The Princess Is Free to Misunderstand

After running and running for a long while, I at last came to a clearing in the forest.

I walked to the center of the clearing, leaving footprints on the pure white ground, then bent forward and leaned on my knees.

Hot, ragged breaths kept spilling from my mouth.

'I feel like I'm gonna throw up....'

My head was spinning after sprinting at full speed for several minutes straight.

I hadn't wanted to run that hard, but it was unavoidable.

Because I thought putting as much distance as possible between Selvia and myself was the top priority.

'If the princess hears that I'm applying for asylum, it'll be a disaster....'

The princess's nature was to execute traitors no matter what.

So the best course of action was to vanish like a ghost before the princess found out.

"How far are you going to run! You son of a bitch...."

"Huff...."

I was catching my breath when I heard the voice of an Allied soldier.

When I calmly turned around, the six soldiers I'd seen earlier were approaching, panting heavily.

Seeing that they weren't pointing their muzzles at me, they seemed willing to talk.

I didn't want to fight either, so I let out a rough breath and raised both hands.

"...Let's calm down and talk first. I am Acting Operations Staff Officer First Lieutenant Daniel Steiner of the Imperial General Staff Headquarters. State your names and unit affiliations."

Good. I'd naturally mentioned my unit and rank while introducing myself.

Since they'd heard I was an operations staff officer at General Staff Headquarters, they'd understand that I was a person of strategic value — unless they were idiots.

"As if anyone doesn't know who you are?"

Strangely, however, the Allied soldiers just furrowed their brows as if annoyed.

"Enough of that. Where is the princess? Speak carefully, because whether you live or die depends on your answer."

"...Did you say princess?"

My thoughts ground to a halt at the word "princess" coming out of the Allied soldier's mouth.

How did that bastard know the person traveling with me was the princess?

Selvia was no fool. She wouldn't have gone around announcing that she'd come to the Northern Front disguised as a war correspondent.

So only a small handful of people knew that Selvia had come here to the Northern Front.

That small handful were people Selvia had judged to be 'trustworthy.'

Given Selvia's personality — she exercised extreme caution in selecting personnel — they couldn't possibly have been acting as spies.

In that case, who had exploited this information to launch an attack?

I turned it over in my head and murmured quietly as a faint realization dawned.

'The prince.'

If it was family, the story changed.

Because Selvia's every movement could be observed from the closest possible vantage point.

In fact, I knew that Prince Arno von Amberg had clashed violently with his younger sister Selvia on multiple occasions over the succession to the imperial throne.

It seemed the dispute between the two was not merely a surface-level ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one.

'Trying to assassinate his own little sister. There's no lunatic quite like him.'

I clicked my tongue and lowered my hands.

Now that I knew the truth, there was no further need to surrender.

Because the soldiers in front of me didn't belong to the Allied Nations.

The soldiers before my eyes were the prince's assassins, disguised to make it look as though the princess had been attacked by the Allied Nations.

My head cooled down completely once I realized all of this was the prince's staged act.

"Did the prince send you?"

At my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠words, the soldiers flinched. That only made my conjecture clearer.

"Now that I look, those Allied uniforms are awfully clean."

"...What does that have to do with anything?"

"Usually, they send veteran soldiers for guerrilla operations disguised as enemy raids. Because sending new recruits causes the operation's success rate to plummet. But you're all wearing new uniforms just like fresh recruits. Do you think that makes any sense?"

If they'd wanted to pull off the disguise properly, they should have made the uniforms look like those of battle-hardened veterans.

The soldiers couldn't refute my point and soon let out hollow laughs.

The one who appeared to be their squad leader stepped forward.

"Seeing you figure it out right away, you're elite just like the rumors say. Then you must understand the situation pretty well, don't you? Join forces with us. Then I can guarantee you a path to success."

"Us? Are you referring to the prince?"

"...Use an honorific. It's His Highness the Crown Prince."

Seeing the soldier growl at me, I let out a laugh of sheer disbelief.

The soldier furrowed his brow at that.

"What's so funny?"

"It's pitiful watching you cling to a rotten lifeline. Crown Prince? That man doesn't have what it takes to become emperor. It's the princess who will become emperor. Not that dim-witted bastard."

I had given them sincere advice from the standpoint of someone who knew the future, but the soldiers apparently didn't appreciate it — they grimaced and clutched their rifles.

"Thanks for being honest. I won't need to talk any—"

From now on, it was a contest of speed. While the soldier was still mid-sentence, I pulled my revolver from its holster.

At the same time, I concentrated mana into my central nervous system and accelerated my nerves.

In a single instant, my field of vision expanded greatly and my pupils contracted.

What I saw in that field of view was a world moving in slow motion.

The alarmed soldier trying to raise his gun, opening his mouth to hurl curses, several of them lunging toward me — it all appeared like slow-motion footage.

