Chapter 185: The Second Event – Collapsing Kingdom – part twenty-two

Chapter 185: The Second Event – Collapsing Kingdom – part twenty-two

“Oh, Hannes, there you are.” I said as I drove the motorcycle Jun towards him.

“Hey…” Hannes replied. He was about to leave the capital, so it seems my timing was good.

Though I wonder if he got his business here done? He was the one to suggest coming to Hermagne, so he must have had a reason for that.

But let’s put that aside for now. Mom always said that greetings were important, so I should start with that, “And oh my, if it isn’t the princess, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I said.

However, the princess didn’t reply, “Are you alright?” I asked her.

“Stop it, Rena.” Hannes intervened. His tone was quite forceful.

“Is there a problem?” I asked him. I was just wondering about her health, since she wasn’t talking…

“Did you forget what you did to her?” He asked me back.

“You mean like… Killing the king or her maid?” I replied. I don’t get his point much, people doing things to others is a very common occurrence, “Or do you mean the time we invaded the Empire? That one was fun.”

“If you remember that much, then don’t talk to her as if you two had a normal relationship…” Hannes heaved a sigh as he said that.

“It’s not ‘normal’, I guess? But what might be the problem?” I asked him.

He didn’t reply. I must have made a mistake in doing ‘normal’ behavior then? But I don’t get why Hannes seems angry and why the princess refuses to reply to my comments…

“Usually, one won’t want to talk to someone that did horrible things to them.” Hannes explained.

“I see… So the problem wasn’t that the words I used to communicate weren’t ‘normal’, but that the act of talking in itself, when considering my relationship with the princess, wasn’t ‘normal’…” I mused. That’s quite hard to understand.

“Wait, you seriously thought that this wasn’t a problem!?” Hannes exclaimed.

“Yes…?” I replied, “I thought it was important to greet an acquaintance that I haven’t met in a while, so I did it.”

“You really thought that you could easily greet the daughter of someone you killed? Just what goes on in your head…?” Hannes sighed once again as he said that.

It couldn’t be helped though. Mom never taught me about how I had to make exceptions for my greetings when meeting people whose relatives I had killed, so there was no way I could behave ‘normally’ in this kind of situation.

“But it happened quite some time ago, didn’t it?” I replied.

“Just… How would you react if a criminal that killed someone important to you decided to casually talk to you less than a year after the occurrence?” Hannes asked.

“I don’t get it? Someone precious to me wasn’t killed, and nobody tried talking to me.” I answered.

“I’m telling you to try putting yourself in the princess’ position!” Hannes exclaimed.

“But I’m not a princess?” I told him.

“Ah…” He sighed again, “I guess this is just like you…”

He seemed to be tired of this conversation… I guess I failed to establish proper communication this time?

But well… “Hey, Hannes… Does this count as you properly scolding me like you said you would?” I asked him.

“Oh, shut up!” He exclaimed, though I just giggled at that.

“Lord Hannes…?” The princess called him out.

“Ah, let’s leave it at that and hurry back to the Wallace Kingdom!” Hannes hurriedly replied. He seemed to be flustered for some reason.

“Sure, let’s get going.” I said, then made Jun transform the Motorcycle in a way that would let Hannes and the princess sit on a sidecar. The rest of the people I brought here can return on their own.

“Hey… Rena.” The princess said once we started moving.

Though I wonder where Tapiocaman went. I saw that Hymn’s Guru and Ranka separated from the group, but Tapiocaman should have been together with Hannes, right?

“Rena…?” The princess said again.

I also wonder about Lily. She stayed behind at the Wallace Kingdom, but I don’t quite know why… Why would she stay there in the middle of the event? That person is somewhat mysterious.

“Rena!” The princess exclaimed.

“Hey, you shouldn’t ignore her…” Hannes said.

“I shouldn’t? But I thought I was not allowed to speak with the princess due to our relationship?” I asked him.

“You’re way too radical…” He sighed once again, “Look, it’s troublesome when the perpetrator starts a conversation with the victim, but when the victim is the one who starts the conversation, it’s usually seen as a way to compromise, so you should hear her out properly.” Hannes explained.

“Oh, I see.” I said. ‘Ordinary’ human relationships are truly complicated, but at least Hannes helps me out by explaining them properly.

“To think that it was this kind of person that messed up my country so badly…” The princess murmured something, but I couldn’t quite understand it. Her tone seemed to be a bit depressed though.

I wonder how I’ll ‘play’ with her though. I promised to not kill her, so maybe we should try ‘playing’ as friends?

… I’ll try thinking about it on the way to the Wallace Kingdom.