Monster Princess

Chapter 13

Translated by Schwarzel
Edited by Schwarzel

Monster Princess

Episode 13

“Hi, guys. It’s been a while since I saw you.”

Beep beep! Tweet tweet!

As if to answer my greeting, small creatures in the greenhouse made a singing cry.

This place, which forms an ecosystem with colorful flowers and grasses, was full of all kinds of beautiful and rare birds.

This greenhouse was my personal space where only I could freely enter. Raising birds here has been one of my hobbies so far.

‘In my dream, I later relieved stress by plucking the feathers of the birds.’

In particular, in [The Shining World of Princess Judith], it was very common for me to capture and harass birds with black feathers resembling Judith.

That’s why I haven’t walked to this greenhouse for a while.

After going to the other side of the world, I sometimes had nightmares.

The background was this greenhouse where I am standing now, and I, who became an adult in it, was killing a black-colored bird.

「”Judith… You won’t have what I don’t have.”」

Oh, I remembered it again.

When I saw the birds flying in the greenhouse even now, the creepy scene seemed to show up in front of me.

If I grew old without knowing anything, would I really do that?

When I saw the birds flying and chirping beautifully, I thought it was disgusting.

“Would you mind ignoring me today?”

I reached out to the bird sitting on the branch of the nearby flower tree.

Tweet tweet!

But today, without a doubt, the bird flew away from my hand.

…Actually, I wasn’t popular with birds. Not only birds but also other animals.

But these days, the birds are too timid and seem to avoid me, so I feel a bit bitter.

With my hands out to the bird, I looked at the scenery in the greenhouse quietly.

At that moment, I felt similar to what I felt at the dining hall where I gathered with the imperial family. For some reason, I felt like I was the only stranger here.

This sense of discomfort has always followed me since I had that dream.

After looking at the birds, I impulsively opened all the windows of the greenhouse with magic.

Clank! Clank!

The wind blew from all over the open space at once. The birds flew up at once and colorful feathers fluttered.

“Yeah. You don’t have to be forced to be where you don’t want to be.”

All the birds that I have cherished and raised so far have been sent out of the greenhouse.

“Just go where you want to go.”

I wanted you to be free, and I wanted you to just go anywhere if you hated me so much.

In fact, my mind these days is so complicated and contradictory that I couldn’t express exactly how I feel now.

The sound of birds flapping their wings, the sound of the wind, and the plants in the greenhouse swaying and rubbing against each other made a loud noise in my ears.

No, but… Aren’t you going without looking back too much?

Still, I expected at least one to remain next to me, like a princess and bird in a beautiful old story.

But the reality was also bitter.

I looked at the birds flying far away, leaving only feathers like footprints, feeling a little disappointed.

The flapping wings of birds and the dancing green leaves constantly crossed light and shadows, making my eyes dizzy.

It was then that I discovered the red light that was foreign among them.

The silver-gray eyes of vivid brilliance lodged beneath the fluttering hair were staring at me, slightly wide open.

At first, I thought I saw it wrong. But my eyesight was good, and it turned out that I was not the only person here.

An uninvited guest appeared among the green plants. It was the heretic boy I saw a while ago.

When I saw him in the forest, he looked miserable, and last time I was too far to properly take a look, but looking at him like this today, his eyes look so beautiful that it satisfies my aesthetics. Just like a red flower growing among the green grasses.

‘Come to think of it, Count Rasner was famous for being handsome before living in seclusion.’

Anyway, I paused for a moment at the unexpected meeting and opened my mouth.

“Who are you?”

After I straightened my expression and returning to my arrogant appearance as a princess, I asked the boy.

“Why are you here? This is not a place where you can enter without permission.”

I didn’t understand why the heretic, who was supposed to be in the White Night Hall, came out and stepped into my greenhouse.

The boy, who stood still as if time had stopped and looked at me without blinking, breathed in.

