I Stole the Heroines’ Tragedy Flags

That day, the rain was pouring down like never before.
At one of the Adventurer's Guild buildings located in the Empire’s capital, a child wearing a hood entered.
As soon as the child stepped in, the noisy sounds of the guild filled the air.
Adventurers gathered together, drinking alcohol and making a racket.
The child frowned at the noise and quickly climbed the stairs.
As the loud sounds from the lower floors gradually quieted, the child headed for the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was where the Guild Master’s office was located.

Bang!
With a kick, the child slammed the door open.
At the same time, the hood was thrown off as the child looked directly at the owner of the room.
"Hey, long time no see. It’s Ain."
"Hey, you little brat! I told you not to open the door like that?!"
"Honestly, I find kicking the door fun."
"...Tch, crazy kid."

The Adventurer's Guild held immense influence across the continent, regardless of race or time.
Because of that, everyone regarded the Guild Master as a highly significant figure.
After all, the position of Guild Master was comparable to that of the Imperial Royal Family.
The Empire respected the guild that had continued the will of the first Hero.
It was a position of great power, but...
"So, what’s brought you here this time, brat? Did you kill someone again?"
"Do you think I only come here when I’ve killed someone?"
"Has there ever been a time when that wasn’t the case?"
"...Now that I think about it, I don’t think there has been."
"See? Heh..."

This down-to-earth, casual man was comparable to the Imperial Family.
Today, as always, I felt the stark contrast and collapsed onto the sofa.
"Seriously, why are you here?"
"What if I just came to chat after so long?"
"There’s no way you’d do that. Do you think being Guild Master is such a laid-back job?"
"I don’t recall seeing you do any work, except sitting around and kissing your wife’s picture every day..."
"...Hmph!"
The man set down a cup °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of tea in front of me, then slouched into the opposite sofa.

"Wait... You’re drinking a tea worth two gold coins per cup, and you give me some cheap tea?"
"Shut up, kid. That’s exactly what someone like you deserves."
With a tear in my eye for the class disparity, I silently picked up my tea.
Slurp. Slurp.

Without any conversation, the tea was finished in silence.
As always, this was how it went.
Thud.
I set down the empty tea cup.
Looking ahead, the man had already finished his tea and was staring at me intently.

"..." "..."
Normally, we would have emptied our cups and started some idle conversation.
But today, neither of us seemed inclined to do that.
An awkward silence settled, and the first one to break it was the man.
"...Well, you came at the right time. I was planning to call for you soon anyway."
"Really?"
I fiddled with my empty tea cup, thinking about it.
It was probably around this time.
The time when her tutorial was starting.

"You told me to let you know if there was a request related to the Imperial Family, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, yesterday, a request came directly from the Imperial Family to me, the Guild Master."
"Third Princess, right?"
"...How do you know that—No, never mind. You wouldn’t tell me about it. You cheeky brat."
"You know well."
The man sighed and rubbed his forehead, showing his annoyance.
After a moment, he spoke more seriously.
"...Ain. How old are you now?"
"I'm 15 now."
"It’s already been over 3 years since we met."

The man stared at the ceiling with a nostalgic look, almost sentimental.
"Wow. Stop with the cheesy sentimental stuff, you're too old for that..."
"...You brat, don’t act like you’re all grown up!"
Finally, he reacted normally.
Clearing his throat, he returned to a serious tone.

"This is a request to escort the Third Princess."
"Escort... you say?"
"Yeah."
The details of the request the man spoke of were as follows.
The age should be as close to the princess’s as possible.
The adventurer’s rank must be C or higher.
Most importantly, the person should be someone with a high level of trust, guaranteed by the Guild Master.

"To escort the princess and only be C rank...?"
"Kid, doesn’t it sound weird to you?"
"It’s strange that the Imperial Family would request an escort from an Adventurer’s Guild. And to be handled secretly, directly by you, Guild Master."
"...Well, considering the princess’s situation, I can understand it."
"..."
...Thinking about the upcoming palace intrigue, it was no surprise that no one would be trusted.
The one selected for the escort could easily betray the princess.
It was safer to rely on the Guild Master with whatever connections he had left.
"Well, it’s obvious what your answer will be, but I still need to ask. Will you take this request?"
"If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have asked you, would I?"
"...Tch, fine. Do whatever you want. I’ll put in the word for you."
"Thanks, Guild Master."

