The Princess's Visit is an Order
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a white ceiling. It was a sight that had strangely become familiar over the past few days. The infirmary of Saint Ignis Academy. Sheets faintly scented with incense. Dawn light pouring in through the window. And a dull pain somewhere in my body.
I took a slow breath. My side was hot.
‘I survived.’
As soon as that thought occurred, memories flooded in all at once. The second night in the Rose Garden. The Black Moon’s mask. The black blade rising toward Aria. The sensation of being stabbed in the side trying to block it. And the last words I heard.
— The scene from the prophecy book has been torn.
I unconsciously tried to get up.
“Don’t move.”
A gentle but firm voice was heard.
Turning my head, Aria Elowen was sitting in the chair beside the bed. Her pure white hair was a bit more disheveled than usual, and there were traces of not having slept properly around her eyes. She was holding my wrist with both hands. As if afraid I would disappear again if she let go.
The dawn in the infirmary was quiet. Beyond the curtains, there were no footsteps of students yet. Only the faint sound of assistant priests chanting spells in low voices could be heard from afar. In that silence, only Aria’s breathing was particularly clear.
“Aria.”
My voice was hoarse.
Aria’s eyes trembled.
“You’re awake.”
She looked as if she had endured two days just to say those words.
“How long did I sleep?”
“Two days.”
I closed my eyes. Two days. In the academy, two days was enough time for rumors to die and revive three times. Moreover, if it was the Rose Garden incident involving the princess, the saintess candidate, the knight’s daughter, and the magic department senior, it went without saying.
“Rumors must have spread a lot.”
“You’re worrying about that first?”
Aria’s voice trembled slightly.
I couldn’t answer. She lowered her head without letting go of my wrist. A small shadow fell beneath her white eyelashes.
“Kyle, you’re always strange.”
“Me?”
“Even after nearly dying, the first thing you worry about isn’t your body, but the rumors.”
“Rumors are as dangerous as the body.”
“I was scared that Kyle might die.”
I was at a loss for words. Aria didn’t cry. But that was heavier. It was a face holding back tears. True to her name as the saintess candidate, she was always kind and calm in front of others, but now she was looking at me with eyes that seemed ready to crumble at any moment.
“When Kyle collapsed in front of me, I couldn’t do anything.”
“You treated me.”
“It was too late.”
“It wasn’t too late, which is why I’m alive.”
Aria’s fingertips tightened.
“Do you think saying that will make me feel at ease?”
No. I didn’t know how to reassure her. In the original story, Aria was a character who opened her heart to the protagonist, was saved by him, and gradually grew stronger. But now she was shaken because of me. That fact felt strangely heavy.
Before coming to this world, I was a reader. Someone who read the characters’ pain from outside the screen, evaluated the interest of events, and waited for the next chapter. But now that pain was conveyed through Aria’s trembling as she held my wrist. It was no longer a one-line description.
“Aria.”
“Yes.”
“Please don’t overdo it because of me.”
Aria looked at me for a moment. Then she spoke very quietly.
“I want to return those words to you as they are.”
She channeled the holy art again. A warm light pulsed near my side. The wound had already been sutured, but the aftereffects of the Black Moon’s curse clung deep within. Aria moved her hand carefully, as if trying to remove them one by one. That touch was closer to confirmation than treatment. Whether I was still here. Whether I was breathing. Whether I wouldn’t disappear again.
Just then, the infirmary door opened.
“You’re awake.”
A cold voice. It was Rhea Silverrian.
The silver-haired princess was dressed perfectly as usual. A white uniform with a deep blue cloak. A brooch engraved with the imperial crest at her neck. But there was a very faint shadow under her eyes. She seemed not to have slept properly either.
Rhea approached the bedside. And as if it were natural, she placed her hand on my forehead. It was cold.
“The fever has gone down.”
“Your Highness?”
“You don’t need to answer. You’re still recovering.”
Aria’s eyebrows moved ever so slightly.
“I’ve been checking his temperature continuously.”
“Then checking twice won’t hurt.”
“Kyle just woke up. We shouldn’t stimulate him.”
“Am I a stimulus?”
“A little.”
The air in the infirmary cooled. I sensed it instinctively. It was starting again.
