Like dominoes, a series of events can happen whether you like it or not. That also applies to problems you created that triggers another one. Rather than waiting for it to stop, stopping it before it becomes an irreversible thing is advised.
Well, this isn't related to the current situation.
***
The princess touches her lips lightly while looking at the empty space in front of me. And I who made the move, couldn't think straight. As of now, I'm still confused of what happened.
But thinking of what just happened can wait. What's important is that I have to apologize to the princess.
“I'm really sorry.”
I don't know how to properly convey it, so I want to drop on one knee to show how sincere I am. However, just when I was about to do it, she puts her hands on my chest pushing me.
“Thema?”
“Are you serious about what you said a while ago?”
She sounded angry, and embarrassed at the same time.
While looking at me face to face, I notice that her cheeks are rosy and tears sparkle on the ends of her eyes. Aside from that, she grips my shirt tightly which even hurts my skin a bit.
“About my apology?”
“No! What you said earlier, about me.”
Did she mean my tease?
If she did, it's better that I shouldn't say it was a tease. It would worsen the fragile mood. One wrong move could lead to a disaster.
“Yes, I didn't lie. But for me to act without minding your feelings is my mistake. I hope that you can forgive me.”
I can't look straight to her eyes. I feel too guilty about what I did.
“Then, I can forget about your unforgivable act. In exchange, I want you to face me and close your eyes.”
She lets go off me and I put a little distance between us. And as she instructed, I close my eyes and prepare for what's coming for me.
*Slap!”
A loud and strong slap hit my cheek.
I didn't put a barrier or any kind of immunity on me. I just accepted her anger towards me in full force. I could feel how much she hates me judging from how hard she hit me.
I staggered a bit from that hit. When I look at her, she's holding her right hand with her left hand. As expected, she used all her strength against me, that's why it hurts so much. I deserve it.
“I'm very sorry.”
“Don't be.”
Then all of a sudden, she grabs my collar and pull me towards her. After that, she kisses me on the lips.
Even though she hates me, she kissed me. I am so confused that I can't do anything about it.
After our lips parted from each other, she pushes me away and slaps me across the face with her right hand this time.
“This will make us even.”
“Even?”
“You toyed with me, and I did the same thing to you. Our current relationship is something that shouldn't change because the children from the orphanage are depending on it.”
I see, I understand now, she’s only enduring my treatment of her is because she's thinking about the kids. How do I say this? It’s quite admirable.
“If this makes us even, then I don't think so.”
While saying that, I grabbed bother her hands which surprised her a little. I use <
That last slap she did just now felt a bit odd. Turns out, she dislocated a finger when she hit me. I guess she isn't used to this kind of situation.
“If you think that we're even after you hit me, you're thinking wrong. What I did just a while ago was something unforgivable. It's not because I violated you, a princess, but because I took your first kiss. As a man, I will take responsibility for my actions.”
When I let go of her hands, she gives me an empty gaze like she's in deep thought.
“To make up for it, I'll grant you anything you wish for, and if it's within my power, I'll grant it immediately.”
I can't think straight. Guilt is taking over me and I'm barely holding back my hands from shaking. Why the fuck did I do that in the first place?
Thema steps back a bit from me. After that, she puts her right hand on her chest and clenches it. Her stern expression says that she’ll definitely go to ask something.
“T-then, will you promise not to raise your hand against the kingdom?”
“I'm afraid I already said that one this morning already.”
“You promised to my father! I want you to promise to me! Your loyalty to him is different with our relationship.”
Relationship? What does she mean by that?
“I don't want our current relationship to change. If it does, I don't know what I should do! So please… I wish that we can just forget about this.”
I can probably do what she wished for with magic, but I think she wouldn't like that if I did. I understand her feelings, so I turn a heel against her and offered her my left arm.
“If that is what you want, then I shall do it, but we can't let my guests look for us and it'll be too suspicious if we're absent for too long.”
She walks towards me and grabs by arm. Unlike the first time, we feel slightly awkward linking our arms.
“Let's just talk about the orphanage another day. It can always wait.”
“Y-yes, I think so too.”
I tried to kill the awkward atmosphere, but it became more awkward when she fell quiet again.
When we got to the stairs, I dispel every magic that I casted. After that, everyone started to notice our presence while we come down the stairs.
Obviously, there would be random assumptions in why we went to a private place. But since the princess is good and pretending, and my honed façade is good, it'll just turn those into baseless rumors. I hope it will just end up with so.
