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Episode 3:
I Am Eight Years Old Now
A FEW MONTHS AFTER I STARTED MY SECOND year of school, I turned eight years old! Can you believe it?
Well, eight years had passed since I had been born as Yulucia, so it would have been weird if I weren’t eight now. In any case, the important thing was that I had almost grown out of being considered a little girl.
Although I had the attributes of a human, it still amazed me that I was actually growing like a normal human.
While there was an established tradition of how my birthday was celebrated, I decided to celebrate it in a normal way this year. Not that there was anything “normal” about holding your birthday party in a castle, but still. Although I had some reservations about this, I decided to use the royal castle this year so that I could get it over with as soon as possible. After all, it had been over half a year since then, but when I considered that Rick might possibly… I just didn’t know how I should act around him when I saw him.
And so, after getting my birthday party (with thousands of people in attendance) over with, I leveraged my power as the Princess of the Holy Kingdom to leave the capital in a rush.
E n̊uḿ ȧ . і̊ d
Not because I wanted to skip school or anything like that. I swear.
To begin with, my official position as “Princess of the Holy Kingdom” was to be the face of the country—I was to substitute for the males of the royal family on diplomatic missions, since they were reluctant to go abroad.
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In my case, the title was pretty much given by Grandfather as a way to spoil me, but I used it to my advantage now.
My father, the Grand Duke of Versenia and member of the royal family, normally shouldered the task of diplomatic relations and was often invited abroad as part of his job. However, this time there was a clash in his schedule. To make matters worse, the events were a wedding and a funeral, neither of which he could possibly abstain from. Also, it would be a little weird if the same person went to these two kinds of events one after the other, right? So, good news, Father! I would be more than happy to do your work in your place!
And not because I was running away from something or anything like that!
Both Father and Grandfather frowned at the idea of me going abroad without my family (I didn’t say “alone”); the two of them were overly soft when it came to me. But thanks to Lady Elea’s maneuvering, I got them to come around to my way of thinking when I asked to go while sitting on their laps.
E n u ḿ а̃
And so, it was decided that I would be attending a wedding being held in the Kingdom of Sigoules, which was where Father’s elder sister—my aunt—now lived.
Naturally, since I was going on a diplomatic mission for the Holy Kingdom, I was permitted to take an official break from school.
What was that about an academy arc?
That kind of story never got started in the first place!
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Princess! The mercenary band is here!” Sarah excitedly reported on the day of my departure. She was the commander of my order of guardian knights.
Why did they need a commander in addition to the dame commander, anyway?
Wе̃b̊n о̌ v̊ еl Е́ nu.m a
There were only ten of them in total, so it was more correct to think of them as a company of knights rather than an order. It felt like there was some kind of external influence at work here. Maybe they had planned for there to be a hundred of them at first?
Not that it mattered either way, but at some point, Sarah had been named commander…after winning a fistfight.
You’re all almost twelve years old, aren’t you? Why are you all still so hot-blooded?
I wondered if it was going to be up to me to arrange marriage candidates for them too.
Putting that aside, the mercenary band Sarah informed me about turned out to be what you would call “odd-job men” who specialized in fighting.
Strange, right? Adventurer was not an occupation in this world.
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When monstrosities showed up in villages, the area’s lord typically dispatched soldiers to take care of them. Things like dungeons that spawned countless monstrosities didn’t exist either. This world had no dreams. Instead, we had mercenary bands that did all kinds of work. Usually they got dragged out for squabbles between nobles over territory, though they could also be employed as caravan guards, or do whatever favors rich people asked of them. Mercenary bands came in small groups of dozens of people as well as bigger companies with hundreds of men. Father had employed a mid-sized mercenary band he was on good terms with to guard me as part of his condition for letting me go to Sigoules.
And so, the people escorting me to this wedding in Sigoules were:
Ten female guardian knights.
Four of the grand duke’s knights and twenty of his soldiers.
Fifteen workers, including a cook, a coachman, and people to carry luggage and do other miscellaneous tasks.
One butler, one lady’s maid, and four maids from the grand duke’s household.
Еn u m̈а
Thirty-six mercenaries.
And with my four attendants, that made a grand total of ninety-five people! So many!
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Though maybe it wasn’t actually that many people for a representative of a kingdom to bring along? And even though we were already a pretty large party, Mother asked Vio to accompany me as my lady’s maid as well.
Well, although Noah and Tina were capable enough, they did still look like children, so that was expected. Plus, we didn’t know the soldiers or mercenaries very well, and Bri, Sarah, and the other knights wanted to boast about me to the knights of the other country, so they started practicing a cool way of lining up. This worried my parents, so it was inevitable that Vio wound up coming along.
Yeah. Well, whatever. It’s fine.
The representative of the mercenary band came to introduce himself to me, so I went to go meet him. To be honest, I was looking forward to finding out what kind of handsome older guy he was.
En̂ ù m̃ â
He was a bear of a man.
“Princess, you’re in good hands with me and my crew accompanying you on the journey!”
“Thank you, Mr. Bear.” I instantly gave up on all kinds of ideas and accidentally called the leader of the mercenaries a bear. For some reason, though, he liked that.
This seemed like it was going to be a painful journey (since I had nothing to soothe my soul).
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But perhaps not. The gods hadn’t abandoned me or anything.
Thank you, Goddess! I promise not to draw mustaches on the idols in your temples ever again! Huh…? Is the ground rumbling a little?
E nŭm̄а .і ḋ
Anyway, putting that aside…
“Lucia!”
“Huh? Noel?”
