046

After both voices were heard, everyone directed their attention toward the source. They found both of the princesses there, yet they were not alone. They were accompanied by a group of guards who were staring down both the old man and Alex. They were impressed with the young man's performance; however, they still had a job to do. Their masters had spoken, so they sprung into action and immobilized both of them. While the old man tried to struggle and even looked to his own master for help, he was disappointed as the young man was looking at him with disdain. Alex knew struggling would be useless; however, that didn't mean he would let himself be detained. He calmly said,

"Why am I being detained? I was merely defending myself."

"I'm sorry; however, I have my own orders."

"Heh! So you're telling me injustice is allowed to happen if someone orders it? If so, then what's protecting me from a noble raping my wife, or kidnapping my child?"

"Uh-"

"Yeah! We have rights! It was his right to defend himself!"

"Yeah, what gives you the power to arrest him for that!?"

"Do you believe you're above the founding ruler that established these rules and laws?"

"Uh, uhm."

While the princesses seemed flustered with the situation, the guards also hesitated to arrest Alex. After a few seconds, the eldest princess made up her mind and said,

"Release him, he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Understood."

The guards released Alex; he stood and dusted his clothes off. Although he felt there was more to the situation, he decided to just leave. He approached Laura and asked softly,

"Are you ready to go?"

"M-mhm."

While Laura was confused about everything that happened, she knew that she now belonged to the man in front of her. She quickly ran up to him and held his arm. While she didn't know why she needed to do this, the other girls she was with had always told her to do this. They had said this got the men excited; however, she was confused about what they were excited about.

Alex was surprised by her action, however, it wasn't like he didn't like it. He was still a man in both body and mind. When Alex was about to leave, the youngest princess quickly said,

"W-wait! I – uh, we need to talk to you about something."

"Hmm? I'm sorry; however, I don't have much time."

"P-please, at least hear us out. We will make sure you're adequately compensated for your time."

"Sigh! Very well, however, please make it quick."

"Yes! Please, right this way."

Alex was then led by them away from the crowded streets and into a nearby restaurant. Of course, before they entered the restaurant, Alex quickly bought Laura a new pair of clothes. Although he wasn't sure if this set of clothes gave him more excitement than the thin white cloth from before, now Laura was wearing a maid outfit; however, you could tell a few places were too tight, emphasizing these parts even more. Although Laura seemed to be fine with the clothes, you could tell she was even more embarrassed wearing these than the cloth from before. Her cheeks were cherry red, and her eyes were slightly watery.

After they all sat down, with the exception of the guards, they each introduced themselves with a faint sense of pride,

"I'm the first princess of Faint Heart City, Lily Heart."

"I'm the second princess of Faint Heart City, Rosa Heart."

"I see, I'm Lucifer."

"No family name?"

"No, nothing like that."

Every player is only given the option of choosing their first name or username. The reason for this is that a last name symbolizes a person with great power or status. So if someone were to be given a noble title, made a great feat, or married into a noble household, that's when they would get a last name. As Alex had done neither of these, he had no last name. The princesses were surprised by that fact; however, it made sense. He had just been attacked by someone and no bodyguard went to help him. This either implied his bodyguard ran away or he had none at all. Him having no bodyguard made much more sense than his bodyguard leaving him. Lily then said,

"I see, the thing we wanted to talk to you about is something we're confused about."

"Oh?"

"For some unknown reason, we have an unnatural attraction to you."

"What?"

"No, no, no, not like that. It's not a sexual or romantic attraction. It's more like an attraction toward hope."

"I'm not sure if I follow."

"We feel like you're the solution to a long-term problem of our royal family."

"I see, however, I'm not sure how I could be the person you're looking for."

"I'm not sure either, however, we just know you are."

"So, could you please at least look for a solution to this problem?"

"Hmm, I don't see why not. Although, I'll need to know what this problem is."

"W-well, our family offended a powerful deity and was cursed. This curse siphons our time, and because of this, we don't live too long. This has led to the slow destruction of our bloodline."

"Oh, you offended Kronos. Didn't you?"

"…"

"Mhm, you are correct."

"Okay, I might actually be able to deal with this. Although I'm not fully sure."

""Really!? Is that true!?""

Alex saw a flicker of hope and life in both of their cold eyes. It seemed the reason their eyes were so cold was that they had accepted their fate. He sighed and began to think about a way to undo this spell. That's when he realized he had the perfect skill for this, although it would need to be modified slightly. Luckily for him, he had adequate knowledge of the time element to use the imagination skill. He applied the time element with the sole purpose of isolating the curse in a different possibility, effectively removing it. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it just yet. That's when he felt he could just combine the second skill he wanted to use with it. This would ease the burden of the spell, as he wouldn't be creating a spell from scratch. He looked at them and said,

"I believe I can do it, however, I'll need some time."

"Huh?"

"Isn't it ironic? You were cursed by time, yet will be cured by time."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, I'm just rambling to myself."

"…"

The princesses looked at each other, and then Lily said,

"Please come with us; we have someone we would like you to meet."

"Huh? Who?"

"The king, or as known to us, our father."

————-

——-

—-

A/N

Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter! Have a good rest of your day or night!

If you like this book so far you should check out my other work, A Last Wish!