Ending Conditions of the Princess and the Knight

“You said it would only take 20 minutes. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”

“How long did I take?”

“It took you over half an hour.”

“If you’re in a hurry, just go. I can do it all by myself.”

“I’ve told you several times, it’s because I’m concerned about you getting into trouble. As someone of a precious status like the princess, if you were to wander around alone and something were to happen, I wouldn’t be able to bear the responsibility lightly.”

Look, it’s not that you’re worried about me. It’s because you’re concerned about getting into trouble yourself. I didn’t really pay much attention to his feeble excuses, as they seemed like petty justifications.

“But how did you know I was coming here and followed me? Did you assign someone to tail me?”

“Well…..”

Perhaps he didn’t expect me to ask such a direct question. Claude, flustered with a reddened face, stammered and extended his hand, but even if humans can’t act, they should at least be able to act to a certain extent. It was difficult to pretend to be deceived because he was so bad at it.

“I’m right, you assigned someone to tail me.”

“N-no, it’s not like that.”

“Never mind. You already assigned someone, so what can I do? Since there will be many things to handle from now on, I won’t talk about it separately. Anyway, you probably already know everything, right? Whether you report or follow, do as you please.”

“…Are you upset?”

“It’s whatever. If I think of it as a mother’s concern, it might be okay.”

Once again, the word ‘mother’ appeared, and he pursed his lips with an expression that seemed to want to nitpick something, but Taeri quickly walked ahead, cutting him off.

Hurriedly catching up with large strides, he pointed to the pile of vegetables nestled in his arms.

“What should we do with these? Should we take it with us?”

“We didn’t come here to steal, so let’s just leave them.”

Though he took them out, he decided to return them. They searched for a suitable place and found it behind the shack, where the fortune-teller had placed a collection of jars. Each jar was filled with various spices and preserves.

After pouring out the stolen vegetables, Taeri took out her gun and aimed at them.

“You said we would return them?”

“We will return them. We did return them, didn’t we? But I’m going to smash them. Since I’m already breaking the thief’s mentality, might as well break them properly.”

“Mentality…?”

“Punishment.”

“Ah, punishment. No matter what, why are humans so destructive.”

Claude looked at Taeri and thought that she was indeed the queen of destruction, but contrary to his thoughts, she acted diligently. He even lined up the jars in a row to make sure they were correct.

“Oh, you definitely seem qualified to be my partner, don’t you?”

“Please shoot quickly.”

I don’t even know why I’m doing everything she asks, but just seeing her laughing like a villain, it was absurd and made me laugh.

After a few refreshing gunshots, the terrorists casually left the scene, while the cries and screams of the elderly echoed and spread.

Since then, rumors about the fortuneteller’s words in the barrier village quickly spread. Adventurers from the city spread the story bit by bit within a day, and by the time three or four days had passed, all the nobles at the wine bar were indulging in that gossip as appetizers.

The nobles of Valoran considered the princess’s actions barbaric and were disdainful, but regardless of that, Taeri continued to efficiently carry out her tasks.

She erased or restored the traces of disasters that no one could touch unless they were a mage, exterminated corrupted forest goblins who plundered adventurers’ treasures, and recovered lost items. She also distributed maps of the Black Forest that she personally made, increasing the safety of the people.

Whenever she had time, she diligently repaired even the broken functions of the city, and the downtown area gradually became clean, unlike before.

Like the infamous Lupin, the princess would suddenly appear, solve a problem, and then leave, gradually adorning the front page of the daytime tabloids.

As time passed, the princess was described with words like sentinel and guardian, and in children’s play, she was portrayed as a princess holding a sword or aiming a magic wand.

Before anyone knew it, everyone was paying attention to her every move.

* * *

With a smart knocking sound, Ancie entered with a bright smile.

“Princess, are you busy?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Bridget wants to see you. She’ll be up soon. And these are fan letters that was delivered today.”

With narrowed eyes, Ancie placed a thick stack of letters on the table. Thanking her, Taeri quickly glanced through the letters as soon as she left the room.

One letter, two letters, three letters. There were already three letters that had arrived in the morning.

Old Town, Minne Avenue No. 3, Hotel Izarith, Room 221. To the Princess.

Lately, many letters were being delivered to her at this address.

The contents were similar yet varied. Some requested her to remove or create something, expressing gratitude and infinite admiration for the princess. Another type of letter asked about the identity of the mysterious man occasionally seen with her at the scene, filled with curious fascination.

Among them, the letters from the wizards living in ruins were what Taeri cherished and eagerly anticipated the most. In their letters, she could feel an indescribable affection that warmed her heart.

