Chapter 017. The 21-Year-Old Princess (6)

‘Tsk.’

Rosalyn thought that the man’s appearance was incredibly well-suited to evoke sympathy.

“Kill you out of old sentiment?”

She quickly cut off Sionne’s words. She had no intention of letting him take control of the conversation any longer.

“Well, I don’t particularly feel like doing that. Right now, I need you.”

She had expected this.

In the end, the reason she had told him about her memory loss was to create a justification for killing him.

“There are two options, Prince.”

She made sure there were no other choices.

“Choose. Either help me from now on, or die here and now.”

“You’re offering me a hand after pushing me to the edge of a cliff.”

“That’s right.”

Rosalyn’s eyes curved into crescents as she answered.

“I was taught that if you must obtain something, you should drive the other party into a corner.”

“This must be why I… love you.”

Sionne twisted his hatred into love.

“I’ll do anything, as long as I can stay by your side.”

It was a remarkable sentence—spoken with hatred but heard as love.

“Good. From now on, teach me about the 28-year-old Rosalyn.”

“To replicate your 28-year-old self?”

“Yes, until we go to Anata.”

Her goal was to make it to Anata without arousing the Emperor’s suspicions.

“If you’re helpful, I’ll reconsider your fate generously.”

Deciding what to do with the fallen prince could wait until they reached Anata. By then, her memories might have returned.

“Then, starting tomorrow, come to my room after breakfast.”

Rosalyn gestured to Meriwood to take Sionne out.

At that moment, Sionne interrupted.

“Why start tomorrow? Let’s begin today.”

“Today?”

“Yes, starting today.”

This time, he smiled, his eyes crinkling beautifully.

“Shall we start by sharing the room and bed?”

“…What?”

“Like we used to.”

It was a strange situation. It was unclear which of the two had fallen into a trap.

The Bear of Anata had a noose around its neck, and the Eagle of Feitan had its foot caught in a snare.

* * *

Hiss—.

Late at night, Rosalyn lit the candle on her desk.

‘You stayed up late, unable to sleep, and didn’t wake until the afternoon.’

‘When did you usually handle your work?’

‘I’ve never seen you sit at your desk.’

Sionne Feitan’s insolent words were right. Before losing her memory, she had done nothing.

As a result, work had piled up like a mountain, and now she had to secretly deal with it at night.

Scratch, scratch.

Rosalyn’s quill moved busily again tonight. The sound of the pen nib scraping the paper filled the room.

‘Matthias Hosen, Lord of Hosen.’

While reading reports about the lords of Anata, Rosalyn’s hand stopped.

‘Even though Hosen doesn’t yield much, the lord is wealthy?’

She skimmed through the annual yields of Hosen again, thinking.

‘He didn’t inherit wealth from his predecessors. Did he falsify the reports?’

It was necessary to investigate further. Rosalyn set aside the report on the Lord of Hosen.

Rubbing her stiff neck, she placed the pen back in the inkpot. She rested her hand on the papers she had just finished.

“Sigh…”

After working until dawn, her head felt heavy, signaling that it was time for bed. Before she knew it, her lifestyle had completely flipped from day to night.

“Hmm, what’s this?”

While organizing her desk, Rosalyn glanced at a stack of letters. The recipient hadn’t even bothered to open them, yet they were still being sent with enthusiasm.

She picked up a paper knife and started opening them one by one. Then, she read through the dozens of letters all at once.

Aaron Vanil, Jacob Moore, Gardener Holmes, and others.

The senders varied, but the content was monotonous.

‘In summary, they’re asking to follow me to Anata.’

At the same time, a significant question arose.

‘Was my former self planning not to take the conquest knights?’

It didn’t make sense.

The first task upon arriving in the north would be to organize a knightly order. Even if she took as many conquest knights as possible, it wouldn’t be enough, so why refuse them?

“Sigh…”

The more she learned about her 28-year-old self through Sionne Feitan, the more disappointed she became. She couldn’t bear how pathetic she seemed.

Unlike herself as ‘Rosalyn de Hernia,’ her 28-year-old self as ‘Rosalyn de Anata’ was a loser with no excuses.

She hadn’t been able to uncover the truth behind her mother’s suspicious death.

She hadn’t been able to protect her mother’s ruined family.

