CH 48

The Princess, was made to cry

It took them around 30 minutes to arrive at the restaurant. They then were guided to their reserved seats which is a small private room with tatami mats flooring.

Inside, there’s a stationary stove installed on a traditional Japanese-style table.

(TLN: the table here is a Horigotatsu where the floor beneath the table is hollowed out)

“This is a sukiyaki place you see, it’s kind of my favorite food.”

“Hou, sukiyaki.”

Schleer gulped as she stared at the flat bottom pot set on the stove.

“It’s your favorite? This dish?”

“Rather than mine, it’s actually my mother’s favorite. The taste of sukiyaki here is kind of similar to what we used to eat together so………..I think it makes me feel nostalgic too.”

“Hou, then……let’s dig in. I’m looking forward to this.”

Saying so, Schleer brings the meat from her plate to her mouth. This place doesn’t use any luxurious organic meat but the chef here is quite skilled. You can enjoy good sukiyaki here without worrying about the price tag.

For a while, the two chat and enjoy their meal together.

“Fumu, this thing…….I think it will go well with Japanese alcohol. What do you think, Kisei-san?”

Schleer asked while checking what’s on the menu. In response, Kisei shakes his head.

“Actually, I’m super weak with alcohol, so…”

In the first place, albeit barely, Kisei is still a minor. He has almost no experience with alcohol. At most, it would be when he drank one by mistake.

“Ah, is that so. My apology. Hahaha.”

Schleer did not press him to drink with her and simply used the button to call a waiter to order two more large servings of rice.

“Eh, you are not going to drink?”

“Drinking alone is no fun, you know.”

“My bad.”

“Please, it’s okay. I have more than enough fun eating with you like this.”

Following that, even without the benefit of alcohol, Schleer laughed in an extremely good mood.

Seeing that, Kisei cast his eyes down. Actually, he did not invite her to have fun today. He has something to talk to her about.

“…..wh, what is it? Did I, perhaps, say something wrong…….?”

Schleer anxiously asked. However, Kisei simply smiled and waved his hand sideways to dismiss her anxiety.

“No, it’s not like that. Actually, the reason I invited Your Highness here today is that…..I want to have a serious discussion with you. So I’m a little….”

“……I see.”

There are a lot of matters that come to her mind. Her expression stiffens as she urges him to continue.

“As I thought, is it about our last battle…….the battle of Leboir?”

“Well, that’s correct. But I want to talk about what happened before that as well.”

Said Kisei as he folded his arms.

“……I have caused Kisei-san a great deal of trouble. It’s a knight’s shame to not even be able to make it to such a decisive battle.”

As though their earlier good mood together flew off somewhere, Schleer looked away with a self-loathing expression.

“That’s exactly what I want to talk about. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t make it in time. Rather, everything turned out alright in the end. If such a skilled striker unit was escorting the enemy battleships, I wouldn’t have been able to sabotage them to that extent after all.”

Kisei openly stated his thoughts as he stared at Schleer. Leaving aside the initial attack he performed when they first joined the battle, he did not have to engage with the enemy Imperial Knight at all.

However, he could tell that they were elites among elites. If Schleer and Saki hadn’t stopped them back then, they would have joined up with their main fleet.

“Both Your Highness and Lt. Makishima has done your part and the operation resulted in success. I am not trying to cheer you up here, I’m simply stating the facts.”

“But……Kisei-san was seriously injured in the end. A knight who couldn’t protect someone who should be protected is……”

“You see, I’m not someone who needs protecting. At the very least, not while I’m piloting a striker.”

As if to cut her words, Kisei decisively stated so.

“It’s not like I’m a princess, no……listen, I’m no prince. I am a pilot. I’m here to fight on a battlefield not being protected by my employer.”

“Th, that’s….certainly true but.”

Tears slowly drip down from Schleer’s eyes. Feeling that, she roughly wipes them with her hand. All that comes to her mind are her pathetic moments. Even though she has already displayed this pitiful sight to him once, she was elated when he invited her out for a meal. Feeling a tremendous amount of self-hatred, Schleer’s bitter at how simple she is.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I couldn’t be more pathetic……!”

Schleer was trying to stop her tears but instead, her tear ducts started flooding more due to her shame and embarrassment. Now, her face is a mess and her tears drip to the table.

“…..There’s one thing I want you to know and one thing that I want to hear from you. May I?”

At his gentle voice, Schleer turned her gaze back to Kisei. His black pupils are staring straight at her. She can not feel any intention to ridicule or take pity on her from his eyes.

“What…..is it?’

“It’s the root of this matter. The core of your worry.”

Kisei says in a quiet but sharp voice.

“Mine and your reasons to fight. That’s what we should know about each other to solve your worries, Your Highness.”