-My plan is this.
Twenty minutes before the operation begins.
As they walk through the canal, Osian explains his plan.
-If we hold out, even if we're rescued and returned home safely, it won't change anything. They'll pull the same trick again.
Orlea nodded.
That was true, she thought.
Survival was one thing, but it was what will happen afterward that worried her most.
-A princess who was rescued after running away. That's why it's going to be hard to get people's sympathy when you get back, so I'm going to change that.
-Change. How do you mean to change it?
-We need to show them that you’re royalty, not just a puppet to be used at will.-Ah. I see. You're suggesting we write a script?
Underground keeper cut to the heart of Osian's point.
-You have to become someone who's not just a puppet to be used and discarded, but someone who faces adversity and hardship and comes out on top, because that's the only way you can be considered royalty.
-Some kind of royalty.
Orlea, on the other hand, is a little less enthusiastic.
-That's only possible if you have the backing of the right people. If you don't have the right forces behind you, it's just a volatile event.
-There is.
Orlea's expression darkened as she realized who Osian was referring to.
The people who followed her here and tried to save her life.
-They're not much of a support force, either, except that they're somehow holding on to me in a situation where I've fallen off the ropes.
-Yes. It won't work. They're a bunch of losers.
Osian's criticism was sour, but he had something to say.
-Then make it a force to be reckoned with.
Osian pointed to Orlea.
-You are the key to that. You'll lead them, make them one perfect force.
*
Ta-ta-ta-ta!
Five bullets flew at once from five different directions.
Osian's eyes could see where they were coming from and where they were going.
A white cloak draped down the shoulders of the knight holding the white sword.
-Tttttttt!
A white cloak wrapped around Orlea's body, protecting her.
It was the power of the Nebula Silk.
The soldiers who had fired their guns widened their eyes in disbelief.
They had never heard of a school that used such magic before.
A princess was walking steadfastly in the midst of death and a knight gripping his sword to protect her.
Their silent march continued.
"Stop them!"
"Seconds, the guns aren't working!"
"You idiots, if that doesn't work, throw a bomb or shoot a cannon!"
With a shout from Marquis de Debussy, a rocket launcher from out of nowhere exploded in Orlea and Ossian's direction.
Red flames and black smoke rose, obscuring the view.
The soldiers' eyes widened, unable to believe that such an attack could be carried out so openly in front of the city hall.
"Finally......!"
Marquis de Debussy's face, which had been covered with joy, crumbled into a grim grimace.
-clang.
Stepping forward through the black smoke was a knight clad in pure white armor, his entire body streaked with stars.
It was him again. The same fixer who had completely destroyed the army of mages he had brought with him!
-Hmph!
In his hand was a sword blazing with the light of the sky and draped across his back was a cloak cut from the night sky.
He looked as if he had just stepped out of the endless expanse of space.
At his side was Orlea, unharmed and unscathed.
Everyone was overwhelmed and forgot to breathe and the assassins, driven to madness, stopped pulling their guns to kill her.
As she was escorted by the knight, Orlea's expression was proud.
Her eyes stared straight ahead, as if this was the way things were supposed to be.
Is this really Princess Orlea?
The coward who only does what others tell her to do and avoids fighting?
The image of Orlea that the world knew of her was so different from the one she was showing now.
As she strode away, escorted by a knight, she was no abandoned princess.
She was a young royalty, a ruler with the qualities of a monarch.
She was once a seed but now, the sprout that had germinated was growing at an alarming rate, even at this very moment.
‘Fascinating.’
Amidst the scattering particles of pure white light, Orlea felt as if she were walking among the stars of the sky.
‘So this is it.’
When Osian first told her she held the key, Orlea thought he expected too much from her, that she could never be that person.
‘I can't live up to your expectations.’
That's what she wanted to say.
But
-I believe.
His dark eyes, unwavering in their focus on her and his voice filled with a conviction that went beyond expectation, to the point of conviction made her feel that she could stake her future.
‘I'm not a puppet, much less a discarded member of royalty.’
If her brothers and sisters tried to kill her, she would resist them.
If her family wanted to abandon her, she would fight them.
If the world tries to oppress her, she will rule it.
'Of course, it is only because of you that I have the courage to do so.’
Orlea's gaze shifted to the knight beside her.
‘Because you're with me.’
Someone walks the path of death with you.
To live up to that expectation was the first test of a monarch's worthiness.
The girl with the blazing starlight in her heart took a bold step forward.
It was then that Alensia Hare, arriving late to the scene, shouted to her men.
If it was clear that the assassination was doomed to failure, or worse, if it was impossible to eliminate the factor altogether, Tirna would have to change course quickly.
"What do you think you're doing? Capture those terrorists alive right now! You're not Tirna's men after all!"
"Ah, I see!"
The army's assassins and Marquis de Debussy's mercenaries who had targeted Orlea had been vanquished.
The tide of the battle, which had been filled with crisis and disadvantage, had turned completely.
"Yes!"
Albert, who had watched the scene from his window, pumped his fist.
He didn't know when it happened, but the initiative of the situation has completely shifted to them.
He could almost feel the embarrassment of the 'eyes' watching this scene.
They had revised their assessment of Princess Orlea to the point where they had to raise it to the level of alert.
