Chapter 122

“Let’s get married.”

“Y-yes?”

Guide’s eyes widened as he sat bolt upright at the sudden declaration.

And the person who had made that out-of-nowhere proposal was none other than me.

“You’re the only person I feel comfortable around.”

In the wall-mounted mirror across from me, I could see myself sitting with my arms crossed.

Long blond hair. A small nose with a delicate, sharp tip.

The round baby fat had disappeared from my cheeks, revealing a slender jawline.

My ruby-red eyes tilted up a little more than they had before, giving me a somewhat catlike air.

I had already graduated from pigtails when I was twelve, so unless there was a banquet, I usually wore my hair loose these days.

My height, which had grown astonishingly since I was five, was now a little over 160 centimeters.

Of course, I still wasn’t particularly tall, but with my features having grown much more defined, people no longer treated me like a little kid.

“And you’re handsome.”

“Whaaat?”

When I said it with a sweet smile, Guide’s eyes trembled like aspen leaves. He, too, had long since lost the look of a young boy.

He grew up that handsome, yet his personality is still like a puppy. That contrast is charming too.

Whenever Guide went into town, he really did attract a lot of attention from young ladies.

Of course, they were disappointed once they learned he was a commoner.

A few of them even kept flirting with him, apparently wanting to keep him as a lover if nothing else.

Like I’d stand by and watch that happen!

I thumped the desk with my fist.

“I’m not going to become the head of the family anyway, so I’m free to marry whoever I want. Father said he’d like me to marry someone I love too.”

“Y-you mean... me?”

“Yeah.”

“But what about L-Lord Kyle?”

He had mostly grown out of his habit of stuttering as he got older, but whenever he was flustered, it still came back.

Though with that face, even that somehow turns into another charming trait.

Good. Time to drive the point home.

“I haven’t seen Kyle in ten years. They say distance makes the heart grow distant too. I hardly even think about him anymore.”

With my arms still crossed, I gave him my prettiest smile.

“Now you’re the only one I think about.”

At my words, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“P-Princess. I-I also... I mean...”

I quietly waited for his answer as I watched his ears turn red in real time.

His innocent brown eyes darted from side to side.

Then, just as Guide’s cheeks reddened and he nodded as though he had finally made up his mind—

“I-I’ll accept Princess Aisha’s proposal.”

At the exact same moment, I turned my head toward the young Feris watching us.

“—and once you get the other person to answer like that, the two of them officially become a married couple! There, question answered now, right?”

“Kyuu! (Wow, amazing!)”

“Kyuu, kyukkyu! (The process humans go through to become a married couple is way too complicated. But it’s cool!)”

Clap, clap, clap.

The young Feris who had been watching us applauded with their short front paws.

So, what exactly was going on here?

In truth, the whole thing had been an act put on by Guide and me.

An act meant to put these little creatures, who were wide awake despite it being nap time, to sleep.

I bowed to the cheering audience and rose from my seat.

“All right. We answered your question, so as promised, it’s nap time. The new Feris of the new nation need their naps to grow big and strong.”

“Kyuu—! (No, no!)”

“Kyuu? (What’s a promise? Can you eat it?)”

I had done everything they asked.

Yet the little brats, who seemed to have reached some sort of rebellious phase and were now at the peak of defiance, merely tilted their heads with their black-bean eyes sparkling.

Good grief.

Grandma Bibi was right. She said Feris are at their most obnoxious when they’re six months old....

As I stood there with my mouth hanging open in disbelief, Guide, who couldn’t understand them, asked with an expectant expression.

“Well? We even put on a play for them. Are they saying they’ll take a nap now?”

“...No. I think you’re going to have to read them more storybooks.”

“What?”

“Can you act out a play by yourself?”

“What?”

Guide stared at me blankly, as though I had said something completely unexpected.

I smiled awkwardly.

“They say it still wasn’t enough. Sorry, but can I ask you to handle it?”

“Ah, y-yes. Of course!”

I would have liked to help Guide more, but it was about time for me to leave too....

Thankfully, he quickly collected himself and nodded.

“A-anyway, thank you for going along with that ridiculous play. It really helped me a lot.”

“Helped? If anything, I think our acting woke them up even more.”

“But thanks to you, Princess, I learned a valuable lesson that I should never try putting on a play again.”

Guide smiled, blinking his clear eyes.

