Chapter 08
A few days later.
In the end, the knights were punished.
Their punishment was to climb to the summit of the Pedrica Mountains in full gear and then come back down. The mountains were in the northern region, where monster appearances were relatively rare.
According to Selin, it wouldn’t be painful enough to kill them, but it would hurt just enough to make them feel like they were about to die.
And, naturally, I changed into training clothes, threw on a thick coat, and left my bedroom.
I intended to keep my promise to receive the punishment alongside the knights. Though I couldn’t possibly carry full gear like they could.
“Your Highnesssss! Absolutely not! No! You can’t! Someone as frail as you—… Um, well, someone like you could freeze to death right at the entrance!”
I wasn’t sure why she’d hesitated specifically at the word frail, but our adorable Selin once again stepped in front of me to stop me.
I gently ruffled her round little head.
“Selin, thank you for everything. I don’t know how much strength it’s given me having you by my side. If I don’t come back, take the silver candlesticks and silver spoons I’ve hidden under my bed. Sell them and use the money.”
They were some of the Grand Duke’s household items I’d secretly set aside, just in case.
It wasn’t that I genuinely thought I wouldn’t make it back. I simply wanted to show Selin how much I trusted her—enough to reveal even the emergency funds I’d been hiding here and there.
Apparently, my sincerity came across rather well, because Selin burst into tears.
“Waaah! Your Highness! You look so sane when you say things like that with such a serious expression that it’s even scarier!”
“……”
What was she talking about?
I thought I’d sounded rather heartfelt just now. Why was she scared?
I shrugged, removed my hand from the top of Selin’s head, and went to stand beside the knights.
“I’m sorry, Sir Knights. You’re having to climb such a terrible mountain because of me.”
Perhaps my apology had been unexpected, because the two knights both flinched in surprise.
Yes, I knew.
Not only those two, but the knights and servants throughout the Grand Duke’s residence weren’t particularly fond of me.
I was a princess from an enemy nation to begin with. The Kingdom of Delmar—the very kingdom that had caused their comrades, friends, and family members to die.
And then that crazy princess from Delmar had thrown a fit and gone out into the busy district, caused them to fail their mission, and ultimately gotten them punished.
They probably want to spit in my face.
Yet they seemed genuinely surprised to see me standing here after not only protecting them in front of the butler and the Grand Duke, but even changing clothes and coming out to receive their punishment alongside them.
“No, Your Highness.”
One of the knights scratched his head and spoke with an awkward expression.
“Still, thanks to Your Highness stepping forward, it ended with only this. Given your usual temperament, we would have lost our positions as knights and been thrown out.”
At those words, I gave him a bitter smile.
“……That just makes me feel even more sorry.”
“Haha, that’s not why I told you that.”
Then the other knight standing beside him politely bowed his head to me.
“We gratefully accept your concern, Your Highness. So please return to the estate now. We can make the trip there and back in a day, but Your Highness will collapse before you even reach the entrance to the mountain range.”
“……”
I blinked, slightly surprised.
He wasn’t saying that because he looked down on me.
He was genuinely worried that I wouldn’t be able to endure it and would collapse.
The knights I’d expected to hate me and blame me were actually worrying about me instead, and I was the one left bewildered.
Whether it was simply pity for a crazy princess or something else…
……I was grateful.
“But I—”
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, a low, chilly voice came from behind me.
“Why haven’t you left yet? Are you saying you’re confident you’ll be back before sunset?”
I had no idea when he’d appeared, but Barkan was standing there with his arms crossed, staring at us.
The knights spun around as though they’d been struck by lightning.
“N-No, Your Grace! We’re leaving now! We’ll be back!”
The two of them practically ran away.
I clicked my tongue as I watched their backs.
“My goodness, how scary.”
It’s bad enough that our boys have to be punished. Why does he have to intimidate them too?!
I shot Barkan a reproachful look, and he stepped in front of me.
“Princess. I suggest you reconsider.”
“Reconsider what?”
“The mountains of the North are infamous for being harsh and merciless, even compared to the rest of the Empire. Return to the estate quietly while you still can.”
I grinned at that.
“Then how about making a bet with me?”
At my unexpected proposal, Barkan furrowed his brow.
“What kind of bet?”
“I can’t promise I’ll return faster than the knights, but if I make it back safely before the end of today, you have to grant me one wish.”
Barkan’s eyes narrowed.
“If it is something within my power.”
“Really?!”
As I brightened, Barkan asked,
“But if I win the bet, what do I get?”
Hmm. I thought for a moment before answering.
“Freedom?”
“……Freedom?”
Perhaps my answer sounded rather strange, because Barkan paused.
I smiled brightly at him.
“If I don’t make it back today, that means I either froze to death somewhere in those mountains or got eaten by a monster, right?”
“……”
“Now that the troublemaker from Delmar is gone, what greater freedom could there be for Your Grace? Then this time, you can choose a perfectly sane woman and take her as your wife. Right? So make sure you keep your promise!”
With that, I turned around and happily ran in the direction the knights had gone.
“I’ll be back!”
Heeheehee! Wow! It’s a mountain! Snow! A snow-covered mountain!
Heehee, heehee.
“……Ha.”
A short, hollow laugh escaped Barkan as he watched the platinum-blonde head disappearing into the distance.
Once again, he had been reminded that the princess was not entirely right in the head.
Her determination to follow the knights into the northern mountain range.
Her decision to make a bet with him.
And even the way she spoke so brightly about the horrifying possibility that she might die.
None of those were things a sane person would say or do.
Even so, there was only one reason he’d agreed to that ridiculous bet and allowed her to go on the mountain trek without a fuss.
No matter how excitedly she ran off like a puppy, there was no way that small, delicate body of hers could withstand the biting northern winds. She would undoubtedly collapse and give up before even reaching the entrance to the mountain range.
No matter how warmly she dresses, there’s no way that small, delicate body of hers can climb the mountains of the North.
At that moment, Lucas, a member of the First Knight Order, stepped forward from beside Barkan and bowed his head.
“Your Grace, I will follow Her Highness.”
“……”
He meant to follow the princess in case something happened.
But Barkan didn’t answer.
Barkan had no intention of simply letting the princess die, either.
Although she was a princess of an enemy nation and someone sent by the Emperor, at the very least, he didn’t think she should die here in the North, on his land.
He couldn’t give the Imperial Family an excuse to use the princess as a reason to oppress the Grand Ducal House.
Barkan raised a hand, stopping Lucas from following her.
“No. There’s no need.”
“Pardon?”
Barkan hadn’t been able to return to the Grand Duke’s residence for more than a week because he’d been busy exterminating monsters.
The monster extermination really had been necessary, but it was also true that if he’d pushed himself harder, he could have finished earlier and returned sooner.
Regardless of his intentions, he’d ended up leaving the princess he was responsible for in the hands of the servants and knights.
But now that he’d finally met the princess himself, he could understand, at least somewhat, just how much of a headache she’d been for the servants and knights all this time.
That was why he thought that from now on, rather than leaving her to someone else, he should be the one responsible for the princess.
As he watched the platinum-blonde head grow farther away, Barkan clenched his molars.
Damn it…….
He tightened his cloak and stepped forward.
“I’ll go.”
“Your Grace—!”
“Don’t follow me.”
Barkan’s stride quickened toward the mountain path where the princess had disappeared.
