Chapter 3: The Damn Old Man
Ugh, so boring.
Every night, itâs the same thingâYusuke and I get dragged to these evening gatherings. Or rather, matchmaking parties.
No one outright says it, but itâs painfully obvious. The whole point is to pair usâthe so-called heroes who defeated the evil dragonâwith someone suitable.
And after a week of this nonsense? Zero progress.
Yusuke, for one, has serious trust issues when it comes to women. The guy wonât even entertain the thought of engagement. Strong-willed women? Yeah, no chance. Heâs a total herbivore type. If anything, heâd probably go for a soft-spoken,
 kind of girl.âŠNot that weâre in Japan, so that doesnât really apply.
The other day, I caught a glimpse of a noblewomenâs tea party. Terrifying. They werenât hostile toward Yusuke or anything, but they were definitely scheming.
Stuff like slipping him a love potion.
Yeah. Love potions.
Scary stuff.
As for me? Yeah, no. Marrying a guy just isnât my thing.
And itâs not like these men are subtle about their intentions. I can literally see their eyes darting between my face and my chest.
Sigh.
I let out a long breathâonly to feel a sharp jab in my side.
âMy lady,â Jane, the maid, warned.
âAh, sorry⊠Iâll be more careful.â
After all, you never know whoâs watching.
Ugh, so exhausting.
Midday at the royal castle.
Why am I wandering around here, you ask? Wellâ
âWell then, my lady. Iâll be waiting outside, alright?â
âMm. Thanks, Jane.â
Keeping up my usual composed exterior, I opened the door.
Inside was a reception roomâone that looked like something straight out of my past life. Just⊠a hundred times more extravagant.
Two sofas faced each other.
And sitting across from the entrance, waiting for me, was a middle-aged man.
âWell, well, you finally made it. MiliarĂ©na.â
There arenât many people who talk to me so casually.
After all, Iâm the kingâs daughter.
So, yeah. The only one who can get away with this is him.
The king of this country.
My damn old man.
I met his gaze. âWhat brings you here today, Father?â
He leaned back, relaxed. âWell, sit down. This isnât an official meeting. Just a little family chat.â
â...Then, if youâll excuse me.â
I took a seat across from him.
Despite being well over fifty, the guy was still ridiculously muscular, towering, and had an almost absurd amount of presence.
âSo, about todayâs topicâŠâ He paused, as if searching for words. âHowâve you been? Doing alright lately?â
âŠWhat kind of conversation is this?
Itâs like some awkward dad trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Except heâs not awkward, which somehow makes it worse.
I sighed internally. âIâm fine, Father.â
âOh, thatâs good to hearâŠâ
ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
ââŠâŠâŠâŠ?â
Just say something already.
This is getting unbearable.
âAh⊠right.â My father cleared his throat. âLetâs get to the main topic. So, uh⊠have you found a good marriage candidate yet?â
Ugh.
âNo, Iâm ashamed to say⊠Iâm still a bit⊠intimidated by men.â
Deploying plausible excuse!
âThe woman who slayed the evil dragon is scared of men who havenât even trained their bodies properly?â
Plausible excuse, destroyed.
âW-well⊠itâs not so much scared as⊠Iâm just not good with them.â
âHm. I suppose that makes sense. Youâve been avoiding male servants since you were little. Always chasing after the maidsâ skirts.â
âŠSays you, old man.
The words nearly slipped out.
This damn kingâmy fatherâhas seventeen kids.
Eight boys, nine girls.
A queen, countless mistresses.
And letâs be realâheâs had his way with plenty of maids too.
A stamina monster ruled by his d*ckâthatâs the ruler of this country.
âBut still,â he continued, completely unaware of my internal monologue, âas a father, Iâd like you to marry sooner rather than later. And as a king, Iâd prefer it to happen as quickly as possible.â
ââŠI see.â
âHmm⊠youâre making quite the displeased face.â
âOh? Was I making such a face?â
Deny everything.
