Chapter 52 · Human Hunting (2)

“But if the exam really is a hunting competition, there’s a high chance the academy won’t let the princess go out.”

Melvian added worriedly.

“How can that be?!”

I whispered, keeping an eye on the priest giving the sermon from the pulpit.

“It makes no sense that the year president can discipline other students as she pleases. Then she could invent crimes that don’t exist, couldn’t she?”

“Ah, so the princess intends to become year president and change the rules?”

“No. Why would I? If I’m going to change them, I should torment them just the same first, then change them.”

“…!”

Melvian looked startled, then his sky-blue eyes sparkled.

“As expected of the princess…”

This one doesn’t seem entirely normal either.

“Our family has many members in Naritas, so we can obtain various information. I’ll tell you as soon as I learn anything.”

What a useful informant this is!

Rizen and Ark might feel hurt if they heard, but those two, while full of passion, weren’t exactly strong on information. Rizen was a holy knight holed up in the temple, and Ark had a personality that was indifferent to anything outside his interests.

As soon as the morning prayer meeting ended, Freesia sprang up again and tried to flee.

“Um, Princess… I’ll be going to class now. May the blessing of Lord Lux be with you today…”

“Fwee, don’t you have something to say to me?”

“…”

“Are you weally not going to talk to me anymowe?”

“Princess, that’s not it…”

She hesitated with a troubled look. Many of the students leaving the great hall were watching us so intensely it made the back of my head sting, so I took Freesia’s hand and quickly left the place.

Because the beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes were in different buildings, I had to part ways with Ark and Melvian. I headed down a corridor in a direction students rarely took. The skin-and-bones Freesia was dragged along haphazardly by me, who was only eight. That made me choke up again, so I quickly pushed her into an empty classroom.

“Do you wemember the pwomise Fwee made to me thwee yeaws ago?”

“…!”

She looked at me with wavering eyes. In an instant, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Yes… I said I would serve you… serve the princess as my liege for life…”

“I won’t keep anyone who lies to me as one of my people. What kind of liege keeps a liar as one of her own?”

“…”

“I told Fwee all my secrets, but I suppose that’s all I was to you.”

Actually, not all my secrets… I hadn’t been able to tell her the identity of my biological father, a secret almost as shocking. That was probably something I could never reveal to anyone.

“No! I wasn’t trying to lie on purpose…”

“You wewe afwaid it would dwag me down, wight?”

Freesia’s mouth moved wordlessly as if she were at a loss for words.

“But you should have told me. Instead of foolishwy enduwing it fow thwee yeaws.”

“…”

“Fwee, if thewe had been even one pewson in my past wives to help me, I would have clung to them fow deaw wife.”

Paeon came to mind. I truly hated him, and I still hated him so much, but because of him, this life of mine had changed so much. Enough that I thought I might be able to achieve my goal.

“Do you want to wun away fwom hewe? Then I’ll help you. To live as a woyaw mage in Santwa as a commonew, it might be faw hawdew and mowe painful than now.”

If she said she wanted to run away, I planned to suggest we go together. Far across the sea, to a place where no one could find us.

“Pwincess, this may be pwesumptuous, but…”

After being silent for a while, she cautiously spoke.

“The nine wives… you don’t need to tell me everything about how they wewe. But was thewe even once when the pwincess became king?”

“No, not once. I died eawwy evewy time.”

I smiled bitterly and looked at the floor. It was a piercing question. I thought it might seem laughable that I had asked her to rely on someone like me.

“…Perhaps the weason the pwincess wepeats hew wife is so that you can become king. By the will of Wux.”

“…What?”

I jerked my head up at the unexpected words.

That can’t be. No, even if it were true, I can’t be king! I don’t know anything about the future after I turn twelve. I don’t know when I might be branded a child of calamity. And even if I overcome all sorts of crises and become king as a bastard, I’d be dragged down in no time.

There was a voice ringing in my suddenly confused heart.

‘But what if Freesia’s words are true? What if I really have to become king to end the cycle of regression?’

…Still, not this life. After all I’ve been through to get here. I thought I wanted to live a proper life, a happy life, at least once. That’s my goal. After enjoying a full lifespan, if I still regress then, I’ll try being king or whatever. But not this life!

“So I’m not going to wun away.”

Freesia, who couldn’t know my thoughts, took on a resolute face. Her eyes resembled Ark’s when he had said he would follow me.

“I will see with my own eyes the pwincess becoming the king of Santwa.”

Why?

Why go that far…

Am I worth enduring trials and pain for?

“…”

I wondered whether I should tell her the truth. But seeing the look in Freesia’s eyes, I thought I didn’t want to shatter that dream for the time being. I didn’t want to disappoint her.

“All wight, Fwee. Then fwom now on, no mowe wies to me.”

“…Yes. But…”

“And stawting today, if those pests buwwy you, you don’t howd back.”

“…Is that weally all wight?”

“Of couwse! A gwumpy Fwee doesn’t suit you. Fwee is actually weally good at cussing, wemember? Come on, pwactice by cussing them out in fwont of me.”

She hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a small voice.

“…Those bastards who desewve to die!”

“Uh oh! That’s not the wevel you wewe at, Fwee.”

