"Are you all right?"
“I… I'm all right. Ahem, I was so out of my mind that I must have looked ugly."
Ugly? Where exactly? Rather, she was too beautiful.
Silver, pure white, and pink.
The miracle created by the harmony of those three colors would probably remain in my memory for the rest of my life.
“……”
“……”
And then, silence.
The suffocating silence continued for a long time. It was not a situation where conversations could normally take place.
'It's a good thing though.'
Still, for now... the worst was avoided.
Perhaps the fact that the princess had shown her naked body to a man she didn't know was such a shock to her, that she took a step back in surprise and collapsed on the grass.
I was also very perplexed when I witnessed in real time the process of a suspicious spy suddenly transforming into a beautiful woman with peculiar tastes and then into a princess.
It was known that Princess Alicia did not even get engaged, let alone get married, in accordance with her own wishes that she was not yet ready, even by the age of twenty.
Regardless of the process, I had seen her naked body, and that alone was already a great sin.
After agonizing over what on earth I should do, I reached out to help her up for now, but the way she rather squeezed her eyes shut made me think that it was all over.
For some reason, instead of crying out the name of the escort, the princess stayed still for a while, blinked, and started to blush.
And after a while, she stood up, holding my hand without saying a word, but after that, there wasn't any progress in the situation.
'What on earth am I supposed to do in a situation like this?'
It felt suffocating.
Until now, I had lived a life without much connection with women.
It was natural because, around the time I was just coming of age, I was forcibly taken to the battlefield by my family's will and suffered for five years before finally being liberated.
That didn't mean I was completely ignorant, but the few experiences I had were only a brief physical relationship.
For me, the current situation of having to deal with a woman who was not an ordinary woman, but rather the princess, was too much of a burden.
Rather, I thought it would be better to go back to the battlefield and fight.
It was when I was seriously contemplating whether I should just say something and force the conversation to start.
"... Ahchoo!"
The silence was broken in an unexpected way, and I had to reflect deeply.
'Oh shit. You idiot!'
Why am I worrying about useless things until now, leaving a person in front of me naked? I must have really lost my mind.
I hastily took off the shirt I was wearing and draped it over the princess, who was shivering from the cold.
I know it was a very rude gesture, but wasn't it better than catching a cold?
“W-what?”
She seemed a little taken aback by the sudden consideration, but soon realized what I was trying to do and accepted it calmly.
Wearing a shirt that was larger than her own body, the naked body of the princess was covered properly up to the lower part of her body.
Although I felt a little disappointed, it created an atmosphere where conversation was possible to some extent.
I spoke to her, bowing deeply.
"I sincerely apologize. I could not assist the noble person properly due to the sudden situation, so please kill me."
Even though she showed her naked body to me accidentally, she was still an imperialty.
This meant it was not at the level where a maggot of a reserve knight commander could mix.
Fortunately, the princess, who was well known to have a benevolent nature, accepted my apology, carefully adjusting the hem of the shirt.
“No. You may raise your head.”
"I am simply moved to tears by your immeasurable mercy.”
“And… please refrain from using extreme honorifics. I'm uncomfortable listening.”
"Yes. I understand."
As the conversation showed signs of flowing somewhat peacefully in this way, I felt a great sense of relief.
If things continued as they were, we would be able to pretend that today's incident had never happened.
“Seeing you are showing proper etiquette, you seem to be a nobleman, what is your name?"
“I am Wolfgang of the Schwarz County.”
I had no intention of interfering with whatever hobbies the princess, who was walking around naked in the middle of the night with only a hood over her head, might have.
I just wanted to quietly cover this up, remembering only the princess's naked body.
In addition, from the princess's point of view, she would also never want anyone to find out what happened today, so we both had the same goal.
“Okay, Sir Wolfgang. Listen carefully. Today’s incident…”
It was obvious what she was going to say. She was going to talk about covering it up.
“Yes. I will never reveal this to anyone.”
Reading the air, I answered in advance, and the princess slowly nodded and blushed.
As we ruminated what had happened, a sense of shame seemed to rush over her again.
“Y…yes. Just don’t tell anyone. It's obvious, isn't it?"
“Of course. This incident is nothing more than an accident. I will pretend that nothing happened today.”
“Hmm…”
I emphasized clearly in a more forceful tone to reassure the princess, but she showed a sign of suspicion.
Indeed, it was only a natural reaction, since she would not be able to trust me completely.
