The Princess Knight is Too Strong

“Impossible.”

Yuriana muttered in a rare voice of confusion.

“Bill 421 was discovered? How?”

Bill was the designation for the tracking shadow puppets that Yuriana von Valentine controlled.

The name’s origin came from the name of a dog she had raised as a child.

And a tracking shadow puppet was a clone body of the shadow spirit that Yuriana commanded.

Since making a contract with the shadow spirit, she had created a total of 421 of them, and while they may have been discovered, not a single one had ever been destroyed.

“…So the title of Princess Knight isn’t just an empty name.”

Yuriana muttered to herself, trying to maintain her composure.

-Knock knock.

And almost simultaneously, a knock sounded from outside the door.

“Eek!”

“Sister? Are you in there?”

Yuriana, who had reflexively covered her mouth, silently cleared her throat and said:

“C-come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Oscar, who entered the room, opened his mouth.

“Um, Sister.”

“What is it?”

‘Oh, it’s just Oscar.’

Yuriana replied thus, half relieved, and brought the teacup to her lips.

However, that was a mistake.

“My fiancée has come to meet you.”

“Pft!”

At Oscar’s subsequent words, Yuriana reflexively coughed, causing the tea in her cup to scatter messily across the table.

“S-Sister?”

Almost simultaneously, there seemed to be a thudding sound from outside, but Oscar decided not to pay attention to it.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine. Just… something went down the wrong way.”

Yuriana answered, outwardly trying to maintain her composure, but inside her head, chaos had already erupted.

‘The Princess Knight has come here? Why!?’

Could it be that she discovered that Yuriana had sent the shadow puppet?

No, that’s impossible. It’s impossible to extract information from a shadow puppet.

Since it’s just a simple puppet without personality or intelligence.

She can’t know that I sent the shadow puppet.

Yes, calm down. The worst-case scenario hasn’t happened yet. It’s not like that; she’s just here to meet me.

‘…Then why on earth does she want to meet me now?! It’s suspicious!’

“Y-Your fiancée? That should be fine. She is the Princess Knight after all. Meeting her once wouldn’t be…”

‘It’s not fine! I don’t want to! How could it be fine! I don’t want to meet her! Tell her to go away!’

Though inwardly she was crying out in resentment, she couldn’t refuse to see her brother’s fiancée when he had brought her.

Right, I’ll just see her face, pretend to be tired, and send her away quickly. Yes.

“Princess, you may come in now.”

Oscar said, looking out the door, and the doorknob turned with a creak.

The door opened with a thud. Beyond it, a woman with long platinum blonde hair appeared.

“…”

Yuriana was somewhat surprised.

She was completely different from the ‘Princess Knight’ she had imagined and seen in newspaper photographs.

Not the dazzling golden hair symbolizing the Failon royal family, but faded, dry platinum hair.

A silver prosthetic arm attached where her left forearm should be, quite convincingly imitating a human one.

And two eyes with deep dark circles that seemed to be constantly staring at Yuriana as if seeing through everything about her.

‘That is the Princess Knight?’

It had been impossible to plant informants on the battlefield where she was, and when she was temporarily moved to the royal capital after losing her arm, no one could approach her due to strict security.

From the Empire, exceptionally, Oscar had briefly visited her, but after returning from the Kingdom, he had shut himself in the Magic Tower without saying a word.

Even Yuriana’s father, the Emperor of the Empire, couldn’t freely intervene in the Magic Tower, so it was fair to say that the Empire’s leadership had no means of accessing specific information about the Princess Knight.

And immediately after the war ended, she secluded herself in the palace without showing herself to the people of the Kingdom.

Until she eavesdropped by extending her shadow ear beneath the terrace, Yuriana had thought her hoarse voice was simply due to talking with many people.

“Pleased to meet you.”

A cracked voice addressed Yuriana.

“I am Evangeline Failondia, the second princess of the Failon Kingdom.”

“…Y-Yuriana von Valentine. Oscar has always, been a burden to you.”

Yuriana, suppressing her trembling voice, bowed her head in greeting.

Just that alone felt like it had drained half of her remaining energy.

Moreover, Oscar, with a natural smile, began to make things worse.

