slashing down an enemy. He and the other knights were
making good progress in clearing a path to the castle.
“We could also have
Prince Stale take you to headquarters directly,” Captain Callum added.
Captain Callum led
the way while my knights put their lives on the line to press ever forward. I
couldn’t possibly take the easy way out and get teleported to the castle.
Besides, if Stale and I teleported away, Captain Callum and Captain Alan would
have to leave the battlefield as well, since they were my personal knights. I
couldn’t pluck such valuable fighters out of the middle of a battle.
“All right! We’ll
open up a path ourselves!” Captain Alan flashed me a winning smile. “First
Squadron, head to the front! Second Squadron, widen out the path!”
Our knights separated
into their respective squadrons and raced ahead. The First Squadron took the
lead, plunging forward, while the Second Squadron hung back, closer to us. As
we approached the castle entrance, the two squadrons jumped off their horses.
Enemy soldiers lunged
at the knights, but they would never make it past Captain Alan, leader of the
First Squadron. He made quick work of anyone who tried to hinder him. I could
hardly believe the speed with which he took out every obstacle obstructing his
path. For the first time, I could see for myself why he led his unit. No wonder
Arthur always gushed about his strength.
The Second Squadron
pushed into the newly formed path and widened it by slaying any foe on either
side. By the time we leapt off our horses, there was enough space for two
people to traverse side by side. The Second Squadron remained on guard for
enemies trying to flank us.
“Princess Pride!
Prince Stale! Let’s ride straight through!” Captain Callum shouted.
“Alan, take over for
me!” he said.
Alan had been in
front, but he left that to the other knights of the First Squadron and raced
back to us. “Coming!”
He reached us in an
instant, probably faster than Arthur.
“Wha—?!” Stale
balked, clearly as shocked as me.
It was then that I
remembered the battle at the cave, when an unarmored Arthur had been running
with me in his arms. He and I had been stupefied by Captain Alan’s speed in
catching up to us. As far as I remembered, Captain Alan didn’t have a special
power.
The two captains
switched places, and Captain Alan joined me at my side. Captain Callum ran back
to the broken door we’d just passed through. Knights and Cercian palace guards
desperately repelled enemies attempting to breach the castle. Even though we’d
just cleared out these enemies, they were already surging back in.
Captain Callum fell
upon these attackers, taking them down before they could overwhelm the castle.
He rushed to a large statue next to the door and lifted it with one hand. The
man’s one hand was holding up a statue over three
meters tall. It seemed to weigh no more than a feather in his grasp.
“All units, fall
back!”
The knights of the
order obeyed him instantly, dragging the Cercian guards with them. The swarm of
enemies, seeing their opportunity to storm in, rushed at the door as one.
“That should stop
them for a while. Let’s leave them here and carry on,” Captain Callum said.
He urged Stale and me
to start running again as he rushed to rejoin us. Honestly, we were still
speechless at what we’d just seen. Captain Callum was one of the slimmer
knights in the order, and he’d just thrown a statue one-handed—one that should
have taken ten knights to lift. His strength was superhuman, literally. He had
his special power to thank for it.
When he became an
imperial knight, he and Commander Roderick had introduced this power to us, but
Stale and I had never personally witnessed it before. We were struggling to
process the feat even as the knights around us shrugged it off, acting like
they’d seen this a hundred times before.
Since Captain Callum
was back at my side, Captain Alan sprinted ahead. The knights and guards had
cleared out almost all of the enemies inside once we’d made it through the
door, smoothing the way for our current advance.
“Arthur’s selection
really was perfect,” Stale whispered to me.
I nodded. Arthur had
told us stories of Captain Alan, Captain Callum, and Vice Captain Eric before
they became my imperial knights. Clearly he hadn’t been exaggerating when he
called these men some of the most capable knights in the order. I couldn’t monopolize
this kind of power for just myself and steal them away
from the rest of the knights fighting so hard back on the battlefield.
“I, Pride Royal Ivy,
have arrived with backup!” I announced as I burst into the room serving as the
headquarters for Tiara, Prime Minister Gilbert, and Cedric.
Tiara was the first
to rush up to us. Prime Minister Gilbert bowed politely and updated me on their
situation. After Stale went to speak with a communication specialist, Tiara
caught me up on other matters. I then spoke with both Prime Minister Gilbert and
King Yohan through the broadcast. I ignored Cedric, who was the only person in
that room wearing an expression of pure dread rather than relief.
That look of his did
leave me wondering, though. His shoulders slouched. His whole body sagged like
he’d given up on life. Even our arrival didn’t lift his gloomy eyes from the
floor. On top of that, I could have sworn his lustrous golden hair had lost some
of its shine.
We decided to assign
some of the knights who’d just arrived to this group and make our way to the
compromised Cercian castle. Cedric looked as grim as ever, and Tiara and Prime
Minister Gilbert only had vague answers for me when I pressed them about it. The
war wasn’t going poorly at all, but the Cercian prince was caught in some sort
of bitter despair.
“Cedric?”
When I approached
him, he was still squeezing his fists and glaring at the floor. He seemed to be
bracing for something. His gaze flickered up when I called his name, but he
flinched away when he finally noticed me. He stepped backward, so I had to
chase him to close the distance again.
“What’s the matter? ”
I asked. “Did something happen? Are you nervous? Troubled? Working something
out?”
“It’s all right. You
know how the war is going, right? All we need to do is hold the front lines
and—”
“Why?! Why am I so
powerless?!”
He choked the words
out with such force that his voice cracked. I was just trying to explain the
state of the war in order to comfort him, but here he was blaming himself. I
fell silent. Cedric turned his gaze aside and scrunched his face up like he was
about to cry. His fists continued to quake at his sides. Whatever this was, it
had eaten at him for a long time without my noticing.
I took another step
toward him. I got so close our noses could bump together, so close he couldn’t
avoid my eyes. He wasn’t alone anymore. I wrapped my hands around his trembling
fists, and he finally reopened his eyes.
Cedric went stiff,
surprised to see me so close or perhaps frightened by it. His wide eyes flared
with bright-red light, a simmering heat that hid whatever Cedric had locked
inside. I refused to look away, glaring back at him—at my own reflection in his
eyes—and planned my next moves.
“Then let me give you
some power,” I said.
His shimmering eyes
nearly popped out of his head at that. While he was still trying to untangle my
words, I took hold of his shaking fist so I could pull him along.
“Come with me. You’re
going to see reality for what it really is.”
I ordered the guards,
who were still firing out the windows, to step aside so I could take their
place at the windowsill. I tugged Cedric’s hand to pull him up with me, but he
planted his feet and refused to follow, legs stiff and eyes wide. He must have
thought I was pulling him up so we could leap off together.
A crease formed in
his brow. “Pride, what are you—”
“Follow me, Cedric.”
I understood his
fear, but I couldn’t let him run from this. He would regret it even more than I
would.
“I’m going to change
your world.”
Don’t worry. I promise
this is for the best.
Even as his lips
quivered, I prayed that he understood the implication behind my words. I
offered a reassuring smile and said, “Watch me.” Then I released his hand so I
could take the plunge first.
Shouts erupted behind
me as I hopped up onto the windowsill, but I knew my imperial knights would
follow me wherever I went. Stale would probably teleport and beat them to it.
I shot one last look
at Cedric, who gaped at me, speechless. When I turned back to the window and
peered at the ground, a swarm of enemy soldiers with bloodshot eyes stared back
at me. I leapt out of the window and fell toward them,
whereupon they raised their swords and guns. In response, I drew my own blade.
I trusted Cedric was
still watching as I landed on the ground and rolled forward. The momentum
propelled my body into an arc in the air, and I slashed a path forward. Flowers
got caught in my sweeping strike, yellow petals dancing and dispersing in a swirl
behind me.
Captain Alan and
Captain Callum appeared in the air above me via teleportation. As soon as they
hit the ground, they cut down every enemy in my vicinity. More knights
teleported next to me, clearing both my left and right flanks. I left Captain
Callum and Captain Alan to guard my back as enemies crumpled around us. I
sheathed my sword, confident my knights would protect me.
When I looked up, I
caught Cedric still watching me, peering out of the window on the highest floor
of the castle. I reached up for him with a smile. Cedric leaned out even
farther and adjusted his grip on the windowsill. With a bit more courage, he
could make the plunge himself.
“Cedric! Come here!”
I called.
The prince responded
instantly, kicking off from the window and drifting down to the ground. He
landed on his feet, just as I had. The battling knights noticed the prince’s
arrival and moved to cover him, although his perfect, daring dive had them
stunned, but they recovered quickly.
Cedric cast his eyes
downward again when I faced him directly, but at least he didn’t try to run. He
looked a bit less pale than before. I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward
me.
“It’s all right,” I
assured him, smiling.
“Until that time
comes, I’ll be sure to protect you,” I said.
Cedric’s blond hair
fluttered in the wind. Flames roared to life deep in his eyes. I pulled him
forward while he still floundered for words, and my knights defended us as we
pressed on. Somewhere along the way, Cedric squeezed my hand.
“We’re going to
defend the breached southern wall!” I shouted at my knights.
Although they were
busy slaying all the enemies on the ground directly beneath the castle windows,
they voiced their agreement with the plan. I joined the battle while Cedric
simply watched it all in a daze, his sword still sheathed at his hip.
“Just watch me and
the knights!” I told him.
I had to balance
protecting him and fighting, but my knights were there to help. Cedric gaped at
the rest of us as we mowed down the enemies in our path. I had to release his
hand during all this, but he hurried to keep up with us.
In the original game,
Cedric only became a wonderful prince after the war ended, but that change had
to arrive in its own time. Plus, as an important political ally of Freesia, he
didn’t need to personally participate in the battle. No one would blame a member
of royalty for simply waiting out the war inside the castle—especially a major
target like Cedric, who was next in line to the throne after King Lance.
“You aren’t
powerless, Cedric!” I told him.
I followed the castle
wall, cutting down anyone in our path. Cedric followed close behind me as I
urged him along. A soldier tried to lunge at me from the side, but Captain
Callum took him down.
“How can you say
that?! I don’t have a single accomplishment to my name!” Cedric said, his tone
high with desperation.
He tried to stop in
the midst of the battle, and our enemies immediately seized on the opportunity.
I had to yank him forward to avoid danger, and Captain Alan swept in to protect
us. Other members of the First Squadron carved out a path for us.
“You’re the one who
called us here! You persuaded King Yohan to accept our help, didn’t you?!” I
said.
I squeezed the hand I
still held. Cedric stumbled in his bewilderment and I had to pull him again,
but an enemy lurking in the shadows noticed it and leapt for Cedric. I flung
myself in front of the prince, narrowly parrying the enemy attack and stabbing
the man through the chest.
“If you hadn’t been
foolish and reckless enough to ask for our help, Freesia and Anemone never
would have set foot in this land!”
“You don’t need
power! You don’t need to rely on talent! Be proud of the fact that you chose to
put up a fight!”
An enemy clinging to
the castle wall jumped down when he spotted us. I stuffed my gun in its holster
and tightened my grip on my sword, plunging it into the man as he fell. The
weight of the enemy’s body threatened to drag me to the ground. It was Cedric
who grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back to steady me.
“Erm, sorry, I didn’t
mean to,” he stammered after touching me so abruptly. I yanked my sword out of
the man’s body and faced Cedric with a smile.
“It’s fine. You can
touch me in times like these. Thank you, Cedric.”
It was time to press
onward, but Cedric was still blinking with surprise at my response. I had to
haul him yet again.
“Don’t you…think I’m
pathetic?” he asked eventually. “I can only ever follow other people.”
“You mean because
you’re stubborn, emotional, and only confident in your looks?!” I resisted the
urge to call him cocky. In lieu of a response, he
squeezed my hand tight.
One soldier at our
feet was still breathing. He reached out to grab Cedric’s jacket, so I kicked
him away. The man clasped my leg next. I shook free and plunged my sword into
the foe.
“What I’m trying to
say is that I don’t think you’re pathetic!”
“You should never
stop asking me for help!” I shouted during a skirmish. “If you reach out to me
to save someone, then I’ll always grab your hand in return! That’s the whole
reason—”
The knights reported
that more enemies were coming. I whirled and found additional enemy soldiers in
hot pursuit. My knights scooped guns off the fallen, and I grabbed two myself.
I sheathed my sword and readied them both.
As I sprang upward,
guns at the ready, I called down to Cedric, “That’s the whole reason…that we
met in the first place!”
I fired in midair,
striking an enemy in both hands. Bullets cracked and blood sprayed into the
air. I landed on the ground and discarded the depleted firearms, then took
Cedric’s hand once more so we could keep moving.
“It’s all right. I
know you can do it,” I murmured, making sure we were in the clear.
The knights took care
of the rest of the attackers at our backs. Captain Callum aided the troops at
our flanks, while Captain Alan took charge of carving out a path in front of
us. We kept the enemies at bay, pushing onward until the broken castle wall to
the south lay in sight. Once we reached it, we could hold the line and repel
the incursion.
The closer we got,
the more enemy soldiers started to swarm us. Our allied troops were fighting
tooth and nail to keep them subdued, so I ordered my knights to provide
support. The First and Second Squadrons, who’d been positioned in front of us,
raced to our allied soldiers.
“Have you been
studying, Cedric?” I asked while we watched Captain Alan lead the knights
forward.
After a moment to
process my sudden question, Cedric nodded. “I have… I’ve been doing it just
like you asked.” He lacked his usual swagger, sounding much more hesitant.
“Good,” I replied.
I’d told him to study up before we returned to Cercis with our knights, since I
felt that it would be necessary for him. “Tell me, then. How do you think the
war is going at the moment?”
“Well, it all comes
down to the front lines in the north. I think that’s where Copelandii’s
headquarters and generals must be. The reports from the knights make it sound
like enemy firepower is really concentrated there, and the fact that they’re
not forcing an attack out here despite reorganizing is proof of that. They
can’t fight back against us here because they have to concentrate on holding
the line in the north.”
Cedric went on to
explain that—now that our opposition had sacrificed their slaves to the bombing
attack—all they had left was their main forces, so they wouldn’t want to risk
any more perilous strategies. I agreed with his analysis; it was the same conclusion
Prime Minister Gilbert, King Yohan, and I had also reached.
“What else?” I
prompted.
The prince rattled
off all sorts of maneuvers and strategies based off the math of the war. Most
of his conclusions likewise matched what the prime minister and I had
determined, but he occasionally added his own unique
perspective on potential enemy actions like setting traps and causing
distractions. He even listed possible missteps that Copelandii might make. He
must have been reading a lot in the time we were apart. The more he spoke, the
more I stood in awe of him and lost track of the battle raging around us.
“All right, that’s
plenty,” I said at last. I’d stopped him mid-sentence even though it was clear
he had much more to share.
“That just leaves the
bombs from those invisible blimps. If you measure the time and distance, they
had to come from Copelandii, since they’re closest to us here in—”
“W-w-wait a minute!”
I croaked.
Captain Callum and
the other knights turned at my panicked cry, eyeing me with alarm. Cedric
blinked rapidly, his mouth hanging open.
“Did you say
‘invisible blimps’?” I asked.
He must have been
referring to the mysterious bombings on the northern front. I tugged Cedric
toward me and looked up at him. His face stiffened as he attempted to process
my reaction. Before I could press him further, he flinched and turned his eyes
to the sky as if coming to some rapid realization. I followed his gaze and
couldn’t believe what I saw.
“Incoming!”
“Enemy bombs are
dropping! All units, prepare to—”
A hail of bombs
dropped from the sky.
***
“Eep!”
“It’s a bombing!
Please step away from the window, Prime Minister!”
Someone grabbed me by
the arm as thunder rocked the entire castle. Princess Tiara shrieked again and clamped
her hands over her ears. Knights leapt in to protect her head while others
gathered protectively around me, peering out the window.
“It can’t be! The
bombings have started up in Cercis now?!” King Yohan yelled through the transmission.
“Yes,” I replied.
“But the bombs we’re experiencing here aren’t as big. I believe they’re
different from the others we’ve seen.”
I had to shout over
the sound of explosions, but these bombs definitely seemed smaller than the
ones that had exploded on the northern front. They must have run out of the
larger ones—a blessing in disguise, as we’d never have survived a full-scale
bombing. Now they directed minor explosives at the far softer target of the
Cercian castle. This structure was easier to destroy than the Chinensian
castle, which was attached to a large church.
The strategy makes
sense, but…how did they do this?
I squinted out the
window, but I couldn’t make out anything useful. Our lookouts also struggled to
determine the source of the bombs. Had the enemy hurled them at us from afar,
hidden the blimps in the clouds or sunlight, or used some new kind of aerial vehicle?
I had nothing but guesses to go off of.
The explosions
quieted, leaving a sweeping silence in their wake. Debris from the ceiling
littered the floor, but it was the only damage I could
find. Although our knights seemed unharmed, I needed to discern the status of
the Cercian troops.
Princess Tiara was
ringed by knights. She cradled her head and faced the ground, trembling with
fear. Still, neither she nor anyone else was injured, and for that I could only
be thankful. Prince Stale had already teleported away to deal with other matters,
so he was out of harm’s way as well.
I gasped, realizing
I’d forgotten someone. “Princess Pride!”
She had jumped out of
the castle window earlier. Was she safe? She and her imperial knights had made
a mad dash for the castle’s southern wall. If any of the bombs actually injured
her…
I went stiff, a chill
running down my spine. I shook my mind clear of the sudden fog of raw fear,
telling myself it would take more than those bombs to harm our princess.
Doing my best to
reassure myself, I asked the guards about the state of the castle. My thoughts
kept drifting back to Princess Pride nonetheless. This was hardly the first
time I’d found myself fretting over the princess’s safety. Two years ago, she’d
led an attack on a human trafficking ring, and we’d faced a similar barrage of
bombs. Though we never identified the source of the blasts, the incident stuck
out in my mind. Could they be linked somehow?
“No! It can’t be!”
Princess Tiara’s
shout broke through my musing. Knights were staring at her, seeking some source
of distress. I rushed to her side. She stared fixedly at the ground, cradling
her head and shuddering in terror. Her face had gone white as a sheet. Try as I
might to meet her eyes, she wouldn’t look at me.
“Princess Tiara? Are
you all right? Can you hear me?” I asked her.
Dread crept over me.
My heart leapt into my throat.
“You have to evacuate
the southern wing of the castle at once! Any minute now…it’s going to
collapse!”
Stunned silence
followed Princess Tiara’s pronouncement. The southern wing had been hit in the
recent bombings and penetrated by enemy forces. Even here, at headquarters,
cracks sprawled across the crumbling ceiling. I couldn’t dismiss the
possibility of a collapse.
But how could
Princess Tiara possibly know that?
***
“Are you hurt, Princess
Pride?” Captain Callum asked me.
“Forgive us for
acting so late!” Captain Alan said.
The aftershocks had
finally died down. The ringing in my ears quieted. Captain Callum had raced
over to protect Cedric and me the second we warned them of the incoming bombs.
Captain Alan had sprinted back to the front lines to join Captain Callum in shielding
us.
“No, it’s all right,”
I said. “Thank you both. Are either of you injured?”
The smoke from the
blast was still obscuring my vision. I squinted, searching for my captains
among the haze. Gusts stirred by the explosion continued to blow past us. All
the lovely yellow flowers had burned and withered in the blast. Still, I’d braced for a much more powerful explosion than this.
Indeed, as I scanned the battlefield, I found a few of our enemies injured, but
none of my knights.
“Pride! Let me…go!”
I blinked, realizing
the muffled voice had come from Cedric. I had grabbed his head with my arms
instinctively and shielded the upper half of his body, but it appeared that
this position made it difficult for him to breathe. The problem had been
exacerbated by Captain Callum pulling us toward him and Captain Alan pressing
his body against us protectively, leaving Cedric crushed between everyone else.
“I’m sorry,” I said,
releasing my grip.
Cedric jerked away
and straightened up. He looked like he wanted to speak, but he ended up choking
on the dust kicked up by the explosion instead.
“Why the hell are you
shielding me?!” he finally asked. “Aren’t I…supposed to be the protector
here?!” He continued to cough as he stared me down.
I smiled awkwardly.
Even through the dusty haze, Cedric’s eyes burned clear as day. As a prince, he
was probably embarrassed to have been rescued by a woman. I gave him a little
space before speaking again.
“We made a promise,”
I said simply.
At that, Cedric
pressed his lips together, his fiery gaze wavering. He may have wanted to
respond, but he squeezed his hands into fists like he was holding himself back.
“Your Highnesses! Be
careful!” Captain Alan shouted.
Sucking in a breath,
I spun to find enemy soldiers climbing back onto their feet and charging us as
a group. My knights swept in to intercept them, dodging their clumsy attacks. I
grabbed Cedric’s hand again. “Don’t move unless you have
to,” I said, readying myself to defend this spot if necessary.
No enemies could
reach us with the knights at our side. I squinted, trying to make out my
knights’ efforts through the grimy air. Then Cedric pulled me toward him. He
was fixated on a point in the distance, what seemed like a mere shadow among
the dust.
“Wait, Cedric! That’s
one of your soldiers!”
The soldier sat
collapsed against a castle wall. He wore the uniform of the Cercian soldiers.
“It sure is!” Cedric
cried. The man had to be a guard here to defend the two of us, but it looked
like the blast had knocked him unconscious. Cedric peeled away from my side and
ran to him. “Hey! Byron!”
“Hold on, Cedric! You
can’t move yet!”
It was still way too
easy for enemies to sneak up on us through the dust. If we moved, my imperial
knights could lose track of us. I grabbed Cedric’s arm with both hands to keep
him still. He struggled in my grip, then clenched his teeth and gave up.
I assumed the other
guards had managed to avoid the blast altogether or were shielded by the
knights. As far as I could see, this one guard was the only victim on our side.
“Wait until the smoke
clears, at the very least,” I said. “Do you know that man?”
“No, I’ve never
talked to him, but he’s one of Bro’s guards. We can’t just leave him here!”
Cedric never tore his
eyes from the fallen guard. I felt like he would run again if I released my
grip on his arm even a little.
The man was one of
our knights who’d been stationed inside at headquarters. He must have possessed
a special power that gave him extra speed, or he’d jumped from the second floor
of the castle to deliver this urgent message. The southern building lay
directly in front of us. Was it really going to collapse? I peered up at it,
searching for fault lines.
Crack-crack… Snap!
Rrrumble…
The roar of enemy
soldiers and clamor of battle had masked those ominous noises until now. Cedric
stumbled backward, evidently having heard them too. Before we could figure out
what to do next, Captain Callum raised his voice.
“All units, fall
back! Get away from the area as fast as you can!”
The knights made a
break from the enemy and took off running. Captain Callum snatched my arm and
gave Cedric’s back a shove to lead us away.
This is really bad!
Cedric was trying to
wriggle free from me so he could go to the fallen guard.
I
knew he would try that! Of course he would! I
gripped him harder to keep him from escaping.
“Captain Callum, I
order you to restrain Cedric!” I yelled in desperation. The captain instantly
grabbed him.
“Let go of me!”
Captain Callum and
Cedric called out behind me. The urgency in their voices discouraged me from
looking up, and a shudder rippled through my body. I even chucked aside my
sword so I could sprint faster.
The guard, Byron, was
slumped in a shadow cast by the castle wall. Between that and all the smoke, I
could barely make him out. Once I reached him, I tried to pull him up by the
arm, but I sensed someone approaching from behind. I didn’t need to turn to know
who it was. I instantly offered Byron to the man behind me, knowing he’d fare
far better than me at lifting the guard.
“Captain Alan, take
this man!” I said.
The captain had
caught up to me with incredible speed. “I’ll handle him. Just run!” he shouted
at me, desperation etched onto his face. He lifted the guard with one arm and
used his free hand to push me back toward safety.
After a few steps, I
checked over my shoulder and saw Captain Alan carrying Byron on his back
through the dust. Just as I turned to continue running, something caught my
left foot. I desperately attempted to free it, but my right foot slipped,
sending me hurtling to the ground.
“Augh!”
A horrible crunch resonated through my body, followed by searing pain.
“Princess Pride?!”
Captain Alan called, although his voice came from way ahead.
Thank goodness… He kept
going.
I turned my attention
back to my foot to find an enemy soldier clutching it. He lay on his belly,
severely injured but grinning through the pain of his last rasps. He’d taken
the opportunity in his last moments to drag me down.
Fear stole my breath
away. I turned my eyes upward to put my captor out of my mind, but that only
showed me the top portion of the tower, where large fissures snaked through the
stone. It swayed on the verge of total collapse, large chunks already plummeting
to the ground.
By the time I looked
back at the enemy soldier to demand he release me, his armored hand had gone
limp. He was dead, yet I couldn’t free myself from his grip. Panicked, I kicked
repeatedly, scrambling for any chance at escape.
Large chunks of
rubble began to rain down from the castle—some as small as the palm of my hand,
others even larger than the enemy soldier’s hand, armor and all.
Oh no, oh no, oh no!
As I reached out to
remove the enemy’s hand…
Crack!
A thirty-centimeter
hunk of rubble fell directly on my left leg. Something audibly snapped, and my
mind went blank from the pain.
It’s broken, it’s
broken, it’s broken! This is bad, this is bad, this is so bad!
I couldn’t do
anything but scream inside my own head. I writhed in pain, helpless on the
ground. The whole tower was tilting to one side now.
It sure looks like the
bomb took it out.
That thought arrived
strangely detached, as though it belonged to someone else. Or perhaps I’d
simply made peace with my inevitable demise.
“Princess!”
“She’s here!”
The cries of my
imperial knights reached me through the panic. Oh no.
Terror beat back my
desire to call for help. “Stay back!” I yelled, but the two figures in the
distance only ran toward me faster.
I’d resigned myself
to death, but this snapped me out of it. They won’t make it
out in time! At this rate, Captain Callum and Captain Alan were just
going to get crushed with me. Captain Callum’s special power allowed him to
lift immense weight, but I didn’t know if he could sustain an impact from
falling objects. They couldn’t just swat aside the rubble either. Captain Alan
was fast, but not as much as those with speed-related special powers. He could
never carry Captain Callum and me to safety in time!
“Princess Pride!”
As rubble rained down
on me, it was indeed Captain Alan who arrived first. He ripped away the enemy
soldier’s hand from my foot and the rubble from my leg. Right as he lifted me
into his arms, a two-meter hunk of debris crashed down on top of us.
Captain Alan put his
back to it, trying to shield me while he ran. Then Captain Callum rushed up and
stopped the rubble with his special power. The sudden impact slammed him
downward, but he managed to stand his ground, catch the rubble, and hurl it
away.
Captain Alan followed
my gaze over his shoulder. He sped up when he saw the castle tottering, but
Captain Callum cried out for him. Captain Alan gnashed his teeth loudly and
pushed even harder toward his fellow captain. He kicked off the ground and
landed with one foot on Captain Callum’s raised palm. With his special power of
superhuman strength, Captain Callum easily lifted the two of us up…and sent us
flying.
The combination of
Captain Alan’s strong legs and Captain Callum’s physical strength propelled me
toward safety. A breeze rushed past us as we sailed away from the castle like a
rocket. I squeezed my eyes shut and held on tight. The world spun and jerked
all around me. Captain Alan must have flipped in the air before landing
perfectly with me still in his arms.
It all happened so
fast I couldn’t even process it. Behind us, the southern wing of the castle
started to implode.
What about Captain
Callum?!
“Huh? C-Captain
Callum?!”
My voice came out
before I could comprehend the situation. I squeezed Captain Alan’s shirt and
peered up at him with wide eyes. He was gritting his teeth and glaring back
toward the castle. An icy chill ran through me from head to toe.
“H-hurry! Save him!”
I shouted the
captain’s name over and over as tears spilled down my cheeks. I struggled in
Captain Alan’s arms, demanding we go back, but he refused to let me out of his
trembling arms. I tried to whistle for Stale, but it wasn’t possible with my
gloves on, and my hands were shaking too bad to get them off.
“Captain Callum! Come
on, we have to save him! Now, Captain Alan! Save Captain Callum! Save Captain
Ca—”
“Who the hell do you
think you are, makin’ her cry?!”
A familiar voice
interrupted me at the same moment a trail of smoke streaked by. I stopped
screaming abruptly to follow the trail, which had come straight from the
castle. It can’t be!
I recognized that
voice.
“Val?!”
***
“I don’t think…I can
take this much weight…”
I wasn’t talking to
anyone in particular—just gritting my teeth as hard as my jaw would let me. I
dodged all the falling rubble after throwing Alan and Princess Pride out of
harm’s way. When a piece was too big to evade, I caught it with my special
power. But another chunk of rock landed on that one, then another, piling up
higher and higher in my hands.
If I tried to throw
any rubble off to the side, the mountain in my hands would collapse, swallowing
me in an avalanche of debris. I could either throw them all at once and make a
break for it or try to hold on until the castle finished
falling. Both options left me with a slim chance of survival.
There was only rubble
on the ground and not people. I wondered if anyone had been on the upper floors
of the castle when it collapsed, if our headquarters was still safe, if
Princess Tiara, Prime Minister Gilbert, Prince Stale, and the knights and
soldiers had escaped unharmed. Had Princess Pride and Alan made it out all
right? Was the battle at the northern front progressing well? Even as the stone
grew heavier in my arms, I couldn’t help thinking about all the people I might
leave behind when the castle crushed me.
Did Commander Roderick
feel the same way six years ago?
At least we didn’t
have enemies actively pursuing us like we did back then. And Princess Pride
would get out of this. That was the good news.
The knights of the
Third Squadron were all excellent men. Princess Pride also had Alan, Eric, and
Arthur as her imperial knights. They would get the job done without me. If I
regretted anything, it would be forcing Alan to make the decision to leave me behind
here. That and whatever anguish Princess Pride would likely suffer over my
death.
“Hey, asshole.”
A voice came from
somewhere in the rubble. I raised my head, worried someone hadn’t managed to
escape. It dawned on me then that I knew who’d spoken—but that man had no
business being in this country right now.
“You’re Val! Why are
you here?!”
I couldn’t contain my
shock that the villainous-looking man with the dark brown eyes and hair was
actually here right now. When he smiled, he flashed his
pointy teeth. His brown skin was unusual for a Freesian as well. This man was
part of the group who’d ambushed Commander Roderick six years ago. Under
Freesian law, he had been punished by entering into a fealty contract and now
worked as a “deliveryman” for Princess Pride.
He must have appeared
in the short amount of time I let my head droop. Children stood to either side
of him: one boy and one girl. The brown-haired girl had long hair and grown-out
bangs, while the boy was small and had messy black hair. Their names were
Sefekh and Khemet, as I recalled. The two of them had their arms wrapped around
Val’s waist and peered past him to look at me.
It all clicked right
then. Val’s special power…
The heap of rubble
I’d been holding up with both hands was far steadier than before; it didn’t
wobble or shake in the slightest. It seemed so light, in fact, that if I took
my hands away it might float overhead.
When I turned my gaze
back to Val, I found him glaring at me with those fierce eyes of his, face
twitching. Waves of irritation washed off him. He lifted one foot.
“Go to hell for
makin’ my mistress cry!” he snarled, lips twisted in rage.
Slam!
Val stomped his foot
down and reached his hand out. As soon as he touched a piece of the rubble I
was balancing, the entire stack drifted up out of my hands. Val swiped his hand
to the side, sending the pile flying off into the distance.
It took me a moment
to realize he’d just saved me, especially because Val was still clicking his
tongue and glaring at me. He strolled toward the collapsing castle. I briefly
thought of stopping him, but he approached the danger
with such nonchalance that I didn’t think he really needed my help.
“Why the hell…”
Stone showered down
from above as Val muttered to himself. Before any of it could pulverize my
head, the ground rose up, forming a protective dome around me.
“…do I…”
Everything falling
toward Val struck a large coiling snake made of sand. The sand snake flicked
away the pieces of rubble. When larger chunks hurtled toward Val, he cocooned
himself in an orb of dirt like the one he’d constructed around me.
“…have to save…”
Val burst out of the
cocoon and walked up to the base of the collapsing towers. His anger burned
more intensely with each step. He staggered up to the castle wall and set his
hand against it.
“…a damn knight of
all people?!”
He shouted his
frustration at the wobbling structure coming down all around him. The highest
floors were just about to topple.
“Damn it
aaaaaalllll!”
Val let out a
tremendous war cry, and the entire collapse simply…stopped.
