Tensei Oujo – Chapter 165

The Reincarnated Princess’s Outcry (3)

 

 

 

    The two, with their mouths half opened, had dumbfounded looks splattered across their faces.

    I was making a huge mistake of not putting on airs in front of my beloved Sir Leonhard, but that’s hardly important right now.

    I’ll go crazy if I don’t let loose all of this anger bottling up inside me.

“What do you mean it’s Sir Leonhard’s role to kill you!? Do you seriously believe a third-rate story such as that!??”

    Sir Leonhard’s current role, his current duty, is to protect me. Going berserk and wiping the floor with his childhood friend doesn’t count. It’s something he did on the spur of the moment on his own.

“If you’ve known him for so long, you should already know that Sir Leonhard is very kind. Did you know that you’re cherished as his lifelong friend? How could you do something so cruel…!”

    I was jealous of the light atmosphere and the chummy tone he used when he’s together with Sir Leonhard.
    Because I knew full well in my heart that I could never reach that far even if I get to spend many years with him. 
    But at the same time, I was glad that Sir Leonhard finally had a friend who he could talk and confide anything with.

    My nails dug into my palms.

“Betraying Sir Leonhard and leaving a scar in his heart, who do you think you are!? Don’t act so spoiled!! Even if the whole world forgives you, I definitely won’t!”

    I don’t know if devoting everything in your life towards one single person is considered evil.
    But that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to hurt those that care for you.

“Don’t drag Sir Leonhard into your own stupid selfish suicide act! If you wish to die, you can go and die alone!!”

    I vented it all out in one go and ended up short of breath in the end.
    No one said anything and silence filled the room. Maybe they were too disappointed in me.

    When my head finally cooled down, my rational thinking ability came back.
    My face probably did a rapid colour change from red to blue in a split second. Not that I could see my own face. But that aside, there was no point in trying to escape from the situation at hand. 

    …What on earth did I just say? 

    It’s way too late to be going as white as a sheet. That’s because you can never recover your words once they’ve already left your lips. 

    I didn’t mean what I said. 
    I never wanted him to die. Even if it was blood rushing to my head, that was no excuse to say something so horrible. 

    I was deeply appalled and couldn’t think of a way to untie this situation. I’d thought of apologising, telling him my honest thoughts directly, but the timing felt too awkward given what I’d just done. 

    What should I do? What course of action should I take? 
    For the time being, I wish someone would do something about this suffocating silence! 

    Did my wish reach someone, I wonder? Because laughter suddenly echoed and killed off the silence that had filled the room. 
    That initially modest voice grew louder and louder. When I turned my head, I found Latte laughing hysterically with a hand over his stomach.
    I could only stare dumbfounded.

“T-To tell someone to die alone… Is there really a princess out there that says that? There’s a limit to how outlandish one could be.”

    Seeing the assassin burst into tears left me stood stunned.

    What’s going on?
    I seriously can’t keep up anymore.

    Sure, I said something ridiculous. Worthy of being disqualified from being a princess, even.
    But why is a mercenary sent by the enemy laughing like this…? Isn’t this too strange? I could not make this up even if I wanted to.

    I knew I was being laughed at, but for some reason, I failed to get angry.
    I was so confused that my brain simply stopped working altogether.

“I knew it. Nebel sure is interesting.”

    After a brief sigh, Latte gave me a glance while wiping a tear off the corner of his eye with his finger.
    He smiled as he took my hand.

“Here you go.”

    What was dropped into my palm was the Demon Lord stone.
    I opened my eyes wide. I’d like to ask him ‘why’, but no voice came out. Seeing me glancing back and forth between the stone and him, Latte squinted happily.

    The moment he pulled out a slender knife hidden under his cloak, Sir Leonhard quickly reacted and tried to reach me, but as if to show no hostility, Latte threw the knife onto the ground and raised his hands up.
    The blade of the knife laying against the floor was dyed bright red.

    Whose blood is that…?

“If the commander standing over there is a traitor of the kingdom, then I guess I’m the opposite.”

“Huh…?”

    An astounded reaction escaped my lips.

    What do you mean ‘the opposite’?

    Latte promptly knelt before me while I wasn’t ready, reverently took my hand with eyes shining like a puppy wanting to be praised, and proudly said the following.

“As proof of my betrayal and departure from Raptor, I have successfully destroyed any and all surviving agents that the Black Lion Commander failed to do.”

    The blood on that knife was undoubtedly from a colleague of his.
    Naturally, I wanted to know why. Why did he betray Raptor?
    He could’ve easily escaped with the Demon Lord stone. While I understand why he’d leave it behind, I don’t get his motives at all.

    His thoughts were a mystery to me.
    As I stared at him as if looking at an unknown life form, Latte presented a beautiful smile that lacked even a hint of worry.

“Say, princess of a beautiful country. If you’d like, why don’t you hire me?”

    Weird things seemed to be happening one after another since a while ago and all of it had punctured a huge gaping hole in my head.
    Anyone… Anyone is fine. Please explain what’s going on! My eyes drifted further away as my head selfishly demanded.

 

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TN: I had other projects on my hands, out of my own volition, and they ended up eating into my translating time. I’ll manage my time better as best I can from now on.

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