Volume 1 Chapter 28 Exile
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
While Yuuta was studying hard to graduate from the Military Training Camp, Puruun was busy cleaning the first floor of the palace for the Fourth Princess every day except during training.
The building had 3 floors, and the princess usually stayed on the upper floors, but Puruun couldn’t go up without permission. A few times, she saw the princess leaving from a distance, but it was too far away to tell much, just that the person looked small.
Puruun tried writing a letter to the merchant guild, but she didn’t get any replies from them or from Yuuta.
It seemed like she wasn’t the only one, as the Military was blocking communication on purpose.
That day, Puruun was cleaning the laundry room where dirty clothes piled up.
She heard someone running from far away. Running was not allowed in the palace, and as she stepped into the hallway, she bumped into someone.
*Bam!*
To avoid falling, she instinctively hugged the person, but they ended up kissing by accident.
──Whoa, I just kissed someone! Puruun panicked and tried to pull away, but the other person held on tighter.
”Please! Hide me!”
There was an elf girl looking scared and small.
Wait, is this person…? Just as Puruun was about to find out, she heard voices coming from down the hallway.
”Hey, this way is good, right?”
”Yeah, for sure. Hurry up and find her! Sir Aaron will be angry!”
It seemed like they were chasing someone. But why was a guy here in the palace? Puruun quickly flipped over a large laundry basket, emptied it, and told the girl to get inside. Then she covered the girl with laundry again.
Just in time, the pursuers entered the laundry room.
”Hey, Beastfolk! Did an elf girl come this way?”
”Uh, yes. If she did, she went out that window towards the courtyard… but who are you? This is the Fourth Princess’s palace!”
”Shut up, you guard! We’re the royal guard… Let’s go!”
The men ran in the direction Puruun pointed.
Royal guard? They just mentioned Sir Aaron, which means he’s the Second Prince, right?
Anyway, the suspicious guys left, so Puruun helped the girl out of the basket.
”Um, are you the princess?”
”Yeah. Thanks for saving me. I’m Asuka.”
Wow, she’s the Fourth Princess, Lady Asuka! I can’t believe I’m this close to her… and she’s so cute! Oh, right, I accidentally kissed her earlier!
”Um, Princess, I’m really sorry about that…”
”Huh? What are you talking about? Oh, that? Did I take your first kiss? Don’t worry, it was my first kiss too.”
The princess giggled.
”So, who were those guys?”
”Oh, you should forget what you just saw… And since you’re in that uniform, you must be one of my guards, right? I haven’t seen you before. What’s your name?”
”Yes, I’m Puruun. I just got assigned here last month.”
”Last month… that makes sense. But wow, you have a lot of magic power for a Beastfolk!”
”Uh, I can’t use magic at all.”
”Really? Oh, I see! Break!”
As soon as the princess said the spell, Puruun’s guard uniform exploded.
”Ah!”
Puruun screamed in surprise.
”Oh no, I’m sorry! I went too far. I’m still not good at fine-tuning. But this is it, the source of your magic!”
The princess pointed at Puruun’s necklace.
”This is a really nice necklace. I want it! Can I have it?”
”Um, but this is… something really important that my boyfriend gave me…”
Puruun said hesitantly.
”I see. It’s something really important, huh? Sorry for pushing you. But what is this? The yellow round thing hanging from the necklace?”
”Oh, this is a 5-yen coin…”
”Princess──Oh, thank goodness. I heard a scream and thought something happened… So you were here.”
Feeling someone behind, Puruun stood in front to protect the princess, still in just their underwear.
”Oh, this person is fine. She’s my caretaker. So, where’s Elder Brother?”
”Yes. He had another meeting to go to, so he left the palace a little while ago. But Princess, what happened here? Did you strip the guard… were you playing a prank?”
”Ah, this was an accident. Later, please get PurPur a new uniform.”
Then Princess Asuka left with her caretaker, but before she went, she whispered in Puruun’s ear.
”Good. You must never tell anyone about what happened here or meeting me. Not even to your superiors.”
Phew. That princess was like a storm. But she was a great person. If it means being a shield for someone like her, she might be okay with that.
Puurun was lost in thought for a bit but then realized she was still in her underwear, quickly grabbed some clothes from the laundry, and rushed back to change.
After that, Puruun didn’t tell anyone about the day’s events, and about a month later, on a day off, Puruun was washing hher clothes at the dorm.
