CH 13

“Why …… didn’t you avoid it?”

Sophia-chan said while shaking her body. I let out a sigh of sorrow at the sound of her sad voice and hugged her tighter. Then Sophia-chan let go of the sword she was holding.

“I thought we couldn’t make peace unless I took all of her anger and resentment. ……”

“……”

“Is that enough to make you feel better?”

“Eric,…… I’m …… you, what,…….”

At that moment, I feel a sharp pain.

“Hm!”

The blood dripped onto the floor without stopping, staining Sophia’s dress red.

“Eric sama!!!!”

As I contorted my face in pain, Sera-chan ran over to me. And then Safina also came running with a serious expression on her face.

My mind was getting fuzzier and fuzzier.

“Eric……”

“Sophia-chan……n!”

“Eric! …… this is all my fault……I just got so personal, so stubborn, so emotional……Safina!”

“Y-yes! Lady Sophia!”

“Immediately, go and get me my personal physician! I avoided the vital spot, but there’s too much blood …… ASAP, please!”

“Yes! All right!”

Hnn……… face is getting whiter and whiter, and a moderate feeling of depression is running through my body. Is this due to the heat emanating from Sophia-chan’s body, or is it the pleasure that announces my death? Either way, what is certain is that I will surely pass out if this continues.

The strength in my arms that were holding Sophia weakened, and I began to buckle, almost falling straight down. But thanks to Sophia’s gentle support, I was not shocked, and this time I was carried by Sophia.

“…… my vision blurred and ……”

“Eric,…… I will never let you die. If you die, I swear to Gaia, the earth god who rules the Orient, that I will choose death too.”

“Sophia-chan……”

“Eric……”

“Lady Sophia! For now, we must stop Eric-sama’s blood! Let’s give him first aid with a cloth while Safina-san brings the doctor!”

“Y-yeah! You can use the dress I’m wearing right now!”

As I listened to this exchange, my consciousness faded away,

I fainted.

I don’t know how long it’s been – a minute? A day or a hundred million years? It is pointless to ask such questions. But one thing I can say is that I can see the blank space that was spread out when I met my death in Japan.

“Seiji-kun ……”

Seiji. Yamaoka Seiji. My real name. Unfortunately, I cannot physically confirm the presence of a familiar female voice calling my name. I don’t even know if it is real.

“Seiji-kun ……”

“N……Yes.”

I answer the existence, having awakened from a deep sleep.

“After all, it was the right decision to reincarnate you in the Orient continent.”

“Um, ……?”

“Yes?”

“Who are you?”

“Well, I haven’t told you about my existence yet, have I?”

“Yes”

Strangely enough, even though we had barely spoken to each other, her voice put my mind at ease.

“I am a piece of truth.”

“A piece of truth?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t understand you at all. ……”

“Fufu! Of course you don’t!”

“Do you have any additional information you’d like to share with me?”

“I’m afraid I can’t.”

“Why is that, ……?”

“Because if you knew everything, Seiji, your very existence would be forever tainted, and you would be thrown into Gehenna.”

“Gehenna?”

“Hell.”

“S-scary. ……”

I thought this place was for dead people.

“Then why am I here?”

“I called you here to help Seiji-kun.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“I’m so glad! I was depressed because we haven’t made up yet, but …… I’m really glad!”

“Seiji-kun, I’m going to ask you to be very active from now on!”

“I’ll do my best!”

“Yeah! I want you to marry those three beautiful princesses and live a peaceful and happy life.”

“Marriage. ……”

“You’re so cute and innocent with your reaction. Why are you so shy?”

“That’s because …… polygamy is not allowed in Japan.”

“Don’t worry. It’s okay. They are monogamous there. Other men might not be able to do it, but with your kindness, Seiji, I am sure you will be able to satisfy those beautiful girls.”

“I am not such a big man.”

“After all, I was right in choosing you.”

