The First Princess and the Hero’s Secret
What did I do wrong? Nothing. I was just offering a bit of comfort. So, I said it bluntly.
"Stop talking bullshit and get up."
"Commander, please……."
Anastasia sobbed, clutching my ankle. Honestly, I didn't hate having a beautiful girl do this, but I was worried about what Elena might think.
"Lady Elena."
"Yes, Nikolai… no, Count Go-Sugil."
What is this "Go-Sugil"? It sounds like some fantasy-novel name, but my name is Go Suhyun.
"It’s quite a chaotic night, isn't it?"
"Yes, indeed……."
I barely managed to agree with Elena. She hailed a passing carriage, shoved Anastasia inside, and spoke to the coachman.
"To the Duke of Austerlitz’s mansion."
After slipping him a few silver coins, she returned to my side.
"I sent her to Anastasia’s maternal home, where she currently resides, so she should be fine."
"That’s a relief."
Lady Elena looked at me again, her face flushing, and linked her arm with mine. *Squish.* It was soft. Something supple kept brushing against my arm. I forgot all about the awkward situation from moments ago and began to enjoy myself. Lady Elena chuckled softly.
"It’s a grand banquet, after all. It’d be our loss if we didn't enjoy it, wouldn't it?"
"Ah, right."
I stood there frozen, but led by Lady Elena, I managed to return to the banquet hall. And in that hall, the Crown Prince had returned as well. Leaving as soon as the Emperor departed—what a coward.
In the center of the hall, he was back to surrounding himself with knights like a folding screen, hitting on women. I like women too, but that was just… pathetic. I treated him like an invisible man and headed toward the food table with Lady Elena. But this clueless bastard had to pick a fight again.
"E-Elena! Why are you linking arms with that filthy barbarian!"
Lucas approached with a flushed face, his strides heavy.
The surrounding nobles, as if they’d found an interesting spectacle, slowly backed away to form a circle.
"Let go of that arm this instant! No matter how much His Majesty showed mercy by granting you the title of Count Breitenfeld, you are nothing but a beast from the North with no roots! You are not someone a noble mage like her should be touching!"
"You son of a bitch."
"Ex… cuse me?"
Lady Elena flinched at my profanity, but it was a necessary curse. I unlinked my arm from hers and picked up a half-eaten pork bone.
"You talk a lot for someone who couldn't even cut a pork bone with that so-called Holy Sword. Did your mother not teach you any manners?"
"Count Go-Sugil! That language is!!"
"……You are begging for your death."
I guess he really didn't have a mother. Is that why the son grew up like that? I don't know how he pulled it out, but he was holding that cracked Holy Sword thing.
"Crown Prince Lucas von Schwartzvalt challenges the beast of the North to a duel."
"Me?"
"Yes! You, you bastard!!"
"Why?"
"Because you insulted my honor!!"
"And?"
"Gaaaaah… !!"
I activated the 'Three Sacred Treasures' perfect for pissing people off, and he was losing his mind with rage. I picked my nose, flicked the booger at him, and said,
"Why would I duel someone who got beaten by a pork bone while holding a Holy Sword?"
At my words, the crowd erupted in laughter.
"Even for the Crown Prince, that’s a bit much, hahaha!!"
"Actually, didn't someone else catch the Demon King?"
That’s right. The guy who caught the Demon King is right here. Unable to bear the mockery of the people, the Crown Prince lunged at me. And— *Thwack!* Once again, the Holy Sword was embedded in the ceiling, and the pork bone didn't even have a scratch on it. Well, that was to be expected. A pork bone infused with my mana is stronger than a Holy Sword infused with that bastard’s pathetic mana. This is the true experience of a warrior who has fought the Demon King’s army for ten years.
I put down the pork bone and wiped my hands with a tissue. Then, I offered my arm to Lady Elena again.
"Shall we go eat something delicious, Lady Elena?"
"…That sounds lovely."
Lady Elena, who had been looking at the Crown Prince with a pitiful expression, linked her arm with mine again and headed toward the food table.
* * *
Elena’s hands trembled slightly. Not out of fear. She gripped the solid arm of the man beside her—the man she initially thought was Nikolai Tashkievich, but who actually had the unique name of Go Suhyun and had been granted the name Go-Sugil von Breitenfeld by the Emperor—and thought to herself.
'Prince Lucas. You truly know nothing.'
Elena’s memory drifted back to half a year ago, the day the hero party stormed the Demon King’s castle.
The main force of the Demon King’s army, which was supposed to destroy the world, was strangely empty.
When they passed through the vacant castle and reached the Demon King’s throne, what they encountered was not a Demon King boasting immense majesty. It was merely an old, sick demon, already beaten to a pulp by someone else, gasping for breath.
Lucas had swung his sword arrogantly, claiming the monsters had fled in fear of the Holy Sword’s glory.