The upper floors
straightened back out like soldiers standing at attention. It was like he’d
forced the scattered pieces of the castle back into place. The shape was warped
but stable. Debris floated upward and returned to its place within the
structure. He even rearranged nearby rubble on the ground to serve as supports.
As I stood there,
speechless, Val turned to glare at me again from a distance. He took his hand
off the castle wall and stomped over to me. As soon as he was close enough, he
reached for the collar of my shirt…and froze unnaturally.
What’s the matter with
him?
Val clicked his
tongue, irritated, then grabbed me by the arm. He was glaring at me again with
that same venom.
“I’m gonna carry you
for now. ’Kay?”
His rumbling voice
made it sound more like a threat than an offer of help. It had to be the fealty
contract. The agreement he’d signed with Princess Pride forbade him from
harming others. Similarly, he couldn’t drag me or anyone else away without
permission. I granted it to him right away. Before I could even thank him, the
ground rumbled beneath my feet.
The earth rose up
unnaturally once more. It swallowed up Val, Sefekh, and Khemet’s legs as it
swelled. The children grabbed onto Val’s torso again, while Val himself reached
out and took me by the arm.
“Bite your tongue,”
Val said. “Don’t want you to die on me.”
Before I could ask
what he meant, the ground beneath us sped up.
“Huh?!”
This was like the
time Val had used his special power to get our carriage home from a
confidential trip to a foreign land. That carriage had moved unbelievably
quickly, at least until Princess Pride ordered Val to stop propelling us
forward. That had to be what was happening now too.
“Captain Callum!”
“Callum!”
As soon as I saw
Princess Pride in Alan’s arms, I noticed the tears pricking at the corners of
her eyes. She reached out to me, and I understood everything.
***
“Captain Callum!”
“Callum!”
Captain Alan and I
cried out at the same time. Captain Callum landed perfectly on the ground and
slumped down into a sitting position. Captain Alan, still carrying me, crouched
so I could look at him.
“Your Highness,” he
murmured.
I reached my arms
out, wrapped them around the back of his neck, and pulled him close. I only
caught a glimpse of his widening eyes as I wrapped him in a hug.
“Thank goodness!” I
said with a sigh.
I’d truly believed
that Captain Callum had sacrificed his life to save me. I felt guilty for
putting the two captains in danger with my own selfish actions, but my joy at
Captain Callum’s safety was much greater. My eyes stung with unshed tears.
“I’m so sorry. Thank you
so much.” I repeated those words over and over again.
“It’s all right,” he
told me.
“We were only doing
our jobs,” Captain Alan said.
“I’m sorry for
frightening you,” Captain Callum added, bowing his head in apology once I
released him from the hug.
For a moment, I
didn’t understand. Then I realized my own teary-eyed relief must have been
making him feel guilty. I wiped my eyes and smiled at
him. He was truly a kind person, even in moments like these.
Captain Alan was just
about to set me down again when…
“Please wait!”
I shrieked and
desperately wrapped my arms around the captain’s neck. Captain Alan froze and
adjusted his hold on me, and both men eyed me with confusion. This was bad.
“Um, it’s just…” I
stammered, avoiding their eyes.
“Don’t tell me…”
Captain Alan responded immediately; he’d seen right through me. “Callum! Look
at Her Highness’s left leg!”
Captain Alan had seen
my leg get trapped under the rubble when he saved me.
“Ah, no, it’s not a
big deal,” I mumbled, but Captain Callum was already asking permission to
approach. He started to remove the armor around my leg. Even Val was scowling
at me, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Cool air brushed
against my leg once Captain Callum got the armor off. Removing the pressure of
the armor brought the pain—which I’d forgotten about upon reuniting with
Captain Callum—surging back to the forefront.
Captain Alan gulped at
the sight of the red, swollen flesh.
Captain Callum
touched it gently. “This is bad. She needs to be seen by someone with healing
powers. Prince Cedric should be nearby with the other knights. The Seventh
Squadron is around as well.”
“I’ll find them!”
Captain Alan said, then gently handed me over to Captain Callum before darting
off with impressive speed.
What should I do? The
pain’s getting worse now that I have nothing else to focus on, and it’s not
just my left leg anymore.
I clenched my teeth
against the waves of agony washing over me. How in the world had I been kicking
when Captain Alan scooped me up earlier?
“A knight will be
here soon,” Captain Callum said, setting me down on the ground.
I managed to nod in
response.
“Damn it, Mistress!”
Val said. “Call for your four-eyed prince already! He can take you to Freesia
or anywhere you want, right?!”
“Mistress?!” Sefekh
squeaked.
“Are you all right?!”
Khemet asked me.
Val was right. Stale
could take me somewhere safe if I called for him—including, say, a doctor in
Freesia. Yet I didn’t dare follow through with it.
“No. I can’t…leave
this place…” I managed.
We were in the middle
of a war. I was here in Cercis as the queen’s proxy; running home because of an
injury wasn’t possible. King Lance, King Yohan, all of their people and
soldiers, my knights, and even Stale were still fighting!
Val balked. “What the
hell are you talkin’ about?!”
“Lower your voice!”
Callum snapped. “The princess is injured!”
I shook my head at
Val. “It’s not…life-threatening. I can stay on the battlefield, even if my legs
don’t work! I can’t be…the only person to run away…”
I squeezed my uniform
sleeves as I made my case. Stale would drag me back to Freesia against my will
the second he saw me in this state. An injured princess was just a burden on
everyone else. Plus, Mother had made Stale promise to look after me when she
entrusted me with the war.
But I couldn’t just
run away over one lousy leg injury!
“It’s all right,” I
said. “I’ll be better soon. Right now, we have to secure the southern border,
as well as the village.”
That was as far as I
got before something hit me. Captain Callum asked what was wrong, why I’d suddenly
gone silent, but I couldn’t stop gaping at Val.
“Val, why are you
here?” I asked without thinking, although it was probably a bit late for that.
Val’s eyes went round
in surprise. After that uncertain pause, he said, “The prince called me here.
He wanted me to help out the townsfolk in the village and the knights on the
northern front. Not that I give a damn about that.”
I gaped at him. So it was Stale’s doing! I didn’t know where he was right
now, but he must have acted as soon as he heard me say I wanted to save the
townsfolk.
“Promise me that you’ll
rely on us next time, whether you need us or not.”
Tears burned behind
my eyes once more.
Captain Callum,
startled by the sight, said, “What’s the matter?!”
Val staggered back a
step, gawking.
“I’m all right,” I
said, rubbing my eyes. “Val, please do exactly what Stale requested of you, if
you can.”
My leg still ached,
but at least I could speak clearly now.
Val furrowed his brow
and scowled. I understood that he wasn’t a knight or a soldier. Both Stale and
I were asking him to take on something well outside of his delivery duties.
That was why I’d decided to phrase it as a request he could deny instead of an
order.
“You want me to leave
you and go clean up after a bunch of guys I don’t even know?” Val growled out,
grimacing. He stared at me like there was more he wanted to add to that. I
swallowed upon hearing the thinly veiled anger in his voice.
“That’s right. I
believe you can do it, which is why I’m asking for your help.”
When I told him my
wishes, Val’s expression changed to shock. His eyes were locked on me, but he
didn’t speak.
“I’ll call for Stale
too,” I said. “I promise. But with my leg as bad as it is…I can’t go anywhere.”
The conversation
distracted me from my pain, but I was still suffering. I’d have no luck
standing on my own. I breathed, hoping to stay calm even
as sweat dripped down my forehead. The reassuring smile I’d attempted merely
wavered on my lips.
“Please. If even a
single soul can be saved, then that is my wish. But don’t do anything
dangerous. That’s my only order for you.”
I knew my words
carried little gravity with me sprawled out in the dirt. But once I finally
used the word “order,” Val hung his head and pressed a hand to it. He groaned,
the rumbling sound seeming to rise from the earth beneath our feet. Either he
was fighting the order or he was bored out of his mind.
“And here I thought
you were leaving me as a watchdog in Freesia for five days,” Val muttered.
Captain Callum’s eyes
widened at the mention of Freesia. I sat up too. Had the formal talks with
Rajah already begun?
“What happened in
Freesia?” I pressed, but Val just told me it had nothing to do with the royal
family. I next asked if it was something to do with the Freesian civilians, but
he said they were fine too. Val couldn’t lie to me under his fealty contract, so
that news had to be accurate.
Pain shot through my
leg from my efforts to sit up straighter. My hair fell loose around me, a few
wayward strands sticking to my face.
Val sighed at the
sight. “If you miss Freesia so much, just go home already.”
He crouched to look
me in the eyes. His gaze was still sharp, but I didn’t sense the anger from
before. He brushed my bangs off my damp forehead, tucking the strands into
place behind my ear.
“Freesia’s boring
when you’re not around,” he said.
My heart skipped a beat
at the sorrowful look in his eyes. He was telling me I belonged in Freesia.
Val pulled his hand
back and stood. He called for Khemet and Sefekh and started to walk away
without another word. I didn’t know what Val had planned or where he was going,
but I had more to say to him.
“Please, wait!”
Val turned at my
call, his face twitching with irritation. I reached up for him like a child and
said, “Please, just one more thing.”
He returned with a
sigh and dropped to one knee before me. With gratitude swelling in my chest, I
reached for Val, pulling him into a one-armed hug with all the strength I could
muster. The awkward position left my leg aching, but I wasn’t about to let go
that easily.
“What?!” Val cried.
But I pulled him even
closer. He lost his balance and fell into me, so I lowered my hand to his back.
“Thank you for saving
Captain Callum.”
That was the one
thing I wanted to say to him. Whatever Val did next, even if something did
happen to me, I needed him to know how grateful I was for what he’d done. I’d
never ordered Val to save Captain Callum.
Val didn’t think much
of the royal family or our knights, yet he’d saved one of them anyway. I wished
I could have thanked him properly with a grand curtsy of esteem, but this was
the best I could do right now.
I squeezed my arm
tighter, trying to convey my gratitude. Val simply held still and quiet. I
started to relax my grip, worried I was choking him, when…
At the cry, Val
clicked his tongue. I pulled back to peer up at him and found a piercing
glimmer in his eyes. He turned that razor-sharp gaze on Captain Alan.
Before I could ask
what was wrong, Val said, “Mistress, we’re standin’ up now.”
Not giving me time to
process, he wrapped his arms around me and scooped me up off the ground. I
squeaked from the sudden change, and Val glanced down at me.
“I’m only doin’ this
kinda thing once in a billion years.”
He clicked his tongue
again as he mumbled to himself. I looked up at him and cocked my head. What in
the world did he mean by that?
“Forget it,” Val
said.
Ignoring my probing
look, he handed me over to Captain Alan, who’d run up to meet us. Behind the
captain, Cedric and a few knights lingered. Shoot. I need to
apologize to Cedric too.
Val scowled at the
arrival of even more knights and finally turned to leave for good. Khemet and
Sefekh grabbed hold of him and waved goodbye to me.
“See you later,
Mistress!” Khemet said.
“Be sure to rest up!”
Sefekh said.
With that, Val used
his special power to lift the ground beneath their feet and hurl them forward.
They raced off into the distance. I sent my silent thanks after Val as I
watched him shrink away.
Somehow, I felt like
everything would be all right.
“Captain Alan, please
hold Princess Pride in that exact position!” a member of the Seventh Squadron
barked at me.
I held still while he
treated the suffering princess cradled in my arms. I wished I could do more
than just stand there and hold her. Rage and helplessness burned in my chest.
I’d failed to protect her. There was no bigger blunder for an imperial knight than
this. If only I’d stayed at her side, this never would have happened. Even
Callum came so close to…
No! Get it together,
Alan.
The shame crawled up
my throat when I took in the sight of Princess Pride’s bare leg, which was
obviously causing her a lot of pain. All the knights of the Seventh Squadron
eyed the damage warily. I tried my best not to infect them with my impatience
in the hopes that they wouldn’t be as distracted by it as I was.
“Your Highness, is it
only your left leg that hurts?” Callum asked her.
Four members of the
Seventh Squadron—knights who specialized in first aid and medical
treatment—were treating the wound with their special powers, as requested by
Callum. Judging by the gruesome angle of Princess Pride’s leg, it was broken.
The slender limb had swollen up significantly, but the treatment was already
starting to reduce the redness. That did little for the pain, unfortunately.
Princess Pride paused for a moment when she heard Callum’s question before
hesitantly opening her mouth.
“Sorry… I think I
twisted my right leg too…”
Both
legs. Princess Pride couldn’t even stand on her own
right now. Even if our medics’ treatment could reduce the pain, healing her
would take time. She wouldn’t be able to walk on her own any time soon.
When the armor came
off, it revealed the swollen joint in her right leg. It didn’t look broken,
like her left leg, but it was red and inflamed compared to the pale skin of the
leg already receiving treatment. The Seventh Squadron member actively examining
her called for additional assistance.
“Cedric…” Princess
Pride called hoarsely.
The knights opened a
path so Cedric could approach. He must have followed the Seventh Squadron
evacuees when I went to them for help. Prince Cedric took heavy, slow steps
between the knights. He wore an expression I recognized all too well; he was
blaming himself for this whole disaster. But the real culprit was me…and Callum
too. We’d been negligent in our duties as Princess Pride’s imperial knights.
The prince’s legs
trembled as he stepped beside Callum. He stumbled back when he got a good look
at Princess Pride’s injuries. Even though he leaned away from the inflamed
area, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“It’s all right,”
Princess Pride said. “I’m not going to die, and I won’t lose my legs either.”
The princess forced a
smile. For a second, I thought the treatment was already working, but then I
noticed the sweat dripping down her face as she endured the pain. She was still
extremely pale as well. Prince Cedric swallowed at the sight.
Her smile faded. “I’m
sorry,” she said, her words a bit slurred.
Prince Cedric and I
stared at her, unable to believe our ears. Callum edged away from the
conversation and went back to issuing orders to the other knights. He asked
them to prepare bandages and go on the lookout for any new attacks. Princess
Pride was still speaking, her quiet voice barely audible over Callum and the
knights.
“I said I would
protect you.” Her voice was laden with regret.
My chest clenched
tight. How could she apologize when she was the one who’d suffered the most in
all this? Prince Cedric didn’t respond. He just gritted his teeth as Princess
Pride stroked an armored finger along his cheek. Seeming on the verge of tears,
she tenderly cupped his face. The prince’s jaw clenched, and he had to pry open
his mouth to respond.
“What the hell are
you talking about?!” he asked, his volume increasing
with each word. “It’s my fault that you… It should’ve… It should’ve been me!”
Prince Cedric’s fists
trembled as he spit out those words. He screwed up his face when he was done
and fell silent, hanging his head and shuddering as if restraining himself from
some greater action.
“It’s not your
fault,” Princess Pride said. “I would have run off whether you were there or
not.”
Her lips twitched in
her pasted-on smile. I couldn’t bear to witness her struggle. I wished I could
beg her not to talk anymore. As much as she tried to put on a tough front, her
pain was evident.
“Cedric.”
“It’s all right,” she
said. “This world is kinder to you than you know.”
Those words drew his
eyes back up to hers. Tears shimmered as he moved. He opened and closed his
mouth a few times as though he wished to speak, but nothing emerged aside from
his own breath. Princess Pride appeared tickled by this behavior, and her smile
relaxed.
The ease in her
expression made me look back down at her leg. Some of the redness had eased,
and the swelling wasn’t as bad as before. Color seeped back into her face as
well.
“The true ‘you’ will
be able to protect even more of the things you care about,” she said.
Princess Pride sat up
a little further. But the motion jostled her leg, and her face scrunched up in
pain. Still, she held Prince Cedric’s cheek in her hand like the pain didn’t
even bother her.
“You’re the little
brother to two wonderful kings. You’re their pride and joy.”
Tears glimmered in
Prince Cedric’s eyes, illuminated by his fierce inner fire. When they emerged,
it was in a wave more powerful than his first. The tears streamed down to his
lips, where he was clenching his teeth. The prince just stood there staring and
letting them flow, as though he’d forgotten how to blink.
Unable to respond,
Princess Pride continued stroking his hair, repeating reassuring words. So
gentle and comforting was her presence that she was practically glowing.
“Please don’t move!”
the knight treating her shouted. He wrapped the leg with bandages to keep it
fixed in place.
“See? I’m fine now!
It doesn’t hurt if I don’t move it. Thank you for your help.” She tried to
reassure the knight and smile at Prince Cedric, but the prince was still
crying.
“Am I getting too
heavy for you to carry, Captain Alan?” she asked. Her voice was bright and
cheery, like she was trying to lighten the mood.
“No, you’re not heavy
at all!” I said.
She smiled in relief,
even with her injured leg still dangling limply. She tried to remove her right
glove from her hand but paused, wrinkling her brow in confusion. It was like
her hands had run out of strength entirely.
“I’m sorry, Captain
Callum, but could you please remove my right glove?”
With a guilty smile,
she extended her hand toward Callum, who’d just returned to check on her
treatment. He peeled off her glove, but we both knew what she was about to do.
He didn’t waste a second in taking her gloved hand in his. Right away, Callum
and I both knew what her plan was. We gulped in tandem.
Once Callum got the
glove off, her pale, dainty fingers slowly curled and uncurled. A knight was
now bandaging her left leg to secure it as well.
Tweeeeeeeet!
Princess Pride had
stuck her fingers in her mouth to issue a shrill whistle. In an instant, Prince
Stale teleported to the scene.
In an instant, Prince
Stale took in Her Highness’s injuries…and his face went pale.
***
“Stale!”
He had appeared at my
side as soon as he heard the signal. When he took in the damage, all the blood
drained from his face. His eyes went wide; his hands trembled. He approached me
with stuttering steps and a look of pure shock.
“Stale, I’m sorry to
call for you in public like this,” I said.
I wasn’t supposed to
resort to this in front of people like Cedric and the other knights. But this
was my only option at the moment.
Stale was still
speechless. He just continued to gape at my legs. “Elder Sister… How did
this…?”
His mouth flapped
like he couldn’t find the right words. As confused as he was, he managed to
shoot a stern glare at Captain Callum and Captain Alan. It sent a chill down my
spine. I opened my mouth to explain.
“It’s my fault.”
Cedric beat me to the
punch. He squeezed his fists to stop the tears in his eyes from spilling over.
Stale whipped his head around at that, face going red. But Captain Callum and
Captain Alan tried to interrupt.
“That’s not true,
Your Highness! As imperial knights, it’s our responsibility to—”
“Stale, wait!”
Captain Alan jerked
at my shriek, and Stale released Cedric with a gasp. I couldn’t run to him, as
much as I wanted to, so I simply held my hands out to him. Stale snapped to his
senses and ran over, crying out for me. I wrapped my arms around his neck to
calm him down, then stroked his hair.
“It’s okay. I’m just
fine, see?” I repeated the words over and over until he calmed down a bit. He
was still breathing a bit raggedly when I pushed on, though.
“Please listen to me,
Stale. It’s not Cedric’s fault. I got hurt because I ran off on my own. Captain
Callum and Captain Alan put their lives on the line for me. They were ready to
give up their own lives to save me. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have
made it out alive. So please know that I’m the only one to blame here.”
I caressed his cheek,
hoping to assuage his worries. Yet no matter how soothing I tried to be, Stale
pressed his trembling lips into a tight, tense line. He nodded, then glared
down at the ground. “Arthur…” he began, then stopped himself, gnashing his teeth.
“I promised him…I would protect…”
He nearly choked on
his own words. I didn’t know who those words were truly meant for, but they
cast a pall over the whole scene. Captain Callum’s expression darkened, and
Captain Alan’s arms tensed around me.
As my steward—no, as
my younger brother—Stale blamed himself for my injury. My heart ached worse
than my legs at the thought. I’d selfishly tried to do everything on my own and
then hide the fallout from Stale, and it had only made him worry more.
“Stale, I have a favor to
ask,” I said.
I moved from cupping
his face to cradling his shaking fists. Even through his armored gloves, I
could tell how tightly he was squeezing them. He raised his head a little and
simply replied, “Anything.” But his eyes wavered like he was on the verge of
tears.
“I won’t be able to
walk for the rest of the day. I’m sure I’ll be a burden to everyone, but please
don’t send me back to Freesia yet. I want to stay with the people here as the queen’s
proxy. I want to share the fate of our ally, the United Hanazuo Kingdom. It’s
too soon for me to run away!”
I gripped Stale’s
hands, begging for his understanding. While Stale could choose to teleport me
back to Freesia against my will any moment, he had also done so much to support
both Hanazuo and me. He’d already let me ask so much of him.
Stale pressed his
lips together like he was in pain. He fell silent for some time.
In the eerie quiet,
the cries of enemy soldiers rose, likely because the collapse had been over for
a while now. They might have been pouring in from the south again. My pulse
raced and my stomach twisted as I awaited Stale’s verdict. If we didn’t hurry,
the enemies we’d just stopped would breach the castle this time.
I prepared to press
him again. “Stale—”
“I’ll do whatever you
wish, Pride,” he whispered into my ear.
I blinked, pulling
back to peer at his face. His fear had melted away, replaced by his usual calm
expression.
“It’s dangerous to
stay here, though. Let’s return to the Cercian castle,” he said. Stale
exchanged looks with Captain Callum and Captain Alan,
then turned his entire body toward Cedric, who’d finally stopped crying.
“Prince Cedric?”
Cedric wiped his eyes
on his sleeve, swallowed nervously, and stared back.
Stale offered a deep,
polite bow. “I apologize for my poor manners earlier. I hope you’ll forgive
me.”
This only seemed to
fluster Cedric more. “I-It’s fine!” he insisted, trying to get Stale to stop
bowing.
With that, Stale
stood up straight again. “Captain Alan, Captain Callum, we’ll return to the
castle for the time being. Please choose which knights will come with us and
which will stay to prevent the enemies from reaching the castle.”
The captains nodded
at Stale’s orders.
“Also…” Stale trailed
off, eyes skittering away, as though he was nervous, then met their eyes again.
“As always, please continue to look after my elder sister as her imperial
knights.”
The two knights
voiced their agreement instantly. Captain Callum started sorting out which
knights would go where.
With a final
thank-you to the knights who’d treated my injuries and a request for a detailed
update later, Stale prepared to teleport away. He first touched Cedric to
teleport him. Then he approached me and the knights to send us off.
“I’ll be there as
soon as I teleport the rest of the knights,” he said as he took my hand.
I nodded and thanked
him.
In a more tender
voice, he added, “I’m so sorry… I know you trusted me.” He cast his eyes to the
ground like a child bracing for a scolding.
I couldn’t help but
laugh. “What are you talking about?!”
He raised his head,
surprised, and I stroked his hair again with my ungloved hand.
“You came when I
called for you,” I said. “I’ll always trust you, no matter what.”
He’d allowed a burden
like me to remain on the battlefield. He’d even sent Val here and recommended
these strong, capable men as my imperial knights back when they were first
chosen. If it weren’t for Stale, who knew how many times I might have died or
gotten myself in trouble already? I truly couldn’t thank him enough. Yet here
he was apologizing to me instead.
Stale’s eyes opened
wider, but then a quiet smile stole across his lips. He took my hand, then
reached the other one out for Captain Callum. One breath later, the world
vanished.
***
“Big Sister! Are you
sure you’re all right?! What happened?!”
“Why did Prince Stale
bring you here instead of sending you to Freesia?!”
The moment we
teleported into the Cercian castle, I had to reassure a teary-eyed Tiara and
pale-faced Prime Minister Gilbert. The prime minister demanded an explanation,
but I told him I would wait until Stale returned. Cedric, his face twisted with
guilt, tried to take the blame, but I grabbed his arm to silence him. If Prime
Minister Gilbert truly believed this was all Cedric’s fault, he might actually
do something about it.
Tiara cuddled right
up to me, choking back tears. “I’m so sorry! I couldn’t do anything…just like
always!” Yet I was the one who’d insisted she stay in
the castle, instead of going back to Freesia like she probably should have.
Cedric ordered a
guard to bring a chair over. Captain Alan set me down gently into it. I
apologized for him having to carry me for so long in all my armor, but he
simply said it was fine. Even for a knight, he was quite strong—to be expected
of a captain, perhaps.
“Sorry for the delay,
Elder Sister,” Stale said when he reappeared. He’d finished transporting all
the knights, and it was a relief to see him in his usual calm state. He even
smiled when I called his name.
After that, I tried
to bring order back to the situation. We needed to sort out this whole mess.
Captain Callum attempted to start by detailing my injury, but I cut in,
preferring to explain it myself. I didn’t want him or any of the others using
the opportunity to blame themselves for this.
I provided an
objective—or close to it—account of the collapse of the southern wing of the
castle. A guard had fallen unconscious while trying to evacuate, and I had to
ask Captain Callum to restrain Cedric to keep him from rushing in to save the
man. Stale and Prime Minister Gilbert nodded along with my explanation. Tiara,
meanwhile, had gone completely pale. This whole story had to be painful for her
to hear.
Prime Minister
Gilbert followed up with very simple questions, such as, “What was Captain Alan
doing at that point?” and “Where was Captain Callum?” Frankly, it was a little
intimidating, but Captain Alan and Captain Callum didn’t hesitate to answer. As
captains, their professionalism was truly impressive.
Once the story was
over, the prime minister muttered, “I see. It sounds like no one failed in
their duties.” Finally, my shoulders relaxed a
tick—although the two captains didn’t look particularly reassured.
Next, the knights who
worked on my legs explained their diagnosis. They had used their special powers
to reduce the pain and stop the injury from being aggravated any further, but
healing it fully would take time. For now, I needed to prioritize resting.
Moving my leg would interfere with the healing process, to say nothing of how
painful it would be. Even though I’d expected this prognosis, it still left my
mood deflated. I swallowed hard.
“Princess
Pride! Please leave the battlefield immediately!”
King Yohan, his face as pale as Tiara’s, cried out through one of the
broadcasts. “How…how can you stay there in your condition?!” The
king just kept stammering, unsure of what to say.
“No. I have every
intention of staying in this country.”
King Yohan’s handsome
face twisted with pain. He demanded an explanation, and I offered the best
reasoning I had. It wasn’t just for him; Prime Minister Gilbert and Tiara hung
on to every word as well.
“I made up my mind to
share in the fate of Hanazuo, our ally,” I said. “I’ll be with you until the
end.”
I glared right back
at the image before me. King Yohan fell silent, seeming to understand my
resolve. I let the quiet spread for a moment, then turned to Prime Minister
Gilbert and asked him how the northern front fared in the hopes of changing the
subject.
“Princess Pride, have I
heard the situation correctly?”
Oh
nooo! I gulped when I heard that voice, heavier
than lead. I turned to face the broadcast, previously obscured by smoke so only the communication specialist remained
visible. Commander Roderick filled my view.
Regret hit me like a
punch to the gut. I wanted to cut the transmission off, but I was also glad to
see the commander alive as well, as terrifying as he was right now.
“Yes, I believe you
heard the full story,” Stale said.
On the other side of
the broadcast, Commander Roderick narrowed his eyes.
This is bad! He’s
definitely furious with me!
“You already forgot what
I told you six years ago…”
My blood ran cold. I
already knew I had to apologize to Commander Roderick, but this is way worse
than I feared!
“Um… No, I…” I
stammered, lips trembling. Our eyes locked across the transmissions, making me
flinch.
Just then, from
behind me, Captain Callum and Captain Alan bowed swiftly and cried, “Forgive
us!”
Commander Roderick
closed his eyes with a sigh after the apologies. “We’ll
discuss this once we return home.”
Then he ordered the
captains to be more alert from here on out.
“The order is locked in
a stalemate,” Commander
Roderick continued eventually. “We have medics with
special powers treating our most gravely injured men. We’re also rearranging
each unit to bolster them before the enemy makes their next move. By the way,
since only the communication specialist and I have heard this conversation, there’s
no need to worry about a loss of morale.”
Something glinted in Commander Roderick’s eyes. “We’ll be ready for new orders at any time. My knights are well
prepared.”
Prime Minister
Gilbert let out a soft breath. “We’ve suffered damages here as well, so ending
things quickly is one avenue we can pursue. The biggest hindrance right now is
the enemy invasion at the southern border of both countries. We received word
earlier from King Lance, in the village near the Chinensian castle, that the
enemy’s focus had switched from the castle to the village. Enemies continue to
swarm the southern region of Cercis as well. Our knights retreated after the
collapse of the castle and are now heading back to the area.”
Enemy soldiers were
storming the southern regions of both Chinensis and Cercis, where I’d tried to
go with reinforcements. The collapse of the southern wing had halted them for a
little while, but now they were rushing back to continue the siege. The communication
specialist with King Lance had quickly reported on their status, but even as he
spoke, the clash of swords and roar of enemies rang out behind him. It was like
watching shaky camera footage on a tumultuous live broadcast.
King Yohan’s
headquarters had been saved thanks to the fine work of the Eighth Squadron,
which was a relief—but if the enemies targeted the local village with that same
amount of force, the Chinensian people would be in danger. That danger also
awaited Cercis if anything happened to King Lance.
We couldn’t afford to
waste any time or energy at this crucial point in the battle. I wanted to send
reinforcements to King Lance, but everyone outside of this room had their hands
full at the moment. We needed to end the war as swiftly
as possible.
“As for Princess
Pride…”
Prime Minister
Gilbert hesitated before continuing, gaze sweeping to my legs. I wanted to stay
here until the defensive war was over, but my presence diverted soldiers here
to serve as guards. At this point, I was holding the whole army back.
I also wasn’t the
only one in this castle who required constant guarding. We had to split up to
prevent a concentrated attack on these softer targets. Our firepower was
already lacking, and keeping so many knights here would only weaken us further.
I should have taken knights to the southern border, or at least to the village
near the castle in Chinensis, but the current state of my legs made me dead
weight. I knew Stale and Prime Minister Gilbert must feel the same way. How
were we to divide up our soldiers? Where could we draw from to send
reinforcements to the south of Cercis and Chinensis? How could we deal with a
total burden like me, who was just spreading our already limited resources
thin? None of us had the answers yet.
“I’ll go!”
A powerful voice
broke through the discussion. Cedric. He was squeezing his fists and gritting
his teeth. Though he shifted awkwardly under the sudden attention, he soon
straightened his back and continued.
“I’ll take the Freesian
knights to the south of Chinensis as reinforcements. That will help us
distribute our forces a little better.”
The Cercian prime
minister and seneschal immediately begged Cedric to stay here and command the
troops in Cercis instead.
Not even Prime
Minister Dario knew how to respond to Cedric’s casual disregard for his own
safety.
“I want you to let me
borrow some of the knights and communication specialists that have been
following Pride so far,” Cedric said. “Prince Stale, send me… Please send me to the village in Chinensis.”
Cedric stood up
straight to deliver that request, and Stale nodded. Yet King Yohan cried out
from the broadcast.
“Cedric! You’re being
reckless! Even for you, this is too much… You’ve never even held a sword
before!”
All eyes turned to
Cedric after King Yohan’s outburst. Cedric looked out of the window to avoid
the attention. I knew what we were all thinking: How had a prince spent
seventeen years never once studying swordplay? But this was the same as the
game. By the start of ORL, Cedric had never really studied much of anything
before—not until one year before the beginning of the story.
Cedric simply replied
that it would be okay. He gripped the sword at his hip, unable to take his eyes
off of the window.
“I’m the second-born
prince of Cercis,” he said. “I can’t let my big bro, the king of Cercis, die
because I wanted to protect myself.”
Prime Minister
Gilbert and Stale were a bit taken aback by the blunt statement. They certainly
didn’t want to send such an inexperienced prince into a warzone.
With no clear path,
we hit a standstill. I opened my mouth to break it, but someone else beat me to
the punch.
“Then what about
this?” came a light, spirited voice.
Everyone whirled
toward the sound, stunned.
“I will accompany
Prince Cedric to Chinensis as Big Sister’s proxy!” Tiara said.
Tiara Royal Ivy was
supposed to be the frail, kindhearted princess who deserved protection more
than anyone else in this world. Yet her voice rang out clear and strong, like a
bell chiming through the room.
I gasped. “Tiara?”
I was too shocked to
close my mouth. Tiara simply smiled back at me like always.
“Princess
Tiara?!” Commander Roderick croaked through the
transmission.
How could I ever make
Tiara of all people face a dangerous situation for my sake? I’d asked her to
stay in Cercis during the war so that nothing like this would happen to her.
Emotion swirled in my head, leaving me dizzy. I couldn’t find the right words, so I just opened and closed my mouth over and over
again.
