The Empire's Lapdog
As an infinite regressor, I had long held a certain habit—a core belief. That was to do my absolute best in every single timeline, and to never turn away from anyone I could save. It was a conviction I guarded at all costs, even at the risk of my own life, to protect my worn-out heart and maintain my sense of duty through countless regressions.
"Me?"
"..."
"The Princess?"
Little did I know that this very conviction would come back to bite me at such a critical moment.
"Unless Our eyes deceived Us... that is indeed what happened."
"Haha, you certainly have a sense of humor, Your Highness."
Though I spoke with the most shameless expression I could muster to the Princess, who was glaring daggers at me, cold sweat was pouring down my back.
"My reflexes are simply too fast. I merely blocked it thinking the attack was aimed at me."
"..."
"Well, I am still a subject of the kingdom, after all. Let's just say I saved you as a bonus."
Until now, if I ever aroused suspicion, I could easily resolve it through regression. But the Princess standing before me was not an opponent I could handle so simply. Until I could pinpoint the exact conditions under which she perceived my regressions, I could not afford to give her any more ammunition.
"What is your true angle?"
"Who knows? Why don't you try guessing, Your Highness?"
Steeling my resolve, I gave her a deeply enigmatic smile as I replied.
"..."
A heavy silence stretched between us.
"...Could it be that you brought Us here on purpose?"
"...?"
"To deliver some pathetic threat? To show Us that you can take Our life whenever you please?"
The accusation that broke the silence was, fortunately, turning in a direction that favored me.
"Well, I wouldn't know anything about that."
"You utter piece of trash."
"Haha... I told you, I know nothing. You hurt my feelings, Your Highness."
Then again, given the public infamy I had meticulously built up over the years, there was no way she would suddenly suspect I was a good guy just because I blocked a single assassination attempt.
"Indeed. Of all people, there is no way you would ever save Us."
"..."
"What was We even thinking..."
Realizing the harsh reality of the situation, the Princess's eyes filled with raw hostility once more.
"So, shall we get to the point?"
In the next moment, she threw another question at me.
"If you went to the trouble of dragging Us to such a secluded place to threaten Us, you must have something to say."
But now that the immediate crisis had passed, I was under no obligation to answer.
The projectile from earlier... It's a bullet commonly used by the Empire. Designed for suppression rather than lethality.
It was far more efficient to analyze the situation to prepare for the next timeline.
I don't sense any presence nearby. Did they retreat the moment the assassination failed?
Piecing together the clues left at the scene, the one targeting the Princess was undoubtedly an imperial assassin. Considering they managed to get so close without me noticing, they must be an Elite level combatant. It would have been better if I could have identified them. Still, now I knew this place wasn't safe, so next time...
Bang!
Just as I was wrapping up my thoughts and preparing to reset the timeline, a gunshot rang out behind me. I flinched and whipped my head around.
"Tsk...!"
The Princess, who had drawn a self-defense pistol from her robes and aimed it at me, wore a look of deep frustration.
"Oh dear, Your Highness."
"..."
"It seems you missed."
Right. I had forgotten that the Princess was absolutely determined to kill me. In fact, just a moment ago, she had literally shot me right between the eyes.
"Don't come any closer...!"
The only saving grace was that her marksmanship was abysmal. Unless it was at point-blank range like before, her accuracy was incredibly low. I had more than enough time to defend myself, so she wasn't much of a threat.
Crackle...
But my relief was short-lived. A golden aura began to ripple from the pistol in her hand.
...No way.
The moment I saw that mysterious golden aura, alarm bells went off in my head.
Is that the cause?
As far as I knew, the Princess had never awakened her mana. Yet, the golden energy flowing through her pistol was unmistakably mana—or some alien power equivalent to it. What if, upon the fall of her kingdom, the Princess had awakened some hidden ability, much like the late King? The probability that this power was linked to our shared regression was incredibly high.
Damn it.
The conclusion was clear: I must never let her kill me again. If I died by her hand while she possessed this awakened power, she would retain her memories of the regression. If that happened, it would only be a matter of time before the clever Princess figured out my true identity and intentions.
I can't let that happen...!
I could never tolerate sharing my infinite regressions with anyone else. Dragging another soul into a hell that I alone could bear was a sin deserving of divine wrath. Especially when that person was a princess whose only crime was being born to a fallen kingdom—a princess who was still so young and fragile. If I allowed that to happen, I wouldn't be able to endure the regressions to come.
"Die, Ethan!"
But how on earth was I supposed to defuse this situation?
"...Ugh!?"
The tense standoff was shattered not by me, nor by the Princess, but by a third party.
"What... is..."
The Princess, who had been aiming her gun at me, swayed on her feet before her body stiffened and she collapsed.
"Good work, Ethan."
Immediately after realizing she had been hit by a paralytic dart fired from a blind spot, a slimy voice echoed from behind us.
