kscans

Chapter 5 - And So, the Girl and the Boy Meet

The girl thinks.

If they say I am the rightful ruler, then for the sake of my people, I must not leave this hidden village. My existence must not be known.

My presence will only become a seed of conflict.

A seed that will only bring suffering to the people.

However, the girl did not even possess the freedom to take her own life.

And besides, she was afraid. Afraid of becoming truly meaningless.

If she died as a mere doll, called only "Your Highness," then there would have been no meaning to her being herself. No one ever spoke her name. No one knew what she thought, what brought her joy, what brought her sorrow. Since her nursemaid had passed, the surveillance had slackened considerably. But thanks to the nursemaid, who had kept everyone but Karen away, she had never even had a proper conversation with the servants in the residence. She spoke with the elderly village chief only through a closed door. Her nursemaid had been particularly opposed to any contact between the girl and men.

If she had wanted to escape, perhaps she could have. Or perhaps she could have befriended the servants, used her few valuable possessions to trade for connections to the outside world. She might have been able to discard her name, hide among the common people, and live as an ordinary girl.

But even if they didn't speak to her intimately, even if they only saw the idol of a "princess," she couldn't bring herself to abandon the people who endured their poor lives in the hidden village, clinging to her existence as their hope.

On the second floor of the small residence.

Trapped in that cage, the girl longed for someone to set her free.

When she was little, she dreamed of a prince who would rescue her, just like in the fairy tales Milene used to tell.

Now, she waited for someone to end this meaningless life.

And now, that someone was right in front of her.

"You are Angelica Fermi Baltus."

It was the first time anyone had called her by that name. Of course, the girl knew it was her own. The boy who spoke her name for the first time bore a striking resemblance to the man her nursemaid had cursed as a rebel.

A demon with hair as dark as the night and eyes the color of a blood curse.

Her nursemaid’s curses echoed in her mind.

The boy, with lustrous black hair that melted into the night, pointed his sword at her with eyes like flames, his aim unwavering.

His clothes were well-tailored and new, but otherwise not so different from what the men of the village wore.

But at the base of the blade pointed at her, there was a design of the Divine Bird, the guardian deity of this country. That design was permitted only to members of the royal family. The girl understood then that this boy was the son of the rebel her nursemaid had despised so utterly.

If he was the current king’s son, then he was a prince.

He was different from the one she had imagined in her childhood, but it didn't matter.

To keep from shedding tears of joy at her long-awaited release, the girl forced her eyes wide open.

She spread her arms, standing defenseless before the sword.

"Please, take what you desire."

"…Why are you so willing to throw your life away?"

Instead of begging for her life, the gaunt girl in black seemed to offer it up willingly. The boy was bewildered. The last remnant of the previous king, who had tormented his people with his extravagance. He had assumed she would be a foolish girl, just like her father.

But what was the reality? The girl, clad in a plain black dress that covered her up to her neck, wore not a single ornament, and her thin limbs looked as if they could snap at any moment.

"Your Highness, what is this hesitation?"

"I know," the boy replied irritably to the knight accompanying him and raised his sword once more.

The existence of the hidden village had actually been known for years. But the new king had not ordered the assassination of the last princess of the old royal family. He had left her alone, thinking a newborn infant with no supporters could do nothing. The queen and all the consorts had been killed, but that was to be expected, as they were the cause of the treasury’s depletion through their indulgence in amusement. But the new king had avoided placing blame on a newborn. A string of harsh punishments would only alienate the people. Had it been a prince, it would have been a different matter, but sometimes, showing mercy was necessary. The existence of the hidden village was an open secret among the country’s central figures. Under the watch of spies secretly dispatched by the new king, peace had been maintained around the girl.

However, the situation had changed. Naturally, Karen and her father’s movements were also being monitored. They likely thought they were being clever and secretive, but everything was known. Perhaps they could have gotten away with it in the era of the lax former king, but there was no fooling the shrewd new king, who had executed that king, taken the castle, and seized control of the knight orders all in a single night.

Upon receiving the report that Karen had made contact with the neighboring country’s crown prince, the new king made the decision to eliminate the girl. The princess’s mother was a princess of the neighboring royal family. If that country took custody of the princess and used her legitimate bloodline to demand the throne be returned, it would inevitably lead to trouble. In the worst case, it could lead to war.

‘Swiftly dispose of the princess in the shadows. Erase the existence of the hidden village, and make it so that such a place never existed.’

Given the gravity of the matter, the first prince—the boy—and a dozen or so of his most trusted and skilled knights were assigned the order.

"Angelica Fermi Baltus. Do you have any last words?"

At the boy’s question, the girl looked slightly surprised, hesitated, and then haltingly opened her mouth.

"…I have no last words. I would only be happy if you remembered. Remember how the last princess met her end."

Faced with the girl's utter tranquility, the boy silently lowered his sword. He simply couldn't bring himself to kill this destitute girl as she was.

"Your Highness!"

"One day. I will carry out my father’s command tomorrow night. Is that acceptable?"

Silencing the knight’s protest, the boy sheathed his sword.

"It’s a promise, Angelica Fermi Baltus. I will remember your final moments until my own dying day. In return, you will spend your last day with me."