âWhat about the knight commanderâs son? Heâs a fine young man, isnât he?â
ââŠWellâŠâ
Admittedly, heâs⊠less vulgar than the others.
A fine young man? Maybe. But calling him that doesnât feel quite right.
More like⊠a gorilla on steroids.
The guy is huge. Probably twice my weight, all muscle.
A walking slab of manliness.
Not a bad person, butâŠ
âYou donât seem too thrilled.â
âNo, no, itâs not that⊠well, maybe a little.â
Itâs not that I hate the idea. Heâs just⊠a lot. And something tells me our personalities would clash hard.
You can tell just from a short conversation.
Heâs got that strong âwomen should be protected!â mentality.
Even though Iâm objectively stronger than himâboth in magic and combatâthereâs this subtle, lingering sense that he looks down on me.
Maybe that sounds harsh. But thatâs just the vibe I get.
âHmm⊠but stillââ
The damn old man grumbled to himself, thenâ
âAh. Then, how about you marry the hero?â
What.
A bombshell statement, casually dropped.
I kept my face as neutral as possible, though my eyes instinctively narrowed.
âHuh? Why?â
Crap. That slipped out.
My natural tone leaked through.
But the damn old man didnât seem to mind. He simply rested his chin on his hand, his expression turning serious for the first time in this entire conversation.
âYou understand, donât you?â
ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
I remained silent, but I already knew where this was going.
âThe hero is more powerful than any weapon in this country,â he continued. âEven if we mobilized all our soldiers, we might be able to suppress him, but⊠there would undoubtedly be bloodshed.â
âYeah, wellâŠâ
Idiot. You wouldnât be able to suppress him.
Iâve seen him fight.
I was there when we took down the evil dragon.
He can leap dozens of meters with a single kick. A swing of his sword can cleave through castle walls like butter.
And when he took a fireball from the dragon head-on without so much as a scratchâyeah, even I was speechless.
So, letâs be real.
If he really wanted to, he could level the royal castle in under an hour.
Not that he would, of course.
Yusukeâs not that kind of person.
But thereâs no point in stirring up unnecessary fear. So I keep my mouth shut.
âThis country has decided to coexist with the hero. That is the duty of those who summoned him to this world.â
ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
Summoned him, huh?
You were the ones who summoned him.
You praised him as a hero when he was fighting the evil dragon. But now that thereâs peace, you treat him like a threat?
Yusuke isnât a weapon.
Heâs not some dangerous force that needs to be "handled."
Heâs a human being.
A living, breathing person.
âYouâre close with that hero, arenât you?â the damn old man continued. âThen, to keep him from rebelling against this country, you shouldââ
âWith all due respect, Father.â
My voice came out sharper than I expected.
Even he looked a little surprised.
âWhether Yusuke marries someone in this country or not⊠he would never do something as cruel as harming innocent people.â
â...But still.â
This stubborn old man.
I get it. His priority is the safety of the country. I can respect that.
But heâs completely clueless when it comes to people.
He probably thinks heâs being affectionate right nowâlooking out for his daughter and all that.
But seriously. He needs to stop stepping on landmines without even realizing it.
â...Well, the hero can wait. Youâre the priority right now.â
Oh, great.
âThe countryâs about to get busy,â he continued. âAfter the defeat of the evil dragon, thereâs reconstruction, hunting down the remaining monsters⊠all that and more.â
â...Understood.â
âWe donât have much time to waste on romance. Youâre the kingâs daughter, but youâre also the hero who defeated the evil dragon.â
He leaned back on the sofa, his expression serious.
âDecide on a fiancĂ© within a month.â
Oh, for the love ofâ
âIâm not against free love,â he added, âbut noble daughters arenât supposed to choose their engagements based on personal feelings. Iâm being generous by giving you a month.â
â...I understand.â
âIf you canât find someone, weâll arrange it for you. Of course, we wonât do you wrong⊠but, you know, love can grow after marriage, right?â
ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
âYouâre not a child anymore. As a woman of the royal family, you need to be aware of your responsibilities.â
With that, the damn old man left the room.
