“You mean… my uncle is…”

Gladwin nodded at the princess’ words.

After the incident ended, we had to reassure the princess.

Convincing her with metaphors alone seemed impossible, so I had no choice but to bring her to this place where the civil servants gathered. She wasn’t easy to move, but it seemed she trusted me enough now to come along with some insistence.

With the princess, the principal, and the head of the civil servants who represented the entire Empire here, we explained everything that happened.

Originally, despite her presence, she was merely being seen as a tool for negotiation. Not a very high-value entity for the politics of the kingdom.

We left her alone, and the bought-off knights and maids had no trouble faking her status to the civil servants.

It became even worse when I found out her state but was strictly excluded from these politics. I had no way of knowing what the busy civil servants were reported of despite seeing the incongruent reality.

To be honest, the guards were convincing and I had found the princess easily enough to think she wasn’t in much trouble. If not for the wound, she would have been ignored here for longer.

It was overall a very messy situation that came about because of many communication hoops and hindsight due to the sudden rush.

The type of situation that made CEOs lose stock price in Corporates and Commanders lose troops in war.

“That is right,” Gladwin said. “We knew of the political turbulence, but we never imagined how intent the current king was on removing the traces of the past.”

The princess lowered her head at his words. She gulped nervously and clenched her fists tight.

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“I understand goodwill alone will not suffice to earn your trust, princess. So I will say this clearly, you are a very important entity for the Empire and the Kingdom of Aegean. As long as that stands, you will be protected.”

Gladwin’s words had a different nuance, one I wasn’t sure carried over to the princess.

Traces of the past, of the first king… It was highly likely that the Queen had been killed by Rathnar too. He also clearly mentioned that if the princess lost her value as a negotiation chip, she would not be protected by them anymore.

It was quite hilarious. The threat to her life made her life all the more valuable.

“Princess…” Gladwin spoke up, bringing down the final hammer of this conversation. “The academy is now a safe place for you.”

With those words as a cue, the princess clenched her hands and bit her lips.

Her body quivered as she lowered her head, the ears and tail drooping down low.

A sniffle rang out.

Without another word, Gladwin and the principal both stood up and walked out of the room, tapping my shoulders once.

“Agh… hah…”

The sniffle changed to a muffled sob. With all her might, she tried to hold back her tears.

She took in long breaths and exhaled even longer.

But, the little princess’ defenses couldn’t last long.

“Aaah… haaaah…”

She broke down into tears.

Into messy sobs, wailing as she fell to her knees and screamed her heart out.

It was the first time.

The first time she could let loose and cry.

She grieved her father who died in war.

She wailed for her mother who she couldn’t see even after her passing.

She thanked and mourned her friend and that friend’s sacrifice which became her lifeline.

I should have left too, but I couldn’t.

All those years on the battlefield, the years in hell… we all fought thinking things would be alright after the war ended.

When selfish reasons couldn’t motivate us anymore, when our loved ones seemed like an illusion of the past, we clung to any hope that we could find.

Wasn’t this one of those?

Thinking people wouldn’t need to cry once it’s over. Thinking even if we die, the children would live a bright life, we fought.

But even when the war is over, tears have not stopped.

Hah… how foolish. Who would know it better than us?

The wounds hurt most after the battle ends.

Now was the time for those wounds to fester.

Seeing the crying princess, I realized why the commander had sent me here.

Even if the war was over, our work truly wasn’t.

The sobs continued. Taking in a deep breath, I opened the door and moved out of the room.

That was the day I truly accepted my role as a professor. And that was how I met my first student, the one at the top of my class roster.

Her name, Iaso Ragdoll Aegean.