The Princess and the Hero (4)
In a dark room where not a single light seeped through, a woman stood alone, clutching her head.
“Why… why isn’t it working… why on earth!!!”
-Crash!
A flask containing a potion, swung wildly in her hand, flew against the wall and shattered. The floor was already stained with liquids of various colors.
“Ah….”
The broken shards dug into the woman’s pale fingers. She gritted her teeth at the pain of the glass pieces piercing her bone.
But even the time to treat her wounds was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
Biting her lip hard to prevent any groans from escaping, she cauterized the tip of her finger with a flame spell for a quick first aid, then she immersed herself again.
How could she open this? What method should she use to read this abhorrent content?
What on earth should she do to open this letter?
Even if she used the root of Raklos, which claimed to eliminate any magic.
Even if she used the tears of those who despised the goddess.
Even if she inserted the master key that sees through all secrets countless times.
Even the power of demons, the antithesis of the goddess, did not help to break the goddess’s curse.
“…Why won’t it open.”
She slumped down on the messy floor. It was a filthy place, unrecognizable as the room of a woman who usually pursued neat and clean beauty. Strange liquids soaked her skirt, but Aliana had no leisure to think about such things.
“Why is that the only one that’s open…”
Why was the letter addressed to Flan the only one open?
She had spent a lot of capital and time to open the letter, but all she found out was one useless fact: the protection was made by the goddess herself.
The first day she impaled Flan on the ceiling and confined him. She was filled with confidence that she could check the contents within a day.
I’ll open it soon. I don’t know what the contents will be, but there must be at least one word of love since we once loved each other. And if I show that content to Flan…
But it didn’t open all day.
The second day. For some reason, she couldn’t sleep and stayed up all night.
That day, various artifacts she had procured in advance in case the letter didn’t open arrived, so she tried to open it with them.
But the situation remained the same. There was no sign of it opening, like an impregnable fortress.
The third day. Perhaps because she was impatient, she spent the day with her eyes fixed.
In case the artifacts didn’t work, renowned mages and alchemists from the sealing magic community, whom she had found through inquiries, arrived at the castle.
The famous mages and alchemists all shook their heads, saying that the goddess’s power was too strong. If it’s a seal of this level, it must have been placed by the goddess herself. What on earth did you do to deserve this? They couldn’t help.
The long-awaited fourth day.
There was no progress.
Despite using all possible methods, unsurprisingly, it did not open.
And time has led to the present.
“Troka…Flan…”
The content written in Flan’s letter was too simple.
‘Please deliver the letters to them.’
One phrase. The only thing that could be inferred from those words was the reason why Flan brought her the letter. That’s all.
There was no clue as to why his was open, and for some reason, hers was not.
“Why on earth!!!”
Feeling a sudden nausea, she crumpled and threw it in frustration. The black paper flew weakly, hit the wall, and fell into the trash can.
It was unfair.
Why should she be in such a state?
After the Demon King died, she should have released her pent-up resentment with the hero and continued happy days. Didn’t everything go wrong?
Could it be that the hero’s death was really because of her?
The day before the hero party risked their lives and marched. What happened in the castle.
It was an unpleasant incident that had been caused by a minor misunderstanding. The words that were blurted out in a moment of emotion were now regrettable.
Troka always spoke to her with a smile no matter what. Even when he left after hearing her verbal abuse the day before, he smiled. She didn’t know that it was an empty smile of someone who had given up everything before death.
“Uhuk…uh…”
Tears flowed down her slender cheeks. She wished to recall the memory of that day, but it did not come up.
If she could remember the words she said back then, she could alleviate her guilt by blaming herself, but even that was not allowed.
And the only thing she remembered was the conversation she had with him under the moonlight.
Now, only meaningless memories were circling in her head.
-Thud
Someone came to the quiet room.
It was Nicola, a knight with blue eyes and armor.
“Haah… Lady Aliana. Isn’t it time to give up and just ask Flan when he wakes up?”
“…I can’t.”