We met for the first time today.
She couldn't even be sure if my name was real or fake right now. The overly clear answer must have aroused suspicion on the contrary.
Even though she had the quirk of enjoying exposing her naked body in the middle of the night, she really was a princess, wasn't she?
I would rather instill a certain level of trust in her, because it would be exhausting if she started coming at me to do a background check later for no reason. But there was no way to do that.
Just as a subtle atmosphere was beginning to swirl between the two of us again like that.
“Hmm. Sir Wolfgang? I think I’ve heard your name somewhere. Mayb… Kyaaa?!”
“Shh, quiet!”
I cut off the Princess who was about to say something and hurriedly pulled her body towards me.
As a result, it seemed like she was hugging me, leaning against my body, but I couldn't help it.
“Y-y-you finally couldn't hold back anymore and showed your ugly true colors! I-I am the princess of the empire. I will never give in to pleasure…! Hmph?!”
I covered the mouth of the princess who suddenly started talking nonsense with my hand, and whispered into her ear.
“Someone is coming this way. Two people.”
“……!!”
When she heard that someone was coming, she, who had been struggling in my arms, immediately calmed down.
— Step, step...
The sound of footsteps got closer and closer.
It was a situation where I had to come to my senses, but the pleasant scent emanating from the hair and skin of the princess held in my arms was too dizzying.
I barely suppressed the urge to bury my face against her neck and hair, and waved my free hand in the air in the direction of the people.
Then the guard, who had been approaching cautiously with a torch in one hand and a sword drawn in the other, immediately approached me, relaxing his nerves.
“Ooh! Young Master Wolf! Are you out for a night walk again? Wow, it seems like you're not alone today?"
Fortunately, it was someone I knew. The difficulty of sealing their lips was greatly reduced.
“Ah. We were just enjoying a fiery secret meeting. Is this a newcomer next to you?”
“Yes! He joined three days ago!"
But the guy next to him was the problem. The guy's gaze was filled with a sense of duty unique to a newcomer.
"Hey, you two. Since you have violated the late-night curfew, you'll have to accompany us to the security office."
I knew it. A sigh came naturally.
If I had been alone, I would have gladly accompanied him to the security office, and then would have happily watched the warden, who saw my face, pressing the newcomer with a ghastly pale face.
— Tremble tremble…
But today, I was not alone.
Perhaps because of the tension that she might be caught like this, the princess began to tremble violently.
“Hey! Are you going to go on a rampage again without distinguishing left and right? Even though that person looks like that, he’s still a noble!”
“Huh, noble?! No, then at least confirm their identity…”
“Oh, this bastard really… We already had a dogshit earlier because of you! Do you want to die?"
The senior guard, who had been scolding his junior, spat out a curse word as if it had become bothersome, and looked at me with an apologetic expression on his face.
This, this was not a good development.
“Um, Young Master Wolf. Excuse me, but may I just check your lover's face once? This is the correct procedure in the first place. Even the nobles…”
It was a situation where if I clumsily pulled out, I would instead be interrogated. Here, I had to come out rather strongly.
I took a deep breath against the princess's hair and muttered in a low voice.
“I don't like that at all.”
Then the atmosphere instantly became chilly.
The senior guard began to back away from me with a ghastly pale expression on his face, and the junior flopped down with his legs shaking.
It was bitter to see soldiers who were faithful to their duty being intimidated, but it was unavoidable.
“I am a bit too possessive. I hope you understand."
“That, yes… yes… I-I have committed a sin that deserves death! Young Master Wolf. No… Sir Wolfgang!”
“No, what sin? Clearly, I'm the one at fault here, isn't that right?"
I spoke with full sincerity and stared at the junior with warm eyes.
“Hi-hiiic…”
However, when a foul smell began to mix with the pleasant scent of the princess, I wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to show my woman’s face, so I'd like it if we could leave it at this.”
I put two gold coins into the upper pocket of the senior guard who was looking at me with trembling eyes.
“Six silvers is the fine for violating the late-night curfew. 12 silvers for two people. Since we've paid properly, we can leave now, right?"
Then the senior guard, who had stiffened, claiming he had committed a sin that deserved death, quickly returned to his previous cheerful attitude.
“Oh, yes! 12 silver. I've confirmed it thoroughly! Hehe, I'll make sure to educate my junior properly. Young Master Wolf.”
“Keep up the hard work.”