That’s right. Noel, the pretty boy who had been abducted during the demon-summoning incident and then bravely protected me when I was attacked by ruffians was part of this mercenary band! It had been two years since we had last seen each other. He’d grown quite a bit bigger now and looked more like a young man.
“I’m so glad to finally see you again.” Noel pounced on me like a puppy that had been thrown a bone, clasping both of my hands in his with an adorable smile on his face.
“Uh, yeah, me too.”
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Uh… While I really was happy to see him again, the sudden physical contact was a bit much.
“Hey, Noel!”
Bonk!
Noel earned himself a bump on the head that looked visibly painful. He groaned.
“You can’t just go around taking the hand of a princess without permission!” Mr. Bear was in a bad mood.
Granted, Mr. Bear was in the right here. I was a member of the grand duke’s family, and thus Mr. Bear’s client. No matter how well acquainted we were, touching a girl without warning was out of the question. At least, that was how it was from an adult’s point of view, but we were still children. Perhaps he was just trying to discipline Noel, but Mr. Bear was charging up for another bonk, so I accidentally resorted to violence too on the spur of the moment.
Е́ num ӑ
“Hmph!” I flicked one in the forehead after the other.
“Dwuuuuuh?!”
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“Eep!”
Both Mr. Bear and Tina were crouching on the ground, covering their foreheads.
I’d reflexively flicked Tina in the forehead too because of the way she had been weirdly glowering at Noel for holding my hand.
Whoops, that was a close one. I had flicked them both simultaneously, but there would’ve been a catastrophe if I accidentally got my left and my right mixed up. There was five hundred times difference in the power I had used on Tina versus what I had done to Mr. Bear. That would have been awkward.
Е nŭm̃а̌
“Noel is my friend, Mr. Bear. Can you please forgive him?” I tried asking in a girlish way.
Mr. Bear, Tina, and even Noel froze in their crouching positions. I looked around trying to figure out what was wrong with them, only to find both Bri and Sarah holding one another’s hands in fear. No one budged an inch until Vio came running over.
“Ahhh, I’d expect no less from the Saint! Prolly been ten years since someone hit me with that kinda strength!”
I revived Mr. Bear with Holy Magic. His forehead was still red as he gave a hearty laugh and forgave us.
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Viva the Saint!
What a wonderful world this was, where anything out of the ordinary could be handwaved because I was the Saint. I had to wonder just what everyone pictured when they thought of the Saint.
Е ñu m̊_à
“Regardless, Noel! Even if you’re friends with the princess, you can’t forget your manners. Don’t forget that you’re just a member of this mercenary band! I apologize, Princess. He’s still an undisciplined rookie.”
“I-I’m sorry, Lucia… Lady Lucia.”
“It’s all right.” I went into Saint mode and gave them my most pious smile.
Seeing Noel looking disheartened from having made such an embarrassing mistake in front of me made my heart skip a beat…in a kinda sleazy way.
It took me by surprise the way this all was happening so suddenly. According to Bar…Barnabas or something like that? According to Mr. Bear, the baronet who’d adopted Noel had introduced him to the mercenaries, which led to Noel joining as a promising new recruit. The baronet had also recognized Noel’s talents, you see.
“But why did you join a mercenary band?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
With talent like his, Noel could have been really successful in life if he put his mind to it. In fact, the baronet had even been raising Noel to be his successor. So why? I didn’t think he had made a particularly bad choice or anything, but why would he decide to go down this path?
For some reason, Noel’s face flushed bright red and he kept glancing at me as he replied, “Oh, uh, well… I want to…become…stronger.”
“Are you all right? I would hardly think that a boy should be embarrassed about his desire to become stronger.” I smiled gently at him.
“Uh… Yeah.” He looked like he wanted to say something more, but faltered.
Mr. Bear smirked as he watched our exchange and then proceeded to roughly muss up Noel’s hair. “It happens to every man. I hope the princess will cheer you on.”
“Yes, good luck and work hard, Noel,” I said as I looked up at him at his new height.
Е ǹũ m а̀. і̊ d
“Uh, thanks.” Noel had a somewhat perplexed look on his face, but then he blushed again and seemed pleased.
Since Noel had the potential to be successful at anything, I was sure he would be able to reach the top of any endeavor.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Unless he could be lured away by something else…?
And so, we set out on our journey to Sigoules.
By normal coach, it would take about three weeks to reach western Sigoules from Toure, which was located in the western part of the Holy Kingdom. However…
“The master has ordered us to stay at as many inn towns as possible so that you do not have to camp outdoors.”
Е ň u m а.і́d̀
“Father…”
Vio was my chaperone, you see. Nevertheless, everyone else, including my attendants, nodded as if to say, “But of course.”
Well, there was no helping it then. It was going to take a month just to get there, so I assumed that we would leisurely travel from one inn town to the next, but unfortunately, life wasn’t so easy. Believe it or not, about ten days into our journey, while we were traversing through a thick forest, we were attacked by one of the magnificent “monsters” of this other world!
“Gwubph!”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“It’s a stray hippo! Watch out!”
There was indeed a hippopotamus.
W̌ еbṅ о v е l̇ Е̊ ńu̇mä
At Mr. Bear’s cry, the mercenaries and soldiers rushed to the front and my guardian knights surrounded me.
Noel wasn’t out in front, but he was brandishing a sword as part of the middle guard while casting support magic.
Although the hippo had been hit with countless arrows, it charged with its enormous body and sent soldiers flying. Just as you’d expect from a hippo, I guess? It sure was strong.
They managed to drive it back somehow. Regardless, I couldn’t believe that hippos actually did attack travelers on the road. What a scary world this was.
