TIRS 59

CHAPTER 59……….

 She’s So Pretty, Yet a Villain

“Ah, no! Don’t misunderstand!”

I shouted, feeling my face heat up fiercely.

“…I’m sorry for disturbing your good time.”

But Anselot tilted the corners of his lips into a sly smile, bowed slightly, and then disappeared.

I’d been misunderstood! And thoroughly at that!

“I’ll talk to you later, Maria!”

After roughly greeting Maria, I immediately ran after Anselot.

“Wait, Anselot!”

I caught up to him before he got too far.

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

I blurted out, forgetting even that I had been sulking at him, my face burning red.

“What’s there to misunderstand?”

“Well, uh…! Come this way!”

I grabbed Anselot and led him to an empty terrace, then went inside.

There, I vented my frustration.

“This is all the system and Piya’s doing! They gave me these weird choices, like telling me to target that woman!”

I vented so passionately that I practically snorted with determination.

“Alright, now that you’ve explained, I’ll believe you.”

Anselot smirked and handed me a box.

“Here, Princess.”

“What’s this?”

“A gift.”

He spoke in a low, subdued voice.

“I can’t promise I’ll always be by your side, but I’ll be nearby. Sorry.”

“Uh… no. I’m the one who overreacted. Sorry for sulking for nothing.”

I tapped the floor lightly with my shoe as I replied.

“You don’t have to do that. You have your own path, so I understand…”

“But it still makes me upset.”

Anselot interrupted me.

“You were upset, Princess.”

“…”

I paused, meeting the gaze of his red eyes that seemed to pierce through me.

As he said, understanding and emotion are different realms.

“I just don’t want you to force yourself to smile while holding back your feelings.”

“…”

“After all, it’s because of me.”

He muttered that faintly to himself with a self-deprecating smile.

“Now you’re making me feel worse.”

This morning, I was upset with Anselot and even hated him a little. But now, feeling that he considered my feelings first, even with my petty sulking, I felt sorry.

“Did you bring this gift to cheer me up?”

“Even if I’m not here, it will stay as long as you don’t discard it.”

“So, what is it?”

“Open it.”

Anselot smiled faintly.

I carefully untied the ribbon and opened the box.

Inside was a small dragon figurine.

“…!”

My eyes widened as I recognized it.

“This…! This is a relic!”

It was a statue of Helheim, the radiant dragon, and of Ruse, the god of light—found in every temple.

Anselot had actually taken it!

“How could you just take a relic like that!”

“It represents my feelings for you, Princess.”

Anselot squinted his eyes slightly and smiled broadly.

“You… crazy man…”

I realized that while I couldn’t spit at him when he smiled, I could still curse him.

“Return it at once! I don’t want to become a criminal in a foreign land!”

“Doesn’t matter. I brought it secretly, so it’s fine.”

“This isn’t a matter of ‘fine’!”

If caught, it would be treated as both sacrilege and theft.

“If anyone questions you, just give them my name. No one will dare say anything.”

“My reputation’s bad enough thanks to you!”

“I struggled all day to bring this, and you won’t accept it?”

“Even so, stealing a relic…”

“Then you can just return it to its place, Princess.”

“….”

Returning it would get me caught by the temple priests.

In the end, I decided to accept the gift quietly.

“Whatever. Since I’m already struggling because of that Ruse relic, I’ll just take this gift without fuss.”

If my mother in Azester heard that, she’d be delighted.

If he was going to take something, he should’ve taken Ruse’s statue—why Helheim? Maybe to commemorate our shared memory of defeating a dragon? I couldn’t keep up with his logic.

I sighed deeply and looked at the dragon figurine.

Though each temple had a statue, they differed slightly by region.

Azester displayed theirs not in a temple but in the palace museum, massive and majestic enough to have you crane your neck.

In contrast, the Luenhart statue was small, like Piya.

Understandable, since it was carved from gemstones. If it were as big as Azester’s, it would have been extremely costly.

I stared at the sparkling white dragon.