“Well then, I’ll wait outside.”

‘Oh, no! Don’t leave me alone with her!!’

Yuriana, screaming inwardly, tried to speak.

“D-Do you really need to go outside? It’s not like we’re strangers.”

“Surely there are things that only women can discuss? I wouldn’t know as a man.”

‘There’s nothing like that, so please don’t go!’

Yuriana cried out in her heart. But that voice would never reach Oscar.

Regardless, Yuriana was the heir to the imperial throne, the second most powerful person in the Empire, and Oscar’s sister.

If she hadn’t met her from the beginning, that would have been one thing, but now she couldn’t show such unseemly behavior.

“I’ll leave you two to talk comfortably.”

Whether he knew his sister’s feelings or not, Oscar left the room with a benevolent smile, and soon only Yuriana and Evangeline remained in the room.

“…”

As Evangeline silently sipped from an empty teacup.

“I heard from Prince Oscar.”

Evangeline, seated, said quietly.

“I hear you have the talent to handle shadow puppets.”

‘I’m caught…!’

Yuriana felt as if her heart had dropped into her stomach.

Moreover, she didn’t even think to beat around the bush and asked directly.

For the first time in her life, Yuriana felt betrayed by Oscar.

How dare he sell out his sister, his eyes turned over by some woman.

Numerous terrible thoughts crossed her mind.

The imagination that occupied the largest share was Evangeline extending her steel left arm and crushing her head like a squeezed tomato.

“H-Eek.”

“…What did you just say…?”

“O-Oh, it’s nothing.”

Yuriana desperately racked her brain. The fear that Evangeline’s ferocious combat prosthetic might grind her head like a blender to make fruit juice was becoming not just a simple imagination but an established fact in her mind.

Of course, Evangeline was not some psychopath and would not do such a thing.

She was already on her way after hearing various explanations from Oscar. His eldest sister, Princess Yuriana, was of a worrying nature and occasionally pulled such eccentric stunts.

Because he had gone so far as to explain that, Evangeline had no intention of making a big deal out of it.

If she actually harmed Yuriana, it would certainly strain her relationship with Oscar, and there was a risk of it developing into a diplomatic issue.

Above all, Evangeline was sleepy.

She didn’t want to drag out the conversation, and she just thought of getting a promise not to do such things in the future.

That’s why she brought up the shadow puppet directly.

Without much thought, she just wanted to say what needed to be said and go home quickly.

But Yuriana had no way of knowing Evangeline’s thoughts, and after turning over her mind to escape the anticipated horrible death, she finally opened her mouth.

“…You’re right. I attached a shadow puppet to you, Princess.”

-Snap.

As Yuriana snapped her fingers, her exceptionally dense shadow changed like taffy.

The elongated shadow soon transformed, becoming a puppet in human form that rose from within the shadow.

The birth of Bill 422.

“It’s a small talent of mine. I can control my shadow like a puppet.”

Yuriana honestly admitted that she had attached a shadow puppet.

Evangeline asked again.

“…So, why did you do that to me?”

“…It’s embarrassing to say, but if the person in question asks, it’s only right to confess.”

This was the crucial moment. Yuriana took a small, silent deep breath, putting on the most troubled expression she could muster, and said:

“I was just worried about what kind of person my little brother’s future bride would be…”

Yuriana acted out an awkward smile and trailed off.

Hearing those words, Evangeline asked back:

“You must love your brother very much.”

“Yes.”

‘She took the bait!’

The moment she heard Evangeline’s words, Yuriana clenched her fist in her heart.

According to her reasoning, Evangeline, like Oscar, was deeply in love with her fiancé.

However, because of her inability to bear children, Evangeline was intentionally pushing Oscar away by taking a cold attitude that went against her true feelings.

‘The important thing is, Evangeline probably truly loves Oscar.’

Yuriana’s plan was to divert Evangeline’s attention by talking about her beloved brother, making her completely forget about matters like the shadow puppet.

Plus, earn some points with her brother’s beloved fiancée.

Full of confidence, Yuriana spoke with an imperious expression:

“Yes. Since we’re on the topic, let me talk a bit about Oscar…”

“Ah, I’d rather not discuss that.”

“What?”