Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 37 - Chapter 2

Episode 2: Theia and Ruth’s Journey

Just days after Vandarion’s defeat, tensions in Forthorthe were steadily winding down. What was left of the coup d’état army had already surrendered and been disarmed, and the men involved were now solemnly awaiting their judgment. This was, in large part, thanks to the decisive battle being broadcast across the galaxy. Seeing Vandarion’s monstrous transformation was eye-opening for his sympathizers. But as the turmoil surrounding the civil war died down, new hubbub began arising in the aftermath. Namely, all of Forthorthe was now demanding information on the Blue Knight.

“We can deal with that later,” sighed Theia. “At least... that’s what I’d like to say.”

“I can understand how the people feel. I felt the same way when I first realized Master’s identity,” added Ruth.

“Me too.”

The Blue Knight had channeled the will of the Forthorthian people into a powerful weapon and used it to cut down the corrupt Vandarion—and as such, he was hailed as a hero all over again in the modern age. People were clamoring to learn more about him, his origins, his personality... They wanted to know everything about their national savior.

“Hmph, I suppose we can’t ignore this. We have no choice but to disclose the data we have on him,” Theia acquiesced.

“But we can’t disclose all of it,” Ruth countered.

“And why not?”

“That would also mean exposing some very embarrassing secrets, Your Highness.”

“Th-Th-That won’t do! J-Just reveal what’s safe to share!”

“If that’s what you want, we should review the data ourselves.”

“Very well. Let us go over it while we have some free time on our hands.”

“I’ll set things up right now, then.”

Taking the feelings of her people into account, Theia agreed to disclose information on the Blue Knight. The bracelets she and Ruth always wore were constantly collecting and recording data, and their archives improved the accuracy of combat, translation, and other programs. They also contained plenty of information on the Blue Knight, as well as some particularly sensitive files. Like footage of Theia eating some ice cream in her underwear, for a prime example. As such, the archives couldn’t just be released to the public wholesale. They’d need to be gone through manually.

“Let’s outline the events. That way, we can fill in any details in later installments,” Theia suggested.

“I think that makes sense, especially as we only have limited time right now,” agreed Ruth.

“Hmm... I suppose we should start at the very beginning with how we got involved in all this.”

“I believe it would be appropriate to start with Her Majesty Elfaria’s plans, as she’d already met Master before Your Highness was even born.”

“Indeed. Let’s start there.”

The Blue Knight’s story began with Theia’s first trip to Earth, meaning the prologue was how and why that trip had come to be. Theia and Ruth had first met as babies, meaning they were dependent on records from that time to tell the story of what happened. They were too young then to remember anything concrete themselves, after all. According to their parents, they’d gotten the young girls together as playmates because they were similar in age.

“It seems I had a bad attitude already then. Look, I’m glaring. I’m amazed you wanted to be friends with me, Ruth.”

“I wonder... I can’t tell you what I was thinking. But you look lonely in this footage to me, Your Highness, so I’m sure that I wanted to stay with you.”

“That does sound like you.”

Currently, Theia and Ruth were watching a recording from their early childhood featuring a sulking Theia and an innocently smiling Ruth. Their difference in attitude and appearance was stark, but Theia had a reason for being that way. Her mother, Empress Elfaria, was so busy with her official duties that she was never able to spend much time with her. As a result, Theia was starved for familial love. On top of that, her mother’s title and position had a great influence on her upbringing. The children of rival families were hostile toward her, and most adults either talked about her behind her back or tried to use her for their own ends. Theia thus believed at an early age that she couldn’t trust anyone. She knew not everyone was out to get her, but the risks were just too high.

“What did you think of me back then, Your Highness?”

“I’m sure I thought you were serious. Your father was to a stupid degree, so I imagine that predisposed me to think you were too.”

“So you trusted me to some extent.”

“Yes, though I was just a child then. I didn’t really wall myself off until later.”

Thanks to Lord Pardomshiha’s reputation, her own serious demeanor, and her family’s demonstrated loyalty to the crown, Ruth slowly earned Theia’s trust. And Theia’s opinion of her only grew loftier as the years wore on and she better came to understand the dark depths of the world. Ruth was the only thing that could bring something resembling a smile to young Theia’s face.