“That way, Big
Brother can take some knights to the south of Cercis,” Tiara continued calmly,
heedless of our shock. “I think that will help us distribute our forces in a
way that’s more efficient.”
“Tiara, this isn’t a
game,” Stale said. “It’s war. You could be killed.”
Tiara appeared
unfazed. “But won’t that make you feel better, just in case something bad does
happen?”
Stale furrowed his
brow. She must have been talking about the special signal to call for him. Just
like me, Tiara could whistle for Stale and he could teleport to her directly.
“No, it’s too
dangerous.”
“But I’m fifteen now!
I’m the second-born princess!” Tiara protested.
Stale just continued
to shake his head, arms crossed over his chest. “You don’t know how to fight.
The knights will have their hands full looking after you.”
He was correct about
that. Despite going to the battlefield as the queen’s proxy, my usual role was
away from the fighting. I had to raise morale and command the troops. I had
only made a mess of things because I abused my last boss cheats.
Even Stale, who’d
received formal fencing training as a member of the royal family, never went to
the battlefield without a few knights around him for protection. But we’d have
to send even more knights than usual for the delicate Tiara. It wouldn’t actually
help us turn the tide of battle if we had to send so many knights after Tiara.
“This is a serious
situation. If you keep acting silly, I’ll send you back to Freesia.”
“If you do, I’ll tell
Big Sister and Arthur all your embarrassing secrets!”
“What?!” Stale cried,
suddenly flustered. Red flushed into his cheeks. I tried to meet his eyes, but
his head jerked away.
What’s this, now, little
brother?
With her cheeks
puffed out, Tiara went in for the kill. “I’ll tell Uncle Vest and Prime
Minister Gilbert too!” she shouted, stealing all the words right out of Stale’s
mouth. She definitely wasn’t getting sent home any time soon.
“Wait
just a moment, Your Highness!” Commander Roderick
blurted, reeling.
Prime Minister
Gilbert looked similarly startled. There seemed to be more on his mind,
however. Judging by his silence, I assumed he was just as concerned about Tiara
as the rest of us.
Unfortunately, Stale
and Tiara’s spat drowned out Commander Roderick’s words.
“Time is of the
essence!”
“I know! That’s why
I…”
“T-Tiara, calm down.
Stale’s just worried that you might—”
“I want to help you
too, Big Sister!” Tiara shouted over me.
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!
Something flashed
past Stale.
Captain Alan and
Captain Callum instinctively covered me with their bodies, but the objects
passed straight by us and hit the wall harmlessly, somehow bypassing every
human in the cramped room. It was like the attacker had
aimed specifically for the gaps between us.
The room went silent,
everyone gaping at the three knives jutting from the wall. They were extremely
plain, but I recognized them immediately. No one dared break the silence. Even
Commander Roderick, as I could tell from the corner of my eye, watched through
the transmission with his mouth agape.
It was Prime Minister
Gilbert who finally spoke. “Princess Tiara, please don’t get so upset.”
Tiara exhaled
quietly. “I can fight too. I’m the sibling of Big Brother and Big Sister, after
all! See? There’s no problem!”
My little sister was
holding a knife between her fingers. Stale hadn’t moved a muscle. I could
hardly imagine the look on his face right now; I still couldn’t believe this
myself.
“Tiara, where could
you have possibly…?”
“Sending
reinforcements is more important than worrying about that right now.”
Tiara being the one
to scold a flustered Stale was quite the role reversal.
“Don’t you want to
help Big Sister too?!” she asked him. “Well, I feel the same way! I promise
I’ll call for you if anything happens!”
Then Tiara grabbed
Stale’s hand. Conflicting emotions warred on Stale’s face as Tiara’s stare bore
into his eyes. Finally, he turned away in defeat.
“Promise me, okay?”
he said. “Don’t forget how heartbroken she and I will be if anything happens to
you, got it?!” He grabbed Tiara by the shoulders when he finished.
“Of course!”
“Princess Tiara…”
Cedric blinked at Tiara with wide eyes, still processing the whole situation.
Tiara shot him a
surprisingly harsh look. “I’m not doing this for you! It’s for your people—and
for my big sister!”
Cedric closed his
mouth with a gulp, unable to reply, and bowed his head at Tiara in gratitude.
Tiara just puffed up her cheeks again and turned away from him.
Prime Minister
Gilbert explained the plan while Captain Callum and Captain Alan began to
select knights to accompany Cedric and Tiara. Stale also stepped in to discuss
which knights he would take to Cercis.
“Tiara, did you…?” My
voice petered out as I struggled for words.
Tiara offered me a
shy smile and hid her knife back up her sleeve. When she approached, she
grimaced at the sight of my bandaged legs, as though she were the one in pain.
“I’m sorry I didn’t
tell you after last time,” she said, looking guilty. “I thought you might stop
me if I came clean. You too, Captain Alan.”
“I-It’s fine!”
Captain Alan stammered. He must have figured this all out before now.
Then it clicked for
me as well. The second day of Cedric’s visit to Freesia. It was Tiara who threw
the knives at Cedric to stop him from fighting with me in the garden.
When I replayed the
whole incident in my mind, the knives’ trajectory meant they had to have come
from Tiara. It also matched the account my imperial
knights had told me. Moreover, Tiara had been moving a little differently than
usual, like she was weighed down a bit.
My mind swirled with
questions, but Tiara said, “I wanted to be strong like you, Big Sister.”
I was going to ask
her why she chose knives of all things when a scene from one of the game’s
routes flashed in my mind. Most of the routes ended the same way: Pride, the
last boss, always suffered for her sins via a grisly death at the hands of the
love interest or the heroine.
The love interest or the heroine.
The love interest
character was almost always the one to carry out the execution—almost always. Just once, the story strayed from the norm.
The delicate heroine, Tiara, defeated Pride with her own two hands in one of
the routes.
It was none other
than Stale’s route.
After signing the
fealty contract, Stale couldn’t kill Pride—his mistress. Toward the end of the
game, he gave Tiara a knife with which to challenge Pride herself.
It was the same knife
he’d used all those years ago to kill his own mother.
“Do you get it,
Tiara? If I’m given orders to kill you, then you have to use this knife on me!”
He said those exact
words to Tiara as he handed her the knife. He begged her to kill him before he
could carry out any potential orders to kill Tiara first. If he was going to
die, then he wanted to die at the hands of someone he loved, with the blade that
had claimed his mother’s life.
She wrapped her hands
around the knife and desperately shook her head back at him. But Stale wouldn’t
be persuaded. He said he’d rather have Tiara kill him than kill her instead.
Reluctantly, Tiara eventually stowed the knife away in her pocket with a nod.
“If only we could run
away together,” she said. “Or if you could escape on your own…”
“Hearing you say that
is all I need,” Stale replied. “But if I do that, I won’t be able to protect
you. Besides, my fealty contract means I can never escape the queen. You
understand that, don’t you?”
Tiara nodded, still
in tears. “I know. I know,” she continued in a whisper. Finally, she raised her
head and told him that everything would be all right. “I’ll protect you too, I
promise! I’ll never let you die!”
She vowed to protect
her beloved Stale from whatever Pride might do to him. At the end of the game,
Queen Pride used the fealty contract to challenge Stale to a duel.
“Come and get me!
Let’s have some fun on the last day of your life!” she screeched.
Stale emerged from
the duel victorious, but just as he was about to deliver the final blow…
“I strip you of all
permissions.”
Queen Pride cackled
as she issued that command. Stale lost his ability to bring his sword down
against her. The queen toyed with Stale, then ordered him to take his own life.
That was when Tiara sent that knife flying straight at Pride.
Confident in her
victory, Pride didn’t notice the knife until it was sticking out of her heart.
She clutched at her chest and collapsed, struggling for breath. Blood drained
from her heart and spurted out of her mouth when she coughed. She glared at
Tiara with intense hatred, giving her one last evil grimace, then succumbed in
the pool of blood. It dyed her scarlet hair an even brighter red as she lay in
the puddle.
“Ugh! Hic… Ngh!”
Tiara broke down in
tears over the guilt of killing her own sister. Stale wrapped her in his arms,
trying to comfort her as best he could. It was a heartbreaking scene.
I felt that heartbreak
even stronger after reincarnating.
Evidently, Tiara was
pretty handy with throwing knives. She’d even taken out Pride, the last boss,
with a single blade right to the heart. It was similar to how I, as the last
boss from the game, could fight with a sword, gun, or martial arts. I supposed
Tiara had a specialty of her own—knives.
“Listen, Big Sister,”
Tiara said back in the present, “It’s all right. I’m going to be the one to
protect you this time!”
She smiled softly and
wrapped me in a gentle hug. In my trance, I didn’t even realize that I was
squeezing her back. Tiara, the heroine of this world, never once fought in a
war during the game.
“Please be smart out
there,” I told her. “Call for Stale right away if anything happens.”
“Of course! I’ll
never do anything to make you or Big Brother sad.”
I had so many
questions; it was impossible to collect my thoughts into something coherent.
All I knew for sure was that the Tiara standing in front of me right now
intended to join the battle for our sake.
“You’ve already done
so much for us.” Tiara released me from the hug and stepped away, smiling
shyly.
Behind her, Stale was
working with the knights to prepare for the next advances they would take,
while Prime Minister Gilbert conducted one last meeting with Commander Roderick
and the knights who would accompany Tiara. Cedric gripped his sword as he observed
us all.
“Now it’s our turn to
come to your rescue, Big Sister!”
My heart skipped a
beat at the sight of her bright, sunny smile.
***
“Prince Stale, are
these knights satisfactory to take with you to the south of Cercis?” Prime
Minister Gilbert asked as he wrapped up his meeting with the prince.
Stale nodded and
adjusted his armor. “Yes, very much so. You’re in charge of everything here
while I’m gone. That’s not a problem, is it?”
“Of course not,”
Prime Minister Gilbert said with an elegant smile and deep bow. “Oh, I have one
more idea for you…”
“Naturally, Your
Highnesses will be the ones to make the final decision,” the prime minister
said. He backed away from Stale with a smile. I couldn’t help wondering what
the heck all that had been about.
Stale grimaced and
said, “You’re sure staying focused, even in the middle of an emergency.” Then
he strode up to me. “Elder Sister, I’d like to talk with you for a moment.”
He glanced at Captain
Alan and Captain Callum, stationed on either side of me, and added, “This
concerns you two as well.”
The captains leaned
in closer so that Stale could whisper to me where I sat in my chair. To be
honest, I didn’t understand why this topic required such secrecy, but I agreed
to the plan nonetheless. It sounded smart enough to me, and we couldn’t afford
to waste any firepower. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder why this conversation
had the captains sweating.
Stale just smiled and
asked for my cooperation. He then went to speak to Tiara and the knights
accompanying her.
Suddenly, raised
voices came from the transmission of the northern front. I worried it was an
ambush for a harrowing heartbeat, but realized I’d misread the commander’s
reaction. Commander Roderick handed over the transmission to the communication
specialist and left to work on his final battle preparations. It seemed like we
were finally all where we needed to be—or, well, almost all of us.
Cedric stared fixedly
at the transmission displaying King Lance’s headquarters.
“Cedric,” I called to
him.
“Didn’t I tell you
it’s not your fault?” I said with a smile, but the expression on his face only
turned gloomier.
I tried again: “Did
you decide to lead the reinforcements to help King Lance?”
Cedric’s eyebrows
shot up. “No! It’s not just that! It’s for Big Brother, all the citizens, and
you!”
He clamped down on
his explanation, as though hesitant to continue. My smile turned a bit awkward,
but at least he really did care about helping me.
“I just felt like…if
I didn’t actually do something now, then I’d be like this for the rest of my
life,” Cedric said, turning his gaze aside.
He clutched something
tucked under his shirt. I took his trembling hand to steady it, but he winced
at the contact.
“Cedric, listen
closely.”
I craned my neck to
peer at him, practically looking at the ceiling. Cedric knelt so I could meet
his eyes more easily.
“It’s all right,” I
said. “Your inner self is a thousand times more radiant than your looks.”
Cedric opened his
mouth like he wanted to refute that, then cast his gaze aside again. He
squeezed the front of his shirt and scrunched up his face. The tremble in his
hand intensified. Judging by his reaction, he must not have understood me
correctly.
“Don’t suppress your
true self. When you’re doing everything you’re capable of and putting your
every last effort into protecting those you care about, I think that’s when
you’re the most radiant. It’s wonderful.”
His quaking ceased
and his breathing fell still, like time had stopped for him. He stared at me,
face frozen, wide eyes sparkling like fragile crystals.
“It will be okay. I
believe your brothers have been waiting for you for a long time.”
His lower lip
twitched, his eyes shimmering as his emotions swelled. I pulled him in against
my armor to hide the tears before they spilled free in front of the others, but
even as I stroked his head, the rest of his body began to tremble.
“Now go to them.”
I didn’t know when,
exactly, time had stopped for him. All I knew was that the childish man I’d
known ever since we first met, the man who never quite grew up—he had things he
wanted to protect.
“Shout it out to the
whole world. You’re the beloved younger brother of King Lance Silva Lowell.”
Cedric’s shoulders
stiffened and his hands shook. He lifted his head slowly to meet my eyes. His
face was bright red despite his desperate bid to keep from crying.
“You’re the beloved
younger brother of King Yohan Linne Dwight as well,” I said. “I’m sure you know
better than anyone else just how wonderful those two men are.”
“Hold your head up
high. You’re the younger brother of the best kings in the world!”
I put all the force I
could into those words. The flames in his wide eyes lurched, reflecting the
light. He nodded vigorously. “Right!”
Prime Minister Gilbert
told us it was time to get going. Tiara, the prime minister, and the knights
were all watching Cedric and me. They must have finished preparing for battle.
I released Cedric’s hands and he stood up slowly.
“I have to go,” he
murmured, but I clasped his right hand in both of mine one last time.
Cedric was finally
ready to stand on his own two feet. He was ready to undo his choice to freeze
time for himself. But there was still one more thing I had to tell him.
“Now is the time to
show off the fangs and claws you’ve kept hidden all this time, Cedric Silva
Lowell!”
He shuddered as
though frightened. Then he squeezed my hands in return. Cedric set his jaw,
finally prepared. Those flaming eyes steadied and he stood up tall, sticking
his chest out.
“Just you watch me,
Pride Royal Ivy!” he said.
With that, he slipped
his hand out of mine and turned on his heel, sending his jacket fluttering
behind him like a cape. The breeze rustled my hair.
I watched Cedric
depart in silence. He never once turned back to look at me again. He strode up
to Tiara and the knights, exchanged words with Stale,
and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Cedric’s group was
being teleported to a field in the town closest to the Chinensian castle—the
town where King Lance would be. There, they would be able to grab horses and
search for King Lance while slaying any enemies in their path.
Prime Minister
Gilbert approached me next, filling in the spot where Cedric had been, and
crouched down to meet my eyes. He was here to confirm the specifics of the
plan.
“Does everything
sound satisfactory, Your Highness?”
“Yes, it does. Thank
you, Prime Minister Gilbert.”
His smile was as
elegant as ever as he returned, but he narrowed his slender eyes. “Your safety
is paramount. Who knows how many souls would suffer if you perished? I would be
one of them, you know.”
I swallowed at the
reminder of just how much worry I’d caused for him. “I’m truly, truly sorry. I didn’t mean to make such a mess for you.”
“No, there’s no need
to apologize to me. I only regret not being able to take on your pain myself.”
He stared at my bandaged leg. “I would happily trade as many legs with you as
you need.” He may have been joking, but that look in his eyes was anything but
lighthearted. “Please rest well from here on out. I promise to bring you the
conclusion to this war that you seek. We’re not going to let anyone else lay a
single finger on you. That’s something everyone agrees on.”
Despite this
reassurance, I couldn’t relax; a dark aura emanated from him as he made this
promise. I forced a smile through the shudder rippling through me.
The gravity in his
voice left me no room for protest. I pressed my lips together instead.
“I suppose Prince
Stale already made some recommendations,” Prime Minister Gilbert went on, his
smile somewhat exasperated. “I can’t express it any better than that. I simply
hope you’ll accept the fact that many people are hurt whenever you put yourself
in danger.”
“Right…” I didn’t
even notice that I’d hung my head.
“My apologies. I’ve
said too much.” When I told him that wasn’t true, he sighed. “You’re very dear
to us, Princess Pride. Just as you care for us, we care for you. I eagerly
await the day that you finally come to accept this fact.”
Prime Minister
Gilbert’s voice was quiet as he made his case. When he was finished, he bowed
his head deeply, then departed.
Stale approached me
next, almost as if they had planned this procession in advance. “Look at me,
Elder Sister.”
I was still shaking
off my reaction to Prime Minister Gilbert’s words as I met Stale’s eyes.
“I want you to call
me the second anything happens,” Stale said. “I don’t care where you are or who
you’re with.”
Stale was headed to
the south of Cercis with a group of knights who’d serve as
reinforcements—something I was supposed to do before I got injured. I agreed
that I would summon him the moment I needed him, but
Stale wasn’t quite done yet.
“Thank you for
calling me so quickly back then. If you’d hesitated, I…” He trailed off. I
thanked him, trying to smile, but his face remained gloomy. He reached out to
me, gently placing his hands over mine where they rested in my lap. “The truth
is…I really don’t want to leave you right now.”
His tender murmur and
the worry within made my heart ache. I was about to apologize, but he spoke up
again.
“Nevertheless, I’m
really, really glad I have this special power.”
His voice was
suddenly so much brighter. I blinked as the smile on Stale’s face slowly
morphed into something genuine. He gazed kindly at me.
“I can come running
to your side no matter how far away you are,” he said. “Even if we’re
separated, I can always be with you. It’s a privilege no one else has.”
Stale wrapped my
hands in his. His cheeks flushed, his fretful air completely gone now.
“I’ll be there
whenever you need me. So please, call for me at any time. Even if you can’t see
me, I’m always with you.”
The palpable
happiness in his voice warmed me to the core. His expression was compassionate
and masculine. I soaked it up as I absorbed his words.
“I will,” I said.
The person in front
of me wasn’t my younger brother—he was a grown man. My hazy mind suddenly
recalled that he was my adoptive brother, not my
literal younger brother. The boy I had constantly frightened, upset, and
troubled with my actions was no longer here. I always
felt that I had to protect him as his older sister. I never wanted to make him
sad.
But suddenly, there
he was, right before my eyes: a person protecting me instead.
It wasn’t just Stale either. Today, I had been rescued by so many people.
Stale’s lips quirked
up at my dazed state. “Please don’t worry about me,” he said, releasing my
hands to rest his palm against the sword at his waist.
The man in front of
me—clad in armor and a jet-black uniform, smiling with all the strength in the
world—wasn’t the Stale Royal Ivy I knew from the game.
“I’m strong too, you
know. My partner and I have spent years polishing our skills with a sword.”
He pressed the black
frames of his glasses up and stuck his hand out for me to take, almost like he
was inviting me to join him for a dance. I took it. He used the other to
gesture to the two imperial knights on either side of me.
“Please take good
care of her,” he said, offering them handshakes. “I don’t want you to worry.
We’ll bring you your victory in this war.”
My heart skipped a
beat at the ring of those loud, clear words. I couldn’t summon a response.
Before I untangled my touch, the world shifted before me.
“Princess Pride?!”
The second I
teleported with my two imperial knights, someone called out for me.
“Why have you come
here?!”
“I’m sorry to barge
in all of a sudden,” I told the king.
We’d come to the main
headquarters of Chinensis. This was the place where I would watch over the
final stages of the war.
“That said, I’ll be
right here with you.”
The final counterattack was about to begin.
Chapter 2: The Blasphemous Princess and the Counterattack
“YOU WANT HIM?!”
King Yohan balked at
my request. The communication specialists at the base of operations in the
Chinensian castle transmitted multiple images all around the room so we could
observe the entire war in real time. Thanks to them, we could see the Cercian
border, the base of operations in the Cercian castle, the village in Chinensis,
and the front lines to the north. We would certainly receive a transmission if
anything happened to Stale or Tiara’s groups, but for now, there was no visual
of their locations.
I’d been worried
about the commotion and vibrations I was witnessing on the broadcast from the
northern front, but the communication specialist explained in a strained voice
that they were perfectly fine. I would likely be able to hear any bombings from
my place in the Chinensian castle. Besides, the voices coming through that
transmission seemed more like victory cheers than battle cries.
“That’s correct.” I
nodded at King Yohan. “I want him. Is that acceptable?”
“Of course… You have
every right to give him orders,” King Yohan responded, still taken aback. He
then ordered a guard at the door to exit the room and bring in the man I’d
asked for; it sounded as if he was close by. The guard stuck his head out the
door, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The unexpected
arrival of his homeland’s princess apparently shocked him. I had never seen his
eyes bulge like this before. His gaze drifted down to my legs next, and I
realized just how much the injuries stood out. I hurried ahead of his questions
by greeting him.
“Hello there, Captain
Harrison,” I said. “King Yohan tells me you’ve been doing excellent work here.”
Captain Harrison Dirk
was the leader of the Eighth Squadron and Arthur’s direct superior. I had heard
that he single-handedly took out most of the enemies who attempted to invade
King Yohan’s castle. He was truly a force to be reckoned with.
When I admitted I was
the one who’d summoned him, he blinked rapidly. “Your Highness, I…”
Just as I opened my
mouth to explain, Captain Harrison vanished.
It happened so fast,
I thought he might have the same teleportation power as Stale, or at least some
kind of invisibility power. I whirled around, looking for him.
“Alan Berners! Callum
Bordeaux! What the hell have you two been doing?! Answer me!”
The hairs on the back
of my neck stood up from that low, hostile growl. My eyes fell on Captain
Harrison holding a knife and sword to the throats of Captain Callum and Captain
Alan. King Yohan and I were too shocked to protest, but the two
pinned captains remained composed, almost as if they were expecting this.
Captain Callum was
the first to speak. “I won’t make excuses. Just don’t dull your blades for no
good reason, Harrison.”
“I get it, I get it,”
Captain Alan said. “You can deal with me however you want when the war’s over.”
The captains held
their hands in the air like criminals surrendering to the authorities. Now I
understood their strange reactions when Stale suggested I meet up with Captain
Harrison.
“I misjudged you
two,” Captain Harrison growled. “Of all the people to be with her… You bask in
the glory of being imperial knights while you let everything fall apart?! Alan
Berners! Callum Bordeaux! Are your arms and brains just for show?!”
It seemed today had
many firsts regarding Captain Harrison; I’d never seen him speak at such length
before. I understood that he was shocked by my injuries, but this wasn’t the
time for infighting.
“Please wait just a
moment, Captain Harrison!” I said. “I would have died if it weren’t for the two
of them!”
Captain Harrison
truly seemed on the verge of beheading the captains, so I begged him not to
lash out in haste. The captain froze. I peeked at his face, barely visible
beneath his long black hair. His eyes were fixed directly on me.
“I would like you to put your weapons down. It
wasn’t their fault, I promise. Will you please listen to my side of the story?”
Captain Harrison
sheathed his knife and sword and zoomed back to the space in front of His
Majesty and me, then fell to one knee. “My apologies,” he said simply, as if
nothing had happened.
My mouth dropped
open, but I quickly collected myself. “First of all, what happened to my leg is
my own fault, so please don’t blame the two of them. I also came here today
with a request for you.”
He bowed his head and
did not protest, so I pushed on.
“Captain Harrison,
I’m asking for your help because I have faith in your skills.”
He raised his head
and his purple eyes met mine, only for him to avert them again. “I’ll do
anything,” he replied, staring at the ground.
“As you can see, I
won’t be able to move my legs for the rest of the day,” I said. “However, the
situation on all fronts is currently approaching the final stages, including to
the north. Chinensis is also suffering an invasion from the southern border.”
Captain Harrison,
still kneeling before me, shuddered ever so slightly. He looked frightened,
although that couldn’t have been the case. He lifted his head up just a little,
waiting for me to continue.
“However, there’s
something I would like to ask of you: I want you to head to the southern border
and work to suppress the invasion there. You can take as many knights as you—”
“Very well. I can handle
it alone.”
Prime Minister
Gilbert had first suggested this plan. By heading to Chinensis with my imperial
knights, some of the other guards at the castle could move to new locations.
Captain Harrison was the closest knight to the headquarters at the castle, but
more importantly, he was extremely capable. According to Prime Minister
Gilbert, Captain Harrison could put a damper on the enemy invasion to the south
all on his own, and I had agreed, though I’d wondered if he needed some sort of
backup. I never expected Captain Harrison to truly insist on going it alone.
“Leave it to me, Your
Highness.”
He rose in one fluid
motion. I half expected him to do his teleportation thing again, so I called
out to him before he could disappear. “Please, just don’t do anything
reckless!”
Fighting a surging
army of enemy soldiers alone was unthinkably dangerous. It wasn’t a job for one
knight alone. Surprise stunned him for a moment; then he dropped to a knee to
say, “As you wish.” The captain slowly stood up once more and looked over my shoulder.
“Alan Berners. Callum
Bordeaux. There better not be a single scratch on her when I return.” He
unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the throats of both captains with a
glare. The glint in his purple eyes was as sharp as his blade.
Captain Alan and
Captain Callum nodded their agreement. Captain Harrison gave His Majesty and me
one last bow, and with another gust of wind, he was gone.
I swallowed hard,
feeling equally nervous, but Captain Callum stepped in to reassure us. “I
believe he’ll be all right,” he said. “Knowing Harrison, he’ll tell the knights
here in the castle to take over his post, then he’ll run straight to the south.
I’m sure there are knights who would volunteer to go with him…but I know he
prefers to do things alone.”
“Harrison’s never
been very good with teamwork. But when it comes to strength…he’s the real deal.
I can guarantee that much,” Captain Alan added. He spoke more quietly than
usual.
“We apologize
sincerely for the scene we and Harrison just caused.”
When Captain Callum
said as much, the two of them bowed in tandem. He must have been referring to
that bold threat Captain Harrison had issued. King Yohan and I both dismissed
their concern.
Little did we know
that in just half an hour, the invasion from the southern border would come to
a complete and total halt.
***
“Can I ask you
something, Princess Tiara?” Cedric shouted over the noise.
Knights cut through
enemy soldiers as they searched the Chinensian village. Men whose special
powers allowed them to jump to great heights soared into the air or sent other
knights up in their place by touching them. From those heights, these knights could scan the whole battlefield, as well as check
on the vulnerable townsfolk and evacuation sites. The goal was to meet up with
King Lance’s party, who was scouting ahead.
“Yes, if it’s quick!”
I snapped, harsher than usual. I was sharing a horse with a knight who
controlled the animal for me. As the second-born princess, I didn’t have much
practice riding at a gallop, and there was no time for me to learn in the
middle of a battle.
The rest of the
knights formed a protective ring around us. They maintained a defensive
structure, cleaning up any enemy soldiers who crossed our path. They also rode
close enough that we could talk—or yell, rather—to each other at any time.
While all of this was perfectly logical, I didn’t like it.
“Why did you choose
to come with me, if I might inquire?” Cedric asked, his voice annoyingly loud.
“I told you! I want
to help my big sister and the people of Hanazuo!” I tried to glare, but Cedric
clearly wasn’t accepting my answer.
“Yes, I heard that
already—I know it wasn’t for me! Aren’t there other ways to help them,
though?!”
I puffed out my
cheeks in irritation. He unfortunately wasn’t wrong about that; I didn’t need to accompany him on this mission. Stale could have been
the one to go, or I could have insisted Cedric stay back at the Cercian castle
with me.
But I wasn’t backing
down. I faced Cedric head-on, leaving the horse to the knight riding behind me.
I sucked in a breath, then said, “Because I didn’t want you to die out here!
Big Brother’s not silly enough to travel with someone who’s nothing more than a
burden! Dummy!”
“I wanted to keep my
knives a secret! It’s all your fault, you idiot! You fool! You absolute
buffoon!”
The prince seemed
overcome by my outburst. “I…I apologize.”
“My big sister
would’ve definitely taken you with her! So I did the same! Also…” My voice
petered out, my rage faltering. I looked away for a moment before fixing Cedric
with a piercing gaze. The moment our eyes met, I shouted, “Idiot!”
Cooling down but
still in a huff, I added, “Also, don’t speak to me so formally. You talk to my
sister as an equal, so treat me the same way. It’s hard to talk to you when
you’re being so proper. She’s the firstborn princess, sure, but I’m second in
line. You don’t need to be so uptight. I never mentioned it before because I
was trying to avoid speaking with you.” I gave him little choice but to
acquiesce.
“Fine,” Cedric said.
“Then don’t speak to me formally either…Tiara.”
Cedric agreed to my
terms, and I let the matter drop. I focused instead on the road before us,
taking the reins back from the knight. Cedric did the same, when suddenly…
“Cercian soldiers
have been spotted ahead!” another knight cried out. “They’re engaging in battle
at the town square!”
The knight delivered
his report after dropping back out of the sky. He pointed in the exact
direction we were already headed.
“Bro!”
“Let’s hurry!”
***
“King Yohan, are you
worried about King Lance and Prince Cedric?” Princess Pride asked. She was at
my side, smiling serenely. She must have picked up on my dour mood.
I sat on a sofa in
the main headquarters of the Chinensian castle. I smiled back at the princess
half-heartedly, unable to muster up anything more. All I could do was lean
forward, lace my fingers together, and stare at the transmissions. Everything
looked calm enough for the moment, but an intense brawl waged on the broadcast
from Lance’s location. Though we hadn’t received any distressing reports on
that front, it seemed like only a matter of time. I hoped Cedric’s group would
reach them in time, yet I was also desperate for him to avoid enemy soldiers.
He’d spent his whole
life avoiding studying and tutors. How was he supposed to fight a war now? Not
even Lance, his own brother, had ever seen him train with a sword or learn
self-defense maneuvers. No matter how many times I pleaded with Cedric to learn
any kind of self-defense, he always stubbornly shook his head. “I’m a prince, so I’ve got the best guards. I don’t need to learn
self-defense!” he’d say, ending the conversation there every time. He
couldn’t comprehend the necessity of such skills in times of war, betrayal, or
power struggles. He lacked the experience that would help him understand.
Even with Freesia’s
knights accompanying him, the thought of that boy charging onto a battlefield
was enough to tie my stomach in knots. A chill tingled through my limbs. Here I was, shut away in a castle and unable to do anything to
help, while my best friend and little brother dove right into the heart of the
battle. I could hardly bear to watch.
“I’m certain that
Prince Cedric will be all right. I just know it,” Princess Pride said softly. I
could not understand her optimism.
I didn’t know what
exactly had happened between him and the princess during Cedric’s days in the
Freesian castle, but I suddenly both wanted and feared to know.
Cedric had left his
homeland for our sake. Even if he ended up failing in his negotiations with
Freesia, I didn’t care. It was the first time that Cedric had ever left the
country of his own will and therefore gotten a chance to learn about the
outside world. My people and I were already prepared to surrender, so I felt it
was safe to entrust my wishes to Cedric—to the second-born prince of Cercis. I
clung to one last sliver of hope for the people of the United Hanazuo Kingdom.
But more than that, I believed in him. Cedric never studied any etiquette,
manners, or formal negotiation skills, and yet…
“I was sure to give
him all sorts of ‘gifts’ before I sent him off,” Princess Pride said, radiating
confidence.
“What?!” I gaped at
the princess. I couldn’t even ask her what exactly she gifted him. The two
knights at her back looked just as confused as I did.
Princess Pride was
perfectly calm in the face of our astonishment. “I had a premonition,” she
said. “I’m certain that Prince Cedric will do well.”
The word
“premonition” caused a stir among the knights.
Her precognition.
Princess Pride’s lips
moved while I stared at her in utter shock. I couldn’t catch most of what she
was saying, but two words snagged my attention. My heart nearly stopped dead in
my chest.
How does she know?!
It was a phrase that
was hardly ever spoken in Chinensis and Cercis, especially in the past few
years. People regarded it as old-fashioned, something that had faded away over
the years…or rather, something forced to fade away by
Cedric himself.
Her Highness had just
uttered Cedric’s nickname.
***
“The enemy invasion has
died down? But why?!” I asked.
I’d been cutting down
every foe in my path, thinning the overwhelming flood of enemy soldiers, when
they suddenly stopped. The village was still under attack, but the invasion
itself was slackening.
I looked to the south
and confirmed that the coil of enemies finally had an end. It was hard to make
out, but I could finally see a tail to that horrible snake. I sighed, knowing
the end was near and that my kingdom could return to some semblance of order.