"We'll take it from here."
Recognizing the familiar voice, I turned around and squeezed my eyes shut.
...The absolute worst-case scenario.
Magheim Lag Madonia, the Second Prince of the Madonia Empire. Before I knew it, the Princess and I were completely surrounded by his private soldiers.
"Sir Ethan, you played a massive role in this."
As my head began to throb, completely at a loss for how to salvage this situation, that shameless voice spoke up again.
"Ever since that bitch Roseheim seized power, I've been pushed to the sidelines..."
"..."
"To think that on this glorious day of Erandel's fall, she would relegate me to a surveillance unit instead of the palace infiltration team."
The triumphant Second Prince patted my shoulder as he brushed past me.
"But thanks to you drawing the Princess out to this secluded spot... I now have the perfect opportunity to secure a decisive achievement and outshine my wretched sister."
This explained how our path had been leaked. But there was still one more thing I needed to find out.
"I didn't sense any presence, however."
"That would be the work of the Blood Moon Knights. They are currently on standby in the rear."
"Ah, I see."
Having carefully pried the information out of him, I finally grasped the full picture and began to think rapidly.
If that's the case, smuggling her out of the palace grounds is going to be nearly impossible.
If the Empire's elite assassination unit, the Blood Moon Knights, was backing him, escaping with the Princess would be impossible no matter how many times I regressed. But then, how was I supposed to save her? As I lost myself in thought, the Prince's gaze turned icy.
"By the way, Ethan. I just received an interesting report from the captain of the Blood Moon Knights..."
"..."
"...Did you, by any chance, interfere with the Princess's assassination?"
My heart skipped a beat at his interrogation, but in moments like this, I had to remain as shameless as possible.
"I have no excuse. I mistook the attack as one aimed at me, and..."
"Is that so? Well... I suppose that could happen."
The one saving grace was that the Second Prince was relatively foolish compared to Princess Roseheim, who held my leash.
"You must have a lot of difficulties living as the Empire's dog."
Glaring at me with a sneer, he walked over to the Princess, who was already being bound by his men.
"Ugh, let go of me!"
"...Hmm."
"I said, let go...! Ah!?"
I wanted to slaughter these insolent bastards right this instant, but I couldn't. If I helped the Princess again here, my true identity would undoubtedly be exposed. Although it was highly likely that the shared regression only triggered when she killed me, I couldn't ignore even a one-in-a-million chance.
"Tell me where the Royal Seal is, Princess."
"...Do you truly think We would ever tell you?"
"I figured you'd say that."
So, I had to suppress the raging fire in my chest. No matter what happened, I must not step in.
"Well, since it's come to this, I have no choice."
I steeled my heart, but the very next words out of the Prince's mouth forced me to instantly discard my resolve.
"Strip Princess Irene and find the Royal Seal."
What did this piece of trash just say?
"What did you just...?"
Struggling in the grasp of the Second Prince's men, Princess Irene doubted her own ears.
"There is no way the Princess would keep the precious Royal Seal in a palace with such lax security."
As the Second Prince continued, her face drained of all color.
"If my guess is correct, she must have hidden it on her person."
While the Prince's deduction was spot-on, what terrified her more was the way the soldiers holding her were beginning to look at her with increasingly lecherous eyes.
"Your Highness, but..."
"Are we... truly doing this?"
"It is an order. Obey."
A few soldiers with a shred of conscience hesitated and asked again, but the Prince's resolve was absolute.
"In return, I won't care about any... incidental things that happen while you strip her."
The moment the Prince added those words while leering at her, a harsh curse tore from her youthful lips.
"You absolute bastards...!"
"Don't waste time. We need to find the Royal Seal and return as quickly as possible."
She thrashed with renewed desperation, but she could not break free from the iron grip of the soldiers pinning her limbs.
Mother...
Exhausted, her resistance faltered. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to stream down her face.
I am sorry I could not live up to your expectations...
Even then, the Second Prince's horrific orders continued.
"Once you are finished, burn the body. We cannot allow a dead princess to become a rallying point for the kingdom..."
But he never got to finish his sentence.
Bang!
A single gunshot echoing from behind cut him off.
"Aaaaargh?!"
At first, the Prince wore a dazed expression, unable to comprehend what had just happened. But as the searing pain in his abdomen caught up to him, he collapsed to the ground, thrashing and screaming in agony.
"Eek?!"
Pressed firmly against his temple was the barrel of the very pistol the Princess had dropped.
"From this moment on."
The man holding the gun and aiming it at the Prince was someone nobody in that clearing would have ever dreamed would do such a thing.
"No one lays a single finger on the Princess."
Ethan von Astrape, the worst traitor in the kingdom's history, stood there with a demonic expression, radiating a suffocating, murderous intent that paralyzed everyone present.