Is This How You Show Gratitude?
That was how you were supposed to say thank you, right?
After that day, the Imperial army never again picked fights with the Hero Party under the pretext of reclaiming the princess. I’d assumed the promise had naturally faded, buried beneath Cynthia’s bitchy true nature. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that same promise from that day would come back to bite me in the ass the moment I stepped out of the party.
Seven years ago on Christmas, while soothing my sulking little sister, I swore I would never break a promise again. Ever since, I’ve lived by the rule that once I give my word, I keep it. Even the promise I made to that bitch Cynthia was no exception.
Actually, if I’m being honest, it wasn’t just because of the vow I made to my sister.
“Heh heh heh. Cynthia is alive, you say? What makes you think that? The soldiers have already testified to her death. The whole world knows it as fact.”
“How can anyone trust the emperor’s pet media that specializes in information manipulation?”
“How bold. Do you have any evidence? Just remember that spreading reckless gossip about the imperial family always comes with a price. Speak at your own risk.”
I hated this emperor bastard. That greasy face. That smug expression. He was the textbook example of a corrupt, cunning politician rotten to the core. A trash parent who saw his own child not as an independent person but as nothing more than a tool for his desires. His disgusting face reminded me so much of my own father that it made my stomach churn.
The way he could spout such blatant lies without even flinching also pissed me off. It felt like he was looking down on me.
“Do I really have to spell it out?”
“I’d very much like to hear it.”
In my experience, men like this were petty bastards who only grew more furious when someone beneath them spoke the truth. Still, he was the one who’d demanded I speak.
“First of all, you claimed Cynthia encountered orcs in the Forest of Pluton, right?”
“That was indeed the report I received.”
“The Forest of Pluton is not an area where orcs appear. It belongs to the fairies, who are hostile toward orcs. If orcs had entered that place, it would have caused an uproar. They wouldn’t have had the leisure to ambush the Hero Party.”
“…Hmm.”
The emperor’s eyebrows twitched. If he had any sense, he would have stopped here, apologized for offending such a noble person, and withdrawn. But why the hell should I care about that?
What was he going to do even if he got angry? Kill me? Good luck with that. If anything, I’d thank him. If dying meant I could reunite with my sister in the afterlife, there was nothing more I could ask for. I had zero desire to keep living in this shitty game world.
So I was going to say everything I wanted to say.
“Moreover, right after the orcs appeared, Imperial soldiers showed up one after another. Isn’t that a little too convenient to be a coincidence?”
“Is that all? That’s an absurdly weak reason.”
“Really? Then I won’t bother mentioning how orcs are a favorite tool for criminals disguising themselves as monsters. However—”
“You already mentioned it.”
“Why did you immediately conclude that Cynthia was ‘dead’ without even trying to recover her body after she fell from the cliff? She’s a mage, isn’t she? And quite a talented one at that. There are plenty of spells that let you survive a fall from a great height.”
“…Ah. I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll send soldiers to search for her at once.”
“There’s no need. Stop making your subordinates suffer for nothing and just give me permission to look around the imperial palace.”
“Why?”
“So I can free Cynthia, the one you’ve hidden away somewhere in this palace, you son of a bitch. Shut up and let’s move the story along.”
Tired of playing along with this obvious charade, I clenched my fist and stood up. The walls surrounding the reception room collapsed all at once, revealing the soldiers who had been waiting in ambush. Roughly… three hundred of them. They were all diligently carrying weapons.
“What’s with that surprised look? Did you really think the emperor would meet one-on-one with an unknown ruffian like you without any safety measures?”
“It does seem like exactly the kind of thing a petty bastard like you would do.”
“Hoo… I was going to let that slide, but you’re using casual speech again. Do you know that the law states disrespect toward the emperor can only be punished by execution? Or are you simply too ignorant to have learned even that common sense?”
“I’d really appreciate it if you’d just kill me already.”
“Hahahahaha!!”
The emperor burst into laughter, taking my words as the bluff of a madman. Three hundred heavily armed elite soldiers versus one bare-handed man. To anyone watching, this wasn’t a fight—it was a one-sided massacre waiting to happen.
“Just what are you getting so worked up about? Even if my daughter is alive, so what? I raised her. What’s wrong with me controlling her as I please?”
“You talk about your daughter like she’s some kind of slave.”