Until then, we had more foes to fell.
“King Lance! Bro!”
My eyes went wide as
I took in the sight of Cedric rushing toward me with the Freesia second-born
princess, Tiara, at his side. “Cedric?!” I said. “How did you get here?!”
You idiot! Where do you think you are?! Why aren’t you at the
castle?! This is a war zone!
All those
admonishments sprang to my mind, but I didn’t have time to utter any of them. I
had enough to do just fighting off enemies and commanding my troops. Plus, this
was no time for an argument with my little brother.
Cedric arrived behind
my group on his horse and signaled for his own knights to join the fray.
Princess Tiara did likewise, leaving behind only enough men to protect the two
of them. Freesian men with jumping powers sent the troops sailing through the
air toward the front lines so they could put down this invasion at last.
“Don’t separate from
me, Prince Cedric!” Princess Tiara said. “You’ll make trouble for the knights
who are protecting us!”
“I know!” he
responded, jaw tensing as he stared off in the direction of the battle.
Just then, a silver
trail flashed past his face.
“What the hell?!”
The path of the knife
led right to an enemy, who’d been trying to attack before that blade was buried
in his throat. We both gaped at Princess Tiara—the unlikely source of that
deadly throw. Her golden eyes blazed with determination.
“Stop looking away!” she
cried. “It’s dangerous to let your guard down during a battle!”
Cedric stammered a
vague response, visibly impressed. Princess Tiara clearly wasn’t used to being
on horseback, but she’d still landed a perfect, precise hit and avoided Cedric
and the knights in the meantime.
From what I learned
later from Cedric, Tiara had also taken out multiple enemies during the trip to
the village. The knights tried to insist that she keep enough weapons for
herself and leave the attacking to them, but she’d simply opened her jacket,
displaying a whole arsenal of knives.
“You’re really good
with those,” Cedric said absently, the words slipping out of his mouth.
Princess Tiara just
glared at him, clutching knives between her fingers. “Of course I am! I
practiced a whole lot so I could protect my beloved sister! It was a lot of
work!”
She sent another
knife flying as she rebuked my brother. This one struck an enemy right in the
forehead as he pointed his rifle in our direction. The little princess was even
faster than the knights around us reaching for their guns.
“All this time, I’ve
been searching for something I could do,” Princess Tiara went on. “I knew I
couldn’t protect my sister or anyone else unless I got stronger!”
The princess sent
more knives off with a flash. Each landed with a thud in an enemy’s weapon,
ruining their aim before they could shoot. The knights seized the opportunity,
plunging in to take down the wall of enemies barring our way.
“That’s why I
secretly took lessons and practiced every single day!”
“Lessons?! Who taught
you?!” Cedric asked.
They had to shout over the
roar of the war raging all around us.
Princess Tiara
ignored him. “All you ever do is make people look
after you!” That left Cedric speechless, but Tiara pushed on. “You feel like
crying all the time, so you go to my sister for help! And she rescues you! Then
you do it again! You always wait for someone to save you! You baby! Big spoiled
brat!” Her knives flew in all directions, but her sharp words had only one
target.
It seemed Princess
Tiara was attuned to the feelings of others, as she’d seen right through my
little brother. When he ran off to Freesia, he came to rely on Princess Pride’s
kindness. Apparently, he’d confessed everything to her, crying before her, taking
her hand. Peculiar indeed…
“That’s why I hate
you! You don’t deserve her!”
Princess Tiara was
completely sick of Cedric, that much was clear. I observed all this thanks to
the knights clearing out enemies around us and removing the danger that had
been pressing in around me before Cedric and the princess arrived. The knights
used blade and gun alike to take out our foes, as well as streams of fire and
water that swept in thanks to some special powers. The group Cedric and
Princess Tiara had brought along was small, but these Freesians were a force to
be reckoned with, truly.
The princess breathed
a quiet sigh of relief at the improving state of the battle. Then, as if
casually recalling an item on her to-do list, she resumed berating my brother.
Her resentment had clearly been building up for a long time.
“You don’t even know
how to hold a sword! You’re so selfish! All you ever do is make people protect
y—”
“Then let me get
myself a sword,” Cedric interrupted.
“What do you think
you’re doing?!” Princess Tiara asked, her bewildered expression mirroring that
of the knights behind her.
There was no way
Cedric could dismount a horse the same way the knights did. Even if he could
ride a horse on his own, Cedric didn’t have experience dismounting at full
gallop. Only Freesia’s knights were capable of those mad jumps off their
charging horses, but Cedric was clearly about to attempt it for himself. We
couldn’t possibly allow him to do something so reckless.
“Don’t be stupid!”
Princess Tiara shouted before I got a chance. “Sit down on your horse! You—”
Whoosh!
Cedric ignored Princess Tiara’s warning and leapt
into the sky. Without the help of a special power, he couldn’t get as high as
the other knights. Even so, he soared gracefully over the men on the ground,
landed on his feet, and immediately sliced through an enemy soldier. I knew
this was the first time he’d ever used a sword in his life, yet he handled the
weapon like an experienced knight.
He cut through enemy
troops, neutralizing them in a blink and dodging their attacks as if he’d done
this a million times before. Cedric dodged every counterattack, slipped in
front of the soldiers, and plunged his sword into their bodies before they could
react…just like Princess Pride had.
Before any enemies
could fire their weapons at him, Cedric snatched the guns right out of their
hands and fired back effortlessly. Anyone who rushed at him met the end of his
blade, while those aiming to overpower him wound up on
their back with their feet swept out from under them. Cedric pierced the gaps
in their armor while they were still on the ground.
It was startling
watching Cedric fly onto the battlefield—but it was even more
astonishing how natural he looked in a fight. As impressive as it was, it was
also a huge surprise. I wasn’t the only one watching either. All the soldiers
gaped at Cedric as he wove around and among them like they were an extension of
his own body.
“I read it in a
book!” Cedric said as he worked. “This is how you guys work together, right?!”
He flashed a devious
smile at his baffled audience and pushed closer to where I fought up on the
front lines.
“It was a lesson in a
foreign book,” he said. “If you want to take out the general, take out his
horse first!”
Cedric scooped up a
rifle, then called out to a knight on the front lines.
“’Scuse me! Can you
send me flying like those other knights? I only want to get high enough to see
where the enemies are.”
The knight was
rattled by the unexpected request, but he agreed. When he touched Cedric, he
cried out, “Here you go!” and hurled him into the air.
Cedric scanned the
ground as he soared upward, counting the enemy or perhaps their horses. As he
arced back toward the ground, the shots rang out.
Bang!
Bang! Bang! With each of Cedric’s shots, a horse
whinnied and collapsed, dragging its rider down with it. Even when he ran out
of bullets, he simply reached into his jacket and retrieved four throwing
knives to continue his assault. The sound of the passing
gusts of wind was immediately followed by screams of the horses who collapsed
to the ground along with the men on their backs.
The enemy’s formation
was already breaking up by the time Cedric landed back on the ground safely.
They hadn’t just lost their horses—they’d suffered even more damage from the
struggle the horses put up before dying. There were no injuries to the Cercian
or Freesian fighters around me, and injured and panicked enemies fled right
into our waiting troops.
“Don’t waste this
opportunity!” I shouted. “Now’s the time to put on the pressure!”
I dove into the
fight, determined to make good use of the boon Cedric had granted us. Even as I
launched into the battle, I couldn’t tear my eyes off my brother. Cedric,
having reached the ground again, was clearing a path alongside the rest of the
knights. When he shouted over his shoulder to Princess Tiara, he never so much
as stumbled. Awe and respect dawned in the eyes of the knights fighting around
him. They probably assumed he’d been honing these skills in secret for years,
especially after what they’d heard from Yohan on an earlier broadcast.
But I knew the truth.
Cedric had truly
never held a sword before in his life. He’d never learned how to fire a rifle,
nor even touched one before today. He’d never once studied military formations
or self-defense practices.
There was no way
Cedric should have been able to surpass real Cercian troops. I knew this better
than anyone. He was even keeping up with the war-savvy Freesian knights.
Just before he raised
his sword again to meet an oncoming enemy, I murmured to myself.
***
“How do you know that
name?”
King Yohan’s eyes
went wide when he heard me. Even Captain Alan and Captain Callum gaped at us in
wonder. I understood why they were confused…and why King Yohan was so startled.
“God’s child.”
It was a term I had
no reason to know. I couldn’t tell His Majesty that I’d learned it through
experiencing this world as an otome game, so instead I brushed it off as a
premonition.
“I don’t know when it
will happen,” I said. “I just know that at some point in the future, he’ll come
to accept that name for himself.”
King Yohan’s golden
eyes went even wider, welling with emotion. “He will?” The king squeezed his
lips together and shut his eyes as if he were praying.
Cedric Silva
Lowell—the second-born prince, nicknamed “God’s child.” He was a prodigy
capable of permanently memorizing everything he observed. He could absorb the
knowledge and instantly use it to its full potential. That was why he had tried
so hard to escape his studies. He wanted to abandon all knowledge to clear a
path to the throne for his brother. It was his own choice to remain ignorant.
In the game, Cedric
grew into a wonderful prince just one year after his tragedy took place. He’d
spent his whole life refusing to study, yet it only took a year… No, he’d been
supporting his country ever since King Lance fell into a state of madness, growing into a prince along the way. It was all
thanks to his abilities as “God’s child” that he’d refused to touch for all
those years.
That was why I
brought Cedric with me out of the castle. He was ready to make a change. Once
we were out of the castle and Cedric had a chance to watch me and the knights
battling up close, he would absorb our every move. As the man who crossed
swords with Queen Pride in the game, I knew he could do it. Once he
comprehended his own talents, he would gain self-confidence and a hidden weapon
he could use to push into enemy territory.
In fact, at that very
moment, he was…
***
“Wh-what was that?! How
did you just…?!”
I watched Cedric from
atop my horse, wide-eyed with disbelief. He fought among the other knights in
perfect sync, sword in hand, looking like a completely new man from the coward
who’d arrived in Freesia to beg for my big sister’s help. Now he fought so bravely
I got distracted and had to rely on my knights to protect me while I stumbled.
“Which part?! The
sword? The gun? Or the knives?!” he asked with a hearty laugh.
“All of it!” I
snapped.
Cedric simply laughed
again, plunging his sword into another enemy. “I learned it earlier! Pride and
the knights put on a great show for me today with their swords and guns. I just
copied what I saw!”
“I learned the knives
from watching you, Tiara!” Cedric said, the excitement obvious in his voice.
His whirlwind of
attacks continued as he fired his rifle at an enemy. The man collapsed the
moment the shot cracked through the air.
“I’d never seen
anyone use throwing knives before, but it’s kinda inconvenient, huh? You lose
all your weapons really fast! I like this better!”
He retrieved the dead
man’s firearm. Then, with a gun in each hand, he spun in a circle, firing at
the enemies sneaking up on me from behind. I pulled out a few more knives, but
Cedric had already taken out every enemy.
“I don’t need your
help!”
I had to resist the
urge to fling a knife at Cedric. This was the first time I’d used them in front
of others, and Cedric was criticizing my choice of weaponry? My face burned
with heat.
“I still have plenty
more where that came from!” I said, but Cedric just chuckled.
“They’re not all bad.
Besides, you’re probably the only princess in the whole world who knows how to
use throwing knives.”
“I don’t believe you!
You never even left your country until a few days ago!”
“You’re right about
that!” Cedric said, bringing up his sword again.
“Tiara, you hate me,
right?!”
As he claimed life
after life with his own hands, this question made it sound like he wasn’t even
giving the battle his full attention.
I swallowed at the
question, then glared at him. “Yes! I hate you! I hate you for making my sister
cry!”
“Ha ha! Is that
right?! What else?!”
He sounded a bit like
the king when he laughed like that. I sent five more knives flying into the
enemy before announcing my complaints.
“You’re spoiled! You
have no common sense or manners! You’re a crybaby! And you ate all the food we
worked so hard on! Even the cookies! Those were meant for people my sister
cared about more than anyone! You big glutton! Stupid dummy!”
The flood of memories
only left me more enraged, but behind me, Cedric was howling with laughter.
“What a coincidence!”
he called back. “I always hated me for the same reasons!”
Slash!
After cutting down two more foes, Cedric cast a
glance back in my direction. Though blood ran down his sword and dripped from
his cheeks, he cackled without an ounce of misery. I gaped at the man before
me, such a drastic change from the man I’d first met.
“I always wanted a
beauty like Pride too,” he said.
My eyes went wide at
the bluntness of his reply. Despite the dire situation around us, he looked up
at me on my horse with nostalgia lighting his eyes. Just as he opened his mouth
to speak again, however, his gaze flickered past me, over my shoulder.
“Those are bombs!
Take cover!”
Everyone scattered
for cover as bombs dropped from an unseen source. As soon as the knights moved
to set up shields and lead the royalty away to safety, I sent some of my knives
flying.
They shot upward with
a fwish, sailing past the knights and toward the
falling bomb. It might have looked like they just barely grazed their target,
but I knew better, even as the soldiers around me gulped with fear.
The bombs fell,
collided with the ground…and not a single one exploded. They simply emitted a
dull thud, rolling away fecklessly.
I’d severed the lit fuses with my knives in
midair. Their flames never reached the gunpowder inside, meaning there were now
six large lumps of explosive powder sitting before us. Cutting off bomb fuses
in midair was something only special power users and a few members of the
Eighth Squadron could achieve. I knew everyone would be staring at me in
disbelief after that. For the first time in this war, we had a counter for
those mysterious bombings.
“You’re not getting away!” Cedric
shouted.
He charged through
the knights who had fallen back to shield from the explosions, then roared up
at the sky. He stomped up to a nearby knight, who cowered before the enraged
prince, then pointed upward and uttered a command.
“Send me flying up
there again! Get me as high as you can in the direction of two o’clock!”
“What do you think
you’re doing?!” I shouted back.
Everyone was confused
by this reckless plan, but Cedric just kept glaring upward like he could see
something up in the sky.
“I’m gonna shoot down
their blimp!” he said.
We might have taken
this for a joke if it weren’t for the fury in his voice. But when we followed
Cedric’s gaze, there was nothing in the sky—no blimp, no enemy, nothing.
Still, Cedric took a
loaded gun and barked “Hurry!” at the knight before him with the special power.
The knight reached out and touched him. Immediately, Cedric kicked off the
ground with all his might, a boom shuddering through the ground as he soared skyward.
He must have
remembered something from the transmissions that the rest of us had missed. But
he was right; the bombs always fell from roughly the same height, the level at
which the blimps were floating. Cedric had seen it up close. The bomb that was
dropped directly over his head fell at a set speed, but from a different
height. He must have remembered the height and speed of the enemy blimps as
well as the trajectory of the dropped bombs. Though it was invisible, Cedric’s
calculations led him directly to the blimp dropping the bombs on us.
The moment the shots
ceased, the cries of shock began.
“How is it possible?!
How could he?!”
“The blimp’s coming
down!”
We could hear
something deflating above us. Even as he fell back down to the ground, Cedric
never took his eyes off that spot in the sky. We all followed his focused gaze.
Just then, a blimp
appeared right where Cedric was looking.
It happened in a
single second, quick as a blink. Holes had been punched through the blimp. The
whole thing was deflating as screams rose from within the passenger
compartment. It sounded like they were arguing as they crashed toward the
ground.
The blimp hit the
roof of a small church, then folded inward on itself. The deflated sack hung on
the church’s cross while the passenger compartment hit the ground, sending a
cloud of dust into the air.
Whomp!
The ground shook from the impact. Cedric slowly
rose to his feet, continuing to glare at the blimp. His blond hair was frizzy
and wild from the jump.
“My name is Cedric
Silva Lowell!”
Cedric’s words alone
broke the silence from the Hanazuo soldiers, Freesian knights, and enemy
troops.
“I’m Hanazuo’s royal
brother!”
The light in his eyes
burned red hot. I’d never seen Cedric like this. The man standing before me
with his sword held high, the man who’d just
single-handedly brought down a blimp, seemed more than human all of a sudden.
Cedric aimed his
sword at the enemies surrounding his brother. “I’m not letting anyone lay a
finger on my country again!”
It wasn’t just the
enemy soldiers—even the Hanazuo troops, the knights, King Lance, and I myself
gaped at Cedric, unable to tear our eyes off the man standing tall in front of
the collapsed blimp. All on his own, he’d felled one of the blimps that had given
our armies so much trouble.
Our foes couldn’t
close their mouths. Even in the face of their own imminent demise, they had no
will to lift their swords. That blimp was supposed to lead them to victory.
The wrecked blimp
fell still. Little by little, deep voices rose, until they suddenly surged
together into a single cry.
“Yeaaaaah!”
It was a cry of
victory from the knights. The blimp was neutralized. Everyone sprang into
action, calling out orders.
“There’s nothing to
be afraid of without those bombs! Take out every last one of their men!”
“Communication
specialists! Send out a report! Tell everyone that Prince Cedric took out one
of the invisible bombers! Inform all bases!”
“Second Squadron! Get
to the wreck and capture any survivors!”
Our soldiers rushed
in to claim the victory, overwhelming the enemy with their vigor.
“Don’t leave any
survivors! They don’t get to take another step into our country!” Cedric raised
his sword and cried out.
All the knights and
soldiers roared with agreement and charged forward.
“Prince Cedric!” I
called, stopping him before he could join the rest of the knights. He froze,
turning to stare at me up on my horse. One second passed, then two. “Are you
running off to be with King Lance?!”
The knight behind me
dismounted the horse, seeming to offer his spot to Cedric, and stood with his
sword raised to fight.
“Take the reins for
me!” I urged Cedric.
“You got it!”
He ran toward my
horse, sticking a foot in the stirrups to swing up into the saddle behind me.
The horse whinnied and bucked, startled by the sudden weight, but it quickly
regained its composure. Cedric snapped the reins I had handed over to him,
sending us charging toward the front lines of the battle. Having watched me and
my knight do this already, Cedric knew how to command the horse.
“All units! Follow
King Lance’s men and clean up the last of the enemies!” he shouted.
“Freesian knights!
Please provide them with backup!” I followed up.
The knights and
soldiers cheered in response. They would continue to guard us, as always, but
no longer did they see either of us as helpless royals in need of constant
babysitting.
The United Hanazuo
Kingdom and the second-born prince of Cercis, Cedric Silva Lowell.
The second-born
princess of the kingdom of Freesia, Tiara Royal Ivy.
The sight of us
holding up our weapons proudly in defense of the king marked us unmistakably as
the leaders of this victorious charge.
***
“This is the final
push! All units, advance!” I shouted. The knights roared in response to a
direct order from their commander.
On the northern front
of the kingdom of Chinensis, we charged ahead on the few horses we had left,
raising our swords and rifles. The First Squadron led the rest of the units
straight for the waiting enemy soldiers to the north. Copelandii still had troops
remaining, but the situation had completely reversed.
One general had been
given total control of all the remaining enemy troops between Copelandii and
the other two countries. He stood at the very rear of his army, but his hands
were trembling—be it from fear or from rage, I couldn’t quite tell.
The enemy had used
every trick at their disposal: sneak attacks with bombs, charging us in the
pits, sacrificing slaves to lure us into a trap. They’d meant to kill most of
us off with these tactics and take the headquarters in the north. Failing that,
the craters should have kept myself and the order of knights I commanded at a
disadvantage, buying the enemy time for more surprise bombings.
But not a single one
of my men had fallen yet. Not even the large-scale bombing attacks had taken
any of us down. We defended ourselves from the gunfire
raining down from above, and even managed to fire back, despite the distance
between us and the enemy.
Even if Copelandii
managed to get their enslaved troops to put us in a pinch, I already had fresh
knights ready to jump into the craters and save their comrades. For now, they
remained on the lip, shooting at foes from a distance. Even when the bombings resumed,
we suffered few injuries, and my knights refused to take the bait and jump down
into the death waiting below.
Except for one
knight, who dropped onto the battlefield out of nowhere. I was with him,
plummeting toward the enemy general alongside this particular soldier. We
overwhelmed the enemy and escaped with our injured knights in tow.
An explosion erupted.
An earthquake rumbled. The land shifted before us.
The biggest of the
craters filled with soil. The enemy general looked confused, like it was one of
my troops with special powers doing this, but I wouldn’t have waited so long to
unleash such a tactic.
As the crater filled,
it closed the gap between the knights and Copelandii’s forces. The knights
charged, running even faster when no bombs or explosions flared up to impede
them.
“D-don’t retreat!”
the general from Copelandii shouted at his terrified troops. “Overwhelm them
with your numbers! Ten of you can take out one knight each!”
Copelandii had a huge
advantage in terms of sheer numbers. But if they charged straight at my
knights, who hadn’t suffered a single death, it was clear which side would fall
first. Everyone knew the odds, from me to the enemy general to the soldiers on
both sides. No matter how many men the enemy threw at
us, they’d do little but stain our white uniforms with Copelandii blood.
My men fired from
unreasonable distances and leapt unfathomably high, then cut down their foes
with superhuman speed and accuracy. Bursts of fire and water followed—unnatural
powers humans shouldn’t have possessed. We were a monstrous surge of force, our
ordinary fighting ability as overwhelming as our special powers.
The enemy finally
understood that they weren’t going to wipe us out. Worse, this was the bulk of
their forces, their main thrust. They were about to lose their front lines
without invading the country.
The only cards they
had yet to play were a full retreat…or they could go for me.
“Don’t be scared!”
the general screamed. “Aim for their commander! Take out the head! They may be
monsters, but we’ll be victorious if we take out their leader!”
Despite being the
target of this new aggression, I understood the general’s decision. He couldn’t
retreat. Failure wasn’t an option, not now that he’d been given the honor of
being put in charge. If he failed, a death far more terrifying than a simple execution
awaited him.
With this order from
their leader, the enemy focused single-mindedly on me. Their goal wasn’t
victory anymore—it was stopping our momentum. They focused all of their efforts
on this one simple line of thinking. And on me.
***
“Aim for his head! Get
their commander!”
“Not on my watch!” I
said.
I kicked off the
ground, spinning in the air like a tornado, and used the momentum to whip my
sword out in every direction. Blood sprayed from enemies the moment I hit the
ground.
I wasn’t alone in
this effort. The First and Second Squadrons surrounded Dad, holding up their
swords to protect him. The enemy had no hope of overwhelming us. I greeted each
foe with my sword, then spun to send others flying back with a kick. I finished
off yet another with a bullet. Still, they pressed onward.
Dad, the First and
Second Squadrons, and I valiantly slayed the enemies at the front lines of the
battle. We were cutting a path forward to the enemy general at the very back.
“You’ve got numbers,
all right, but that’s it!” Vice Captain Eric yelled.
He was leading his
squadron in Captain Alan’s absence. With his left hand, he fired a bullet at a
foe; with his right, he plunged his sword into the man. He and his subordinates
took down soldier after soldier, letting out fearsome war cries as they did.
The knights of the Second Squadron circled me and Dad, clearing out enemies in
our blind spot.
“Don’t get outpaced
by the First Squadron!”
“It’s not just the
enemy soldiers!” Dad shouted back. “Don’t let your guards down! Watch out for
more bombings too!”
A swarm of enemies
struggled to reach Dad in particular. He blocked hits from two swords with his
arms, thanks to his special power. The very next moment,
he punched an attacking soldier in the face to send him sprawling backward.
The knights cheered
at Dad’s orders. He held his sword at the sky, urging his troops on. The First
and Second Squadrons spread out on either side of him like wings, slaying,
slicing, and mowing down any enemy they encountered. Behind them, more knights
from other units followed as reinforcements, never stopping for a single
second.
Except during the
occasional volleys of enemy gunfire, that is.
“Incoming!”
Knights from the
Sixth and Seventh Squadrons called out reports from atop their horses. Riflemen
were taking aim from farther back in the enemy lines, hiding behind their own
soldiers. Knights threw up shields to protect themselves from the gunmen.
Loud bangs erupted
around us, the noise melding into one terrific roar. Although the bullets
didn’t hit any of us, they did finally stop us in our tracks.
A few knights who’d
been standing at the back—those with special powers to resist gunfire—stepped
to the front. They raced straight up to the enemy riflemen and cut them down
where they stood. Their special powers meant that bullets would merely bounce off
of them, making them a double threat to the firing enemies.
The enemy had sent
out squadrons of riflemen many times now, always hiding them behind other
soldiers so they could fire at us. Most of their shots were aimed at Dad, the
commander of the order. Maybe they targeted Dad because he was our leader, or
maybe they did it because swords and blades were ineffective against him.
Either way, they made no attempt to hide their plot,
which only served to enrage me and the knights more. We redoubled our efforts
to protect our commander, refusing to let the enemy get anywhere near him. The
knights behind Dad protected him with their shields anytime gunshots cracked
out.
It seemed like the
enemy had abandoned all methods of attack but surprise volleys of bullets. The
knights at the front lines hopped off their horses, whose numbers had already
dwindled after the first round of bombs. The elites of the Fifth and Sixth Squadrons
used the horses as a strategic barrier to hide behind and provide covering fire
from.
Normally, only the
commander and captains used horses. But with the enemy trying to launch sneak
attacks with gunfire, being on horseback just made you an easier target. On
their feet, the knights could dodge incoming bullets, and some could deflect
them with their swords and shields.
“There’s less gunfire
than before! We’re almost there!” I called out to Vice Captain Eric.
He stabbed a nearby
enemy before mercilessly slashing the throats of two more surrounding him.
At first, we had to
stop constantly to wait out the rounds of fire from enemy riflemen, but every
time we paused, it gave the knights invulnerable to gunfire time to press
forward and clear out as many riflemen as they could. At this rate, we weren’t
sure if we would reach the back of the enemy lines or take out the last of
their riflemen first.
“I told you not to
let your guard down, Arthur!” Vice Captain Eric said. “They’re bad with guns,
but anyone can shoot! Don’t get cocky!”
I nodded my
agreement. Dad and I fought on either side of Vice Captain Eric, doing our best
to keep up with him. He watched us, a flicker of amazement in his eyes.
“No one’s better than me
with a sword.”
I’d said that almost
two weeks ago. I wasn’t trying to act tough or be a sore loser. I was simply
that confident that I could back up that claim.
Vice Captain Eric,
Captain Alan, and Captain Callum knew I’d started sparring with Dad at the
order training ground after joining the main forces. Before, we’d just sparred
at home. They never knew who won, nor did they ever ask. This battle right now
was the first glimpse any of them had gotten of me and Dad fighting at the same
time. Perhaps this would be enough for them to finally believe I’d landed a hit
or two on him in the past.
Just as enemy troops
aimed their guns at the knights, Vice Captain Eric fired back at their hands.
He seemed shaken—not by the enemies, but by me.
A trigger clicked. It
wasn’t the enemies before us, however. We both whirled toward the sound. An
enemy soldier lay on the ground at Dad’s feet, refusing to take his final
breaths and pointing his weapon at our commander.
Vice Captain Eric
didn’t have time to yell. He clumsily grabbed Dad’s uniform and pulled him
backward. The momentum sent him stumbling forward in return.
Bang!
Bang! Two gunshots rang out. Everyone seemed to
hold their breath. That first bang was Vice Captain Eric, not the enemy. He’d
hit the enemy soldier right in the head as he switched places with Dad.
The second shot formed a
growing red stain on Vice Captain Eric’s side.
“Augh!”
The shot had been
fired from close enough range to pierce his armor. Vice Captain Eric clutched
at his side, fell to his knee, and lowered to the ground. We all started
shouting his name. Had Dad or the Second Squadron failed to finish the enemy
off before he took his cheap shot at Vice Captain Eric? Or had he pretended to
be dead the whole time, waiting for the opportunity to strike?
The knights behind
Vice Captain Eric surged forward to protect him as he clutched at his bleeding
wound. A few took his place on the front lines, raising their swords, while
others rushed to apply first aid. Dad, having been saved by Vice Captain Eric,
gritted his teeth and jumped back into the fight without a moment’s hesitation.
He clutched his sword, cutting into another enemy and refusing to look at what
was happening behind him. When the next enemy aimed his gun at Dad, he shot the
foe down first, focusing all of his attention on staying in formation.
More enemy riflemen
appeared. “Incoming!” a knight shouted. As soon as Dad sped up to dodge the
bullets, he noticed me slowing down.
Arthur Beresford—the
youngest vice captain in history. Everyone was finally recognizing my talents.
I was the youngest man to ever join the main forces of the order, and I never
once missed a day of training. I even spent time outside of official knight activities
to practice sparring with Stale, Dad, Gilbert, Captain Alan, Captain Callum,
and Vice Captain Eric. After joining the Eighth Squadron, fending off surprise
attacks from Captain Harrison became part of my daily routine. The strength of the Freesian royal order was well known throughout the
world, and ever since I joined, we hadn’t suffered a single death among our
ranks.
Even in such a
fearsome order of knights, I was promoted to vice captain of the Eighth
Squadron. I knew I was a strong warrior, as well as the youngest person to
become a vice captain. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say the lack of deaths
since I joined was partially my doing. There were troops with special powers in
areas like medical treatment, but the sheer toughness of the knights had also
improved.
Due to all this, I’d
never before watched a friend collapse from a war wound. I’d seen knights get
injured many times before, but not once had I witnessed a knight getting shot
right before my eyes—a knight I considered a close friend, at that.
Vice Captain Eric was
standing at my side when the bullet came out of nowhere. He’d saved Dad’s life,
but I only realized what happened after he’d already yanked Dad out of harm’s
way and collapsed on the ground himself. When Vice Captain Eric had pointed his
gun at the enemy, Dad collided with me, that fateful shot rang out, and my
fellow vice captain fell to his knees.
I could hardly
process it all. I managed to wield my sword and follow Dad’s lead, but I was
running out of steam. Cutting down enemies was like a reflex, so I could
continue doing it even while my mind whirled.
Oh, Vice Captain Eric… I
didn’t even realize the enemy was aiming at Dad. Vice Captain Eric was
losing…so much blood.
My thoughts remained
frozen on the image of my bloodied friend.
Vice Captain Eric
wouldn’t die from an injury like that. The knights of the Seventh Squadron were
right behind us. He would live thanks to their first aid
treatment. Nevertheless, I had a hard time getting my thoughts in order as I
kept up the fight.
“Incoming!” someone
shouted, and I sped up to dodge a hail of gunfire. I’d evaded this type of
thing so many times today, but in that moment, my body couldn’t keep up. It was
too late.
Several guns cocked
all at once. I was still clutching my sword, but my body had gone completely
still. Behind me, the knights reached out to pull me out of the way.
“Arthur!”
Dad jumped in front
of me before the enemy could take advantage of my stillness. Of all people, the
commander of the order was the one putting himself in harm’s way to protect me
without so much as a shield to cover himself with. My eyes flew wide as Dad
rushed in front of me. I reached toward Dad at the same moment the enemy pulled
their triggers.
Clang!
A metallic sound rang
out—something being smacked away.
The entire
battlefield went silent.
“Arthur…?”
It wasn’t just Dad
uttering those dazed words; several of the knights mumbled my name as well.
They weren’t staring at their commander, who had jumped in front of the
bullets. Rather, they stared at me. I leaned forward, sword in hand, drawing
the attention of every eye.
“I did it…”
Still-smoking bullets
lay on the ground before me. Only Dad was close enough to hear my murmured
astonishment. I was just as surprised as anyone else by what I’d done. Fortunately, the others recovered quicker than me. Dad and
the knights dragged me back from the front lines and out of immediate danger,
fresh knights leaping in to clear the path ahead as new riflemen rushed in to
fire on them.
“Hey! Arthur!
Arthur!” Dad shouted, shaking me by the shoulders.
Members of the
Seventh Squadron rushed up, asking if we were injured. I blinked, shaking
myself out of my stupor, and turned to Dad.
“Wh-what the hell’re
you doing, Commander?!” I yelled.
I leaned forward,
like I was about to grab Dad by the collar, and brought my face close enough
our noses almost touched. Dad looked too startled to be angry for now. His eyes
went wide as he uttered a confused “Huh?!” The nearby knights were just as startled
by my anger, but it was obvious we were unharmed, so they left us to get back
to the front lines, leaving the Fourth Squadron to take over for them.
“Why the hell would
the commander jump in front of me?!” I snarled. “You covered for me?! Don’t you
know how bad things would be if you got shot?!”
My whole face was
getting hotter as I shouted loudly enough to drown out the cries of the knights
and enemy soldiers clashing on the battlefield around us. Surely my blue eyes
had turned red with fury.
