In the Land of Leadale - Volume 4 - Chapter SS

Bonus Short Story - A Princess's Firsthand Experience

I am Myleene Luskeilo, the Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Felskeilo and heir to the throne. As such, my education has been far from lacking, and I have had the privilege of a comfortable life—a privilege I believe I owe my subjects in full.

My mother and father are kind but also strict at times. I certainly feel well-loved. My rambunctious little brother looks out for me on occasion as well, for which I am very grateful.

Nonetheless, is it rather indulgent of me to feel as if I’m lacking something? Perhaps that was what led me to say such nonsense to my dear friend Lonti.

It was a mere passing fancy. I very much understand that words cannot be taken back.

And yet, I’m still not sure why those words slipped so easily from my tongue.

“…Pardon me? What did you say just now, Your Highness?”

My childhood friend Lonti is a prominent candidate for inheriting the position of prime minister from her grandfather, Sir Agaido. She currently takes on simple duties, but I hear she receives lots of practice helping the public solve various issues. Sir Agaido claims she gets too enthusiastic on occasion and can be reckless, and indeed, she is the type to rush to conclusions. I think it’s wonderful how she can switch between life inside and outside of the castle.

“‘Running away sounds nice’…?”

I have no qualms about my station in life, but you know what they say: The grass is always greener on the other side. That’s certainly the case with me. I started thinking it would be fun to live a life I could never have in the castle.

I was fully prepared for Lonti’s anger the moment I said it. I think I actually wanted her to scold me and say what a ridiculous idea running away was. However, with an exasperated look on her face, she said, “I suppose there’s no helping it,” and made our preparations for departure. She even tricked one of the knight captains when we left the castle: “Her Highness would like to make a confession, so we will be going to the church,” she’d said; surely that was a bit cruel? Did I appear so brooding that I must be in need of repentance?

The knight captain assigned us an escort to the church. But, Lonti, won’t that prevent us from running away? I wondered.

…Honestly, I can’t believe Lonti had already conspired with the female knight chosen to escort us. I’d like her to repay me for all the anxiety I felt en route to the church.

“Now, Your Highness, I shall proceed to become so fascinated with this stained-glass window that I lose sight of you and Lady Lonti.”

“But won’t you be held responsible?” I asked.

“Indeed, I will surely receive a good tongue lashing from the captain.”

“I would feel most terrible if you had to take the fall for—”

“Worry not, Your Highness! Lady Lonti has already provided me monetary compensation!”

“?!”

Lonti, you shouldn’t be high-fiving the knight and shouting, “Yay!” When did you even have the time to devise such a plan? Ah—don’t tell me… My ladies in waiting left earlier than usual this morning; was that part of your plan, too?

“Let’s get going, then,” Lonti said. “The guards will be looking for us.”

We kept ourselves hidden within our cloaks and boarded a small boat to the city’s commoner sector.

An adventurer acquaintance of Lonti’s apparently bustled about the city daily, taking care of various requests. Occasionally, the knight captain would tell me about this person’s exploits, such as building a new tourist attraction.

What sort of individual could build an entire tourist attraction single-handedly? I certainly didn’t doubt Lonti’s claims, but perhaps they were actually several people?

However, my meeting with this acquaintance came surprisingly quickly. She called out to us on her way to the Adventurers Guild.

The adventurer looked younger than me but was an unrivaled beauty. She was intimidatingly attractive, and yet she spoke to Lonti just like any other teenage girl. Regardless, this adventurer had a mysterious air about her. I would only learn later that she was not my junior at all. In fact, she was far older. Such was the lifespan of elves, after all…

Her name was Cayna, a high-elf adventurer…

Aren’t high elves considered elven royalty?! What’s an adventurer like her doing in a regular city such as this?!

Despite my confusion, Lonti quickly began discussing how Cayna would serve as an escort on our little outing.

Don’t negotiations normally begin with talk a reward?

I couldn’t fathom how such a brief chat was enough for Cayna to agree to be our guard without any compensation. Most inexplicable of all was how Cayna ended up serving as our guard while she was out on a quest.

Lonti, will we be all right camping for two days without being properly prepared? I thought.

Cayna had a rapier-like sword at her side, but she didn’t look especially strong. Furthermore, her quest involved defeating a horned bear… It would take more than two knights to accomplish such a feat.

“Lonti, is that girl okay?”

“Well, even my grandfather has endorsed her strength. She’s also High Priest Skargo’s mother, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

S-Sir Skargo’s mother?!

The mere mention of Sir Skargo had me visibly flustered. That was my greatest mistake; thanks to my reaction, Lonti discovered my secret crush.

Aghhhh, why am I so weak when these unexpected situations arise?!

I blushed furiously in a panic. I wasn’t dreaming when Cayna gave me her blessing to pursue Sir Skargo’s affections, was I?

The high elves I’d heard about only in stories possessed mysterious powers, like opening up paths by speaking to plants, things regular elves couldn’t do.

Cayna continued deeper into the forest down an unmarked path. The best word to describe her was “unprecedented.” I was shocked to no end when we set up camp and she cooked for us with ancient arts. She even summoned a three-headed creature said to be a gatekeeper of the underworld to keep watch over us at night as if it were nothing. The horse-sized beast had three sets of sharp teeth. Its mere gaze caused anyone to tremble in fear. And yet Cayna petted and spoke so sweetly to this terrifying creature; I couldn’t believe it.

Then at night, she created a bath with a thunderous roar that shook the forest.

After a single day together, I got a good sense of Cayna as a person.

She was powerful beyond all description. Lonti felt the same way.

Moreover, she was highly considerate and kept us safe. Thanks to her, we were able to spend the night in a forest without the slightest twinge of chill nor hunger.

And she was much stronger than her appearance suggested. No normal person could topple a horned bear with a single kick. Then she offered us a safe place to sleep and summoned a dragon. She could stand to learn some moderation—although I must admit, I had never seen or heard of such bedding before.

And so I learned just how much hard work travelers face. Without Cayna, we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy ourselves in the slightest. I learned how to keep myself from feeling powerless or frustrated.

Perhaps I’ll be able to do some traveling once I acquire some knowledge and skills of my own. I may never have it as easy as Cayna does, but with experience, I can come close.

The first thing we can do is service the roads.

I spoke with Lonti throughout those two days outside the city, and in that time we found a vast number of issues. She and I planned to resolve them one by one. It would no doubt take an inordinate amount of time, but it would be well worth it.

The two of us were mulling over these issues on our way home when Cayna had a bad feeling about something and urged us to hurry back.

We thus hastily returned to find the city in the midst of a devastating attack. However, Cayna defeated the scourge before we could even despair.

Words fail me. Is there anything Cayna can’t do?

When Lonti and I returned to the castle, my father and Sir Agaido were furious. But they somehow were able to sense that she and I had shown some initiative.

“Well then, Lonti. You know what to do, yes?” I said.

“Yes, Your Highness. After we’ve compiled all the issues in question, we will adopt a strategy to resolve them.”

“Then we’ll present them to my father and do whatever we can to help.”

There was also the matter of Sir Skargo, but this decision took priority.

Should I accomplish even one of these goals, I’d like to ask Lady Cayna’s opinion.