“Come to think of it... I didn’t smile much before we came to Earth, did I?”

“That always bothered me. But it always came out so strangely whenever I tried to put it into words...”

“Even if you had said something, I wouldn’t have listened back then... I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you, Ruth.”

“Not at all.”

As she grew up, Theia’s smile had gradually disappeared. She could still put one on to pressure or provoke someone, but she never honestly smiled. Her distrust had grown with her, to the point that she saw Ruth as her only ally. Of course, Ruth was constantly trying to fix that, but the burden Theia carried was a weighty one. Finding someone who could look past that was difficult, and even if she found the right person... there was no guarantee that Theia would accept them. It seemed an almost insurmountable task, even for diligent Ruth.

“To think this is how I looked when I came here... No wonder Koutarou always fussed at me.”

“There was no way around it, I’m sure. Her Majesty was always busy and you never trusted anyone...”

“You were the only thing that kept me sane.”

“You’re too kind, Your Highness...”

Ruth was an only child herself, so she’d always been desperate to protect her childhood friend like a sister. That was how the two girls had come to bond the way they did.

“And eventually, it came time for my trial... but didn’t you think it would be too much for me?”

“No, I thought you would be able to complete it just fine.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Your assignment was to conquer a random location out in space, meaning there was very likely to be nothing there at all. I believed the trial was just for show.”

“It sure didn’t turn out that way.”

“That was a surprise, wasn’t it? To think that our destination wasn’t just a planet, but one populated by aliens who look just like us.”

“It turned out Mother had tampered with the system to send us to Koutarou, but that was utterly beyond my comprehension at the time.”

“To be honest... I was certain that the trial would be difficult the moment I realized there was life at the designated coordinates.”

“Haha, I still think so even now—but I thought it would all be easy back then, and that’s where the problems started. Without you at my side, I would’ve failed my trial that first night.”

Theia’s trial was to establish dominion over a randomly generated set of coordinates. If there was anyone living there, she was to have them swear fealty. And, as proud as she was back then, Theia looked down on people—especially backwater Earthlings. Theia now understood no one would ever accept a princess like that as their liege, but at the time, she had thought it was a mere matter of demonstrating her power. That was how Ruth had known the trial would be hard for her.

“And so the two of us—a naive princess and her wise knight—descended to the planet.”

“Wise or not, I never dreamed things would turn out like this, Your Highness.”

“Hahahaha, but of course! Who could have expected this? I bet not even Kiriha could have predicted it!”

That was the beginning of Theia and Ruth’s long, long journey. There were trials and tribulations leading up to it that they were oblivious to—they simply came to room 106 as fate had ordained.

In Forthorthe, young members of the royal families were each given a trial. Once said trial was completed, their right to the throne would be acknowledged. In that sense, it was essentially a coming of age ceremony. As for Theia, her trial involved heading to Earth, so Ruth was assigned to be her guard. Theia was hoping to make the trip as short and sweet as possible, however...

“Since Mother was fighting alone in Forthorthe, I was desperate to clear the trial and return home quickly.”

“I remember.”

“Then again... if I’d returned back then, I only would have gotten in her way.”

“That’s not—”

“It is. I should know. With how narrow-minded I was then, I would have fallen for the pettiest of provocations and caused more problems for my mother,” Theia said with a bitter smile as she pulled up a video from two years ago.

The footage showed her laughing as she whipped out an antimatter cannon meant to obliterate Koutarou and the others. And since that was how she’d treated the people she was meant to be winning over, it was easy to imagine how she would have treated a real enemy.

“Yet you relented in the end, Your Highness.”

“Only because you stopped me. I didn’t back down on my own.”

There, Theia switched to footage of Ruth stopping her. Ruth was rarely so outspoken, but she’d felt her hand was forced. If she hadn’t intervened, not only would Theia have failed her trial... all of Earth would have been doomed. That was why she’d been willing to stop her, no matter the cost—and it was thanks to Ruth’s desperation that Theia had agreed to lay down arms. Indeed, Ruth had ultimately kept the peace.

“But it’s not like I was completely convinced,” Theia sighed, advancing the footage. Once she’d put her cannon away, she’d sulked as Ruth explained the situation to Koutarou and the others. “I was the one who should’ve explained myself...”

