“It’s Atla’s Hill.”
The senior, who looked around, gave a very simple answer.
“If it’s Atla’s Hill...”
This is the hill where the male protagonists called me.
“There used to be rocks there, but where did they go?”
I couldn't bring myself to say that it was because of me that it was broken, so I kept quiet.
“Shall we go to the castle first, junior?”
My senior smiled brightly and extended his hand, and I nodded and naturally took it.
When I first came here, I passed through the gate and set foot inside the city.
Surprisingly, my status was maintained. However, there was a bit of a scuffle because I was deemed to have left the castle without permission.
“There are circumstances, that’s why.”
The senior quietly placed something in the guard's hand. The guard glanced at it and cleared his throat noisily.
“Next time, be sure to report it before you go out.”
And of course, they let my senior in too.
“That guy is fired.”
A senior who had entered the castle and was mingling with the people muttered softly.
“Do you have the power to fire someone?”
I asked quietly.
Since I said that there was no Crown Prince in this country, it meant that the senior might no longer be the Crown Prince.
“Junior, you have a bad personality, don’t you?”
Now, I knew my senior wouldn't react positively to me, since I was being told I might just be a rascal. But I didn't expect him to openly call me a bad person.
“You're mostly expressionless, but you smile at me so often that I was fooled.”
“It’s the same for you, senior.”
Even so, I got angry because I felt like I was being branded a character traitor.
"Me?"
“Yes. I thought you were an angel, but you know you actually have a bad personality, right?”
"No."
The senior raised his eyebrows as if he was confused.
“It’s so blatantly bad?”
"...Yes."
I can't tell whether I should be happy or not to get to know my senior in a way I didn't want to.
The senior continued speaking calmly, as if he didn't know what I was thinking.
"When you came, you said there were only three Princesses, right? I don't remember any younger siblings. I need to find out if there are still only Princesses..."
My senior met my eyes and smiled brightly.
“Shall we go to the palace first?”
“Wow.”
The knight guarding the entrance to the palace let the senior in as soon as he saw him.
“Senior, I guess you are still the Crown Prince.”
“Fortunately, I think I can fire that guard from earlier.”
“Senior, you have a bad personality and a bad aftertaste.”
"Haha."
I never imagined I'd ever have a conversation like this with my senior, but it didn't feel bad. In fact, it was quite amusing.
“If I take you straight to the main palace, everyone will be surprised, so let’s go to the Crown Prince’s palace or the villa.”
"Yes. If we're going to do it, let's go to the villa. I don't want to end up in trouble if I go to the Crown Prince's palace."
The senior stopped walking for a moment and looked intently into my face.
"Why?"
“I thought I knew a lot about the workings of the palace.”
Well, I was about to answer that I was the one who wrote this novel, but my senior spoke first.
“As expected, I'm the top student.”
I felt a bit discouraged by his earnest admiration.
“This semester, my senior was the top student.”
“I worked really hard. I had to get a scholarship.”
“Senior, don’t you have a lot of money?”
“I did take some valuables with me, but still. It’s better to save what you can.”
Is this, like, a fart?
I didn't even know the history of this country, and this person came to a world he had never lived in before and became the top student?
He is a very dangerous person.
I clicked my tongue and shook my head, and then suddenly I thought, 'Isn't this the reason why seniors disappear?'
I remember there was already a senior there when I entered school. But he said he'd only been here for about six months.
But in that short period of time, he perfectly adapted to life here and showed remarkable abilities.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
"Yes?"
If we had just a few characters from the book, world conquest wouldn't be such a far-fetched dream.
Yes, the ecosystem will change.
“You're looking at me with a gloomy expression.”
“Me?”
If so, by any chance...
“Yeah. Like you have dark intentions toward me.”
“Senior, please check my eyesight...”
A very scary hypothesis began to raise its head.
Maybe it was my mood, but as soon as I entered the book, a sparkling light began to shine from my senior. The senior I'd met at the cafe was handsome, but he hadn't caught my eye.
Just because his hair color changed? No.
“Haha, yes. Let’s go.”
"Uh-"
I grabbed the hand of my senior to ask a question, and a few reporters approached us.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Six knights greeted him.
“You’re working hard.”
The senior nodded and started to leave, and I did the same.
But those knights are sneaking up on us? Weren't we just running into each other by chance?
“Lady over there.”
A rather handsome knight stepped forward. He was looking straight at me.
“You must come with us.”
“She is my guest?”
The senior scolded in a low, hushed voice.
“How dare you take my guest away?”