We meet up with Princess Evia and the rest of her company. Obviously, I get hostile glares from the knights.
It's been a while since I got treated like so. It feels a bit nostalgic.
“My apologies, Princess Evia, I didn't mean to steal away Princess Thema. I just had something urgent to discuss with her, that's all.”
“I-is that so? Well, father did say something about you and Sister Thema. I know I shouldn't be thinking of bad things about you, I'm so sorry!”
She bowed on her chair in a panic. I don't know if she's scared of me or not, but bowing is something a bit too much for her.
I kneeled on one knee and raise her chin with one hand.
“Please don't bow to me. I can't blame you for thinking of such. You are just worried about your older sister, and that's a good thing. Princess Thema is lucky to have a sister like you.”
Hah…. Flattering is so tiring. But her sweet smile makes it worth it.
“Anyway, I have some things to attend to. But before I leave, may I have one question?”
As I stood up, I take out a small coin in my pocket.
This coin isn't simply a coin. It's a magically-charged True Silver alloy with a blank script. I can put almost any kind of magic in it so it's a versatile thing.
I prepared this as a self-defense item if something happened in the party. Well, I could use my own magic, but it would cause danger to the guests because of it's scale of power. By using this coin, I could lower the scale of my magic without lowering my chances of defeating the possible intruders.
It's a prototype of a smaller Sentinel Core so it can be used for one time only if used in combat.
“If there's a chance for you to be granted one wish, what would it be?”
I wait for Princess Evia to answer me while prepping up the coin in secret.
“A wish?”
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She looks like she couldn't speak it out loud. It's probably something embarrassing for her to say as a woman. But after a few moments, she looks at me once again with a face turning slightly pink.
“I-I'm not good at anything, I can't offer anyone anything with these legs of mine. Even so, I still want to be good at something. So, m-my wish is, to have a purpose besides sitting as a useless princess!”
“Evia!”
Looks like Thema and the rest of the servants were surprised to hear her wish. Yet, Evia looks at me with honest eyes saying that she's serious about her wish.
Well, you can call me an asshole but, I saw that like a mile off when I first met her.
Still, this world supposed to have healing magic which is beyond the boundary of medical science of earth. Why is she still a cripple? Is there a limit in the capabilities of healing of Holy or other elements?
Or maybe I'm just thinking too much about possibilities that no magician other than me could achieve.
Holy magic can heal or restore, but for it to fix something that isn't broken might not be possible. Well, I can't use holy magic so I don't really know.
After I prepared the coin which I gave a little touches to look like an emblem with flowery designs, I show it to Evia.
“If that is truly your wish, then I can't grant it for the current ‘me'. However, I can give you a chance to do it yourself. Please lift your chin up.”
I hold the emblem with two fingers and put it slightly above Princess Evia's chest.
Everyone looked intensely at me that even the knights are ready to pull out their swords. Geez, what a nervous bunch.
“Then please touch the emblem, princess.”
As I instructed, she nervously touch the emblem.
When I take off my fingers off of it, my magic will do its work.
Glowing in pink, the emblem creates a thin line going around her neck. Next, the line makes other loose lines hanging from it while it slowly materializes into pink crystal gems. And when it finally stops glowing, everyone could see that the emblem is now part of an expensive looking necklace.
Well, imagination plus illusion magic exceeds normal prospecting.
“Wh-what's this? I feel something warm inside me.”
“Please don't be too surprised. It's just the magic working in you. It may take a couple of moments before it actually works.”
She doesn't look like she's in pain, but nervous instead.
After a few seconds, I grab her hands gently and gave her a wry smile.
“Princess, please try to move your legs.”
“He?”
She doesn't look like she understands what I meant yet. Well, I really can't wait for this all day.
Using Telekinesis, I lift her from her wheelchair without minding her screaming. It's not like I'm lifting her too far from the floor, but everyone’s panicking like I'm lifting her up in the sky. Geez…
The knights tried to pull out their swords, but since I anticipated it and had Shell pop-out of nowhere and point his swords at their neck.
I didn't give him a command to attack, but since no one here is probably stupid enough to attack something with four arms and a height twice a normal person's, I can just relax.
Princess Thema on the other hand, well, is looking at me with a mouth open. I'll just ignore that.
“Princess Evia, don't be scared and listen to me.”
I'm still holding her hand to make her level with me. After she calmed down, I lower her enough to let her feet touch flat on the floor.