And she had lost the throne that was within her reach.

The throne that was within her reach had been taken.

After being driven to the battlefield, she had given up on life.

She even took in a lover and couldn’t go a single day without tranquilizers. She was such a loser.

‘There’s no need to respect the wishes of someone like that.’

Rosalyn finished her harsh self-assessment and pulled out new stationery.

[Let’s meet tomorrow in the Imperial Princess’s palace.]

She scribbled out a letter to the conquest unit.

“Please, allow us to follow you, Your Grace.”

“Please allow us to follow.”

Led by Aaron and Jacob, the knights of the conquest unit knelt in formation before her.

‘Hmm.’

Rosalyn looked at the loyal knights paying their respects in front of her.

‘So, I wasn’t completely without followers. There are quite a few who want to come along.’

She crossed her arms to hide her surprise.

“This isn’t the first time, is it? Have you forgotten what I said before?”

Rosalyn slyly asked, trying not to give away her memory loss.

“We are not defying Your Grace’s will. It’s just that we are making this request once more because we are determined,” Jacob, at the front, calmly expressed his intent.

“Your Grace has never abandoned a knight, so how could you ask us to abandon our lord?”

Inspired by his words, Aaron added, “You said you would never abandon your people! Aren’t we… your people?”

The young man’s eyes were filled with a mix of loyalty and affection—an affection that was confusing, blurring the lines between loyalty and something more.

“Hmmm…”

Feeling burdened by the emotion in his gaze, Rosalyn averted her eyes.

It seemed her 28-year-old self had scattered many things around. She already had to deal with an overstepping lover, and she had no desire to worry about her subordinate’s ambiguous feelings as well.

‘Am I not someone who should go?’

‘Who brings their lover to official business?’

‘…Take care.’

Rosalyn unintentionally recalled the disappointed face she had seen earlier, but she quickly shook her head, chasing away the thought.

That lover kept distracting her mind.

She was constantly questioning whether her decision to keep him was the right one.

“Anata has nothing.”

Rosalyn spoke firmly.

“No crops, no knights, not even a proper castle. And when the time comes, invaders will attack.”

“……”

Despite the abruptness of her explanation, the knights listened silently.

“The land itself is death. And you still want to follow me?”

“Yes! We will follow you!”

“As long as it’s where you go, Your Grace, we will follow you anywhere!”

Before she could even finish, eager replies burst out. It was loyalty brought to tears.

“If that’s what everyone wants…”

Rosalyn pretended to deliberate on a problem that had already been solved. Even though she wasn’t going to change the answer.

“You shall come with me.”

She added a sentence that she particularly liked from what she’d heard earlier.

“As you said, I don’t abandon my people.”

Hearing her words, Aaron almost bit his tongue. It brought back memories of the past.

It was during the war when the conquest unit had advanced to the capital of Feitan but had to retreat due to an enemy counterattack.

The Hernia forces were divided into two groups: one to lure the Feitan forces and another to escape with the wounded.

Aaron had been among the wounded, his stomach pierced by an enemy’s spear.

If it had gone any deeper, his intestines would have spilled out. He had torn his clothes to bind the wound, but the bleeding didn’t stop.

‘Leave me behind.’

It was a decision he made in a state of dizziness from losing so much blood. It seemed like the only way for everyone else to survive.

‘If you’re going to spout nonsense like that, you’d be better off keeping your mouth shut.’

But Rosalyn’s response to his noble decision was clean disregard.

‘But…! If this continues, we’ll all die!’

‘That’s for me to decide, not you. If you don’t want that, move your feet faster.’

Rosalyn, personally supporting Aaron, scolded him.

‘I don’t abandon my people.’

She spoke as she looked firmly ahead, as if her beliefs were unshakeable. She had been the most trustworthy person.

But after a series of events, Rosalyn had stopped using the phrase “my people.” It was likely after Sir Blanchet and Sir Mason had died.

“Your Grace…”

Today, however, Aaron saw the return of the princess he once knew.

“Don’t worry. Just as I survived the battlefield, I plan to come back alive this time too.”

Her eyes were bright, and her will seemed unbreakable.

Aaron. This was the princess he had loved.

“…It is an honor, Your Grace.”

Looking around, he saw that Jacob’s eyes were also red with emotion.

The princess they had loved had returned.