Series: The Princess’s Guard is the Assassin Aiming for Her Life
“Are you returning now, Your Highness?” Raymond called out to me as soon as I stepped out of the ballroom.
It seemed like he was waiting so he could escort me back to my room. But Al stopped me from grabbing Raymond’s arm.
“Princess Iberis isn’t feeling well, so I’ll be the one to take her back.”
Al gently pulled me away from Raymond, sounding deliberately troubled.
Having drawn his own conclusions, Raymond gasped and stepped away from me. “My deepest apologies. Please rest well.”
That serious knight bowed as Al dragged me away by the hand.
“…Um, doesn’t it seem like he’s misunderstanding something?”
“What ever could that be?”
“Well…”
“You mean how he thinks that Princess Iberis, despite having a phobia of men, did her best to greet guests and hit the limits of her tolerance?”
Yes. That right there.
“You’re helpless without me, Princess Iberis.”
“……”
My fear of men was mostly used as an excuse now, but… Well, I couldn’t deny my reliance on Al.
“Thank you for what you did at the ball.”
Al helped me when my feet were frozen at the entrance and even when I was fed up with everything the nobles were saying to me.
I really was helpless without Al.
But he just pretended like he didn’t know why I was thanking him and I let it go.
Despite not having much consideration towards me as a woman, he always helped me in these sorts of situations. There were times he was truly kind too. I knew since that time at the eastern spring when he used his body to protect a few flowers. I’m sure that’s what made me fall in love with him. So…
“And I’m sorry.”
I had to properly apologize to him. I thought he would play innocent again, but he turned around with exasperation. “You’ve already said that so many times.”
“Eh?”
I had?
But Al continued before I could ask. “Or are you apologizing for walking around on another man’s arm?”
“…That bothered you?”
The fact that he brought it up now showed that he didn’t think little of it.
“I wasn’t in a good mood. I knew that noble ladies had to be escorted by a man, but… At that time, I was trying to plan a way for the Gentian prince to come on an emergency visit.”
“…I would have preferred that.”
“If I did that, then I wouldn’t be able to talk my way out of a lot of things. I would be made to be a shogun instead of a prince. I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but there’s no way I can be royalty.”
“I don’t know… I think you’re better suited for it than I am.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m sure you could stand on equal footing with any noble.”
“I can do at least that much, but… please remember this. I’m not actually a prince, and if I did something, Gentian would try to make me their shogun. The top of the country. Do you think I can run a country? I have no interest in enriching the country or improving the lives of their people.”
“……”
He did have a point… If he was ruler, then the people of Gentian would likely have an unhappy future. Royalty couldn’t be carefree. It was obvious, but it bore mentioning again.
Somehow during the time we spent talking, we ended up in the garden. There wasn’t a soul to be seen in the small garden between buildings. It was a spot I didn’t frequent either.
“Oh, why are we here?”
“You’re only asking that now…?”
We went in a completely separate direction than where my wing was at. I didn’t notice because I was so worried about apologizing to Al.
“We didn’t run into any security, either.”
Even though we were outside of where the public could reach, there was still a ball today. There should have been more security than usual.
“Because I walked around them.”
“……”
There’s no point to security that could be easily dodged, but it was useless to say that to this man.
“Although the patrol should come around here in about fifteen minutes. We should hurry.”
“We should hurry…? What for?”
Al let go of my hand and climbed a nearby tree. It was a dark place illuminated only by starlight so after Al disappeared into the leaves, I couldn’t see him at all. Because I couldn’t hear him, I grew uneasy that he was even there at all.
“Al?”
“Yes?”
I nervously called out to him, but the voice that replied to me was different. At the same time, a grown man jumped out of the tree, standing at a height taller than me and clothed in black.
“W-what are you doing!?”
It was Al’s true form. It was a form I often saw in my bedroom… err, that I saw on occasion, but he never showed this form to other people. There would no doubt be a huge fuss if someone saw Al in this form here. At first they might think he was an intruder, and then some might recognize him as the Gentian prince. He was the one who always said that needed to be avoided!
“I’m granting your wish.”
“My wish?”
I blinked as Al kneeled down in front of me.
“May I have this dance?”
