Ending Conditions of the Princess and the Knight

‘That’s odd, why don’t I know that?’

This place, where he now has an army stationed and occupying it, belongs to the princess in front of him.

She’s the rightful heir to this kingdom, the head of all the wizards in the world.

Shouldn’t he at least know something about her?

But he didn’t even know the princess’s name. He even took it for something obvious that he didn’t.

This couldn’t be right……. He felt embarrassed for his blank mind.

“Princess.”

“Who, prin…… ah, me?”

“I apologize for my rudeness, but… Could you please tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“I humbly request to know your name.”

Taeri hesitated, unable to answer right away as the protagonist’s eyes flashed with an eerie demand to know.

I wonder if I can tell him. There’s no way to awkwardly divert with a poorly concocted lie.

After contemplating, instead of putting on a hastily fabricated act, she simply gave an honest response.

“My name is Taeri.”

“Taeri.”

Taeri Sonnetti? That’s a little too weird.

Claude practiced the awkward pronunciation silently in his mouth, and soon stiffened as if he’d done it before.

“I have offended you many times. Please forgive me.”

“It’s alright, really.”

“The reason I sought you out was to greet you. If you encounter any discomfort during your stay, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m certain that once the Emperor learns of the return of the princess, he will undoubtedly be concerned.”

If Tae-ri was truly the ‘princess,’ she would have been furious at these words and might have even thrown water in his face without hesitation.

He acted as if he were the rightful owner of this vacant house and he was merely a guest, freely managing the interior as he pleased.

But Taeri wasn’t angry.

The protagonist was, in a way, a predestined victor. That was the path leading to the ending. Only then could she come back home.

The protagonist was destined to become the hero, the savior of the world.

It was even more appreciated that he had laid the groundwork by offering to help if she needed anything.

“Okay, I’ll be sure to tell you if I need a favor.”

“You don’t need to clench your fists like that to tell me…….”

“Then can I ask you something right away?”

“……Yes, please.”

“What’s the situation here, has, uh, anything changed?”

What Taeri really wanted to ask was,’Have you seen any dragons, or any signs of them?’ but she knew she’d be treated like a freak if she brought it up.

“I arrived here yesterday.”

So, approaching it from different angles was the only option. Luckily, Claude took it in stride.

“Ah. You must be quite surprised at the changes.”

It’s a strange feeling to return to your hometown after years of absence, only to find that it’s been razed to the ground, and the army of a neighboring country has come and set up shop.

For the first time, Claude has found a point of empathy in the princess. Claude made up his mind to restore the atmosphere that had been strangely swaying towards her all along.

Now if only he could get back to his duties as an enemy commander.

“When I arrived, most of the urban civilization had been lost. We were barely holding on to the last line of defense, barricading between the town and the forest.”

To stop the waves of monsters pouring out of the forest, the mages burned their own life force and mana to build a massive mana barrier.

Even the knights of Valoran, who looked down on magic, were struck with wonder.

“Of course, we endured devastating losses, but it bought us time, and I believe those who escaped survived unharmed. Didn’t the princess also survive that way?”

Once a proud kingdom of magic, it has now fallen into a state of monster infestation, becoming a place for a test of courage for brave adventurers rather than a source of pride.

Frankly, in Claude’s eyes, it was almost admirable that it was still standing.

“We will tighten security even further in the future, so there is no need to worry… Are you listening?”

The atmosphere was strange.

There was no response from the princess, who was saying whatever she wanted to say without any hesitation.

Feeling a sense of heaviness and a hint of impending tears beneath her lowered eyelids, he abruptly straightened his back, which had been leaning comfortably against the backrest.

‘Did I say that too harshly?’

Ah, that’s not it.

He had intended to show a slightly more enemy-like appearance, but he had no intention of hurting her feelings and making her cry.

Absolutely, absolutely not.

He immediately dropped the posture he had assumed in an attempt to be authoritative.

“It’s okay…….”

Claude’s hand went out without realizing it.

However, in that fleeting moment when his fingertips were about to touch, he saw a faint mist-like presence.

Even though her expression was neutral, a subtle melancholy seemed to be spread like a background, causing his heart to skip a beat for a brief moment.

As the princess lifted her head, she noticed his arm reaching out to her and slightly raised her eyes.

“Were you worried?”

“No.”

Not worried, no way.

I was just nervous. Okay, really, I was just nervous, and it almost bothered me a little.

Claude denied it faster than the speed of light, but Taeri shook her head excitedly.

“It seems like you were worried. About me getting hurt. It’s written all over your face.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ve misjudged me quite a bit.”

“I’m fine. I’ve become quite the resilient adult to not be affected by every little injury.”

Fine. That’s a good lie. I saw the whole thing.

Although the princess’s face was expressionless, as she had said, it wasn’t devoid of emotion.

Instead, it seemed to ripple like someone sinking into the depths.

If she couldn’t be honest like that, it would only make things harder for herself. He took a sip of the cold juice, trying to hide his expression as best as he could.