'She has not forgotten her mission as an envoy in this situation, and was even prepared to die. This street itself has already become a stage for Princess Orlea.’
The citizens in the streets must be watching the spectacle and Orlea was the center of attention on this stage.
Albert's head rolled.
'Her talents as a monarch, which have been stunted by her environment, are about to blossom at this moment. The way she's showing now, she's already more than capable of threatening her half-brother and sister...or rather, surpassing them.
And it was Orlea's own determination and hard work that made it possible.
Albert's narrowed gaze turned to the knight beside her.
‘I thought he said he was a fixer?’
The man who had been a fixer had somehow been transformed into a knight in full white armor, the righteous knight who slays the evil dragon and rescues the princess from the tower in the old fairy tales.
The moment he saw him, all he could think was.
'While everyone is distracted by Princess Orlea's charisma, I think the most important person to watch out for is this man.’
He understands parrying a flying bullet with a sword but to block a blind bullet from behind, or especially to move his cloak freely and remain unharmed in an explosion, is beyond him, unless it's magic.
‘He may be acting like a mere servant escorting Princess Orlea, but that man must be the mastermind behind all of this.’
And he was speaking to him, the 33rd District Mayor.
‘Come and join the play on this stage.’
Albert's expression, which had been wrinkled with stress, broke into a wan smile.
"Huh. That was a good one."
It was never a good feeling to be played for a fool by someone's intentions, but this was not the time to judge.
“Before, I thought I might have been treated as a waste because I was holding a welcome ceremony here, but instead, I got jewels rolling in, right?”
This was a chance to make a connection with someone who, if done right, could be the next monarch of the Carleon Kingdom.
That's what they were after, too, and that's why they were calling him.
Albert quickly grabbed his coat from the rack and slammed the door to his office.
"You bastards won't leave me alone! If you can't subdue them, just kill them! Show no mercy to these terrorists!"
"For fuck's sake, we're sacrificing ourselves for the greater good!"
"What kind of a cause is this, shooting and bombing in broad daylight!"
Debussy froze, white as a sheet, in front of the shattered city hall.
Before him stood Princess Orlea, who had arrived escorted by a knight.
No voice came out.
He has failed to assassinate Princess Orlea.
All the groundwork had been laid for her to die here, to return home and declare war on Tirna, it had all come to naught.
It never occurred to him that it would fail in the first place.
But what the hell does this say?
"Marquis de Debussy."
Orlea called Marquis de Debussy's name.
The voice was no different than before, but the Marquis had the illusion that the tiny girl in front of him had grown to be a mountain, looking down at him.
"You are in the way of my passage, please move aside."
Orlea did not blame Marquis de Debussy.
It was too cold a reaction for a man who had been chuckling about her death and how her nanny had died.
She asked him to get out of the way.
No anger, no rage, no hostility, just a simple command.
Marquis de Debussy was even more frightened.
The youngest princess, the one he thought was a coward, seemed to be a completely different person now.
That she had turned someone truly dangerous into an enemy.
"......."
Marquis de Debussy moved aside with a stiff movement.
His pupils were dilating uncontrollably, and he didn't dare to make eye contact with Orlea.
Marquis de Debussy, who had always been at loggerheads with the princess, had been pushed aside.
Orlea arrived at the front door of the city hall without so much as a glance at Marquis de Debussy.
Osian, seeing that the situation was over, disarmed his holy armor.
Mayor Albert, who had been waiting at the entrance, bowed to her.
"I welcome your visit, Princess Orlea. Your nobility in not forgetting your role in this unsavory affair is evident to all in this room."
Albert made no attempt to conceal his favorable feelings toward Princess Orlea.
Rather, he stepped onto the stage with an air of intent that said, I want to get to know you.
"Thank you for the warm welcome, Mayor Alberto."
"No, it is my honor to serve such a noble person as you."
Alberto's icy gaze rested briefly on Marquis de Debussy.
At his glare, Debussy pursed his lips a few times before leading his people away from the scene.
"The interlopers are gone, and the infernal forces have been subdued, so you can rest easy."
"So, Mayor, how would you like to get along with me?"
Suddenly?
The directness of the question made Alberto's head spin.
‘It's a signal.’
Orlea had just awakened as a monarch, but her forces were still small.
This incident would gain her followers, but even so, she was still lacking a definitive blow.
Orlea hoped to get that one from Alberto.
‘She's asking me if I want to be friends with her, if I want to invest in her.’
The question is whether it makes sense to team up with the youngest princess, who has impressed, but whose support is still tenuous.
Realistically, there were still many barriers for Orlea to overcome in the immediate future.
Still.
"Of course, it's good to have a very close relationship with the princess."
Albert trusted the same bold judgment and instincts that had propelled him to the position of Mayor of the 33rd District at such a young age.
The two shook hands and as if waiting, a reporter from the mayor's office snapped a photo.
"Come on, let's go inside, we have good doctors and priests waiting for you, just in case, so we can check on you and if you don't mind, you can rest."
Alberto said to Orlea, then turned to the man standing beside her with a furtive glance.
Osian didn't avoid Alberto's gaze and stared back.
No, it was a little different.
Rather, it was a steady gaze that seemed to be looking down at him and Albert's eyebrows twitched.