CH 16

「Oh, he really came.…Look, it’s a reward.」

As usual, she escaped the castle and went through the hidden hole that leads to the forest entrance to go to the secret base- but a group of men with ugly faces were standing on the other side.

One of them that had a particularly large body threw a bronze coin to a nearby man with dingy clothes.

「According to our intel, there’s a kid around here that wears some pretty nice clothes. They’re probably a very rich Aristocrat-sama. How about we squeeze some money out of them?」

The big man’s ugly face distorts, a vulgar look on it.

Because the forest where the secret base is located is close to the royal castle, I thought nobody would find it. But I go to see that boy nearly every day, so it isn’t that much of a surprise. I used to go only a few times a month, but because of him it changed.

「Now then…… Oi, brat. Would you come here for a moment?」As he said this, the big man approached Raffine. 

「Sto……『Don’t』!」

Raffine uses 《Word Magic》to restrain the body of the big man.

「Hmm, what’s this? My body won’t move…… Hey, you fucking brat! What the fuck did you do?」

The big man was confused by his immobile body, and his tone turned rough. Raffine tries to move the big man out of the way.

Come… on!

Then, there was a strong impact on her head, and she fell to the ground.

Trying to see through blurry vision, she understood what happened. I- I was hit. Ow…. It hurts….

I’m confused. Why are such scary eyes looking at me? I haven’t done anything wrong.

As she was thinking that, the magical power that she was operating scattered, and the 《Word Magic》 that was cast on the big man is released.

「I thought I’d let you go after squeezing your money out of you, but…not anymore. I’ll sell this damn brat to a pervert.…Tell me, do you think you’ll ever see your mommy or daddy again?」

The man laughed and with a calm expression instructed the men nearby to 「close her mouth and restrain her.」

「No…… No, no!」

Raffine tries to escape, but there is no way to overcome the adults’ strength, and is restrained easily, her mouth stuffed with a balled-up cloth so she can’t speak.

Help…… someone, save me!

It was scary and painful, and when she couldn’t see anyone anymore, she burst into tears.

It’s sad that I won’t be able to see my father and servants, but the saddest thing is that I can’t hear the boy’s story anymore.

The men stuffed her into a hemp bag, and her vision was blocked, and she began to fall into despair――

「……What are you doing?」

She heard the boy’s voice.

~

「Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?」

A short time later, after she heard the boy and the big man yelling at each other, destructive sounds rang out and when it subsided, the boy took Raffine out of the linen bag and asked her those questions.

「……I wish, ow.」

When Raffine complains, the boy chants《High Heal》to relieve the pain.

Once he was done, Raffine tries to turn around to see what happened to the men. But――

「…… It’s better if you don’t see.」

She was hugged by the boy, her vision blocked.

She could feel the boy’s body temperature being transmitted to her, he was warm. Her confused mind seemed to become more and more muddled.

「They were famous bandits. It’s karma’s justice. There’s nothing to worry about.」The boy said, gently stroking Raffine’s head, as if to calm down. His hand was slightly trembling, and it was as if he was telling that more to himself than her.

I don’t know how you killed the men, but I know that you helped me.

「Why……did you help me?」

Raffine suddenly voiced her thoughts. She just didn’t understand why he did it.

The boy responded to Raffine’s words with a,「Huh?」, making a confused noise. 

「It’s natural for a hero to help people- isn’t it?」

「…… Huh?」

Badump.

The sight of the boy saying”I just did what I took for granted” was dazzling and cool.

What’s this… my face is hot… my heart’s going doki-doki…!

It was her first time feeling emotions like this. Her face turned red, and her heart was beating so hard that she could even hear it.

「……What’s wrong with me? My body temperature seems to be high, so…… is it a cold?」

The boy approaches Raffine, putting his forehead against hers and mutters,「it’s just a bit hot.」Raffine’s face turned even more red and she felt as if her heart was about to explode.

