An Incident Befalls the Reincarnated Princess

In the end, I canceled my visit to the Eigels. I couldn’t stand to go out anywhere with my puffy, bloodshot eyes because everyone would’ve known that I’d been crying. So instead, we turned around and headed home. Sir Leonhart provided me with a damp cloth, and I applied it to my face in order to reduce the swelling around my eyes.

However, just as we neared the palace, our party came to a sudden halt. The horses neighed, and the carriage shook ferociously. My body slid off the seat, and simultaneously, the cloth that covered my eyes fell away.

“Huh?” I blurted, sounding stunned. I had no idea what’d just happened.

The world was suddenly brighter. I was now gazing at the carriage’s ceiling, and Sir Leonhart was reaching his hand toward me with a frantic look on his face.

“Lady Rosemary!!!” he called out in alarm before taking me into his arms. His hands were gripping my shoulders tightly, and it hurt a little. Although I did find it strange that a gentleman like Sir Leonhart would apply so much pressure, I soon settled into his embrace.

“Are you hurt?” he asked with a grave look in his eyes.

“N-No, I’m not...” I replied, despite my confusion.

How could I be? You caught me.

At first, I assumed that he was just following procedure, but then he inspected every inch of my body for injuries. Finding none, he sighed with relief. He scooped me up as gently as one would handle fine china and then lightly placed me back onto my seat.

“I’ll go and check what’s happening outside. Please wait here.” After putting on a serious expression, Sir Leonhart rested his dominant hand on his sword’s hilt and his other hand on the door. As I watched him from behind, I experienced a sense of déjà vu.

Last time, it was Michael protecting a cat. I wonder what’s holding us up this time?

I quieted my breathing, while nerves and anxiety stiffened my facial muscles. Then I pricked up my ears to gather information from outside, and I noticed a faint voice. My eyes grew large; I’d heard that voice before—as had Sir Leonhart, it seemed. The tension in the air eased.

When he opened the door, I found exactly the person that I’d imagined would be there.

“S-S-Sorry!!! I-I’m not trying to inconvenience you, doing the same thing over and over... I really am so sorry.”

The moment our eyes met, I felt flooded with relief.

It was the same scene as a few days prior—Michael was standing there, bowing his head with great force. However, this time, he didn’t appear to be holding a cat.

“Are you all right?” I asked, climbing out of the carriage. “Were you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine,” Michael answered, but his face was pallid. That said, he didn’t seem to be hiding an injury from us either.

So, what was going on?

He was pale-faced and his eyes were flitting around skittishly. Michael was by no means a conversationalist, but I felt that there was another reason for his unsettled behavior.

I decided not to beat around the bush. “Did something happen?”

Michael’s head had been drooping, but it shot up when he heard my question.

“H-How...” How did you know? His expression spoke more clearly than his stuttered words.

“Because you’re acting rather distressed,” I explained. “Were you on your way somewhere?”

Michael parted his lips to speak, but then bit down on them. He looked away, appearing uncertain, and his palms gripped and crumpled his black vestments. “Kai—uh, one of the kids from the orphanage—hasn’t come home,” Michael whispered after hesitating for a while.

“How long has he been gone?” I asked.

“He went to collect firewood with three other kids before noon. But he apparently got separated from the others at some point...”

“Before noon,” I repeated.

I looked to the west and saw that the sun was already beginning to set on the horizon.

“The orphans know this forest better than I do,” Michael explained, “so I can’t imagine him getting lost. And collecting firewood is a chore they do almost every day.”

“Right...” I murmured.

If it’s not likely that Kai’s gotten himself lost, then is he injured? What if he can’t walk?

I shot a look at Sir Leonhart. He nodded at once, understanding what I wanted to convey. Now that I had Sir Leonhart’s acknowledgment, I turned to face Michael again.

“Michael, let us help you search for him.”

“Huh?” My proposal was apparently stupefying. After a few seconds, Michael grew flustered and shook his head, perhaps having only just registered the meaning of my words. “Th-That’s not what I meant! I wasn’t trying to guilt you into helping!”