Helheim, the radiant dragon.

“The dark god Nox, stripped of divinity by Ruse, became Helheim,” Anselot had once told me.

“The dark god became a radiant dragon? But this one’s white.”

I had assumed a dark god would be covered in black scales.

Azester’s statue had no color, but Helheim was a pure white dragon, like a snowflake.

“Even darkness was stolen by Ruse, and it was driven to the surface world.”

Helheim’s eyes had red gemstones.

Perhaps due to the meticulous craftsmanship, even though this was a fearsome dragon I had to defeat, I found it beautiful.

I was staring at it, entranced.

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

As if reading my thoughts, Anselot asked.

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“So pretty, yet such a villain I have to defeat. How sad.”

Anselot smiled proudly.

“Why are you proud?”

“I hope it pleases the Princess.”

“Well… it’s awkward, but pretty, I guess.”

“Now, are you feeling less sulky?”

“Who… who’s sulky?”

I jumped up, strongly denying it.

Of course, my sulking was obvious to clueless Klaus, childish Ilya, and even non-human Piya.

“Yes, Princess never sulks.”

Anselot humbly agreed with me.

My chest felt ticklish with warmth.

I continued staring at the figurine.

My reflection in the red gemstone looked especially flushed.

Meanwhile, on the terrace, Maria’s once-innocent smile had vanished.

She glared at the spot where Luibel and Anselot had disappeared.

Maria Blair.

A former commoner who became a saint of the capital temple through her sacred power, she was once disregarded by noble ladies. But Maria didn’t take that lightly.

Earlier, she had acted coyly, conscious of Luibel, who had attended the party.

When Maria met Luibel by chance, she felt a strong destiny.

No doubt! She was the one the goddess of love, Amor, had destined for her!

Compared to the many men who had harassed her before, this one was noble, beautiful, and wonderful.

It wasn’t hard to find out her name was Luibel. Rumors spread quickly after she and her companions left, along with the return of Prince Salto.

And inevitably, Luibel’s name was intertwined with the stories of Prince Salto.

She was indeed beautiful, brave, and kind.

How could someone like her fall in love with Salto?

Knowing the nobles would pester her, Maria attended the party hoping to meet Luibel again.

But Prince Anselot interrupted her destined meeting with Luibel.

Seeing Anselot next to Luibel, she thought it didn’t suit him.

“I must separate Prince Anselot. Salto has ruined our Luibel’s reputation.”

Heh heh heh.

A sinister laugh escaped Maria’s lips.

“Wait, Luibel. I, Maria, will save you from Salto’s grasp.”

After safely storing Anselot’s gift in my inventory, I returned to the party hall with him.

“Oh, Anselot. About Prince Arno… he was originally one of the key characters in this scenario…”

As I was explaining, Crown Prince Enzer spotted us and approached.

“Good to see you again, Princess Luibel.”

Despite hearing harsh words from Anselot just a day ago, he still approached steadfastly. I admired that.

Anselot, perhaps thinking the same, whispered fiercely.

“Didn’t I tell you to remove your filthy mouth and eyes?”

“I heard a familiar name and couldn’t help but be drawn here, uncle.”

But Enzer didn’t back down and smiled at me.

“You heard Prince Arno’s name, correct?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking for him—where is Prince Arno now?”

“Prince Arno…”

Enzer glanced at Anselot and spoke slowly.

“Some years ago, he met his fate at the hands of Uncle Anselot.”

“What?”

I was shocked, jaw dropped.

The next story was supposed to be a duel between Prince Arno and me, but Salto had twisted the original story!

“Then the next quest…!”

In my confusion, the system alert sounded.

[SYSTEM] Quest Arrived!

[Main Quest: Love and Duel! (2/3)]

Sal.to of Luenhart threatens your love. Defeat Prince in a duel to humiliate him and win ’s love!

▷Clear Conditions: Victory over in a duel, spectator

▶Success Reward: EXP +27,150, Skill Points +10, festival viewing