Chapter 125 · The Vanished Princess (3)

Leo is coming here?

‘Don’t tell me he knows I’m here… surely not?’

That can’t be. It must be a coincidence. There’s no way he could know I’m in Eldina, and even if he did, he wouldn’t come all this way just to see me. But of all the countries in the world, why Eldina?

I recalled my last farewell with Leo. It could hardly be called a good parting. I had made an unreasonable request of him, and he had coldly rebuffed me.

And, and…

‘I made a blunder.’

My face suddenly burned. Every time I thought of that moment, my stomach churned like seasickness.

No, what was that, really… It was just an accident. Leo is a child. There’s no need to take it seriously, right?

“Princess, your face seems a little flushed. Are you unwell?”

“N-no… I think it’s just a little hot.”

Cyrus tilted his head.

“It isn’t that hot, though…”

I tried hard to think of something else. But Leo kept coming to mind. The face that had turned icy and snapped sharp words at me, and the face that had blushed all the way to the tips of his ears in embarrassment, alternated in my head.

“The Kalisan prince is coming, and you’re not affected at all? He’s your friend, isn’t he?”

“It’s surprising. But what does it have to do with me?”

“Whoa, aren’t you too cold? You have no intention of meeting him at all?”

“Why would I meet him?!”

When I snapped, Cyrus sweated and muttered.

“I mean, if he’s a friend, you could meet him… Why are you angry?”

“Do you have any idea how big the bounty on my head is! Until I return to Santra on my own feet, I won’t meet anyone who knows me.”

Emet’s eyes sparkled as she cut in.

“Princess, you’re close friends with the Kalisan prince?”

“Um, I suppose you could say that…?”

“Is the prince handsome?”

“He is handsome, but… that prince is thirteen.”

“Tsk, too young. I don’t go for younger men.”

“Please get a grip on the subject. Who are you to covet another country’s prince?”

“Shut up, ugly Cyrus.”

“Hey, I’m not a face that loses anywhere! Do you know how popular I was back in school!”

Whether Cyrus was stomping or not, Emet fawned on me.

“Princess, when you return to Santra, you absolutely must take me with you. I heard there are tons of handsome men in Santra.”

“Got it. And it’s not ‘take,’ it’s ‘bring.’”

The sun was already hanging low. We boarded the boat heading home.

Eldina is made up of thousands of islands, and anyone with residency and money can own an island.

I first worked hard in Brilia for three months to save money, then bought Eldinan residency and searched for a suitable island. Because Santra had requested search cooperation from Brilia, I couldn’t stay there indefinitely. And buying an island in Eldina had been a dream across several lives, so it felt a shame to give it up just because my goal had changed.

‘And so I obtained my island!’

The rowboat cut through the water toward the small island.

My island, with the cute name ‘Popo,’ is small in size but a peaceful place with a population in the thousands.

It is surrounded entirely by breathtakingly beautiful emerald sea, and it is especially beautiful at sunset. The lush tropical rainforest is home to various animals. The red-bellied finches that come to my window and chirp every morning are so adorable I could bite them. It is a dreamlike place exactly like a fairy tale, so much so that walking along the beach makes me wonder if I’m trapped in a long dream.

‘Leo would like it.’

I felt a little regretful that I couldn’t show him. Not just Leo—I wanted to show everyone in Santra.

‘Will we be able to come together someday?’

My eyes stung. I missed them so, so much. Especially on a day like today… I couldn’t help but miss the cake the three priestesses made and Paeon’s awkward birthday song.

When I returned home, I carefully took out an image stone from my treasure box. I hadn’t looked at it even once since leaving. Because I was afraid looking at it would only deepen my longing.

‘I wonder if everyone is doing well.’

By now, things must be in an uproar because of the monsters. They haven’t been hurt by monsters, have they? Ark and Rizen are incredibly strong now.

Paeon too… he hasn’t been hurt, has he?

Thinking of Paeon makes my chest ache strangely. Perhaps it’s because the last time I saw him while he was conscious, he was crying. Whenever I think of that time when Paeon hovered between life and death, my heart sinks, and when his words to me echo in my ears, my heart tingles.

“Because I wanted to stay by your side, Princess…”

Even thinking about it again, I can’t believe it. Who would have known Paeon would come to cherish me that much? I had only hoped he would grow attached enough to protect my body.

Still, he probably isn’t wandering around searching for me. There’s no way for him to find me, and he has to subjugate the monsters that broke through the barrier. Even in my past lives, he always headed to the Dark Forest when I turned ten.

‘I hope he’s properly heartbroken.’

He must pay the price for neglecting me nine times. I don’t know whether he’ll suffer enough from me disappearing for just a year or two.

If there’s something unfair, it’s that I’m suffering terribly too. Ugh, proper revenge would mean I shouldn’t suffer at all! Why do I miss that ill-mannered man so much!