“Please,” I implored, “it’s clear to me that you aren’t trying to trick us.”

“Oh, er, right... But, th-there’s no need. I’m on my way to help with the search myself.”

“The more on the lookout the better. Besides, the sun will set soon. We need to find him before it gets dark.”

“Princess...” This appeared to be a dilemma for Michael. It seemed that he didn’t want to bother us, but his concern for the child won out in the end. After some indecision, he turned to us and bowed his head.

“Please, help me look for him.”

***

Before entering the forest to find the missing child, we headed to the orphanage, and I was dropped off there. For a moment, I’d thought that I might be able to help with the search, but it was to no avail. After all, I was technically a trueborn princess, a fact that often slipped my mind due to my all-too-embarrassing inner nature. Joining a search of the woods would be too much for a pampered girl who’d barely ever ventured outside of the palace. I’d likely end up getting lost myself and making everyone else’s job harder. I was to wait patiently in the orphanage with a knight to guard me until Sir Leonhart and the others returned.

The orphanage was a small brickwork building, a simple structure with walls made from stacked burned bricks alongside wooden beams and a wooden roof. Instead of glass windows, there were shutters fitted onto the walls that could open and close. The floor was hardened dirt.

I was taken into a room which was furnished with only a large wooden table and some chairs. Perhaps this spot was usually designated for meals.

The chair creaked loudly when I sat, though I’d lowered myself down gently. I stood halfway up, taking my weight off the seat out of fear that I might’ve broken it, but the chair was luckily still intact. I exhaled a relieved sigh.

The guard knight grimaced as he watched me gingerly rest myself back onto the seat. “Your Highness...wouldn’t it be better to wait in the carriage?” he asked.

I’d simply been apprehensive about damaging furniture that didn’t belong to me, but it might have appeared differently to him.

“Places like this must surely be unsavory to one as noble as yourself,” he added.

“Stop that,” I ordered softly, and the youthful guard looked shocked. “We’re the ones who’ve visited unannounced, so don’t you think that remarks like that are unacceptably bad-mannered?”

“But—”

I stared directly at the knight who was still protesting, then gestured with my eyes that no further questions would be necessary. He lowered his head with a look of unease.

After some silence, he apologized quietly. “Forgive me.”

It seemed that I’d completely awed the guard, who was slightly younger than Klaus, and he made no further protest. Though I believed what I’d said, perhaps I could’ve phrased it better.

I examined my surroundings to distract myself amid the awkward silence. Here and there were signs that children made frequent use of this room: violets arranged in a little glass cup, scribblings on the edges of the table, and pebbles that had been stuffed inside a hole in the wall.

While I was glancing around the room, I noticed that I was being watched. Three small heads were poking out from behind the doorway. They appeared to be observing me, and their bodies were half-hidden behind the wall. I smiled toward the three pairs of eyes, all of which were staring at me with fascination.

“Hello there,” I said.

My greeting must’ve frightened them. The three children jumped up and darted behind the wall to conceal themselves.

Maybe I should’ve acted differently, I thought with a wry smile, but then the small heads crept past the doorway once again.

Looks like they’re cautious, but too curious to let that stop them.

“H-Hello!” I tried again, breaking into a smile at their adorable behavior. “How about you come over here so that we can talk?” I suggested lightly, keeping my smile in place so as not to scare them.

I beckoned to the children, and they shared looks between them. After a moment, they blushed and elbowed one another, until at last they approached in a line, led by what seemed to be the eldest among them.

The oldest girl introduced herself. “Umm, my name’s Hannah.” She was still holding her head low, and her cheeks were flushed.

She looked about ten years old. Her eyes were a green-tinged gray, and her bright-red hair was braided into pigtails. She was slender and fair-skinned, with freckles on her rosy cheeks. In short, she was an adorable child who reminded me of Anne of Green Gables.

“This is Lotte, and this is Udo,” Hannah said.