After spending ten years training Feris, Guide had transformed from a timid crybaby into a clear-eyed madman who could not have survived without relentless optimism.

Apparently it was some kind of survival instinct he had developed because there was no other way to live among Feris, who were naturally terrible pranksters.

I let out a deep sigh and patted his shoulder.

“Anyway, you’ve got it rough. Let’s get something delicious together when we have time. And you guys, listen to Guide! Seriously!”

I waved at the young Feris and started toward the door.

“P-Princess!”

“Yeah?”

Guide suddenly called out to stop me.

“...Back when we were acting, was what you said about forgetting Lord Kyle really true?”

I stopped and looked back.

He asked the question carefully, concern in his voice.

“Kyuu! (Yeah. I want to know too!)”

“Kyuu, kyuu! (Tell us and we’ll sleep!)”

The young Feris felt the same way.

Though unlike Guide, they seemed more entertained than concerned.

“Hmmm.”

I crossed my arms and tilted my head.

Had I forgotten Kyle?

“Of course not! I’m literally going to read the message Kyle sent me right now!”

These little punks were seriously underestimating me!

When I answered like I was making a declaration, Guide’s face immediately brightened.

“Right?”

“Kyuu! (Wow, it’s love!)”

“Kyuu, kyuu! (Get married! Become a married couple!)”

“It’s friendship, not marriage!”

My face instantly burned red, and I shrieked before fleeing the room.

Love? Marriage? Kyle and I weren’t like that!

Ten years had now passed without Kyle and me seeing each other.

But our friendship was still very much alive.

***

A great deal had happened to House Kreutz during those years.

First, I had made my social debut.

And while we still carried out monster subjugations, attitudes toward monsters had changed considerably.

The people of House Kreutz were now accustomed to dividing monsters into those that needed to be subjugated and those that needed to be protected.

That was largely thanks to Guide. Since he had come along, much of the prejudice the ducal household once held against monsters had disappeared.

And the decisive turning point had been Calypse using trained Feris during monster subjugations.

This sounds like some kind of Pokémon X-ter nonsense, but Father really did go out on monster subjugations with an army of Feris—and succeeded.

What...? Using monsters to subjugate monsters?

The news quickly reached King Grace, chairwoman of the monster enthusiasts’ gathering.

With her full support, House Kreutz expanded the scope of monster training, until at last we even built the first monster training center in the Frozen Kingdom.

Feels like just yesterday the whole place was in chaos because of construction... and the completion ceremony is already next month.

Time really flies.

Of course, it wasn’t all good news.

The attitudes of the people living in the ducal castle had changed considerably, but outside the north, there were still many who despised monsters.

Perhaps that was only natural.

Until now, we had always treated monsters as enemies on sight.

Still, I’m sure things will gradually get better with time.

Kyle and Knox are working hard at the end of the world too!

And what I needed to do right now was—

“Father! Lucas!”

“Why.”

“Dandelion’s here?”

When I opened the door, the two men in the office looked up.

“Today’s the day the message comes. Of course I came right on time!”

I had to check the letter from my pen pal!

When I spoke with a giggle, the expressions of the two men—both of whom wore cold looks by default—softened.

“Come here.”

Neatly combed black hair.

Red eyes that were intimidating, yet impossible to look away from.

And sharply defined features that looked as though they had been carved with rough strokes.

“Yes, sir!”

Father looked exactly the same as ever, as if he had been eating preservatives all these years.

He did not even take his eyes off the report, merely jerking his chin toward me.

Yet one of his hands was already pulling over a spare chair.

“Dandelion. Whenever I ask you to spend time with me, you always say you’re busy, but you never fail to make time when one of those messages arrives.”

The complaint came from Lucas in the low voice he had acquired after puberty.

Even as he complained, he set a plate of my favorite cookies on the table.

He was eighteen this year, which made him a legal adult by the standards of the Frozen Kingdom, and he was steadily catching up to Calypse in height.

Of course, Father was still taller....

At this rate, he might end up a 190-centimeter giant like Father.

He was far taller than most people his age.

Between knight training and monster subjugations, his shoulders had naturally grown broad, while his features had become sharp and striking.

He had always resembled Calypse, but with each passing day, even their overall presence grew more alike.

Because of that, strangers often mistook him for someone cold.

And lately, that had become one of my concerns.

Because—

“Lucas. Instead of playing with me, you should be looking for someone to marry.”

“What?”

He was getting close to marriageable age.