Taking a deep breath, I raised the revolver, aimed at their heads, and pulled the trigger.

The way the gunpowder exploded and the bullets shot out looked surreal, as if they were drifting through zero gravity.

But the bullets were steadily advancing toward the soldiers' heads.

The moment I moved the revolver's muzzle to finish off the last soldier, the neural acceleration released and the world regained its original speed.

Taang─!

Five gunshots rang out nearly simultaneously, blowing open the soldiers' heads one after another.

The soldiers collapsed with a thud, unable to even let out a proper scream.

One last one, however: the soldier I'd been facing when the neural acceleration released was still charging at me.

"You son of a bitch—!"

I wanted to aim, but my hand was trembling violently.

The strain was hitting my body as a backlash from using neural acceleration.

This was the useful ability that had allowed me to graduate at the top of my class from the military academy, but it had a definite drawback — the toll it took on the body immediately after use was severe.

'Goddamn it....'

My head was throbbing and my body refused to listen, as if I'd sunk into a swamp.

But if I didn't kill that bastard, I'd die. I forced myself to focus and pulled the trigger.

Taang! The gunshot rang high into the sky, and the arm of the soldier charging at me exploded.

I'd missed. The soldier screamed as his arm was blown off, but he didn't stop rushing toward me.

Immediately after, the soldier closed the distance, threw his weight into it, and shoved me.

"Guh!"

I fell backward, landing in the snow.

The soldier climbed on top of me, pulled out a military knife, and tried to plunge it down into my head.

I instinctively grabbed the soldier's wrist.

"Fuck! You son of a bitch! You demon bastard! Die!"

The soldier spat out a string of curses, spraying spit.

But I had no energy to hurl insults back.

All I could manage was to grab the soldier's wrist with both hands and push him away.

"Guuugh...!"

But it wasn't working properly. I couldn't put strength into my hands.

I could see the tip of the knife inching closer and closer toward my eye, but I couldn't stop it.

A chill of terror ran down my spine.

'...What? Am I going to die like this?'

They say you normally experience a life review before you die, but all I felt was a sense of emptiness.

I wanted to resist death, but the strength kept draining from my hands.

That was when it happened.

Bang!

Along with the gunshot, the side of the soldier's head pressing down on me burst open.

The soldier immediately flopped forward and collapsed onto me.

I hurriedly snatched the dagger from him, then stabbed the soldier deeply in the neck.

Just in case — it was a confirmation kill.

After that, I pushed the soldier aside and slowly raised my upper body.

Once I'd steadied my ragged breathing and looked to the side, I saw a group of people in Imperial Army uniforms wearing gas masks.

'Imperial Central Army... and among them, the Imperial Guard, I suppose.'

If it was the Imperial Guard, I could roughly guess who had sent them.

Sure enough, Selvia came running up from behind them, a beat late.

Seeing her face so openly full of worry pricked my conscience — it felt like I'd done something unnecessary.

Selvia, who couldn't possibly know how I felt, came right up close and knelt down.

"Are you alright? You're not injured anywhere, are you?"

I nodded.

"I'm not hurt. Because the Imperial Guard members helped me. So..."

I let my voice trail off, and Selvia lowered her gaze as if she'd caught on.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to deceive you. It was just that I thought I wouldn't be able to find out what kind of person you really were while in the position ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of imperial royalty, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so I disguised myself as a war correspondent."

Sorry, but I'd known from the start. Still, let's pretend not to know for now.

"So, did you get to learn a lot about me?"

It was something I said to lighten the somber mood.

"Of course I did."

Selvia, however, seemed to have taken my words seriously.

"First, at the stage of operational planning, you rejected your superior Captain Heinz's opinion and constructed a new line of reasoning. Given that it proved to be justified, you possess an unyielding spirit that doesn't bow to authority, and eyes that see straight through the battlefield."

That was just me blurting out whatever came to mind because I wanted a dishonorable discharge.

"At the Edelkral Gorge as well, you instantly discerned Colonel Jeremy disguised as a common soldier. If that weren't the case, it would be impossible for you to have succeeded in killing Colonel Jeremy with the first volley."

It's true, it doesn't make sense. I shot at a soldier, and it turned out to be Colonel Jeremy.

"Lastly, you possess such a spirit of sacrifice that you are willing to dedicate yourself for the people of the Empire at any time. After all, you threw your life away just to save a mere war correspondent."

What is she talking about? I thought it was a chance to seek asylum, so I just fobbed her off with some excuse and ran.

Not a single thing was accurate, but looking at Selvia's earnest eyes, I couldn't bring myself to say she was wrong.

Besides, the moment I told the truth, I'd be executed.

"First Lieutenant Daniel Steiner."

Selvia took hold of my hand and solemnly declared.

"I dare speak as a representative of the Imperial Household: you are a treasure born of the Empire."

I truly felt like I was going to die of sheer pressure.