A girl who seemed to be around five years old looked up at me with a bright beaming smile. This was apparently Lotte. Her chestnut-colored hair was cut at shoulder length, and her large eyes of the same color were framed by long eyelashes. Her facial features were well-proportioned, and I expected that she’d be quite the beauty when she grew up.

The boy called Udo must’ve been shy, as he was clinging to Hannah and hiding behind her. He seemed to be a sensitive boy. His hair was gray-colored and straight, and he had green eyes.

Lotte was full of energy, while Udo was more reserved. Though they were of similar age, their dispositions seemed worlds apart.

“My name is Rosemary. I’ll be waiting here for a little while.”

Lotte’s eyes lit up after I’d introduced myself. She jumped out from behind Hannah and raced toward me. Her tiny hands tugged at the hem of my skirt.

“A princess!” she exclaimed.

“Hm?”

“A sparkly and soft princess!”

The thing sparkling here isn’t me, Lotte—it’s your eyes!

Lotte excitedly chanted, “princess, princess,” with red cheeks, leaving me unsure of how to react.

Well yeah, I am technically a princess by birth, but I’m anything but that on the inside. Her girlish fantasy might come crashing down if she spends too long with an uninspiring princess like me.

“Stop that, Lotte!” Hannah grabbed the little girl’s collar and hurriedly peeled her off of me. “You mustn’t be rude to the princess!”

“I wasn’t! I just called her a princess because she is one.” Lotte puffed out her chubby cheeks.

“Well, yeah,” Hannah conceded, “but that’s rude!”

Lotte huffed, turning her face away from Hannah. “Don’t get it.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” Hannah exclaimed in frustration.

I bet you’re always having to run around after her. The thought brought a sympathetic smile to my lips.

“Um, you don’t really have to act any differently around me...” I said.

“B-But...” Hannah’s eyes landed on the guard to my rear.

However, the knight looked away uncomfortably and said nothing. My earlier exchange with him must’ve still been on his mind.

Sorry, young man, but to be honest, you’re doing me a big favor by keeping your mouth shut, I thought.

“There’s nobody here to tell you off at the moment,” I declared with a smile. Hannah’s expression relaxed, and Lotte’s beaming smile was dazzling.

The friendly girl called Lotte snuggled up to my knees like a kitten. “You smell lovely, Princess.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah! C’mere, Udo. She’s a kind princess so she won’t shout at us.” Lotte reached out a hand and beckoned to him, but Udo’s cheeks blushed scarlet and he dithered behind.

“Uh, I, ummm...” His eyes darted around the room nervously, and in the end, he took refuge behind Hannah.

“Sorry about him,” Hannah said with an awkward smile while stroking Udo’s hair. “He’s shy.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “My younger brother’s shy as well, so it brings back fond memories.”

“Your brother... So, a prince?” Hannah asked.

“That’s right.” I smiled at her while remembering my younger brother, Johan.

Soon, it would mark three years since Johan had left to study in a neighboring country. He was managing all right, judging by the regular letters I’d received. My brother had changed so much from the days when he’d been so shy that he would hide behind me all day long. Occasionally, rumors about him would find their way to me, but every one I’d heard had been positive. Nevel’s second prince was celebrated as a splendid boy, one who was smart and sociable.

I was excited about seeing him again, but a little frightened as well. To be honest, my feelings were complicated.

“’Round here, the girls are tough and the boys are shy, mostly,” Hannah explained. “Kai’s really bashful too, and a scaredy-cat... I wonder if he’s crying right now,” Hannah mumbled as if to herself. Her face darkened, and she glanced outside the window.

I assumed that Kai was the child who’d gone missing. Thinking back, I seemed to recall Michael calling him by that name as well.

“Wonder where he’s gotten to?” Lotte said quietly as she laid her cheek on my thigh. She looked sullen, as though Hannah’s anxiety had infected her.

I wanted to reassure them, but I couldn’t conjure anything thoughtful to say. After I gently stroked her soft hair, she buried her face in my lap. Everyone stopped talking, and silence permeated throughout the room.

That stillness was disturbed by a noise from outside.