“I’m surprised to see a hippo in a place like this. The elves must’ve driven it outta the forest.”
“Huh?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
According to Mr. Bear, there were settlements of elves deep in the forest between the Holy Kingdom and Sigoules. They primarily cut down the forest and sold the lumber.
Now that I thought of it, that town in the mining mountains did buy large quantities of charcoal from elves.
Is that cool with you, guardian of the forest? Maybe the salt and bean mochi people should cut it out already.
They sure sounded different from what I expected from elves…
Despite that encounter, we managed to cross the border into Sigoules without further incident.
It was my first time going to another country. Sigoules was well-known for its agriculture, so I wondered what it was actually going to be like.
Ẇ е̌ b̄ n̂ о́ v̈e l̊ Е ń u̇ m а̇
“Princess! This roasted sweet potato is incredibly delicious!”
“H-how is this sorghum so sweet?!”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Princess! Princess! They’ve got white asparagus that you can eat raw here!”
My dear guardian knights were certainly enjoying our travels, yet I was silent. Why did they have to come and report to me about every little thing?
We had arrived at our first inn town in Sigoules. As befitting a place known as the Nation of Agriculture, we passed all kinds of farmlands as we made our way to the inn town. In town, they sold heaps of fresh vegetables that weren’t for export to the Holy Kingdom of Talitelud.
The main street in the town was lined with street stalls and food carts for tourists and merchants from the Holy Kingdom to peruse. The mercenaries were all stunned by how Bri, Sarah, and my other guardian knights swarmed around a cart with wild abandon.
Е n̈ u m̃ ӓ
Oh dear. I apologize for them.
“Vio, remind all of the guardian knights that they will have to submit written reports about everything they eat and drink.”
“It shall be done, my lady.”
You guys are on the clock right now!
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However, we hadn’t been out on any long excursions like this since I started going to school, so I understood their excitement.
Once Vio and my four attendants issued my instructions, the girls nodded solemnly but still looked at me with affection.
Е̃ n̊u mӓ .і d
“My lady is too kind.”
“Even though I have given you more work to do?”
They shouldn’t be messing around when they were supposed to be working. Regardless, I would be the one footing the bill for whatever they ate while on the job. Plus, we could not know for certain if everything Sigoules wanted to export was actually good quality. My girls who did whatever they well pleased would be sure to let me know without any reservations when they found something worthwhile.
They may have called me the Saint, but I was still the daughter of the Grand Duke of Versenia, and thus I wanted to find good produce for our people. But maybe I was a little too lenient with them.
***
“On behalf of Talitelud, allow me to offer my congratulations to His Highness Prince Oslo on his marriage.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Three days after we arrived in Sigoules’s capital, the king of Sigoules’s little brother, Prince Oslo, was wed to a marquess’s daughter named Lady Etia.
Although Sigoules’s castle was said to be the biggest among its neighboring countries, it wasn’t decked out with extravagance. Thousands of people were ushered into a hall as big as a dome-shaped baseball stadium.
It isn’t gonna collapse on us or anything, right?
Here in this ceremonial hall, I offered my congratulations before the royal family of Sigoules. I offered it again before the nobility of Sigoules, and yet again before the privileged guests who had also come from other countries, and then at last my work was done.
It was exhausting having to repeat the same words to the same people three times but in different places and for different audiences. As the representative of the Holy Kingdom of Talitelud, the “princess” had the important job of giving congratulatory addresses to all kinds of people.
My attendants for this party were Vio, who was wearing a chic dress, and the twins Noah and Nia. My two maids were too young to attend, you see. The girls from the order of guardian knights were all dressed appropriately and kept watch on my surroundings. It would be most satisfactory if they could keep a lookout for potential husbands as well.
W ѐ b̃n̄о̌v́ ӗ_l̃ Ėnùm̌ å
Additionally, Mr. Bear was here as my guard and was wearing a formal suit (that definitely did not suit him). Noel was also here as my escort at my request, since he was close to my age.
“You don’t need to be so nervous,” I said, since this was a celebration after all.
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“Y-yes, my lady.”
“Bwa hah hah! You gotta get used to places like this if ya ever wanna make your dream come true.” Mr. Bear clapped Noel on the shoulder encouragingly.
Oh dear! You mean to tell me that Noel has another goal besides getting stronger? That was none of my business, though, so once I was done with my speeches, I tried to find somewhere to sit. However, resplendent-looking people started coming my way.
“Little Yuuul, you did such a great job up there. Very impressive,” said a beautiful woman who came over to give me a hug. She was tall and had an hourglass figure of epic proportions.
E n u m а.ї d
“Your Majesty,” I said.
That’s right. This was Father’s older sister who’d married into the royal family of Sigoules, Queen Camille.
How best to describe them…? They were gargantuan.
I’m not gonna say what “they” were, but let’s just say I was buried so deep in them that I couldn’t breathe.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“No need to be so formal with me. You may simply call me Auntie.”
Queen Camille finally let me go when I tapped her on the arm. I straightened my dress and gave her a perplexed smile. “Would you permit me to refer to you as such when we’re not in such a formal space?”
Ẽ.ñ u.m а. i d́
“What a smart girl you are. I would expect no less from Forte’s daughter. You look so much like him too.”
At that, I couldn’t help but beam.
I was still eight years old, after all. Despite my slight blunders and acting like a grown-up, Queen Camille and the Sigoules royals all forgave me with a smile.
And so, Queen Camille and I became fast friends. When she was telling me things about Father, though, I remembered something important.
“Auntie Camille, where might my sisters be?”