Dad must have realized
that what he’d done was wrong. Maybe he’d jumped out in front of me on
instinct, but that didn’t make it right.
Under normal
circumstances, Dad probably would have told me not to let my guard down or to
let someone else’s injury serve as my motivation to take on more enemies, but
the rage clear on my face kept him from responding.
Instead, I was the one gritting my teeth and calling to the knights around us,
“I’m not hurt! I’m going back to the front lines!”
“Arthur! Hang on!”
Dad called without thinking, but I was already on my feet and running. Dad
rushed to follow, but by the time we both made it back to the front lines, the
special power troops had finished cleaning up the riflemen and were already
falling back.
“What the hell would
I do if you died?!” I cried out in pain when I realized Dad was right there
behind me.
I glared at the
enemies, refusing to look back at my father. I slashed through two soldiers at
once and used the momentum to launch into the air. Before the fatally wounded
men could even collapse, I kicked another soldier behind them, twisting my body
backward as I dragged my sword through him.
I’ve
had enough of these feelings. The ache in my chest
sent me back to that moment six years ago.
Dad cut down an enemy
in front of him, raised his sword, and plunged it into the belly of another.
But he wore a strange expression thanks to my screaming at him. He probably
never expected a lecture from his own son, but more than that, he knew I was right.
“I can’t have the
commander dyin’ on me!”
I blocked two attacks
at once, grabbed one man’s arm, and used my long legs to kick the other one
away. Dad swept aside an enemy’s sword with one hand and fired on another one
taking aim at him. Wrinkles creased his brow. He grasped the arm of a soldier who
came flying at him and tossed the man back into the cluster of enemies, taking
up his sword again and plunging it into all of them at once.
In my loudest shout yet, I
said, “I need my dad to live!”
I knew it was a bit
of a shock to call him my “dad” and not my “commander” in a setting like this,
but I ignored that and pressed on, keeping my gaze fixed on the scene ahead of
me. One step after another, I moved forward, slicing deeper into enemy territory.
When I couldn’t reach someone, I picked up swords off the corpses at my feet
and threw them through anyone in my path. The enemy formation weakened as I cut
down so many of their brethren right before their eyes. The knights followed up
after me, seizing on the opportunity I created.
Just then, enemy
riflemen appeared behind our forces once more.
“Incoming!” a knight
at the rear cried out, but this time, the enemies weren’t aiming for the
knights nearby or their commander. Their guns were fixed on me and me alone—the
man shoving their whole line back one slash at a time.
I had no intention of
stopping. If anything, this was just another challenge to conquer. I ran
straight at those enemy riflemen. The knights behind me must have been shocked;
they yelled for me to stop, but Dad didn’t, not this time. I picked up speed as
a series of loud bangs cracked.
“I need my dad to
live so he can see…the moment I become the next commander!”
Clang!
A metallic clang
sounded. Not a single bullet reached me or the knights. The moment I lowered my
sword, I charged forward and cut down the riflemen, kicking their guns away and
jabbing them in the face with my elbows. To many, it must have looked like those
bullets they shot at me had simply vanished. But I was sure Dad and the knights
at the front line knew better.
I’d spent the last
six years sparring with Stale, who possessed the special power of
teleportation. Prime Minister Gilbert taught me advanced martial arts so I
could protect myself in close-quarters combat. On top of that, I trained
regularly with some of the finest swordsmen in the order: Dad, Captain Alan,
Captain Callum, and Vice Captain Eric. Ever since I joined the Eighth Squadron,
surprise attacks from Captain Harrison became an everyday occurrence. My formal
training over all these years also involved dueling with knights who made use
of speed-based special powers.
Stale and Prime
Minister Gilbert helped cultivate my speed and force. Dad and the knights
nurtured my sword skills. Captain Harrison improved my reflexes and ability to
track projectiles. All of that combined to make me who I was today.
The time it took for
the riflemen to aim and pull their triggers was slower than any of the attacks
I’d practiced with Prime Minister Gilbert and Captain Alan in even closer
quarters. Their approaching bullets were slower than Captain Harrison’s nimble
legs. The second it took the projectiles to reach my sword was a second longer
than it took Stale to teleport.
My sword was easily
fast enough to deflect every bullet.
“Go ahead. Keep
shootin’,” I muttered.
In a flash, I slit
the throats of every enemy soldier around me. I stared dead ahead, ignoring the
fresh blood staining my hair.
When a soldier tried
to run at me with his sword raised, I grabbed his arm, yanked him up, and stole
his weapon. I plunged it into one of his fellow soldiers, who was charging me
from behind. To the enemy, it must have looked like every man they sent at me
burst into a gout of blood with no warning.
Another enemy ran at
me head-on. I met him with a punch to the jaw, knocking the man unconscious. He
toppled backward into his comrades, bowling them over. When another soldier
charged, I jumped up and stomped on his face. The momentum sent me flying backward.
I flipped through the air to land right beside the knights on the front lines.
Then I returned to Dad, who was still taking down enemies with the rest of the
knights.
Dad blocked a slash
from an enemy, sent him flying backward, and pierced the foe with his blade.
Then he charged forward, felling more enemies as he went. He fended them off
with ease, but I could feel him watching me as I took down ten men at a time
with a single strike.
“Commander.” Even as
I wreaked havoc on the battlefield, my call emerged strangely timid.
“Yes?”
I narrowed my eyes,
embracing all the anger inside me. Dad shuddered when he saw that look. I could
almost feel the flames burning in my light eyes.
“I’m gonna cut
through all of them now,” I declared.
I gripped my sword in
both hands, glaring off into the distance before bracing myself against the
ground. While members of the Eighth Squadron always
acted independently, I wasn’t giving a simple report. This was far more than
that. Dad looked like he might interrupt, but I held my position, taking out
anyone who approached. One after another, men fell at my feet.
“Soldiers, swords,
bullets—I’m not gonna let any of ’em stand in my way.”
Understanding dawned
in Dad’s eyes at last. He finally understood that I was sick of waiting around
for riflemen to take cheap shots at us. If I could simply deflect the bullets
with my sword…
“Their leader’s at
the very back of their camp. I’m gonna go to him now,” I said.
With a glower, I
focused far ahead on the general commanding the enemies at a distance. I
couldn’t literally see him, but that didn’t matter. I offered Dad one final
smile over my shoulder, a taunting grin he’d seen plenty of times before. I
even bared my teeth in my excitement, my chest still heaving from exertion.
“You’re coming too,
right, Commander?” I asked.
Dad realized
something then: he’d heard me ask this before, the first time I showed up here
to fight on the front lines.
“Will you join me,
Commander?”
I was telling him
that I still had more fight left in me. Thrill and anger warred on Dad’s face
as he took in the sight of his son on the battlefield.
“Who do you think
you’re asking?” he challenged me, just as before.
He knocked an
approaching enemy’s sword out of his hand, grabbed the man’s head, and slammed
it down against his knee, knocking him unconscious. The crack of the man’s
skull made me wince in sympathy. As Dad sent more
enemies flying, an enthusiastic grin broke across his face.
It was the same
devious smile as mine.
“Of course I’m
coming,” Dad said.
It was my turn to be
startled. I’d never seen my father smile like this before. I fought off enemies
without even looking, gaping at Dad instead. Our matching blue eyes locked.
Dad didn’t waver when
he met my astonished expression. He raised his arm as high as it would go, then
smacked me on the back. I could feel the impact through my armor as Dad urged
me onward.
“Get going, Arthur
Beresford,” he said.
Even in the midst of
an intense battle, Dad encouraged me to march on. I straightened up, buoyed by
fresh resolve. Dad chuckled, seeing through it to the nerves beneath. He patted
me more softly on the back this time, and my tense muscles relaxed. The next
time he urged me forward, I was ready, and kicked off the ground with all the
power I could muster.
“I’ll be right there
behind you.”
“Right!”
Dad’s fighting spirit
filled me, propelling me forward as fast as I could go.
“We’re charging
straight ahead! Don’t let your formation fall apart!”
I ran.
“Third Squadron,
Fourth Squadron, protect the front lines! First and Second Squadrons, follow
Arthur and Commander Roderick!”
I plunged my sword into
an enemy and sent him flying out of my path.
“Riflemen, dismount
your horses and join the charge! Don’t pass Arthur!”
With each step, more
and more enemies appeared to challenge me. I cut ’em all down. When they
surrounded me, the knights at my back cleared them out with swords and rifles.
It was like the entire order was a single blade.
“All units, support
Arthur!”
I was at the tip of
that blade—and even I couldn’t really believe it. I blocked enemy blows and
kicked them away before they could fight back. Gunshots popped behind me as the
knights cleaned up the men I’d cast aside.
A man hiding behind
the enemy soldiers dove at me with his sword out. Dad grabbed the blade with
his bare hand, yanking both it and the enemy toward him. Just as he went flying
past me, I heard a pained scream.
“Incoming!” Dad
yelled.
A group of riflemen
were readying their guns behind the enemy army. The more foot soldiers we cut
down, the clearer a view we had of these riflemen. A trigger clicked and I
leapt forward, closed the distance between us, and raised my sword. Bang! Bang! Bang! Gunfire rang out. I wasn’t sure if this
was intentional or if they were really just that bad at aiming. Either way, I
knocked down the bullets before they could do any harm. I couldn’t let them hit
any of the knights at my back.
I kept going, taking
out the next round of bullets too until I was close enough to jump forward and
cut into the riflemen. Their faces drained of color as I closed the distance
between us. Then red stained their skin as I cut through them.
“Don’t go any farther
ahead than that!” Dad called.
“Uh-huh, sure.”
I understood his cry
for caution, but I had to take out these riflemen before they could actually
get a good shot off. I rushed ahead on my own. Meanwhile, Dad and the First and
Second Squadrons took care of all the soldiers on the left and right so I could
focus on what lay in front of us.
The enemies charged
with swords and spears raised, like they were ready to break themselves against
us like a crashing wave, hoping to take down something with their reckless
charge. Dad swept in front of me, using his special power to block their hits, then
cut them away with a slash of his sword. Blood sprayed into the air. Some of
the enemies took out guns, but Dad chopped the weapons out of their hands and
ended things with his fists.
After this display, I
almost wanted to give Dad the lead, but he just stepped back, patted me on the
shoulder, and said, “You’re the only one who can clear a path for us.”
I can see where he’s
coming from, I
thought.
Thus, I pressed
forward toward the enemy soldiers, taking down anyone in my way so I could keep
running forward. I got so lost in the pattern of run, slash, run, slash that I
didn’t even realize I was charging ahead full speed until I stopped to look behind
me.
“What’s wrong,
Arthur?! Captain Alan’s a lot faster than that!” shouted a senior knight from
the First Squadron, sounding mirthful. Not only were the more experienced
knights keeping up, but it also looked like they still had plenty of vigor left
in them. As always, I had to be impressed.
More and more enemies
collapsed before I could even reach them as the knights behind me took them out
with guns and special powers. I plucked another sword from one of the men on
the ground, not liking the idea of being beaten, and flung it at the men in
front of me.
Then I ran, and ran,
and ran, and ran, and ran.
They were starting to
fling more bombs at us. We must have been getting closer to their main
headquarters. I couldn’t decide if I should hide behind the shields of the
knights at my back, or try to take out the bombs with my sword, but then
someone shot a spray of water with their special power. It extinguished the lit
fuses of the bombs, sending the damp projectiles harmlessly to the ground.
“What the hell’re you
doing?! We outnumber them! Charge! Charge, I say!” the
enemy general screeched from their rear lines.
I couldn’t see him
yet, but I could hear him just ahead. There was a long row of riflemen—or
rather, soldiers—blocking our path, but that wouldn’t hold up for long.
They spread out into
a wide line. If I pressed any farther, I would be too close to take out their
gunfire with just one sword. I halted, waiting for the hail of gunfire, then
whipped my sword around to intercept the bullets. I clenched my teeth, incapable
of getting any closer if I wanted to deflect the gunfire.
A few knights with
powers capable of blocking gunfire jumped out from behind me. As shots rang
out, they charged forward, swords in hand, and cut down as many riflemen as
they could while I worked on deflecting stray bullets. The knights picked up
the fallen enemies’ weapons and fired back. They picked off one enemy soldier
after another from each end of the line. Once their numbers started to dwindle,
I took off running again. The knights remained behind me in a line, keeping up
with my pace.
“We can only stop
ourselves from getting hit with bullets,” one of them yelled as he ran beside
me, reaching out for a quick pat on my shoulder. “Don’t let your guard down,
and be careful of the bullets we deflect!”
I nodded before
taking off at an even faster sprint. I cut down, kicked aside, shot, and
slashed anyone standing in my way.
Finally, I pointed
the tip of my sword at the general in the very back of the enemy lines. A ring
of armed guards surrounded him.
“It’s over,” I said.
The general’s guards
held up their swords and rifles, but their arms trembled as they instinctively
stepped away from me. Their leader stood behind them, his face and throat
bright red and pulsing. He glared at us and ground his teeth. The knights with
me plunged forward and wiped out the guards before they could even react.
The knights aimed the
guns they grabbed off the dead bodies at the general. He cowered, turning his
face away, and barked at anyone around him to come save him, but it was too
late—we were surrounding him. The First Squadron formed a circle
around him, while the Second Squadron protected their backs.
Our commander stepped
forward, joining me at the very front of the line.
“Surrender and
withdraw all the troops you brought in from Copelandii, Alata, and
Rafflesiana,” Dad said. “If you refuse to leave Hanazuo, which is an ally of
our homeland, Freesia, then we’ll have no choice but to—”
“Kill me.”
The general cut Dad
off and glared up at him with bloodshot eyes. His shoulders heaved as he drew a
deep breath.
“I’d rather have you
kill me here than send me back to my homeland for punishment. But remember
this…”
He set his jaw,
nostrils flaring as he exhaled. The next instant, he was screaming loud enough
to send spittle flying.
“You bastards are
going to die an even worse death than us! I don’t care that you’re some huge
country of monsters! You’ll die with hatred for your foolish ruler who ever
thought to make an enemy of the Rajah Empire!”
Dad arched his
eyebrow at the desperate tirade. He sighed and held up his sword. The sweating
general started to laugh, disregarding the knights all around him. In a final
act of defiance, he twisted his mouth into a creepy, toothy grin.
“You people will wish you’d been turned into a colony.”
The general’s smile
stretched even further, like he was reveling in some private victory. He
reached into his breast pocket, ignoring all warnings from the knights. Just as
he stuck his hand inside…
Bang!
I knocked down the bullet
with my sword at the exact same time Dad plunged his blade forward.
The general slumped
to the ground. My arm was still outstretched from taking down the bullet, and
Dad glanced over at me, then turned his gaze toward all the knights around him.
Then he raised his
sword up to the heavens in a declaration of victory.
“Hooraaaaah!”
I joined the knights
in their victorious cries. I raised my sword and shouted with all my might,
loud enough for the whole country to hear. It felt like my throat might split,
but that didn’t matter as long as all of the remaining enemies lost their will
to fight.
Clack.
Clack. Clank. All around, enemies dropped their
weapons. The knights leapt into action, issuing orders to set up communication
specialists and report this back to Freesia, as well as apprehend the
surrendering soldiers. Dad reminded them all not to let their guard down as
they worked.
The war was over.
“We did it,” I said.
“Princess Pride! Stale! We did it!”
I squeezed the sword
in my hand, refusing to put it away just yet, and gazed into the distance. The
roars of the knights drowned out my quiet declaration. But I just stood there,
looking up at the sky, and smiled.
***
“Hooraaaaah!”
“Can you hear me,
Vice Captain Eric?! Our forces were victorious! The defensive war is over!”
Amid all the
cheering, knights from the Seventh Squadron tried to update me from where I
was, at the very rear of our forces. They spoke as loud as they could, doing
their best not to jostle me as they treated my wounds. Another member of the
Seventh Squadron rushed in with more news.
“Report, sir!” he
said. “Our knights have emerged victorious! All enemy soldiers have
surrendered, and Commander Roderick and Vice Captain Arthur charged straight to
the front lines where they—”
“I can hear you,” I
said. I was crouched on the ground, covering my half-open eyes with the backs
of my hands. My voice emerged quiet, as though I were asleep, but I smiled
through the fog. “You did it… Arthur…”
I could hardly speak,
but I soaked up the frantic reports coming from the knights. I knew all about
how Commander Roderick, the First and Second Squadrons, and Vice Captain Arthur
had led the charge into enemy territory.
“Your wounds are
stabilized for the time being, sir! How are you feeling?”
I simply waved in
response to the knight. Getting that bullet out of my body had been so painful
I thought I might die from that alone, but thanks to the work of knights with
special powers in the medical field, the blood loss had stopped and I was still conscious. I wished I could return to the battle, but
I was extremely grateful to the Seventh Squadron for saving my life.
I wonder if Captain Alan
will be upset.
As soon as it sank in
that the war really was over, that silly thought crossed my mind. I burned with
shame that I hadn’t accompanied the First Squadron as their vice captain in
their very moment of victory.
Knights gathered
around me once they realized I could speak, peering curiously at my injuries.
“We’re just glad
you’re alive.”
“You saved Commander
Roderick.”
“You’re always so
impressive, Vice Captain Eric.”
“This victory is
thanks to your work, Vice Captain.”
“I bet Captain Alan
will be so thrilled.”
“It’s easy to see why
you were made vice captain of the First Squadron.”
Finally, the captain
of the Seventh Squadron spoke up too. “You did well. Now rest up.”
I smiled awkwardly at
the order.
“Vice Captain, would
you like me to treat the scar as well?” one of the Seventh Squadron knights
asked, seeming encouraged by my smile.
This knight could
erase all battle scars thanks to his special power. He probably hesitated to
commence with additional treatment without my permission, but this mark was one
I would wear for the rest of my life. It was a mark of honor for protecting my commander.
“Arthur and I… Were
we vindicated?” I asked, the words slipping from my mouth.
No one
responded—there was nothing they could say. I knew that as well as anyone. At
length, they asked me to explain. I simply chuckled and said I was just talking
to myself. Then my heavy eyelids finally drooped shut.
I didn’t care whether
they replied or not. Either way, I knew one thing for sure…
“The commander was
trapped under the boulder, so he stayed behind to buy time for us to escape.”
I’d finally obtained
the medal of honor that I’d wanted so very desperately six years ago.
***
“A-are you all right?!
Please, snap out of it!” I called out, still in a daze myself.
At my back, Captain
Alan and Captain Callum were also staring with wide eyes. My two imperial
knights had been trembling ever since they heard Commander Roderick announce
through the transmission that our Freesian forces were victorious—all because
of King Yohan.
As soon as I heard
the report, I asked His Majesty for permission to inform all of Chinensis and
begin sending reinforcements. The king’s eyes were wide. He sat still and numb,
unresponsive to words, like he couldn’t fathom what he’d heard.
He gripped the cross around his neck with a quivering hand while his mouth hung
open. I wondered if he even forgot how to breathe.
“King Yohan?” I
tried.
Slowly, he gestured
toward his soldiers. “Troops…the bell…” he muttered, voice shaking. They bowed
and rushed out of the room. King Yohan’s hand fell limply back down on the back
of the sofa.
“We…”
He might have said
more than that, but I couldn’t understand his mumbling. I called his name
again. The king turned toward me, his white hair rustling, and gave me a
perplexed look. A few seconds later, a flush crept into his pale skin. He
finally closed his mouth sharply, and his thin eyeglasses clouded up. The next
moment, tears poured down his cheeks, running from behind his glasses and
reflecting the golden light of his eyes.
“Your Majesty?!”
King Yohan rushed to
the window in a flurry. His soldiers followed, just to be safe, and waited
anxiously behind him. The sun set behind the nearby town, bathing it in rosy
hues that brought more tears to his eyes. A breeze blew in from the broken
window, caressing his white hair. He reached out through the window, as though
something on the horizon lay just out of his grasp, and gripped the frame.
“…ance…dric…”
The king stared out
the window, leaning through it, and cried out two strangled words. He appeared
to be looking for someone, his eyes darting to and fro. When he shook his head,
his tears fell free to roll down his face.
I thought about
saying his name again but decided against it. Clearly he was struggling to
believe we’d actually achieved victory here when all had seemed lost. He’d
likely surrendered all hope long before we got that report from the commander.
King Yohan had given
up entirely only two days earlier, that I understood. Thanks to King Lance’s
recovery and Cedric’s persuasive words, King Yohan resolved to stand up before
his people…but I knew it wasn’t that easy to undo so much time spent mentally
bracing for failure. He had only been king for two years, after all.
When I thought back
on it, perhaps the blood oath he took with me only heaped added pressure on
him. Still, he stood on his own two feet and battled back the fear. All this
time, he never once turned his eyes away from the war. He even sent his best
friend, King Lance, and the man he saw as a little brother, Prince Cedric, out
onto the battlefield. It was only natural to cling to fear,
pain, and doubt in such circumstances—as well as a desire to flee the castle
entirely. He’d been carrying all of this the whole time, long before Freesia
came into the picture, yet he held firm and stood resolute to face the
conclusion of this war.
Abruptly cut loose
from the responsibilities of a king at war, at least for the moment, he laced
his shaking fingers together. Leaning his elbows on the windowsill, he hung his
head toward those folded hands and prayed to God.
King Yohan’s hands
shook and his handsome, feminine features contorted as tears rolled down his
cheeks. His whole face was tense, giving him a harsher and more masculine look
than I’d ever seen on him. He murmured too quietly for me to catch over the wind.
It didn’t look like even his nearby soldiers could hear him either.
I hated the fact that
my legs prevented me from approaching him and placing my hand on his shoulder.
At the same time, King Yohan seemed to need this moment to himself. It wasn’t
just that he was higher than me in status due to being a king. Rather, there
was something deeply sacred and divine about seeing a king pray to God like
this.
The people of Freesia
weren’t very religious. We celebrated special powers as the divine will of God,
including the royal family’s precognition, but we had almost no religious
customs or beliefs like those in Chinensis. But just for now, I decided to lace
my fingers together to imitate the king. I didn’t pray, but I did make a wish,
staring straight at the king’s back.
May this country’s god
continue to be with the people. May everyone and everything who has supported
this man continue to stand with just as much strength.
After a few moments,
a bell chimed. We raised our heads and listened to the beautiful tone. It rang
out with a heavy, solemn clang, but a light chiming
joined each swing and left me shuddering. The bell belonged to the church
attached to the Chinensian castle; they must’ve been ringing it because of King
Yohan’s orders.
The king had remained
completely still up to this moment, but now he shuddered violently. His
shoulders slumped, almost as if he’d actually heard the voice of God ringing in
his ears. Even from afar, I could see how tightly he squeezed his fingers
together. A choked sob snuck out over the sound of the bell, betraying his deep
longing. He’d waited fearfully for this moment, believing it would never
arrive.
The largest bell in
the largest church in the country was ringing out. It would inform everyone
that the war really was over. To me, that bell sounded like it was singing a
song of freedom.
***
Freesia boasted lush
land and military prowess. We had fertile soil and abundant resources, and we
shared a border with the ocean. We had other sources of water as well. All in
all, we were the envy of many of our neighboring nations.
We were also the only
place in the world where humans with special powers were born. Our royal
family, myself and my daughter Pride included, had the power of precognition.
We knew well that many countries with legalized slavery desired those
miraculous powers, though we found the concept repugnant. They wanted us to
become their “products.”
“Is that true?”
In one such room, I
sat at the head of a long table, addressing the man across from me. I squinted
my golden eyes, a match in color for the hair spilling over my shoulders. I’d
even put on makeup for this important guest from outside the country.
Albert, my prince
consort, sat at my side. Clark, the vice commander of the Freesian royal order,
stood at the back of the room with a group of knights. Vest, the seneschal,
wore a far more imposing expression than usual. His blue eyes seemed to glow,
and he never tore them away from that guest at our table.
“Yes, it’s very much
true, Your Majesty.”
The man, who spoke
with a casual tone, was being perfectly polite on the surface. Only his
expression came across as insincere, arousing my suspicion. His fox-like eyes
narrowed as he smiled. He kept his dark purple hair tucked behind his ears,
except for a few deliberately stray strands on the right side.
Vest’s brow wrinkled
as he studied the man. This representative of the Rajah Empire hadn’t arrived
with only his servants. Behind him stood his chief of staff and military
general as well. The rest of his attendants lined up next to them were
completely motionless, as if they were mere decorations.
Only a few minutes
ago, a servant had whispered into Vest’s ear, informing him that the war was
won. Vest then relayed the news to me and Albert.
The Rajah
representatives arrived later than expected, almost as if they’d predicted when
the war would end. They’d agreed to hold the meeting
here, and they seemed utterly calm in spite of being cut off from updates about
the war.
The purple-haired man
held up his glass and smiled. Since setting foot in my castle, he’d never once
shown any fear of me. In fact, he smiled at me as if we were old friends,
greeting me with a handshake. The man remained completely composed even after
we showed him to the meeting room. He simply smiled at the Freesian royalty,
even as my knights confiscated his entourage’s every last weapon, from knives
down to pens. He went as far as to praise our country, our castle, me as our
queen, and the very room itself.
He took a sip from
his glass after responding to my question. The expensive wine elicited a smile
from him before he continued his explanation.
“The Rajah Empire has
absolutely nothing to do with the war between Copelandii and the United Hanazuo
Kingdom. I’m embarrassed to say that I only learned of the matter just now.” He
swirled his wine around in the glass as though amused.
The Rajah Empire was
a massive country full of slavers. We also believed it to be the force behind
the invasion of Hanazuo, given that it was one of the few openly aggressive
countries in the world. Yet our discussion was proceeding with ease. This man, a
representative of Rajah, answered all of my questions without hesitation.
“I see,” I said.
“However, I understand that Copelandii, Alata, and Rafflesiana—who all joined
forces to invade Hanazuo—are colonies of Rajah.”
“Yes, that’s exactly
right,” the representative replied. “It brings me great shame to see that we’ve
overplayed our hand in an attempt to bring in new products. At the current
moment, we’re allowing all of our territories—especially those farther away from us—to conduct themselves however they see fit on
all matters excluding trade. We couldn’t possibly manage the affairs of every
single colony under our command.”
The man cocked his
head to one side.
“I believe Copelandii
made this decision on their own, using the name Rajah to persuade other nearby
colonies to join them in their efforts. I hear that there’s been bad blood in
that region for years now.” He spoke without shame, yet his expression gave me
the sense he was lying. “I never expected things to go this far,” he murmured,
pressing the glass to his chin and glancing up at the chandelier above us.
I squeezed the
documents in my hands, trying to hold my composure as the Rajah representative
went on.
“What do you say to
our little proposal? Rajah merely desires complete and total peace between us
and Freesia. Your Majesty’s wish is for us to bring about this peace by
removing ourselves from the United Hanazuo Kingdom. But as I explained, the war
was not our doing. In which case…”
He paused to gulp
down the remaining wine in his glass, then smiled pleasantly at me.
“If Freesia will
agree to sign a peace treaty with us right here and now, Rajah will take
responsibility and handle the three invading countries ourselves. We’ll make
them withdraw and promise to never go after Hanazuo again.”
Despite his polite
smile, I sensed ill intentions behind his expression. I schooled my face into
neutrality and stared back at him.
“I cannot say we
expected that,” I began. “Are you authorized to make
such a decision alone, Prince Adam Borneo Nepenthes?”
Prince Adam narrowed
his eyes. The smile on his face was as cheerful as ever, but a darkness lurked
beneath. He set his empty wine glass on the table, folded his hands together,
and leaned forward.
“What I truly seek is an alliance, although
we’ve already failed to control three of our smaller, distant colonies.”
I said nothing. As a
country, Freesia always wanted allies—but we strongly opposed enslavement. We
couldn’t possibly cooperate with a slave-producing country like Rajah. Still, I
could secure peace simply by having us both agree to nonaggression. Our only
obligation would likely be invitations to Rajah’s larger formal ceremonies, and
nothing more. An alliance, however, was a relationship of mutual cooperation.
Freesia could very well be forced to participate in any future invasions that
Rajah undertook.
“If you agree to an
alliance, your cooperation in the acquisition of our ‘products’ will surely
stimulate your towns’ economies,” Prince Adam said. Vest choked at that, but
the prince ignored him. “You can use criminals, if you prefer.”
The Freesian people,
as the only nationality in the world that gave birth to users of special
powers, would make for incredibly valuable slaves. It was true that if Freesia
formally became a slave-producing state, its markets would be flooded with
people of every country where slavery was legal, delivering a huge boon to our
economy.
“We wish for peace
and would gladly sign a treaty to that end,” I told him. “However, our position
on an alliance remains unchanged. Apologies.”
Prince Adam kept a
straight face. “That’s unfortunate,” he said, though he sounded like he’d
expected that response.
I signaled to Vest.
“Please prepare the treaty.” He came over and set fresh documents before me.
My seneschal and I
understood the scope of the situation without exchanging more than a glance.
The Rajah Empire, and therefore Prince Adam, were not to
be trusted. We knew Rajah played a hand in Hanazuo’s invasion, regardless of
their public statements on the matter. Nevertheless, getting this treaty signed
was a valuable step in securing peace.
Freesia and its
allies wanted more than the liberation of Hanazuo—we sought a future without
conflict between ourselves and Rajah. Signing a peace treaty meant that another
war was off the table, no matter how poorly our countries might get along.
Additionally, Prime Minister Gilbert was working on a means to retrieve
Freesian citizens who’d been sold off as slaves, which would be much easier for
him to do if we had a peaceful relationship with Rajah. Their empire was the
biggest contributor to the slave trade, after all.
As for Rajah, the
treaty would also make things easier for them. In the future, they could invite
us to join their trade. And they wouldn’t have to fear making an enemy of us.
It was an advantageous agreement for both sides.
“Please sign here.”
With the stroke of
our pens, Rajah’s colonies—Copelandii, Alata, and Rafflesiana—had to make a
full retreat from the United Hanazuo Kingdom—an ally of Freesia. At the same time,
I feared this treaty would go on to have a deep impact on the histories of
Freesia and Hanazuo both.
***
“Are you all right,
Elder Sister?!”
It was Stale who
rushed up to me first, appearing via teleportation. Judging by how winded he
was, he must have been in a real panic. Sweat dampened
his brow. As soon as he looked me in the eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Stale! I’m so glad
you’re safe.”
I was especially
happy to note that he appeared uninjured. When I asked him what happened to the
knights who were with him, he said they’d returned to the castle together, but
Stale alone had teleported away to be with me.
When he informed me
that all the knights with him had survived, I sank deeper into the sofa. I
still didn’t know exactly how many injuries we’d suffered overall, but this was
excellent news all the same.
I glanced up at
Stale, who seemed on the verge of saying something. Maybe he was worried about
Tiara and Arthur, whose groups weren’t back yet.
“Are you hurt?” I
asked, but he said he was all right with something of a gloomy look on his
face. “Stale, come here for a moment.”
I empathized with his
worries that Tiara and the others might have gotten hurt. When he came to me,
he bent down and leaned his head close so I could whisper in his ear. Instead,
I leaned forward on the sofa and wrapped my arms around him.
The weight of my hug
threw off his balance and sent him crashing into the sofa. Stale hadn’t
expected this surprise attack, so he had no way of stopping himself from
falling toward me. The sofa dipped from the combined weight of our bodies atop
each other. From behind me, Captain Callum and Captain Alan rushed forward to
support me.
“Pri—I mean, Elder
Sister, what are you doing?!” Stale cried, but I couldn’t hold back anymore, so
I just squeezed him tighter.
“I’m so glad you’re all
right!” I said, the words bursting free.
As soon as I felt him
in my arms, even through his armor, the reality of Stale’s safe return filled
me with joy. I wouldn’t have been able to bear the pain if Stale had gone to
the south of Cercis in my place and suffered some sort of injury because of it.
I pressed my cheek to
his armored chest and took another deep breath. Something rustled through my
hair; Stale was combing the locks back with his fingers. I stiffened from the
unexpected sensation, and his hand tensed.
A soft exhale left
him. “Thank goodness.”
I loosened my grip on
him, momentarily confused. Stale rose slowly and stepped away from the sofa.
Then he kneeled before me, his cheeks pink, as though I’d squeezed him too
tightly. He just smiled, his dark eyes serene.
“It’s a relief to see
that you haven’t changed,” he said.
He then thanked the
knights at my back for protecting me. They bowed in response. Stale’s eyes
turned back to me, and his expression softened into one I’d learned to cherish
over all these years. He reached out and stroked my leg, avoiding the bandaged
part of my calf and instead brushing my thigh over my armor, his fingers so
soft I could barely feel them.