That was the customary line that a man used to ask a woman to dance. I’ve heard those lines a few times before my memories came back, but I never thought I would hear it from the man in front of me.
“Why…?”
“Isn’t this your wish?”
Of course, there were times that I daydreamed about dancing with him, but I knew it was a hopeless dream, so I never said a word about it. Yet he still…
“I understand you well. You’re a dreamy romantic who wanted me to be a prince, after all.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No, I’m just astonished.”
That didn’t really seem any different…
Al laughed at my grimace.
“But I think that also makes you cute.”
“……”
“It’s not bad for you to be dreamy, Princess Iberis. I cannot grant all your wishes, but I can at least ask you for a dance.”
“…Can you dance?”
“Probably.”
Probably…?
“I’ve danced a few times in my past life.”
“…In your past life?”
From what I heard from Al’s master, it didn’t seem like he was a noble in his past life.
“My boss was a bit of a slave-driver… He made us learn noble etiquette and skills for if we ever needed to infiltrate high society.”
“…You mean from your assassin job?”
“Occasionally I had to do jobs outside of assassinations. Oh, now that I’m thinking about it, there was a time I was working as a guard back then too. I mainly just had to kill those who threatened my client, so I suppose my current job isn’t that different from what I did back then.”
Yeah, that wasn’t really what I wanted to hear before a dance…
“I’ve seen many balls in this life too. The steps are a little different from what I’m familiar with, though. I don’t have much confidence since I have no practice, so please overlook any mistakes I make.”
“…It’s okay, I’ll lead.”
“I’ll be relying on you.”
When I grabbed Al’s hand, he brought me to him in a masterful hold. For seemingly relying on his memories, there was no room for me to lead the dance.
…My tongue was tied, seeing just how powerful his memory and abilities were for things that involved infiltration.
There was no way he was bad at dancing. In fact, I wondered if he was better than my instructor.
When I met his blue eyes that I could see through the gaps of his simply-styled black hair, he smiled at me.
I could hear the faint sounds of music from the dance hall. It was so quiet the wind fluttering through the leaves was louder. We weren’t in a bright ballroom illuminated by a chandelier, but in a dim garden with only the light of the moon and the stars. The man holding me had black hair and clothes that made him look like he would disappear into the night.
It wasn’t quite what I had envisioned, but this scenery suited the former assassin I had fallen in love with. A secret dance between the two of us was more romantic than I thought it would be.
From what he said before, it seemed like he had scouted out this place earlier to make sure we would be alone. All so he could grant my wish for a dance that I had given up on before.
I felt moved to tears from the thought.
“Thank you, Al.”
“It seems like I ended up improving your mood…”
I honestly thanked him, so why did he give me that response?
“…Is that bad?”
“It’s not bad, it’s just regrettable that I won’t get to see you sulk anymore.”
“……”
I was fretting and worrying so much during the whole time we were fighting, and to think that this man was enjoying it…
“…Weren’t you ever concerned that I would stop liking you?”
I was so worried about it. I mean, if you had a prolonged fight with someone you were close to, wasn’t it normal to feel at least a little anxious about it?
My lips were pinched together, but Al gave me another big smile. “Actually, the way you kept turning to look at me, worrying that I might hate you, was so adorable that I wouldn’t ever get sick of looking at you.”
“……”
This guy seriously had the worst personality.
Was he really not at all worried that I hated him when I was acting like that? I felt peeved, thinking that I was the only one who was fretting over this.
“Then if I said something like, ‘I hate you so get out,’ what would you do?”
“First I would kidnap you and take you to my house.”
“…Hm?”
It took a moment to register what he said, since he answered the very second after I voiced my question.
“You’re a princess. If you were seriously rejecting me, I would have to take you away from the castle before you increased security and made it harder for me.”
“Uuuummm…”
“But I don’t want to live in discomfort, so I would ask them to prepare a mansion and servants in Gentian. Because if we stayed here, there was no telling what the royal family would try to do. I don’t want to meet up with the shogun since he’s noisy, but that would be my best option.”
“…Didn’t you say they would ask you to become the shogun?”
