Chapter 155: The Captured Princess — Part Two

Chapter 155:
The Captured Princess
Part Two

 

I ARRIVED WITH LADY ELLELAURA at the castle. This was my second time here, but I was still nervous. Yuna had been with me last time, and she wasn’t here now.

“Is there anywhere you’d like to go, Fina?”

“Um...”

What was I supposed to say? I didn’t even know what there was inside the castle. I only knew the places they showed me last time. All I knew was that I didn’t want to see knights in their training ground. Too scary.

“I’m not sure...” I was so nervous, I could hardly think. Please get back soon, Yuna!

“Now don’t be so nervous. If anyone tried to hurt you, I’ll fight them in Yuna’s place—why, I’d even fight the king himself. So don’t fret.”

Don’t fret? How could I not fret? What if the king and Lady Ellelaura really did fight because of me? My stomach ache got worse.

“It’ll be fine. Come, now,” said Ellelaura and grabbed my hand.

Wh-where were we going? Not to where the king is, right?

 

But the place Ellelaura took me to was a beautiful blooming garden.

“It’s so pretty...”

It looked like the blooming garden of a castle, straight from a picture book, but…this really was a castle. If I hadn’t met Yuna, I would probably never have made it to the capital, let alone gotten into the castle. A commoner like me could never dream of seeing such sights.

There were lots of flowers I had never seen before blooming in the flowerbeds. They were different from the flowers that bloomed in the forest. It made me feel like a princess. Maybe God had prepared this for me, so I could see it before I died. Thank you very much, God...

But wait, no, I could make it back. There was still hope. Mom, Shuri, and Dad were waiting for me. I couldn’t die in a place like this! I looked at the flowers. They were…really nice and calming.

Red, blue, pink, yellow—there were so many pretty flowers in bloom.

Little by little, I felt a bit better. Maybe I really could wait here without seeing anyone. If I did, I really might not run into any nobles if I were careful.

(That wasn’t true, but it was a nice idea.)

 

“Taking a break, are we, Ellelaura?”

While I was looking at the flowers, someone came and started talking to Ellelaura. Another noble? Well, I looked over where the voice came from, and…it was someone much, much more powerful that. He was the man who had come to Yuna’s house the other day.

He was the king! Wh-what was I going to do? Nobles were bad enough, but…yeah, I guess I really was going to die here.

Or even worse: If I offended the king, I might not be the only one who would die. He might even kill the rest of my family. And if I ran, what would he do then?

Oh, Yuna, save me...

“Today is my day off.”

“Then what are you doing at the castle?”

“I’m taking a stroll with her today.”

Lady Ellelaura put her arms around me. I was frozen, unable to make so much as a peep.

“Hrm? I think I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

“Maybe you’ve seen her with Yuna?”

“Ah, yes, she was the girl at Yuna’s house.”

The king looked at me, and I felt like I was going to melt into a bubbly puddle of nerves.

“M-my name is Fina.” Offering my name wouldn’t get me killed, right?

“Much more polite than Yuna, I see.” The king reached out his hand and patted my head. The king himself, right next to me, patted my head. I was sure I’d used up the last of my luck.

This was it. Goodbye, Mom. Take care, Shuri. Dad, please take care of everybody.

Ellelaura chuckled. “Oh, don’t be rude to poor Yuna.”

“You know, that girl has some nerve. She comes to the castle but never greets me. Who does that?”

“Well, that’s because she comes here for Lady Flora.”

“Precisely! When I see the girl in Flora’s room, she has this look in her eyes like I’m an intruder. That girl looks at me and doesn’t see a king at all.”

Oh, no. Was she really doing that to the king?! Yuna! She was going to get herself killed. I had to warn Yuna when I saw her—if I saw her. Had to make it out of the castle alive to tell her…

“Well, she seems to be like that with everyone. When I saw Cliff the other day, he said the same thing. Don’t pretend; you find her as charming as the rest of us.”

“Well, she does treat my little girl well. And she’s saved us more than once. Most important of all, she brings such scrumptious delights.”

Whoa, Yuna fed the king? I know she served us food back at home, but…wow.

Then again, everything Yuna made was delicious.

 

It looked like the king had forgotten about me, since he was so focused on talking about Yuna. Maybe I really would make it out of here without offending him. But just as I thought that...

“It was Fina, right?” the king suddenly said to me.

“Ye-aaaaaah.”