And as expected, she got surprised when I did so.
“I, I can feel the floor?”
“Yes, you can.”
I give her a little time to get use to the new sensation she has.
When I judged that she can finally stand on her own, I let go of her hands and take two steps back.
Thema wanted to assist her, but I raised my hand saying stop.
“I-I can stand!”
“Yes, and now, why don't you try taking one step towards me?”
She looks a bit scared when I told her to walk to me, but she looks like she's steeling herself while clenching her fists.
Everyone in the deck is looking at her intensely, but she doesn’t notice a thing since her concentration has robbed her of her awareness of her surroundings.
“Okay, h-here goes!”
I was prepared to do anything to protect her from harm. However, something else happened which was beyond my calculations.
“Nyaa!”
“Woaw!”
Good thing I was able to prepare myself in the last second, or else I would have been blown away by sheer impact from the accidental tackle of Princess Evia.
Because of the pendant, Evia has acquired the ability to walk. However, that's not all.
The pendant I gave her has 10 types of magic. That includes <
However, I didn't expect her to put all her might in one step while leaning towards me. If I wasn't standing in front of here, everyone would wonder where to pick her up. She even managed to leave a hole on the wooden floor that’s fortified with magic.
The other five magic are <
I used Mana Strings to replace her broken nerves and as a bypass of her tendons, Fake Sensation for her to feel things above her skin on her leg, Real Illusion for her necklace design, Amber Barrier for the Structure, and Anti-Magic Enchant as a counter measure against assholes that try and break the magic of my Item.
According to my calculation, the pendant's effect will only last for 8 months. The magic consumption is bad and the True Silver's magic capacity is only limited because of its size.
I also put <
Well, explaining is done, time to go back to the present.
“Are you alright, princess?”
“Yes…”
Princess Evia's face is buried on my chest while laying down on me that is lying on the floor. She's unexpectedly lighter than she looks.
“Well, you can practice later. But please don't over-exert yourself when you do, you'll hurt yourself. Just relax yourself for now, ok?”
“O-okay….”
She seems to be embarrassed of her blunder. Her blushing is too cute, I inadvertently patted her head.
I can sense some jealousy from Lapis who is watching from the crowd. I'll take care of her later.
While I lift us with magic, I let the party continue while simultaneously fixing the broken floor with magic. Magic really is convenient.
“Princess Thema, please assist Princess Evia so that she wouldn’t be too rash.”
“Y-yes!”
I give Evia to Thema and then backed away. The servants also assisted on letting her sit on her wheelchair.
After that, I left the top deck with the two princesses as the stars.
Now, my current problem is Jane. She saw us after all.
I'm still looking for an excuse to come up. Of course, blaming the princess is out of the question.
I didn't see Jane in the top deck, so she's either in the viewing hall, her room, or the kitchen. Going there by foot is tiring, so I’ll just use teleportation to instantly go there.
When I went to the Viewing Hall, everyone was surprised to suddenly see me standing in the middle of the hall. I got myself stuck here a bit since most of the people here haven't met me yet and want to talk to me. After I found myself a window of opportunity to escape, I teleport myself to her room.
And when I teleported to her room, to my surprise, a couple is occupying it and are flirting with each other.
“Get out of here!”
Of course, I kicked them out.
Since Jane is not in her room, the last place she'll probably be in is the kitchen.
“Oh, young master, what are you doing here in the kitchen?”
Immediately when I teleported in, a dwarven chef almost fell off the chair while cooking. But since he looks tipsy, I guess I didn’t surprise him and just got on time to save him.
Geez, save the drinking later…
“Have you seen Jane here?”
“Jane, the maid? No, she didn't come here. I thought she was in the viewing hall.”
So she didn't come here yet huh… Where could she be?
I decided to get out of the kitchen and walked instead of teleportation.
Knowing Jane, if she doesn't want to show herself, she really can't be found anywhere. I wonder why? Is it some kind of magic, or just a natural thing to happen?
Either way, I need to explain to her what happened.
When I turned to a corner, all of a sudden, I accidentally bumped into someone. I didn't fall, but the other party wasn't that sturdy and fell.
Looking at her face, it's someone I recognize.
“Jane!”
“Sir Key?!”
She looked at me with a face that looks like she doesn't really want to see me. Well that's just rude.
Leaving that aside, I grab her hand since she looks like she was about to run when she got up.
“Wait, I have something important to tell you.”