It was her trial, after all. She was the one sent to conquer room 106 and make Koutarou her vassal. There wasn’t even anything particularly technical about the situation that fell on Ruth to explain—yet she’d taken the job nevertheless, and all the while Theia did nothing more than stand in the background fuming. There was nothing majestic about her, yet she was incapable of seeing that at the time. Looking back at it two years later, however, she thought it was so pathetic that she wanted to cry.

“And this is what came of it... Shizuka, someone I looked down on as a backwater Earthling, trounced me good. Served me right,” said Theia, now advancing the footage to when Shizuka had barged into the apartment.

As the landlord of Corona House, Shizuka had been furious with Theia and the others who simply refused to get along. She ended up putting a stop to the ruckus herself with her karate and the power of a dragon sleeping inside her. Yet even though she’d been humiliated by Shizuka, Theia was happy with how the situation had turned out. If possible, she’d love to go back in time and follow Shizuka’s example.

“The more I see, the more I feel that Mother was right to send me to Koutarou. If not for him, I would’ve been dancing in Vandarion’s palm.”

On paper, Elfaria had sent Theia to complete her trial, but in reality, she’d sent her to meet Koutarou. The empress had considered it a good way to protect her daughter while simultaneously challenging her. If she’d told Theia as much back then, she would have objected fiercely, but now she understood her mother’s wisdom.

“It was after this defeat that you began to change, Your Highness.”

“It was the first I’d ever met someone I couldn’t beat in a fight... I realized I was lacking something, and it was only thus backed into a corner that I started to grow. How immature.”

If Theia had tried to fight Shizuka with violence alone, Shizuka easily would have won. It forced her to realize she needed another way to secure her victory—one that everyone would recognize. That came to be their daily gaming sessions, through which they all competed to earn ownership of room 106, and it was gaming together with everyone that Theia had opened up to everyone and vice versa.

“As a result, you matured and came to care for other people. I enjoyed being able to watch you grow every day, Your Highness.”

“When was it?”

“When was what?”

Ruth cocked her head, unsure of what Theia meant. It wasn’t how one would normally ask a question of a princess, but Ruth sometimes treated her like a dear childhood friend above all else. The familiarity brought a smile to Theia’s face.

“When did you start thinking that I’d successfully be able to complete my trial after all?” she asked.

“That summer, I believe,” Ruth replied. “By the time Sanae-sama was captured by the ghost hunters, I was sure of it.”

Back then, Theia had decided to save Sanae of her own accord even though she had no obligation to do so. Losing Sanae would have meant one less rival for room 106, even. Yet Theia had chosen to help her in her time of need, which was her first big step toward becoming a proper ruler.

“Then when did you first start to think I might be able to do it?” Theia asked again.

“Around the time when the dynamic between you and the others began to change. After the obstacle marathon,” Ruth replied.

Indeed, Theia had already begun to change that spring. She was locked with rivals in a fight with no regard for status. Their first major showdown had been the obstacle marathon, through which Theia got a little closer with everyone. Keen Ruth had picked up on that.

“It was the first time in your life you found yourself on equal footing with the people around you,” she said. “People you might even call friends.”

Though it was only through games, Theia had learned how to put herself in someone else’s shoes. That was ultimately why she’d chosen to go save Sanae. Really, it was the first time she’d felt a sense of camaraderie with anyone other than Ruth.

“Indeed... they’re probably the first friends I ever made after you, Ruth.”

“It was wonderful.”

“But isn’t the same true for you?”

“Maybe so, Your Highness... Because of my own inexperience, I always regarded other Forthorthians with suspicion as well.”

Ruth’s situation back home wasn’t too dissimilar from Theia’s. She might have been able to make friends on her own, but as the princess’s retainer, she was forced to be wary of people. Coming to Earth and meeting people who had no stake in Forthorthian politics was her chance to make friends too.

“Thinking back on it, it was only after coming to Earth that you started asserting yourself too,” remarked Theia.

From her point of view, sociability wasn’t the only thing that had changed about Ruth. She’d also learned to speak her mind since coming to Earth. Back home, she’d only ever quietly watched over Theia from the shadows.