I gasped as the clamorous sound of a struggle paralyzed me. The disturbing ruckus wasn’t a single occurrence; it repeated over and over. Lotte and I instinctively huddled together.

“Is there anybody else here?” I asked, my voice hushed.

Hannah smiled as if to reassure me. “Other than us, the only ones who’ve stayed behind are two boys. They’re probably fighting again.”

I relaxed upon hearing the vexed tone in Hannah’s voice.

“Your Highness, I’ll go and inspect what’s happening,” my guard volunteered.

Hannah raised her hand timidly in response to the knight’s proposal. “I’ll go too. If they are having a fight, I’ll calm them down.”

My guard and Hannah walked out of the doorway, leaving behind Udo, who stood inertly in the center of the room.

I called out, causing his tiny shoulders to flinch. “Udo, come talk with us over here while we wait for Hannah to return.”

The young boy went silent, eyes teary. His gaze flitted between me and the door. However, once he realized that he couldn’t go to Hannah for help since she wasn’t back just yet, he began to shuffle toward me.

“C’mon, Udo! Hurry up!” Lotte grabbed Udo’s hand and pulled him over, probably fed up with his slow pace.

“Huh?” Udo cried. As a result of Lotte’s tugging, Udo found himself hugging onto my lap, and his downcast eyes flew wide open. After taking a good look at my face, his cheeks turned bright red.

“I, ohh.” He froze as an odd noise escaped his throat, and the sight was reminiscent of Michael. I observed his panicked reaction while resisting the urge to pat his little head.

However, the very next moment, a yell shattered the tranquil atmosphere.

“Identify yourselves!!!” The agitated cry of the knight was joined by the thunder of clashing swords.

I instinctively rose to my feet and stood protectively in front of the children.

What followed was a girl’s frightened scream, several footsteps, and then the crash of something breaking. The tumult told me that the situation was severe. I paled and tensed up. Though I wanted to check what was happening out there, my body wouldn’t budge.

“Yeep!!!” Udo cried.

“Is there a fight...?” Lotte asked.

I was petrified with terror, but the warmth of those tiny hands clinging to me brought me back to my senses. As I felt the children’s body temperature through my clothes, my fear subsided.

“It’s all right,” I said, without a good idea of what I was claiming to be “all right.”

If I let myself get worried, the kids will get anxious too.

“It’s okay, so be calm.” I repeated the sentiment, as though I were trying to convince myself. Inhale, slow exhale. I managed to regain my composure somewhat by repeating that process a few times.

I don’t know what’s going on outside of this room right now, but if we’re in danger, then I need to at least get these kids outta here.

Having settled on that course of action, I frantically scanned my surroundings.

Only one way in and out. It’d be a challenge to squeeze through that narrow window, but maybe a small child could fit through...

I ripped open the shutters and gave the area beyond the window a quick examination. Outside, there was nobody to be seen.

“Lotte, Udo,” I called, my voice hushed. I picked Lotte up first.

“Prin...cess?” Lotte’s large eyes welled with tears, and she looked at me pleadingly.

Udo gripped my skirt, looking worried.

“I have a job for you two.” I looked at them both in turn, exhorting my stiff facial muscles to form a grin.

“A job...?” Udo said, confused.

I turned my smile to him and nodded. “Could you go and fetch Michael or my knight for me?”

“Fetch them?” Udo repeated my words.

“Are you gonna get Michael to tell off the naughty boys?” Lotte asked. My eyes crinkled at her cute phrasing. It eased my sense of tension, if just a little.

“That’s right. So I want you to go get him in secret. You mustn’t let the children who’re fighting see you... Can you do that?”

Lotte bit down hard on her plump lips. “Yeah.” She nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. She wriggled through the narrow window and then extended her arm toward Udo from the outside. “Let’s go, Udo.”

“Huh?” Udo blurted, confused.

“We’re gonna go get Michael, ’kay?” Lotte called out to Udo once more.

I lifted Udo through the window. Though I felt guilty for ignoring his distress, there wasn’t enough time for him to tarry.

