Chapter 11 (2/2)

Izumi’s gaze returned to the redhead.

The redhead nodded with a complicated expression.

“Quite so. I am Hitow.”

“A PRINCESS!?”

“Shh! You’re being loud.”

When Izumi accidentally raised her voice, Hitow placed a finger against Izumi’s lips.

Ohh! So they have the same gesture in this world!

It was a little moving.

“Why? Ohhh, is that because you don’t want to be found by your soldiers?”

She now knew why Hitow didn’t want her screaming ‘PRINCESS!’. But as for why she didn’t want to be found, Izumi still had no idea.

“I still don’t get why, though.”

Izumi’s frank question caused the redhead―――Princess. .h.i.tow―――to hang her head silently.

Her messy hair concealed her face.

Izumi was sent into a panic.

“Um, I’m really sorry. I asked something personal, but I didn’t mean to pry if you didn’t want to answer.”

Hitow raised her head and shook it.

“No, it’s natural to have questions. Unworthy though I may be, I am still royalty, and it was shameful to make a citizen feel uneasy. My apologies.”

Her bow was so perfect that people might think her OCD, whilst Izumi the recipient was watching on with a stiff expression. To begin with, Izumi wasn’t her citizen, so there was no reason to apologise.

While Izumi was wondering to herself how to explain, Hitow let out a sigh.

“I had a disagreement with some of my officials, you see. I desired some time alone, so I left the palace to cool my head.”

Seeing the look of grief appear on Hitow’s graceful features, Izumi opened her mouth to say something, but closed it soon after.

She realised that Princess. .h.i.tow’s skin was flawless, save for the faint bags under her eyes.

The girl looked to be about twenty. It was an age that already came with its own troubles, but coupled with the baggage of royalty and they were sure to be on another scale. How could Izumi possibly give advice to a person like that.

The mood had turned dark like the sky before rainfall.

It was Kyousui who first timidly broke the silence.

“It might be presumptuous of me to ask, but could it be that Your Highness is troubled by the marriage proposal from King Cornou of Tohji?”

Hitou was wide-eyed.

Her cheeks began to lightly blush.

“How, did you…”

“As you can see, I am an immigrant, and when I first arrived in this nation, I was shocked by how close the royalty was to their citizens. Everyone was so warm and frank that you couldn’t feel the walls of social status… Which is why everyone is worried. Even though Your Highness had been so shy and joyful just hearing King Cornou’s name, recently Your Highness’s smiles have all seemed sad.”

The princess buried her face into her knees.

“Everybody noticed all of that? How immature I must be.”

With an overreaction like that, it was possible that absolutely anybody could tell. Izumi stared at Princess. .h.i.tow.

“Our meeting was surely some kind of fate, so we’ll hear you out if you want. I think that we can be franker than your advisers.”

“I wouldn’t understand political issues, but from what I humbly see, Your Highness’s situation is different, yes? So rather than white-haired gentlemen, perhaps the two of us would be more suitable,” added Kyousui.

Princess. .h.i.tow raised her head.

To say nothing of her cheeks, to say nothing of her ears, Hitow’s entire face flushed bright red like a tomato.

“You’ll listen? It’s pathetic though, so you might be disillusioned.”

“Of course we’ll listen.”

“Yes.”

The two of them nodded rea.s.suringly.

After taking a large breath, Princess. .h.i.tow let out a large sigh and slumped her shoulders.

“I can’t eat (it),” she muttered.

“Hah?”

“Eh?”

Their two voices overlapped.

Izumi’s heart pounded for a moment as she wondered if it was a s.e.xual euphemism, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“Can’t eat, what?” asked Kyousui.

“I can’t eat Tohjian food.”

Thought so.

Izumi was just a little bit disappointed.