“Now you can finally
rest,” he said.
He asked if it hurt
where he was touching. I shook my head and his shoulders relaxed. That alone
showed just how much Stale had been worrying about me. My heart skipped a beat.
He set a hand on my back, and at first I thought he was about to rub it.
“I’m not going to
hold back anymore,” he said, voice and expression darkening.
“Huh?”
Stale set one arm around
my back and another under my legs, lifting me off the sofa.
“Wha…?! Stale!”
I was too startled to
say anything more. My two imperial knights watched with wide eyes, but they
couldn’t just snatch me out of the arms of a prince. None of us seemed to know
what to do or say. Meanwhile, Stale was asking a nearby guard if there was a private
room where I could rest.
“Wait, Stale!” I
said. “Not everyone’s back yet! I have to greet them and thank them. I can’t
just run off and—”
“I’ll do all that for
you,” he cut in. “Wearing that armor must be tiring. Please change out of it
and get to bed where you can rest properly.”
Stale had no mercy. I
couldn’t wriggle out of his arms; all I could do was fuss as Stale followed a
guard out of the room. Captain Callum and Captain Alan followed, but I was
positively dumbfounded by Stale’s actions.
When I tried to
protest, Stale halted and looked down at me in his arms. I thought maybe he was
finally going to listen to me, but his eyes narrowed with anger.
“If you really
insist, then maybe you need your younger brother to help you change? It would be faster to use teleportation.”
My blood turned to
ice. Of course I didn’t want my brother teleporting my armor off me! Stale
chuckled at my befuddlement, the sound of his mirth sending a flush of
embarrassment through my whole body.
“I’ll bring Lotte and
Mary as soon as we reach the room,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll feel better in
the hands of your personal maids.”
The guard took us to
a guest room where Stale set me down on a chair. I could have died from
embarrassment. I squeezed my fist and hung my head to hide the shame burning in
my cheeks.
“I’ll go retrieve
Lotte and Mary now.”
I pressed my lips
together, incapable of mustering a reply. That was when I looked up, met
Stale’s gaze, and realized his face was as red as mine.
“I-I apologize. I got
a bit…carried away,” he stammered.
Stale pressed his
fingers to the black frames of his glasses, covering his entire face. I was
pretty sure that I must have been the only princess in history to have her
younger brother carry her in his arms. Composed as he appeared on the outside,
he must have been just as embarrassed to have to carry his sister around like
that.
“What am I doing?
Help her change?!” he muttered at himself. Maybe even Stale got surprised by
his scheming strategist side sometimes. That threat of teleporting my armor
away was really something.
“Stale.”
The longer Stale
acted flustered, the calmer I became.
“I’m sorry for making
such a disrespectful suggestion, Pride!”
“Thank you.”
Once again, Stale fell
totally still and silent, lips slightly parted.
“It makes me really,
really happy that you’re so concerned about me,” I said. “You really don’t mind
taking over some responsibilities for me?”
Even though the war
was over, I still had to greet and thank my knights, settle some remaining
matters, raise morale by showing up in my armor, and bring it all to a proper
conclusion. I could appear in front of others as long as I had a chair to sit
in. I might even be able to stand on one foot at this point, albeit with some
difficulty. But I knew how much Stale and the others were worrying about me. I
smiled sadly at my pathetic state.
“Of course I’ll
help!” Stale replied.
I thanked him again
and started to remove my uniform jacket to show him that I truly planned on
resting up. Just then, Captain Callum pulled it off me as gracefully as a
butler.
“After I bring the
maids, I’m going to go into town to check on Tiara and the knights, since I’m
worried about them too,” Stale said. “I’ll find Prince Leon and Val as well.”
I nodded. Stale could
teleport directly to them and find out how they were doing. Val and Leon didn’t
know that the bells signaled the end of the war, so someone had to go inform
them quickly. Stale reminded me to signal for him if anything happened, and I
thanked him yet again. He paused, mulling over something, then faced the
direction of the main headquarters of the castle.
“I wonder how King
Yohan is doing,” he said.
The king had been too
absorbed in his prayer to notice Stale’s arrival at the time. King Yohan had
stopped trembling by that point, but he remained stiff and still, almost as if
he’d passed out. He probably didn’t even realize we’d
left. He’d seemed so absorbed in his praying, something I hadn’t seen him do
even once while we’d waited anxiously in that room for the war to end.
Stale was clearly
deciding if he should return and bid farewell to the king, but I told him it
wasn’t necessary and asked him to go ahead and check in with the others first.
I would apologize to King Yohan if this caused any sort of problem. Instead, I
asked the castle guards to inform King Yohan of my relocation when he was
finished praying. I didn’t want him to be interrupted in his postwar prayer,
not when he’d clearly been holding back the urge to reach out to God for so
long.
***
Ring! Ring! Ring!
“The bell!”
Everyone swiveled
toward the loud clang that signaled the end of the war. Leather groaned as
knights gripped their swords tighter. Even our enemies realized, to their
horror, what must be happening as that chime echoed over the battlefield. They
froze, not daring to resume their attack.
“The war is over.”
The first person to
murmur those words was Tiara. Her arm was cocked back, with a knife poised to
throw. It lit a fire in me, and I swallowed hard. Then I gripped the reins from
behind her on the horse we shared and scanned the battlefield.
“Bro!” I yelled, my
voice strained by a rising sob. It wasn’t just me—every friendly knight and
soldier on the battlefield was waiting for King Lance’s response.
He stared in the
direction of the bell as though in a trance, then uttered a simple “Yeah.”
His reply was only
for me. He shot me a glance as he raised his sword toward the heavens in
triumph.
“Our homeland,” he
declared, “the United Hanazuo Kingdom, is victorious! Know this, everyone! This
country belongs to us!”
His powerful voice
boomed over the battlefield, breaking the stupefied silence. Cries and cheers
erupted all over. The enemies, knowing they were defeated, dropped their
weapons. The Hanazuo troops gathered around my brother, raised their swords,
and cried out for their king. The knights and soldiers also surrounded me and
Princess Tiara on our horse, voicing their elation. The entire battlefield
transformed into a celebration.
Amid all the praise
from the soldiers, I searched for my brother. I couldn’t have possibly been
more proud of him, but also…
“Hey!”
Something struck my
chest. Princess Tiara had turned around in the saddle to push at me to urge me
to get off the horse. As I floundered for a response, she glared at me with
those crystalline eyes of hers.
“Don’t you want to go
be with your brother?” she asked. “I’m all right now, so go ahead and get down.
You belong with them right now, not here with me.”
She added that a
knight could take the reins for her and snatched them out of my hands, passing
them to one of the men nearby. I nodded and sprang off the horse.
The troops cleared a
path for me. I could see the respect shining in their eyes after what I’d done
in this battle. My brother was still sitting atop his horse. He lowered his
blade slowly to his side and met my gaze with intensity, as though urging me not
to relax too soon.
“Cedric!” he said,
his solemn voice meant for me and no one else. He swung down off his horse,
sheathed his sword, and reached out for me. The smile on his face was the
ultimate proof that we’d won this war.
***
“Big Sister! I’m so
glad you’re all right!”
Tiara leapt at me
after Lotte and Mary finished changing me out of my armor and into a dress. She
launched into a rapid-fire explanation of how Stale had teleported all members
of royalty—her, Cedric, and King Lance—away from where they’d battled in the town.
He’d sent a few knights and soldiers with them, leaving the rest to apprehend
and clean up the remaining enemies.
When Stale returned
from delivering updates to Leon and Val, he sent Cedric and King Lance back to
their homeland of Cercis. Not until after he’d teleported them to the main
headquarters back in the castle, though. I assumed he was being overly careful
in regards to King Yohan, given his shaken state, or perhaps considerate of
Cedric and King Lance, who were concerned about King Yohan. Only after all that
did he bring Tiara and her knights to my room.
“I’m so glad you’re
home safe, Tiara,” I said. “You’re not hurt, are you? Wasn’t it scary out
there?!”
I was seized with a
desire to protect my little sister. I grabbed her by the shoulders, but
couldn’t see any blood or injuries through her armor.
“I’m fine!” Tiara
responded with a smile. “I’m just glad that nothing bad happened to you. Big
Brother told me our knights won the battle!” She leapt up in the air with joy,
clapping her hands together. “Arthur must have worked so hard!”
“He sure did.”
Any uninjured knights
from the northern front would be taking care of the remaining enemy forces
right about now. They would also rescue anyone in Hanazuo who needed aid.
Whichever group he decided to assist, I probably wouldn’t see Arthur for some
time.
“I sure hope Arthur,
Vice Captain Eric, and the rest of the knights are safe,” I mused. The two vice
captains were both incredibly skilled, and I was certain they would be all
right, but it was hard not to worry.
“They’re all right!”
Tiara said, balling her hands up into fists in her determination. “I’m sure
they made it out safe! Please just focus on yourself right now, Big Sister! The
war is over now, and we have Big Brother, Prime Minister Gilbert, King Lance,
and King Yohan with us. We don’t have to worry about fighting anymore, and
those bombs… We’re all…safe now, so…”
“Tiara?” I prompted,
cocking my head at her sudden change.
She started to
tremble. Then the little girl in front of me burst into tears. Knowing what
must have set her off, I reached out to gather her in my arms before uttering
another word. I embraced her slender back and pulled her close to me. She
wrapped her arms around my shoulders. With her face so close to mine now, I
could see the redness in her face and tears streaming down her cheeks. She
hiccupped as she cried.
“I’m sorry, Tiara,” I
said. “You must have been so frightened.”
She wasn’t all right;
far from it. It was her first time on a battlefield and her first time
witnessing death up close. She had certainly been the target of many enemy
attacks when she was out there.
Tiara leaned her
weight against me. She shook her head over and over again like she couldn’t
speak, clinging to my body with all the strength in her arms. Her sobs racked
her body. Just thinking about the fear and danger she must have experienced
broke my heart. Her tears dampened my neck while I stroked her soft hair.
Little by little, her pure voice cleared enough to force out coherent words.
“I’m…I’m so glad that
you and Big Brother… both made it out alive. I really thought…you might die!”
My chest clenched
around her words. All of a sudden, I went limp, falling backward on the bed
with Tiara still in my arms. She let out a yelp of surprise as she collapsed on
top of me.
“Princess Pride!”
“Are you all right?”
Mary and Lotte called
out to me. Even Captain Alan and Captain Callum were watching me with concern.
“I’m so sorry,” I
said.
Those words
overflowed from my heart as I stared up at the ceiling with the five of them at
the periphery of my vision.
The second that Mary
and Lotte arrived here by teleportation, their faces went white with fright at
the sight of my leg. They’d gently brushed the dirt and grime off my skin and
then carefully picked new clothes for me. They took great care to avoid the injury
even after they finished changing me into a dress from the castle.
Captain Alan and
Captain Callum wore more pained expressions than I did the whole time. Even
Tiara appeared more upset here than she had on the battlefield.
All of them had been
so worried about me.
Their concern hit me
like a fist to the chest. I thought I’d understood how much they cared for me,
but Tiara’s words just now had brought it all into startling focus. The more I
treated myself as disposable, the more I hurt everyone around me.
Why was it so hard
for me to realize something so simple?
I tightened my hold
on Tiara. Goosebumps rippled over my skin. I buried my face in her shoulder to
hide my tears and apologized again. I was probably breathing too heavily for anyone to make out my words. I tried to inhale and steady
my voice.
“I’m sorry I scared
you all!”
Finally, I managed to
get the words out. Tiara stopped breathing for a beat, then burst into a whole
new bout of tears. This time, instead of choking out her words, she just howled
shrilly rather than trying to communicate anything.
Why was it that all I
ever did was hurt people? These people, the ones who flew to my side when I was
in pain—they’d all been so worried about me. From here on out, I hoped to be
more aware of the immense kindness of the people who cared so deeply for someone
like me.
***
The first thing I felt
was a warmth in my hand. I must have fallen asleep at some point. My memories
of the end of that conversation were hazy. My left hand was so warm. I squeezed
around something soft. When I cracked my eyes open, I found someone looking up
at me.
“Pride?” a gentle
voice asked as I blinked.
Night had fallen,
leaving the room dim and gray. Once my vision focused, I finally made out the
face of the person at my side.
“Leon?”
His pale skin
practically glowed in the darkness. I could just make out his relieved smile
thanks to the tiny flames still flickering in the room.
“How are you feeling? Does
your leg still hurt at all?” he asked.
His words gradually lured me out of my slumber. That’s right. I was in my room with Tiara after the war came to an end…
My thoughts were
still sluggish, but I pieced together that I must have fallen asleep in the
middle of that conversation. I burned with embarrassment at making such a
childish mistake.
“No, I’m just fine
now,” I said. I remembered collapsing backward onto the bed, but at some point,
someone had tucked me in properly.
“I was startled to
hear about your injury,” Leon said. “ I’m just glad your life isn’t in danger.”
I smiled at Leon’s
kind words. “Thank you.”
I couldn’t make out
much of his expression in the dark room. He remained completely still at my
bedside. Just how long had he been there?
“You saved a soldier
from Cercis, right?” he said. “I really admire that side of you. It’s not the
sort of thing I could do.”
I was about to brush
off the praise, but Leon set his finger just before my lips before I could. The
ambient heat helped wake me up.
“All the same, you
can’t go getting hurt like that. You’ll be the queen someday, so it’s not right
for you to expose yourself to danger so casually. It hurts all the people who
care about you. Including me, of course.”
For just a second, a
bewitching light flashed in his eyes. I pressed my lips together, not daring to
move a muscle as Leon withdrew his finger.
His smile morphed
into something more entrancing. “I’m sorry to say this when you’ve just woken
up,” Leon said, turning up the flame in one of the nearby lanterns so I could
see him better. “But you’re a person who’s very loved, after all.”
He turned up another
lantern. This one was closer to me, and I squinted against the sudden light.
Wearing that charming
smile, he pointed at my left hand. I followed his gaze…and realized the warmth
I’d felt upon waking was coming from Tiara’s hand wrapped around mine. She was
still sitting in the chair at my side, slumped over onto my bed in a deep sleep.
Someone had draped a blanket over her armored back. She must have stayed with
me all this time.
“She was awake when
we arrived, but she never wanted to leave your side,” Leon explained. He beamed
at me with radiant kindness.
I wanted to burst
into tears all over again at the sight of Tiara, so faithful, at my side. She
was so exhausted, yet she wanted to stay with me no matter what.
“The same goes for
them, of course,” Leon continued, pointing in the opposite direction.
I looked to see
Captain Callum and Captain Alan watching over me. They dipped their heads
respectfully when we made eye contact. I knew they must have stood guard all
night, refusing to take a moment’s rest.
I had awakened to
find so many people all here for me, so many people who refused to leave my
side. A swell of happiness bubbled in my chest,
threatening to boil over. Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes.
Embarrassed, I bit down on my bottom lip to hold them back. A few stubborn ones
slipped out, rolling down my cheeks. Before they could drip to the sheets, Leon
grazed my cheek ever so slightly, connecting with the lingering tears to brush
them away. I lifted my head in shock, but he simply swiped at the tears on my
other cheek as well.
“I’ve never been able
to touch your tears before,” he said, his tone proud yet teasing, somehow both
enchanting and endearingly human.
My heart skipped a
beat. The glow of the lanterns made his lips shine. I tried to sit up,
flustered by the sight of him.
“Are you all right?”
Leon said, placing a hand on my back to help me up.
I kept Tiara’s hand
in mine and tried not to move my leg as I scooted backward. I leaned into
Leon’s hand for support and propped myself up against the pillow behind me.
I searched around for
Lotte and Mary, but Leon said, “We suggested to Prince Stale that they return
home for the night.” He smiled down at me. “I really do love that smile of
yours. It’s warmer than the sun.”
Heat crept into my
face and burned in my cheeks. Those words suited Tiara much better than me.
What could I do but shrink down in shyness at such a compliment?
I wondered how long
I’d been sleeping for. I turned my head to ask Captain Callum what time it was
when I spotted something strange on the wall behind Leon. I hadn’t noticed it
while lying down, but now I squinted at Leon’s shadow, trying to figure out if
that dim figure was a person or not.
“Val? Khemet?
Sefekh?” I said.
“He waited all this
time for you to wake up,” Leon whispered.
I blinked at Val, who
glared at Leon’s back.
“Hey! What did you
just tell her?!” Val snapped. “You little—” Sefekh and Khemet murmured in their
sleep, and Val cut himself off, trying not to disturb them.
“He told me they
would be loud if they woke up,” Leon said with a chuckle. Val stared daggers at
Leon’s back and scratched at his head in irritation.
“Thank you for
worrying about me,” I said. “I’m really sorry for everything.”
The gratitude and
apology, meant for both Leon and Val, rang out clearer than I expected—clear
enough for them to hear. Leon smiled with true warmth. Behind him, Val’s eyes
were as wide as saucers, though he kept his lips pressed together into a hard
line.
“I’m so happy that
all four of you are safe.”
Neither Val nor Leon
were ever supposed to be involved in this war. They must have put in all kinds
of work that I didn’t even know about. I could never thank them enough. Sadly,
these words were all I had to give them right now.
Leon stroked my hair
again, so gently I could hardly even feel his hand against my head. As he did,
he watched me with that alluring gaze of his. My breath
stopped dead in my chest. He pulled his hand away slowly and leaned in closer.
“It’s all right,” he
said. “Everything was perfectly stable as of an hour ago. You should head home
to your beloved Freesia.”
With that, he backed
away and headed for the door. His sudden departure left me cold, but he turned
to address me one final time.
“I’m going to have to
head out first,” he said. “My knights are waiting for me on the ship, and my
country needs me. I’ll tell Prince Stale that you’re awake.”
He gave me one last
smile, bid farewell to Val and my knights, and disappeared out the door,
shutting it without the slightest sound. Silence washed into the room in his
wake.
Only once his
footsteps had disappeared down the hall did I seem to find my breath again.
“Captain Callum…may I
have a report on the current state of the war?” I asked.
He responded right
away, launching into an explanation of the situation at hand on all fronts,
including the peace treaty between Freesia and Rajah.
It wasn’t long before
Stale, having learned I was awake, appeared in my room with Arthur.
“Your Highness!”
Arthur cried.
The last time I saw
him was when he left for the northern front. Ever since that moment, I had no
way of knowing if he was safe or not. My shoulders slid down away from my ears
at the sight of him safe and whole now. I’d heard that none of our knights died,
but I didn’t yet know how many were injured.
“I’m sorry to greet
you in such a state,” I said.
It was a strange
apology, but I just couldn’t find the right words. And though I tried to force
a smile, the gesture didn’t quite work either. Arthur just shook his head and
approached, disregarding the knights standing guard in my room and Tiara
sleeping at my bedside.
“Um, Stale told me
all about your leg,” Arthur said, struggling with each word. His face tightened
with pain and worry as he glanced at the blanket over my leg.
“Yes, I was a bit
reckless. But Captain Alan and Captain Callum saved me. It doesn’t hurt
anymore. I should heal up after a few more days.”
I spoke slowly,
hoping to calm Arthur with my words, but he snapped his head up with a gasp and
looked over at the two captains. From where I sat, I couldn’t see their faces.
Arthur lowered his head in a deep bow to the both of them.
“I’m sorry!” he said.
“I wasn’t there with her…”
“What are you
saying?” I asked. “You were out there protecting the people I care about.”
Commander Roderick
and all of his knights were alive. Nothing had filled me with more joy than
that report from Captain Callum. I didn’t need to hear Arthur’s name to know
how hard he must have fought out there.
“Commander
Roderick…and all the knights…are among the people I care about. Thank you for
protecting them,” I said.
He finally leaned
closer, though he gritted his teeth and squeezed his hands into fists. “Still,
I wanted to protect you too!” His shoulders trembled as he held back tears. His
voice came out rough as he fought to keep it steady.
Tiara let out a quiet
groan in response to Arthur’s shout, eyes creaking open. Her hand tugged loose
out of mine. She sat up abruptly at the sight of Arthur and Stale, rising from
her chair as though to offer it to the men.
“I’m sorry!” Arthur
kept saying.
He refused to raise
his head, bowing under the weight of the responsibility he heaped on himself.
As my imperial knight, he must’ve been burdened by the news of my injury. He
was such a kind soul. Yet only a few hours ago, I probably wouldn’t have viewed
this situation with the same perspective.
“I’m
sorry.”
This time, I was the
one apologizing. I reached out for him again, and he startled away from my
touch. His eyes finally met mine, confusion lighting his gaze an instant before
he pulled me into a hug.
“I’m sorry I hurt
you,” I told him. “Thank you for enduring that pain for my sake.”
Arthur’s hands
trembled around me, but they gradually made their way up to my shoulders. I
thought he wanted me to release him, but then he squeezed my shoulders just
gently enough to pull me closer.
I understood it now:
Arthur cared about me. That was why this hurt him so much.
“I’m so glad you all
made it back safely,” I said. “You must have fought so hard out there. The wish
you made six years ago…finally came true.”
I could feel Arthur
swallowing hard as he murmured his assent to each of my remarks.
“Even if I had a
vision that this was going to happen to me…I would still have wanted you to go
to the front lines. I would always believe that you were going to do wonderful
things.”
I was so happy that
the same Arthur who had cried over his desire to save the commander six years
ago was now capable of fighting alongside that same commander. I still didn’t
know Arthur’s exact accomplishments on the battlefield. But the lack of casualties
alone spoke volumes about his impact. After all…
“Physical wounds
heal,” I went on. “The war is over because of how hard you knights fought. I’m
unbelievably happy right now. Thank you so much.”
I loosened my grip on
Arthur and placed my hands on top of his. His fingers twitched under my touch,
but I squeezed them all the same. Slowly, Arthur lifted his head to look at me.
He bit down on his bottom lip, holding back tears, yet the strength in his gaze
made me smile.
“From here on out,
I’ll keep relying on you again and again,” I said.
His mouth fell open
at that. A red flush washed through his cheeks, warming their pallor. I was
about to release his hands, but he squeezed me back.
“Next time!” he said.
“I’ll be sure to make it to you in time!”
Things were different
now, though. Even though he was red-faced, he didn’t cry today like he had back
then. He’d grown from a boy to a man, one only two years older than me. His
powerful determination shone through his tears.
Finally, the
intensity in his eyes abated and he released my hands, stroking my fingers
gently instead, almost like he was counting them.
“Please rest well,”
he said. “If you’re happy and healthy…that makes us happy too.”
The sheer compassion
in his voice almost made me lose my composure. He cast his gaze down to my
hands, smiled softly, and squeezed again. The warmth of his touch spread
through me, leaving pure relief in its wake.
Now that Arthur was
closer to me, I noticed the mud on his cheek. He caught me staring and quickly
wiped it away. Though he wasn’t injured, I could still tell how hard and
desperately he’d fought by the messy state he’d arrived in.
“Look at you,” I
said. “Thank you for working so hard.”
The words came out on
their own. Arthur’s cheeks flushed an even darker scarlet; maybe he was
embarrassed because he’d rushed here still dirty. He hid the hand he’d used to
wipe away the dirt, but clutched my hand in his clean one. His smile and that
look in his eyes brimmed with light.
“I’ll put my life on
the line as many times as you need, Your Highness,” he said. “I’ll be back, I
promise.”
The calm composure on
his face reminded me so much of his father, the commander. Arthur truly was an
adult now.
I leisurely took
Stale’s left hand and Tiara’s right as they positioned themselves on either
side of Arthur. When I yanked on both of their hands at once, they toppled down
to me, dragging Arthur with them. Arthur supported Tiara with one arm so that
she wouldn’t be putting her weight on me, while Stale clung to Arthur by
wrapping his arm around his back to stop himself from falling. But I didn’t
care about any of that. Pure happiness surged through me as we collapsed into a
heap together.
“You all made it!” I
said.
I’d sent the three of
them off to war, and now we were reunited. All three of them had come home
safe. Nothing could possibly bring me more joy.
I relaxed my grip,
but Tiara seized the opportunity to wrap her arms around my shoulders. “We made
it!” she cried, then turned around to look at Stale and Arthur.
I joined her in
staring them down. Slow smiles spread across their faces.
“We made it,” they
said simultaneously, a bit more serious than Tiara but no less joyful.
“But you’re a person
who’s very loved, after all.”
Leon’s words rang in
my mind.
It was hard to think of someone like me being
“very loved,” but right then, the warmth in my chest was enough to drown out my doubts. If Leon was right, and these people truly cared
about me so deeply, then I had to be the most fortunate person in the world.
Chapter 3: The Blasphemous Princess and the End of the War
“YOU WANT TO…extend
your stay, Pride?”
The next morning, a
communication specialist connected me to the Freesian castle so I could speak
with Mother. I nodded in response to her question.
A nervous flutter
batted at my stomach at the prospect of conversing with her for the first time
since the war had ended. Tiara and I had left Stale to report to her alone last
night, meaning I had to begin the conversation with an apology for contacting
her so late.
“That’s right,
Mother,” I said. “I apologize for the delay, and I take full responsibility for
it. The truth is that I’ve suffered a minor injury,
which my imperial knights prevented from turning into anything more serious,
but both kings told me they didn’t feel comfortable sending the crown princess
home with an injury.”
Mother’s eyes widened
at the mention of me getting hurt. Father and Uncle Vest were probably with
her, as well as her guards and knights, so she held her composure and asked
calmly, “What kind of injury?”
I assured her it
wasn’t too serious. “All I did was twist my leg. It will heal soon, since it
was treated by medics with special powers, but they requested that I stay here
until I make a full recovery. As the queen’s proxy, I would also like to
personally stand before the people of Hanazuo to bid
them farewell. With your permission, of course.”
“Very well,” Mother said after a beat. “Pride, you may stay until you’re fully healed. Please say hello to
both kings for me as well.”
I had a sudden
flashback to my previous life—of my mother talking to me over the phone while I
asked her permission to sleep over at a friend’s house. This wasn’t anything
like that, but I still felt a bit awkward over the whole thing. I was relieved
to have gained Mother’s permission to stay longer, though she didn’t waste a
moment in continuing on with more rules.
“Be sure to come back
within one week, and don’t travel by land. Have Stale teleport you and Tiara
straight back to the castle.”
One week. That was
longer than I’d expected. I’d worried I’d only get two or three days, so I
breathed a sigh of relief, though I did wonder why I was supposed to be back
“within” one week. Also, why were Tiara and I the only two who had to teleport
back directly? Once I was fully recovered, there was no reason we couldn’t
return home with the vanguard. But the look in Mother’s eyes brooked no
argument. It was frankly surprising to see her worry quite this much over
something like this.
With Mother’s
approval, I asked Captain Callum to lift me up and ordered the broadcast to
switch to King Lance and King Yohan. They quickly greeted Mother and launched
into a discussion about me and my plans for future trade activity between our
nations. My shoulders relaxed when it seemed like my injury truly wasn’t about
to take center stage in the conversation.
Captain Callum
returned me to my bed while I let out a sigh of relief. The two kings had
accepted our prolonged stay in their country. They even
agreed with my pleas to only tell Mother the details I approved of. All I could
do now was hope that my leg would heal fully, thanks to treatment via special
powers, before I returned to Freesia.
I turned around
instinctively, searching for my imperial knights…and winced at the pain that
seized my chest. Once the kings were done speaking to Mother, they came to bid
me farewell, then left to attend to their official business. They closed the
door quietly behind them. Tiara, my imperial knights, and I were now the only
ones in the room.
“About time they beat
it,” a quiet yet distinctly deep and annoyed voice said from the direction of
the window.
I swiveled in time to
find Val climbing into my room. Khemet and Sefekh waved and raced to my side.
“I see you’ve got two
kings on a leash now too. Good goin’, Mistress,” Val said.
That was totally the
wrong impression of this situation. “No, I simply asked them for a favor,” I
explained, but Val just leaned up against the wall and scratched his head.
“We’re gonna head on
home too,” he said. “There’s nothin’ else for us to do in this country.”
Val swayed like he
was sleepy. I suggested he rest up a bit before leaving.
“I don’t want that
prince or the prime minister tryin’ to get me to do anything else for them,” he
replied.
It was true that
having Val around would make repairing the destroyed castle and townsfolk’s
homes much easier. I couldn’t help wanting to ask for his help with that too.
“I truly appreciate
the ways in which you’ve helped me,” I said. “I’ll be sure to thank you
properly some other time. You too, Khemet and Sefekh.”
I expressed my
heartfelt gratitude to all three of them. Without them, this country would
surely have suffered much more damage.
“Don’t waste your
time on that,” Val grumbled. “Just let that leg of yours heal up already.”
He shot me a glare,
perhaps still mad about all the work he had outside of his normal delivery
duties. He turned his back to me, then clicked his tongue and turned around
again, evidently gripped by indecision. Muttering to himself, he joined Khemet
and Sefekh at my side. Val wavered where he stood, as if his body was so heavy
with fatigue he couldn’t hold firm.
“Yes?” I prompted.
I couldn’t tell if he
was feeling upset or something else. He remained silent for a few seconds, then
leaned forward like he was about to topple over. Instead, he put his face close
to my ear. I leaned toward him, prepared to hear some sort of complaint.
“I’ll be waiting for
you in Freesia,” he whispered.
His hot breath warmed
my ear. His deep, smooth tone rumbled through me, making me shiver. I swallowed
hard. When he backed away, I gaped up at him, but he wore the same annoyed pout
as ever.
“See you in Freesia,”
I managed.
All I received in
return was a casual wave. He didn’t even glance back at me. Khemet and Sefekh
waved goodbye to Tiara and me, then held on to Val’s sides. All three of them
sailed out of the window and back toward the ground.
“If you miss Freesia so
much, just go home already.”
Val had uttered those
words to me yesterday on the battlefield.
A breeze slipped
through the open window and rustled my hair. I tucked the loose strands behind
my ear, where my skin was still warm from Val’s breath.
Yes. I’ll be home soon.
It was too little,
too late, but I offered Val this response in my mind. I needed to recover
quickly and head back to Freesia—the home of so many people I cared about.
Captain Callum shut
the window. I turned my attention to Captain Alan, who stood behind me.
“What is it, Big
Sister?” Tiara asked with a tilt of her head.
“Captain Alan,
Captain Callum.”
My voice came out
quieter than I intended, like I was speaking to someone right at my side, but
they responded all the same. I met their eyes in turn—Captain Callum’s
reddish-brown as rust and Captain Alan’s as orange as sunrise—and voiced the
question lingering on my tongue.
“You two won’t do
something silly now like retire as knights, will you?”
“Well… No matter what
we choose, I don’t think Callum or I will be able to escape punishment,”
Captain Alan said, trying to sound casual. I knew he didn’t want me to worry,
but he wasn’t denying my allegations either. He scratched his cheek and smiled
awkwardly.
“The two of us failed
in an inexcusable way during this defensive war,” Captain Callum said. “It’s
very possible that we’ll be removed as imperial knights and stripped of our
titles as captains.”
He spared himself no
sympathy, his words harsh and direct. He finally managed to close the window,
perhaps using the task to distract himself. The slam of that window ushered in
a tense silence.
“I was responsible
for what happened to me,” I said. “I was the one who separated from you. All you
did was follow my orders.”
“Still, it was our
duty to keep you safe above all else,” Captain Callum said.
His response was a
little sterner than how he usually spoke to me. He slowly took up a position at
Captain Alan’s side. They approached me together, standing on either side of
Tiara, who was at my bedside. Their serious expressions did not waver as they regarded
me.
Neither of them was
mistaken in their logic. The person under their care was injured—and she was
the crown princess, at that. It was a major failure. But
I had already hidden the extent of my injury from Mother and received
permission to stay in this country until my leg healed fully.
“All right, then I
forgive you personally,” I said. “I’ll be asking Commander Roderick and Mother
to allow you to stay assigned to me. Also, I—”
“We failed to protect
you!” Captain Alan shouted. His angry roar echoed through the room. I went
stiff at the spike in volume.
“Alan!” Captain
Callum snapped.
Captain Alan
immediately apologized, then continued more quietly, “So as imperial knights,
as captains, and as knights, we intend on accepting full responsibility. That
was our decision from the very start.”
Captain Alan smiled
at me as if it was no big deal at all. My chest tightened at the forced cheer
on his face.
“This is nothing for
you to concern yourself with, Your Highness,” Captain Callum said. “The problem
lies with us knights.”