“Really? I had no idea...” Ruth, herself unaware of the change, looked at Theia in awe. She felt like she wasn’t any different.

“It’s only natural. You need to speak up with your friends, after all.”

“Yes... I suppose you’re quite right.” Organizing and coordinating a large group of people required input from everyone. So as Ruth made more friends, she’d naturally needed to share her opinion more. Thinking of it that way, she narrowed her eyes and nodded.

“After the boy you love mistakes you for a tree with beetles, anyone would get a little more assertive...” Theia mumbled. She was sure that had produced a change in Ruth too. It only made sense that she wanted to emphasize her charms after being put on the same level as a beetle, after all.

“Excuse me? Did you say something, Your Highness?”

“Oh, um... just that meeting Koutarou really had an effect on us all,” Theia said, strategically paraphrasing without mentioning beetles.

Fortunately, Ruth seemed to believe it. She replied with a smile, “I agree. I think Master was the first person I managed to trust completely.”

“The same goes for me, although I only realized it much later.”

Koutarou was just one of many people Theia would need to make her vassal—but he was special. He had no connection to her and no ties to Forthorthe, meaning he had no investment in getting anything out of their relationship. They opposed each other, shouted at each other, and even fought sometimes. It was the first Theia had ever truly been able to go head to head with someone, which was yet another stepping stone on her journey to maturity.

“When I realized you were growing, Your Highness, I decided to take a chance on Master. Finding someone who wouldn’t hold back with you was like a miracle.”

“And when was that?”

“That summer at the beach—about the same time I realized you’d be victorious in your trial.”

In discussing how they’d grown, the girls inevitably found themselves talking about Koutarou and his influence on them. That would be what the citizens of Forthorthe wanted to hear about most. But in spite of his major role in the development of Theia and Ruth’s story, there was yet more to it.

“Unfortunately, I only saw him as a neanderthal at first. Just some loud savage from an undeveloped world. Little did I know that I was the real brute.”

Theia had intended to force Koutarou to swear his loyalty so she could go home. Her concern for her mother instilled her with impatient urgency, meaning she’d cared nothing for anyone else’s opinions or feelings. She had been perfectly happy to strong-arm Koutarou into what she wanted.

“Now that I think about it, Master was incredibly thorough. He tried to hear everyone out and reach a compromise. And when that failed him, he resolutely stood his ground.”

“Kiriha was so close to reaching an agreement with him that she quickly resorted to a change of plans, if you remember.”

Even though Theia had tried to use force from the start, Koutarou was diplomatic with her. He’d tried his best to accommodate everyone, and when that didn’t work, he’d insisted on neutrality. Being able to balance his views and his pride, Koutarou had come off as more civilized than Theia.

“Even so, there was one thing he just couldn’t believe... and that was magic,” Ruth recalled.

“Who could blame him? It defies common sense, not to mention it was Yurika trying to tell him it was real. You remember what a mess she was back then.”

“You’re saying the messenger means more than the message?”

“That’s right. Take me, for example. The righteousness of your stance is practically irrelevant. In the end, it’s people who move hearts.”

In the beginning, Koutarou had rejected both Theia and Yurika, whereas he’d chosen to enter a ceasefire with Sanae and hash things out with Kiriha. Theia believed the deciding factor was a difference of character. Both Theia and Yurika had had good reasons for asking for room 106, but Theia had resorted to violence and Yurika’s negative attitude had worked against her. Neither girl exactly inspired trust, which was why Theia looked back on the two of them as the real neanderthals of the situation.

“I was lucky to have you with me, Ruth. We were able to avoid the worst case scenario.”

“That’s not—”

“It is the truth. There were several times that Koutarou was only willing to compromise with me because of you. We can laugh about it now, but you were trustworthy—unlike me. Who knows what would have happened without you?”

Ruth was normally quiet, but she always stepped in to pull Theia back whenever she was about to make a mistake. She was, without a doubt, the reason Theia and Koutarou’s relationship hadn’t gone up in flames. Theia knew she had a lot to be thankful for.

“What made you trust Koutarou, Ruth?”

