Princess of the Ruined Country 1

A certain day when I was delivering supplies to a certain mountain town along with Magmell and Shiva.

—Clatter!

"""?"""

All of a sudden, there was a loud sound, and we all looked toward the source.

There an old man approached Shiva-san with a shocked look on his face while saying, "Y-you truly are alive, Princess Shiva…?!"

…Princess?

"You are…" Shiva-san wore a confused look.

The old man gently bowed his head. "I am a citizen of Solomon, ma'am…"

"…I see."

With that, Shiva-san seemed to have understood.

However, she apologized to the old man who still had his head bowed, "I'm sorry," and said with a sad look on her face, "I am no longer your princess. So, please stop calling me 'princess'."

"H-however…"

"Let's end this conversation here. More importantly, look, you've spilled your soup. I'll get you a new one immediately, so wait a moment."

"Ah…"

Turning back on the old man who seemed to have something to say still, Shiva-san left to get a new bowl of soup.

◇

That night.

Having returned to the inn, I muttered "…Come to think of it," recalling what had happened during the day, then I spoke my mind to Magmell, "I don't know anything about Shiva-san…"

"Indeed… I didn't know her background other than the fact she is the 'Shield' Saintess, either. To think she was a royalty…"

"Mhm. I was surprised, to be honest, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it very much. It's a sensitive topic, so I'm planning to try my best not to touch it until she brings it up herself."

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. The situation seems to be complicated, too…"

Yeah… I nodded before looking out the window worriedly and saying, "It's getting pretty late. I wonder what's taking Shiva-san so long… Did she say anything before she left?"

"Well… she said she was going to get some fresh air…"

"I see. Then, I'll try looking for her, so can you wait here? She may come back while I'm out."

"All right. Please be careful."

"Mhm. Thanks."

◇

And so, I left Magmell to look for Shiva-san.

Thanks to the Phoenix Seal, I was able to sense her general location, so I decided to cut through the shortest route in Vermillion Bird Form, but…

"…Oh? Did you come all the way here to pick me up?"

…she was on a deserted hill overlooking the town.

Ordinary people wouldn't be able to climb up here.

I wondered what she was doing in a place like this.

"Yes, I was a little worried because it was getting late."

I quietly landed and canceled my Vermillion Bird form.

Shiva-san, then, smiled happily and said, "Well, I figured you'd come, knowing you. Thanks, darling."

"Uh, it's no problem, but…"

"Are you bothered about what happened earlier during the day?"

"Yeah. If it's alright with you, can you tell me about it…?"

When I asked reservedly, Shiva-san shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, there's no point in hiding it. Just like that old man said, I was born as the third princess of a certain small country. The name of that country was 'Solomon', now a dead, pitiful small country."

"By dead, you mean…"

"It's literally been 'destroyed'. Because it irrationally tried to get rid of me, the 'Shield' Saintess' as well as the cornerstone of the country."

"It tried to get rid of you?!"

What was going then, I furrowed my brows, and Shiva-san said with a smile as if to soothe me, "It's okay. It happened a long time ago, and as you can see, I'm safe in front of you now. But thanks for getting angry for my sake, darling."

"N-no…"

Shiva-san was being more gentle than usual, causing me to be a little perplexed. With a smile still on her face, she then said, "It's going to be a long story, but is that okay with you?"

I promptly answered her question, "Yes, of course."

"Thank you. Then come this way. There happen to be a fallen tree where we can both sit."

"Alright."

And so, she spoke the story of a certain 'miraculous princess' who was born in a small country in a conflict region.