“I didn’t see it that way, but you’re a nicer guy than I thought. I mean, you can’t be bad, given the setup, but—”

And with that, he gulped down the liquid and forcefully spat it out.

Shit!

If I hadn’t had to cover my mouth with my hand, I might have sworn.

‘How can there be no tissues in the restaurant!’

Hastily covering his mouth with one hand and searching for something to wipe with the other, the princess stood up, cleared her glass, and pulled the tablecloth off the table and held it out to him.

“Wipe your clothes before you stain them.”

She wants me to wipe with this. Checkered patterns of various colors…

It wasn’t even his face she was worried about, but his clothes.

His clothes are stained. These white clothes.

“……Yes, I will, thank you.”

As he rubbed the stains out of his clothes, she made a face of frustration.

“You’re not supposed to rub it in like that. You’re supposed to press it in and let it soak in.”

Despite gritting his teeth, Claude did as he was told and pressed firmly.

Only after he’d roughly cleaned his clothes did he wipe the splashes off his face.

Taeri sat across from him, resting her chin on her hand, and quietly observed as he vigorously rubbed his own chin, resembling a bird pecking at its food. He sure knows how to listen, she thought to herself.

‘It seems the protagonist is naturally destined to be a protagonist. He tries so hard to be mean, but he’s always nice in the end. He’s just an inexperienced beauty clueless of his own appearance.’

The stone he had just thrown as a minor provocation… Yeah, to be honest, it was something that opened up wounds.

Someone risked their life to save yours.

I don’t think he realized how much that stung her. If he had raised the intensity a bit more, it could have been a fatal blow.

So I had lightly considered a retaliatory remark, but when I actually lifted my head, I saw a remorseful expression on his face, unsure of what to do to make amends.

Biting my lip and rolling my eyes, I could tell from his clueless expression that there was no trace of understanding left. I completely lost the urge to get angry.

‘There’s no point in getting angry.’

After all, the emotions are already worn out, to the point where adding fuel to the fire would only result in burning down the entire stack of firewood.

However, thoughts started to accumulate, and as he fidgeted anxiously, he, on the contrary, sank his shoulders deeply into the backrest, as if melting away.

— Didn’t the princess also survive that way?

— If it weren’t for you, would your mother have ended up like that? She sacrificed herself for you!

She muttered to herself in an eerily repetitive pattern.

“Then everyone here will resent me too.”

Hearing the small murmur, Claude stopped midway through his hand crumpling the tablecloth and throwing it to the floor.

‘That’s not good.’

It’s like a princess staring into the void. An expressionless expression submerged in the ocean. Though her face was calm and her voice lacked any particular pitch.

‘I’m going crazy.’

With a single slip of the tongue, guilt overwhelmed me to the point of madness. Why did I say such things? Claude wanted to bite his tongue for his lack of consideration.

“Are you going to throw that?”

As his gaze returned from a brief escape into empty space, the princess pointed towards a pile of cloth with her chin.

“…I won’t do such childish things.”

More accurately, he had intended to throw the pack and stick it into the ground, but Claude pretended as if he wasn’t going to, casually shaking the clenched fist in his hand.

“It feels awkward.”

“…”

“I’m really not mad, so relax.”

Who said he was nervous. I wasn’t.

However, as he spoke, his fist slowly loosened, and the cloth dropped with a soft thud.

Claude cleared his throat and carefully picked up on the words she had let slip, trying to address them in the most serious and respectful tone possible.

Even if it felt uncomfortable, it was necessary to apologize or say something.

“Resentment. Do you believe that people regret sacrificing themselves for the princess?”

“Again, you’re being straightforward.”

“…”

“It was just a joke.”

This damn……. His unclenched fist tries to force itself back into shape.

Unable to respond, she pursed her lips and tried to stifle the giggle that leaked out of her, even as she apologized.

Claude said with faint irritation.

“Resentment means shifting responsibility onto others. It’s saying that because of you, things turned out this way, so you should figure out what to do. It’s not a funny.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why. Well, isn’t it true that when you engage in risky actions to save someone, you could get hurt, or if luck isn’t on your side, your life could end? You have to accept that as a possibility. If you didn’t like that, you shouldn’t have done it.”

And regret? Are you saying this without knowing how terribly the people who remain here think of you?

Claude snorted weakly.

Having arrived just yesterday, it became evident that this princess truly knew nothing.

Only now did she fully grasp the situation here, including the state of affairs that she had inquired about earlier.

“And that’s not it.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that those who stayed till the end and held their ground didn’t have such intentions. They probably hoped for the person they sacrificed themselves for to escape safely and live a happy life. If there were those who perished, even they, with their deceased minds, would have held such thoughts.”

If you’ve seen it firsthand, then you’d know. You know because you witnessed it and heard it directly.

The residents here, who are tired of being in such a difficult situation, didn’t utter a single harsh word about the princess because they wanted to maintain a sense of dignity.

The people outside who are cursing, are not the residents of Izarith. Not a single one of them.