Afterwards, because the boy thought Raffine might have a cold, he gave her a piggyback ride and began taking her near her house.

「……is Onii-chan…..Yuusha-sama?」Raffine asks the boy, holding onto his back.

「…… No, I’m not a hero yet. But I definitely will be. I’ll show you. Because- I have a dream. Saying so in a determined voice, the boy continued walking forward and stared ahead.

Raffine then understood what she was feeling. It’s the same feeling that the princess had in the story – “Love”.

Raffine held tight to the boy’s warm back、

「Rafine too, Rafine will cheer you on! Onii-chan will definitely become great!」

He said: ‘it’s been a long time.If the boy becomes a hero and defeats the demon king–you may be able to marry yourself.Because I thought about that.

From this moment on, Raffine began to strive to become the ideal princess.She began learning how to behave as royalty, to be loved by the citizens, to go into the city with an escort, to talk positively,and to not cause mischief with the servants. 

Little by little, the people around Raffine began to change their attitudes towards her because of how she was now acting. The servants, though still awkward, also began to talk to her, and when she walked around the city she often called out to them. Her father, Pilar, also became more fond of Raffine. On the other hand though, her sisters’ attitude became colder.

As usual, she went out of the castle one day  to see the boy, and when asked by the servants she tricked them saying, “I’m playing hide and seek.”

~

A few months after.

As usual, Raffine hummed as she headed to the secret base. Then, a sight that made her doubt her eyes came into view.

「―What!?」

The boy was collapsed in a pool of blood.

The boy had innumerable scratches on him and his clothes were in shreds. Among them were what appeared to be three dark red marks, raked down his entire chest.

Raffine exhaled shakily, worried enough that she felt that she could die. She immediately returned to the castle to summon people, and persuaded the soldiers (who were reluctant to let outsiders in) to take him into the treatment room.　

Why…… Why is it that he’s not healing!?

Even when treated by the White magicians who worked in the royal palace, the healing magic wouldn’t work, it was as if some kind of magic was blocking it. No matter how many times they tried, the magic would disperse right before it would touch the boy.

God……please. I’ll do whatever you want…! Just- just please save him……!

Raffine could only pray for the half-dead boy who could not be treated.

And Raffine’s wish came true. The boy miraculously survived, even though his injuries were serious enough that he should have been dead.

After just a week of rehabilitation, which was supposed to take at least a year, the boy recovered enough to tell his stories as usual.

Rafinha was delighted. She thought she’d be able to spend time with the boy again. But―

「From tomorrow on, I won’t be here anymore.」It was a sudden farewell.

Rafinha was taken aback. 「Why」,「Don’t go」,「Stay here with me」, she tried to persuade the boy.

However, the boy’s determination was unwavering, and he looked up at the sky and said with sadness,「I have to go. It’s a very important battle.」

Seeing the boy’s expression, she understood.  He was going on a journey to defeat the Demon King. The boy shouldn’t have a  =holy mark yet, but he has a strong sense of justice. Perhaps he wants to reassure people by defeating the Demon King as soon as possible. There is no doubt that during his journey a holy mark will appear.

「Then……Raffine also!　Take me with you!」

I’m confident I can help. I can now use《Word Magic》on up to 5 people at a time, and it’s become possible for me to use various other magics, too. I’m still a beginner, but I can do it with a little help.

「It’s useless. Don’t follow me or cling to my feet.」The boy was cold and told me to stop it.

「……….Eh?」

For a moment, I didn’t understand what was said. A little while later, it finally clicked. He said that he didn’t need me.

My face paled and I couldn’t think of anything to say. I didn’t think that the boy, who was kind to me, would refuse. The boy, seeing Raffine in such a state, reached into his clothing and pulled something out.

「You can’t follow me…… so, I’ll give you this.」He held out a familiar object to her.

「…Ring?」

「Ah, it’s a magic tool called the『Phantom Ring』. I’ll put it on for you.」

It was a simple ring. Raffine couldn’t understand why he was giving it to her.

