Chapter 22

Thank you for the bookmark evaluation.

I changed the perspective from third person to first person in the previous story.

I would be grateful if you could read it from there.

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As cherry blossoms danced in the wind, I opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

In a moment of instinct, I lowered my arm, preventing a serious injury, and felt a brief sense of relief. But then a man who looked like a thief entered the room.

If only I had just cut him down...

However, I had no strength left to take any further action and collapsed on the floor.

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After that, the man I thought was a thief treated my mother and me.

Later, I sent one of my earrings to the man, who was a more skilled healer than I, with a prayer that we might meet again.

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A little while after the man left, my mother woke up. I checked her body for spots as a precaution, but neither of us had any.

"Oh, what happened to your earring?"

My mother noticed that one of my earrings was missing and asked me about it.

"Actually..."

I told her about what had happened and that I had given the earring to him in the hope of meeting again.

"You gave him that earring...?"

"Yes, I did... Is there something wrong with that?"

"...It's something that members of the royal family give as a prayer for a reunion, so it's not exactly wrong..."

However, the queen's expression made me confused.

"...To put it simply, that earring is something you give to your future spouse. I gave one to your father too."

"!!"

I had no ulterior motives; I just wanted to pray for a reunion. But it seems I did something rather inappropriate.

Thinking about what the man will think when he finds out...

I was so embarrassed that I forgot to report to my father and just curled up in my futon.

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I was walking alone to the inn.

"Ha..."

I felt like sighing. I went to treat the princess, but in the end, I only managed to treat the two servants.

"Ha..."

I felt like sighing again. Since I couldn't treat the princess, I'll probably be wanted. There might even be a request at the guild tomorrow saying, "Wanted: Clues!"

As I walked alone in the dark, I flicked the earring in my ear with my finger.

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"Ha!? You went to the castle but couldn't treat her!?"

"...Yes."

As expected, I was being lectured by Aura. When I returned to the inn, she looked relieved, but as soon as I told her I failed to treat the princess, she made me sit in seiza.

"...So? Why couldn't you treat her?"

"Well, there were more guards than I thought, and I searched the rooms, but..."

"Didn't you know that from the start!!"

"...Yes..."

"Well, it's good that you came back safely..."

After being lectured for a while, I was finally released. I washed up and then lay down on the bed.

The current room is quite spacious, as befits the capital. There are two beds, so the others can sleep in the other one.

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When everyone was finally asleep, I felt something get into my bed, but I was too tired to care and just went back to sleep.

...It's hot. I opened my heavy eyelids and peeked under the futon.

There, I saw Lily sleeping while hugging me. ...As befits a young girl, her chest is modest, and even I, with no experience with women, can handle it.

It's dark and hard to see, but my clothes are wet, so she must have been crying. I hope she wasn't drooling; I can't handle that.

"...Lily"

I tried to wake her up, but she seemed to hug me even tighter.

Should I just leave her like this...

In the fading consciousness, I stroked her head and fell asleep again.