The second I asked this, Queen Camille’s cheerful grin collapsed into a half smile.
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Now what did you two do, sisters?!
My two half sisters (born to another mother) had made a scene at my birthday party three years ago and were sent to the Noble Academy in Sigoules as long-term study-abroad students. I had so been looking forward to getting to see my wonderfully adorable sisters again.
Still, I had been thinking something was strange about all this. The Sigoules royal family had nothing but praise for Father and me, so it made no sense that no one would even mention my sisters!
“Auntie?” I smiled as I tried prompting her for an answer.
Queen Camille frowned slightly and said with a sigh, “I permitted them to study here to learn good manners at Forte and Queen Eleanor’s request. I hadn’t seen them since they were babies ten years ago, so do understand that I had been looking forward to seeing them again despite the odd rumors that had reached me.”
The length of her preamble kinda scared me.
Ёn̂ üm̈ а
“Unfortunately, while the two of them did attend the academy at first, at some point they pretty much stopped going and spent all their time hanging out in the city. So I replaced their butlers and lady’s maids and thought that they would at last begin to devote themselves to their studies in etiquette in earnest, but they are now instead following the so-called heroes around.”
“Huh?” It sounded like my sisters were in good health, but there was a rather strange word in this explanation. “Heroes…?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Yes, that’s right. Just so you know, the royal family of Sigoules has not officially recognized them as such at this point. Even so, a small mercenary band has been going around calling themselves heroes and your two sisters have joined their party.”
Heroes… You know the kind. The people who showed up when all hope was lost during a crisis, took the lead, and gave everyone courage.
And now my sisters were hanging out with those kinds of people?
As she spoke, Queen Camille’s tone made her sound like an actual auntie who was complaining about how her daughter had started hanging out with a gang of delinquents!
Е̄ n̄ u mа̂. і d́
According to Queen Camille, people began referring to the group as “heroes” after they managed to solve a recent string of kidnappings perpetrated by daemons. It seemed pretty similar to how everyone had started calling me the Saint after I saved some kids.
However, they were not “Heroes of Sigoules” since the royal family had yet to officially recognize them. Someone who had been officially recognized by a nation as a Hero would then have that country as their sponsor. The nation itself would fully support them monetarily and have everything taken care of for them, such as their equipment and recompense for their deeds. However, the funding provided by the country was the work of government employees, and their capital came from taxes. Therefore, the royal family would not approve of this fresh-off-the-farm band of mercenaries, nor was any religion likely to back them either. That was why these heroes named by the population of Sigoules were only referred to as “the so-called heroes of Sigoules,” and not simply “the Heroes of Sigoules.”
It was hard to get officially recognized, and it was such a headache too.
Though in my case as the Saint, while the royal family did recognize me and all kinds of religions kept trying to win my favor, nothing had really happened on that front since nothing was official yet. Though I imagined it’d still be annoying even after they made it official.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
This was all to say that my older sisters were now hanging out with these unofficial heroes… They sure had made a mess of their lives.
“Although they may be popular among the people, we did not send them formal invitations and thus I doubt you will see them here, but they may be mixed in among us as guards for other nobles, so do keep an eye out.”
Е ňu m а
So breaches could happen during big celebrations like these. Made sense.
“I shall. Thank you for the warning, Auntie,” I replied as I smiled in my most ladylike way.
For some reason, a worried look crossed Queen Camille’s face. “I hope you will be all right. You seem like a good-natured girl, just like your father. And there are strange perverts out there who care not for a pretty girl’s age, so you really must be careful.”
“Yes, Auntie.”
My relatives had a habit of overvaluing me. I doubted anyone would be looking at a scary child like me in such a way.
“Would you like one of my sons to escort you? I have three of them, so you can have one of them take you back to your room.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“No, I, uh…”
The conversation had suddenly taken a weird turn.
There were only boys in the Holy Kingdom’s royal family, and it seemed Aunt Camille had the same problem we did. From a normal perspective, the more boys there were, the better. However, when a whole generation was only boys, royals all started clamoring for a princess, Grandfather included.
They had only boys here. That meant they just needed to get a nice princess from somewhere else. It was because of that, Vio told me, that I had already received a large number of inquiries about my hand in marriage from families both inside and outside of the Holy Kingdom.
From my standpoint, while I was of royal blood and subsequently in line for the throne, I was lower than an actual royal-born princess, but everyone also called me the Saint. I was like a rare item about to go out of stock.
But while I wouldn’t claim that I had no interest in marriage, I doubted I could actually have a normal romance with just anyone. Not that I had room to talk, considering how I’d fled after things got weird with my cousin. Maybe I was just being overly self-conscious?
Ӗǹ úm a
My aunt had likely welcomed my sisters here because if she managed to tame them with education, they could potentially marry her sons, but that hadn’t worked out.
I just loved my sisters and how they practically dug their own graves!
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Anyway…
“Thank you for the offer, Auntie, but I have my knight with me today.”
“And what an adorable knight he is too.”
Noel had been rigid with nervousness behind me until I dragged him forward. He looked like such a handsome boy dressed in formal attire like this, and Queen Camille beamed at him. I had always thought of him as pretty, and one could even pass him off as a noble son when he was dressed properly like this.
Еńũ m̂ ȧ
Noel froze under the queen’s smile. Queen Camille then giggled at the self-satisfied look on my face, yet her expression hardened with seriousness as she leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Yul, be on your guard against the Church of Kostor until you leave the country.”
After parting ways with Queen Camille, I thought over her final warning to me.
