Episode 6 – The Princess and the Hero (5)

The Princess and the Hero (5)

Can’t a person, who impaled another to the ceiling, open the bars with the omnipotent magic of the imperial family? More importantly, if a person could open the bars with mere physical strength, would that person still be human? If one could bend iron with bare hands, that would simply be a muscular green monster.

“Nicola seems to have left quickly. Judging by your arrival just as the door closed.”

Hmm, why did she fly from outside? It wasn’t an honest entrance through the iron door, but a secret visit, so there must be a purpose that must not be discovered. For instance, she might be planning to annihilate me, saying, “I couldn’t see it, so you can’t either!” Or, “I checked the contents of the letter, and it contained different things than you thought. Ho ho.”

Whatever comes out, it’s going to be bothersome.

“Um…sorry…can you open the door…”

However, Aliana came out in a completely different posture than expected. A posture devoid of her usual confidence.

Could it be that she couldn’t open it? It’s not certain yet, so I should speak moderately.

“Wouldn’t it be faster for you to break in directly with magic than for me to open it?”

“I can’t do that with gravity magic…”

At my words, Aliana shook her head from side to side. Her white eyes, which used to shine with confidence and pride, looked foggy as if frosted over. I don’t know what happened over the past three days to make her like this, but seeing her so broken, I think I won’t die if I behave well. Probably.

For now, it seems best to open the bars and converse with Aliana. There’s no good in being hostile to someone who comes out in such a posture.

But how do I open this? I cautiously reached out to the bars, wondering if they would open if I pushed. Surprisingly, the bars slid and fell to the floor. What a strange structure. Without even giving me a chance to marvel, Aliana thrust her face in front of me.

Torn clothes and a strangely dyed skirt. And a face that seemed to have aged ten years. Aliana’s appearance revealed all the hardships she had endured over the past three days.

“Well, so. Could you see the letter?”

“That’s…”

I don’t know what happened while I was unconscious, but her pain is none of my business. Aliana, with her trembling hands, extended a piece of black paper. Seeing the crumpled paper, I unconsciously furrowed my brow.

“You’ve really messed it up. Besides, isn’t this mine?”

“….”

“Well, I’ve already secured the contents, so it doesn’t matter.”

There’s no need to provoke her further. What’s important to me is not the letter, but the power of the goddess that seals it.

Ignoring Aliana as much as possible, I stuffed the item she handed me into the pocket of my outer garment, then looked at her quietly. A face that had lost its dignity. A trembling body. And hands stretched out as if she had a mission.

I would like to leave the castle after retrieving the remaining letters, but if the fact that Aliana became like this after meeting me reaches the ears of the doting emperor, I won’t be able to handle the aftermath.

I don’t like to start the conversation first. But I guess I have no choice.

“Aliana.”
“Flan…”

Our words overlapped for a moment.

“…You speak first.”

Seeing Aliana, who was radiating an ominous aura, I felt it was not my place to speak first. It would be pointless to ask where the rest of the letters were now, as she would not tell me anyway.

“Why can only your letter be read?”

Why can only mine be read? She wouldn’t even allow me to touch her letter, let alone read it.

In this situation, there was only one answer I could give.

“I don’t know. From the beginning, only my letter and the one addressed to the Emperor were open.”

I don’t know. What conditions need to be met for them to open? Why were only the letters addressed to me and the Emperor open from the start? All I know is that the detestable goddess probably caused this to hinder my return. At first, I thought that if I just delivered them as addressed, the seal would be broken. That was until I met the princess.

“So… you don’t know either.”

“Yes. All I know are useless trivia. If you want useful information, it would be faster to ask an expert.”

Aliana’s shoulders slumped like wet rags. It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but what could I do? I hardly know anything myself.

I straightened my disheveled clothes and sat on the dusty bed.

“It seems you tried to open it while I was sound asleep and failed. Just leave it to me.”

“But… this is mine…”

“Have you been able to confirm its contents in the past few days?”

Aliana’s hand, which had been fiddling with the canary-colored letter, stopped. Of course, she hadn’t seen the contents. If she could read even a single letter, she wouldn’t have come to me so pitifully.

“Don’t waste your time on meaningless things and just leave it to me. Aren’t you the future empress? You shouldn’t worry about such trivial matters.”

“…I want to read it with my own eyes.”

“Do you really think you are worthy to read it?”

“It’s a letter with my name on it; at least he would want me to read it…”

Her gaze had changed at some point. Doesn’t she know shame?

But she’s right. What right do I have to take away something addressed to her? I’m just a mailman delivering a letter, I have no right to claim ownership. If it were that guy, maybe.

