Ah…!
I woke up in an unfamiliar room. A brutal headache split through my skull, as if someone were trying to crack my mind in two.
I remembered the small vial Violetta-san had given me. I pulled it out of my dimensional storage, opened the lid, and let a single drop fall onto my tongue. The effect was almost immediate. The pain faded enough for me to think clearly.
“Oh? You’re already awake?”
“Umm… w-where am I?”
“This is the Adventurer’s Guild inn at the port of Nanab. My name is Cecille.”
The woman speaking to me looked to be in her twenties, with bright red hair tied up in a high ponytail and a lollipop in her mouth. She was dressed formally, like someone used to dealing with all kinds of people.
“Were you the one who saved me?”
“Oh, no. Sorry about that. By the way… I took the liberty of checking your entire body, including that area. You’re safe. No serious injuries.”
Heat rose to my face, but I said nothing. Instinctively, I ran my hands over my body. The wounds I remembered were gone. Only the dull ache of my twisted ankle remained.
“Can I… see her?” I asked quietly.
“She’s outside. I’ll call her right away.”
Last night… or whatever that night had been… came back to me in fragments.
Nil.
My old body.
That twisted smile.
The Devils obeying him.
The cruelty in his voice.
The absolute terror.
At some point my mind had gone hazy. I couldn’t clearly remember how I had ended up here.
“Hey, Alstroe! Stop haggling over the food price!”
“Little girl!”
“AH!”
The shout made me jump.
The door slammed open and she came in.
Silver hair that shone even under the dim light of the room. Intense yellow eyes full of energy. And a presence so large it seemed to fill the entire space.
I remembered her instantly.
The girl who had appeared out of nowhere and split the Devil in half with a single kick. The same one who had hugged me while I trembled uncontrollably and hidden me against her chest until I lost consciousness.
“Little girl! Little girl! What’s your name? I’m Alstroemeria! You can call me Alstroe-nee!”
Her face was way too close!
She had crouched in front of me and was bouncing from side to side with so much energy that… well… certain parts of her body were swaying in a way that was impossible to ignore.
“Alstroe! You’re overwhelming her! Sit over there right now! We still don’t know what she’s been through!”
Cecille-san grabbed her by the collar and dragged her over to a chair like an overly enthusiastic pet. Alstroe sat down with a pout, but her eyes stayed fixed on me with bright curiosity.
Cecille-san sighed and turned to me with a gentler tone.
“First, please tell us your name. After that… if you can, tell us why you were in the forest near this port. You don’t have to force yourself if you can’t talk about it yet.”
I hesitated for only a second.
I pulled the Lionheart house insignia out of my dimensional storage. Cecille-san froze when she saw it. Alstroe, on the other hand, tilted her head in curiosity.
“Umm… I’m Asagao Lionheart.”
There was half a second of silence.
“WE DEEPLY APOLOGIZE FOR THE LACK OF RESPECT, PRINCESS!
HEY, YOU IDIOT, BOW AS WELL!”
Literally.
The impact left several new cracks in the ground.
“Amazing, Asagao! You’re a real princess! No wonder you’re so ridiculously adorable!”
Alstroe lifted her head as if nothing had happened and leaned in close to me again with the same energy as before. Once more, I found myself face-to-face with… certain hills.
“ALSTROE! OUT AGAIN!”
There was a dull thud.
She was thrown out of the room.
Cecille-san adjusted her clothes and looked at me with a much more serious and respectful expression.
“Dear Princess, I humbly apologize for that girl. She traded her intelligence for pure power and became a walking disaster.”
“I… I really don’t mind,” I answered quietly. “Besides… please keep the fact that I’m a princess a secret for now. There’s something I need to do.”
“What do you wish, Your Highness?”
“Clothes. I have garments in my dimensional storage, but they would draw too much attention. I need something simple. Short leather boots, comfortable pants… something I can blend in with.”
“Right away, Princess.”
She left the room quickly. I heard a brief scuffle in the hallway, then silence. I was alone.
They had saved me.
But I couldn’t stay like this forever.
I had to tell Fon-nii about Nil.
Even if that meant revealing everything about myself as well.
Would he hate me if he found out?
The thought made a knot form in my chest, and the headache returned with force.
Then the door opened again.
“ASAGAO! I’m back!”
Ugh!
I couldn’t cry. Not here. Not now.
But this loud, overly close girl was making my head hurt again in less than five minutes.
“Heya, Asagao! What kind of amazing things does a princess do?”
What was a princess even supposed to do?
I had only been adopted three months ago. I didn’t even know.
I slowly shook my head.
“Alstroe-nee… I’m not amazing. I’m just a princess who got slapped in the face by reality last night. I’m not doing anything that deserves ‘giving it my all.’”
It wasn’t a lie.
I had let myself get carried away by the warmth of the castle, by the feeling of having a family, and I hadn’t thought hard enough about the calamity hanging over everyone… and over me.
“Asagao… that expression on your face ruins everything. You haven’t even smiled yet.”
“I can’t. With everything that’s happened to me… I can’t force myself to smile.”
I lowered my gaze.
I had to do something about Nil. I had to warn Fon-nii. If only I had been more alert, if only I hadn’t trusted so easily…
“Asagao.
I don’t know exactly what happened to you. But if you can’t smile… then cry.
Cry until you’re tired of crying. And when you’re done, try again with everything you’ve got!”
“But…”
“Geez, Asagao! Why are you so shy?! You’re a little kid! Show some energy!
ORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“Eh?!”
“Come on! Try it! ORYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“o-oryaaaaaaA…”
“LOUDER! ORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“O-ORYAAaaAAAAAaaaa!”
“One more time! ORYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“ORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
“SHUT UP ALREADY! THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE INN, YOU KNOW!”
We got scolded from the hallway.
But somehow… I felt different.
My cheeks had relaxed. It felt like blood was circulating again.
“See?” Alstroe-nee said with a wide smile. “It’s normal for kids to cry. After that you eat a lot, grow strong… and if you need to, you cry again. But you always keep going forward.”
Tears suddenly spilled out of me.
All the terror.
All the pain.
The helplessness.
The guilt.
The image of Milin-san losing her arm.
Nil’s voice.
The Devil’s tongue.
Everything came out at once.
And yet… for the first time since I had been torn from the castle, my cheeks didn’t feel tight with fear.
“Ehehehe! Asagao, you’re smiling while crying! You look ridiculous!”
“Ehehe… ah… Alstroe-nee… you’re right… it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off me…”
I felt lighter.
As if I had found something small, but real.
“I’m a complete idiot, Asagao! But I’m doing the best I can every day! I’m still growing!
So you too… let’s keep growing together! Okay?”
“Alstroe-nee…”
She pulled me against her chest again. Big, warm, safe.
I liked that feeling of protection.
But for the first time, I also felt that I didn’t want to remain just a burden.
If I could… I wanted to follow the example of this bright, way-too-loud idiot.
Growing together, huh?
“Alstroe-nee… I’ll do the best I can.”
A little later Cecille-san returned and found me with a face swollen from crying so much. She dragged Alstroe out into the hallway and scolded her for almost an hour. A bit harsh, if you ask me.
Now I’m wearing sturdy short pants, simple leather boots, and a wide belt. On top, the same white shirt I’ve had since I arrived in this world.
For the first time, I feel like I can blend in a little with normal people.
It’s okay to cry.
But you also have to know how to get up and keep moving forward.
Together.