……!

After a bit of thought, Raffine realised. Then, her face blushed.

Because she realized that this was the boy’s marriage proposal.

The boy must have been aware that Raffine was a princess from the beginning. If she thought about it, many of the stories that the boy told her was about someone who eventually became king. He must have told those because he wanted to marry Raffine and become king.

「I’ll definitely win. So… wait for me.」

His words also meant,『I’ll defeat the Demon King and bring peace.』

The『Phantom Ring』was given as an engagement ring, and to say that he wants me to wait until then.

「No matter how many demons there are, I will definitely win. Yeah, absolutely.」

『No matter how many demons appear, I will defeat the Demon King and marry Raffine.』The boy definitely said so. Raffine heard it.

「I’ll wait….!　I’ll be waiting for you!」Raffine shouts, and the boy pats her head, laughing softly.

So― I’ll no longer be coming to the secret base.

From that day on, Raffine began to practice and learn even more. Thinking about marrying a boy in the future, she learned all about cooking, manners, and economics. All to be able to spend her future with the boy.

The hero who will save the people from the Demon King has the right to decide whether to marry a princess and govern their country. Although I can’t believe it, maybe, with a probability of about one in a hundred million, he might choose one of my sisters.

So, I will work hard to become the ideal princess. Graceful, elegant, and kind to the citizens― to become like the Princess from the story and be chosen by the boy.

She also worked hard to master magic.  Focusing on the《Word Magic》that she had been born with, 《Life Magic》, 《Sound Magic》, 《Five Elemental Magics》, etc. In particular, she wanted to know where the boy is now, so Raffine put the most effort into learning 《Detection Magic》.

A year has passed since the boy left. There’s no word that the demon king has been defeated yet.

Two years passed. Another hero was born, but not with black hair.

Three years passed. For some reason the citizens rioted, but Pilar contained it.

Four or five years passed……Finally, nine years have passed.

Raffine had become a beautiful, dainty girl. Citizens spoke to her happily whenever she walked around the city, and the servants within the castle swore allegiance to her. She had become an ideal princess, like the princess from the story.

But for Raffine, it didn’t matter. Because― the boy didn’t think so, he hadn’t come back yet.

The《Detection Magic》that she continued to train had become《Clairvoyance》, its highest level. But, she still couldn’t find the boy.

Why, why can’t I find him?! The conditions should be right……!

No way… it’s just my anxiety. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There’s no way the boy could be… I’m sure he’s alive somewhere.

Raffine looked for a person with “black hair” with《Clairvoyance》, however came up empty-handed.

Her anxiety grew stronger with each passing day. She kept telling herself,「It’s not possible… If that person―」but her body and mind were worn out and almost at their limits.

Exhausted and hungry, as she was resting she overheard some news.

『Did you hear? The “Black-haired Hero” appeared in the neighboring town, Etal.』

TN: Hello there! I know there’s no excuse for how long I kept everyone waiting, I’ve just been busy with school and some personal problems. I’ll be graduating in two months, so I may not have regular uploads but I’ll try and keep posting at least once a week until then. Besides that, there’s something I need to explain about this story. I know that it seems really confusing at times with the tense and viewpoint, but I’ve been trying to fix that as much as I can. In the original novel posted on Syosetsu, the author jumps in-between both first and third tense, so I was struggling on how to translate that until now. So, going forward in the novel I am going to change how I translate it a bit. I’m going to try and keep it in third person until further notice, but because there are some things that wouldn’t make sense in third person, I will keep those in first and use italics on them, if that makes sense. It will mostly be for the characters’ thoughts, though, so it shouldn’t be very confusing. I’ll post the next chapter at the latest on Wednesday. So! I hope that everyone has a good day/night, and that you like this novel! If there’s ever anything that you don’t understand about it, feel free to ask and I’ll try to explain to the best of my knowledge.