But.

“…I’m just meddling; after all, I’m just a mailman.”

I still remember that day.

“But I can’t forget the memory of that day. The words you said to the hero are still vivid. If you tell me what you think about that, I’ll give up on the letter for now.”

“….”

The words she had said to the hero, who had been deceived, without even confirming the truth, still echo in my ears. Yet she hasn’t mentioned a word about it, only wanting to see the letter. Does she not remember the situation when she betrayed the hero?

If I hear from her own mouth the reason for what she said at that moment, at least I can bear it for now.

“At that time… the maid, Bitz, seduced Troka… and he… he listened to her words… and in front of everyone…”

“Did I ask you to detail the situation? Just tell me what you said at that time, and why you did it.”

“That… I… to him…”

Aliana, who had shown confidence just a moment ago, had reverted back to her low self-esteem self.

“You were confident when we first met, weren’t you? Please feel free to speak.”

“To him… to him… that…”

“You can’t possibly not remember, can you? It feels like just yesterday when you said you did it for him, yet you can’t remember the mistake you made.”

I remember every syllable, every word, every sentence vividly. There’s no way the person who said those words wouldn’t remember them. If that’s the case, then why would the goddess…

“I… I can’t recall…”

She looked more unstable than ever. Even more so than when I had given her a lengthy scolding.

“That’s pathetic. If you can’t remember, I’ll kindly remind you of one sentence.

‘I feel nauseous thinking about the conversations we had under the full moon.’

Now that I’ve reminded you, you should be able to remember, right? I believe you’ll remember everything.”

Being as smart as she is, she should be able to recall it quickly.

“Ah… Ah…!”

Aliana seemed to finally recall what she had said and sat down, starting to dry heave.
And I didn’t even give her time to compose herself.

“It seems like you really forgot and just remembered now. Well, I understand. It’s rare for the perpetrator to remember all their wrongdoings.”

“I… I…”

She spat out words as if she was consoling herself, her head bowed.

“I’ve lived my whole life as the heir to the emperor. All the men who approached me did so because they could become the emperor if they married me, and all the women who said they wanted to be my friends… behind my back, they all…”

Aliana couldn’t finish her sentence. And she handed me the canary-colored letter she had been carefully holding. I caught it lightly with my right hand.

“Among all that, there was only one person who saw me for who I am. It wasn’t my bodyguard Nicola, nor my father. Only he treated me without any ulterior motives.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“We promised to love each other after everything ended under the moonlight.”

As she recalled the past that she could no longer return to.

“I fell for the lies of a maid whose truth wasn’t even confirmed and I… to him…”

It’s a simple story. She was swayed by jealousy that would never have shaken her under normal circumstances. After all, there were many women around the hero. He was kind to everyone, not just her, so a moment of doubt was enough to amplify that suspicion.

I know all too well what it feels like to have your only confidant taken away.

“If he came back, if he came back. I could have apologized and mended our relationship…”

But the hero died.
He made that choice, hurt not just by her, but by everyone else. The girl who started it all couldn’t even hear his words of apology.

“So, Aliana, you did it because you couldn’t trust the only one who was there for you. It’s laughable.”

She’s alone. So, all the words of love were lies. After all, he will whisper words of love that are only words, and in the end, he will abandon herself and return to his original world, so all the words of love they shared will be fabricated lies.
Cornered, Aliana was swayed by the maid’s small jealousy and stabbed her only confidant. It’s a cliché story. So cliché that it’s unbearably boring. There’s no need to hear more.

“Anyway, I heard you. I don’t like it, but I’ll give it back.”

“…What?”

Aliana seemed surprised. She must have thought I wouldn’t return it.
But a promise is a promise. It wasn’t a proper appreciation, but I should still return it. I can retrieve the power of the goddess later.

I slowly approached Aliana, who was sitting down, and handed her the canary-colored letter.
With a complex face of doubt, surprise, and guilt, she carefully reached out her hand.

“…If I could turn back time.”

“Princess. If you regret it now, it would have been better if you had trusted him a little more from the start.”

Aliana, looking into the void with a pitiful gaze. She seemed to be dreaming of a small wish, recalling her happiest memories, but unfortunately, reality is not fiction. Such a pleasant thing, it doesn’t happen.

She didn’t drop the hero. She just placed him in a position where he would die if he fell, that’s all.
It doesn’t matter to me if she struggles in pain for the rest of her life. It’s something she brought upon herself.

“If I could see Troka… one last time…”

Aliana muttered softly, caressing the letter.

And the letter in her fingertips opened without any resistance.