“……”

“I am supporting Seiji-kun. Seiji-kun has been threatened with assassination about 15 times, but I protected him.”

“What!? Fifteen times?”

“So don’t worry and play an active role. Then I will see you again!”

“What? A piece of reason san! Hmm!”

My blank consciousness quickly became as dark as the night sky, and I felt a pain in my side.

As if to confirm it, I rubbed my side with my hand and opened my eyelids. Then the chirping of a sparrow, signaling morning, tickled my ears. Then I felt a strange weight on my lower body.

“Nn…….”

Blue hair, well-defined eyes, and two lumps there. the Orient, Sophia, who is revered as one of the three most beautiful women on the continent of the Orient, is sitting on a chair, and is sleeping peacefully on the bed, using my thighs as pillows.

I gently stroked her head.

Her scent, different from Sera-chan’s, stimulated my nose.

I don’t know how much time has passed. But apart from the pain in my side, I feel no physical discomfort. So I get off the bed and cover Sophia with a blanket. Then I left the room.

“What? Eric-sama!?”

“Sera chan! You look good.”

“……Eric sama …… Eric sama …… Eric sama !!!!”

Sera-chan jumped into me, unaware that the basket containing the bandages had fallen.

And I gently stroked her head.

She smelled good, though she was different from Sophia-chan.

According to Sera-chan, I had been unconscious for five whole days. And Sophia-chan was always there to take care of me when her patrol duties were over. Normally, I would have had a servant take care of me, but Sophia-chan, in spite of her position as the next queen, took the responsibility of taking care of me.

Thinking about that makes her even more adorable, and I can’t stop smiling.

After a short fuss with Sera-chan, I went back to my room.

I opened the door, and there she was standing in front of me,

She was standing right in front of me.

“……”

“Sophia-chan.”

“Eric.”

Sophia-chan suddenly lowered her eyes when she saw my face. I put my hand on top of her head and gently patted her again.

“How are you?”

“….Worry about yourself ……”

“I’m fine. I would rather see your face.”

“……”

“Look up.”

I stopped stroking and touched Sophia’s chin. Then, Sophia raised her face and showed me her beautiful face.

Her cheeks were tinted red and her eyes were moist. She was averting her eyes from me, but I wondered why I found even that attractive.

But she seems to be a little tired.

“Thank you for taking care of me until now. I’m fine now, so get some rest.”

“……”

Sophia-chan doesn’t answer anything. Instead, she suddenly moved away from me, and with one swift movement, she slipped out of my room. Then she turns around and says

“Eric is still not completely healed. So I’m going to have him treated with the most advanced medical technology in the Kingdom of Halkeginia. So, rest well for a while.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.”

“And …….”

“Hmm?”

“Nn…… nothing. Eric just woke up. ……”

After she said those words, Sophia left.

After today, I could not see her anymore. Well, Sophia is both a princess and a knight commander, so she must have a lot of work on her plate.

One strange thing was that Safina, the royal maid here, had a frightened look on her face every time she saw me. She probably knows who I am to some extent, since she calls me Master Eric. But to think that Safina-san, who was so kind to me, would have a look of despair on her face like a soldier heading for a battlefield where the odds of winning are zero. ……

Safina-san acts as if she were a different person. It didn’t take me long to find out why her attitude had changed.

Two weeks later

I continued to receive treatment and the incident happened when I was no longer in pain.

After finishing dinner and taking a nice shower in the public bath, Safina suddenly called me and Sera-chan to the dojo where we had a sword fight the other day.

I and Sera could not help but be surprised.

Sophia-chan’s hands were bound by ropes, and in front of her was a sword covered in my blood that had hardened.

Kneeling beside her are the king and queen of Halkeginia, who are her parents, and a man who appears to be the head of the SS.

The king, noticing my presence, opens his mouth.

“We have been waiting for you, His Royal Highness Eric, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Ilas.”

The king, looking sad. The queen was sad.

I found myself with goosebumps all over my body.