Chapter 206: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (70)
Chapter 206: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (70)
When the Princess bowed her head, I was the one who found myself in a bind.
This was a dormitory, and naturally, many students other than myself lived here. And the place where the Princess had just planted her forehead was none other than the hallway.
If I left her like this, someone might witness this disaster.
And if, by some stroke of ill fortune, that witness happened to be the most loyal subject the Empire had ever seen, it would be the end. A member of the Imperial family, carrying the blood of the dragon, assuming such a humiliating posture before the mere second son of a rural viscount?
It wouldn't be strange if they died of a stroke right then and there.
Actually, that might be for the better. If word got out, it would be troublesome for the Princess, of course, but for me as well. Though, considering I was already as troubled as one could be, perhaps it didn't matter much anymore.
Thinking that way cooled my head a little.
I peeked out and scanned both ends of the hallway. Fortunately, since it was night, no one was seen passing through.
A sigh of relief escaped me instinctively.
My hands immediately grabbed the Princess's arms and pulled her up. With a dazed expression, she was dragged into the room, and I promptly pulled the door shut.
Thud.
With that sound, the Princess and I were isolated from the outside world.
Two hot-blooded young people, alone in a private room.
It was a situation ripe for suspicion, but no matter what rumors might arise, it was better than being caught with the Princess on her knees.
The Princess seemed to have realized this just now as well.
"Ah!" She let out a startled gasp, then quickly lowered her head, stealing glances at me. Her posture was disconcertingly humble.
"I-I am sorry..."
At the Princess's timid apology, I almost let out a hollow laugh but shook my head instead.
Still, it wasn't polite to say harsh words to someone who had gone out of their way to visit. Moreover, hadn't the Princess and I crossed the boundary between life and death together?
Even if it was mostly me saving her.
I decided to take the lead in breaking the silence for the hesitating Princess.
"Your Highness, why have you come to such a humble place at this hour..."
"You don't need to be so formal!"
It was the natural courtesy a noble should show a royal, but the Princess waved her hands in a panic.
Her pale gray eyes were filled with a sense of desperation.
"I-I mean... Sir Ian is the possessor of the Dragon Blood Runes, after all."
That constant talk of 'Dragon Blood Runes' was starting to get a bit tiresome.
Mainly because those very runes were the reason a crisis was about to befall me. Come to think of it, the Princess could be considered the cause.
In the process of causing all that chaos to save her, the Dragon Blood Runes had eventually been exposed.
But that wasn't the Princess's fault.
In the broader sense, it was for the sake of saving the world, and it was the path I had chosen.
There were too many bloodstains on the path I had walked thus far to start blaming someone now.
"The Dragon Blood Runes don't really matter. There are some circumstances, but regardless, I am just the second son of a rural viscount..."
"...E-Even if that weren't the case!"
The Princess hurriedly cut me off.
"Even if that weren't the case, Sir Ian is my hero... and you are my Academy senior as well."
As she spoke, the Princess's face looked as if she were about to cry.
If I continued to maintain my formalities, it seemed she might start dripping tears at any moment.
Ultimately, lacking the heart to make a young girl cry, a long sigh escaped my lips.
It was a sign of surrender.
"...Alright, Cien."
The moment she heard the name 'Cien,' her expression brightened visibly.
My own expression, however, remained awkward.
The Percus family were nobles of the Empire. Naturally, as a member of that family, I couldn't feel at ease speaking informally to royalty.
It was the result of being educated on the hierarchy between nobles and royals since childhood.
Though my values had loosened recently, a lingering hesitation was unavoidable.
However, the Princess seemed to interpret my hesitation differently.
She flustered about with panicked eyes before planting her head on the floor once again.
"I-I am sorry! For... for causing so much trouble in so many ways..."
"No, it's fine... No, it's fine. So you can stand up."
I almost slipped back into formal speech but quickly corrected my tone.
Of course, the Princess didn't seem to care about that at all. She trembled slightly as she repeated her apologies.
"Not knowing Sir Ian's intentions, recklessly inciting people and causing you trouble... and even bothering Sir Ian's acquaintances and family... I know these are unforgivable sins."
"No, I wouldn't say they're unforgivable..."
"...B-But!"
Interrupted again, my expression grew even more disgruntled.
Does this woman have any intention of listening to me?
However, the words pouring out of the Princess's mouth were all filled with heartfelt sincerity.
"Even if I cannot undo it, I will do my best to atone for those sins... For my previous rudeness, for the wrongs I committed. I sincerely apologize."
I was about to tell her to just get up, but I closed my mouth.
The Princess's body, shivering with tension, was enough to evoke pity.
No, before that, I caught a glimpse of a lonely girl.
A girl who was once hated by everyone.
That girl, who had survived a brush with death after being strangled by her own mother—what kind of heart had she carried while living in this world?
The tongue that had been moving thoughtlessly hesitated.
Perhaps this was a foreign experience for the Princess.
The idea that someone would sacrifice themselves to save her—this cliché story might have been everything she had ever wished for.
That was likely why she was so afraid of losing it.
The obsession she showed me, and her excessively humble attitude, were expressions of that fear. My heart wasn't cold enough to carelessly belittle that effort.
In the end, the words that barely escaped my lips were just a short fragment.
"...Fine, then."
It was a voice laced with a sigh.
In truth, it wasn't entirely the Princess's fault. She had significant reasons to misunderstand, and therefore, as I had already said, there was nothing unforgivable.
But even if I forgave her, it would be meaningless if she couldn't forgive herself.
I didn't know how far she would go, but it was right to let her do as much as she felt she needed to. That was the sentiment behind my answer.
I didn't know if my sincerity reached her.
However, I was satisfied just by the fact that the faint trembling in the Princess's body subsided. The sigh of relief she exhaled tickled my ears as it passed.
Nevertheless, the sight of the Princess bowing her head was still burdensome, so I cautiously tried to dissuade her.
"Now, I understand, so please get up..."
"N-Not yet!"
The Princess's voice was still parched with thirst.
I thought this was enough, but it seemed her thoughts were a bit different.
It hadn't been long since I'd given her permission to do as she pleased. Ultimately, with a mix of worry and curiosity, I decided to watch what she would do.
After hesitating for a moment, the Princess let out a small exclamation as if she had remembered something she had planned.
"It's not enough yet. I mean... right!"
And in the next moment.
Mwah.
I heard a soft sound.
My thoughts ground to a halt. It was because I couldn't immediately process what the Princess had done.
The Princess, who had been bowing her head, crawled toward me in that same posture. That alone was a significant act of humility, but she didn't stop there.
She had kissed the tip of my foot.
Those were the lips of a noble royal, capable of achieving countless things with a single word.
She must have put a great deal of effort into keeping them untainted until now.
It went without saying what it meant for those lips, as pure as white snow, to allow their first contact to be the tip of a dirty shoe.
My mind went blank. No, more than blank—I practically jumped back from the spot.
"W-What are you doing, Your Highness!"
I was so shocked that I even reverted to the formal speech I had decided to drop.
At my violent reaction, the Princess looked up with wide, surprised eyes.
Then, she slowly stood up and spoke to me with a bashful giggle.
"I remembered that I once told Sir Ian to kiss the tips of my feet... Ehehe, so as a sign of apology..."
While that suggestion had been somewhat rude, it was a gesture a noble could take toward royalty. It was, after all, one of the highest forms of etiquette a subject could use to show loyalty to an Emperor.
But it was not a posture a royal should take toward the second son of a rural viscount.
In the end, I could only wipe my face with my hand once more.
Just what kind of existence had I become in the Princess's mind?
It seemed it would take quite a long time for the girl's heart to truly ease.