“You… you… you sons of bitches!”

“Hawdew!”

“X X XXX XXX!”

Goodness, that was a bit strong.

“Hngh, hnngh…”

Freesia burst into tears. Her emotions must have overwhelmed her. I quietly approached and hugged her tightly. Then she cried and smiled at the same time, and hugged me so hard I wondered where she found the strength.

“The pwincess is my saviow.”

At those words, tears welled up in my eyes too. I was truly happy, but I couldn’t be fully happy because I wasn’t sure I deserved to hear such a thing.

◇ ◆ ◇

During the break after first period. The students of Advanced Class 1 were gathered in small groups of close friends.

“Those two are late again today. First period is already over.”

“We can at least discipline Plegia, but what to do about this insolent princess? Miss Giselle, what do you think?”

A boy with a mean face and dull blond hair asked Giselle.

“Even royalty should be sanctioned if they attend the academy like a delinquent.”

Giselle whispered, glaring with narrow eyes at the students gathered on the other side.

“But… the Laselles family’s movements are suspicious, so I can’t act rashly.”

“True, they have a tight grip on the southwest region and several families in the capital.”

Another girl spoke in a voice full of contempt.

“Do they really plan to side with the bastard princess? However much they hate the Alter family, how could they… isn’t it shameful?”

“Neither that princess nor the young marquis has made their debut yet, so before that, we must make sure they can never set foot in high society again.”

“Can we? That princess’s shamelessness is beyond belief.”

“According to Princess Stella, she’s become arrogant because her magic skills are decent for her age.”

“Well, Princess Beatrice was so remarkable…”

“She’s still just a child. Strong mana doesn’t mean skillful. Princess Stella said she even failed at portal magic last time.”

At Giselle’s words, the blond boy grinned.

“Portal magic is difficult, but… her quick response was also lacking. Did you see her fall down the stairs last time?”

“So it was you, Frederick, who cast that spell? No wonder…”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

He shrugged shamelessly.

“Anyway, if she’s arrogant because of her skills, she’ll soon learn the academy isn’t so easy.”

Just as Giselle said that, the front door banged open and a gentleman with dark chestnut hair and a splendid mustache entered.

“Because this next class is his.”

◇ ◆ ◇

I ended up late to class because I waited for Freesia’s swollen eyes to get a little better.

‘I meant to go in before second period…’

I hesitantly opened the back door and went in, and the mustached gentleman, who had been reading from a book and explaining, stopped and snapped at me.

“Well, well, who do we have here. The famous Princess Anastasia.”

“…I apologize. I was late due to circumstances.”

Because of his impressive mustache, I was on the verge of remembering who he was. He was a famous person.

“The dean may have been lenient, but I intend to treat the princess fairly, the same as the other students. As a fellow member of the academy.”

Ah, hearing that unpleasant tone, I remembered. The scene of him receiving a medal. Alfredo Caesar, the uncle of Giselle Caesar, who was sitting over there grinning.

The Caesar family mostly belonged to Naritas, and had many outstanding mages. That was probably why Giselle became year president too. They had amassed wealth through various magic research, but they didn’t always use proper methods. They often stole research from obscure families and passed it off as their own achievements. Alfredo Caesar in particular was vicious, to the point that even I, who was not well-versed in rumors, had heard the dirty gossip.

“I heard the princess’s magical knowledge is outstanding. Then come here and draw the spell formula for a multi-communication stone. If you’ve come to the advanced class without even an exam, you should be able to do at least this much.”

The spell formula for making a multi-communication stone was famously complex, and most people, unless quite skilled, drew it while looking at a book. As expected of a Caesar, coming out like this from the first meeting.

I strode to the blackboard and picked up the chalk. But because of my height, I couldn’t reach. The students behind me snickered.

‘Are you looking down on me for being small?! Weren’t you small at this age too?!’

I was angry, but I didn’t give in; I grunted and brought a chair from the front. Then I climbed up, gripped the chalk tightly, and began drawing the formula roughly.

As I quickly finished drawing a formula containing over a hundred runic characters and dusted off my hands, Alfredo examined the blackboard with a fierce look, as if determined to find even the slightest error.

“…Yes, it is perfect.”

He said in a displeased tone after a long while.

“But I don’t think this is a perfect formula.”

At my words, he rolled his eyes.

“What? What do you mean?”

Without answering, I began drawing a new formula on the blackboard. It looked less complex than the one beside it.

“If you use this formula, you can communicate with more people using less mana.”

The students murmured. All looked surprised.

“Princess Anastasia, that formula was established by Lady Rania fifty years ago. There is no formula more perfect and efficient than that.”

Alfredo sneered at me as if dumbfounded.

“Well… the world of magic is endless, isn’t it?”

“Then you are certain yours is better than Lady Rania’s?”

“Yes.”

At my cheerful answer, a vein bulged on his forehead.

“I have researched communication magic for over ten years. Do you think you have greater insight than me?”

“Yes.”

“…The princess is truly arrogant! Even the chief researchers of Naritas do not commit to a new formula until after official experiments!”

He shouted so hard that spit flew from his mustache, but I couldn’t help laughing inwardly.

Because this is the formula you’ll announce in three years and receive a merit medal for, you fool!