CH 230

“Princess! Welcome.”

It was a moonlit night the day after the end of the Founding Festival. The Terena palace where I resided was very spacious. So even after all the patrols had made themselves comfortable, there was still some room left. Our garden was too unnecessarily large and we didn’t have the manpower to manage it so since we couldn’t celebrate in the garden, we moved indoors. 

We were having our very own little celebration. 

“This is the meat Soricks grilled. And this is the one I grilled. Which one would you prefer?”

“Meta, one of your options doesn’t look like meat at all though?”

“This lump of coal is what Soricks calls food.”

Meta cackled. Soricks, who was standing next to him, turned beet-red as he tried to snatch the coal skewer from Meta’s hands. But because Meta was able to avoid his attacks so well, they scuffled for a while. 

“Soricks is now Granius’ deputy?”

“Yes. He’s the only one from the patrols who has done both civil and military work before. In other words, he is quite the crafty fellow. On top of that, he’s got a good family and he’s rich.”

“Is that so? You’d make the perfect bachelor.”

“But what’s the point of all that if he burns all his meat like an idiot.”

Meta quickly ducked his head. A sword sliced through the air at the spot where his head once was.

“Stop it, alright?”

With a grimace, Soricks stood with a sword at hand. Meta giggled before seeming as if he had suddenly recalled something. 

“Penne was great at cooking…”

He said as he scratched the back of his beck.

“I won’t be able to taste his cooking for a while. The man who disappeared into a faraway place for love.”

“Right.”

Momentarily lost in his thoughts, Meta looked quite serious. 

“Princess, is love that powerful a thing?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I can’t say much since I’m not the most familiar with it. I’m a Templar of Deception and Thievery, aren’t I? (1) I don’t get to love or date anyone because people are automatically suspicious of my nature. In other words, it’s because of my stereotype.”

“Ah. It’s impossible not to be suspicious of a Templar of Thievery. That’s how many of you all turn out to be conmen.”

“Right. I’m just saying that I’m curious about love. To change Penne, the most cautious man I know.”

Meta asked Soricks if Penne’s drastic actions were because he had fallen in love. But he didn’t seem to be expecting an answer when he asked. He then turned towards me to ask.

“Princess, have you ever been in love?”

“Meta, that’s rude!”

Smirking, I shook my head.

“No. I haven’t.”

I had been busy trying to survive. Tilting his head, Meta hummed in thought before a dark glint appeared in his eyes. 

“Surely, you must have someone in mind? I’m just saying that if the princess starts dating, maybe I can feel what love is like indirectly.”

“Me?”

“Yes. How should I put it? You don’t seem very trusting.”

I tilted my head. Was I? I looked away from Meta to turn my gaze towards the sky. Love and dating. Someone’s face flashed across my mind. 

“Oh.”

“What’s this? So, you have someone in mind? I’m quite quick at reading people.”

“Meta!”

“Ah. No. I just had to think about something.”

I blinked to quickly erase the image. My thoughts had drifted to that person without me realising it. 

“Soricks’ food is disgustingly tasteless. Penne was really good at cooking. Ah.”

“Enough about my cooking already.”

As they bickered, I lowered my head and smiled. Meta’s grumbling could be seen as his longing for his friend. Perhaps it was because I too felt sad about Penne’s absence. Penne had been kind to me since the first moment we met and had always called me ‘child’ endearingly. I had learned a lot from him and he had cared for me the same even after he found out who I actually was. So, I hoped he could be happy there too. 

“By the way, I heard that it was the 2nd Prince that gave Penne permission to move there?”

“The 2nd Prince had wanted to help their Royal Family against the rebels.”

“But he couldn’t do anything till now because he was being wary of the Emperor?”

“That’s right.”

The 2nd Prince was an unusually normal man. I thought he would have wanted to help Ahasia because of his personality and morals. But he was holding himself back because he couldn’t lose the emperor’s affection for him. Now that I thought about it, the 2nd Prince seemed to be the most consistent with his character in the original novel. I had never met him before but I had been keeping track of his movements.

When I raised my head, a large sack was dangling before my eyes. Looking at it closer, I realised that it was a sack filled with wine. 

“Princess, would you like a drink? The aedile has granted us his most cherished wine!”

Wine? At those words, I quickly nodded. 

“I want to drink too.”

After receiving a goblet, I turned away to look for Dane and Fleon. Fleon was with Rebecca and Dane could be seen far away with Granius. They seemed well. Fortunately, they wouldn’t be able to see me because I was surrounded by people. I quickly brought the goblet to my lips. I hadn’t had a sip of alcohol since I became an adult.

“Ah. It’s sweet.”

“Really? Don’t drink too much just because it’s sweet… Oh, Princess!”

“Hm?”

I was feeling thirsty so I downed the drink I was holding. When I placed the goblet down, Soricks stared at me in shock. The other patrols around me were also staring at me with similar expressions. What was the matter?

“This is pretty strong alcohol… Are you alright?”

“Uhm. I feel fine…”

I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly. I didn’t feel anything yet? I was sure I was going to be drunk as soon as I drank it. It seemed like this body was better at holding its alcohol than my body in my previous life. That seemed to incite the patrols around me as they offered me another goblet. Smiles began lifting on their faces as the excitement in the air grew till almost all of them were shouting, ‘Bottom’s up!’