“Please,” I said again, making eye contact with him, and he nodded half-heartedly.

I watched the two of them sprint away, hand in hand, until they were out of sight. Their figures looked so tiny as they vanished into the distance that I felt a surge of worry.

Please, don’t let there be anyone dangerous out there.

Very shortly after that, the door flew open with a tremendous bang. I gasped and spun around as a man stepped into the room.

“There’s another one here,” he called.

The short-statured hunchbacked man shifted the dark brown cloth that he’d wound around his head and then looked at me. Deep wrinkles were etched into the skin around his eyes, which peeked through the cloth. I estimated that he was older than fifty.

In his right hand, he was holding a knife with a curved blade, which looked very similar to a kukri. It was covered with rust and scratches and, to my spine-chilling horror, occasional flecks of something dark red. The whites of his eyes were discolored, and they opened wide when he saw me.

“Ooh.” The man ogled me from head to toe. I winced at his crass gaze, but he whistled delightedly. “A real fine one was holing up in this room. Get in here, boys!” he shouted through the doorway, and three more men piled in.

“Would ya look at that!” cheered a large-framed man who was carrying a boy on each shoulder as though they were bags of rice. He laid them on the floor while staring at me with great interest.

The boys were gagged and bound with rope. Their eyes were closed, and they might’ve been unconscious.

A thin man was restraining Hannah, and he looked back and forth between us. “I thought this girl was a looker, but she don’t even compare...”

“Aaah!” Hannah let out a fraught scream when his face drew close to hers. She slammed her eyes shut, and glistening tears welled at the corners of her lids.

“Well, it’s a difference in class, ain’t it,” the large man said. “That dress of hers is something fancy. Could be she’s a noble girl paying a sympathy visit to the orphanage.”

“So the handsome one we laid flat outside would be the little lady’s guard, then?” the thin man said.

Laid flat. I felt the slightest bit of relief upon hearing that phrase. It seemed that they hadn’t killed the knight who’d gone to inspect the noise.

“You come for a visit and have a run-in with kidnappers... Not your lucky day, little lady,” one of them sneered at me.

The fact that he’d used the word “kidnappers” was more interesting to me than his threat. I surmised that we’d been apprehended by a group of criminals engaged in human trafficking.

Could the kid who went missing have been abducted by these people as well? I wondered. On the day when we’d first met Michael, I recalled that Sir Leonhart had mentioned reports of criminals around this area. I’d interpreted that as a white lie he’d told to encourage Michael to join us, but I’d never imagined that it was true.

“We’ll fetch a pretty price from the brothels for a beaut like this,” one of the men remarked.

“Hang on a tic,” another argued. “Why sell her when we can go straight to her parents? Strike a deal with ’em.”

“Nah, there’s more money in selling her off to a rich old man,” a third kidnapper insisted.

The men had begun to quibble about whether to put me up for sale or to demand ransom money from my parents. My mind became almost overwhelmed—the subject of their cheerful exchange was about how best to turn a profit using me as leverage. The word “brothel” in particular spurred the biggest reaction from me, and I began to tremble. As someone who’d not had a boyfriend, even over the course of two lifetimes, I was out of my depth.

“Too scared to say anything, eh, little lady?” The big man smirked vulgarly at me as I paled and stood there speechless. He leered at me like a beast toying with its prey, then stepped toward me.

The man terrified me as he approached, knocking over a chair between us and kicking the table out of the way. My instincts urged me to flee at once, to retreat to the corner of the room, and I barely managed to withstand that impulse. The window was behind me, so if I were to move, the men might spot the children as they returned.

I had to prevent these men from seeing outside.

So, I straightened my posture and stamped my foot on the ground, even though I was barely able to keep my legs from shaking. I slapped away the gnarly hand that had reached toward me, and the sound resounded throughout the room.

The kidnapper looked surprised. He obviously hadn’t anticipated my reaction, and he stumbled to a stop.

“You insolent wretch!” I shouted, tucking in my jaw and glaring coldly at the men.

