Monster Princess

Chapter 22

Translated by Schwarzel
Edited by Soul

Monster Princess

Episode 22

Our current location was a hunting ground, so even if I didn’t order it, the greeting was informal.

Obviously, even after receiving countless greetings from others, Killian had an unusual talent for making even such a simple greeting look very nice.

“Gasp! Little Duke Bernhardt! When did you come here?”

Bobby Montera also jumped from his seat as if he were surprised.

I accepted Killian Bernhardt’s greetings.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Bernhardt.”

“Have you been healthy?”

“Thanks for your concern, I have.”

It was a polite greeting. There was nothing special about it because it was something that we used to give and receive from time to time.

“Young Master Monterra, I have a story to share with the First Princess, so can you leave your seat?”

However, Killian suddenly acted differently than usual.

“What? With the First Princess, just the two of you?”

“Indeed.”

Killian drew a smile on his beautiful face.

It was just that Bobby Monterra flinched as if he was under tremendous pressure.

Of course, compared to extras, the male protagonist’s presence is like a whale next to a shrimp or a shark, but……

“Then I’ll play the song for you next time, Your Highness!”

In the end, the male protagonist only stood still doing nothing, but Bobby Monterra, who was overwhelmed by the energy alone, hurriedly left his seat promising next time.

“Bernhardt, what’s the story you’re going to tell me?”

I asked Killian with doubts. No matter how much I thought about it, there was no story to share with him alone.

And as expected, my prediction was right.

At the next moment, Killian politely apologized to me.

“I’m sorry. I got involved by my own will because you seemed to be in a difficult situation. If it was unpleasant, I apologize.”

What is this?

‘No, I can’t believe Killian is coming out on this kind of thing…… Did I look that awkward?’

I looked at Killian with strange eyes and said, “It’s no use meddling but my heart is genuinely thankful to you.”

Now after wishing him good luck in the hunting competition and parting ways, I will never talk to Killian again.

However, Killian, unlike usual, did not stop there.

“But I didn’t know you were still close enough to communicate with Young Master Montera.”

I think he heard a little bit of the conversation I had with Bobby Montera.

I frowned gently because I was at a loss for what to answer.

It was a misunderstanding about me communicating with Bobby Montera. It’s just that he’s been asking me how I’m doing so far. It was the first time in years that I replied to him.

However, there was no reason to explain it to the boy in front of me.

However, he took my silence as a positive thing, a faint afterimage of unknown meaning passed by Killian’s eyes as he looked down at me for a moment.

“But why back then…”

His words to himself were too small to reach my ears.

Why is he looking at me like that?

“Little Duke Bernardt?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

However, he quickly captured the strange feeling and returned to his usual form again, smiling straight at me.

“More than that, I’ve seen the First Princess standing on the podium a lot over the years, but today’s congratulatory speech was particularly impressive.”

Seeing that I added words that I shouldn’t have said, it seems that Kylian also remembered my shortened congratulatory speech.

Perhaps it was an illusion that I witnessed as if I had passed by on the podium earlier, Killian was also looking down at me with a mysterious iris thinly overlaid on his eyes.

Then, when I heard his voice digging into my eardrums, I had no choice but to pause.

“I knew that the ancient language of Liaco was extinct and impossible to decipher, but I didn’t expect to see it at today’s hunting festival.”

Killian was the first to notice that the handwriting I sent with the congratulatory speech was the Liaco language among ancient languages.

“Do you know how to decipher Liaco?”

Suddenly, I became wary and asked.

Then Kilian stared at me with a small head tilt.

After a short gap that made me not feel unnatural, Killian’s handsome face was caught with a smile as if it was drawn with a brush.

“No way. I’m just a little interested in ancient languages.”

“I see.”

I was relieved.

Come to think of it, no matter how smart the male protagonist is, he will not be talented in old languages that are boring, that even no scholars are interested in or  researching today.

More than that…

‘Was he always like this?’

I felt doubts when I saw Killian’s eyes, the color of a sunset on a winter night.

‘Until now, I just thought he was a diligent and polite person…’

These were the eyes that I couldn’t understand at all.

As I faced Killian Bernhardt close now, I could see a thick ice curtain in his eyes, which I had thought was so clear as if it was to project the inside of himself.

I felt a strange sense of incompatibility that I didn’t know so far.

However, I remember that Killian was a noble and pure person in the book, just as he looked.

“Your Highness, the First Princess?”

Oh. I looked at him for too long.

I calmly opened my mouth and said.

“You’re also participating in the Hunting contest today, right? I wish you luck.”

“Thank you.”

Killian bowed his head with courtesy to my greeting.

