Chapter 1: TS Princess Understands the Situation

TS Princess Understands the Situation

"Nina! I don't really love Leon!"

"Isolde... you're saying that for my sake... but it's fine! Two people who love each other should be together!... Ah, but please let me be his concubine, okay?"

Nina, the hero's childhood friend and thief, misinterprets the situation, is moved by it, and tries to become his concubine.

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"Clarissa... I understand your concerns. If you, the church's saint, and the hero, Leon, were to get together, the power balance in the Kingdom would be a mess. But as the Princess, I will cooperate. So, you see? You can be honest about your feelings, okay? A Hero and a Saint... you guys make a good match, don't you?"

"..... It's fine. You and Leon-sama will live happily together... That's enough for me..."

Clarissa, the Saint from the church, smiles faintly as she says this.

You feel satisfied as long as the two of us are happy, but if things continue like this, no one will be happy!!

•

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"This is bad... if we keep going like this..."

As we made our way back, the royal capital came into clearer view. That meant time was running out.

I'd accomplished the purpose of my journey and was ready to go home and do as I pleased...or so I'd planned, but now I'm embarking on a major mission that could change my life. If I don't somehow force Leon onto one of them, what awaits me... no, "me"...is marriage to the hero. No way.

Where did things go wrong...?

★

"Hmm? What's this book... It's not mine..."

We were on our way back from the Demon King's territory. 

Three days ago, after a long journey, we defeated the being known as the Demon King. 

...Honestly, it wasn't that difficult.

We were Leon, the Hero who pulled out the holy sword; his childhood friend and talented Thief Nina; Isolde (me), the kingdom's top Magician; and Clarissa, the Saint who came from the church.

While our journey wasn't without its challenges, we were more than capable, and I don't recall we ever struggling in combat. If this were an RPG, the content would be so thin it would inevitably receive a low rating.

Then, on our way back, we camped out in a town and were able to stay at a decent inn for the first time in a while. While sorting through our belongings, I found a book I didn't recognize in my luggage.

"...Ah, is this Leon's diary?"

Leon, the Hero. Apparently, he started writing his diary soon after he began his adventure. "It'll be fun to look back on it once everything's over, won't it?" he said.

...Well. Of course I'll go return it... but I have no choice but to take a look at it before then.

It looks interesting, after all.

"Ah, that's what happened."

It was filled with episodes from the journey and Leon's thoughts at the time. It was a normal diary.

As I turned the pages, the events described became more recent, and one sentence jumped out at me.

["Nina confessed her feelings."]

I stopped moving involuntarily.

...Even though it was too late, a slight sense of guilt welled up inside me for having read it.

["When Nina confessed her feelings, she looked at me seriously, unlike her usual relaxed demeanor. I care about her as a childhood friend. It was hard to turn her down. But it was times like these that I wanted to be honest. I regret what I'd done to her."]

Apparently, she confessed her feelings to Leon... and was rejected.

A Hero and a Childhood Friend who accompanied him on his journey seem like a perfect match, but... there's nothing I can do about it.

I turned the next page.

["Lady Clarissa also confessed her love to me. I respect her and trust her as a comrade. But the person I love is someone else. I told Clarissa the truth. Like Nina, they all calmly accepted my confessions even when I told them about the one I love. I know it's strange to think this after turning them down, but I hope they'll both be happy."]

Even Clarissa?!

My hands instinctively tighten as I hold the diary. ...Or rather, has this happened two days in a row? I didn't even notice.

But the other person he loves...

Hey. Who could it be? I've read this far, so I'll read on.

["When I report back after defeating the Demon King, I will ask to marry Isolde as a reward. I can finally tell her how I feel."]

["Isolde's unpretentious appearance despite being a princess. Her passion for studying magic. Her occasional displays of femininity captivated me."]

["What does she think of me? Maybe for her we're just friends. I want to tell her how I feel, no matter what."]

.....

.....

... I closed the diary with a bang. My heart was beating fast.

The princess's face, learning of the feelings of the Hero she had traveled with, was as red as an apple... or rather, it was turning blue as she broke out into a cold sweat.

"You've got to be kidding me....!"

I muttered quietly.

Leon.... loves me? 

This is bad... I can't marry a man like Leon.

Isolde Valentia, first princess of the Kingdom of Valentia. 19 years old. That's who I am now. In my previous life, I lived as a man in Japan. Although I have no memory of dying, I was reborn as a baby girl in a place clearly different from my original world.

At first, I was in despair. It was a world similar to medieval Europe, with little entertainment. Of course, there were no PCs or games. 

But soon I learned 'that' exists in this world, and it saved me.

A power that transcended the laws of physics. Unknown laws. The more I researched it, the more intriguing things I discovered. I was obsessed with it from a young age, and before I knew it, I had become the kingdom's greatest magician.

One day, a being called the Demon King appeared in the world.

...Honestly, I wondered if it was even that far removed from the game, but then, as if in response, a Hero appeared.

I'm both a princess and a powerful magician. So I asked my father, the King, and joined the Hero and his childhood friend, who had begun a journey to defeat the Demon King. I was looking for an opportunity to use the powerful magic I had learned, as well as magic that couldn't be tried in the royal castle, and I was royalty after all. With power at the forefront of the world's crisis, I had to act.

Then, together with the Saint who had joined us, we defeated the Demon King. I thought I could then return to the castle and spend my time as I pleased, researching magic.

I don't have a fiancée. The ego that was already fully formed in my previous life remains. Even if I have a woman's body, marrying a man is out of the question.

However, as a member of royalty, that wouldn't be allowed. So I declared that I could not marry someone weaker than myself.

...Fortunately, I wasn't first in line to the throne, and my abilities as a magician meant that my father didn't say anything. Of course, there were nobles who were interested in me, but none of them met my criteria.

No, there weren't any.

....Until Leon showed up.

He was the kind of guy who swung his sword every day, aiming to become a knight even before he became a Hero. There was no way I could beat him.

Plus, a Hero who defeated the Demon King seeks the Princess who traveled with him. It really sounds like a plausible story. My father  as a King, he would have a powerful Hero attached to his country, so he wouldn't refuse.

Should I have refused before things got to that point?

...But how did I know about his feelings for me that he hadn't even expressed? Should I say that I read his diary without his permission? It'd be weird to reject him even before he can confess.

Clutching the diary, I thought.

...Yes, those two.

I just need to pair Nina or Clarissa with Leon.

Leon rejected their confessions. But that's because his heart is elsewhere. Judging by his usual behavior, he doesn't hate them. In fact, if he hadn't gone crazy and fallen for me, they would have been together by now.

A blessing in disguise!

I still have time before our triumphant return to the royal capital and our audience with my father.

I need to pair one of them with Leon by then. And then I can live alone, researching magic to my heart's content.

.... There isn't much time left. But I have no choice.

Resolved, I left the room to sneak the diary back into Leon's luggage.