Chapter 21: The Second Princess, Hedera (4)

✦ Chapter 21 – The Second Princess, Hedera (4) ✦In the corridor of the Imperial Magic Tower.

To implement the prosperity of the Imperial Magic Tower and prevent its sale, I had immense confidence in my own decisions.

However, thinking about it, I actually had a different problem.

The marriage proposal letter.

Hedera and my relationship wasn’t simply that of a princess and a magic tower inspector. In the past, we were teacher and student, and I even sent a marriage proposal letter written in a drunken state.

What if this visit wasn’t about the sale issue?

…What if Hedera’s visit was because of the proposal letter?

“……….….”

My head ached.

But it was already spilled milk, a fire that couldn’t be extinguished.

Lost in various thoughts, I suddenly sensed a presence.

At the other end of the corridor, a woman staring at me without hiding the slightest bit of her Dragon Blood’s intimidation was the cause.

I stood my ground. She approached with measured steps, accompanied by a single knight.

There was a moment when the distance between us narrowed, and when we were close enough to touch if we reached out, the movement stopped.

“It’s been a long time.”

A restrained tone. The woman broke the silence first.

She had changed a lot, but was still beautiful.

Jet-black hair and a mask covering her mouth. Only her eyes were visible on her face, but their sparkle, like blood crystallized into jewels, was incomparable.

“Yes, it has been a long time.”

This woman was Hedera. The Second Imperial Princess.

Skilled in Lingual Magic and Dragon Speech based on her Dragon Blood, she might even become the Empire’s Emperor someday.

It was then that I sensed an enormous killing intent.

At first, I thought Hedera was emanating it, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The source was the knight standing like a statue beside Hedera.

With his face hidden by a helmet, he already had his hand on the sword hilt. As if ready to cut me down at any moment.

I ignored it.

There was absolutely no way I’d feel threatened by a mere knight.

“Have you been well? No, what have you been doing?”

Hedera asked in a very controlled tone.

Not a simple greeting, but a question about what I had been doing.

It was a difficult question for me to answer given my circumstances.

— This operation is confidential.

— No one but you and I should know about it.

— Your fallen comrades…. There are quite a few bereaved families.

— At least they should live on. You understand, right?

It was problematic to reveal the operation I carried out at that time.

The Emperor had eliminated everyone who knew the truth except for me, and Hedera would be no exception even if she was his daughter.

However, it was not just for Hedera’s safety.

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— Our names…. Please make them known someday….

— I promise.

Because I promised my comrades that day.

My comrades were the core of my life, so I never forgot that day’s promise. To reveal this truth to the entire continent someday, it was premature to disclose it to anyone now.

For a single fatal strike, one must quietly hone the blade. This process must not be noticed by anyone, and sometimes one must even deceive oneself.

That’s how it was with a grand mission, with revenge.

Therefore, it was best to deflect Hedera’s words for now.

“It was just so-so. Ordinary days.”

It was the best answer, but Hedera’s eyebrows twitched.

Complex emotions flashed across her eyes. Thoughts like ‘I asked with such difficulty, yet you answer so easily?’ were clearly visible.

She seemed to have chosen a direct approach.

“Do you remember the last game we played?”

Hide-and-seek. I remember.

“You never found me in the end.”

I quietly nodded.

Hedera’s obsession at that time was stronger than imaginable.

The mission to close the portal to the demon realm while the Emperor held back the Demon King. Given Hedera’s determination to cling to me no matter where I went, that excuse was the best way to separate her.

When I didn’t answer, Hedera sighed.

Rustle─

She quickly sorted through the stack of documents in her hand.

Then she pulled out a small piece of paper from among them, its identity immediately apparent even from a distance. It was the marriage proposal letter I had personally written and sent.

“Why did you send this letter?”

“……………”

But this was something I couldn’t explain for a different reason.

I wrote it while drunk. There’s no way I could admit that.

Our reunion after so long, and there were even enormous circumstances I hadn’t yet explained.

…And to think the cause of this reunion was a letter written in a drunken state.

Hedera pressed for an answer.

“Do you have no intention of answering?”

It was clear that giving a straightforward answer would be disastrous. At this moment, my best option was to ask her a question back.

“Why do you ask?”

“…Hmm.”

Hedera slightly furrowed her brow.

Her face showed that she couldn’t understand why I would ask that back.

Indeed, how would it feel to face a man who sent a marriage proposal letter but can’t explain why he wrote it?

However, she continued in a controlled tone, “You once told me this. To always do my best in front of you.” Hedera’s red eyes were glaring at me, “So now I’m asking with all my might. Why did you send this letter? Moreover, did you really write it yourself?”

Numerous thoughts flashed through my mind.

First, I can’t tell the real reason.

Several plausible excuses came to mind, but I didn’t want to deceive Hedera with shallow lies. My entire life was already a consequence of the lies created by the Imperial family.

After finishing my thoughts, I finally said, “…The reason isn’t really important.”

At that, the black pupils in Hedera’s red eyes split vertically like those of a reptile. From behind her mask came the sound of teeth grinding.

“It’s true that I wrote it, but I can’t tell you the reason yet.”

“Ha….”

In the end, she let out a dejected laugh.

No, it was hard to call it a laugh. It was more like a sigh.

Disappointment directed at herself, as if even the fact that she had expected something felt pathetic. A feeling of ‘I should have known.’ I couldn’t dare to measure the complex emotional components.

“It seems the past is heavily romanticized after all,” She said in a dry tone, like a leaf about to crumble. “I was nothing to you, and now it seems you’ve developed a taste for the imperial position… Yes. I understand clearly now. That’s fortunate. From now on, I can live without holding onto distorted hope.”

She crumpled the letter and tucked it into her bosom, “I’m leaving.”

Those were her last words, and Hedera began walking down the corridor, passing my shoulder.

Click! Click!

Only the steady sound of high heels echoed through the corridor.

Click─ Click─

The girl who once waited for days in one place had grown into a woman who could say she’s leaving and depart boldly. 

A heartening growth, but I also knew—

I shouldn’t let Hedera leave like this.

“Hedera.”

I spoke the Second Princess’s given name.

But despite clearly hearing me, she didn’t stop. Her advancing steps showed no hesitation.

“I’m not finished speaking yet.”

Only then did she halt her steps.

She still had her back to me, but I could understand the meaning of Hedera stopping. It meant she would listen.

“When I say the reason isn’t important, it means there’s something else that is important.”

At that, Hedera started walking again.

Click─ Click─

As if she didn’t even expect anything from my following words, as if she would treat whatever I said as an excuse… She walked like that.

I followed Hedera with slightly larger strides.

And in the moment our distance closed—

Whoosh─!

I grabbed her snow-white wrist and turned her body towards me.

Simultaneously, a gleaming white blade rushed towards my neck.

Clang─!

The knight guard had quickly drawn his sword, but such a hastily made strike couldn’t cut through the ice barrier I swiftly raised. Surprise could be felt from the tip of the knight’s sword.

I slowly parted my lips.

“That letter…”

A feeling that, even if aided by drunkenness, wasn’t a lie.

The one thing I could still utter without hiding.

At the same time, a statement that wouldn’t deceive Hedera.

“At least, it was sincere.”

Immediately after, both Hedera and the knight guard’s actions ceased.

The corridor fell silent as the sound of heels stopped.

Gazes meeting in midair, facing each other.

At that moment when my blue eyes mixed with the dragon’s red pupils.

In that strange, momentary gap where time and space seemed to be held still.

I was still holding her wrist.