Chapter 25
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Fourth Princess Can't Hold Back
In that instant, Sizli's body floated up with a whoosh.
Sera had snuck up and slipped her hands under Sizli's arms to lift her.
"Even if you blather on about the princess's sacred body, I'm not letting go."
"Sera."
Despite Sera's grumbling, Sizli kept her eyes fixed straight ahead.
"Looks like an interesting guy showed up for this martial tournament."
Seeing that, Sera let out a quiet sigh.
"How many times have I heard that line now?"
"This time it's for real."
The martial tournament had been opened under the pretext of gathering entrants for Raheln Academy.
Sizli smiled to herself. Maybe this one really will be fun.
[You're lucky. Running into the Fourth Princess right away.]
Crimson Garden had noticed it too.
Krash scratched his head.
He hadn't expected to cross paths with the Fourth Princess the moment he arrived.
That tomboy had always been unpredictable, popping up in the most unexpected places, just like back then.
I just caught her on instinct when she tripped.
What bothered Krash was the look on Sizli's face as she stared at him.
It was the unmistakable expression of someone who'd spotted something fun.
Getting tangled up with that girl would be a hassle.
Sizli was brilliant—too brilliant, which was why she deliberately hid it.
Krash knew what had become of her in the empire.
It was an end that didn't suit her sharp mind at all.
And yet, it was precisely because of that sharp mind that it had happened.
Whatever.
She wasn't someone he wanted to get involved with just yet.
So Krash went ahead and registered for the martial tournament first.
Name: Krad. Age: 14.
Origin: Ojiwen, a remote village on the empire's border.
He filled it out simply and completed the registration, then stepped outside.
Fortunately, Sizli didn't come chasing after him.
Now all that's left...
...is to place in the top three and claim the Golden Dragon Herb.
With that in mind, Krash set off to find an inn where he could stay until the prelims in two days.
Until he learned that every inn was packed with people who'd come for the tournament.
"Ha, damn it."
He'd always known the empire had a huge population.
But he hadn't imagined the capital's inns would be completely full. Krash slumped in a corner, sighing.
The place was swarming with spectators and participants—no room to even stand.
At this rate, he'd have to sleep on the streets tonight.
And it won't just be tonight.
He'd need a place to crash tomorrow too, and all the way through to the finals.
"Hey, kid."
Just then, Krash heard someone calling him.
When he looked up, there was an old woman standing there.
"No place to sleep tonight?"
She asked with a pitiful look.
"Nope."
"Oh dear, no adults with you? You've been sitting here alone since earlier."
The old woman worked at the shop across from the park where Krash had been sitting.
She'd watched him the whole time, brooding by himself.
"You come up here alone for the tournament? Poor thing. If you've got nowhere, come stay at my place."
There wasn't a hint of deceit in her expression.
She'd just taken genuine pity on him and asked.
Who knew looking like a kid would come in handy like this?
It was enough to stir the kindness in a good-hearted adult.
"Thank you. I'll take you up on it."
Krash accepted the offer without hesitation.
[Didn't you ever hear that kids shouldn't follow strangers?]
Crimson Garden teased him playfully, but Krash had no desire to sleep on the bare ground.
Once was enough from all those nights during the World Erosion.
The old woman's house was a bit removed from the capital's center.
Prices were sky-high in the heart of the city, so it made sense.
The house wasn't all that big.
Just the right size.
But it was more than livable.
"I've got exactly one empty room left. Lucky you. Hungry? I'll whip up some food right away."
"Thank you."
"Alright, head to the room at the very end of the second floor. Should be comfy enough."
The old woman treated Krash with the warmth she'd give a grandchild.
So he didn't argue and followed her directions.
Lucky break.
Who'd have thought he'd score a room like this?
As Krash climbed the stairs and passed down the wooden hallway on the second floor...
One of the doors creaked open.
He turned, thinking it might be the old woman's family.
And froze when he saw who it was.
"You!"
A blue-haired girl pointed at him, exclaiming as if they'd bumped into each other by pure chance.
"You're the friend who helped me out earlier!"
And then Krash felt a faint headache coming on.
Blue hair and a doll-like pretty face.
It was none other than the Fourth Princess, Sizli Epania.
Her face wasn't known outside the imperial palace.
That's why she wandered around so openly, assuming no one would recognize her.
Damn it.
And that's when Krash realized it.
Somehow, she'd maneuvered things so he'd end up here.
He had no idea how she'd pulled it off.
But with that brilliant brain of hers...
Krash stared at her for a moment before turning and heading straight into the room the old woman had mentioned.
"Hmm, he's shy, huh?"
He shut out her voice from the hallway and ignored it.
And so began the brief cohabitation between Staron's pride, the Valheim heir, and the empire's most powerful princess.
Knock knock knock!
The next morning.
Today was the last day for registrations, so the prelims weren't until tomorrow. Krash was savoring a rare luxurious sleep in a proper bed.
Knock knock knock!
But whoever it was had no intention of letting him sleep in—the door was knocked again.
Krash flipped his pillow over his ears.
Creeeak—
But when he didn't answer the knocks, the door opened anyway.
He was sure he'd locked it before bed.
Hearing the door open, Krash sat up in bed. The first thing that caught his eye was blue hair.
Naturally, it was Sizli Epania.
She stood there brazenly, holding a thin wire in her hand.
What kind of princess went around picking locks?
It was utterly ridiculous.
"The early bird gets the worm. What's the point of sleeping in like this?"