I heard a gasp as the man retreated a step back.

“Aren’t you a feisty one?” The one that spoke wasn’t the man whose hand I’d slapped, but rather, the short, older one. His discolored eyes took on a fearsome look. “I do like tenacious women, but you might wanna have a little think about the situation you’re in if you don’t wanna get hurt.”

Shit. Looks like I’ve rattled their cages.

The men’s gazes gathered upon me, and a bead of sweat dripped uncomfortably down my spine. My best bet was probably to act submissive and docile to trick them into lowering their guard. But unfortunately, it was too late for that now.

“I should say the same to you,” I declared. “Do you know what situation you’re in?”

“What?” one of the men said, frowning with suspicion.

I turned to him and grinned. Though I was panicking on the inside, I managed to appear calm and collected. While clenching my hand into a fist to disguise its trembling, I frantically searched in my sputtering brain for something to say.

A bluff would do. I just had to prolong the conversation and give Sir Leonhart enough time to race back here. I began to grow desperate, unable to think of the right words, but then I trudged through the memories of my past life.

“Scum like you who can only prey on weak little girls... You plan to sell me? I’d laugh if the idea weren’t so preposterous. You ought to remember who you are when you’re talking to me.”

My plan to see myself through to safety was this: copy the mannerisms of the proud noble girls that I’d seen in books and manga. But, it looked like I’d accidentally confused “proud” with “arrogant.”

This is wrong, Rose. You’re playing the role of a villainess when you should be acting like a proud noble girl. This isn’t what I wanted at all!

Naturally, the men were furious.

“Scum?! You’ve said it now!”

“You little bitch...”

Their attention was now fully focused on me, and the thin man unwittingly released Hannah.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her rush over to the unconscious boys, and I breathed a small sigh of relief.

Maybe it won’t work right this minute, but all I need to do is give her a chance and she might be able to take them to safety.

“And here I was,” the older man said, “willing to take the ransom money and let you go unharmed...if only you’d just behaved yourself.”

“Ransom? You’ll have to work on your jokes. From whom are you proposing you should extract that ransom?” Although I was absolutely terrified by their fearsome glares, my mouth did the talking for me. My every word dripped with another provocation.

The sight of the older man squinting his eyes as he watched me was chilling. I put on a domineering smirk even though I was petrified on the inside.

“Your parents, obviously,” said the thug. “We’ll have you crying, ‘Mommy, daddy, come save me while my head’s still on my shoulders!’”

I quivered after hearing his naked threat. My fear was so overwhelming that I wanted nothing more than to flee, but my feet wouldn’t move. It was as if they were nailed down.

The man looked delighted when he heard me gasp.

My heart almost wavered when he focused that sadistic gaze on me, but somewhere in my soul, a flame reignited.

“My father won’t yield to a threat like that,” I said.

“Wha...” The man lost his tongue. My words must’ve taken him by surprise.

Out of all of my bluffs and lies, this was the one truth: I knew that my father would shrug off my captivity. In the back of my mind, I could picture him laughing scornfully and saying, You should be able to handle a predicament, especially one this minor, by yourself.

“He’d say that state funds shouldn’t be wasted on a girl who can’t take care of vermin by herself.”

“Y-You little brat...!!!”

My plan hadn’t been to provoke them; I’d merely spoken my mind. Even so, the men were enraged. The older one gave in to his anger and snatched my hand. His boorish fingers gouged into my wrist and my bones creaked.

“Ow!” The instant that I let out a quiet scream from the pain, I heard a loud bang.

The sound wasn’t from me being struck.

“Oof.”

Although my vision was distorted by welling tears, I saw one of the kidnappers standing by the doorway... His knees buckled, and his body collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. A figure sprung out from behind the fallen thug and advanced toward the thin man at a speed too quick to follow with my eyes. The figure delivered a hard chop to my captor’s neck with the side of his hand, and after a brief groan, the thug bent double and tumbled to the floor.

“Who the hell are you?!” the tall-statured man screamed. Pale from fear and desperation, he swung his arm.