The Church of Kostor worshipped Kostor, the Goddess of Good Harvests. Their doctrine easily spread among the citizens and, because of the size of their congregation, the church had been recognized as the official religion of both the Holy Kingdom of Talitelud and the Kingdom of Sigoules. Talitelud’s founding had ties to the Church of Kostor, so their main cathedral and pontiff resided in the Holy Kingdom.
What could she have meant by warning me to be on my guard against them? If I remembered correctly, they had an archbishop who was in charge of all of the church proceedings here in Sigoules.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Lucia?”
Hm? Oh, did I get so absorbed in my thoughts that Noel started worrying about me? Whoops. I had a feeling that if I got too lost in thinking, I might end up getting lost for real in this strange massive hall.
W е b́ ń ov̄ѐl̇ Ě n̄.ům̌ a
“Sorry, I’m fine.” I smiled and wrapped my hand around his arm so that we wouldn’t get separated.
His face stiffened.
“Are you all right?”
“I-I’m fine!”
Noel acted so strangely sometimes.
He was on duty during our travels and both the strict Mr. Bear and Vio kept a watchful eye on him, so we hardly had a chance to speak. I thought today might be a good opportunity.
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Just the two of us walking around like this was gathering the attention of everyone around us. The people of this country weren’t used to my uncanny appearance, so while I was glad no one tried to talk to me, they made up for it by constantly staring at me instead.
“I’m sorry, Noel.”
It took a moment for Noel to recover from his nervousness and look at me. “Huh? For what?”
“I stand out in a bad way, don’t I? It must feel awkward to have to be with me.”
Noel shook his head with surprise. “Of course you’re going to stand out! You’re both a princess and the Saint.”
Ӗ ñùm_а̃ .і d
Hmm. That was only because everyone else decided to call me that, though, I thought as I made a face.
For some reason, Noel blushed and then said with determination, “And you’re pretty.”
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“Oh?”
Whooooa! That made me feel all kinds of embarrassed!
I basically had two options no matter where I went: be feared or be admired at a distance. My family and everyone at our manor might tell me how cute and pretty I was, but no boy had ever said that kind of thing to me with a straight face before!
Noel was blushing, but I was surely blushing too.
Ẇ е b̃ ṅо v̄е̃ l Ёǹǔ m̌á_
Though from Noel’s point of view, I’m the Saint he oh-so-admires, so he probably has such a strangely high opinion of me because he’s biased. But how does he really see me? As I thought this over, the two of us sank into silence, unable to look at one another…
“Would you by any chance happen to be Princess Yulucia from Talitelud?” a voice said, breaking through my train of thought.
“Yes?” I answered without thinking since I hadn’t expected anyone to talk to me.
Even at these kinds of large relaxed gatherings, the nobility had rules they followed—someone of lower standing could not speak to someone of higher standing until spoken to first. If it weren’t for this rule, the royal family, and the bride and groom of course, would wind up stuck talking to everyone without end.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Aunt Camille had introduced several people to me and those people had then gone on to introduce their acquaintances, so I had already met over a hundred people today. Though, once we got far enough down the chain, the introductions were curbed by my intimidating appearance.
But back to the present—who in the world was this person who dared break the unspoken rule and speak to me without an introduction?
Е n̊u m̈a . і̌ḋ
“Ooh, when my eyes beheld your graceful beauty, I just knew that you must be the Lady Saint Yulucia!” Since I had indeed accidentally given a kind of answer, this well-dressed old man with his somewhat familiar-looking vestments and familiar holy symbol spoke to me with a presumptuous familiarity.
Noel took half a step in front of me, ready to protect me.
The Church of Kostor? Wasn’t it a bit too soon for this event to trigger?
“I am Callisto, the archbishop residing over the temple in the Kingdom of Sigoules’s capital. When I learned that the Saint, the famous Lady Yulucia, was in attendance, I just simply had to speak with you,” he said with a deep bow of his head.
I kinda hated this…
For now, at least, it didn’t seem like he was scheming. Though I’d expect a religious figure to always be up to something—I was a bit biased.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
This man came off as a bit of an airhead, and what was worse, he seemed to be the ill-natured kind. I liked my meals to be fully ripened, but those who fermented too long reeked. Plus, he was definitely the type to have fully ripened even though he wasn’t a type of fermented food.
“Archbishop Callisto, I am Yulucia von Versenia.” I cast away my impressions and went into gentle princess mode to return his greeting.
Callisto was a skinny old man who looked to be about fifty years old. While that wasn’t a bad thing, to be quite honest, he just didn’t do it for me.
“As it so happens, there is someone I was hoping to introduce you to today.”
“You want to…introduce me to someone?”
I had a bad feeling about this. My aunt’s warning echoed in my mind. Callisto didn’t even ask for permission as he looked behind him and beckoned over several men and women as if it were a matter of course.
Е ñ ú m а . і̄ d
“Perhaps you have heard of him. This is Alfio, the Hero.”
I stared in silence.
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You have got to be freaking kidding me, old man.
“How do you do, beautiful princess? I am Alfio, the Hero of this country. Please, call me Al.” Alfio the Hero’s(?) white teeth sparkled as he smiled. He was in his early thirties, or maybe late twenties, with black hair, dark eyes, and a medium build. He was attractive to some extent, but I wasn’t feeling it.
It’d be good if I could experience romance with someone the same generation as me, but I preferred being spoiled by mature men. Come back in ten years after you’ve cleaned up that shallow playboy behavior, kid.
Ahem, excuse me. I accidentally let my real thoughts slip out.
Е̂ n̊um̀а́
As I stared at him in silence despite myself, the Hero (lol) knelt down before me to place a kiss on the back of my hand.