“…Rabbit princess.”

It’s that again.

As expected, he seemed to have seen a video of me when I was young.

What do you mean rabbit princess? When was that? Why do you still think of me like that?

Anyway, seeing the boy again like this made me feel a little heavy.

Of course, it would be better than dying, but for some reason, it was because of me that this boy was revealed to be the son of a criminal and it felt like he was imprisoned in the White Night Hall.

Could it be that he resents me for that?

“I definitely asked who you are, but you’re talking nonsense without answering.”

With that in mind, I pretended not to remember the boy who was looking at me in disbelief and talked again.

Then he flinched and opened his mouth.

“I…”

“This way!”

Then a sound was heard outside the greenhouse as if looking for someone.

No one else has entered the greenhouse yet, but it seemed certain that they were searching around.

At that moment, a bright light flashed to the boy’s eyes. Suddenly, the atmosphere from his body also changed.

Until a while ago, he looked like a handsome ordinary noble young master, but the sharp gaze looking from side to side as if looking for a way back was like a ferocious wild animal that entered the wrong place where people lives.

‘Isn’t he the son of Count Rasner? But why is the atmosphere so…’

I shuddered at the boy who gave off a raw feeling as if he had come from a pack of wolves.

But there was no time to think about him anymore. It was because the boy, who seemed to be in conflict for a moment, clenched his teeth and ran to me as if he had made up his mind.

He was very agile, and in an instant, our distance narrowed.

Immediately after that, he suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Guide me where the way out of the palace is.”

Huh?

I was dumbfounded by a situation that I had never thought about in my life.

It was ambiguous because he didn’t attack my vital point or restrain all my limbs, but he was holding my arm in an awkward way, but this situation was clearly…

“Are you threatening me now?”

At my question, the boy remained silent for a moment. Somehow, I felt like his hand holding my arm slightly flinched.

“If you cooperate…I won’t hurt you. So tell me where to go out quickly. I heard there are many secret passages in the palace…”

Wow, I guess it’s real.

There’s a fool here who’s threatening a great wizard like me with one arm.

I even breathed in to hold back my laughter, so he thought it was because I was scared, and he relaxed his grip a little.

Wow… It’s my first time experiencing this, but it feels fresh*(1)…?

It was not unique, but it was interesting to the point it aroused my stimuli.

Looking at the situation, it seemed that the heretic tried to escape from the White Night Hall.

“Then were you finding a place to hide and set your foot in here?”

But why didn’t the barrier work?

‘I’ll have to take a look at the monitoring mana stone in the greenhouse later.’

Anyway, it hasn’t been long since he entered the White Night Hall, but he’s already tried to escape.

Rather, why do I keep bumping into this heresy boy?

Is this also an indication of my failure? It’s making me feel uncomfortable.

“Don’t you know who I am?”

Anyway, I thought this boy was pretty cute.

It was questionable whether he knew who he dared to hostage now.

“You said rabbit princess a while ago. Then, don’t you know who I am?”

The boy shut up again.

Looking at his face, he was frowning as if he were in trouble.

From his silent lips, a voice so small that I couldn’t hear well soon came out.

“I know you… I’m sorry.”

But why does he keep talking informally to a princess?

‘Did he live in a remote village?’

Oh, well. I heard that he lived in their mansion all the time with his father, so if it’s a remote village, then it’s a remote village.*(2)

“That way.”

I gently raised my arm and pointed my finger at the back door of the greenhouse.

Anyway, this guy didn’t seem to blame me. After knowing that, I also felt a little at ease.

First, the boy followed me walking toward the back door.

But if one’s a hostage-taker, don’t you have to drag me around like a normal hostage-taker, or make me follow like a dog who listens so docilely?

‘Looking at the current picture, what is this, the two of us holding hands and walking together?’

I found this a bit funny, but I just didn’t say anything. He can’t really run away anyway, so I thought I’d hang out with him for a while.