“You’re just being stubborn for no reason…”
Upon seeing the state of the room, Nicola sighed deeply as if he was deflated, and soon began to mop the floor.
“Flan is a bit weak, but he’ll wake up soon. Please rest a bit.”
After roughly cleaning up the moisture on the floor, he helped Aliana up and sat her on a chair.
Tears were endlessly flowing from Aliana’s drooping eyes.
“…What if I hadn’t said that back then.”
“It’s in the past. Don’t be upset.”
The day that became the cause of his suicide. She couldn’t remember what she had said. Maybe, as Flan said, she’s not qualified to read this.
“And his death was ultimately a personal choice. You’re not to blame, Your Highness.”
But no consolation reached her heart. It couldn’t have reached in the first place.
‘The moment the hero began to fall apart was a day before heading to the Demon King’s castle, right after you decided to break off your engagement with him in front of everyone. Aliana, I want you to know that your actions were the starting point that led the hero to make such a choice.’
The guilt that Flan had left behind had snowballed, and now it was a massive sense of guilt that was pressing down on her.
Was it really her fault that Troka died? Then why did he keep smiling at her until the end before he left?
Nicola quietly watched Aliana sobbing, putting the fallen books back on the shelf, and throwing the broken glass pieces one by one into the trash can. It was the first time in nearly a decade that Aliana had been so disheveled. Even while receiving imperial education, she had maintained a cool smile in all matters. Now, with her faded skirt due to drugs and her torn sleeve fluttering, she was a pitiful sight, far from the usual princess.
“Aliana, is it okay for someone who wants to be the next emperor to be like this?”
“….”
Nicola intervened, but it was useless.
“…I’m going to Flan for now, and when he wakes up, I’ll come to call you, so please get some sleep.”
The one with the highest possibility of improving the current situation is Flan. Just that one man. With that thought, Nicola opened the door, holding a bag full of trash in one hand.
“Nicola.”
Nicola’s steps halted as he was about to leave the dark room.
“You’re on my side, right?”
Words spat out like a woman clinging to a lover who had confessed to breaking up.
“……Of course.”
The answer that came after a long silence struck Aliana like a dagger.
In the end, no one was left by her side.
And when Nicola left the room, Aliana was alone again.
The hero who had protected her when she was alone. And she was the one who harshly rejected him. Even when he was falsely accused of assaulting a maid and kept his smile until the end…
“How ridiculous…”
Aliana took out the black letter that had been thrown into the trash can. The legacy left by Troka during his lifetime. And she carefully tucked the canary-colored letter into her bosom.
‘What did he write in my letter…’
The contents written to Flan were brief. Perhaps only a phrase or two was written to her as well. It would be easier if the words were of resentment. After all, her words were the reason he decided to die. If by any chance, the contents conveyed love, her heart might not be able to bear it and shatter.
Yet, she opened the window, hoping for such an undeserved love. Knowing it was shameless, but harboring a very slight hope.
To reach the one who could open her letter.
She reversed gravity to climb the tower. If Flan hadn’t woken up, she would find a way to open it somehow. If he was awake… she would have to ask why only the one written to him was open. If he complained about being struck to the ceiling, she would have to apologize.
Before she knew it, Aliana had reached the top of the tower, and she was about to stick her face into the bars where Flan was, but she couldn’t.
“When did you wake up?”
“Nicola…”
She couldn’t interrupt the conversation between Nicola and Flan. For some reason, her breath was heavy.
This had never happened before. Even when strangers were conversing, she would intrude without hesitation and say what she wanted. But now, it was hard even to think about getting in between them.
She needed to calm down.
She’s a princess; she needs to maintain her dignity.
It’s nothing to intrude between them.
So…
“Huff…huff…”
How many times did she repeat and ponder? Finally making up her mind, Aliana stuck her head towards the bars. There was Flan, looking at her.
“…Eek!”
An absurd sound popped out of her mouth. But she couldn’t stop here. She had to utter the next words with confidence. With that resolution, she opened her mouth again.
“Flan, open it…”
Say please 🤭