The Princess Knight is Too Strong

“I’m exhausted…”

Leaning against a secluded terrace window in a corner where people rarely passed, I heaved a deep sigh.

Although people from the Kingdom surrounded me in a circle, I hardly had anything to say within it.

Most just repeated conversations that only they understood while holding glasses in their hands.

Occasionally, mentions of praise for me would come up during their conversations, but I couldn’t even understand how the conversation had flowed to bring me up, so I just awkwardly waved my hand in response.

After being forced to enjoy the experience of being an outsider among insiders for several hours, I had come to this terrace window to catch my breath—that’s the story so far.

Delphina approached me and said:

“You look tired?”

“Extremely.”

I answered with a raw attitude devoid of any pretense.

“Your dress will get wrinkled.”

Delphina forcibly stood me up, and bringing a chair from over there, she said:

“Sit down instead.”

“I don’t like that chair, it’s small and uncomfortable.”

I shook my head and refused, but Delphina forced me to sit on the chair.

“Don’t be like that, here.”

After seating me on the chair, Delphina placed a few cookies on the table and said:

“Would you like some?”

“Yes.”

I downed the warm water in the teacup, then picked up a cookie and chewed it in one bite.

I was hungry because I was tired.

“How undignified. What if someone sees you?”

“Let them see. I’m a princess, what are they going to do about it?”

I shamelessly muttered while picking up another cookie.

“…How did it go with the Prince?”

“Kup!”

At Delphina’s quiet remark, I choked on the cookie I was chewing and had to cough.

“Cough, cough.”

“Are you alright?”

“What do you mean ‘how did it go’!”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

Delphina chuckled and muttered. I glared at her with teary eyes, but she continued speaking without paying attention.

“Why do you dislike the Prince so much?”

“…I don’t know.”

I had no particular answer to that question, so I turned my head slightly and gave an evasive response.

At the end of my casually turned gaze, I could see the pitch-black night sky.

And stars shining, embedded like salt crystals here and there in the night sky.

“…Well, how should I put it.”

I found myself muttering unconsciously.

“Prince Oscar could meet two or three women much better than me anytime he wants. Letting him cling to me… feels like I’m doing something wrong, you know?”

As long as I identify myself more as a male than a female, as long as I find females more attractive than males, he ends up continuing an unrequited love.

Isn’t that too cruel? Rather than that, wouldn’t it be much better for him to give up his feelings for me early on?

“…Princess.”

Delphina, who had been silently listening to my words, said quietly.

“What woman in the world is better than you, Princess?”

“Huh?”

Delphina spoke to me in a voice that somehow felt strict.

“You’re beautiful, have a great figure, hold the position of a princess of a nation, and have the honor of being a war hero. What could you possibly be lacking?”

“De-Delphina. I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Then what did you mean?”

At that question, I had to close my mouth.

Again, I couldn’t think of a suitable answer.

What excuse should I make? That I just don’t want to get married? That I prefer women over men?

I couldn’t say that. So it was better to keep quiet and evade the answer.

“…Princess.”

Delphina, who had interpreted my silence somewhat differently, said with a stern expression:

“Just because you can’t have children doesn’t mean you shouldn’t love.”

“…”

“It’s okay to value yourself a bit more generously. Most people in the world do that.”

That’s really not what I meant.

When I didn’t answer at all, Delphina soon relaxed her stiffened expression.

“…Well, it’s not something I can force on you anyway.”

“Right?”

When I answered in a rather bright voice, Delphina looked at me with an expression difficult to describe.

Regardless of that, I rested my chin on the table and picked up another cookie.

By now, the Eve Ceremony was developing a mature atmosphere.

However, as I was no longer willing to drain my energy surrounded by people, I intended to spend the remaining time sitting here with Delphina.

We had talked enough earlier, and seeing that they were conversing just fine without me, I didn’t feel any need for my presence there.

As I was thinking such thoughts and bringing a teacup to my lips, Delphina suddenly said in an excited voice:

“Ah, Princess. Look over there.”

“Hm?”

Delphina pointed at the night sky and said:

“It looks like the fireworks are about to start.”

-Bang!!

Simultaneously, with the sound of exploding fireworks, the pitch-black night sky was dyed with vibrant colors.

“…Wow.”

Delphina muttered quietly, her eyes sparkling.

I also looked up at the sky.

“Princess, isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes…”

I nodded but trailed off.

“…Indeed, it’s pretty.”

It was certainly beautiful.

But that was just it.

I didn’t feel moved by the beautiful scene like Delphina, nor was I particularly impressed.

It just looked nice.

That was the maximum appreciation I could muster.

