Chapter 39

Before the regression, Oline had been seriously taking on the duties of a holy maiden around this time of year.

Until now, she had been continuously training to learn the holy maiden's magic and increase her magical power, but it seems she was about to start practicing healing others' injuries more seriously.

I don't know much about it, but I vaguely remember that the holy maiden Oline came to the fortress around this time.

Before the regression, when I was in a bad mood due to the affair between the crown prince and Oline, my father brought me to the fortress to change my mood.

But at that time, Oline happened to come to the fortress to do her holy maiden duties, and I ended up acting out even at the fortress.

As a result, I made a mistake and the knights at the fortress thought, "The daughter of the Spencer Duke is a dangerous temperamental person."

After that, I was engaged to be broken off and ended up fighting at the fortress, but the knights continued to look at me with the eyes of "a dangerous person..."

This time, I absolutely won't make a mistake.

Or rather, it's not an exaggeration to say that I have already succeeded.

A few days have passed since I started fighting at the southern fortress.

Before the holy maiden Oline came, I fought with the knights and have been building a solid trust relationship.

Today, we have already annihilated a large group of monsters, and now it's just a matter of disposing of the corpses.

"Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you gathering the corpses."

I smiled and called out to the knights in front of the pile of corpses.

"No! Thank you for always helping us!"

"Thank you for your magical support today!"

"You saved us in a dangerous situation!"

I can tell that the knights around me are looking at me with a gaze of respect.

It's just part of my job to provide support, but if they respect me for that, there's no need to stop it.

"Then I'll burn the corpses, so please step back a bit."

"Yes!"

After confirming that the knights had moved away from the pile of corpses with agile movements, I set it on fire with a fire spell.

Monsters have something called a magic crystal in their bodies, which is quite beautiful as a gemstone and can be processed for various uses, making it highly valued.

Monsters are the greatest enemies attacking the empire, but they can also be a resource in the form of magic crystals.

That's why the existence of the duke's family is very important to the empire.

Magic crystals are heat-resistant, so burning the monsters won't turn them to ashes.

Well, I think if I or my brother use our full power to burn them, the magic crystals would also be destroyed.

While burning a pile of over a hundred corpses, I could hear the knights talking around me.

"Wow, the daughter of the Spencer Duke is so beautiful today..."

"Standing against the background of flames, she looks like a painting..."

Hehe, they're saying some very nice things.

I think the beauty is slightly diminished when I think about the burning monster corpses, though.

Before the regression, I had been quite rude to the knights, so my reputation among them was bad.

But this time, I've been polite and smiling, so many of the knights seem to have a good impression of me.

"The work at the fortress is all men, so it lacks elegance. Just having the duke's daughter here seems to satisfy the roughened hearts from killing monsters continuously."

"True. There are a few female mages, but they just cast spells from the wall and don't often show their faces. The duke's daughter comes down here, which is really great."

As the daughter of the duke, I often give orders, so recently I've been coming down from the wall to the ground.

Even when I come down, I float in the air to have a good view of everything.

"Also, for some reason, the duke's daughter doesn't produce any stench when she burns the corpses. Is she doing something special?"

"Maybe it's because the Spencer Duke's fire is special?"

It's not that the fire is special; I'm just using wind magic simultaneously to blow the smell away.

I don't like the smell either, so I learned this from my brother.

Using two types of magic is a bit difficult, but it's better than the smell.

"There's no stench at all, and I can even smell the duke's daughter's good scent..."

"Knight, please move further back."

"Wh-What!? L-Laurow, I apologize!"

It seems Laurow had come up to the knight who was talking behind me without me noticing.

Laurow is my dedicated knight, so he has the same or higher status as the commander of the duke's knight squadron.

Laurow approached me while the knight, who was surprised and saluting, moved back.

"Princess Asaria, the corpse disposal over there is finished."

"Thank you for your hard work. You can take a break now."

"No, that's not possible. I can't leave Princess Asaria's side and let any scoundrels approach."

Laurow glared at the knight who was sweating coldly.

I don't think there are any scoundrels in the duke's knight squadron who would do anything improper to me.

Laurow seems to be a worrywart.

I think I've built a good relationship with the knights, but it doesn't seem like Laurow has gotten along well with the other knights.

Laurow is originally quiet and not good at building relationships with others, but I think he should try to interact more with the other knights.

"Laurow, would you like to eat in the cafeteria today?"

The fortress has a large cafeteria where the knights live.

As the duke's daughter, my meals are brought to my room, so I haven't eaten there yet.

Laurow also eats with me in my room, so he hasn't been there either.

"If you wish, Princess Asaria."

"I'm asking if you want to eat in the cafeteria, not if I want to."

"I... I'm fine eating wherever as long as I can eat with you, Princess Asaria."

"Is that so?"

I didn't expect him to say something like that.

Laurow doesn't hide his feelings, so it sometimes makes me flinch when he says things like that suddenly.

"In that case, it might be nice to eat in the cafeteria."

"Yes, as you wish."

So, for the first time, Laurow and I decided to eat in the cafeteria.

The cafeteria had a variety of foods, and you could take as much as you wanted to eat.

When I was about to get my food, Laurow said, "I'll get it for you. I know how much you can eat," so I sat down at an empty seat first.

While waiting for Laurow...

"Princess Asaria, thank you for your hard work today!"

"Your amazing magic always leaves us in awe..."

"You are so beautiful and cool, truly the best!"

Dozens of knights gathered around where I was sitting.

I was surprised to realize that I was so well-liked by the knights.

"Thank you, everyone. You can just call me Asaria."

"Asaria...! You're so wonderful!"

The female mage sitting next to me was looking at me with a passionate gaze, which made me a bit uncomfortable.

"... Princess Asaria, I've brought your meal."

"Thank you, Laurow."

Laurow brought the meal, but he seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason.

Oh, there are so many knights around me, and there's no place for Laurow to sit.

Is that why he's in a bad mood?

"Can someone make room for Laurow? He's my dedicated knight."

When I said that, the female mage next to me immediately moved.

"Please, sit here!"

"Thank you, what's your name?"

"A-Alka!"

"Thank you, Alka."

When I thanked her, she blushed and stood up, moving to the back where the other knights were gathered.

She's so cute, but since she's fighting at the fortress, I think she's older than me and has had a lot of training.

"Laurow, sit next to me."

"... Yes."

Laurow sat next to me and started eating, but he still seemed a bit in a bad mood.

I wonder why? He doesn't have any food preferences, and I think today's meal is quite delicious.

"A-Asaria, how did Laurow become your dedicated knight?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Being the dedicated knight of the duke's daughter, Asaria, is a very honorable position... C-Can I become one someday?"

A young male knight, blushing, strongly said this.

Instantly, an overwhelming aura filled the area from next to me.

"Ah!"

The young knight screamed and stepped back.

The other knights around us also turned pale or braced themselves.

"Laurow, stop it."

"... Yes."

Laurow stopped emitting the aura-like presence at my words.

"I'm sorry for my dedicated knight."

"N-No, it's... fine..."

"But if you want to be my dedicated knight, you need to be able to easily deflect that kind of pressure."

"Y-Yes..."

The young knight laughed bitterly and then stepped back and remained quiet.