Smack!
But just before he could actually place the kiss, Noel intercepted by knocking his hand aside.
“Do not approach my lady without permission. You will regret it,” Noel said in a stony voice.
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That set Alfio off instantly. “Oh?”
Noel was actually speaking from experience, having eaten Mr. Bear’s fist for making the very same mistake.
Wе b́ n õ v̌ ӗl Ėǹ u ma
Regardless, Noel was right by the standards of polite society. I still had not acknowledged Alfio’s introduction, so Noel had reacted appropriately as my guard. If he had been a second later, Nia, who was happily emanating her thirst for blood, likely would’ve lopped off a critical part of this “hero.” In any case, good job, Noel.
Oblivious that he’d just narrowly avoided death, Alfio concealed his anger behind a forced smile and stood up. “It appears that the princess has herself a capable knight, small as he is,” he said, looking down on the ten-year-old Noel.
S-so immature. What did that say about an adult if they felt the need to put down a kid?
Anyway, how was I supposed to react? It would have been unnatural for me to introduce myself at this point.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Alfio,” I said, going into princess mode despite the headache I was getting from this. I inadvertently glanced at his companions and was hit with a jolt. “Uh, my name is…Yulucia…von…Versenia.”
Oh gods, someone save me. I was really forcing this smile.
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Alfio made a face that showed he thought my reaction strange, but then smiled with satisfaction. “Ha ha ha! No need to feel so nervous, lovely princess. Has the excitement of meeting the Hero been too much for one of the Holy Kingdom? Now allow me to introduce my companions.”
No, that’s not why I reacted like this.
“First up, this is Antiquoua, our healer!”
“Bfft!” I couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
Antiquoua shouted with surprise, “Wh-what’s so funny?!”
I clutched my stomach, unable to control my fit of giggles. The elven woman looked at me reproachfully.
W̄ě ḃ ǹ о̄ v̌ е l Е n̊ ū m̊ а
“M-my apologies. I am Yulucia von…Versenia.”
Oh no. I seriously could not stop laughing.
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I never thought I would meet one in a place like this! It was this world’s fault for calling elves shiodaifuku—salt and bean mochi dumplings!
I didn’t have it in me to perform a proper greeting, so despite her anger, Antiquoua gave me a scornful smile for being so childish as she haughtily gave her introduction, “How do you do, Princess? I am Antiquoua. You may hesitate to call Alfio by his nickname, but you may call me ‘Anko.’”
“Pfft!”
“Ahhhh?!”
W̆е b̆ǹ_ӧṽ èl E ňu m ӑ
Anko—red bean paste?! Damn it, stop with these awful jokes, mochi dumpling people!
Antiquoua looked bewildered as I continued having these fits of laughter of unknown cause. Even so, perhaps thanks to her arrogance as an elf, she managed to continue speaking to me with a condescending attitude and a strained expression. “Hmph. What a rude girl! If you are feeling so unwell, then perhaps I should heal you? It must be so stressful for everyone to call you the Saint just because of your lineage. I shall gladly take the title for you.” Miss Anko bent forward to forcibly glare down at me as she spoke.
She was slim with golden hair, green eyes, and the kind of long ears you pictured an elf would have, but I just couldn’t handle it. Just looking at her face was enough to make me start laughing all over again.
Even Noel now was confused as to why I couldn’t contain my laughter.
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However, a savior capable of redeeming this situation finally appeared.
“Yulucia! Get ahold of yourself!” someone behind Antiquoua snapped, seeming to take responsibility for my ceaseless laughter. Granted, I would have scolded me too.
Wе̄ b n̈ òvе ĺ Еnum̌а̊
But none of that really mattered anyway! I couldn’t have cared less about meeting these heroes. I just knew they had to be here at such a fancy place!
“Oh, myyy! I have so longed to see you again, dear sister!” I was completely over Anko, whom I’d found endlessly hilarious, and was now in such a good mood that my most cheerful smile surprised even me.
I was shining so brightly right now—in an ominous sort of way.
“I-indeed! Your lovely sisters have joined us as our companions.” Alfio had recovered from his surprise at my sparkling smile and made room in front for my sisters.
At long last. The moment I’d been waiting for was finally here!
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My dear half sisters. There was Big Sister Adeline, and glaring at me from behind her was Big Sister Aureline.
Ooh, they were so wonderful. So twisted, bitter, and warped—I was a captive to the striking aroma of their noble souls.
They had fermented so nicely since I last saw them!
Big Sister Adeline faltered slightly at my broad smile. “D-does a dullard like you actually think you can get away with not listening to a word Sir Al says and snubbing Lady Anko?!”
I beg you, don’t say “Anko.” You’ll get me going again.
“That’s right, that’s right! We are now the companions of Sir Al, the Hero of Sigoules! So the likes of you—?!” Big Sister Aureline started to spout like some kind of petty underling as she cowered behind Big Sister Adeline, but she immediately went silent when I slowly turned my smile at her too.
Еñ ůṁӓ .і d̂_
“I apologize if I caused any offense, Big Sister.”
“Y-you…”
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Despite giving an elegant and charming apology befitting a daughter of our father, Big Sister Adeline stepped protectively in front of Big Sister Aureline for some reason. Ooh, she was so impeccable.
However, this was not going to turn into a glare-off between sisters. After all, I continued to smile even though Big Sister Adeline glowered at me. Big Sister Aureline may have dropped out of the match, but Big Sister Adeline persisted despite the bead of sweat forming on her forehead.
Oh, could it be…? Is my big sister starting to realize that I’m not normal?Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee.