“Were she Your Highness’s guest?”
The knight who spoke first lowered his head as if he were sorry.
“Yes. You are accompanying me, so step aside.”
“Your Highness.”
“Whose orders are these?”
The knights who were trying to take me away without backing down kept their mouths shut as if they were embarrassed.
“I asked whose orders it was.”
The senior asked again in a sharp tone.
“If you don’t answer my question, does that mean you’re going to stick your neck out?”
The sight of my senior, whose sheer presence alone seemed capable of cutting his throat, felt unfamiliar.
“You first, state your affiliation and name.”
“I asked him to do it.”
A familiar face appeared behind the stern knights.
I forgot to breathe for a moment.
The man gestured for the knights to step back.
“I told him to bring her here because she is my guest. It seems they did not realize she was Your Highness’s guest and were rude.”
A subdued tone of voice, different from when he was with me. A tone that seemed apologetic, but without any emotion.
The senior glared at the knights who had disobeyed his orders. As if he were going to remember their faces, treating them like dogs, not his own, the Crown Prince, but his own palace knights.
“Your Highness, please be generous and forgive them.”
“...Since the Prime Minister says so, I will let it pass this time.”
The man who appeared was none other than Shish.
His red hair, bathed in the afternoon sunlight, and his handsome features, which evoked admiration, remained the same. His crimson eyes, too, were unreadable.
But seeing his somewhat gaunt face and strangely lifeless complexion for the first time made my heart sink.
Of course, this was only for a very short time.
My mind went blank at the sight of Shish's 'certain item' for the first time.
You're wearing monocles!
Who set that up?
No, I'm not! But I like it!
I hurriedly covered my mouth with my hand to hide the corners of my mouth that were twitching uncontrollably.
The knights stepped back, but did not leave their positions.
Judging by the fact that he doesn't even care about my senior's glare, he must be Shish's subordinate.
I thought Dietrich had the Imperial Knights in his grasp, but I guess not. Man, he really is the mastermind behind this place.
I was once again amazed by Shish's abilities when he stepped forward.
“Then, Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Shish raised the corners of his mouth. No, he raised them, but his cheeks were trembling.
It's a very serious matter that Shish is failing to control his facial expressions.
I furrowed my brow and stared intently at Shish, but his gaze didn't reach me.
“The lady next to you is my guest. May I take her with me?”
“She is my guest too, Prime Minister.”
The senior didn't back down even an inch.
“Since she is the guest I invited first, she will come with me.”
Shish's lips trembled.
I guess I'm missing here, and if I get caught by that grumpy-looking Shish, I'll definitely be locked up again?
I let go of my senior's hand and hastily backed away, putting more distance between Shish and me. I hid behind him, and he wrapped his arms around me.
You're on my side!
My senior isn't crazy like the other kids, so he won't lock me up anywhere.
I held onto my senior's arm tightly, worried that Shish might forcefully take me away. I wanted to see the male protagonists, but I didn't want to be captured and imprisoned.
Come to think of it, where are all my jewels? Are they still there, safely in the magic tower?
“It seems she is my guest, Prime Minister.”
The senior spoke with a smile, and Shish's gaze was fixed on my hand, which was holding the senior's. The smile, which had been present out of politeness, gradually hardened. "Isn't this going to get me ripped off?"
You can't predict even an inch ahead anymore?
What should I do?
Still, I was determined not to follow Shish, but slowly, the mad minister turned his head. His crimson eyes turned to me.
“Master.”
The familiar name that came out as his red lips opened pierced my eardrums.
“Have you forgotten me?”
A voice as if soaked in rain pierced my heart, and the thoughts of 'You call me by such a shameful title as 'Master...' were completely blown away.
“Have you completely forgotten me? Yes?”
One step at a time, he gets closer.
“It’s me, Shish. Master’s Shish.”
Long, flowing fingers approached me, but my senior moved to block them.
I now peeked over my senior's shoulder, watching Shish closely. But the distance was closer than before, allowing me to see him clearly.
“Master...”
I could see once again that Shish, who was already thin, had become thinner.
You haven't eaten properly while I was away. Or rather, have you eaten?
Shish's face, which did not take his eyes off me, was distorted in pain.
“Please, Master.”
It was my first time seeing him like that, and my heart sank again because I thought he couldn't make such an expression.
Shish suddenly did something strange, and my senior let out a groan of laughter.
"Ha..."
I opened my mouth but couldn't say anything.
Tears drip from Shish's eyes.
In front of the people, the heartless, bloodless prime minister cries.