Looking at his appearance, it was clear that Killian would participate in this year’s hunting competition, and I was also scheduled to enter the forest today and the last day.

For reference, the hunting competition runs for a total of five days, and anyone from the age of 13 can participate .

Killian also returned my greetings.

“I wish the First Princess the glory of the Laurel Crown this year.”

It was definitely a polite greeting… somehow it made me feel a little bad.

‘Yeah. The Laurel Crown given to last year’s winner was Killian’s.’

Humiliatingly, I got second place in last year’s hunting competition, in which I participated for the first time.

One more thing is that Killian has never missed the Laurel Crown since he first attended the hunting competition.

A sudden realization came to me, who was soaked in helplessness.

‘That’s right. I actually didn’t really like him.’

It’s not that I wasn’t interested in him, I didn’t really like him!

“Thank you…..I’ll get going since I have to get ready as well.”

I hid my crooked feelings and left first with a smile.

When I was on the podium earlier, I was not motivated to do anything, but suddenly I felt like I wanted to do something.

Since I was young, I had a personality that I couldn’t live by losing, and there was no exception just because my opponent was the male protagonist.

‘Even if I have a fate that I can’t beat the heroine Judith until I die, there’s no way that applies to the male protagonist as well.’

My mouth curled up just like that, I headed to my own tent to prepare for the hunting competition.

* * *

Before going into the forest.

If it was a Hunting contest, there was something that was still left. It is to deliver an item of prayer to the person who you wish to commemorate good luck. It was common to present handkerchiefs or ornaments embroidered by hand to them.

Naturally, there were many young girls who wanted to give Killian Bernhardt a handmade gift. But as far as Arbella knows, he’s never received it.

Whether there were any exceptions to the Hunting festival, he sent them back without receiving anything from the young girls who approached him.

On the other hand, Arbella, unlike Kylian, did not refuse to receive gifts. She’s not a monk, and why would she return back gifts she received as favours from others? 

Receiving a handkerchief does not lead to a favor.

In addition, Killian has so far never dedicated his prey to anyone, which was only eligible for the winner of the hunting competition.

‘If it wasn’t for this illness in the first place, I would have been the winner of last year’s hunting contest.’

Arbella rubbed her lips, reflecting on the thoughts she had already recalled several times since last year’s hunting competition.

Of course, this year, she was distracted by other things, so she wasn’t as interested in hunting competitions like last year.

Her biggest concern now was the red-haired boy in the White Night Hall.

A sacrifice that Arbella needed to use forbidden magic in the future.

‘It turns out that it takes at least five years to get out of the White Night Hall after being judged to be purified. In addition, it is a tradition to manage the heretics in the White Night Hall, so it is difficult to interfere no matter how royal they are.’

 (n: Purified here just seems to be the accurate word to use, but the literal translation is ‘edification’ which is synonymous to ‘education’. It has the same idea as being rehabilitated after doing bad things.)

The boy’s face, which she saw again in the greenhouse last time, sometimes came to her mind, making Arbella deeply thoughtful.

‘Then how do I get my hands on him?…’

And there were people who looked at Arbella from afar.

“Sigh, look at those sad eyes…”

“How can you look so good with short hair?”

“The more I see it, the better I like this side. Doesn’t she look like <The Knight of the Starlight Storm>?”

“Oh, Right! Right!”

Most of the people who peeked at Arbella now were young girls who attended the hunting contest.

Of course, the popularity of Arbella, the first princess, did not count men and women of all ages. However, this time, maybe because it was right after I cut my hair short in a new attempt, I was receiving the attention of the same girls.

Furthermore, now Arbella is wearing hunting clothes, not dresses, as she did when she climbed to the podium. Perhaps that’s why, at first glance, she looked like a very pretty boy.

They didn’t know what the hell she was focusing on, but Arbella was standing alone under the sunlight staring at the empty spot in the air.

Both her short blonde hair and eyelashes glistened dazzlingly in the sunlight, making them stand out from afar.

In the meantime, the body standing upright without any disruption was thin, but it never looked weak, and the face in deep thought was drawing a delicate curve.

Originally, strong and beautiful things are bound to attract attention to themselves.

The same was true of Arbella, the First Princess who became known as “Everyone’s Princess” among the people due to the active promotion of the Imperial family since her birth.

All the people watched the process of a lovely and cute baby princess growing up and gradually becoming a girl who was close to becoming a Lady soon.

Even for children of the same age, she was an object of envy. Therefore, the affection they had for Arbella was inevitably different.

The princess, whom all the people of the country love, was attractive even when she looked a little arrogant. But to such Arbella, a girl who is the least compatible with her among all people here, courageously approached her.

A young girl with black hair like a crow and golden eyes resembling dandelion flowers. It was Judith.