“Like I said before, he was thorough. To put it differently... he’s earnest in his own clumsy way. Regardless of the trial, I believed he would make a fantastic ally.”

“So it was love at first sight, huh?”

“Y-Your Highness!”

“No? For someone as fastidious as you to rely on a feeling that someone would make a good ally... That kind of profound trust only comes from love, even if you didn’t realize as much until later.”

“Y-Your Highness...” Ruth faltered there before blushing and admitting, “Then... yes.”

At this point, both Theia and Ruth were aware of their and each other’s feelings. Still, Ruth found it embarrassing to say it so plainly. Especially like this.

“I believed he would stand alongside me to protect you. And I hoped he would become your Blue Knight...”

“I’m just surprised you came to trust him so quickly.”

“You might not realize it, Your Highness, but there aren’t many people who could push you the way he did. You also might not realize how valuable it is to have someone treat you like a normal person...”

“So I was just a convenient gateway to your ideal man.”

“Hardly, Your Highness! All I wanted was for someone to protect you, both physically and emotionally!”

“Jeez, hearing you say that makes me realize how high your bar is. Like no one but the Blue Knight would do.”

“I didn’t mean...”

“Right now might be a different story, but I think it would’ve been difficult for any modern knight to protect me emotionally back then.”

Over the past two thousand years, Forthorthian chivalry had evolved. Knights true to the ways of old—the kind Ruth dreamed of—were hard to come by. That was part of the reason the citizens were happy to see the return of the Blue Knight, who embodied the original ideals of knighthood. People’s expectations of knights had waned over the long years, but the dream was suddenly alive again. That went for Ruth too. She wanted an old-fashioned knight for her princess, but one who would also be able to see and treat her like a normal girl. Theia couldn’t imagine that many, if any, men like that existed in Forthorthe.

“Goodness...”

When Theia spelled it all out for her like that, Ruth finally realized the immenseness of what she was asking. She’d just admitted herself that there weren’t many people who could do it. Demanding it from a potential romantic partner was indeed a high bar.

“Except a man matching that description exactly just so happened to appear right in front of us during my trial. Who could blame you for not noticing?”

“I am so embarrassed, Your Highness...”

Ruth had, after all, met her dream man during Theia’s trial. It was a miraculous encounter that set gears in motion and she couldn’t help falling in love, like it was fated to happen.

“What about Your Highness then? When did you become aware of your feelings for Master?” she asked, urging the conversation onward—partially because she knew they were short on time, and partially because she couldn’t bear to keep talking about herself.

“During the play,” Theia stated boldly without a hint of embarrassment. She couldn’t have said as much to the boy in question, but she had nothing to hide from Ruth.

“How exactly, if I may ask?”

“Hmm... it must have started with the casting.” Theia had realized her feelings during the play, but it took place in several steps. “Choosing Harumi as the heroine was for the best. After all, she is Princess Alaia. But when practice began, I had to wonder why I wasn’t up there beside him.”

Theia had written a play based on the legend of the Silver Princess and the Blue Knight, and she was initially unsure who to cast as Alaia. It was such a nuanced role that she couldn’t make the decision lightly—otherwise, she simply would have picked herself. In the end, the production moved forward with Harumi as the star, but Theia found herself thinking she should have been the one with the Blue Knight. Those feelings had surprised her.

“You must have known deep down that you wanted to be with Master.”

“I guess so, but my case was almost the opposite of yours. I wasn’t looking for the Blue Knight. I just wanted my own knight to see me for myself.”

Theia hadn’t been concerned that Koutarou was the Blue Knight in the play—but it had bothered her that he wasn’t looking at her. That was her first step toward realizing her feelings, even if she wouldn’t understand that for some time afterward.

“It’s not like I specifically needed the Blue Knight either...”

“Despite your strict requirements? I guess you just got lucky that the Blue Knight himself happened to fall into your lap.”

“Ugh... B-But I still fell in love with Master for who he was, not because he was the Blue Knight.”

“Hahaha, I believe you. Don’t worry.”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness...”

By the time practice for the play began, Ruth had already put her trust in Koutarou. She’d fallen in love. She even dreamed of him being the reincarnation of the Blue Knight. Theia knew that well, and she was amused to see Ruth so flustered over it.