“I believe this would be a good time to take my leave,” I said. “I apologize, everyone, but I am afraid that I must be going. I hope we can have some more time to chat again soon, sisters.”
W ëb nо̃v̆ê l Ѐ n̆ ŭ m̃ä
It wouldn’t do to peck at them too much before they had truly ripened.
I had made a few blunders in this conversation, so I gave a gentle smile as a way of ending things.
Big Sister Adeline ground her teeth. “I’ll remember this.” Judging from the terrific parting remark, Big Sister Adeline seemed to have taken offense at my honest feelings for her, and her high heels clicked loudly as she took Big Sister Aureline with her and walked away.
Oooh! Nngh! You are such a delicious delight, Big Sister!
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“I-I believe we should be going as well.” After witnessing all that, Callisto bowed his head as he snapped back to his senses.
Alfio also gave a hasty bow and then followed after my sisters, taking the other two women with him and disappearing into the crowd.
W̌ е́ḃ n ov е̌ ľ_ En̈u ṁа
Ahh, that was so much fun. Perhaps I overdid it, though? I contemplated and was on the verge of leaving as well when Callisto said one last thing to me, having remained behind for some reason.
“Ah, one last thing, Lady Yulucia. I have submitted a request to be transferred to Talitelud. I believe we should see each other again next year, or the year after that at the latest, but I hope you will permit me to say hello when I can.”
What? Heck no.
***
Alfio, the (self-proclaimed) Hero of Sigoules, had a secret he couldn’t tell anyone.
He was born to a family who owned a big fruit orchard in northern Sigoules, and while he wasn’t a noble, his family was well-off, so he grew up without any discomforts.
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But when he was two years old, something changed in him. During the magical aptitude exams, while he showed no aptitude for holy magic or elemental magic to speak of, he surprised everyone with his aptitude for every single element of ordinary spellcraft—earth, water, fire, and wind.
A special kind of spiritual nature—a certain kind of purity, so to speak—was required to use holy magic and elemental magic, while ordinary spellcraft depended on the user’s creativity. Their power of imagination affected how many elements a person could use and their strength.
Alfio’s parents believed their son must have been gifted, and spent a fortune to have him taught as a prodigy by one of the best teachers. Alfio liked his private teacher and he frantically devoted himself to his studies just to see how happy she looked when he did a good job.
The next change happened when he was four.
His parents had dark red hair and brown eyes, which wasn’t an unusual color combination in Sigoules. However, Alfio had black hair and dark eyes—very much unlike his parents.
He was also different from his family in that he had a talent for spellcraft. They had been unable to understand the mental image for spellcraft that Alfio tried to describe to them. It was due to these fundamental differences that he gradually started to feel a sense of alienation from his family.
En u m̀ ӓ
The young Alfio had been troubled by this, but his teacher saved him from his worries. She saw his true personality, and she praised him and gave him confidence through her acceptance of him. It was because of this that Alfio began to have delusions of grandeur.
The greatest change of all happened when he was six.
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Alfio was an early bloomer and realized that he had fallen in love with his teacher, who had nurtured his sense of confidence. She was twenty-two years old and had become a private teacher after graduating from the Academy of the Magical Arts. She was sixteen years older than Alfio and well into marriageable age. Alfio got it in his head that he was the only one who could make her happy, and believed beyond a doubt that she would accept his feelings.
However, she was already married. Having watched over Alfio since he was young made her want to have her own child, so she quit her job as his teacher before he had a chance to confess his feelings to her.
It had been a great shock for young Alfio. The shock of his broken heart gave him a high fever and he wound up bedridden for several days. That was when Alfio suddenly remembered his past life.
When a living being died, their soul dispersed and was returned to the world so that it could be reborn to a new life. However, his soul had not returned to the world and was instead reborn with some traits from his previous life intact.
Е ṅ u m̈а̀.. і̌ d
Certain conditions had to be met for souls to be reborn this way.
First, they had to have acquired a lot of experience in their former life. In this kind of case, only the experience was returned to the world while the soul itself went on to instead transmigrate as an even stronger soul.
The other condition was that the soul was prevented from dispersing due to having strong emotions imprinted onto it. In most cases, these were wicked emotions, so the emotions themselves fused with a spirit and they turned into ghosts bound to specific physical locations and such. However, if these feelings were pure, the soul itself could be reborn.
In Alfio’s case, the feeling had been regret. The emotion had not been powerful enough to turn him into a ghost, and the source of it came from the living, so he was lucky enough that he was able to be reborn.
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“There must be a reason I was reborn in this world.”
Alfio was not the same person he had been in his past life. However, having transmigrated with such strong emotions, his soul had been influenced by the form his spirit had taken in his past life.
Еǹ û m̄ а̌
The degree to which a spirit resembled its past-life appearance was correlated to the strength of its memories, which affected the body of its current life. In Alfio’s case, he was an early bloomer, able to imagine spellcraft, and had black hair and eyes all because of his spirit’s influence, taking the appearance of his past life.
Alfio started working hard after that. In his past life, he had been lazy and died before he knew it, so he made up his mind to live this life in earnest. With the regrets of his past life as his sustenance, he learned how to wield a sword (since he had been bad at it before), came up with ideas for new spells, and developed his abilities. There were times when he felt disheartened. There were times when things were really tough. But Alfio didn’t give up.
There was one big regret from his past life that he would be sure to remedy this time: He would find a woman to love and make her happy.
After a life of pouring his blood, tears, and sweat into hard work, he accepted as his companion the elven woman who had fought by his side to save a village of elves from a herd of elephants. Even the daughter of a knight, who had been an old childhood friend, had reached out to ask to join him.