“…Hmm.”

The First Imperial Princess of the Empire and first in line for imperial succession.

A fourth-year student in the Political Diplomacy Department of Polaris Academy and the current student council president of Polaris Academy.

Yuriana von Valentine silently sipped from her cup, seated on the second-floor terrace directly above the hall where the Eve Ceremony was being held.

The man in black attire kneeling before her had been kneeling in the same position for exactly 37 minutes, waiting only for her command.

“…”

Yuriana’s eyebrow moved very slightly, minutely.

Simultaneously, something black was sucked into the tip of her finger, which was hanging over the terrace railing.

More precisely, it would be more accurate to express that something that had been stretched downward had returned to its place and moved up.

“…Bill.”

Yuriana called the man’s name. The man silently bowed his head instead of answering, but Yuriana ignored this and simply issued her command.

“Follow them.”

The next moment, the man called ‘Bill’ melted away.

Like ice cream melting in the scorching sun, he disappeared as if seeping into the floor. Yuriana stared intently at the small trace left by the man before turning her head toward the window.

“…No way.”

Despite obtaining information she hadn’t expected, Yuriana maintained an expressionless face.

Evangeline Failondia.

The second princess of the Failon Kingdom.

A hero of the Human-Demon War and the continent’s only princess knight.

And the fiancée of Yuriana’s brother, Oscar von Valentine.

When she first heard that the woman was deliberately avoiding the engagement with her brother, she was naturally indignant.

But she couldn’t have imagined that the reason would be her own infertility.

Then… perhaps one could think this way.

Evangeline loved her brother as much as her brother loved her, but because of her inability to bear children, she decided to break off the engagement with tears in her eyes.

Her brother, not knowing this fact, continued to court her, but she pushed him away with tears in her eyes, thinking of his future… a noble hypothesis.

“If that’s the case, well.”

Yuriana muttered with a smile.

If, contrary to her initial expectations, the two were truly in love, the story would be different.

In reality, the issue of her brother’s succession wasn’t such a big problem.

Since she would be the one to inherit the imperial throne anyway, even if her brother had heirs, there would be no need to find legitimacy from him.

There are many ways. If he really wants children, he could take a concubine, or if he doesn’t like that, he could adopt a child.

‘And if…’

Just then, Yuriana’s eyebrow twitched as she continued her thoughts.

“…What?”

Yuriana muttered, stumbling over her words.

“Impossible.”

-Slither.

Beneath Yuriana’s feet, a black shadow moved as if it were alive.

“Bill’s presence… has disappeared?”

“What’s this?”

Evangeline muttered, looking down at the trace of ‘Bill’ that had left a mark on the ground like spilled ink before disappearing.

To justify herself, this was self-defense for her.

Some suspicious figure had been peeking from various hiding places, so she had warned him a couple of times that she would spare his life if he came out now.

And when he still wouldn’t come out, she simply delivered a soccer kick with magic power around her leg to where he was hiding.

She had given warnings and even signals before attacking, but he couldn’t dodge—this was natural death.

Though it’s questionable whether this was even a “person.”

“This is…”

“Whoa!”

“The remnants of a shadow puppet.”

Oscar, who had somehow approached Evangeline’s side, muttered as he looked at it.

“You startled me.”

Evangeline sharply turned her head and snapped.

“What is it? Were you hiding somewhere and came out?”

“Hiding? That’s a misunderstanding.”

Oscar shook his head.

“I was just about to take a carriage back to the dormitory when I spotted Princess Evangeline standing here and rushed over.”

“…”

Evangeline looked at him with suspicious eyes, but without evidence, there was nothing she could say.

Oscar glanced around and asked:

“Where is Lady Delphina?”

“She went to call our carriage.”

Evangeline answered, kicking at the remnants left by the shadow puppet.

“…”

Oscar, who had been silently watching her, opened his mouth.

“…About that shadow puppet.”

“…?”

“I think my sister might have sent it.”

At Oscar’s words, Evangeline frowned and asked back:

“…Who?”

“My sister.”

Oscar said with an awkward expression.

“Since childhood, she has been overly protective of her siblings, including me. Even nowadays, she occasionally does things like this when something displeases her.”

“…”

“And she is currently completing her fourth year in the Political Diplomacy Department at Polaris Academy. She’s also the student council president of the Academy.”

“It seems there’s quite a lack of talent for the student council president position.”

Evangeline retorted with sharp words.

“You’ll definitely meet her at least once in some form in the future…”

To Evangeline, who was looking at him with a frown, Oscar smiled and said:

“Speaking of which, how about meeting her right now?”