"That doesn't make breaking into someone else's room polite."
"What am I supposed to do? You're avoiding me so obviously."
She deliberately hid her princess-like speech patterns, chatting casually as if it were nothing.
"Why are you avoiding me?"
As she asked, Krash straightened his blanket and got out of bed.
Talking to her was a bad idea.
From his firsthand experience, her intellect was dangerously sharp.
One wrong word, and she'd see right through him nine times out of ten.
"You're not my type."
So he went with an answer she wouldn't expect.
And it hit the mark perfectly.
Sizli's big eyes went wide, and then she burst out laughing in disbelief.
"I've never heard anything in my life besides 'pretty' or 'cute.'"
Shameless.
But true to her words, Sizli's looks were anything but ordinary.
"There are plenty prettier than you."
"Oh yeah? Who?"
Sizli's eyes sparkled as she leaned in.
Watching her, Krash briefly thought of Bianca before shaking it off.
"Not telling."
"So many secrets. Your face matches your playfulness perfectly."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Then you should be grateful. Whose praise do you think that is?"
Krash ignored her and stepped out into the hallway. Sizli hurried after him with quick steps.
"Where are you going?"
"Don't follow me."
"Why not? If you want me to be your type, we have to get to know each other. And here I am, this pretty girl trying so hard right by your side."
Annoying.
That was Krash's honest feeling.
A urge to flick her forehead bubbled up.
The problem was, the moment he did, her ever-present escort Sera would show up.
Fighting the Mad Sword would kill me.
She was a master-level expert, after all.
Even now, he felt her gaze prickling his Sixth Sense from somewhere nearby.
"Well? Am I your type now?"
"You're even more annoying."
"That's weird."
Sizli's eyes went wide again, as if this was the first time anyone had treated her this way.
"How can you act like that even knowing I'm a princess?"
Krash's body went rigid the moment he heard her follow-up.
This damn woman.
That hadn't been a casual remark.
She'd figured out that he knew her true identity.
In just that one night, she'd become certain.
Her golden eyes sparkled as they fixed on Krash.
Those eyes, brimming with wisdom, seemed to see right through everything.
"What nonsense? Why would you be a princess?"
Krash played it off naturally.
But Sizli just smiled faintly.
"Kidding. Just kidding! As if I'd be a princess, right?"
She laughed it off and extended her hand to Krash.
"I'm Sizli. Nice to meet you, Krad from Staron!"
Fuck.
Krash barely swallowed the curse.
She'd not only revealed her own name outright but had even pinpointed his origins.
"Not thrilled at all."
Krash ignored the handshake, turned, and walked away.
Watching him go, Sizli awkwardly withdrew her hand and placed it on her hip.
"Fourth Princess."
In that moment, Sera slipped quietly to her side.
"Is that kid really from Staron?"
"Yeah. The empire and Staron use the same language, but Staron plosives come out just a bit stronger. The kid's mixed in some empire style, but you can't change the essence—it shows."
"...Only you could pick up on that, Fourth Princess."
Sera shook her head at the absurd way she'd deduced his origins.
"What do you mean he knows your identity?"
"Exactly what I said. The way he treats me—it's how you act when you already know someone. There were a few slips."
"Like what?"
"His behavior when he first met the old lady was different from when he first saw me."
Sera blinked.
"Isn't that just adult versus kid?"
"The key is that it was the first time. Everyone treats first encounters differently, but there's a clear distinction between 'first time' and 'familiar.'"
"I can't follow at all."
"It's a difference in observation skills. I absorb more information faster than most."
The way she used her brain was different from ordinary people.
Especially her powers of observation—her mind operated with overwhelming efficiency.
Where a normal person's brain would just register and discard visual input, hers memorized it all and derived conclusions.
So she saw more.
Her information absorption rate was on a level that could truly be called foresight.
That's why Sizli was all the more puzzled.
"But I saw that kid for the first time."
How could someone not in her memory treat her like they already knew her?
Was he faking familiarity on purpose?
Impossible—unless he was the greatest con artist alive, no one could fool her eyes.
She listed out possibilities, then chuckled softly.
"Better if he were a con artist."
That was starting to seem the most plausible.
"Should I grab him?"
If he was from Staron and hiding his identity to enter the tournament, it was grounds enough.
As Sera asked quietly, Sizli raised her hand and smacked her thigh.
"Why ruin something this fun by jumping the gun? Leave him be."
Sera, who'd taken an undeserved swat to the thigh, could only pout quietly.
"More importantly, Sera—any luck on my sister?"
Sera, rubbing her thigh, turned to her.
"Yes, I looked into it as you asked. Focusing on the points you mentioned, Lady Sigrin really has changed from before."
The empire's Third Princess, Sigrin Epania.
A sword prodigy drawing expectations as the empire's future shining sword—and Sizli's older sister.
Sizli had already noticed her subtle change starting about a year ago.
"Hmm. Wonder what's brewing in the palace."
Sizli clicked her tongue lightly and started walking.
"Any measures?"
Sera asked, but Sizli shook her head.
"Nah. Palace matters get sorted in the palace. No need for me to stick my nose in."
She'd deliberately washed her hands of palace affairs.
Sigrin's change was just personal curiosity.
Nothing more.
She just had a feeling the First and Second Princes might be in a bit of danger.
"I've found something way more interesting right now anyway."
Sizli's eyes sparkled with long-lost excitement.
All she could do was quietly hope it would live up to her interest.