After helping up his junior, who had wet his pants and had a dazed look on his face, the senior guard walked away from me as if he were running away.
After checking that sight to the end.
I lifted up the Princess as she was in this position where she could not walk properly and left as quickly as possible, despite the rudeness.
* * *
Phew, the operation was a success.
Honestly, I was nervous that things might go wrong at any time, but the princess was much more cooperative with me than I expected.
It must have been difficult to be hugged by a complete stranger like a lover. After all, perhaps because she was a princess, she had unusual mental strength.
“Princess. It’s all over now. I've got the guards from earlier off us, and there don’t seem to be any other guards nearby, so I’ll put you down now.”
“……”
Why isn't she responding? Could she have fainted?
“Princess?”
I hurriedly checked the condition of the princess in my arms, but fortunately, she had not fainted.
However, her face looked red, perhaps very angry because of what I had just done arbitrarily.
The lack of a response was probably because she was very angry.
“Um, Princess?”
There was still no response. It seemed that I was in a really big trouble.
Earlier, I somehow managed to get the situation right and things went well, but this time, I didn't think I could get away.
It was completely my fault because I acted on my own without even asking for her consent on the pretext that I was in a hurry.
While I was stamping my feet, thinking what to do like that.
“Don’t….”
The princess's voice, trembling due to her anger, began to be heard faintly.
I asked back with great nervousness.
“I apologize. Could you say that again?”
“Don’t put me down! How can I walk when I don’t even have shoes! I’d rather just stay like this!”
Oh, no. It seemed Princess's shoes and hood were left behind when we were leaving in a hurry as if running away earlier.
Now it seemed that she didn't even want to look at me, as she was trying not to make eye contact with me.
At this point, I thought it would be better to rather just keep my mouth shut and walk quietly. Don't some say doing nothing is the best course of action?
“… turn right at that intersection.”
I quietly obeyed the commands of the princess, who at some point began to indicate the direction from within my arms.
As I continued to walk like that, I felt the distinct energy of a warrior in the distance.
A knight. Seemed quite skilled. Probably the princess's escort.
But it would be meaningless if they were this far away from the object of escort. Why on earth...
'Ah.'
For a moment, I had such a question, but when I remembered what the princess was trying to do in a deserted place, I naturally understood.
She deliberately left them far away. To enjoy being alone without being disturbed.
When my thoughts reached that point, I had no choice but to look at the princess in my arms with disappointed eyes.
As one of the most important key figures of the empire, this was truly irresponsible. Anything could have happened. Didn't something actually happen?
If she had been caught by someone other than me, some irreversible incident could have happened.
Thinking about that, I continued walking toward the escort, who now seemed to have read my energy and was hurrying toward us.
They were also very pitiful. It is always the people below who suffer because of the people above them.
“Princess! Wh… what on earth is this shameful outfit! You! What have you done to the princess?”
"You can rest assured that I haven't caused any harm."
I tried to explain it in my own way, but I couldn't think of an appropriate answer, so I just gave a vague answer.
“… hear directly from the princess. I'm tired, so I'll be going."
“Wait! You think you can get away with saying something like that! Hey!”
I heard the female knight's piercing voice shouting something from behind, but I just ignored it. Because I didn't want to get involved anymore.
Now that the princess's safety was guaranteed, my duty had been fulfilled.
‘Tomorrow’s inauguration ceremony… will I be able to do it properly?'
Once misfortune starts, it tends to continue. I was worried that it would affect tomorrow's important event.
It was when I tried to soothe my exhausted spirit and turned my steps towards the mansion like that.
"Wait!"
I heard the Princess's voice asking me to stop from behind.
I didn't know about the female knight, but I couldn't ignore the princess, so I turned around and saw her looking at me with a face that was still red.
'Shit. I was trying to sneak away.'
Now I couldn't just leave. I hoped she was a bit less angry than before.
“You said you were Wolfgang of the Schwarz County!”
"Yes, that's right."
“What happened today. Never forget it. That’s all. Let’s go now, Liz.”
Sure enough, the princess left after leaving a terrifying sentence while being carried on the female knight's back.
Shit. After all, she can’t just let it go, huh?
To incur the grudge of the imperial family. This was practically a death sentence.
Suddenly I felt suffocated as if something heavy was placed on my chest. A sigh naturally came out.
"Haa…"
Looks like things have gone seriously wrong.
If you find something really out place, let me know in the comments.
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