“About what happened back there? I'm just a maid, I have no such worth to know about your relati—hmmf!”
She sounded like she was about to say something very intriguing, so I covered her mouth and pulled her back on me.
“Let's not talk about that here. Let's go to your room.”
With a snap, I teleported us to her room.
And when I teleported ourselves back to her room, another couple is occupying it again.
Kissing seems like something too much for Jane. Her face was glowing pink so I had to cover her eyes.
“You two, scram!”
“And who are you to tell me that?”
Oh, pretty boy here is acting tough huh. I guess he didn't notice me teleporting here.
To scare him a little, I make a third metal arm from my back with sharp claws on it. After that, I scratch the iron wall of Jane's room which seemed like paper because of my sharp claw.
He probably didn't expect for me to show violence, his face became pale when he saw the claw. On the other hand, the girl is unconscious while being held by the guy. Is this guy doing what I think he's doing?
“Leave!”
“Hiiiiii!”
He lets go of the girl when he ran out leaving her. Of course, I catch the girl with the dull side of my extra arm.
Since there are two beds in Jane's room, I put her on the second one. I'll leave her to Jane's care after this.
“Making a girl drink till she passes out… That guy's the worst.”
I let go of Jane and close the door while simultaneously deploying magic that stops any sound from going out of the room.
After that, Jane just stood in front of me while shaking.
“Don't worry, Jane. I would never do something that guy did.”
“But you already did something similar…”
*stab sound*
“Your choice of words hurt, Jane.”
I tried taking a step closer to her, but she takes two steps back from me. I guess she doesn’t trust me anymore.
“Jane, you may think that I'm a guy who just goes after any girl he sees, but that's not true. What you saw back there was just an accident.”
“But you were the one that kissed her…”
*stab sound*
“P-please, let me finish. It's really hard to explain what happed, but please, don't lose your trust on me. It's hard having someone I consider as family not trusting me.”
Jane pointing out my mistake hurts…
“What you saw back there is something that wasn't supposed to happen. Believe me, it surprised us too. I don't have feelings for the princess, but she's someone important aside from being a princess. Our relationship is something a lot of lives are depending on, so please, don't tell Cherry or Matt or anyone about what you saw.”
She listened to my desperate plea, but the more she listened, the more her face becomes puzzled. Did she understand me or not?
“I understand… but why bother explaining this much to me? I'm just a maid. I no one special.”
…
…
Now that she pointed that out, I got rendered speechless. It made me think why I'm doing this.
Come to think of it, I did panic when she saw me with the princess. Normally, I could just play it off like nothing happened and give a flat out lie. However, I panicked?
Last time I panicked like that was when I got seen by Lou when I was making out with my ex-girlfriend.
Wait, maybe that's it!
I've been with Jane for so long I already considered her as a sister. Well, I did say she's family.
“Jane, you're not no one special.”
“Not no one special?”
I grab her shoulders and gave her a stern expression.
“If you think you are just a maid to me, you are very wrong. For me, I have already considered you as family the day you entered my house.”
“Family…”
“Yes, family. You are like a sister to me.”
“….a-a sister.”
For some reason, she suddenly looks down and her shoulders relaxed. I guess she understood what I mean.
“And because you're like a sister to me, I got flustered when you saw me back there.”
“Sir Key, I think I have gotten a bit dizzy from the smell of liquor. Can I please rest?”
Although I was able to finish my words, the way she spoke was like cutting my breath.
Jane forcibly pushes away my arms in a respectful way. After that, she takes a blanket and puts it on the girl that's sleeping on the other bed.
“S-so… you're already tired, I see.”
“It may be rude of me, but I think I'll rest for the night. I'm really sorry, but the smell of liquor makes me sleepy.”
Without her telling me, I get out of her room since she started removing her hairpins since she's going to change. And also, she sounded like she doesn’t want to see me.
“Well anyway, Jane, good night. I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Sir.”
After that, I left the room in a hurry.
That was because of her eyes. It was the first time I've seen that kind of stare like my soul was getting seen through. It was really scary that my heart felt like it stopped!
Angry Jane is scary Jane! I shouldn't piss her off.
Anyhow, the rest of the night was just talking with noblemen and women, some mixed politics and stuff. It was quite a fun night despite everything that has happened.
Also, I heard that the Prince is coming here from the frontlines of the war against a neighboring kingdom. Setting up a meeting with him will be hard.
-End of Chapter-