“Almost everything in Tohjian cuisine includes cocona.s.so. And I can’t stand that distinct, saccharine flavour it has. Curry, naan, everything made with cocona.s.so…. Each time I visit Tohji I force the stuff down with drink, but two days is my limit. Living in Tohji? Without eatingcocona.s.so? It’s so ridiculous that King Cornou would be astounded. So I suggested that we postpone the marriage. At the moment I’m actually in the middle of some special training designed to force myself to get used to it. But it might be impossible for me…”

“That’s, ummm… terrible, maybe…”

It was a little childish to be picky about ones food, but everybody had things they were bad at. If something you hated was in everything you ate, perhaps it really would be tough.

Earlier, Izumi’s mouth had been hanging in disbelief, but after imagining a world where everything included s.h.i.+take mushrooms, she suddenly revised her opinion.

“Couldn’t Your Highness ask them to exclude cocona.s.so from your food?” asked Kyousui, before adding, “It might take the cooks a little longer though.”

The Princess shook her head.

“Cocona.s.so is special to King Cornou.”

“Special?”

Izumi tilted her head in wonder.

“Indeed. Roughly ten years ago, Tohji was struck by famine. Until then, cocona.s.so had only been eaten in one region of the nation, but given the famine, King Cornou himself spread its use and increased its production. It matures quickly, is strong against disease, and provides splendid nourishment. I heard from citizens of Tohji that many infants were saved thanks to its boons. With its place in the hearts of King Cornou and his citizens, how could I say that I couldn’t eat it. King Cornou will surely come to hate me. He will deride me for being such a selfish princess.”

Hmmmmm.

Izumi crossed her arms in thought.

If they hadn’t eaten it until ten years ago, then it was quite possible to create foods without it. If it was just food that she wasn’t used to, it would probably be fine to refuse it. But now that it was the foodstuffs that saved a nation, refusing it could be taken as extravagance as well. Just how would King Cornou himself take it?

“What kind of person is King Cornou?”

The moment that Izumi asked this, Princess. .h.i.tow went from slumping and sighing, to having sparkles in her eyes.

“A wonderful gentleman! He’s thoughtful, and wiser than anyone, and even though his features look gentle he never flinches from anyone or anything. And he’s strict with himself, and strives for perfection in everything. I’ve always admired him.”

“I-, I see.”

As. .h.i.tow stressed every word with clenched fists, Izumi could only nod stiffly.

Can such a superman really exist?

“Huhuhu.”

Looking up, the happy laughter had come from Kyousui.

Eh? Was that something to laugh at just now?

Izumi looked at Kyousui as a cold sweat formed at her brow.

“I’m sorry. Your Highness was simply adorable, so…”

Hiding her mouth behind a hand, Kyousui smiled once again, sending the Princess into bewilderment, and then a scowl.

After her smile disappeared, Kyousui gave Hitow a warm gaze that an older sister might give to her younger sister.

“It seems that Your Highness has fallen in love with King Cornou.”

The Princess flushed again.

“Ah… no, rather than falling in love, it’s more… like respect…”

No, it’s definitely falling in love, thought Izumi.

“Sometimes, falling for somebody makes a woman frail. They don’t want to be hated, and they don’t want to lose them, and they spend all day thinking about nothing but them. It once happened to me as well. Back then, there was nothing scarier to me than the thought of losing him… although, I suppose not much about that has changed…”

Kyousui smiled again, but this time it wasn’t a happy smile. Instead it was a lonely, and somehow reminiscing smile.

“Because of some circ.u.mstances between  us, we had no choice but to leave our country. With my older brother’s cooperation, we managed to leave, but until we pa.s.sed the borders, not one day did we feel alive. Even when we first arrived in this nation, we were terrified of losing each other, and spent each day in fear. Up until then, I was often told in my homeland that I was bold like my brother, you know? But then I fell for him, and I changed.”

To Izumi, Kyousui had seemed to be living a happy life with her muddleheaded but kind husband. Apparently Kyousui had lived a tough life of her own though. While Kyousui’s stormy life saddened Izumi, at the same time it also made her envious. After all, Kyousui’s fears were testament to the strength of her feelings for the man.

“But, it’s fine. Falling in love weakens a woman, but building that love grants her strength. And once she gives birth, she becomes the strongest being in the world, or so my brother often told me.”