Rhea looked at Aria expressionlessly, and Aria faced Rhea with her still gentle face. Neither raised their voices. That’s why it was scarier.
“Saintess candidate.”
Rhea said.
“From today, Kyle Diaren becomes an imperial protection target.”
“Huh?”
I reacted first.
Rhea took out a document from her bosom. It was a thick parchment with the imperial seal stamped on it. Official documents stamped with seals in this world were no joke. Especially the double-headed eagle crest engraved on golden wax carried almost the same weight as imperial law.
“The Black Moon targeted the imperial bloodline. At the same time, they also targeted the saintess candidate and Young Master Diaren. Therefore, the imperial family designates him as a key witness and protection target.”
“Your Highness, what about my opinion?”
“Not needed.”
“Not needed?”
“If we ask for the protected person’s opinion one by one, protection will be delayed.”
It was an astonishingly princess-like logic.
Aria spoke quietly.
“Will Kyle’s movements be restricted if he becomes an imperial protection target?”
“If necessary.”
“Then does the imperial family also decide on treatment and recovery?”
“The imperial physicians can be involved.”
Aria’s hand moved on my wrist.
“Kyle’s treatment is my responsibility.”
Rhea’s gaze grew cold.
“As long as the saintess candidate doesn’t mix personal feelings into the treatment, there won’t be a problem.”
“What if Your Highness also doesn’t mix personal feelings into the protection?”
I looked up at the ceiling.
‘Save me.’
I had nearly died in the Rose Garden. But now it felt like I was going to die in a different sense.
The door opened again.
This time it was Siella Bayern.
She was in training clothes. Her red hair was slightly damp with sweat, and she held a sword still in its scabbard. She seemed to have come after morning training. Unlike her usual confident steps, today’s Siella paused briefly at the threshold.
Siella stopped as if swallowing her breath the moment she saw me.
“You’re awake.”
“Thanks to you.”
“It’s not thanks to me.”
She answered shortly and averted her gaze. It was strange. In the original story, Siella was a bold and straightforward person. She expressed anger when angry and acknowledged when she acknowledged. But now she couldn’t look me in the face properly.
“Lady Bayern?”
“I was late.”
“What do you mean?”
“That night, I should have moved before you blocked Aria.”
Siella’s hand tightly gripped the scabbard.
“I am a knight. Someone who wields a sword. But you jumped in first.”
There was guilt in those words.
I was silent for a moment. It was rare even in the original story for Siella to show such emotions. She was always strict with herself and regarded failure as shame.
“I’m alive, aren’t I.”
“Do you think that’s consolation?”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
Siella said in a low voice.
“Next time, I’ll strike first.”
Those words were a declaration. A promise to protect me, and at the same time, a refusal to forgive herself.
Rhea immediately interjected.
“There won’t be a next time. Kyle is an imperial protection target.”
Siella’s eyes sharpened.
“Being an imperial protection target doesn’t mean you don’t need the protection of a sword.”
Aria also spoke quietly.
“And treatment is also needed.”
The three people’s gazes clashed again.
I wanted to pull up the blanket.
Just then, a voice came from the ceiling direction.
“Everyone’s lively from the morning.”
Noel Ignis was sitting on the windowsill. When did she come in?
She was holding a small black notebook in her hand. There was no pattern on the cover. But I knew it wasn’t just a notebook. It was the record book from the Black Library.
Noel looked down at me and smiled.
“Kyle, I have good news and bad news.”
“Good news first.”
“You survived.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“The words left by the Black Moon, the expression ‘scene from the prophecy book.’”
Noel’s eyes shone purple.
“I found a similar expression in an old forbidden book of the academy.”
My heart sank.
Rhea, Siella, and Aria’s gazes simultaneously turned to Noel.
Noel opened the notebook as if enjoying it.
“I’ll read the original text as is.”
Her voice lowered.
“The world tries to flow as written. However, if someone tears the lines, the story tries to erase the one who tore it first.”
Silence descended upon the infirmary.
Aria’s hand turned coldly stiff.
Siella’s scabbard creaked slightly.
Rhea said nothing, but her gaze was fixed on me.
I swallowed my breath.
This world wasn’t simply inside a novel.
The world that had been a novel was beginning to recognize me.