The Princess Knight is Too Strong

When I saw the Princess approaching me, I was actually a little surprised.

Though she looked somewhat troubled, she was clearly coming toward me of her own will.

I was relieved that she seemed to have overcome her mental illness somewhat through her own determination.

The Princess, meeting her for the first time, was surprisingly someone who found it difficult to deal with people.

Even if it was a bit different from what I had imagined, she was indeed a person just like me.

But then, the Princess asked a strange question.

“…Then, do you know that too?”

“What do you mean?”

“About your mother.”

The Princess, after hesitating several times, said with a pained expression.

“About the last battle that Nasisa Cornwall participated in.”

I couldn’t have imagined that I would hear that name from the Princess’s lips first.

The Princess’s eyes, as she spoke that name, were trembling incessantly, visibly anxious.

What had pushed the Princess to this point?

Was it impulse, or was it courage?

But at the same time, I could clearly understand, almost tangibly.

What the Princess feared, and what answer I should give.

“…Of course.”

As I opened my mouth, the Princess bit her lower lip tightly.

“The 3rd Rubile Defense Battle. A battle that determined the course of the Human-Demon War, fought between the kingdom’s army and the Demon King’s Army over Rubile, which possessed the largest farmland in the kingdom.”

The Princess seemed to find it increasingly difficult to listen, shaking her head and trembling her eyes.

But I continued speaking.

“There, my mother heroically died in battle after saving tens of thousands of kingdom soldiers, Rubile, and the Princess’s life.”

It was a sense of duty.

To pull you out, even a little, from the dark, sticky quagmire that held the Princess, to help you breathe.

A sense of duty that I must do the greatest thing I could at this moment.

“But I don’t blame anyone.”

I said, looking straight at the Princess.

“Whatever my mother’s choice was, it was simply the best choice she could make at that moment according to her judgment. There is no reason for the Princess to blame yourself…”

But something was wrong with the Princess’s condition.

Her trembling hands were wandering like a lost child, with her head between them.

Something was wrong. I carefully called out to the Princess.

“…Princess.”

The Princess didn’t respond.

“…Princess!”

I raised my voice. The Princess still didn’t respond.

At that point, I realized.

The Princess’s mental illness was not something that could be overcome by human willpower alone.

A bottomless, deep, and dark swamp from which one could never escape by oneself.

The Princess had already sunk so deep that she could barely see what was in front of her.

I bit my lip. I had to pull the Princess out of there somehow.

Please forgive my rudeness. With a brief murmur in my heart, I reached out to the Princess.

“Princess!!”

“Huk.”

Curling her shoulders like a child and letting out a high-pitched cry, the Princess suddenly raised her head.

“……Huh?”

Like someone waking from a dream, the Princess looked around with trembling eyes.

I had already been rude. A little more crossing the line wouldn’t be a problem.

Having decided this on my own, I raised my voice as if intimidating the Princess.

“Listen carefully, Evangeline Failondia.”

The Princess’s eyes contracted small with fear. I held her firmly so she couldn’t escape and said:

“I don’t know what you heard, Princess, but I have never said anything hostile toward you.”

The Princess silently looked at me with trembling eyes. She seemed as if she was still half in a dream, not fully conscious.

“I neither hate nor resent you. You did nothing wrong, and you have nothing to fear.”

I pulled words from my stomach and spat them out.

Words I wanted to say. Words you needed. Words that had to be said here and now.

“Don’t give up, Princess.”

Small teardrops formed in the corners of the Princess’s eyes.

I smiled. At least for that moment, I tried to smile.

“From now on, I will be by your side.”

The 32-hour airship journey was surprisingly peaceful.

Evangeline no longer avoided Delphina.

She neither feared her nor tried to avoid eye contact.

Rather, the Princess, who approached her first, seemed much better than before.

After one night’s sleep and four meals like that,

Evangeline’s party set foot on the outskirts of the inviolable zone where Polaris Academy was located.

“We’ve been waiting, Princess Knight Evangeline.”

“Eek…”

What greeted our party upon arriving at Polaris Academy was a procession of countless people.

And in the center, a huge carriage with a large banner, waiting to welcome me.

“My goodness, I’ve never seen such a carriage before.”

Delphina muttered absently, looking at the large carriage decorated all around with glittering silver and jewels.

“…What is this, it’s too much.”

Feeling burdened, a sulky tone escaped me without realizing.

“But we have to go. We can’t refuse to ride it.”

Seeing me making an openly disgusted expression, Delphina said that as if soothing a baby.

I felt somewhat offended, but I decided to let it slide because it was Delphina.

“Welcome to Polaris Academy. I am Riki Rezalo from the Political Diplomacy Department.”

A tall man with noticeably sun-tanned skin said, spreading his arms wide.

“Thank you for your hospitality. I am Delphina Cornwall.”

