25 – The prickly princess

Ben.

Strangely, it was a day when that face kept coming to mind.

“Beryl… “Ira.”

Even Syria saw him and rushed at him, mistaking him for Ben.

It wasn’t a day or two that Syria saw an illusion of Ben while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but she couldn’t deny the fact that Beryl resembled Ben.

However, he bore no resemblance to Ben in any way, except for some aspects of his appearance.

That cold expression, blunt tone, and the way he looked at her.

However, seeing him do things that Ben had done to him in the past in such a cold way reminded him more of Ben.

Even though I knew he wasn’t Ben, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

That’s because today, like Ben, he picked out only the things he liked and gave them to him.

“… “It must be a coincidence.”

Just a coincidence. There was no other way to explain it.

That’s why Yuna consciously stopped thinking about him.

She had so much to do now.

fluttering-

I carefully look through the information I received from the bookstore during the day.

There was nothing special. Neither the first prince’s power nor his movements changed significantly.

One thing that changes as the days go by is the current king’s condition.

His health was deteriorating little by little.

Although he was not yet at the stage of thinking about death, the king was concentrating on managing his health and had passed much of his authority to his successor, the first prince.

Hwareuk-

Burn the finished paper with a candle.

The sight of burnt ash flying with the wind flowing through the window seemed to turn the colorful world gray.

Compared to the size of the world, the ash was no bigger than a fingernail, but it was enough to turn someone’s world gray.

Yuna, who was unable to shake off the ash that had stuck to her, knew this very well.

Cheokcheok-

The sound of knights changing guard duties can be heard outside.

In terms of order, tonight’s escort was definitely not going to be Beryl. That fact brings an inexplicable feeling of regret.

If he was there, would I be able to sleep comfortably again?

I have become numb to nightmares now, but for some reason, today was a day when I didn’t want to have them.

Of course, I still had to go to sleep.

I knew from experience that the pain of staying up all night with open eyes was more painful.

Yuna laid down on the bed and slowly closed her eyes.

.

.

.

.

.

“Heo-eok-”

Has it been an hour since I fell asleep?

Yuuna woke up, breathing heavily, as the nightmare that came without fail.

There was no one in the room. The guards were also probably watching quietly in their rooms, not knowing what would happen if they came in at will.

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It happened all the time. He was the only one who entered this room on his own.

Yuuna laid her head back and closed her eyes.

However, even though I was in a half-asleep state, I could not sleep. No, I was scared to fall asleep.

“scared… ”

That dream was scary. I was scared of the indelible memories from 10 years ago.

She thought she had already cut off a lot of her emotions and turned cold, but she was still soft inside.

The problem was the one time I was able to sleep comfortably. After that one good night’s sleep, young Yuna raised her head again.

The young Yuna from 10 years ago was foolishly looking for him again.

Even though I already knew he wasn’t Ben.

rattle-

Even in her half-asleep state, Yuna rang the bell without realizing it.

At the same time, the escort driver opens the door and comes in and kneels in front of him.

“… Beryl. Take turns with him. Right Now.”

The escort driver who rushed in looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

Just when I came in thinking there was an assassination attempt, they suddenly changed duties.

Although he was confused about this happening for the first time in his life, he did not dare to question her words.

If he did that, he didn’t know if his head would be blown off like the others.

The escort driver, who was dumbfounded for a moment, tried to put his thoughts together and lowered his head and spoke.

“… All right.”

And ten minutes after he left. No, about twenty minutes have passed.

His voice was heard along with the sound of changing duties outside the door.

And only then was Yuna able to open her eyes again.

She didn’t have any nightmares that day.

***

-… reel… Oh… !

Someone shakes my body to wake me up.

In fact, I knew that it should have happened a long time ago.

However, I didn’t want to do that, so I just kept lying down even though I knew the time.

It was something I shouldn’t have done as a knight, but I wanted to sleep a little more today.

“Off… ”

“Beryl! Wake up! “It’s meal time!”

“okay… I knew… ”

As expected, it was Lia who woke me up.

True to her nature, she never left the room before I woke up.

It was all thanks to her that I was able to eat meals regularly that I would have otherwise missed.

In the first place, the only person who bothered to come into this room and wake me up was her.

“Are you okay? As expected, I should tell the leader about this… ”

“What difference will it make if I tell you… “If that happens, who knows, the princess might kill the leader too.”

“Anyway, that’s… ”

She stood up shakily and looked at me with worried eyes.

She was already fully dressed in uniform.

This was because it was lunch, not breakfast.

One day, Yuna suddenly called me last night and ordered me to be his escort. He continued to order me to be sent on night missions.

If that was all it was, it would have been fine, but some days, even when he had to sleep, he called me as an escort.

Although the leader said that was not allowed in principle, even the leader could not stop her.

Seeing me working the night shift every day, other senior drivers expressed sympathy for me, saying that the way I bully them had changed and that it would be better for me to die.

From what I’ve heard, since the day I entered Yuna’s room on my own, no one has died because of her.

Instead, rumors circulated that her personality had become more outrageous.

Although it was difficult to be an escort every night, the good thing is that this lifestyle pattern is becoming fixed.

It was difficult to not sleep at night, but my body gradually adapted.

“I’m fine…” What about you, Lia? 1Escort the prince.”

Not long ago, Lia’s bodyguard was decided to be the first prince.

1st place in succession ranking. It was a good thing for Lia to become his escort.

Moreover, unlike Yuna, Prince 1 is known to have a gentle personality, so he won’t have to suffer like I did.

“It’s the same as everyone else. “If there is something special, wouldn’t you be the most special?”

“… That’s right. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

I put on my uniform and left the room with Lia.

Is it because it’s just the two of us sharing a room? Even though we didn’t sleep together, we definitely felt closer.

