Ch.6160. The Imperial Princess (4)

# 60. The Princess (4)

I am from that distant future.

A person from over 300 years in the future.

Yet she doesn’t know this fact.

I’d like to just tell her the truth.

But it’s not time yet.

True, we’ve become lovers now, but that doesn’t mean we’ve grown close enough to share that fact.

Of course, I’ll have to tell her someday, just not now.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“I was just spacing out…”

“I don’t think so…”

Looking at her, I wondered:

‘How would she react if she knew the truth?’

My past life, the ‘me’ and ‘her’ in that life, my desires and that story.

How would she react if she learned about all of it?

“Why are you looking at me like that?…”

“I just want to look at you. Besides, it’s getting late. We should head back now.”

Checking the time on my phone, it was already past 9 and approaching 10.

“It’s already 9:30…”

After wrapping things up, she and I left the library where we’d spent so much time and headed toward the dormitories.

Breathing in the cool night air, she said:

“We’ve walked together like this so many times, but today feels different.”

“It certainly does.”

The only thing that had changed was our relationship, but it felt like everything was different.

We walked side by side, matching our pace.

I looked at her hand next to mine, moving at the same speed as me.

‘Should I hold it?’

Before my mind could even answer that question, my hand had already reached for hers.

I gently held her hand and gazed contentedly at her bashful reaction.

“You’re… quite forward.”

“I wanted to hold it.”

“Actually… so did I.”

I interlaced my fingers with her slender ones.

The warm, soft sensation transmitted to my rough hands.

“Next time, you do it, Princess.”

“M-me?”

“Yes. Even if you’re awkward at first, expressing yourself little by little will make you more comfortable with it.”

Of course, it’s not like I’m skilled from lots of experience.

“I’ll try…”

She lightly touched my hand while our fingers remained interlaced.

“You have a lot of calluses.”

“Evidence of hard work.”

Though my hands were much softer than in my previous life, they were still far from being gentle hands by any absolute standard.

“You should take better care of yourself…”

There was something unnatural about her as she said those words.

“That’s not possible. You know what’s coming.”

I appreciated her concern, but this was a time when I needed to push myself to become stronger, even at the cost of overexertion.

There were things I already knew would happen, and things I didn’t.

“Do you know something?”

“If you’re referring to the fact that the Babylon Kingdom will invade about twice within the next year, then yes, I know.”

“How did you find that out?”

I didn’t want to evade the question, and this was something I could share.

“If you ask Riel, you’ll know.”

“Riel told you?”

I nodded in response to her question instead of answering verbally.

She was puzzled by my relaxed attitude.

“You seem very calm about it. Are you confident?”

“Are we supposed to stop them?”

“We might have to. There’s no guarantee they’ll only push toward the Academy, right?”

“That’s true.”

As she said, the enemy wouldn’t just deploy forces toward the Academy.

They would divide their massive forces to attack multiple locations, and our forces would be split accordingly.

“We’ll end up fighting too, but honestly, I’m confident.”

“Where does that confidence come from?”

“First, my skills and our party members, and among them, Princess, you’re the most reliable.”

“I feel the same way.”

She gave me a bright smile, and that beautiful image, like a full moon in the night sky, was imprinted in my mind.

I was so captivated by her beauty that even when we arrived at the dormitory, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Noticing my gaze, she awkwardly said:

“Um… we’re here…”

Looking at the large building beside us, I replied:

“…So we are. See you tomorrow.”

I waved to her, and she waved back.

After confirming she had entered the women’s dormitory, I went into the men’s dormitory.

‘Today felt really long…’

The day had passed as if it were ten days.

I thought I could finally go to my room and sleep, but a familiar scene blocked my way.

Chris, looking quite tired, said to me:

“You’re back late.”

“I’m really exhausted today…”

“So?”

“Can’t we just sleep now and talk tomorrow…?”

Raycle’s firm voice cut me off:

“No. Come here quickly.”

Raycle was pointing at the remaining seat.

I sat down slowly with a deep sigh.

“What do you want to know?”

Hearing my words, Chris made an irritated expression and said:

“Everything from how you got so strong to your library date today.”

It was so absurd that I immediately stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to bed.”

If I had to tell them everything, I might as well give up on sleeping tonight.

And I didn’t want to do that.

As I tried to go up to my room, Chris grabbed me.

“Hey, at least tell us how your date went today.”

It was a sensitive topic to discuss, but if that was all they wanted, it was worth telling.

“Fine… I’ll only tell you about that.”

***

At the same time.

The same situation was unfolding on the other side.

In the first-floor lobby, Aelin, Riel, and Rachel were playing a board game, and they warmly welcomed her as she entered the dormitory.

Riel was the first to speak:

“You’re very late. You said you’d be back by 7.”

As Riel said, she had promised to return by 7, but it was now 10:30.

“There was a slight schedule mix-up…”

“A mix-up… you mean a date?”

She looked at Rachel unnecessarily and said:

“I suppose you could call it that.”

***

Friday morning.

I was tense because of the survival test, and in that situation, Gloria conducted the morning assembly as if nothing was unusual.

“As you all know, today is the survival test. Please gather with your teams at the set by 9:30 at the latest. Note that if you’re not there by then, you’ll receive zero points.”

Gloria ended the assembly simply and left the classroom.

After she left, the students discussed the upcoming survival test.

I asked the two of them:

“Which team are you guys on?”

“I’m on team 44.”

“Me too.”

“So you two are on the same team…”

Normally, I might have been wary, but the circumstances were very different this time.

Chris looked at my relaxed expression and said:

“I really think your team will survive until the end…”

“Ah~ It’s not that certain.”

“Don’t say that with that expression.”

My thought of ‘What an obvious statement’ must have shown on my face.

“Still, we’re only two people. That’s a hundred times different from your team.”

“So what? You’re worth a hundred fighters, and the Princess is worth about a thousand.”

As Chris said, she shows impressive strength even in one-against-many battles.

Especially her detection ability through [Bitter Cold] will be very useful.

“Let’s go now. We should get there around 9:10.”

Since there was no downside to arriving early, we decided to leave right away.

So we left the classroom to head to the set where the survival test would take place.

As we exited, an ordinary corridor greeted us.

However, I noticed something unusual in that ordinary corridor.

She was waiting for me in the hallway in front of our classroom.

“Were you waiting for me?”

She quietly nodded, and I immediately approached her.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“I just got here.”

“Why were you standing here? You could have contacted me on the way…”

“I should have done that…”

We chatted about various things as we headed to the set.

“Everyone’s already here.”

As she said, many students had already arrived, and they were gathered in teams, talking about various things.

And several people were quite blatantly glaring at her and me.

“Is this kind of treatment normal?”

Those unpleasant stares made me feel like a monkey in a zoo.

“This is just the basics.”

“How… uncomfortable.”

Looking at the 11 teams vigilantly watching us, she said:

“All those teams together make 2,200 people. We can win, right?”

“Is it just my feeling that you could win alone, Princess?”

“I’d lose if I ran out of mana.”

“But you don’t run out.”

Mana shortage is almost impossible for her.

Of course, that was when she had [Dragon’s Heart], but now she only has [Mage’s Heart], so she might run short depending on the situation.

“That’s true normally, but with so many opponents, I might run out.”

“We don’t need to face them all at once.”

I gave them a relaxed smile.