But the newcomer simply retreated a step back and avoided this crude attack with ease. The large kidnapper had lost his balance, and my savior wheeled his hand behind the thug’s thick neck. Drawing the thug’s head toward himself, he delivered a strong, merciless kick into the man’s jaw.

The large man’s body lurched backward, and his eyes rolled back into his head. A moment later his body fell, crushing a fragile chair that happened to be in the way and sending splinters of wood and dust flying all around.

It was all over in an instant, and the commotion had taken my breath away. In just a few seconds, four criminals were reduced to one.

The figure who’d saved me was standing calmly in the center of the room, brushing the dust from his knight’s uniform with his hand.

He turned his gaze in my direction and caught both the last kidnapper and me in the web of his jet-black eyes. The criminal and I both trembled—I with delight and the man with terror.

“Sir Leon...” There was a tremor in my voice from my overwhelming emotions. My eyes grew watery of their own accord. Even through my murky vision, I could see Sir Leonhart’s face writhing as though in pain.

“Stop!!!” the man screeched, frightened by Sir Leonhart as he took a step toward us. The criminal pulled me close to himself while screaming.

I let out a small whine of pain when he grabbed the same wrist that he’d already injured.

“I’ve got a hostage...” The man sounded like a generic villain while he held the knife to my throat.

However, Sir Leonhart beat him to the punch by a split second.

“Oof!”

Sir Leonhart threw a wood chip with pinpoint accuracy, which struck the back of the man’s hand, causing him to release his grip on the knife. The blade dropped to the floor, spinning around in circles as it clattered toward Sir Leonhart’s foot. He kicked the handle with his boot, and when the knife shot upward, Sir Leonhart elegantly snatched it out of midair.

For a moment, he dropped his gaze to the rusty knife, but then, he returned his focus to the kidnapper. His jet-black eyes were overtaken by a glare colder than any I’d ever seen before. His narrowed glower seemed so piercing and so overflowing with murderous rage that I half imagined he could’ve poked a hole straight through the criminal with it. The rest of Sir Leonhart’s face betrayed no emotion, looking as beautiful as an elaborate doll, which made his glare all the more terrifying.

“Hurry up and get your dirty hands off of her,” Sir Leonhart ordered brusquely.

The man flinched, but only momentarily. He shook his head as though to dispel his fear, then shouted his counterargument. “Y-Yeah right! If you value this girl’s life—”

His hands reached for my neck.

However, Sir Leonhart interrupted his threat. “Hands off, I said.” His tone sent shivers down my spine.

“Wh-What are you say—”

Maintaining a vicious glare at the stammering criminal, Sir Leonhart flipped the knife’s handle over so that the blade was pointing downward, then plunged it into the knocked-over table. There was a loud thud. Although the knife was old and dull, it had sunk deeply into the table, up to the handle.

The kidnapper froze, his eyes and mouth open wide, as though he’d witnessed a premonition of his own demise.

“Go ahead and lay a single finger on her. I’ll carve every kind of agony and terror into your very soul, using whatever means I can,” Sir Leonhart declared. His expression was serious, and he made it clear that he was neither lying nor bluffing.

The criminal’s will to resist evaporated. He groaned, his hand went limp, and it dropped away.

***

Thanks to Sir Leonhart’s actions, the incident came to a speedy conclusion. The criminals were apprehended and transported to the palace, and the children were all unharmed—including Kai, the one who’d initially gone missing. By the time that we’d wrapped up the necessities and had begun our return to the capital, the sky was already pitch-black.

“Does it hurt?”

Sir Leonhart and I were in the carriage on our way home, and he was peering at my hand with concern. My wrist was red and swollen where the thug had grabbed me. I had a damp cloth pressed against my injury to reduce the swelling, but I expected that it would be bruised tomorrow. The mark would likely remain for a few days at least.

“Just a little,” I replied. “But I’m okay. It’s not that bad.” I gave a little flick of the wrist to prove this, but Sir Leonhart still looked downcast.