Toward him expressing welcome in the Republican style, Delphina returned the greeting in the Kingdom’s style and casually asked:

“Are you from the Delmaria Republic?”

“You have a good eye. Are you perhaps an applicant for the Cultural Anthropology Department?”

“Unfortunately, I’m in the Knight Department.”

From the first meeting, he had quite a friendly impression toward a royal party. It was surprising that he showed no signs of nervousness at all. I immediately felt like I understood why the Academy had sent this person.

But what can I say, this so-called “insider” type of person… was somehow uncomfortable even in my past life.

Still, I should greet him.

“…Thank you for your hospitality. I am Evangeline Failondia.”

“Oh, Princess Knight!”

Hearing my voice, Riki exclaimed as if cheering.

Don’t call me that, it’s embarrassing.

“…That’s just a title from the past. Please just call me Evangeline.”

“If you wish.”

Perhaps I showed my discomfort too openly. Hearing my words, Riki quickly lowered his tension and escorted us with a more composed attitude.

“Let’s get in the carriage first. I’ll guide you to the private dormitory where you’ll stay for four years.”

As I was stepping onto the carriage that looked so burdensome just to look at, I unconsciously asked back, feeling like I’d heard a strange word.

“…What dormitory?”

“A private dormitory.”

At his words, answering in an indifferent tone as if wondering what was strange, I almost tumbled forward.

If Delphina hadn’t caught me, my nose would surely have been broken.

Fortunately, the “private dormitory” was not as burdensome as I had thought.

At most, it was the size of a villa that a small baron or marquis might own.

It was a small building located quite far from the center of the Polaris Academy grounds, with about five rooms including a living room and kitchen.

Delphina seemed somewhat displeased.

The Cornwall family was not an unknown family, and they had produced two knights who had been named among the Kingdom’s Seven Swords, so it was understandable.

But this was not the Kingdom but the Academy. While the inviolable zone where Polaris Academy was located was by no means small, it wasn’t large enough to build an entire castle to live in as in the Kingdom, so this level of compromise was reasonable.

“To welcome the princess of Failondia, we conducted a major remodeling, specially imitating the style of the Failon Kingdom.”

Above all, with Riki explaining with a proud expression beside me, I couldn’t openly show disappointment.

“I’m overwhelmed by Polaris’s excessive hospitality.”

I said with a smile.

“Nonsense.”

Riki smiled and shook his head.

“Aren’t you a hero who saved the Kingdom, and indeed humanity, from the brink of destruction? It’s perfectly fine for you to accept this much as a matter of course.”

“…I can’t do that.”

I answered with a sorrowful smile.

“The people who died because of me, the people I couldn’t save, they could fill dozens more carriages. How could I?”

“…I see.”

Hearing my words, Riki made a bewildered expression, but then nodded with a solemn face.

I was glad to see that he seemed to be a more understanding person than he appeared.

Only after the interior cleaning of the building was completed did Riki leave with the carriage and the people.

Looking blankly at the back of the splendid carriage as it moved away, I thought.

Just yesterday, I wouldn’t have been able to even speak such words aloud.

I still couldn’t completely escape from that day’s nightmare. That was impossible from the beginning.

But at least, instead of just flailing in a bottomless swamp, I could now hold onto something and endure.

Just by having something to hold onto, a person can get much better.

To the extent that the me before boarding the airship and the me after disembarking could be said to be different people.

“…Thank you, Delphina.”

“Pardon?”

Not having heard my softly whispered words, Delphina, who was brewing tea in the kitchen, poked her head out the window and asked.

“It’s nothing.”

I smiled deliberately brightly and went into the dormitory.

After sitting on the sofa visible immediately upon entering and waiting for several minutes.

Delphina, who came with a teapot and two cups, said as she poured the tea:

“I found these in the cupboard and brewed some fresh tea. The aroma is nice, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

I nodded and picked up the teacup.

Only after bringing Polaris’s tea to my lips did I finally feel that I had left the Kingdom and come to the Academy.

‘Will I be able to get along well…?’

No, I would have to get along well somehow.

For the sake of my father who would be worrying.

“You’ll be able to get along well.”

As if reading my thoughts again, Delphina casually said.

Just then, one of the servants who had been lingering around approached me.

“Yes?”

The servant’s expression was somehow awkwardly strange.

A mixture of expressions—not knowing what to do, expectant, flustered—combined in a way that couldn’t easily be described as any one thing.

Yet as he kept hesitating to speak, I casually urged him.

“If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don’t drag it out.”

“Well, that’s, um.”

“What is it that’s making you act like this?”

“The Third Prince of the Valentine Empire… that is, the Princess’s fiancé, wishes to see you.”

“Pfft!”

I spat the tea I was drinking onto the table.

Why is he showing up here?