“I suppose the next step was the night before the cultural festival. He had the gall to ask me to teach him how to dance.”

“Yes... I remember that. You looked so happy dancing together.”

“You saw that?!”

“I did. I found the two of you dancing in the gymnasium, but I thought it would be best not to interrupt... though someone else came to interrupt in the end.”

Ruth remembered the sight of the two dancing even now. Koutarou was a complete amateur, but his movements had looked fine from afar. More importantly, Theia looked happy. She was defenseless, free, and shining brightly.

“I thought that was our little secret...” Theia grumbled.

“That was the moment for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was the moment I became convinced that Master was the person I’d been waiting for.”

Ruth had never seen Theia look at anyone the way she’d looked at Koutarou that night. That was what convinced her that the princess needed him.

“It wasn’t during the engagement incident?” Theia asked.

“Th-That was when I realized that I wanted Master to love me back... My own feelings blossomed much sooner.”

“Hahaha, sounds complicated.”

Ruth’s dream was for Koutarou and Theia to be together, so she’d thought she was fine with unrequited love at first. Her engagement to Elexis, however, had changed her mind. She no longer wanted her love to be one-sided.

“I realized it for myself when he detonated Clan’s bomb and disappeared for a while,” Theia explained.

“You mean...”

“I felt like my soul had been ripped apart, and that’s what made me realize how important Koutarou was to me...”

“I felt the same way. It was like the ground had fallen out from beneath my feet...”

“I’m sure it was an awakening for all of us. And with our deep attachment to the play, it affected us particularly profoundly.”

“Yes... perhaps that was the beginning of everything.”

“I think so.”

Theia and Ruth each loved Koutarou for their own reasons, but they’d both fallen for him without being any the wiser to his identity as the real Blue Knight. They’d simply believed he was a normal boy, and they’d wished for nothing more than a normal love. But fate smiled on them.

Koutarou, after cleaving Clan’s Super Space-time Repulsion Shell in two, was gone for months in Ancient Forthorthe. Yet to Ruth, Theia, and the other girls, he was only missing for a matter of minutes. They didn’t think it was at all strange when he said he’d worked with Clan to get back, even without the knowledge that they’d been on an adventure of world-shaping proportions.

“I first felt something was off because Koutarou and Clan were getting along so well,” said Theia.

“They were fighting just moments before by our watches, after all,” remarked Ruth.

“It wasn’t just that... He was treating Clan like he would me, which got my attention and made me think that something was up.”

“I can only imagine how sensitive you would’ve been to that, given you’d just realized your own feelings... but even I felt they’d gotten strangely close.”

Those misgivings had tipped Theia and Ruth off, even though Koutarou kept the truth a secret. Something had happened between him and Clan—something more than just the two of them temporarily being sent to another world. Theia had detected that almost right away. If that was all, she was convinced Clan would have remained hostile upon their return.

“For me,” said Ruth, “there was also the condition Master’s maneuver suit came back in.”

“I remember you mentioning that.”

“It was badly damaged, showing signs of extensive battles. It even had scorch marks on it.”

Koutarou’s armor had sustained severe damage over his time in past Forthorthe, and not just surface damage like dents and scratches. There was serious wear and tear on the moving parts, including the motors and bearings. Based on that evidence, Ruth concluded that Koutarou had been fighting something at least as strong as a mobile weapon over a prolonged period of time.

“But what really gave it away was the priority list in the automatic translator,” she continued.

“What do you mean?” asked Theia.

“Ancient Forthorthian had replaced Modern Forthorthian.”

“I see... If he’d been alone with Clan, it should have been set to Modern Forthorthian. And if they were in some unknown world, it should have been set to learning a new language. What other reason would there be for Koutarou to prioritize Ancient Forthorthian?”

“That was why I suspected he and Clan-sama traveled to Forthorthe of the past, and that there wasn’t much he could say because of it.”

Ruth had managed to figure out for herself that Koutarou and Clan traveled to the past. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that they’d met the Silver Princess, but her deductions were nonetheless impressive.

“Even so, that’s all circumstantial,” pointed out Theia. “You would have needed something more definitive to confront Clan.”

“That’s right. She evaded my questions when I went to see her, but she received me warmly and sent me home safely. That only further increased my suspicions at the time.”