Captain Callum smiled
as well, but his gloom broke through the expression. My heart ached as I beheld
the loyal men before me.
“It’s been an honor
to serve you as an imperial knight, even for this brief time. I thank you for
everything,” Captain Alan said.
“Arthur and Eric are
excellent knights,” Captain Callum followed up. “I know they’ll continue to
serve you well. Thank you for giving us this opportunity.”
Tiara clutched at her
chest, tears shining in her eyes. “It can’t be…” she whispered just loud enough
for me to hear. Over the past year, she’d grown just as fond of these knights
as I had.
“We apologize
sincerely for failing to protect you,” they told me.
I tried to assure
them that that wasn’t the case, but neither budged, so I wondered if they’d
heard me at all. Finally, they straightened and smiled down at me.
“I’m sure Eric will
have trouble performing the duties of imperial knight for a while, so we’ll
continue to guard you until then, ” Captain Callum told me.
“We promise that our
successors will be the most qualified individuals,” Captain Alan said.
They continued so
casually, like they were talking about a brief vacation and not the end of
their time as knights. I looked at the two of them, and before I knew it, I was
grabbing both captains’ right arms. Their eyes went wide. I held on tighter,
afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold on through the tremble in my own arms. They
could easily shake me off, but neither did.
“Princess Pride…?”
Captain Alan said.
I couldn’t find the
right words. I simply pressed my lips together to hold back the cry that wanted
to crawl out of my throat. I knew I had no right to say this, but it was
something I needed to express.
“You protected me so
well all this time,” I said.
“You saved me. I’m
alive right now because of you two.”
They’d come to my
rescue. I was the one who’d acted without thinking and left them with a mess to
clean up. Things might have gone much differently if they weren’t there to
help. I could easily have died in this war, or I could have witnessed the
crushing sight of that guard being killed. The two of us could have lost our
lives together.
And yet…
“You both saved my
life. I’m so grateful for you. So why?”
I got that far before
I couldn’t speak clearly anymore. The urge to cry welled up in my throat, and I
struggled with whether I should even continue. They stared wide-eyed at me,
completely still, while the lump in my throat only grew.
I didn’t care about
punishing them. I didn’t care about their responsibilities or titles or the
fact that I was a princess. I understood that Captain Callum and Captain Alan
weren’t trying to take responsibility for my injury simply because they felt
guilty. This wasn’t something I could solve with an emotional response. At the
same time, I trembled with the urge to do something,
trapped in a position where my only option was pouting like a child.
“I still want you two
to protect me!” I cried, voice cracking.
The tip of my nose
burned. My vision blurred, and I struggled to make out their faces. I knew they
were facing me, but I didn’t know if they were upset, shocked, or put off by
the sight of me.
Had it not been for
Tiara’s words, I wouldn’t have understood. I might have gone on assuming the
captains were just feeling guilty, but now I knew how much they genuinely
worried about us and how much pain they’d suffered as a result of seeing me in
danger.
“I’m begging you…
Please continue to protect me, from here on…” I said, struggling to finish the
statement. I hung my head, unable to look at them. Although I squeezed their
hands tighter, I couldn’t stop trembling.
I knew this was wrong
of me. If these two men were ready to end their careers as knights, it wasn’t
my place to stop them. But my heart clenched when I realized their minds were
made up. Like a child, all I could do was beg and pout.
There she was—the
same selfish little princess from nine years ago.
The tears carved
paths down my cheeks. Shudders rippled through my body. The heartbreak and
anguish didn’t make any sense. This wasn’t something worth crying so hard over.
I just couldn’t stop myself from curling up around the pain. I tried to remind
myself that breaking down like this would only upset them and make them
uncomfortable.
I let go of both of
the captains’ hands and swiped my hand across my eyes, trying to hide my tears.
“I’m sorry,” I said. Tiara rubbed my back. I sucked in a shaky breath, fighting
back a fresh wave of tears. “I know…that I have no right to stop you…”
My voice was hoarse.
I lifted my head, my eyes swollen, and met the captains’ serious stares. I was
afraid my teeth would chatter if I unclenched my jaw.
I wrapped my arms
around Tiara’s shoulders, and she nestled close to me.
“I want Arthur, Vice
Captain Eric, and the two of you as my imperial knights,” I said while Tiara
nodded in agreement. “No one else. I have the highest expectations for you as
knights—as captains—because of your excellent skills and your kind hearts.”
I gave Tiara a
squeeze before releasing her. The two knights were still frozen in place, as
though they’d forgotten even how to breathe as they listened to me. I reached
out for them again.
“Please don’t forget
this,” I said.
First, I removed
Captain Alan’s glove. I struggled with the clasp until he undid it for me and
slipped off his glove.
“Whatever decision
you two might make in the future…”
I reached out to
Captain Callum next. Understanding my intention, he undid his own glove first
and slid it off easily with the other hand.
“…this alone is a
truth that surpasses everything else.”
They offered me their
bare hands. Captain Alan’s stout hand and Captain Callum’s toned hand had a
knightly bearing, conveying reliability and steadiness even down to their very
fingers. I gently took Captain Alan’s hand in both of mine and kissed the tips
of his fingers.
Captain Alan
floundered. “P-pardon, Your Highness?!”
His fingers shook
under my lips, tickling them with the movement. I slowly removed my mouth and
hands. A tremble ran up his arm.
I looked up at the
two of them without a word. Both men were blushing and staring at me, wide-eyed
and frozen, as if they couldn’t believe what had just transpired.
I understood their
shock. Both of them knew the meaning of those kisses: they were a symbol of
admiration.
“The two of you saved
my life. I celebrate your bravery and merits from the bottom of my heart. That
was meant as proof.”
They gazed at their
own fingers, still red in the face. Their mouths hung open, but neither of them
spoke. The bewilderment of the two knights was completely natural. Not even
members of the royal family exchanged kisses very often. Regardless, I wanted to
show these two men just how serious I was about caring for them. They didn’t
need to be ashamed of their accomplishments. No one could imitate them, let
alone surpass them.
A few more words
bubbled up in my throat, but just as I was about to speak…
Knock-knock.
A quick and heavy
knock on the door echoed through the room. I was startled but managed to
answer, listening for the response from the hall.
“It’s Commander
Roderick Beresford. I’ve brought knights who can treat your injuries with
special powers. Is now a good time, Princess Pride?”
“I apologize for the
delay, Your Highness,” Commander Roderick said as he strode into the room.
A group of knights
followed him in, bowing to me as they entered. There were far more men than
just the ones who could heal me with their special powers, however. Arthur was
among them, and he joined the others in bowing once I made eye contact with
him. The sheer number of knights here to see me startled me.
“These men knew of
your condition in advance,” Commander Roderick said.
When I looked closer,
I realized all of these knights had been in the vicinity when I received
medical treatment on the battlefield. They all wore looks of relief except
Arthur. They must have been worried about my well-being all this time.
“Callum, Alan, hurry
up and get some rest already,” the commander said.
My imperial knights
stood up straighter, though they also shuddered. Ever since yesterday’s battle,
Captain Callum and Captain Alan had been guarding me ceaselessly, forgoing
sleep. The other knights must have come here to take over for them. It wasn’t just
Arthur, who was one of my imperial knights; Commander Roderick brought along a
small army of knights to leave with me. For some reason, Vice Captain Eric
wasn’t among them. Perhaps he had to watch over the First Squadron in place of
Captain Alan.
Tiara and I dipped
our heads to the two captains. They pressed their lips together and turned to
leave as ordered, but I called out for them to wait.
“Just one more
thing!”
I knew I didn’t have
to do this now. They would be my imperial knights again tomorrow…or at least,
they’d agreed to stay with me until we returned home to Freesia. But I didn’t
want to drag up the conversation again tomorrow. I wanted to tell them everything
today and leave the rest up to them.
Commander Roderick
asked if he should leave, but I told him this would only take a moment. I
called Captain Callum forward first. He approached with perfect posture in
front of his commander and fellow knights.
As soon as our eyes
met, his cheeks reddened with a nervous blush. I tugged him down closer to me,
then whispered directly into his ear, finally uttering the words I’d been
desperate to tell him this whole time.
Captain Callum lifted
his head just slightly from inside my arms. I released him and smiled at his
frozen expression. He offered a deep bow before exiting the room.
After watching him
go, I looked to Captain Alan. He approached stiffly. Before I could even reach
my hand out, he leaned over me and turned his ear in my direction. I leaned
close and whispered to him as I had to Captain Callum.
As I spoke, those memories came rushing back to me. My chest tightened
painfully. Without thinking, I pulled Captain Alan into a hug. His short,
golden-brown hair tickled my face.
Once I released him,
Captain Alan staggered backward away from me. His face was tense, though he
forced himself through a stiff bow. Then he raced out of the room, shutting the
door behind him with a loud thud.
“I’m sorry for the
wait, Commander Roderick,” I said after a brief silence.
The commander
furrowed his brow as he stared at the door Captain Alan had just fled through.
Slowly, he shifted his gaze back to me.
“All right. First
off…”
***
“You’re here too,
Alan?”
I’d come to the back
of the Chinensian castle church. It was closed off temporarily, so it wasn’t as
well defended as the rest of the castle. Most of the other knights had already
left the castle as well, making this a perfect spot for Callum and me to hide
away for the moment.
Callum sat by himself
on a white bench behind the church with his elbows resting on his knees. He
hung his head, covering his brow and eyes with his hands, and looked up only
enough to meet my gaze.
“Well, it’s the only
place I could think of that was close to the First Squadron,” I said,
scratching my head.
“I really can’t take
it,” I said with a dry, humorless chuckle. The words emerged more as a sigh
than a statement.
Callum didn’t look
like his usual self either, and he had no reply. Not that I wanted one. I let
the silence fall, hanging my head.…
And the dam burst at
last.
Tears spilled down my
cheeks and struck my shoes. I tried to stymie them with my hands, but they
slipped through the gaps between my fingers. When I clenched my teeth, they
slid into my mouth, salty and bitter.
Callum remained
slumped over, but his body was shaking. Tears flowed past his laced fingers. He
made some sort of choked, strained sound that emanated from deep in his throat.
The idea of an
imperial knight crying while on duty was unthinkable. As captains, we could
never cry in front of our subordinates. We had to keep our emotions in check no
matter what as we carried out our tasks. It didn’t matter how our hearts
stirred, chests ached, or throats clogged with lumps.
But now the war was
over, Princess Pride was resting, and the emotions we’d held back all this time
could come out at last.
***
I couldn’t forgive
myself as a knight for allowing Princess Pride to get so gravely injured.
In the midst of the
war, I’d buried all those regrets, but now they came flooding out.
Why,
why, why?! The image of the injured princess, who’d
shed tears for us so many times, stabbed me straight in the heart. Not only did
she refuse to blame us for our failings, but she went as far as to cover for
us. Countless people—Arthur, Prince Stale, Princess Tiara, King Yohan, King
Lance—cared about her and owed her debts of gratitude, but we knights were the
ones who’d hurt her. It was unforgivable. I couldn’t possibly call myself a
knight anymore.
“I still want you two to
protect me!”
It was the highest
compliment a knight could possibly receive.
“Please know that there
are two people here who desire you as knights.”
“I believe you two will
do even more great things as knights…and as captains.”
She told both me and
Alan that she approved of us, that she believed in us. All I wanted was to
protect her. But I also wished I had protected her.
Joy and regret swirled around in my stomach, leaving me queasy.
I thought back to the
words Princess Pride had shared with us just before we left the room. She
really was prepared to leave this situation up to me and Alan.
“Thank you for putting
your lives on the line to save me. I’m so glad you both survived!”
Risking your life for
the person under your protection was the most fundamental duty of a knight. We
prided ourselves on undertaking that task. But as soon as I heard her say that,
all I could think of was how I would protect her better next time. Part of me
didn’t even believe there would be a next time, and still I yearned for a
chance to do better.
I want to protect her
properly next time. I won’t let her suffer a single scratch next time. I won’t
make her cry for my sake next time. I’ll live up to her expectations next time.
I’ll make sure she can smile next time. Over and over, I found myself desperately seeking
that elusive “next time.”
“It’s too late for
regrets…”
My voice croaked out
of my throat as the tears spilled over. They wet my fingers and rolled down my
arms, the weight of them unbearably heavy. The dam I’d been building up inside
me burst, and I couldn’t hold any of it back anymore.
I knew what was
coming. Alan had probably reached the same conclusion already. He would accept
responsibility for our shortcomings. I couldn’t continue on alone, nor was
there any chance I would go unpunished after having failed in the same exact
way as Alan. Regardless of what Commander Roderick chose to do with us, the
final decision would come down to us. How could I think of having a long career
as a knight while Alan covered for me on his own? The shame would be
unbearable. The two of us would have to—
“I’m so sorry,
Callum!”
I raised my head at
Alan’s choked sob. Tears streamed down his face, yet he still scowled at me
through gritted teeth. I’d never seen him cry so hard.
“But I still wanna
protect her!”
His crying nearly
drowned out his voice. I gulped when I realized Alan and I felt the exact same
way.
“That’s why…” he
began, keeping his eyes on the ground and refusing to look up at me. “I want
you to take the blame too!”
Even through his
sobbing, his determination rang out clear in his voice.
***
I knew exactly what I’d
done. Not taking responsibility for my failings as a knight would shame me
forever. Callum and I both deserved punishment. We’d failed to protect the one
person who needed our care more than anyone.
Not only that, but I
didn’t spot her injury until Callum pointed it out. I was totally powerless.
Arthur put his trust in us, Prince Stale recognized our strength, Commander
Roderick left us to take on this important duty, and Princess Pride believed we
would keep her safe. That was the road we had traveled to become imperial
knights.
But I’d wasted all of
it.
I
couldn’t protect her. Those words clawed at me from
the inside.
“You protected me so well all this time.”
Princess Pride had spoken those
words to us while crying for our sakes.
“You saved me. I’m alive
right now because of you two.”
Callum saved her. He
was ready to die so that Princess Pride and I could get away. He was a
brilliant man, and that’s why he’d made the right decision even in the heat of
the moment.
“The two of you saved my
life.”
We saved it because
that was all we were capable of saving. We wanted to
keep the princess safe so badly.
I could have
collapsed under the weight of my regrets. My stomach boiled like it was full of
lava.
I knew I had to take
responsibility for her. Even if Prince Stale forgave us, even if Princess Pride
pulled the strings to quiet this all up, and even if my only punishment was
demotion, I was still prepared to take all the blame for this myself.
But right now I
couldn’t stop thinking about the last words Princess Pride said to me. That was
the moment when I’d struggled the most to bite back my tears. All I could do
was hold my breath and cram the emotions back down.
“I’m sorry I forced such
a terrible decision on you.”
At first, I didn’t
know what she meant. I thought she was talking about forcing us to take
responsibility for ourselves. But then she’d pulled me closer.
“I’m sure that leaving
Captain Callum behind was more painful than anything!”
I thought my heart
was going to explode.
A sharp pain shot
through my body at the mere memory of that moment. It was the pain of having to
make the choice to leave Callum under that rubble. It
was the pain of having to accept that as the best possible outcome in the
moment.
But it also reminded
me how powerless I was in that situation.
I hated, hated,
hated, hated, hated, hated, hated myself for not being
able to do more. It was practically killing me. Having Callum cover for me and
take the blame was that same nightmare coming back to life again. Just
remembering that moment left my chest too tight for me to breathe. But as soon
as I heard what Princess Pride wanted to tell me, it was like she was the one
treating my wounds.
It was the opening of
a fresh wound, but also the grazing of an old scar. Contradictory as it
sounded, I knew that her words had saved me. The warmth of her words soothed
the ache in my chest.
I wanted to protect
her. This time, I would do it for sure, even if it meant giving up my life—I
would protect both Princess Pride and Callum. I’d
ensure they made it out of here safely. There were still so many things I had
left to do…and not just as a knight.
Princess Pride had
awakened a new desire in me, the desire to be the protector this time.
That desire burned
away concern over things like shame, pity, or what the world might blame me
for. I had to repay my debt. Next time, for sure, I would make sure the
princess was safe.
“I still wanna
protect her!”
Next
time. This desire overwhelmed me. But I knew it
wasn’t something I could do on my own. Even when the regret was
so heavy I wanted to collapse beneath it, it still hadn’t snuffed out this
desire to protect her. That was why…
“I want you to take
the blame too!”
I need you to take me
with you. I still want to be a knight with you.
I didn’t care what
form it took or how undignified it might be. I wanted to keep being a knight
and protecting the princess.
“Of course I will!”
Callum said.
His voice rang out
strong and sure, despite the emotion choking him. I couldn’t see his face past
his hands, but I thanked him all the same. He simply nodded.
Next time, we would
protect her—Callum and me together.
It was all for the sake of the princess.
FINAL CHAPTER: The Prince Called God’s Child
CEDRIC SILVA LOWELL, that
was my name. The name of the man who received everything from God.
I remembered
everything from the moment of my own birth on. No, I had memories even before
it, when I shouldn’t have been able to see yet. I’d always assumed it was the
same for everyone.
I still remembered
the first day I ever grasped language, and the amount of times my wet nurse’s
eyes widened when she heard me speak. Six years, one month, and three days
after my birth, I would learn that ordinary people do something called
“forgetting.”
It was on my second
birthday that I earned the ridiculous nickname “God’s child.” Everyone heaped
praise on me for my “divine” talents and for the love God must have given me.
It almost felt like they wanted to spite the devout country of Chinensis by calling
me these things.
Once I learned enough
language to communicate freely, I had to contend with the adults in my life. I
could memorize things; I just couldn’t understand them. But these adults didn’t
question that at all—they just treated me like a toy, a baby. The nickname
“God’s child” spread, becoming more widely known. And Bertrand, the seneschal
at the time, started watching me closely.
All he taught me at
first was how to speak and greet people as a member of royalty. To this day, I
didn’t know whether I had a real desire to study back then, despite how
diligent I was at the time. As soon as I started to
learn those things, everyone started treating me differently.
I was ordered to
absorb every last bit of information in my studies. I still remembered every
letter of every page in my books and even the number of wrinkles on Seneschal
Bertrand’s hands while he made me study.
All the people who
became obsessed with an unusual toy like me started to neglect feeding me or
giving me breaks. I still remember the exact number of times I ended up stuck
in bed with a fever because of these oversights. I was probably the only prince
in history who almost died of starvation right there on castle property.
Afraid of being found
out by my father, who was the king then, Seneschal Bertrand abused his powers
to cement himself as the person who would watch over me. He’d stolen the role
from Prime Minister Dario. I still wished I could forget the look on Prime Minister
Dario’s face when Seneschal Bertrand threatened to take away his wife,
children, and position in the castle.
The seneschal called
it “special lessons,” but what he really did was silently kill the person I was
when I was young. He beat me into a machine that could spit out whatever
knowledge he required. I memorized and recited and memorized and recited until
I fainted with exhaustion from his ceaseless exercises. Gradually, I came to
believe that was really all I was good for.
At the time, I had
nothing else to compare my life to. It became normal to me. When I saw my
brother, father, or mother at formal Cercian ceremonies, I felt nothing for
them. I knew we shared the same blood and that my brother would be the next
king.
But he was
“ordinary.”
Day after day, those
old geezers toyed with me. But the person who finally saved me from that hell
was…
“Stop it, you
bastards! What the hell are you doing to my little brother?!”
***
“Elder Sister, I’ve
brought Prince Cedric with me.”
It was two days after
the end of the defensive war. Tiara had left my room to speak with Mother by
transmission when Stale knocked on my door. Arthur had traded shifts with Captain
Callum, who was currently on duty as my imperial knight along with Captain
Alan.
Stale invited Cedric
into the room. The prince wore his usual flashy clothes and dazzling
accessories. The gloomy expression on his face only worsened when I sat up in
bed.
“I’m sorry it took me
so long to come see you,” he said. “I probably should have been the first one
here.”
Stale offered him a
seat by my bedside. Cedric took the chair somberly, accessories jingling as he
sat. That familiar sound was a strange contrast to his melancholy tone.
“I know you were
busy,” I replied. “You don’t need to apologize.”
I was the one who’d
refused to meet with him on the first day, after all. But Cedric’s expression
didn’t change when I attempted to reassure him. He
squeezed his fists even tighter in his lap.
“How are your legs?”
“They’re almost back
to normal. They don’t hurt anymore, and my right leg is already healed. My left
leg will only take three or four more days.”
“Bro said that you’d
be staying here until then.”
“That’s right. I’ll
be returning to Freesia the day after I’m fully recovered.”
I was more accustomed
to his halting way of speaking now. He hung his head, daring glances upward to
make fleeting eye contact. “I see. I’m really grateful for everyone from
Freesia. Especially you, Pride. I’ll…never be able to make it up to you.” He
bowed his head even lower.
I felt so bad for
forcing a prince into such an apologetic position. I told him to raise his
head, and he sat up again, even if his head was still tilted downward.
“You worked really
hard, didn’t you? I don’t know what happened exactly, but Tiara told me it was
dangerous.”
Cedric’s shoulders
lurched like he was suddenly afraid. He finally looked up to meet my eyes.
“When…did you find out…about me?”
“You mean about your
being ‘God’s child’?”
He flinched at my
directness. He obviously hated that nickname. During the game, Cedric had said
as much.
“‘God’s child.’ That
worthless nickname made my brother suffer so much when we were young.”
As the cocky
character, Cedric never tried to hide his talent, but he never boasted of it
either. The nickname “God’s child” had already spread
throughout Freesia thanks to Cedric’s success in running the country for the
year that his brother was sick. Here and now, Freesia knew nothing of that
name. Stale and Arthur, who were listening to us, wouldn’t have a clue what I
was talking about either.
King Yohan must have
told Cedric that I knew of his nickname. No, even if he didn’t, I had implied
that I knew of it many times already. When I explained that I saw it in a
premonition, Cedric asked if that meant I knew in advance that he was going to
fight on the battlefield. I shook my head, and his expression shifted to
confusion.
“The vision I saw was
even further off in the future,” I told him. “I just believed you could do it.”
Ever since Cedric
decided to stand up on his own in the battle, I knew he was capable of the
exact same things he achieved in the game, even without that tragedy in his
life.
“Besides,” I began,
staring into his burning eyes, “you were already prepared to fight when you set
out for the battlefield, weren’t you?”
Not even Cedric would
go running off into a war without the confidence to take up a weapon for
himself. He must have arrived knowing full well of his capabilities as “God’s
child.”
Cedric recoiled just
slightly at my question, mouth clamped shut, but he eventually nodded in
response. In the game, I’d appreciated Cedric’s incredible ability to copy the
moves of other characters. He couldn’t beat the eyes or sword skills of
Commander Arthur, of course—although that character did describe battling the
game’s Cedric as akin to fighting multiple warriors at once.
“I’m sorry. I was
always…”
“You apologize too much,
Cedric.”
I couldn’t help but
chuckle at yet another attempted apology. His eyes widened, as if my reaction
startled him, and I flashed a teasing smile.
“You sure made a
scene before you left. I told you, I heard all about how hard you worked out
there.”
“Just
you watch me, Pride Royal Ivy!” That was what he’d
said right before leaving the castle. The memory made me chuckle. I hadn’t
gotten to see what he did after that, but I knew about it all the same. Cedric
had fought his way to King Lance and slain a whole slew of enemies.
Cedric kept his mouth
closed, apparently lost for words, but never tore his eyes away from me.
“Cedric,” I said with
a smile, “do you really hate being ‘God’s child’?”
He remained silent,
blinking his wide eyes at me. The Cedric from the game had kept his talent
hidden for his brother’s sake. My precognition alone couldn’t explain how I
knew this about him.
I didn’t press any
further as I waited; I knew that question had already been a bit of a jab.
Cedric just stood there squeezing his hands into fists and swallowing so hard I
could see his throat bob.
“Yeah. I do.”
His voice emerged low
and depressed, and his handsome face hardened. Cedric glared down at his own
feet like his eyes could burn holes through them.
“I can memorize and
reenact every single thing I see. That’s why they call me God’s child. But what
good does that do?”
“I don’t deserve this
power. That much I can say for sure.”
Cedric glowered at
his own fist. He was clearly confident in his physical appearance, but no
matter how much praise he received, no matter how much his brothers loved him,
he always hated himself so deeply. His tragedy hadn’t even occurred in this
world, yet he loved only the outside of himself—never the inside.
“That’s such a
waste,” I said. The words slipped out before I could catch them.
Cedric nodded, his
eyes still pointed toward the ground, and said, “Yeah, this talent of mine will
never—”
“No, not that.”
I wasn’t going to let
him continue on with this misunderstanding unchallenged.
“Cedric, there’s no
reason for the man you are now to hate your talents.”
His mouth fell open
and stayed that way. He blinked at me like he could hardly understand what I’d
just said.
I knew just how much
Cedric was torturing himself. There had to be something more to the story than
his power simply being a threat to his brother’s claim to the throne. Cedric
had described old Lord Hanmu as having treated him like a toy. Maybe he didn’t
have a single good memory of his talents. But still…
“You have a wonderful
talent,” I said. “I’m certain that it will bring you happiness in the future.”
“What do you know?!”
he cried. The confusion on his face twisted to anger.
Cedric’s expression
froze partway between rage and surprise. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and
I watched that fire roar to life in them again. But the thought I’d shared was
a true one.
“You’re the kind of
person who would rather give everything away before he took something from
someone else,” I said. “You’d abandon everything if it meant protecting the
people you care about.”
I set a hand against
his cheek. He twitched away from my touch but didn’t back off completely.
“That’s why I would
want to give you that talent. Someday, you’ll protect the people you care
about, as well as yourself. That’s what your talent is for. It already helped
out once, right?”
I was referring to
his time on the battlefield. I knew he could protect others now rather than
just relying on others protecting him.
“As for your
brother’s qualifications to be the king… I’m sure you know even more of them
than I do.”
Cedric clenched his
jaw before nodding vigorously. His eyes blazed, even as wetness doused them. I
smiled to myself—he was such an easy crier. I stroked his damp skin. All these
years, the pure heart of his childhood must have remained unchanged.
“King Lance is truly
a wonderful king,” I went on. “He was outstanding enough to beat out even
‘God’s child’ for that role. As his brother, I hope you’ll be the first to
believe in that.”
I stroked his back,
listening to the choked noises coming out of his mouth. He wiped at his tears,
trying to hide them, then covered both his mouth and eyes again. He was a
crybaby, he was a show-off, and he was kind. All of those things were even
truer today than when we first met.
“You’ve worked so
hard. It will be all right.”
Cedric had spent all
these years keeping the information in his brain locked away for the sake of
his brothers. When I said those words to him, all those years of holding back
shattered him at last, and he burst into sobs. His shoulders shuddered, and his
choked cries echoed through the room.
With his back
slumped, for a moment, he truly looked like a young child. I’d been stroking
his back all this time, but now I set a hand on the top of his head. I began to
stroke the bangs he was gripping with his hands, and that’s when I thought back
to King Lance and King Yohan placing their hands on his head in just the same
way.
Cedric had abandoned
as much knowledge as he could, stopped his own development, relied on skewed
information to get by. Still, he always tried to improve so he could be worthy
of his brothers. He was truly like a large child. It must have been thanks to
those two kings that he managed to preserve his naturally kindhearted and
compassionate character for all these years.
“I know you’ll become
someone just as wonderful as your older brothers.”
“I look forward to
seeing that day,” I told him.
Time was finally going to start moving again for
Cedric. He would surely catch up to the game version of himself very soon.
After all, Cedric moved as fast as a hundred people combined.
Stay with Me
“ELDER SISTER, Tiara… It’s
me,” I said as I knocked on the door. “Prince Leon and Val are with me too.”
It wasn’t Pride who
invited me into the room, but Tiara. Pride had collapsed into a deep slumber
after victory was assured in the war. Her personal maids had tucked her into
bed. They watched over her now in the silent room. Tiara squeezed Pride’s hand
from where she’d nestled beside her, watching over her as she slept.
Our arrival caused
Tiara to sit up straighter in her chair. She offered us all a bow from her
chair.
“How is she?” I
asked.
“Fast asleep,” Tiara
said.
My entourage and I
stopped talking after that, trying not to disturb the sleeping princess.
Good. She’s actually
resting.
It was a relief to
see her sleeping at last. The last time I was with her in this room, she hadn’t
even changed out of her armor yet. The scene before me now served as a stark
reminder of how she tended to hide her exhaustion. As happy as I was to see her
resting, it pained me
that she’d forced herself to keep going all this time.
I gestured for the
other four guests to enter. A guard shut the door quietly behind them.
“Pride…”
“She’s sound asleep,”
Tiara told him with a smile, her voice as dainty as a bell.
Leon sighed with
relief. The moment I’d told Leon about Pride’s broken leg, his whole face had
darkened. Now he got to see for himself that she would make a full recovery
even after watching over the entire war. It was so like Pride to courageously
stay on the battlefield until the very end, injuries be damned.
“Hm, the color in her
face is better than I expected,” Leon said. “Thanks for all your good work, you
two.”
Leon smiled at the
two men at Pride’s side: Captain Alan and Captain Callum, her imperial knights.
Neither man responded. Perhaps they didn’t want to disturb Pride’s sleep, or
perhaps they didn’t feel they deserved the praise since Pride had gotten injured.
Either way, the captains simply stood up straight and tall, kept their hands
behind their back, and bowed toward Leon.
Khemet and Sefekh
came up next to stand between Leon and Tiara. They dragged Val with them,
getting close enough to peer at Pride’s face.
“Mistress?”
“Are you alive?”
Tiara chuckled. “I’m
glad to see you’re both all right!” she said, wrapping her arm around the children.
“Did you fight too,
Tiara?”
Khemet and Sefekh
questioned her in hushed voices, but Tiara’s expression had brightened the
moment her friends had arrived.
Meanwhile, Val
side-eyed the bed. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he gazed at
Pride. Val had spent the day racing around the country with his special power,
so he had to be nearly as exhausted as the princess. Yet even he seemed
relieved at the sight of Pride’s relaxed face. He let out an exasperated sigh.
He’d seen her leg
before, and I hadn’t reported any other injuries to him. Still, he furrowed his
brow and glared down at Pride, assessing her from the neck up to make sure.
Even then, she did not wake. Val looked like he wanted to tease her, but
something in the princess’s sleeping face halted him. Pride couldn’t respond to
the jab anyway.
I stood next to Tiara
at Pride’s bedside, silently watching this all unfold. My heart settled as I
observed Pride’s steady, calm breaths. I sighed and reached out to set my hand
atop Tiara’s where she held Pride’s hand. Tiara’s small hand was warmer than I
expected.
Tiara relaxed her
grip, giving me space. We held Pride’s pale hand together, heating it up more
effectively than any blanket. A smile slipped onto my face as the fatigue of
the day seeped out of my body. I truly felt I could last three days and nights
without rest if it meant protecting that peaceful look on Pride’s face.
“I have more things
to do, so I’ll leave you here with her,” I said. “Captain Alan, Captain Callum,
please try to change shifts as soon as possible.”
“We’re fine here,”
both knights responded instantly.
Alan had left the
First Squadron in the hands of Eric, his vice captain, while Callum had put the
captain of the Fourth Squadron in charge of his own unit. However, these
replacements couldn’t stand in for the actual captains forever. That was why
I’d encouraged them to swap out with Arthur and Eric, or at least other knights
who knew of the situation, but Callum and Alan had made up their minds.
“We ask your
permission to stay and guard Princess Pride,” Captain Callum said.
“We don’t need a
break,” Captain Alan chimed in. “Please feel free to dismiss us if you feel we
aren’t serving our purpose here.”
It was like this was
their final duty as knights or something. No matter how many hours or days
passed, they refused to move until Pride’s safety was assured.
Their firm and
earnest gazes left me silent for a moment. “Very well,” I finally said. I
understood exactly how much responsibility they felt over Pride’s injury. In
light of that, I couldn’t possibly force them to stand down. I myself had
gotten pretty emotional over the matter.
The two captains
bowed their heads in appreciation. Leon glanced at them, clearly trying to sort
out the situation for himself. As the prince of Anemone, he would understand
the difficulty of their position. However, he also knew
that the kindhearted Pride would never dismiss these men from her service over
something like that.
“Prince Stale, may I
stay here for a while too?” Leon asked me. “I would like to see her awaken
before I return home.”
Apparently, he also
wanted to confirm that Pride was unharmed while he was still here. Perhaps he
also wanted to speak with her now that the war had concluded. The look on his
face was more like he couldn’t bear to leave her side till she awakened, though.
