The Princess's Eternal Letter
Everyone has their own plausible plan.
To the Empire's only light, the imperial princess Lilisciana.
I am deeply apologetic for the fact that my dedicated attendant has simply vanished without a word of greeting. With ten mouths, I still would have nothing to say.
But right now... no, when you are reading this letter, the timing is perfect. His Majesty himself has promised to deliver it after a considerable time has passed.
Yet I hope that Your Highness can understand that I had no other choice at that moment.
Do not mistake this for my having grown unwilling to serve Your Highness or for my finding it too difficult to face her imperial countenance. I fled, not because of that.
I wanted nothing more than to endure and stand unwavering by Your Highness's side, yet my body betrayed my will. It could endure no more than this... so I had no choice but to make this decision.
Therefore, Lilisciana, do not burden yourself with guilt over my sacrifice. I chose this path. It was my own wish. Please do not let the same tragedy that once struck the Empress repeat itself because of me.
Instead, if Your Highness should realize this truth and collapse from sorrow, all the efforts I have made will be for naught. Is that truly what you wish?
A brilliant mind like yours should already understand my intentions even from this alone. If the grief remains too overwhelming, rely on those around you. After all the pain and endurance you have endured, there must be good people nearby.
Yet do not lean on anyone kind to all. Such people are nothing but empty smiles, giving themselves to everyone without thought.
So simply keep beside you those who look only at Your Highness and think only of Her. Do not search for me. For I now require rest.
Live your life forgetting this lowly attendant. If you truly think of me, do exactly that. Your Highness must walk your own path.
What I truly desire is that. The night of the Empire year 821, when the mirror of rain reflects the moon.
From your eternal attendant.
---
"...Finn."
The girl read the letter while remembering the attendant she had lost. She had read it countless times, until the once-pristine paper was now torn and stained with tears that had seeped in at some unknown moment. Her gaze fell on the left ring finger of her own hand, where the boy had left a gem set in the same shape as the hair ornament he had once given her, now gleaming brilliantly under the sunlight.
At that instant, memories swept through her mind like a gale.
- Please make a ring from this hairpin for me. Grandma.
- Because Finn did it for me. He said I was the only light of the Empire and told me to walk my own path.
- Therefore, I will never marry anyone. If I did, I could no longer be the only light of the Empire, and I would be unable to walk the path I desire.
- So, please make a ring from the hairpin Finn gave me. To let everyone know that I already have a destined partner. No one should ever dare to stand beside me.
- My side... I want to keep it reserved for only one person for my entire life.
- I... I will become the first empress of the Empire. Grandma.
- As the Empress of the Empire, I will live and die alone.
- For the day I will meet him again in the afterlife. It is truly shameless, but I want to tell him that I have lived a life of remembering him.
The girl gently touched the hairpin that had once been a hair ornament but was now a ring, given to her by the boy.
Deep within her chest, she exhaled a faint sigh, carrying the grief that welled up like an endless tide.
"Haa..."
It was because she had failed to fulfill the very thing the boy had most wanted. Or rather, she had never intended to fulfill it from the very beginning.
"To accept such grace and then tell me to live on forgetting it... Is that even a reasonable thing to say? Finn?"
The girl had come to the Academy, graduating at the top of her department, to prove that she was worthy of becoming the first empress of the Empire, all in order to honor the boy's wishes and walk the path he had shown her.
Yet even so, the guilt that weighed her down and the grief for the boy remained unshakeable.
"I miss you... Finn..."
'If only I could meet you again... even once... even if it was just once...'
'I could give up my status, my power, everything...'
"Haa..."
Unlike the original story, the sigh of the girl who had chosen loneliness by her own will echoed through the rear courtyard of the Grand Auditorium. The sorrow of a girl who had chosen loneliness only for one person.
---
"...Ian."
"Mmm... why? What's the matter, Veri?"
Ian sat on the bench, eating the bento box his maid had prepared, and looked up at me with eyes full of concern.
His appearance was exactly that of a protagonist from a typical romance web novel.
