The Confession
The moment I took a step, the scenery began to shift one after another. Accompanying the change was an atmosphere that grew increasingly uncanny, one that I could feel seeping into my skin and the quiet rhythm of my prayer.
At first it had been nothing more than a dense, lush forest. Gradually, the sunlight vanished beneath the heavy canopy of trees, transforming the space into a pitch-black void where no rays of light dared penetrate. It had become a place that any human would instinctively fear, a dark and oppressive realm.
*tsk*.
“Tsk!”
Unable to see anything ahead, Lily let out an exasperated sigh and summoned a light.
“Sssshh! Ssssh!”
The sudden burst of light flooded the surroundings in brightness, revealing dark, massive silhouettes moving with unnatural speed as they vanished deeper into the tangled undergrowth.
“This is where it starts.”
In Zone B-04, the mission was simple in name only: inject mana into a marble the size of a human head and return.
On the surface, the objective was straightforward. In practice, however, it was viciously difficult. Because it was a mission whose difficulty could be calibrated, the challenge had been tuned precisely to the protagonists and main heroine’s abilities. It was made just barely winnable, with monsters that looked fierce and predatory in abundance.
“Ssssh… ssssh…”
A rustling sound came from the bushes right beside us. Lily, sensing the source, reached out a hand toward the noise.
“What the hell? Are you seriously trying to use magic again?!”
I blocked her path, sword raised to strike the approaching beast, but before it could leap at us, Lily grabbed the spot where the sound had originated. A sickening crunch echoed through the air.
“Kwajik… euk… k’zuzuk.”
“Why would you use magic so early, Your Highness?”
I could only speak to her that way. This was still the very beginning of practical training. My power was unmatched in raw destructive force, but that did not make it right to waste colorless magic—its mana cost was crushing. I had only wanted to gently scold her for her overzealousness, but she simply stepped back a little, avoiding my gaze.
“I can handle my own problems. Please stop worrying about me.”
From her expression, she seemed to understand the intent behind my words, yet something lingered in her hesitation. Her tone remained as sharp and defiant as ever, but the old venom was nowhere to be felt.
“I must have shed all the malice I soaked into you when I became Finn.”
I died carrying every ounce of Lily’s guilt, and somehow my plan had completed itself in a strange, unintended form.
One year ago, I had died so that the target of her resentment would disappear, assuming she would be deeply affected by the Emperor. After all, Lily herself was the kind of person who would be swayed by her father’s influence. And since the Emperor was nothing more than a man who sang love songs every day to his daughter and wife, I figured Lily would quickly revert to her original self.
That was why, even at our final farewell, I left only the two of us. I had warned her to take care of herself properly.
“But before I could get close to her… that fiancé of hers had already swayed her so strongly.”
I couldn’t hold back the curse. After all, a person who had carefully laid out the table, served the meal, and set the spoons was now completely ruined by a single starving stray.
“Stay calm. Stay calm.”
I took a deep breath, stepped forward again, and asked while keeping my face turned away from her.
“…So you do have a fiancé, then.”
My face must have twisted with the jealousy that had been eating at me from within.
“Yeah.”
The single word sent an electric jolt through my throat. The NTR stories I had read online hadn’t been lies after all.
I could feel my insides churning as if I were in pain. “Hey, hey!! Ahead!!”
Lily called out to me. She had finally noticed the beast charging at us. At once she reached out.
“Serak!”
Before she could grab it, I drew a white crescent blade and severed the creature’s neck in one swift stroke.
“What on earth was that…?”
Lily stared in horror at the massive, gleaming white fangs resting on the dark ground where the beast had been.
Even she, who always tried to present the dignified image of a princess, was utterly lost for words in the face of the primal fear of being prey. The creature was barely visible in my line of sight—colossal, its entire body covered in pitch-black fur, its only means of sight or judgment the luminous fangs reflecting the faint light.
This was the monster that Ian Cedric and Selina had been scheduled to encounter. In the story, its name was Lycanthrope.
“What? A monster, of course.”
“That…?”
“Krrrooarr…”
Thankfully, it still made noise. A beast, after all. To me, who had been worrying about how to fight something that gave no sound and no visible form, the sound was actually comforting.
So I looked at her with one corner of my mouth lifted in a faint smile.
“No need to be afraid. I’m right here with you.”
I meant every word: I would protect you no matter what.
“It’s just a big monster. You don’t have to worry so much, Your Highness. I’ll make sure none of its fur even touches you.”
She gazed at my eyes reflected in her magic, swallowed hard, and summoned a determined expression.
“Hold on for three minutes. Then I’ll prepare a spell that will crush that trash in an instant.”
“…”
Three minutes.
Even in the original story, Selina had taken five minutes. Our cup-ramen princess had declared she could do it in three with complete confidence. Because she was using colorless magic just like the main heroine, I could clearly see what kind of spell she was planning and smiled.
“…Whether it’s three or thirty, I’ll just hold on.”
With that said, I glared at the beast. It, which had been scouting us as prey, disappeared back into the darkness.
“Too bad for you. I know every trick you have. Come at me.”
Bringing those filthy fangs toward our princess? If you don’t have fangs, I’ll tear every last one of them out.