Leaving me alone.
âUgh⊠this is so stupid. Whatâs with all this royal family nonsense?â
Even as I muttered it, I understood.
This situation⊠Being allowed to choose my own husband is already a ridiculous privilege.
Iâm the kingâs daughter.
Normally, my marriage would be decided by politics.
But because the damn old man is such a horndog, heâs letting me have a say in it.
Like a pity gesture.
If he actually cared only about the countryâs interests, heâd have married me off to some high-ranking noble ages ago.
I get it.
I get it, butâŠ
â...Marrying a man, huh?â
I hate every single one of them.
Talking is fine.
As long as itâs just conversation, I donât feel disgusted.
But the moment our hands touch⊠or when they casually put an arm around my waist⊠That is unbearable.
A deep, gut-wrenching revulsion.
Most of them donât even try to see me for who I am.
Itâs all about my status. My looks. My power.
They only see the surface.
And being a nobleâs wife means producing heirs.
But sharing a bed with them?
âŠNo way.
Just imagining it makes my stomach churn.
â...Ugh.â
Still, I canât just run from this.
There has to be a way outâŠ
As my thoughts spiraled, Yusukeâs face flickered in my mind.
I clicked my tongue and flopped down onto the sofa.
After freshening up, I left the room.
With Jane trailing behind me, I made my way through the royal castle.
I wanted to get away from the political areas as quickly as possible.
Everything there made me uncomfortable⊠anxious.
As I walked, a distant commotion reached my ears.
Voices, loud and overlapping.
â...Is there some kind of event going on? In the middle of the day?â
Curious, I headed to the end of the hallway and stepped onto the balcony.
From here, I had a clear view of the garden⊠and beyond that, the knightsâ training ground.
It was loud. Even from this distance, the noise was unmistakable.
I cast a vision-enhancing spell on myself.
At once, the distant scene sharpened into clarity.
On the packed dirt of the training ground, a single man stood, facing off against multiple knights.
A wooden sword in each hand.
A practice match? Or a mock battle?
The lone fighter wasâŠ
âPfft. Whatâs he doing?â
Yusuke.
I donât know if the knights challenged him or if he got provoked into this, but as long as both sides are fine with it, I guess itâs fair game.
My eyes flicked toward another figure on the ground.
The knight commanderâs son.
Flat on his back.
Probably Yusukeâs doing.
As I continued watching with my enhanced visionâ
One by one, the knights fell.
Even from the sidelines, it was obvious Yusuke was holding back.
He looked like an adult playing with children.
Yet, despite being knocked down over and over, the knights kept charging at him.
...Their pride wouldnât let them back down.
But there was no malice in their eyes.
They just didnât want to lose. They wanted to win.
Honestly, men are so stupid.
...Then again, I used to be one, so I guess I canât talk.
Ah, there goes the knight commanderâs sonâknocked flat again.
This is kind of fun.
Serves him right.
âYou seem quite happy, my lady.â
âHuh? Well, yeah.â
Janeâs voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I blinked, then dispelled the vision-enhancing spell.
âUnfortunately, I canât see that farâŠâ
Oh, right.
She wasnât using magic, so of course she couldnât.
She probably had no idea what was happening.
âAh⊠well, Yusukeâs over there sparring with the knights or something.â
âAh, so it is the hero.â
âHuh? What do you mean, it is?â
I tilted my head, and Jane responded with a sly smile.
âMy lady, you always seem so happy when the hero is involved.â
â...No, thatâs not true.â
âOh, but it is.â
â...Tch.â
What a cheeky maid.
Feeling vaguely annoyedâbut strangely refreshedâI turned away and left the scene behind.
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