And kneel before me, too.
The senior, who looked around, gave a very simple answer.
“If it’s Atla’s Hill...”
This is the hill where the male protagonists called me.
“There used to be rocks there, but where did they go?”
I couldn't bring myself to say that it was because of me that it was broken, so I kept quiet.
“Shall we go to the castle first, junior?”
My senior smiled brightly and extended his hand, and I nodded and naturally took it.
When I first came here, I passed through the gate and set foot inside the city.
Surprisingly, my status was maintained. However, there was a bit of a scuffle because I was deemed to have left the castle without permission.
“There are circumstances, that’s why.”
The senior quietly placed something in the guard's hand. The guard glanced at it and cleared his throat noisily.
“Next time, be sure to report it before you go out.”
And of course, they let my senior in too.
“That guy is fired.”
A senior who had entered the castle and was mingling with the people muttered softly.
“Do you have the power to fire someone?”
I asked quietly.
Since I said that there was no Crown Prince in this country, it meant that the senior might no longer be the Crown Prince.
“Junior, you have a bad personality, don’t you?”
Now, I knew my senior wouldn't react positively to me, since I was being told I might just be a rascal. But I didn't expect him to openly call me a bad person.
“You're mostly expressionless, but you smile at me so often that I was fooled.”
“It’s the same for you, senior.”
Even so, I got angry because I felt like I was being branded a character traitor.
"Me?"
“Yes. I thought you were an angel, but you know you actually have a bad personality, right?”
"No."
The senior raised his eyebrows as if he was confused.
“It’s so blatantly bad?”
"...Yes."
I can't tell whether I should be happy or not to get to know my senior in a way I didn't want to.
The senior continued speaking calmly, as if he didn't know what I was thinking.
"When you came, you said there were only three Princesses, right? I don't remember any younger siblings. I need to find out if there are still only Princesses..."
My senior met my eyes and smiled brightly.
“Shall we go to the palace first?”
***
“Wow.”
The knight guarding the entrance to the palace let the senior in as soon as he saw him.
“Senior, I guess you are still the Crown Prince.”
“Fortunately, I think I can fire that guard from earlier.”
“Senior, you have a bad personality and a bad aftertaste.”
"Haha."
I never imagined I'd ever have a conversation like this with my senior, but it didn't feel bad. In fact, it was quite amusing.
“If I take you straight to the main palace, everyone will be surprised, so let’s go to the Crown Prince’s palace or the villa.”
"Yes. If we're going to do it, let's go to the villa. I don't want to end up in trouble if I go to the Crown Prince's palace."
The senior stopped walking for a moment and looked intently into my face.
"Why?"
“I thought I knew a lot about the workings of the palace.”
Well, I was about to answer that I was the one who wrote this novel, but my senior spoke first.
“As expected, I'm the top student.”
I felt a bit discouraged by his earnest admiration.
“This semester, my senior was the top student.”
“I worked really hard. I had to get a scholarship.”
“Senior, don’t you have a lot of money?”
“I did take some valuables with me, but still. It’s better to save what you can.”
Is this, like, a fart?
I didn't even know the history of this country, and this person came to a world he had never lived in before and became the top student?
He is a very dangerous person.
I clicked my tongue and shook my head, and then suddenly I thought, 'Isn't this the reason why seniors disappear?'
I remember there was already a senior there when I entered school. But he said he'd only been here for about six months.
But in that short period of time, he perfectly adapted to life here and showed remarkable abilities.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
"Yes?"
If we had just a few characters from the book, world conquest wouldn't be such a far-fetched dream.
Yes, the ecosystem will change.
“You're looking at me with a gloomy expression.”
“Me?”
If so, by any chance...
“Yeah. Like you have dark intentions toward me.”
“Senior, please check my eyesight...”
A very scary hypothesis began to raise its head.
Maybe it was my mood, but as soon as I entered the book, a sparkling light began to shine from my senior. The senior I'd met at the cafe was handsome, but he hadn't caught my eye.
Just because his hair color changed? No.
“Haha, yes. Let’s go.”
"Uh-"
I grabbed the hand of my senior to ask a question, and a few reporters approached us.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Six knights greeted him.
“You’re working hard.”
The senior nodded and started to leave, and I did the same.
But those knights are sneaking up on us? Weren't we just running into each other by chance?
“Lady over there.”
A rather handsome knight stepped forward. He was looking straight at me.
“You must come with us.”
“She is my guest?”
The senior scolded in a low, hushed voice.
“How dare you take my guest away?”
“Were she Your Highness’s guest?”