Then, a guard from the Fourth Princess named Claudel came to visit in casual clothes. With that person, Puruun finally got to go outside the castle in casual clothes after several months. She had hoped they could stop by the merchant guild, but Claudel seemed heavy and always on guard, so Puruun stayed alert too. Claudel took Puruun to a tavern that was still closed, a little away from the castle, where no one could see them.
”Okay, that’s enough. Relax your shoulders.”
Saying that, Claudel handed Puruun some sparkling water.
”So, Lady Claudel, what do you need?”
”…Ms. Puruun, right? That’s your name. I’m really sorry, but could you please die for Princess Asuka?”
”What?”
”Oh, sorry. I didn’t explain well. I don’t really know if you’ll actually die. Let me rephrase that. Could you help us with the mindset that you might die?”
”Huh?”
According to Claudel, they couldn’t give many details, but Princess Asuka needed to leave the castle quickly. However, if she left, there would be pursuers after her. So, they wanted to send out several decoys at the same time to confuse the pursuers, and Puruun was chosen as one of them. The reason was that Puruun was still new and not well-known.
Also, not being connected to the nobility or powerful merchants made Puruun the perfect candidate for this mission. But…
”If you escape as a decoy and happen to get caught by the pursuers, I can’t guarantee your life. I can only say to escape by any means necessary. However, if the princess successfully hides in another noble’s territory, I promise a reward that you could never earn even if you worked as a guard for life.”
”Does that mean I can ask for help from people outside the castle?”
”I don’t think it’s impossible, but if it gets found out, you’d be executed along with them.”
I see, so I can’t ask Yuuta or the merchant guild for help.
What a troublesome situation I’ve gotten into.
Melon and the others are coming to the Royal Capital soon. Just because I ran into the princess and she remembered my face… But the princess must have been in a tight spot since then. Thinking about that makes me want to help her even more.
”Do I have to give you an answer right now?”
”Sorry, Ms. Puruun. Actually, if I don’t get a good answer from you here, I’ll have to go home alone.”
With that, Claudel shifted the bundle of swords a bit.
What’s that about? This isn’t even a discussion! From the start, she only has the option to say yes. After thinking for a while, Puruun came to a conclusion.
”Okay. I’ll take it. But can you agree to 2 conditions? First, I have a family that’s important to me. Because of the nature of this mission, I probably can’t tell them before the operation, so no matter what happens, please make sure to inform my family about everything. Mr. Euler from the merchant guild will be the contact person. Second, instead of a success reward, I’d like half of it as an advance. And I want you to give that to my family when you tell them what happened.”
”Got it. I promise on the honor of the CountRainsheyn family to meet those 2 conditions. Now, let’s discuss the details later. Let’s leave this shop at different times.”
With that, Claudel sent Puruun back to the castle first.
The plan for the princess’s escape was carefully and secretly moving forward, centered around Claudel, and it was set to happen tomorrow night. However, Puruun didn’t know anything about the plan except for what she had to do. No, it was better that way. If everyone knew everything, just one person betraying them would ruin it all.
The outfit for the decoy was already in Puruun’s hands, thanks to the laundry room. It was her first time holding silk underwear, and the white dress was really beautiful. She also got a big hat with lovely embroidery to hide her Beastfolk ears. But it seemed to be a bit different in size from the princess’s.
When she tried it on, it was pretty tight, so she had to do some sewing to make it a bit looser around the chest. After that, she just had to sneak out of the castle at the right time… and she was told to head to Lord Ilman’s place.
Since she was alone, she had to run to Ilman by herself, but she wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the town, so once she got there, she figured she could manage.
”Yuuta. Everyone. Imenji… grant me your protection.”
In the middle of the night the next day, Puruun whispered this as she slipped out of the Royal Capital, following the path Claudel had told her about. She needed to be seen to be a good decoy.
By the time she crossed the castle walls and got outside, it started to rain.
From here on, Claudel didn’t give her any more directions. Now, she just had to escape from the pursuers. ──Oh no, my beautiful dress is going to get dirty. Thinking about that, Puruun hurried through the darkness, aiming for Ilman’s town, which was 2 weeks away by carriage.
It was the tenth day after leaving the Royal Capital when Yuuta’s carriage, heading back to the Royal Capital, passed very close by, but Puruun, hiding in the bushes, didn’t notice it.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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