She couldn’t help but get a lump in her throat or a sniffle in her nose.

The first letter was like that. It said they had gathered with their family and read the reply I had sent multiple times. The letter was so long that it felt as short as a single line, and they didn’t even realize how the night had passed.

The accompanying drawing of flowers blooming in the courtyard was flicked with a finger, making it move like a video. They stared at it absentmindedly for a while.

Taeri folded it back and carefully placed it back into the envelope before opening the next letter.

The second one was an inquiry written in a detective-like tone, suggesting a sharp deduction that the person accompanying her might be Viceroy Devonshire. She quickly read it and covered it up.

Then came the final letter, which was a bit special.

It was completely different from the ones I had received so far, an unknown type of letter. It contained only one neat line of question on a blank white page.

Who are you?

Who…… am I?

“Why are you lost in thought like that?”

Just as she pushed open the door, Bridget brought in the items and placed them on the desk, naturally interrupting her thoughts. Taeri stacked the letters together and pushed them into a drawer for the time being.

“I brought what you ordered, so check if everything is correct.”

“You already got them?”

I had asked Bridget for the materials and tools necessary for a large-scale hunt, and she had brought them all in just a few days.

While glancing at Taeri, who was checking each item, Bridget asked, ‘Anything special happen?’

Although her tone sounded gruff, Taeri knew that her true feelings were different. She pondered over the past events carefully.

Since visiting the fortune-teller, there hasn’t been anything particularly unusual happening from then until today, excluding the fact that everything must have already been widely known and buzzing, so there’s no need for an explanation.

“Nothing. How about you? Is business still going well?”

“Hehe.”

“It seems to be going well.”

Ever since the princess’s name started being mentioned, Bridget’s teahouse became the talk of the town, just as she had wanted.

Thanks to the spreading rumor that the tea house owner was friends with the princess, people started coming to hear even the slightest rumor. Bridget believed that controversy was better than indifference, so when customers became entangled, she skillfully spiced up gossip about some high-ranking official. It was a clever media play, so to speak.

“But I told you not to do that.”

“I mean, I’m running my business, making money, and spreading rumors about that pompous guy to my customers. It’s like a clever media play, you know?”

“I told you not to do that.”

“Does that bastard still come here often? The guy who used to wander around aimlessly until you showed up, now he frequently shows his face.”

“He just drops by briefly.”

“Why does he keep getting involved with you so shamelessly?!”

“Just listen and talk. He comes by briefly.”

Since there was always someone planted nearby by Claude, there was no need for him to come and monitor every day.

Whether it was receiving regular reports from his subordinates or when Taeri went out, he would silently follow along as if it were his own duty, diligently assisting without even receiving a word of gratitude, and then swiftly leave.

Although there were occasional days when he personally visited, it was mostly just to check if she was doing well, eating properly, and sleeping soundly, rather than engaging in any special conversations.

“What are you trying to do against that man? What if he comes to see you? Don’t give him any opportunity! Just cut him off coldly and make him feel bad about it!”

Rumors about the two of them being together were already spreading, making Bridget quite anxious. She thought it was absurd for someone like that pompous guy to dare to approach her friend.

“I told you we were going to form an alliance to ensure a smooth monster cleanup.”

“Not for him, it doesn’t seems like it!”

“Forget about tearing apart someone who’s just minding their own business and tell me some gossip. Anything interesting happening?”

“Seems like the interesting thing is right here.”

As Bridget fanned herself with a fan to cool down, she instead responded with a question, her tone becoming more agitated.

“There’s a stunningly handsome man who came to this neighborhood. Haven’t you gone to see him?”

“A handsome man?”

“They say the new owner of the clinic across the hotel is incredibly good-looking. Don’t you even read tabloids?”

“Why, show me.”

Well, she had it somewhere. Taeri rummaged through the basket and finally pulled out the most recent one. It was from three weeks ago.

“Can you read this properly?”

It felt like her own story had been flooding the pages for a while, so she felt a bit embarrassed and skimmed through it carelessly.

Still, there wouldn’t be any new characters appearing just yet.

For a brief moment, I remembered the sender of the strange letter, but quickly drew an X through it. If such a bustling character were to appear, they wouldn’t have sent such a letter.

“I really don’t know about what’s across the hotel. I haven’t seen anything like that.”

“It must have been a dilapidated building on the verge of collapse. They said it didn’t look like a place where people could live, it was so rundown. Oh, well, he’s an elf, not a human, so who cares?”

“An elf?”

At those words, Taeri’s body automatically stood up.