The knight who spoke first lowered his head as if he were sorry.
“Yes. You are accompanying me, so step aside.”
“Your Highness.”
“Whose orders are these?”
The knights who were trying to take me away without backing down kept their mouths shut as if they were embarrassed.
“I asked whose orders it was.”
The senior asked again in a sharp tone.
“If you don’t answer my question, does that mean you’re going to stick your neck out?”
The sight of my senior, whose sheer presence alone seemed capable of cutting his throat, felt unfamiliar.
“You first, state your affiliation and name.”
“I asked him to do it.”
A familiar face appeared behind the stern knights.
I forgot to breathe for a moment.
The man gestured for the knights to step back.
“I told him to bring her here because she is my guest. It seems they did not realize she was Your Highness’s guest and were rude.”
A subdued tone of voice, different from when he was with me. A tone that seemed apologetic, but without any emotion.
The senior glared at the knights who had disobeyed his orders. As if he were going to remember their faces, treating them like dogs, not his own, the Crown Prince, but his own palace knights.
“Your Highness, please be generous and forgive them.”
“...Since the Prime Minister says so, I will let it pass this time.”
The man who appeared was none other than Shish.
His red hair, bathed in the afternoon sunlight, and his handsome features, which evoked admiration, remained the same. His crimson eyes, too, were unreadable.
But seeing his somewhat gaunt face and strangely lifeless complexion for the first time made my heart sink.
Of course, this was only for a very short time.
My mind went blank at the sight of Shish's 'certain item' for the first time.
You're wearing monocles!
Who set that up?
No, I'm not! But I like it!
I hurriedly covered my mouth with my hand to hide the corners of my mouth that were twitching uncontrollably.
The knights stepped back, but did not leave their positions.
Judging by the fact that he doesn't even care about my senior's glare, he must be Shish's subordinate.
I thought Dietrich had the Imperial Knights in his grasp, but I guess not. Man, he really is the mastermind behind this place.
I was once again amazed by Shish's abilities when he stepped forward.
“Then, Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Shish raised the corners of his mouth. No, he raised them, but his cheeks were trembling.
It's a very serious matter that Shish is failing to control his facial expressions.
I furrowed my brow and stared intently at Shish, but his gaze didn't reach me.
“The lady next to you is my guest. May I take her with me?”
“She is my guest too, Prime Minister.”
The senior didn't back down even an inch.
“Since she is the guest I invited first, she will come with me.”
Shish's lips trembled.
I guess I'm missing here, and if I get caught by that grumpy-looking Shish, I'll definitely be locked up again?
I let go of my senior's hand and hastily backed away, putting more distance between Shish and me. I hid behind him, and he wrapped his arms around me.
You're on my side!
My senior isn't crazy like the other kids, so he won't lock me up anywhere.
I held onto my senior's arm tightly, worried that Shish might forcefully take me away. I wanted to see the male protagonists, but I didn't want to be captured and imprisoned.
Come to think of it, where are all my jewels? Are they still there, safely in the magic tower?
“It seems she is my guest, Prime Minister.”
The senior spoke with a smile, and Shish's gaze was fixed on my hand, which was holding the senior's. The smile, which had been present out of politeness, gradually hardened. "Isn't this going to get me ripped off?"
You can't predict even an inch ahead anymore?
What should I do?
Still, I was determined not to follow Shish, but slowly, the mad minister turned his head. His crimson eyes turned to me.
“Master.”
The familiar name that came out as his red lips opened pierced my eardrums.
“Have you forgotten me?”
A voice as if soaked in rain pierced my heart, and the thoughts of 'You call me by such a shameful title as 'Master...' were completely blown away.
“Have you completely forgotten me? Yes?”
One step at a time, he gets closer.
“It’s me, Shish. Master’s Shish.”
Long, flowing fingers approached me, but my senior moved to block them.
I now peeked over my senior's shoulder, watching Shish closely. But the distance was closer than before, allowing me to see him clearly.
“Master...”
I could see once again that Shish, who was already thin, had become thinner.
You haven't eaten properly while I was away. Or rather, have you eaten?
Shish's face, which did not take his eyes off me, was distorted in pain.
“Please, Master.”
It was my first time seeing him like that, and my heart sank again because I thought he couldn't make such an expression.
Shish suddenly did something strange, and my senior let out a groan of laughter.
"Ha..."
I opened my mouth but couldn't say anything.
Tears drip from Shish's eyes.
In front of the people, the heartless, bloodless prime minister cries.
And kneel before me, too.
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