He scooped my wrists up, cloth and all, and wrapped his own hands around them as if nursing me. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am...for not arriving sooner.”

Though I felt flustered by the firm sensation of his hands on mine, I shook my head in denial. “Don’t say that,” I told him. “If you hadn’t saved me, I would have much worse than a bruise right now. This is my comeuppance for provoking them more than necessary.” I grinned, but Sir Leonhart’s brow furrowed deeply.

He grimaced and looked me directly in the eye. “So you are aware of what you did, then?”

From his displeased tone, I inferred that I was about to be told off. Oops, I feel like I’ve, once again, gone and poked the hornet’s nest without realizing it.

“Ummm... Yes.” My eyebrows drooped and I looked pathetically dejected as I nodded.

Sir Leonhart let out a long sigh. “Why are you always like that? You can correctly assess the situation and take action, but you prioritize everyone else’s safety over your own.”

“Huh?”

Sir Leonhart continued, ignoring my confused interjection. “The children you helped to escape won’t have to suffer guilt because you were considerate about their feelings. You sent them away under a pretense—they were going to bring back someone who could resolve the fight. And the reason the captured children were freed safely was because you drew the criminals’ attention onto yourself with your provocations. That made my intervention easier as well. Nothing that you did was technically wrong.”

Although he was affirming my actions, his tone sounded horribly frustrated, and he was in a rush to spit his words out.

“My plan wasn’t as competent as you’re making it...” ...sound, I almost finished, but then I shut my mouth. Sir Leonhart’s eyes shone with a frightful look.

But, at the time, I really wasn’t thinking anything commendable.

When I’d sent the children away, I’d been unable to come up with a better excuse than “go get help.”

And when I’d provoked the criminals, the words had just slipped off of my tongue, and I hadn’t managed to channel a more appropriate character than a villainess.

All of that was on-the-spot, unplanned improvisation; nothing that I’d done had been worthy of praise.

Sir Leonhart averted his eyes from me and stared at his hands, which were still holding onto mine. “You did your utmost to protect Nevel’s subjects...but I can’t find it in myself to praise you for that.” His murmured voice sounded agonized, as though he were dredging up the pain from deep within.

“In the future, I don’t want you to carry out the best plan, if that plan is guaranteed to save everyone but yourself. Pick the second-best plan, one which has a chance of saving everyone...including yourself.”

“Sir Leon?”

“You don’t have to be smart. You don’t have to be upstanding,” he mumbled, ever-so-slightly increasing the strength of his grip. He lowered his head and brought his temple toward my hand. The pose was reminiscent of a pious Christian confessing their sins.

“Please, have more concern for your well-being. For the sake of those like me who care about you.”

“Huh—” I hadn’t expected him to say that, and I froze. My voice sounded silly as it escaped my throat. “C-C-Care? You mean...” I was too shocked to form words properly. Sir Leonhart didn’t laugh at me for stuttering that word back at him.

He was watching me with a meek expression, like the face a child would pull just before a reprimand. “Is there something wrong with me caring for you?”

I shook my head and withheld the urge to start crying. “No... No, there’s not.”

When he saw my reaction, Sir Leonhart’s eyes narrowed kindly. “But, I can’t yet think of you as a woman. I’d hoped not to say anything that could be misconstrued and cause you undue distress, but—”

I knew very well that the adult Sir Leonhart couldn’t view a child like me as a romantic prospect. That’s what I’d always told myself, but still, I was worried. To him, I was nothing more than a young princess. Even when I grew up, would that perspective ever change? I became frightened every time I wondered about it. Did Sir Leonhart view me as someone with value outside of our relationship as a princess and the royal guard captain?

“—you’re my slightly stubborn but hardworking princess,” Sir Leonhart said as if to eradicate my uncertainty. “So please, take more care of the person that I care about...because she’s irreplaceable to me.”

I’d thought so already, but now, I’m sure: I don’t wanna give up on him.

A slight blush rose to Sir Leonhart’s cheeks as he put on a bashful smile, and my feelings were reconfirmed.