But just before the Demon King’s head fell, Elena heard it clearly. The terrible curse the Demon King spat out into the void, foaming at the mouth.
'You… Northern devil…!! My elite legions, beaten by that single beast……!!!'
At the time, she hadn't understood what that meant. Even the Imperial high command couldn't figure out where the Demon King’s main force, said to number in the millions, had evaporated to.
But the moment she faced this immense, ignorant power that could suppress a Holy Sword with a single pork bone, and the pungent scent of blood deeply ingrained in his monster-leather clothes, Elena could piece together every puzzle. The reason they could play hero in the South as a "hero party." The reason the Empire could hold such a lavish banquet without being trampled by the Demon King’s main force.
It was all thanks to this man, who was currently walking beside her, yawning.
'Count Go-Sugil is… the true hero.'
The overwhelming martial prowess that could deflect a Holy Sword with a pork bone. Yet, the strange, gentle kindness he showed when he awkwardly offered his arm to her.
Elena felt her cheeks flush hot again.
In this moment, the fact that she alone in this vast Empire was monopolizing the true value of the real hero made her heart race like crazy. She couldn't let someone like this be taken by the First Princess. Of course, she was beautiful, a true beauty, but wasn't she just a flower in a greenhouse who had never stepped onto a battlefield? The only one qualified to stand beside this great hero was herself, the one who knew the truth.
'I will have Count Go-Sugil.'
Thinking this, Elena pressed herself deeper, openly, into Go Suhyun’s side.
* * *
For some reason, it felt like Lady Elena was pressing her body even closer to me. It was a good feeling. It was soft and supple, and I couldn't help but think how happy I'd be if I could touch that with my hands.
"You crazy bastard."
I slapped my own cheek with my hand. Thinking such things about an innocent beauty like her was the height of rudeness. I am not a beast. To Lady Elena, I must be a kind, gentle, and sweet gentleman.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"No, it’s not that."
"If you’re uncomfortable, please tell me anytime."
I pulled my body away slightly as I said that. Lady Elena kept trying to press her body against me, but I pulled away as much as I could. Only then could I barely stop 'those thoughts.'
Lady Elena soon unlinked her arm, stepped in front of me, and asked,
"Is there a woman you hold in your heart?"
"I don't have anything like that."
"Then why… Oh."
Elena smiled brightly, as if she had realized something. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, so I just chewed on my meat, dazed. As expected, Lady Elena’s smiling face is beautiful.
Just then, a booming voice echoed through the banquet hall.
"Her Imperial Highness, the First Princess, Elizabeth von Schwartzvalt enters!!"
Ah. She’s here. My (forced) fiancée. I felt deeply depressed. I didn't know what kind of expression I should use to greet this First Princess named Elizabeth. The voice from moments ago continued.
"Count Go-Sugil von Breitenfeld, Commander of the North, come forward before Her Highness the Princess!!"
It’s over. Total collapse. The harem life I dreamed of had flown far away. Damn it. Damn it!!
I walked sluggishly toward where the First Princess was. A forced, unknown fiancée in a monogamous world. She’s probably either a neurotic woman obsessed with power or a bratty girl used for a political marriage by the Emperor. And her face? Don't even ask. She’s definitely going to be ugly. I only have Lady Elena right now!!
Walking with my head bowed low, I finally lifted it when the intricately embroidered red carpet and dazzling white shoes entered my field of vision.
"Nice to meet you, Count."
"Uh."
I doubted my own eyes.
No, my brain just stopped entirely.
First, the lustrous red hair flowed down to about her hips.
Her white, flawless skin was like white jade. And her face. Wow. I was just stunned. It wasn't just "pretty"—it was "fucking, fucking, fucking pretty."
If Lady Elena was "fucking pretty," the First Princess was "fucking, fucking, fucking pretty."
At this level, it was like a goddess of beauty had come down to earth in a human cosplay.
"I am Elizabeth von Schwartzvalt. I have heard much of your martial prowess from my father, the Emperor."
She smiled softly and locked eyes with me.
My heart began to race like crazy.
Forced engagement? Monogamy? Political marriage?
No, long live my father-in-law, the Emperor. The Empire is the best. I’ll be loyal for life.
I stared blankly at her face, then suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
The Crown Prince and hero, Lucas von Schwartzvalt. The silver-haired mage, Elena von Weisswaltz. And the red-haired First Princess, Elizabeth von Schwartzvalt.
The names were too familiar. Surely… they were characters from a romance fantasy novel I used to read when I was bored back on Earth. I’d seen the novel, and I’d seen the webtoon. How did this happen?
"Is something wrong, Count Go-Sugil?"
"Ah, no, Your Highness. Just thinking about the past."
"You are more masculine than I thought, and yet more delicate than I thought. I like it, *fufu*."
How can a person be this pretty? *Thump, thump, thump, thump.* My heart started racing like crazy again.