If Alfio wasn’t wrong, the two women liked him.
The three of them started working as mercenaries, and while looking for a missing person, they learned that daemons were behind it. After they successfully drove the daemons away, people even started calling him the Hero.
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Though the country had not officially recognized Alfio as the Hero, his reputation led the archbishop of the Church of Kostor in Sigoules’s capital to sponsor his group, even going so far as to fund their operations.
The beautiful elven woman he admired because of the influence of his past life.
His pretty childhood friend who constantly fussed over him.
And then there were the two noble daughters who had recently joined their group at the archbishop’s referral, who were somewhat domineering and still young, but sure to blossom into beautiful women in the future, and subsequently caused a new kind of emotion to take root within Alfio’s heart.
“Why should I only love one woman?”
In a way, it was a curse. One could even call it twisted.
Е̄n̈ûm̌а
He regretted never falling in love in his past life. He regretted how his young first love had ended so terribly. Seeing the women he had gathered in an effort to bury those regrets, Alfio started to believe that it was his duty to make many women happy.
And then Alfio met a young lady at a party hosted by the royal family of Sigoules, which he had attended as the archbishop’s guard. She was far too young to actually be considered a young lady, but her golden hair and eyes and frighteningly flawless features pierced Alfio’s heart. She looked like she had been molded in the gods’ image. Her powerful presence hinted at a gigantic soul within, overflowing with such divine light that those in possession of weaker souls would be compelled to prostrate themselves before her.
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She turned out to be the youngest sister of the noble sisters who had joined their group one year prior, and her older sisters were so wary of her that they had warned Alfio to stay on his guard around her. However, his soul was durable thanks to the influence of his past life, and thanks to his knowledge of 2D characters, he could not bring himself to be wary in the face of this golden girl’s beauty.
Alfio would have surely noticed something was off about her had her personality been as cold as her doll-like appearance. However, the girl smiled radiantly with such joy at being reunited with her sisters, as appropriate for a girl her age. Although there were probably some serious interfamily issues going on (judging from how their hair and eye colors were so different), the girl did not criticize her sisters.
Having met the golden girl at that party, Alfio now understood that it was his duty to solve the discord between these sisters and help the three of them become a happy family. Alfio vowed to himself that he would show this golden girl what it meant to be happy as a woman, no matter what. After all, he too had laughed the first time he heard the word shiodaifuku, and thus felt a strange kinship with the girl.
***
Е̄_ń u m̀ а̄
“What’s wrong, Adelie?”
After seeing her younger sister again at the royal family of Sigoules’s wedding party, Adeline wound up leaving right away. Celia, the warrior of their group, had followed after her.
“Nothing,” Adeline answered.
Adeline was known for her condescending treatment of others, but she was pretending to be on her best behavior during this party in order to use the power and reputation of the Heroes. She always treated those of respectable caliber appropriately anyway, so she was on relatively good terms with the group.
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The ladies of the group had frowned at the addition of more women, but never displayed any outward animosity toward the two teenaged nobles, so Adeline and Aureline had managed to find their places among them as everyone’s younger sisters.
What is wrong with that girl?!
Е nū_m å
The first time she had met her half sister Yulucia had been three years ago.
She hated her little sister for having obtained everything that was hers by rights: family, love, status, and everyone’s admiration. Should they truly be calling a girl like that their princess and Saint?
Yulucia had called both Adeline and Aureline her sisters and smiled so prettily, like she had been genuinely happy to see them again, but Adeline had had this tiny nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right about her since the first time they’d met.
She was capable of sensing it because she viewed the entire world as her enemy.
Amid that fleeting beauty, she had seen herself reflected in Yulucia’s eyes. There was something about the girl’s pretty smile that was repulsive to Adeline, like she was trapped in a cage with an enormous carnivore and there was nowhere to run.
“Do you feel better now, Adelie? Al and the others have caught up now too,” Celia said soothingly, assuming Adeline’s trembling was anger caused by family conflict and not fear.
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“Yes,” Adeline replied hesitantly. She could see Alfio and the others coming their way.
Aureline must have almost gotten left behind due to being weaker than the others, because now Alfio was giving her a piggyback ride.
Adeline apologized for leaving so suddenly. Alfio and Antiquoua both tried to console her, since they were under the same assumption as Celia.
“Well, she certainly was rude,” said Antiquoua, still mad about how Yulucia had acted.
“She was probably just nervous to meet us since we’re the Heroes,” Alfio said defensively.
“She was so pretty, it was scary. It’s no surprise that she’s related to Adelie and Aurelie.” Celia didn’t seem to care either way.
Е̂n u̇ mà.і̆d
“Sister.” Adeline’s little sister Aureline softly touched the hem of Adeline’s dress. She was the only one who looked uneasy.
However, Aureline was scared because of Yulucia’s political power and magical powers as the Saint. She had always been a timid girl who only imitated her mother and sister. She was powerless and always cowering in her sister’s shadow. As a result, Aureline had not yet realized why Yulucia disturbed her so.
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What in the world am I to do?
No one, not even Alfio, was cautious of Yulucia.
She had hoped that Alfio would perceive how abnormal Yulucia was, since he was the Hero, but he only saw her as a pretty little princess.
No, it’s just too soon.
Е̄ nü m а̌. і.d
Alfio and his other companions had not yet awakened as the Heroes yet. Adeline believed that with her help, Alfio would grow and someday realize the truth. Until then, Adeline had to get stronger herself so that she could stand up against Yulucia.
So that she could protect the one she loved.
I will do whatever it takes to protect him from Yulucia!
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