When I infused the image stone with mana, it made a humming sound and emitted light.

Just as the image formed in the air, the door burst open and Emet cried out.

“Princess!”

“Eeeek?!”

Startled, I turned to see her standing with Cyrus, holding a large cake and smiling brightly.

“Birthday surprise… Huh? Isn’t that an image stone?”

From the image stone, nostalgic voices rang out.

“Princess, smile! You three priestesses, squeeze in close this way too.”

It was Ark’s energetic voice, the one recording.

Emet set down the cake and came over to me, her mouth hanging open.

“Are these the princess’s friends?”

“Yes.”

“Ooh, I’ve only ever heard about them in words, so seeing them for real is amazing.”

Just then, the image showed Paeon awkwardly holding Nine.

“Whoa! A Santran man!”

So Emet’s first encounter with the Santran man she was so curious about is Paeon. This is a little dangerous…

“Whoa, his skin is as white as the princess’s! The princess’s skin is like white jade too! I heard all Santran men are male gods, and it’s true!”

See, this is a dangerous prejudice! Not all Santran men look like Paeon!

“He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Emet chattered excitedly.

“And he’s cute!”

I doubted my ears. Who is this sister calling cute?

“Emet, do you know what ‘cute’ means? This person is cute?”

“He’s cute struggling to hold the animal, isn’t he?”

At this point, I was worried Emet might fall for Paeon.

“But he looks cold. I like warm men.”

Thank goodness. The worst-case scenario was avoided.

“This person is handsome too. He’s a smile angel. He’s my type!”

Emet pointed at Rizen, who was smiling brightly beside me. Oh no! Emet, not him either! Rizen is a holy knight!

“My, he even speaks like a gentleman.”

Haa… It’s true that Rizen is a gentlemanly, kind, and handsome man. Except for the vow of chastity, he’s a perfect man.

“Hey, stop drooling and celebrate the princess’s birthday.”

Cyrus, unable to watch, restrained her.

“Ah, right! To properly celebrate the birthday of the great Princess Anastasia, we made a cake since dawn!”

What Emet and Cyrus brought was a southern continent-style cake layered with honey. I had told them they didn’t need to prepare anything like this since I had a deal today. My nose stung.

If it weren’t for Cyrus and Emet, I wouldn’t have been able to settle alone in a foreign land. Though our relationship began with something close to blackmail, they had become another family to me. In this life, the number of people I cared about only kept increasing.

I had eaten until I was stuffed and thought there was no room left, but as I ate, it went down easily.

I was reviewing my plans for the future when I remembered a pressing problem.

“Come to think of it, what happened with the mercenary you said you’d find last week?”

Cyrus and Emet stopped their forks and glanced at each other.

“Well…”

“Don’t tell me you still haven’t found one?”

Even in a fairy-tale country that seems peaceful and free of worry, there are naturally problems. Monsters appearing all over the world wouldn’t spare this place either.

While Santra mostly has land monsters, most monsters appearing in Eldina are marine monsters. Our island is also attacked about once every few weeks. They rarely come inland, but people fishing or people on the beach are often attacked, making it very dangerous.

An island owner in Eldina must hire mercenaries to protect themselves and the islanders. But finding decent mercenaries is like plucking stars from the sky. In Eldina, very few people can use mana or divine power, and if they have such abilities, they naturally don’t take mercenary work on a small island.

I had found and hired people with passable swordsmanship, but they either ran away or caused trouble within a month. After that, I started interviewing them myself, and the position had been vacant for a month.

“A monster could pop out tomorrow! We need to find one quickly!”

I had to avoid using magic as much as possible. If a ten-year-old girl were seen beating monsters with magic, rumors would spread, and if my identity were revealed, it would be a disaster.

“But Princess, you’ll reject whoever we bring anyway.”

Cyrus said hesitantly.

“No! The people who came for interviews so far were all trash, so there was no helping it. There was even someone who bullied the villagers!”

“Sigh… A lot of mercenaries do have personality problems.”

“If they were at least outstanding in skill, maybe, but they were all so pathetic I felt like I could beat them in five seconds.”

“Don’t you think the princess is too strong?”

“Even if they’re weaker than me, they at least shouldn’t be the type to run away at the sight of a monster.”

“Then we should go to Ashinak, the central island, soon. Let’s stop by an agency. Decent mercenaries are usually hired through agencies.”

“Cyrus, I feel like we’ll get ripped off. I should go with you.”

“Then while we’re at it, let’s see the festival too!”

Emet cried brightly.

“…Festival?”

As I looked reluctant, Cyrus spoke reassuringly.

“I saw in the extra earlier that there’s a festival if we go for a day. If we wear masks, our faces will be covered, so wouldn’t it be all right?”

“I suppose…”