Golden hair as bright as moonlight sparkled in the sunlight. Despite being a man, his glossy, flowing locks were as feminine as any woman's.
His right eye was sapphire blue, and his left was a deep azure like a hope diamond. Upon closer inspection, he did indeed have heterochromia, but the two eyes harmonized beautifully because they belonged to the same blue family.
It was a face that clearly showed what a beautiful young man was. Ian's face was so transparent that there was no gap between his outward appearance and his inner self. When he looked at me intently, I sometimes felt as if my own petty, narrow-minded thoughts were being washed away.
'Why do women fall so hard for this guy?'
I remembered that his maid was undoubtedly the heroine.
The heroine who worked the night shift for her master and cooked meals with the care of an Italian tailor, serving them with her own hands.
What was it she said again? It was something like...
- No, young master! I will make healthier and tastier food than anything at this Academy. Please eat what I have made!!
Because of that, the kind-hearted boy could not refuse the heroine's request and was eating bento with relish even though he was a noble.
...A noble eating like a commoner.
"It's nothing really. I have some business and need to go somewhere for a bit."
"Hmm? Where? Just wait a little. I'll eat quickly, so let's go together."
...Why did the hero and heroine always end up together? Or was it simply because he liked people?
I was preparing to move toward the heroine-rescue event that was about to happen, and Ian, who had no reason to join me, began eating his bento with alarming speed.
'Thinking back, in the original story I was eating bento alone outside and happened to save Lily, right?'
If that was the case, I really needed to stop this guy from joining me.
There was a vague feeling that current Lilisciana might not fall for him, but I could not ignore the possibility that I was being too cautious.
'I don't want to make any more careless mistakes because of my laziness anymore.'
So I placed my hand on Ian's shoulder and smiled brightly, the kind of bright smile one sees in shōnen manga.
"No, no, Ian. Just stay here and wait. I'll be back soon. Leave some rice. I'll eat with you when I return, okay?"
Ian gave a radiant smile and firmly grabbed both of my hands. The calluses from his intense sword training were clearly felt on the back of his hands.
"Got it, Veri!! I'm waiting to eat bento with a friend! I've always wanted to try it once!! I'll wait here without eating. Come back quickly, got it?"
"Uh, y-you sh..."
"Sh...?"
"I-I'll be back in ten minutes, so wait here, Ian!"
"Ah, okay!"
What the hell.
The guy grabbed my hand with both hands and stared at me with sparkling eyes. I could not help but curse under my breath.
Strange...
In the story, the heroines gradually fell for him because of his boyish heart and actions that matched his handsome appearance, but why did I only feel disgust?
Was it because he was a man? Or was my narrow-minded heart, which was destined to be with Lily, jealous?
'Wait, no way...'
Now that I thought about it, the story had mentioned that even though there were countless heroines for him, he had not formed any male friendships.
At first I thought it was simply to avoid romance lines between the hero and the other male characters, but now that I felt it with my own skin, I understood exactly what it meant.
It was true that a handsome young man like him with feminine traits would make women happy with all the skinship, but it only disgusted men.
'Plus, his appearance has a somewhat androgynous feel, so my instinct also warns me not to get too close to him.'
But what could I do? The only way to steal all the episodes between Lily and this guy was to maintain this relationship.
And this ridiculous relationship was only at the beginning.
After the beginning, the original story would no longer feature Lily, so from then on, being tied to him would only become an obstacle between me and Lily.
'Okay, just endure it a little... just a little more... until the winter of my first year...'
Leaving Ian waving happily behind me, I headed toward the Grand Auditorium.
And then...
---
"...How dare you attempt to kill the Empire's imperial princess? Your efforts are at least worthy of respect."
"..."
The moment I was hidden and watching, the sight that struck my eyes was the sight of a single Lilisciana being pounced upon by a demon, which was instantly annihilated by a few of her spells.
Without any resistance. Like an insect.
At the same time, my grand plan to save Lilisciana and build connections began ringing with a warning of crisis.