Completely changed from the mournful mood from before, Kyousui’s expression was clear.

“After all, you won’t be able to live if you don’t stop fretting.”

“…Well, it’s true that the energy of the housewives in the marketplace scares even me sometimes.”

Izumi recalled the older women during limited-time sales. That impudent boldness of theirs was certainly fearsome.

“It sounds unpleasant to word it this way, but please become more shameless. During a famine there is certainly no room for pickiness, but things are different now. Isn’t Your Highness’ duty to work hard with King Cornou so that a famine never happens again?”

The Princess raised her head in realisation. Then, she slowly lowered her gaze, closed her eyes, and began to think.

“From the moment he was enthroned, King Cornou faced hards.h.i.+p after hards.h.i.+p. Yet despite that, he faced everything without faltering… I wanted to become his strength… But despite that, before I realised it, I was thinking about nothing except how I didn’t want him to hate me.”

Standing up, the Princess pulled Kyousui into a tight embrace.

“Thank you for being honest with me. I’ll try telling him, and I might be hated, but I’ll let him know that I’ll give my best.”

Under the bright red hair, Kyousui’s eyes widened. Eventually they narrowed as she nodded, and patted the Princess on the back, almost like an older sister praising her younger sister.

The mood kind of called for clapping, and it seemed like things were solved, so just as Izumi was wondering if she could close the window now, a large bang rang out.

The door was opened wide, and from it appeared the man from earlier, the child Hitow had saved, and finally a large stranger with a full beard.

The very moment that the door was shut, the bearded man bowed his head. As he did, Izumi caught a glimpse into the basket on his back.

“Princess. .h.i.tow, thank you very much for saving the life of my son.”

The small child bowed as well.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Princess. .h.i.tow parted from Kyousui to walk to the boy’s side, and she bent down to meet eyes with him.

“You’re very welcome,” she said, ruffling the smiling boy’s head, as he seemed to find it ticklish.

“The fire’s gone,” started Kyousui’s husband. “Ah-, I didn’t say anything to the soldiers, okay? He said he wanted to thank her no matter what, so I brought him here, but… was that not okay?”

He looked at Kyousui to check her expression.

“No, it’s absolutely fine.”

Hearing Kyousui’s answer, a smile bloomed on his face.

“Thank goodness. You’re terrifying when you’re angry, Kyousui-san.”

If you put it nicely, the man was pure, but he was as unreliable as a person could get. Still, everybody had their own taste in romantic partners. As Izumi watched the couple nestle up together, she felt like she had been taught a lesson in the complexity of the human heart.

“Your Highness jumped into the fire yourself. Just how can I thank you? I will do anything in my power.”

In response to the bearded man’s sincere words, the Princess turned to face Izumi.

“If you want to thank somebody, thank Magician-dono. She lent me her cloak, even though it was more than luxurious enough to feed a family for a year.”

She knew it was expensive, but to think it was that expensive…

If, just if, she met with Huuron for a third time, what on earth was she supposed to she say?

As Izumi prayed that she never meet him again, the bearded man approached her.

From the basket on his back, he produced a pair of long scissors. The handle was quite lengthy, and closely resembled hedge-clippers.

“I used to use these, back when I was a craftsman. It’s the next important thing after my life. It can’t compare to that cloak, but please accept it.”

“No, taking something so important to you is a little…”

Izumi waved her hands and tried to refuse, but it caused the bearded man to frown.

Seeing that, Kyousui’s husband suddenly took the scissors.

“Mister Karasu…”

The bearded man gave him a look of relief.

Kyousui’s husband, Karasu, reverently presented the scissors to Izumi.

“Please accept it. If you decline due to kindness, Lady Magician, it will make him feel uncomfortable instead. And people often do say that things you receive without paying back for will end up hindering you, after all.”

Even so, Izumi wasn’t sure about it. But when she glanced at the man, she found that both he and the boy here bowing towards her. So she reached for the scissors. If it helped the man settle his heart, then that was what she would do.

“Stay safe.”

After waving at the boy, with the scissors in hand, Izumi shut the window.

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