CHAPTER 38…..
I wrapped my arms tightly around Minte’s neck.
Just as I saw Rete as both an older sister and a mother, Minte was also incredibly precious to me.
Even though she would be the first one punished whenever I caused trouble, she was always someone who smiled for the sake of my happiness.
‘I really… need to treasure everyone here.’
Now that I had decided to stay here for real.
Minte’s smile stretched ear to ear.
“Hehe, I’m fine! I can always keep an eye on where the Princess goes!”
“Mmh…”
“By the way, shall we go check on the Young Lord and the Prince?”
“Ah!”
I had completely forgotten in the flood of unexpected emotion.
The two boys were now approaching the tree, swords in hand.
Ares drew his sword first.
“Blue-eyes, I’m going first.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Why, you—!”
Ares gritted his teeth so hard I worried about his jawbone.
Before I could finish that thought, he swung his sword.
Maybe all that training from Minte had helped?
‘His sword movements look pretty clean.’
Having seen the Holy Knights train, I knew what a good stance looked like.
‘For someone not even ten years old, that’s impressive.’
I was watching, my mouth open with admiration and pride, when—
Thwack!
Ares’s sword struck the tree hard.
‘If that had been a real person, their bones would’ve been crushed!’
But the tree didn’t budge.
It only bore a faint mark from the blade.
“Ugh, damn it…!”
Ares couldn’t hide his frustration.
Minte sighed, sounding exasperated.
“Of course it’s still impossible. Young Lord, you’ve got a long way to go.”
“Minte, you didn’t plant a diamond tree or something, right?”
“…”
“Minte.”
Why no answer? Why is she just smiling?
When Callion picked up his sword, both Minte and Ares’s expressions went still.
“My turn, then?”
Callion fixed a stiff expression on the tree.
The tree, victim of both boys’ swordplay, swayed slightly in the breeze.
The world went deathly silent. I swallowed without realizing it.
Just then, Callion glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
Something strange flashed in those blue eyes—something not at all childlike.
Before I could even say anything about it—
Thock…!
Callion’s sword embedded itself in the tree’s trunk.
Slightly higher than where Ares had struck…
Leaving a mark almost exactly as deep.
“…A draw, it seems.”
“Phew.”
Minte shook her head slowly, giving her verdict.
I finally let out a breath of relief.
‘You can’t exactly celebrate the winner when the loser’s standing right there.’
But of course, Ares grabbed Callion by the collar.
“You…! Still! Stop hitting on Sion!”
“Hitting on? How vulgar. Do you do this to other people too?”
“Only to you, you blue-eyed punk!”
“You little—!”
The two of them rolled on the ground, fighting.
It wasn’t until Minte set me down and smacked Ares on the head, and I grabbed Callion’s sleeve, that the chaos finally ended.
Looking at them glaring at each other, I had a feeling.
‘Damn it. These two are going to make life in the palace very eventful.’
And usually, ominous feelings turn out to be right.
A few weeks passed since the Perseon Palace had gained a new resident.
That poor little tree was still standing strong.
In the meantime, Ares and Callion fought with their fists.
Not just that one day—almost every day.
Most of the time, it was Ares who picked the fight.
‘Like right now, for example.’
Callion and I had been reading together and chatting when Ares barged in with a scowl.
The moment he saw Callion sitting beside me, his eyes practically sparked.
“Hey, blue-eyes. Spar with me.”
“Why should I, Ismenios?”
Wasn’t Callion just smiling brightly at me a moment ago?
The chill in his voice now was so sharp, it didn’t sound like it came from a boy his age.
Ares, on the other hand, bared a fierce grin and glared back.
“What, are you scared?”
I covered my face at that mouth of his.
Rete had been trying to teach him proper manners, but this was the result?
‘And Callion—you could go easy on him since he’s younger than you.’
But not once had he ever let something slide.
‘Just look at his face right now.’
He was silently glaring at Ares, his eyes cold enough to cut.
“…”
“And you think you should be sitting next to Sion? Don’t make me laugh.”
“…Fine. Let’s do it.”
“Loser runs ten laps around the training yard.”
…I just gave them a look of complete resignation.
‘I can only step in so many times before I give up.’
Probably everyone in the Perseon Palace thought the same.
Rete came over to me with a sigh.
“Honestly, those two never get tired, do they?”
“Right? But because Ares is like this, it feels like Callion’s adjusting.”
“True.”
At first, everyone here had bristled at Callion.
A prince from the hostile Sacred Kingdom. An enemy sent as a hostage.
But since Ares was charging at him every day like he wanted to tear his hair out, public opinion had shifted in a weird way…
‘Now it’s more like, “Wow, he must be exhausted dealing with the Young Lord.”’
Thanks to our palace rascal, we had an unexpected positive side effect.
Rete smiled and held out a few books to me.
“Shall we start our lesson now?”
“Yeah! We can start here.”
And finally—! I was free from my lisp.
‘I can finally speak properly again. Hooray!’
It had been so embarrassing trying to argue with Talos while lisping.
Since the Founding Festival, I’d been slowly starting lessons with Rete.
“Princess, you’re progressing so quickly. At this rate, people will think all children are like this.”
“…Ahaha.”
She was always so astonished by how quickly I understood.
It made me feel a little guilty, like I was conning her.
‘Well, of course—I still have over twenty years of knowledge.’
I’d just have to work harder to make sure my “source material” wasn’t exposed.
‘…Not that working hard isn’t the right thing to do as a demon princess anyway.’
Since the Founding Festival, I’d set a clear goal for myself.
I wanted to respond to the love everyone here had given me.
Even if I was punished later for living this lie…
‘I still want to live as Princess Elysion.’
I wanted to be a princess who could repay the overflowing affection.
To do that, first I needed to give my divine power to someone else.
Otherwise, every time I used magic, it would take a toll on me.
‘The only place that might be possible… is that strange room in the capital temple.’
But could I leave the country in this child’s body?
Could I even go outside at all?
“Hey, Rete.”
“Yes, Princess?”
“When am I allowed to go out?”
“Oh my, interested in the outside world now?”
She looked delighted at my curiosity, smiling warmly.
“If it’s the capital, you can certainly go. The weather’s nice, so you could take a walk.”
“What about outside the capital? Other cities, or other countries?”
“Provincial cities should be fine… As for foreign countries, you’ll have to wait a little longer.”
“How long?”
“It depends on the distance—but probably before your debutante.”
“Gasp.”
I’d heard debutantes happened at eighteen…
Her words sounded like I wouldn’t be able to go until around then.
‘So I won’t be able to go to the Sacred Kingdom until then?’
I barely held back a groan as Rete continued.
“But before you become the next Erebos, you’ll travel plenty. After that, it’ll be harder to leave the palace.”
“Huh? Oh! Because of the ‘Darkness’?”
“Yes, that’s right. His Majesty Erebos has already shown you, hasn’t he?”
I thought of the sealed chamber and the “Eternal Ring.”
To hold a treasure that could put the world back to sleep if mishandled…
‘So that’s why the Demon King didn’t personally take part in the war.’
If something happened to Father, the damage would go beyond nations.
Then another thought struck me.
“Rete… the Queen—Mother’s death—was that related to Father not being able to be with her?”
“…!”