I agreed to the
request. Pride’s knights and Tiara would be with Leon too, after all. Even
without that, I felt that I could trust this man—Pride’s sworn friend. He’d
rushed into this war to aid us, and I knew Big Sister would be eager to see him
when she awoke.
I informed Mary and
Lotte, the maids standing in a corner of the room, that I would return them to
Freesia. I’d only called them here to help Pride change clothes, but now their
more important task was watching over her room back in Freesia.
The women agreed with
one last look at Pride. The softness in their eyes belied their reluctance to
leave her, but they had duties of their own. They took my hands in preparation
to teleport, and I flashed them a smile.
“What about you, Val?
Are you staying or leaving?” I asked after I’d teleported the maids away,
dropping back into my usual deadpan expression.
I’d been the one to
give Val and Leon permission to visit Pride. I knew Val was worried about her,
but I didn’t know if he had ulterior motives as well.
“I want to wait with
them until she wakes up!” Khemet cried.
“Me too!” Sefekh
said.
Unlike Val, they were
upfront with their desires. Their faces creased with concern for Pride. Even
their little shouts weren’t enough to awaken her from her deep slumber.
Val kept pointing at
them as he muttered, “How can I leave with them actin’ like this?”
He mumbled some
further complaint to himself. I only caught a snippet of it—something regarding
how the kids wouldn’t shut up about how worried they were. Leon glanced over at
Val, a bemused smile on his lips that told me Val would probably have stayed
here regardless of the children.
“Fine,” I said with a
sigh, letting my head droop and pushing up my glasses. Unlike Leon, I worried
about leaving Val alone with the sleeping Pride, but having two imperial
knights here eased my mind. I could also simply order Val to do nothing but
watch over her from the side of her bed. Still…
“Don’t cross a line
with her while I’m gone,” I warned him.
“Shut it. This is no
time for that. Just get goin’ already.”
Val shooed me away
like I was a dog and clicked his tongue again. I’d given him that order just to
be safe. Val could snap all he liked, but my order would hold him once I left
the room…though he could technically do whatever he wanted while I was still here.
Thankfully, Val didn’t appear to be in the mood to make the obvious joke.
***
I watched the door shut
quietly behind Stale, then turned my gaze back to my sworn friend, deeply
asleep in her bed. Seeing her peaceful breaths reassured me, but I would wait
as long as it took for her to awaken. I missed her usual smile, delicate as a flower,
but there was something lovely about the serene look on her face as she rested
at last. I couldn’t help smiling.
Captain Callum
brought me a chair, but I refused it. I was just as exhausted as Val, but
standing gave me the perfect vantage point from which to gaze upon her.
Compared to Pride, who refused to take any time off during the war despite her
injuries, my fatigue was insignificant. This war must have taken so much more
of a toll on her, much more than any of my own efforts. I’d escaped the
fighting completely unharmed.
“Hey, when do you
think she’s gonna wake up?!” Sefekh whined.
“Sefekh, you can’t
talk right now,” Khemet said. “We have to let her rest because she’s tired.”
As soon as the room
fell silent again, Sefekh cocked her head at Pride. The little girl looked at
Pride like she was a doll, perfectly still and beautiful. She even started
leaning closer, until Khemet stopped her.
Tiara giggled at the
whole exchange. It was a relief to see her looking
more relaxed too. She’d been tense when we arrived, reluctant
to leave her sister’s side. The arrival of these two children had improved her
mood significantly.
“Let’s wait for her
to wake up,” she whispered.
Khemet and Sefekh
nodded obediently. They knelt on the carpeted floor at Pride’s bedside, leaning
their elbows up on the bed and settling in for a long wait.
“How cute,” I
murmured to myself.
“What’d you just
say?” Val asked, raising his eyebrow.
I smiled at his
questioning look, and all the pain that had seized my chest after my first
sight of Pride ebbed away. Tiara and the knights also noticed my changed
demeanor. I simply continued smiling, unabashed by their scrutiny.
“I’ve never seen
Pride asleep before,” I said.
Even though she’s seen
me, I added
silently.
Tiara appeared to
ponder my quiet words. She cast her eyes downward and squeezed her lips
together. I knew she was thinking about how Pride and I were once engaged,
however briefly.
My chest ached at the
thought of Pride’s leg underneath the blankets, but tenderness welled up to
replace it when I reflected on how Pride had fulfilled her role to the very
end, even after her injury—an injury she earned from saving a Cercian guard,
not even a member of her homeland. She only seemed to get hurt when trying to
save someone else. I myself had been rescued by her, a fact that still made my
heart flutter in my chest.
I’m not capable of doing
things like that.
I dared not voice
those kinds of thoughts. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from revealing
my inner awe. It wasn’t mere humility; Pride genuinely
did things I couldn’t possibly match.
If it were a citizen
of Anemone who was in danger on the battlefield, I most likely would have leapt
out to save them. I couldn’t just sit back and watch something happen to my
beloved Anemonian people. However, it was a different story when it came to citizens
of other countries, especially countries Anemone had only just formed an
alliance with.
As royalty—and the
crown prince of Anemone, at that—I wasn’t supposed to risk my life or expose
myself to danger, not even for the sake of my country or people. That was a
fact of life, something that had been instilled in me early on as a member of
the royal family. People like me weren’t supposed to put our lives on the line
for a single civilian. Still, I would certainly take the risk for an Anemonian.
Yet Pride went above
and beyond that, rushing into danger to save an unrelated commoner from another
country and getting hurt in the process. I knew she didn’t expect anything in
return from that guard, the same way she hadn’t expected anything from me when
coming to my rescue.
That woman fought for
her country and people to the very end. This aspect of her personality was so
beautiful and dear to me. She would put her life on the line for anyone who
needed her, regardless of their background. But no matter how much I respected
that, I also hated seeing such a kindhearted woman in dangerous situations.
Members of royalty
were not supposed to suffer injuries. Our bodies existed not just for
ourselves, but for our countries and people too. That was why I’d arrived at
this defensive war with every possible precaution in place. Even now, in this
highly secure room, I didn’t remove my armor and kick
back. Until the danger had fully passed, I had to prioritize my own safety.
Besides, where was
Pride even getting any kind of battle prowess? She was a princess! Her station
only made me feel more strongly that such a noble person, one adored and
protected by the finest of knights, should avoid all hardship and suffering.
Certainly no other member of royalty encountered the kinds of hardships Pride
did.
More than anything, I
didn’t want her to get hurt. I didn’t want her to be sad. She should fall
asleep every night wearing a peaceful smile and wake every morning with that
same serene look. I wanted her to retain her strong will without putting
herself in danger, even when she was only rushing toward peril to save someone
else.
But that wasn’t the
woman I loved. Those compassionate, merciful traits of hers were exactly why I
felt the way I did.
“I really do love…”
The words fell from
my lips, rippling throughout the room like a stone thrown into a still pond. I
touched my mouth when I realized I’d spoken aloud. Had I really said that out
loud? I risked a look at the others and found everyone—Princess Tiara, Sefekh,
Khemet, even the imperial knights—staring at me, wide-eyed. Val merely raised
an eyebrow, looking more annoyed than anything else. I tried flashing a
charming smile.
“…the way she looks
when she sleeps,” I finished. “Of course, I love when she’s awake and smiling
too.”
It wasn’t exactly a
lie. I looked at each person in turn as I spoke. One in particular replied with
a click of his tongue, but the rest of them smiled approvingly. Silent relief
flooded through me, and I returned my gaze to Pride. I couldn’t actually tell
them that while I didn’t want her to get hurt, I loved her
willingness to put herself in danger for the sake of others. Everyone else in
this room was so worried about her; they wouldn’t like me praising her for
putting her life at risk.
Besides, I didn’t
entirely disagree. Pride did deserve some criticism
for her rash actions. All of these people had suffered—overworking themselves,
staying in this room for as long as it took—all because of Pride’s injury. Even
if I wasn’t qualified to be her fiancé, there were still plenty of ways I could
help her as her sworn friend.
Watching her as she
slept, I closed my mouth and didn’t say anything else, musing over what I’d say
once she awoke. There was so much I wanted to tell her, things that had nothing
to do with my own efforts during the war.
***
“Khemet. Sefekh.”
When the minute hand
of the clock had made one full turn, I broke the silence in the room. I’d been
standing at the back of the group all this time, but I sauntered forward. My
destination wasn’t Pride’s bedside, but the wall instead.
I leaned my mailbag
against the wall and slid to the floor with a thump. Crossing my legs and
leaning back, I fixed my harsh gaze on the two kids next to Leon and Tiara.
Khemet and Sefekh
recognized the look and came to me. I sighed in irritation when they rubbed at
their bleary eyes. They were clearly exhausted, struggling just to keep their
peepers open as they pushed themselves past their usual limits.
I knew they would probably be drooling on the
sheets soon if I left them leaning on the bed like that. I didn’t really care about a bit of spit, but if they fell asleep there, it
meant I would have to stand next to Leon at Pride’s bedside for hours until she
woke up. How ridiculous; there was no way I was doing that. I had to change
locations while I still had time. Pride was asleep anyway, so there was no
point in spending all that time at her bedside with nothing to do. I joined
Khemet and Sefekh in looking at Pride for a while, but the princess never once
changed her expression, talked in her sleep, or made any noises at all. It was
all so damn boring.
Leaning against me
with their legs stretched out, they each took a deep breath and drooped with
exhaustion. I knew they were worried about Pride, but from here they could
still watch her sleep. They seemed to be scoping out the younger princess,
Tiara, who gripped Pride’s hand and sadly watched her.
The silence of the
room was so jarring after all the chaos and noise of the battlefield. The brats
weren’t the only ones feeling sleepy because of it; even my eyelids were
growing heavy. Plus, they were so warm all curled up against me.
Sefekh and Khemet’s
breathing evened out as they succumbed to sleep. They were snoozing loud enough
for everyone to hear, though. I clicked my tongue at them, then set my hands
behind my head and reclined against the wall. I could see Pride from where I sat.
Still relaxed, still not moving. I clicked my tongue again. Maybe she should
just stay that way for the next three days or so. I couldn’t think of a time
before this when I’d actually seen her rest.
Where’s my thanks for
helpin’ you as much as I did?
I glared at the
sleeping princess. The moment I’d entered the room and found her like this, it
had improved my mood. Why am I so annoyed, then? She
slept so deeply she might as well be dead. That was how much she’d overworked
herself. I shook my head. Royalty usually lived easy, safe lives looking down
on everyone else from above. But Pride spent the entire war wearing her heavy
armor and wading into the battle herself.
“I’m only doin’ this
kinda thing once in a billion years.”
Now, looking at her
from a distance, I felt the truth of that statement more than ever. I usually
addressed Pride with sarcasm, but even I couldn’t tell what I really meant and
what was just a joke. When Cedric visited the castle, I’d told her it felt like
I hadn’t gotten to see her in a thousand years, but sometimes it really did feel that long.
This had been the
most miserable wait yet. Pride had been injured, unable to stand on her own,
but she’d ordered a criminal like me to go off and rescue others instead. I
knew the whole time she was refusing to rest, but I couldn’t go see her until
the very end. That stretch of time had felt like forever.
A tug on my sleeve
yanked me from my thoughts. I looked down to find a half-awake Khemet peering
up at me.
“Val…aren’t
you…sleep?”
Translation: “Val, aren’t
you going to sleep?”
Heh.
The brat saw right through me. He knew I was just
as worn out as him and his sister.
I scratched at my
head, then rested it against Khemet’s. I mussed his messy black hair with one
brown hand and said, “Go to sleep.” Then I flicked my gaze back to Pride.
Khemet closed his sleepy eyes again as ordered.
“So damn annoying.”
My stomach clenched,
like something inside me was boiling. I muttered to myself and stayed put.
The ticking of the
clock was the only sound in that room then. Nobody spoke as they watched the
slumbering princess. Even after the sun had fully set, we continued to sit
there waiting for Pride to wake up.
***
“Is your break over
already?”
No, that’s not it!
Leon had only
recently departed, Stale told me when he brought me to Princess Pride. I’d
tried to excuse myself from the room when I saw her, but the princess said she
was sad I had to leave so soon. I, on the other hand, was waging a silent
battle against the warmth trying to crawl up my neck when she smiled at me.
“Um, I still have
time,” I said. “I just don’t feel like I can stay in Your Highness’s room
forever. So now that I’ve seen you, I should get back to the Eighth Squadron
and rest up.”
“If you’re going to
rest anyway, why don’t you do it here?” she asked. “I want to talk to you a
little more.” Princess Pride chuckled. Was she aware of how greedy her request
was? Did she actually want me to stay longer after we’d been separated for so long?
“There’s a nice sofa
over there,” Stale added, gesturing at a place to nap. The sofa looked way
better than the cots the royal order provided. Problem was, I would cover the
fancy furniture in dirt and grime the moment I laid down on it.
“No, I can’t…” I
mumbled, glancing over at Captain Alan and Captain Callum, who were standing at
Princess Pride’s bedside.
I half expected them
to say something about all this, but the two remained completely silent and
wouldn’t even meet my gaze. From his spot on the wall, Val scowled at me, like
he was annoyed by my hesitation to accept. I could almost hear him saying, She’s not askin’ you to get in bed with her, so stop freaking out.
Thankfully, Khemet and Sefekh sat slumped against his
sides, sound asleep, so he didn’t speak up and risk waking them.
“A-all right, then!
I’ll stay here a little longer,” I said, forcing myself to stand up straighter.
“Please do,” said
Princess Pride with a smile.
I was still
struggling to meet her eyes.
“Can I stay with you
a little longer too, Pride? I just got a break,” Stale said.
“M-me too,” Tiara
chimed in. “I’ll stay with you until you’re sleepy! I want to talk with you all
as well.”
“Thank you, but let’s
keep our voices down,” Princess Pride told them.
She cast a look at
Sefekh and Khemet against the wall. She hadn’t been able to speak to them yet,
loath to wake them from a sleep the children clearly needed.
Tiara’s eyes went
wide, and she covered her mouth with both hands. “Sorry!” she whispered.
It was technically
bedtime, but Princess Pride and Princess Tiara had just woken up from their
naps. Stale and I were too jittery with the lingering adrenaline of the
battlefield to sleep. Tiara glanced at the clock like a misbehaving child about
to be scolded for missing her bedtime. I was probably the most tired out of
everyone, and Tiara offered me a chair, but I turned it down. I still hadn’t
bathed after the battle. Dirt, smoke, and blood splattered my skin and
clothing.
“I’m really sorry to
come here looking like this. When I heard what happened to you, I wanted to get
here as soon as possible.”
She looked at me as
if she could picture my deeds on the battlefield perfectly. She’d had to stay
here and watch over things with King Yohan, while the other knights and I were
out there cutting down our enemies.
I bowed deeply in
response to her gratitude. There were so many things I wanted to say. It would
have taken me all night to get through it. I’d discussed my training,
expeditions, and duties with them before, but now, in just a single day, I had
far more to tell them than I could possibly manage. Stale had teleported me to
the northern front in time for me to fight alongside my father, and I’d
protected my injured comrades, guarded the commander, and even received direct
orders from Dad. And then Vice Captain Eric—
I got that far in my
thoughts before I clamped my mouth shut.
Princess Pride leaned
toward me, evidently concerned by my gloomy face. Even Princess Tiara and Stale
took a closer look. Stale pressed at the frames of his black glasses. He seemed
to be analyzing my expression, trying to pick it apart. Surely he knew there’d
been no fatalities among the knights. But he also knew that I’d fought on the
front lines and seen the war up close and personal.
I dragged in a deep
breath and shot a look at Captain Alan, who stood next to the bed. He
swallowed, perhaps picturing the news I had to deliver already. Captain Callum
scrubbed a hand through his hair, looking between me and Captain Alan.
“All the knights
fought so well,” I began. “Everyone knows that, but seriously, I didn’t compare
to any of ’em.”
Princess Pride was
looking straight down at me. I clenched and unclenched my right hand. I could
feel the other two knights staring intently at me.
“I learned that I
don’t have nearly enough experience when it comes to things like first aid and
accurate diagnoses.”
“First Squadron.” “Vice
Captain.” “Injury.” “Shooting.”
I spoke slowly, but
moved my hand quickly and precisely, using hand signals to communicate with the
other two knights in the room. Right now, I wanted Princess Pride to focus
solely on her own injury and recovery, but I needed to tell Captain Alan about what
had happened in the battle, since he couldn’t return to headquarters yet. The
knights’ eyes widened as they watched my hand signals.
They knew full well I
was referring to Vice Captain Eric. He’d been injured in a shooting. Captain
Alan’s face went pale at the news. I was careful to use the word “injury”
specifically, an indication that the vice captain was still alive, just hurt.
Still, “injury” was a heavy word. It didn’t necessarily mean Vice Captain Eric
was entirely safe. I pressed my palm against the side of my body, indicating
the place where Vice Captain Eric had been shot. The Seventh Squadron was
fortunately on-site to help, but even with them there, an injury in that
location could produce a lot of blood.
“That’s not true,”
said Princess Pride, who couldn’t see my hand signals.
I tried to smile at
her, but I don’t think I hid my distress fully. I gripped my side, the place
where Vice Captain Eric had gotten injured, scratching down on it in my
anxiety.
“Conscious.” “Speaking.”
“Treatment concluded.”
“That’s why my senior
knights are all so amazing.”
“Commander.” “Protect.”
“Proxy.”
I smiled through the
strain of communicating two different messages. I used my hand to finish
explaining Vice Captain Eric’s condition before placing it back down at my
side. Vice Captain Eric was conscious and speaking, and he had finished with
his medical treatment. He’d gotten injured protecting our commander. This was
what I communicated to the captains.
Captain Alan seemed
to be fighting back a sigh of relief. Getting injured in service of protecting
the commander was an honor. Nothing shameful about it. It was also expected
from someone like Vice Captain Eric, who was good at looking at the bigger picture
while on the battlefield.
Hopefully, Captain
Alan wouldn’t reprimand Vice Captain Eric the next time they saw each other,
but I could just picture him saying something like, “You
can’t go getting hit after I leave you in charge of the First Squadron,”
or “Why couldn’t you dodge the bullet too?” Captain
Alan had to have committed plenty of mistakes himself; perhaps he wasn’t really
in a position to criticize. The First Squadron paved the way forward for the
others, and given that Vice Captain Eric led them, his injury and removal from
the battlefield wouldn’t normally be deserving of praise. But the person he’d
protected was our commander—the commander who led the troops to victory. That
was deserving of every commendation and honor.
Captain Callum’s
shoulders slumped a bit too, having learned of Vice Captain Eric’s survival and
commendable injury. Vice Captain Eric belonged to a different unit than Captain
Callum, but the latter knew just as well as anyone how Vice Captain Eric looked
up to Captain Alan and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
This injury did put some extra pressure on me and the captains in the
short term. Vice Captain Eric wouldn’t be able to take his shift as imperial
knight while he healed up. Our duties would be more important than ever. There
were others who might be able to succeed the captains in their normal duties,
like the Vice Captain of the Third Squadron back in Freesia, but in the interim
we’d all be working even harder to protect Princess Pride.
“Arthur, you did a
lot out there,” Stale said. “I’m not going to let you act like all our sparring
meant nothing.”
Stale wasn’t about to
let me hide behind praise for the other knights today, apparently. He’d heard
the reports of how I’d teamed up with Dad to help evacuate all of our knights
back up to the clifftops. It stood to reason that I’d held my own out there.
I burst into
laughter, smiling genuinely for the first time that day. I put my hand on my
knee and leaned forward to cover up my smile before straightening out again. I
shot Stale a playful glare and mouthed the word “moron.”
“Not one of those
enemies was stronger than you,” I replied. “I never came close to losing or
being overwhelmed.”
***
I mostly sat back and
listened to the conversation going on around me, until I recalled something and
looked to my little sister, sitting beside me in the bed where I was still
propped up while I healed.
“By the way, how did
things go with Cedric?” I asked. “You two traveled together, right?”
Tiara stiffened in
response. I blinked at the look on my sister’s face. I thought about the way
she’d lashed out at Cedric back at the castle gates. After all the growth
Cedric had gone through, surely he hadn’t chosen the middle of a battlefield as
the right time to be rude to Tiara…
“Tiara?” I prompted,
suddenly nervous.
Tiara puffed out her
cheeks, raised her shoulders, and huffed through her nose. “He made things so
dangerous!” With a harrumph, Tiara pursed her lips and shook her head.
I had to bite back a
smile. “What happened?”
Tiara scrunched up
her tiny eyebrows. “He just made things really, really dangerous! He scared me
so bad!”
I broke out into a
cold sweat, realizing that Tiara truly had no praise for him at all. I’d heard
from Captain Callum that Cedric returned from the battle safely, so why was
Tiara so upset? Maybe Cedric had rushed off to fight enemies on his own, which actually seemed possible if he was chasing after
his brother, Lance. Now that Cedric had accepted being “God’s child,” he
certainly had the potential to do something like that. After all, he’d seen how
our Freesian knights fought—as well as me with my last boss cheats.
“So, so dangerous!”
Tiara repeated as she slammed her balled-up fists into the bed. She seemed
frightened by the mere memory of what she’d seen.
According to Tiara,
Cedric had borrowed the jumping power of a knight to launch up into the air and
strike down a blimp he couldn’t even see. Cedric himself admitted he’d never
even touched a sword before. Seeing him launch at the enemy like that had to be
terrifying. It would have been far safer if he’d hung back or at least admitted
it if he’d been trained in swordplay already. Tiara also said Cedric watched
her throw her knives and immediately picked up the technique for himself. That
had to be frustrating after how many years Tiara had spent secretly mastering
the art. In summation, it sounded like Cedric had been extremely reckless,
chatting and smiling casually all the while.
He even said, “I
always wanted a beauty like Pride too.”
“Ugh! I don’t care
about him anymore,” Tiara said. “He was such a danger magnet. I wouldn’t have
been able to take my eye off him if the knights weren’t around.”
Tiara continued to
smack her fists against the soft bed and mutter to herself. I didn’t press any
the topic any further. Instead, I simply said, “I see…” and tried to keep a
smile on my face.
“You must have worked
hard. Thank you for watching over him,” I said, reaching out to stroke my
sister’s hair.
Knock-knock.
Everyone turned to
look at the sudden sound. Arthur, whom Stale had teleported into the room,
stood up a bit more prim and proper at the threat of a guest. He glanced at
Stale as though nervous he might have to be teleported away quickly.
“Pardon the
interruption. It’s me, Gilbert,” the voice on the other side of the door said.
The guards opened the
door to admit the prime minister, who entered with a murmur of “Oh my,” but
there was no actual surprise on his face as he took in the scene before him. He
bowed to us as the guards shut the door again.
“Forgive the
intrusion,” he said. “I see you’re all together. Even you, Sir Arthur.”
He scanned those
present, from Val glaring at him against the wall to Arthur standing up
straight at my bedside. He seemed to be making a mental note of everyone’s
position, but the only people who caused any flicker of surprise from him were
Khemet and Sefekh, still asleep at Val’s sides.
“I’m so glad to see
you’re awake,” Gilbert greeted me with a smile.
“What do you want,
Gilbert? Didn’t I leave you in charge?” Stale asked him.
“Yes, and I
apologize,” Gilbert said coolly. “I simply wanted to leave this here, as I
heard Her Highness had awakened.”
“Resting is the most
important thing you can do right now, but I thought you might be bored in here,
so I borrowed some rare books for you to read. Perhaps it was unnecessary,
seeing as you have guests.”
He looked around the
room with a chuckle. It was kind of him to go find books for me once he’d heard
that I’d woken back up. However, Gilbert seemed more bemused by the crowd in my
room at the moment.
“I was going to leave
them with the guard outside your door, but I heard you speaking in here.”
Tiara slapped her
hands over her mouth, finally realizing how heated she’d gotten when talking
about Cedric. She shot a nervous look at Sefekh and Khemet, but the children
still slept soundly. Val, pinned between the two children, scowled wordlessly
at Gilbert.
“Thank you. I really
appreciate it,” I said.
More than the stack
of books itself, I appreciated Gilbert’s kindness. At my smile, Gilbert bowed
to me again.
“Please rest well. I
will be hard at work until Prince Stale is able to return.”
“Don’t work too hard,
Prime Minister.” It was unfair of him to be tiring himself out while I was
still resting in bed. “I’m sorry. I know I’m the person who really should be
doing things right now…”
“Of course not.
You’ve done more than enough, Your Highness. You too, Princess Tiara and Prince
Stale. You’ve all been much busier than I have.”
“Anyway, how are
Cercis and Chinensis doing at the moment?” I asked, knowing that as prime
minister, Gilbert would have the latest information. But Gilbert simply shook
his head.
“Please just rest for
now without thinking of anything too heavy. Leave all of that up to me.”
I could do little but
nod. I would have to rely on Captain Callum and Stale for information. Clearly
Gilbert had brought me these books as a distraction.
With that, he stood
up straight once more. He bid us all farewell, headed for the door, and set his
hand on the knob. Then he turned back to us once more.
“Sir Arthur, would
you mind joining me?” he asked.
“Ah, sure…”
Arthur blanched at
the invitation. He seemed about to bow and apologize, but before he could,
Gilbert gestured him forward.
“Please don’t worry.
Only guards and soldiers are in the hall at the moment, not knights.”
Arthur’s eyes were
wide, but he nodded and followed Prime Minister Gilbert out of my room.
***
I had no idea why he
was telling me all this, so I offered a simple response. As a knight, it was
important for me to know which rooms the royal family were using, but other
knights would probably get assigned to guard these places, so I didn’t see the
point of Prime Minister Gilbert’s explanation.
At the same time, I
couldn’t question the prime minister’s motivation directly. I was getting
special permission just to be here. Instead, I simply noted the location of the
two doors and confirmed that I understood.
“Thank you. You’ve
done so well today,” Prime Minister Gilbert said, smiling with satisfaction. He
offered me a deep bow. “I’m so glad you made it back safely.” Then he lowered
his voice. “If you’re truly tired, then please mention my name. You can say I
asked you to do something for me. That way, you’ll be able to go get some rest.
Of course, I don’t mind if you use this sofa either, since I trust you.”
The smile on Prime
Minister Gilbert’s face imbued the phrase “use my name” with extra meaning.
“No, that’s all
right! But thank you for your consideration!” Sweat dripped down my brow, and I
bowed. Princess Pride and the others had been worried about whether or not I
was getting any sleep. And now the prime minister was leveraging his station
and authority as an excuse for me to sneak off and catch some shut-eye. I
couldn’t possibly accept that. I just kept thanking the prime minister as he
finally headed off in the other direction. Is this why he
came to Princess Pride’s room? Not to deliver books but to get me to take a
break?
The others
immediately asked what Prime Minister Gilbert had wanted from me, but I
couldn’t possibly say that he’d offered me an excuse to slack off. “It was
nothing,” I told them, avoiding their eyes. “He was just looking out for me.
Anyway, are you sure you guys don’t want to rest?”
I’d been loitering
here way too long, but I didn’t feel like leaving them just to get some sleep.
I wanted to stay with them. As a knight, I was also used to sleep deprivation.
I still had plenty of adrenaline from all that fighting, so the fatigue hadn’t
hit me yet. I could probably stay awake all night long if it meant I got to see
Princess Pride. I was more concerned about her, since she wasn’t as used to
being on a battlefield as I was.
“I already slept
earlier,” Princess Pride replied. She smiled awkwardly, since she was obviously
the most well rested out of our whole group.
“I’m all right!”
Princess Tiara cried, squeezing her fists to show that she had energy.
Stale adjusted his
glasses and regarded me with alert eyes. “You should sleep a little longer,
Pride. You’re injured, after all, and your body needs to recover.”
Her shoulders slumped
in response. “You’re right,” she said, settling back down in the bed. “I’m
sorry I kept you here, Arthur. I’m sure you want to get some rest too. You
should probably—”
“No, that’s not what I
meant!” I cut in. “Really, I’m totally fine! Knights are used to it.”
I couldn’t have her
thinking I was trying to get away so I could snooze.
“Then will you stay
and talk with me a bit more?” she asked. She’d laid down fully in her bed,
looking content and cozy as she regarded the group around her. Stale and I had
plenty of time left on our breaks. She took a deep breath, looking like she
wanted to ask us if we’d stay until she drifted off…
Almost immediately, the
princess fell back into a deep slumber. I eyed her as Stale slung an arm around
me, his brow furrowed into a sterner scowl than usual. Thus, I left Princess
Pride in Captain Alan and Captain Callum’s care.
“Please look after
her from here on out.”
The moment Stale and
I said we were heading out, Princess Tiara slumped down in bed as well, too
exhausted to even say goodnight to us. We shot Val a warning glare before
deciding to carry Princess Tiara to the sofa so she could sleep properly. I
would have loved to take her back to her room, which Prime Minister Gilbert had
shown me, but I couldn’t possibly separate her from her sister.
With the princesses
settled, Stale finally let his own fatigue show. I urged him to take a nap.
“Twenty minutes,”
Stale said. “I’ll nap for twenty minutes, but then I have more work to do as
Elder Sister’s proxy. I can’t let Gilbert take care of it all…”
“I know. Just get
some sleep, or you’ll be the next to collapse.”
Just before I left, I got to glimpse the
peaceful smile of the firstborn princess as she fell into her second slumber of
the night.
Things That Have to Be Said
“SO…WHAT should we do now?”
I was the one to
break the silence as Callum and I sat behind the church. Callum understood what
I was asking immediately. He scrubbed a hand nervously through his messy bangs.
It was the day after
the defensive war. Callum and I had been ordered to rest, so we put some
distance between ourselves and the rest of the royal order.
“We can’t go back
when we look like this,” I said.
He didn’t disagree.
Neither of us felt comfortable going back to the order after how we’d failed to
keep Princess Pride safe in the battle. We couldn’t stay here forever. Someone
would find us eventually. But we also weren’t comfortable facing our fellow
knights yet.
“If the order sees
your face like that, you’ll have all the junior knights worried about you, not
just the Third Squadron,” I told him.
“Like you’re one to
talk,” Callum shot back.
“Yeah?” I cocked my
head in question. I had my own supporters in the order, but Callum constantly
looked after the younger
knights and was the
first to offer them help and advice. They would be worried about him.
He started to suggest
we go find a place to clean up, but then a creaking noise sounded behind us. We
spun to find the Chinensian minister entering the
church. His daily work included praying and managing the bells, so that wasn’t
too unusual.
“Excuse us!” I called
out to him, lifting my hand.
“Alan, what are
you—?!”
The minister startled
at the sight of us, but he relaxed once he realized we were Freesians. Callum
looked like he wanted to hide, but I strode right up to the man and laid out my
proposal.
The minister’s
response basically boiled down to: “I see… Very well, just for the two of you.”
He then opened up the door to the sanctuary for us. I bowed and thanked him,
then jogged back to Callum.
“He’s gonna let us
rest in here for a while,” I said with a cackle.
Callum covered his face
with his hands and slouched. He seemed in disbelief that I’d enter a foreign
country’s holy space in my disastrous current state, but he didn’t voice his
concerns.
“Are there any words
we should say or rituals we should do when we enter?” I asked.
“Just get out of that
dirty uniform already,” Callum grumbled, tugging on my sleeve.
We removed our dirty jackets and folded them up.
Callum thanked and apologized to the minister again, then closed the door from
the inside and locked us in. Callum stared at me like I was his savior, but
really, I was just that determined to see this through.
Afterword
HELLO, THIS IS TENICHI.
Thank you very much for purchasing this book.
It’s thanks to all my
readers that we’ve finally reached the end of the defensive campaign. This book
covered the story of the war, and I wrote about all the major players in the
battle.
I also have a
wonderful announcement to make about my authorship of this series: I’m going to
be writing a continuation to Last Boss Queen titled The
Defensive Campaign: Behind the Scenes.
Of course, I still
intend to write a follow-up to this book. I hope you’ll read the stories of the
characters who participated in this battle as well.
Finally, to everyone
who purchased this book, those who’ve been reading the web version,
Suzunosuke-sensei, Bunko Matsuura-sensei for the manga version, people who sent
me fan letters, everyone at Ichijinsha, the ones who helped with publishing and
novelization, people who sell this book, the managers who placed my books at
the front of the store, all bookstore employees, the editor who supported me,
my family who cheers me on, and my friends—I offer you all my most heartfelt
thanks.
I hope to see all of my kindhearted readers again in the future.