“Of course I do! She is my very beautiful slave. She looks just like that queen who abandoned me and ran off with a foreign prince! Heh heh. That prince from the small nation killed himself together with Cynthia’s mother before the Imperial army could capture and execute him. I will not lose Cynthia. I’ll officially declare her dead and lock her away in my garden forever, raising her as a flower that blooms only for me. And you will die here as a spy from the Demon King’s army who attempted to assassinate both the emperor and the hero. Prepare your last words—”
The emperor probably saw a fist flying at him at high speed for the first time in his life. My right hand long hook smashed straight into his face.
“—Uwaaaaaargh! Aaaaaagh!! My nose! My nose!!”
His crushed face was quite the sight. Oh, and he was bleeding from the nose too. What a pathetic weakling.
“You crazy bastard! If you had just obediently listened to me, you could have lived like a new hero, enjoying every luxury! Not only did you kick away your own good fortune, you dared to lay hands on my face?! I’ll tear your limbs apart and hang your severed head in the public square!”
“Worry about yourself. I’ll pluck out your beard one hair at a time with my bare hands. It’s going to hurt like hell. I’ll make you cry. Since I’m a guy who wants to die anyway, there’s no point in trying to impress the emperor.”
Would I catch the fleeing emperor and start ripping out his beard first, or would the enraged soldiers stab me first…? I was actually looking forward to it. Either way, it didn’t matter if I died, and it didn’t matter if I killed. It made no difference to me.
“Perma, old man. You don’t have to stand there like that. I’m not going to run away anymore.”
While Werther was giving the emperor—who had grown up like a flower in a greenhouse—his first taste of true terror in life, the Hero Party’s mage was locked inside a secret room within the imperial palace that might as well have been a birdcage. Instead of her usual plain cloak and pointed hat, she wore an extravagant dress crafted with meticulous care by artisans.
She had just spoken those resolute words to her tutor, who had obviously been ordered to watch her, but the tear stains beneath her eyes were still clearly visible.
“I cannot do that, Your Highness Cynthia. His Majesty the Emperor gave me a heartfelt request…”
“It wasn’t a request, it was an order. I heard you went through a lot after I ran away. They dragged you to the torture chamber and did terrible things to you because of that damned father of mine, right?”
“Your Highness… please watch your language.”
“Hmph. Having to obey the orders of the man who tortured you… your situation really is pitiful, old man.”
“Your Highness…”
Perma had been something like a nanny to Cynthia ever since she was a newborn who hadn’t even been weaned. The emperor couldn’t possibly handle childcare himself. On top of that, the queen had run off with a prince from a minor nation. To Cynthia, who had been isolated from her parents, Perma was essentially her only parent. And Perma, in turn, cared for Cynthia deeply.
“Looks like that damned father of mine has finally decided to lock me up for real this time.”
Cynthia rose from her chair and began circling the room, carefully examining its interior. Perma, who could see right through her intentions, turned pale and spoke urgently.
“Please do not even think about blowing up the wall with explosion magic like last time. The protective and barrier spells cast on this room now are on a completely different level. Anyone who tries to break in or escape will have blood gush from every pore until they die. Even… even if the Guardian Duke Zero attempted to break in, he would die instantly.”
“Hmm… Even Mr. Zero, said to be the strongest in the empire, can’t do it. Then no one can save me.”
“…Your Highness… I will do everything in my power to ensure your comfort.”
“The one thing I truly want isn’t here…”
Cynthia climbed onto the bed, drew the curtains, crawled into the corner, curled up, and hung her head. Perma knew exactly what that posture meant—it was something she only did when she was genuinely upset. But knowing didn’t mean he could help. All he could do was keep her company with words.
“A-anyway, how was the outside world? I heard you joined the hero and went on a grand adventure. Wasn’t that what you always dreamed of, Your Highness? Did you achieve a romance with the hero? Did you make many friends?”
“…With the hero… not really.”
Cynthia’s voice, as if she had locked the door to her heart, left Perma feeling defeated. But when she peeked her face out, it reminded him of the young princess who wouldn’t fall asleep until she had told him everything she learned that day.
“Still… well, I got pretty close with the other party members. Want to hear about it, old man?”
“Y-yes! Please do, Your Highness!”
For the first time since being dragged back to the imperial palace, Cynthia began chattering away with genuine excitement. Regardless of the content, just hearing her talk seemed to ease Perma’s heart. Even if they were comrades she would never see again, if they could protect the princess in her memories, that was something to be grateful for.