In some ways, it is no exaggeration to say that she is the person closest to me right now.

It wasn’t that he was particularly dependent on her, but he seemed to relax a little when he was around her, so it was clear that he was accepting her presence differently than other people.

Compared to always thinking about revenge when I was with Yuna or as a knight, I was able to forget about that thought for a moment when I was with Lia.

Maybe it’s because she’s the one I’ve seen for the longest time since the entrance exam and has had my back.

It was one of the things I was grateful for that they always prepared my meals like this.

“thanks. “Leah.”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“just.”

“It’s bland.”

If I succeed in getting revenge, what will my relationship with her be like?

It’s probably not the same relationship as it is now. Because she is also a loyal follower of Helia.

“Leah. “What would we do if a situation came where we had to point swords at each other?”

“There’s no way something like that could happen, right? “He is a knight of the same Helyan royal family.”

“still. There is such a thing as what if. “How would you feel if you had to fight over me as your enemy?”

“… That won’t happen, but if that happens, I’ll cut you down without hesitation. Because that is the duty of a knight.”

“As expected.”

I didn’t know that maybe it was because she was like this that I could live a little more comfortably.

Because she was more knightly than any other knight. Even if I turned against her, she would cut me down without hesitation.

I promised myself not to leave any personal feelings behind, but I think I felt a little more at ease because she was like this.

If it were her, she would cut me down without hesitation when my back was turned.

Because she is like that, she won’t have to feel guilty when she succeeds in getting revenge later.

No matter how close she got to me, I knew that she would act like a knight, so I was able to approach her without feeling guilty.

“Hey Beryl, did you sleep well?”

“Let’s have some food together. “Can I sit next to you?”

As I was eating and talking about various things with Lia, senior drivers approached me and pulled up chairs for me.

They were all knights like me, protecting Yuna.

“What’s going on? “You all seem to be full of energy today.”

“Does this look full of energy to you? “You’re riding a sh*t rope!”

“… “Poop line?”

Usually, Yuna’s escorts all walk around with an expression on the verge of death.

Because the target of their escort is Yuuna. No other explanation is needed.

But strangely enough, they were all a little excited today.

“You know that the First Prince will visit the Empire Founding Festival next week, right? As a representative of the royal family.”

“yes.”

“But it has been decided that not only the 1st Prince but the 4th Princess will also visit there! “How can you not get on your butt rope?”

“ah… Is that so?”

“I’m not saying is that so, you bastard! This means that one of us must follow the princess as her attendant and guard her throughout the founding festival!”

Was it something like that?

I had just found out that Yuna was visiting the Empire Founding Festival, but that was enough to understand their condition.

Because the escort driver who will be responsible for escorting Yuuna during her visit to the Emperor will soon be decided. And he had to take responsibility for Yuna’s escort during that period alone.

Since the 1st Prince is with him, he will be in charge of the overall escort. Therefore, we do not need to worry about night escorts.

But in this case, it’s just one of us. Only one person is selected as Yuna’s attendant and must stick to her and guard her in all situations.

It seemed like he was probably afraid that one of them might be the one, so he used the expression “sh*t-ridden.”

If you’re selected there, you’ll have to stay close to Yuuna for a long period of time going back and forth between the Konkukje and the other places.

“But isn’t it actually a good thing? “As long as you don’t get caught, it means you won’t have to guard the princess during that period.”

“yes! So I actually have a favor to ask, Beryl. “Can’t you apply to be an ascetic engineer?”

“But at least the princess won’t kill you. “If we do something wrong, we will lose our heads!”

“Huh… That’s something I can decide… “

Of course, Yuna has nominated me a lot recently, but she has never done anything to harm me.

Usually, performers are selected in order of highest availability, so they may be worried. You might ask me this favor.

But it was true that it was an unreasonable request. Even excluding the fact that the opponent was Yuuna, it was difficult to work as an attendant during that period alone.

bang-

“to… “Huh, Lia?”

Actually, I kept quiet about what my seniors said because I had a lot to gain by following them as an ascetic knight.

Rather, it was Leah, not me, who reacted to those words.

“… When I listen quietly, I don’t think this is right, seniors. “For a proud knight of Helia, what a disgrace this is!”

“Eh, eh… ? No, we’re not like that, it seems like the princess is particularly fond of Beryl… ”

“Just because it’s Beryl doesn’t mean it’s not hard! Even now, Beryl is doing that difficult night escort job every night! “Don’t you know that I often carry out missions even during bedtime?”

“Lee, Lia… I’m fine… ”

“Rather, isn’t it a situation where we should be thankful to Beryl! “If Beryl dies like this, you will be responsible!”

——!

Everyone in the restaurant froze as she shouted, jumping up from the table.

Confronting seniors was something that could easily lead to a bad situation, but because what she said was correct in every detail, it seemed like everyone was speechless.

But I’m really fine.

“Well, well, yeah, of course we overdid it a bit, didn’t we? I’m sorry Beryl. “It would still be difficult.”

“Okay, okay. I don’t have time to do my attendant duties yet. “We were wrong.”

“So I was against it… Anyway, enjoy your meal, both of you! hi!”

The senior knights, who had been gaping for a while, hurriedly took their trays and left.

“Oh, sit down Leah. And I don’t care. “I think I’ll learn a lot if I do the mission of an attendant.”

“you… ! You always have that problem! What on earth is that woman… ”

Lia, who was muttering to herself with her fists clenched, eventually left the place with a tray in hand.

I couldn’t understand why she was so angry, but I did.

There were too many important things for me to think deeply about, and the odds of me becoming an attendant were low.

“-Beryl! Starting next week, I will be in charge of the 4th Princess’s attendant. “This is a special appointment from the princess, so prepare well.”

But my expectations were spectacularly wrong.

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