“I would like to avoid that, but at the very least I know he would ask me to provide military support. The most realistic outcome would be for me to work as an assassin for the shogun. Of course, I wouldn’t like the thought of you hating me more or having to spend less time with you, though…”
“You seem to have the details for this down…”
“It’s because I’ve thought of this before.”
“Eh?”
He has?
“When I went to the duke’s residence as the Gentian prince, I was planning on taking you there if you rejected me. In fact, I had done a good deal of preliminary work and even planned a few routes to take you across the border.”
“……”
He had a surprisingly negative way of thinking.
“So… you weren’t planning on eloping with me, instead you were planning on kidnapping and confining me?”
“You could say that.”
I had no idea what to say to that. How were you supposed to respond to such casual, yandere statements…?
“I’m really glad I love you, Al…”
If what he detailed really happened, I didn’t think Al or I would be very happy. I’m glad we avoided that future.
His blue eyes narrowed in a gentle arc. He seemed happy.
Well, actually… it wouldn’t be surprising if I never ended up liking him. Why did I come to like this crazy man anyways?
Al chuckled as I looked up at him, as if he could hear my rude thoughts.
“Don’t worry. If… If you really were suffering, I’m sure I would release you.”
As I watched his eyes turn downcast and his voice grow somber, I…
“You mean from this world, right?”
…voiced my question, only to be answered with laughter.
“Since you teased me for so long, I wanted to go a bit longer, but…” Albert sighed, watching Iberis sleep off her exhaustion. Even though it had been so long since he had touched her, he was forced to give up his desires for more. He sat up, examining his surroundings.
There was no one close to her room, despite this being a princess’s bedroom. They were a bit louder than usual, so Albert was relieved that there was no one outside who could have heard them.
Even Maia, who used to stay in the neighboring room, had been going back to her own room lately. There were no soldiers who came unless they were called. Everyone was probably at ease since Albert was there to guard Iberis. Of course, they had no way of knowing that that guard was the one laying his hands on their princess.
“Mn…”
“Are you awake?”
“…You’re a dummy, Al…”
“…That’s a rude thing to say in your sleep.”
The room fell into silence again. Albert caressed Iberis’s hair as he thought back to the conversation they had a few hours ago.
“Then if I said something like, ‘I hate you so get out,’ what would you do?”
He felt dread just thinking about hearing those words truthfully.
That wish… was the only wish he could never grant.
“…If you really did want me gone, then…”
If she did one day want to leave him… He would grab her without hesitation, and jump out the nearest window without care for the noise. He would hide her in town when the knights noticed. Since she would surely be terrified, I would force her to take sleeping medicine so she wouldn’t be scared for a while. During that time, he would cross the border and threaten – ask – the shogun for a suitable living arrangement to make sure she didn’t have any discomfort.
Albert brushed Iberis’s hair out of her face, thinking that she would surely frown again if she knew what he was thinking. It wasn’t the first time he’s had such extreme thoughts. When he attacked Gentian and was getting ready to return to Iberis, and even after resuming his position as her guard… he has had these thoughts many, many times. It was something he had envisioned even a few days ago. So he was easily able to answer her question, since it was something he often thought about.
To Albert, Iberis was an annoying, troublesome, dreamy, pure and bright… inhabitant of a world outside of his reach. The fact that they were in a relationship where he could even touch her now was nothing short of a miracle.
He knew that to Iberis, Albert was an abnormal character and occasionally someone she feared. For them to be together in a relationship, she has had to take no small amount of compromises for him. He also intended on compromising plenty for their relationship, but it would never be enough. The amount of times she got mad at him for his lack of consideration made that obvious.
Their relationship was fragile, so Albert was always thinking. What should he do to prevent others from stealing Iberis away? What would he do if she started to hate him?
Watching Iberis worry about him hating her was a much bigger reassurance to Albert than she would ever know.
“I love you, Iberis.”
Albert kissed her strawberry blond hair and continued thinking.
If she really did reject him in the end, would he even be able to carry out his plans? And if she really was suffering, would he even be able to let her go?
Perhaps if he held a knife to her throat, dragging her to her death, he would be able to hear her true feelings…
Albert held Iberis close to drown out his thoughts.
He wished these warm days would continue for a long time.
Merry Bad End Translations 
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