“What about the princess? Isn’t she so adorable!”

“No! You should say that she’s lovable, idiot!”

“Aren’t they the same thing?”

The night was filled with swelling voices of those not drunk on alcohol but tipsy on excitement. This was the princess’ charm. No, this was! I burst out laughing at how heated their compliment battle was getting. We were all being dumb but I didn’t hate it. 

“Ah. This is crazy. Princess, please pardon those ignorant fools for their rudeness.”

“It’s alright, Soricks. I like it when it’s rowdy like this.”

Actually, I would feel more uncomfortable if they were too polite to me. I smiled and shook my head. 

“I guess I don’t suit being of such high status. It’s more comfortable to look people in the eye than to look down on them.”

It looked like Soricks was hesitating to say something before he squatted down and looked me in the eye while still holding a goblet of wine. 

“That’s not true. You’ve managed to make us follow you.”

He hardened his face earnestly.

“Of course, I still like it when I can talk to you comfortably. But all of us decided to follow you because we respect you for who you are, princess.”

They respect me? Why? I was curious as to why I got a strange surge of confidence whenever I saw them. His words made me feel even stranger but I nodded with a smile. The night was still young, there were still drinks left and there was a nice atmosphere in the air. I didn’t want to ruin it. 

So, our celebrations went on. Under the atmosphere filled with excitement and laughter, I drank. I downed goblet after goblet. I tried counting how many I had drunk but when I started losing count, someone tapped my shoulders. 

“Princess.”

I rubbed my eyes and turned around. 

Lord Ray? Was it Ray? But why did he look a little blurry?

“It’s Ray.”

“Yes. I was wondering if you’d like to take a walk?”

Lord Ray’s expression seemed to stiffen for a moment before he quickly reverted to a neutral one. 

“Do you have anything to say about your condition now?”

He then stretched his hand out to me which I took. Though I was walking next to him, I felt like I was floating. 

“Watch your step, it’s dark.”

He gently led me forward with his hand. He had always been as gentle as a gentleman whenever he escorted me. It didn’t suit his personality since he had always been blunt with me but that only made me smile harder. I wondered why I couldn’t stop smiling. When I raised my head,  I noticed that the trees were dancing. The falling leaves seemed to be melting into the night air. 

Though we were only a small distance away from the small celebration we were holding, our surroundings were very quiet. I lifted my dress with the free hand Ray was not holding. It was only at that moment did I finally remember that I was wearing a long dress. But it seemed like it was already too late because the ends of my dress had turned black. 

We walked a little deeper into the forest before stopping somewhere in the middle. I could faintly hear laughter in the distance. My vision kept blurring. I was also feeling sleepy. My eyes felt dry so I kept rubbing my eyes for a while. When my eyes finally got better, I opened my eyes to see a mop of black hair even darker than our surroundings. 

“Didn’t you get too carried away?”

That was strange. I felt fine. Instead of replying him, I looked up at the sky. It was a starless sky. The only light source was the clear moon pouring blue moonlight down on the rest of the world. Everything looked pretty– the sights, the trees and the sky. 

“My mind is as clear as always.”

I grabbed his hand and folded some of his fingers. 

“Look at this. You’re holding up four fingers, aren’t you?”

“… It’s three.”

“Oh.”

Really? But it looked like there were four fingers. Ey, no way. There was no way there were three fingers. Ray must have been pulling my leg. As I looked around, there were only trees and tree stumps around us. Ignoring my shaky vision, I sat at the base of one of the trees. When I sat down, my feet felt a little cramped.

“My feet hurt.”

Without even looking at Ray, I spoke. 

“Hannah brought me a new pair of shoes to wear today and it looks a lot like a burton.”

I stretched out my legs before twisting my ankles and bending my legs again. I did that a few more times. Did I sprain my feet walking around in these uncomfortable shoes? My ankles were also feeling a little sore. I was trying to bend my knees so I could get a better look at my ankles when a head popped up in my field of vision.

“Don’t move.”

He held my ankle before touching it here and there. 

“It doesn’t look sprained.”

He should have placed my feet back down after inspecting it but he continued speaking whilst still holding onto my foot. Well,  it didn’t exactly hurt but come to think of it, it had been a while since I had seen his face up close.

“It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve been alone with you, Ray.”

Not too long ago, I had spent a lot of time alone with Ray but now that the number of people around me increased, Ray seemed to have distanced himself from me as if it was only natural. No, he had always been a man of few words so he might just be acting as he always did. 

“This place looks familiar. Was this where you defeated all those assassins like pow pow by yourself?”

“What do you mean by pow pow?”

“Ha–”

Come to think of it, this forest was also the place where he had once knelt on one knee to swear an oath on his sword. Back then, I had asked him whether he wanted to be my patronus for the Founding Festival. As I reminisced the past, I smiled. 

“Lord Ray.”

With my feet still in his hands, I tilted my head. But my head kept slipping so I had to prop my head up with my hand. So, these were Lord Ray’s eyes. Strangely enough. They were deep blue in colour. I felt like saying something I wouldn’t usually say. 

“Ray, do you like me?”

T/N:

(1): Officially, changing the translation of ‘Templar of Lies and Thieves’  to ‘Templar of Deception and Thievery’ hoho