The day I finally meet her is not far off.
I clenched my fist and steeled myself for what was to come.
***
I stood in front of the door, adjusting my clothes.
No matter how confident I was, I couldn’t help but feel nervous about this meeting.
I continued to fidget with the unfamiliar knight’s uniform and took a deep breath.

"...Hoo."
Knock, knock.
"Third Princess, I’ve come from the Adventurer's Guild."

...
There was no response.
"...?"
This was strange.
I was told by her personal maid that the Third Princess would be here.
I tilted my head and spoke again.

Knock, knock.
"Third Princess?"
...

Rustling.
At that moment, I heard some movement from inside the room.
A somewhat timid voice came through the door.
[Please… come in….]
"...Then, I’ll excuse myself."

Creeeak—
I carefully opened the door and entered.
The room was darker than I expected.
No, there was no light at all.
'Was she sleeping? But it’s broad daylight.'

I wondered as I walked toward the sound that had come from the bedroom.
The room was so dark that I couldn’t even distinguish its color.
As I approached, I heard noise from around the bed.
"J-Just a moment!"
Click!

With a click, light flared up and illuminated the room.
Only then could I properly see the condition of the room where she lived.
'...This is the princess’s room?'
It was very different from any of the rooms I had seen in the palace.
It lacked any sophistication, a room more fitting for an average commoner.
The plain wallpaper and the colorless, scentless bed gave off a feeling far removed from what one would expect from a princess.

'I knew a bit from the game, but... this is pretty bad.'
Even though she was born a commoner, she was still a princess.
Was this treatment really acceptable?
I had to forcefully suppress the sigh that was about to escape, making sure not to show any negative expression.
I didn’t want to scare her with a grim face.
"Ah, hello…"

The voice, almost a whisper, lingered in my ears.
I turned my head and finally saw the face I had been waiting to see.
I immediately bowed and greeted her.
"...I greet the little future of the Empire. Greetings, Third Princess."
"Y-You don’t need to speak so formally…"
"..."
She said I didn’t need to call her that…
Was that something a princess would say?
The princess of the Empire, the highest in the land?

'...This seems worse than I expected.'
I looked up and took in the sight of the Third Princess.
She was only 15 years old.
Her neatly styled short hair was dyed a reddish hue.
Her bangs were long enough to cover her eyes, and her hunched shoulders trembled like a small animal.

She looked exactly like the princess I had seen in the game.
I wasn’t sure if I should like it or not...
'I guess I should just focus on the task at hand.'
"Third Princess, regarding the request you made… to be both an escort knight and a butler... is that correct?"
"Ah… yes!"

Escort knight and butler.
Two completely mismatched roles, and yet I was expected to perform both.
I had prepared for this, but actually facing the situation felt absurd.
"Then, I look forward to working with you."
"Yes, eheh!"
'...She just licked her tongue.'

It was incredibly rude of me, but...
She really didn’t feel like a princess.
She looked so ordinary, she could easily be mistaken for a commoner.
I could already see the difficult path ahead of me.
I let out a deep sigh inwardly.
This was my first meeting with the princess.
***

A week passed.
It was a short amount of time, but it was enough for me to realize the current state of things.
'This is… practically invisible.'
The most secluded annex in the palace.
In that tiny space, only a handful of people managed her, and their attitude toward the princess was suspiciously indifferent.

'...No one is treating her like a princess at all.'
By this point, I began to question it.
Why would someone try to assassinate her, with this little influence?
She was still only 15 years old, and far from being involved in the power struggles of the upper echelons.
In the game, there had been countless attempts to kill her.
It was a question that had nagged me throughout my time playing.

'There’s something going on here.'
I guess it’s time to turn things upside down.