Oh, no. I didn’t mean it to come out like that! I was just so surprised, I—I didn’t think the king would want to talk to me. I wasn’t ready. How could I be so careless when my life depended on how this went? So stupid, Fina!

“Now, don’t startle the poor child. Your face is already scary enough, Your Majesty.”

“Such a casual insult! Well, I didn’t mean to frighten her. I just wanted to know what she is to Yuna.”

Oh? I…I didn’t know, really. Were we friends? Or did I work for her? I answered with the one thing I knew, the one thing that was sure:

“Yuna saved my life.”

Yeah. If Yuna hadn’t been there, I would have died.

“She saved your life?” the king asked.

He seemed curious, so I started telling the story of how I met Yuna. I don’t know how, but I managed to get it all out without messing up.

“Ah, an encounter in the woods? Now that’s surprising in an entirely different way.”

I remembered being relieved that I was saved and really confused about lots of things when Yuna had shown up dressed as a bear.

The king paused for a moment and looked around. “Is Yuna not here?”

“Not today,” said Ellelaura. “She headed to the mines for a job with the Adventurer Guild. I’m looking after Fina at my house in the meantime.”

“The mines? Oh, I heard a report about that. Golems in the mines, yes? I’ve got a petition to send the soldiers if the Guild can’t handle it.”

“Then read it fully, Your Majesty. We would be mobilizing the army, after all.”

“The operative word being would. We’ve got Yuna headed there, haven’t we? We need no army.”

Wow. The king really trusted Yuna.

Ellelaura nodded. “Yes. This is Yuna, after all.”

“Right. Who could suspect such an appearance could hide such power?”

“She’s simply adorable, isn’t she?”

Uh-huh. I thought she was cute too.

“Now, Ellelaura, what’s next on the docket for you?”

Were we leaving? Please? Even being near the king was too much to handle. I was practically going to faint…and it was almost lunch too! Maybe we could head back to the mansion now? I felt way more at home at Lady Ellelaura’s mansion than I did in the castle. I gave Lady Ellelaura a pleading look.

“Are you hungry, Fina?”

She understood? I nodded a little.

“In that case, I have a souvenir from Yuna I need to hand off. Let’s go to Lady Flora’s room, shall we?”

“Is it edible?” the king asked.

“It’s for lunch.”

“Then I’ll accompany you.”

Wait, he was going to…maybe I’d misheard them? We weren’t going to just…go to the princess’s room and have lunch with the king, were we?

Nope. We were. Lady Ellelaura brought me to Flora’s room.

Oh, Yuna, when will you rescue me?!

 

Several hours passed, but we did get back to the mansion in one piece. We even ate lunch together with Lady Flora and the king, though I didn’t remember how anything tasted. And when the queen came in…my mind totally shut down.

I was back home and still alive. That meant I hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d won!

I collapsed on the bed…

And Yuna would come to rescue me soon too, right? Right?

 

Kwoom, kwoom, kwoom, kwoom, kwoom.

Oh? That mysterious sound…where was it coming from?

It sounded familiar. I pulled out a bear doll from the item bag Yuna had given me. It really was the bear that was crooning! This was called a “bear fone,” and it was a magical device that could be used to talk to someone far away. I poured mana into the bear fone I was holding.

“Hey, Fina. Can you hear me?”

“Yuna?!”

“You okay over there?”

“Yuna, it was so terrible. Lady Ellelaura made me change into beautiful clothes, then she took me to the castle and we met the king. And then we had lunch with them, the king and queen!”

“So…the usual, then?”

“Maybe for you, Yuna, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t even taste the bread I was eating.”

“Did you have fun, at least?”

“Um, no? No! No. Yuna, tell me how your job is going. That’s what’s important.”

“Ehh. I only just arrived today, so I don’t have much to say.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I’ll try getting back quick, so you all have fun sightseeing in the capital until then. Hey, why don’t you buy some souvenirs for Tiermina and the others?”

Yuna had loaned me all that money and even told me to use it how I wanted…and it was a lot of money. When I tried to give it back, she forced me to take it anyway. Lady Ellelaura fed me at the mansion, so what was I going to use it on? I was too scared to walk around the capital alone, too. I definitely wasn’t going to go shopping.

“Please come back soon, Yuna.”

“Roger that! I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

Yuna’s voice faded away. Hearing her voice had made me feel better, even if I still really didn’t understand how we were talking together though. I put away my bear fone, just as Surilina came to call me down for dinner.