Yet as he listened, he noticed that the stories about one particular person took up a strangely large portion.
…Werther? He wasn’t the hero, nor did he seem to have any particularly special role, but whenever Cynthia spoke about Werther, her face would light up and her voice would grow brighter.
“And then, and then! When I complimented the soup Werther made, that guy—!”
“Um… Your Highness.”
“Hmm? What is it, old man? I was in the middle of talking.”
“Well… I hesitate to say this, but wasn’t the purpose of your journey to adventure with the hero? It feels like you keep talking only about things that happened with the errand boy…”
“Huh? Oh. Did I? Not really.”
Even if she cleared her throat and tried to play it off now… Cynthia had always been terrible at hiding her true feelings.
“What exactly is your relationship with Werther…?”
“S-shut up! It’s just the relationship between a beautiful girl mage and an errand boy! That’s the end of today’s stories!”
“But Your Highness, perhaps toward Werther you…”
“That’s enough! I said that’s enough! If you keep saying weird things, I won’t talk to you ever again!”
“Sigh… Understood.”
The habit of hiding her reddened face under the blanket and running away was still the same as ever. Even after growing up, the princess was still someone he could never feel at ease about.
Perma was about to step back, relieved that he had at least managed to get the princess to open her mouth. But then a voice like a child seeking comfort came from beneath the blanket.
“…Old man, can I ask you one favor?”
“Y-yes? W-what favor… Even if you ask me to let you out, it is absolutely impossible with my power.”
“I know that. I don’t want to see you die spurting blood from every pore. It’s not that. Can you bring me some books?”
“Books?”
“You know, the ones I like. The ones you used to read to me often… It’s boring being alone. I want to read.”
“If it’s books… understood. Please wait a moment.”
That much was within Perma’s discretion to grant. The tutor, who had been about to head to the library, found his steps halted once again by the shy voice of the princess he had raised like his own daughter.
“Thank you, old man… If it weren’t for you, I really would have gone crazy. My life is ruined because of that damned father… but thanks to the knowledge you taught me, I was able to enjoy an adventure, even if only for a short while. Thank you so much.”
“…It was nothing.”
“You’re on my side, right? Not that damned father’s side, but mine, right?”
“…O-of course.”
“Thank you so much… As a show of gratitude,”
Cynthia threw off the blanket and suddenly stretched out her bare foot.
“I’ll let you lick it, so come here.”
“………Yes.”
Perma naturally brought his face to the princess’s sole, as if he had done it many times before.
“Doesn’t it make you happy to receive praise from me, old man?”
“…Yes, it makes me happy, Your Highness.”
“This is how you show gratitude, right?”
“It is correct. You remember well.”
“Right? But why does Werther… Ah, never mind. We won’t be able to meet anyway. Go get the books. I’ll read and then sleep.”
“…Yes. Please wait a moment.”
Thud. Thud. His footsteps sounded louder than usual. His heart was in turmoil.
“Aah… Your Highness Cynthia! So pure and innocent…! Aah…! What have I done to such a person…! But it is His Majesty the Emperor’s command, so I have no choice!”
After hearing about the events with Werther, Perma felt like his heart would tear apart from guilt. It seemed the princess… had feelings for Werther. Since she had no experience with men and didn’t even know what romance or love was, she probably hadn’t realized her own emotions clearly. But instinctively, she definitely felt something toward the man named Werther that went beyond simple friendship.
She must have shown her affection in her own way.
However.
“There’s no way it went well… Werther must hate Her Highness. He might even think she’s crazy… Aah! I’m sorry, Your Highness! Aah!”
Perma, who had been in charge of Cynthia’s education since she was one year old, found the books she liked in the library.
「The Hero Who Wants to Be Abused」
「When You Want to Express Gratitude to a Man, It’s Best to Step on Him」
「Abuse Is the Fastest Way to Get Close」
“The titles are completely insane. Her Highness grew up reading only these kinds of books. All because of His Majesty…! Ugh!”
The urge to tear all these books apart and throw them into the incinerator surged within him. But doing so would mean immediate execution. These were all special educational textbooks the emperor had personally commissioned solely for the princess.
“If that man named Werther could see Her Highness’s true, kind nature… Ah! But now no one can meet with Her Highness! Even if he finds out she is trapped here and comes for her, the moment Werther crosses the barrier, he will vomit blood and die right before her eyes! What a cruel fate this is!”
Perma cursed and cursed the emperor, the root of all this evil.