“I can see why. That isn’t how you normally treat a mortal enemy. So she had a reason for dialing back the hostilities...”

“In hindsight, it was because Clan-sama already knew Master’s identity and didn’t want to make an enemy of him by fighting us.”

“Not even she could turn her guns against the legendary Blue Knight. Politically speaking, he’s a stronger card than the empress. It would have been to her advantage to keep him to herself. I’m also sure she was interested in Signaltin as research material...”

Now that Theia and Ruth knew the truth, it was obvious that what Koutarou and Clan were hiding at the time was the truth about the Blue Knight. To get to that truth, however, normal intelligence gathering methods hadn’t cut it. The girls needed to take a leap of faith.

“Oddly enough, the final piece of the puzzle only fell into place in the heat of trouble...”

“You mean when things went sour with Elexis?”

“Yes. You were in danger, and when Master realized that calling for reinforcements wasn’t an option, he made his decision. He summoned the sacred sword he’d left with Clan-sama.”

Ruth still remembered it as though it had just happened yesterday. Koutarou had called forth a graceful silver sword from the Cradle. One glance at its craftsmanship and jeweled decoration made it clear that it was no replica—but the most telling sign of all was the snowy crest engraved upon the blade. It was unmistakably Alaia’s, and only one sword in history was known to bear it.

“Signaltin, huh?”

“Yes. And he wasn’t about to let us die to protect the secret of its existence... It was so very like him.”

Ruth brought up the footage from that day. It was taken from Koutarou’s perspective, but it was otherwise exactly as she recalled it. A hole opened in space-time, from which Koutarou retrieved the brilliant blade and pointed it at the enemy. He looked just like a knight from a storybook, and in short order, all his enemies had fallen.

“That was the ideal outcome for you, wasn’t it, Ruth? The man you love turned out to be the Blue Knight.”

“Yes. To be honest, I thought my heart was going to burst with joy at the time...”

Even now, Ruth teared up remembering it. She’d felt justified in her love. Not only was Koutarou really and truly a model knight, he was the Blue Knight himself—meaning he could marry Theia, even if he was an alien. Ruth had felt like a distant dream was suddenly becoming real, like the universe was giving its blessing.

“I didn’t see it that way... Koutarou being the Blue Knight meant that he was Empress Alaia’s knight, and that was no cause for celebration for me.”

Theia had felt the opposite of Ruth. She was aggrieved to learn Koutarou’s true identity because she thought that it meant he’d already sworn himself to Alaia. The Blue Knight was Alaia’s knight, after all. All of Forthorthe knew that.

“But in the end, Master returned to us.”

“I know! I know that now! But it was so hard for me to believe that he’d even gone back in the past in the first place that I was fixated on it! I was stupid, I know! So go ahead and laugh if you want!”

The holographic footage playing now showed Theia in tears. She’d truly believed that Koutarou had chosen Alaia.

“You’re not stupid in the slightest, Your Highness. That’s just how much you love him.”

“W-Well, as long as you understand!”

Theia normally didn’t mind Ruth knowing anything about her, but she was particularly embarrassed about this. She’d wasted so much time running herself in circles, to a spectacular degree even. She looked back on it as a disgrace, so she was actually quite thankful that Ruth didn’t laugh at her.

“Shall we share this part with the public, Your Highness?”

“Of course not!”

“I think it’s wonderful footage though.”

“Only you would! How could I show the people that I didn’t believe in my own promise to the Blue Knight?! Delete it! Delete it, I say!”

“What a waste...”

“It’s anything but!”

Ruth marked the footage as private, but after reconsidering, she earmarked it for later review. A few days later, it would be made public. Theia was just so cute that Ruth felt it her responsibility to share it with the people—in the interest of full disclosure, of course.

Most of what transpired after Theia and Ruth learned Koutarou’s identity had already been made public thanks to what had come to light during Vandarion’s failed coup. Thanks to that, the girls decided to pause their data review for the time being and get back to what they were originally scheduled to do that day—that is, pick out dresses. They needed to choose their outfits for the end-of-war memorial ceremony and the following celebration in a few days’ time.

“How about this one, Ruth? Does it suit me?”

“It looks splendid, Your Highness!”

“And if you cut your loyalty by 20 percent?”

“Purple does suit you, but I prefer the red one from before.”

“Hmm...”

“Master will be wearing blue, so I think it would stand out more.”

“Then let’s go with red, but prepare a purple version in case it clashes with the other princesses’ dresses.”

“A fine decision. What about the design, Your Highness?”

“That’s the thing...”

With Forthorthe’s advanced technology, Theia could preview all of the possible design and color combinations at once. She could even try them on holographically. The problem was that the plethora of available options made it difficult to choose.

“This one is a little too plain, but this one is too revealing... Oh?” As Theia was flipping through the pages of designs, she suddenly stopped and changed the designated color.

“Your Highness?” Ruth asked. Theia was browsing on her private terminal, but Ruth’s curiosity got the better of her. She brought up what Theia was looking at with the large projector in the center of the room, and...

“Ah?!”

“My, this is a fantastic design,” she said with a smile.

The projector had put Theia in a pure white wedding dress. Her golden hair shone brilliantly against the alabaster fabric and platinum crown, yet the long skirt gave a certain ease to the entire ensemble. It was undoubtedly the work of a famous designer.

“Would you like to wear this one, Your Highness?”

“I-I can’t wear something like this to the memorial ceremony!”

Theia hurriedly aborted the hologram and went back to choosing dresses. The way she flipped through the pages was different from before, however. Her usual aggressiveness had softened. There was almost something gentle about her. It seemed thoughts of a wedding dress had brought out her girly side.

“You could wear it as entertainment for the party,” Ruth suggested.

“No, thank you,” Theia replied shortly.

“Why not?”

“Because it’ll lessen the impact of the real thing.”

“My, I suppose I can’t argue with that. Hahaha...”

Ruth understood that when Theia said “the real thing,” she meant her own wedding. When she got married, she wanted her husband to remember the dress she wore at their ceremony. That was why she refused to put one on now for the sake of entertainment, and so Ruth readily relented.

“Anyway, you should hurry up and choose a dress too, Ruth!”

“Me?” Ruth asked, surprised. She didn’t see the need for her to dress up for the occasion.

“Of course! You don’t have the leisure of only being concerned about what I’m wearing!”

“But as a knight, Your Highness, shouldn’t I attend the ceremony in uniform?”

Ruth was Theia’s personal guard and the vice captain of the Satomi knights. She’d always played a supporting role, both as a retainer and a vassal, so she thought it was only appropriate that she attend the ceremony on duty.

“Do you plan to shame our future husband?” Theia asked pointedly.

“What?!”

“Do you intend to let the man you love spend the entire day with a straitlaced knight in uniform?”

At this, Ruth fell silent. Theia was suggesting that, instead of as an on-duty knight, she attend the ceremony as a woman—and that struck a chord with her. After touching the crest on her forehead, she looked straight at Theia and declared, “Your Highness! Please teach me how to choose a nice dress! I need to look as lovely as I can!”

“Well said! That’s more like it!”

Her eyes were now shining with determination that stemmed from her deep love and sense of responsibility. She’d found a reason to dress up after all—she wanted her beloved to enjoy it.

“That said, I am still the vice captain of the Satomi knights. I must avoid anything unduly ostentatious.”

“Leave it to me! I’ve already spoken with the designers!”

After that, the two girls happily discussed dresses together. The memorial ceremony and following party were right around the corner. They were eagerly looking forward to their chance to celebrate Forthorthe’s newfound peace and honor the hero who’d helped achieve it all. In fact, after reviewing their journey leading up to this day, it was fair to say they were more excited for it than anyone.

“Th-This dress would expose too much of my chest!”

“That’s fine. Koutarou is the only one who’d have a chance to get an eyeful.”

“Master will think I’m some pervert!”

Soon after, however, Koutarou left behind a short letter and returned to Earth. He was oblivious to the girls’ circumstances, but he thought it would be best to remove himself from Forthorthe as soon as possible. The girls, of course, would never forgive him for this. They would use any means, no matter how dirty, to bring him back to Forthorthe. And if they succeeded, they agreed to show off the dresses they’d picked out this day.