Chapter 33: Princess's Request, Part 2
The next day, as instructed by Ms. Fiene, I ate breakfast and waited for a while. Soon after, a carriage from the royal castle arrived, so I got on it and headed towards the castle.
Chloe, who was already on board, greeted me with a slightly sleepy face, saying, "Good morning, Jin-kun."
"Good morning, Chloe. Couldn't sleep again?"
"Yeah, I got nervous about going to the castle... You seem unfazed, Jin-kun."
"Well, after dealing with various things, I got tired of thinking and ended up sleeping soundly."
As I said that, Chloe expressed her concern by saying, "Are you really okay, Jin-kun?"
Afterward, Chloe and I were carried in the carriage and arrived at the front of the royal castle.
The gatekeeper seemed to have already been informed, so Chloe and I smoothly entered the premises.
"Lord Jin, Lady Chloe. We have been expecting you."
As we entered the premises, a butler appeared and greeted us. He guided us to where the princess was.
This time, we were brought not to the princess's room from last time, but to a place within the castle grounds that resembled a garden. The princess was elegantly drinking tea in such a place.
After exchanging brief greetings with the princess, the butler left, leaving only the three of us in this place.
"I would like to thank you for your efforts to accommodate me."
Before starting the conversation, I expressed my gratitude to the princess.
"Hehe, I just acted on my own accord. Besides, I don't want someone else to take you away, Jin-san."
"Eep!"
The princess looked at me and Chloe with eyes like those observing prey, causing Chloe to let out a scream.
With a smile on her face in response to Chloe's scream, the princess approached her and leaned in closer.
"Oh, Chloe-san? Are you still not accustomed to me? We had a conversation last time, didn't we?"
"Ah, um... Jin-kun..."
Chloe, being pressed by the princess, had tears in her eyes and sought help from me.
"Princess, please leave her alone. Chloe is still getting used to it and she's a bit sleep-deprived today too."
"Is that so? I apologize for that."
"Ah, um..."
The Princess quickly moved away from Chloe at my words, and Chloe, feeling drained, leaned against the desk.
"Nevertheless, Your Highness, you have been more concerned about Chloe and me than I had anticipated. It's not common for members of the royal family to show such concern for ordinary people like us."
"I find it amusing, that's why I'm concerned. One of you has never left the house since infancy... and the other is the child of a hero from another country."
"Ah!"
Upon hearing the words "child of a hero," Chloe's body tensed.
It seemed that the Princess knew about Chloe's secret from her tone of voice, but I didn't expect her to know that much.
One aspect of Chloe's character setting is that she is the child of a hero.
Since it wasn't detailed in the game, I don't know much about it either.
"Why do you know about my father...? No one in this country should know that my father is a hero..."
"My subordinates are skilled. Don't worry, only they and I know about this. I haven't told the kings either."
Relieved to hear that the kings didn't know, Chloe let out a sigh and looked at me with a startled expression.
"Jin, I'm sorry for not telling you."
"It doesn't matter to me whether Chloe's father is a hero or not. And since Chloe didn't talk much about herself, I didn't pay much attention to it."
I said that to Chloe, who had a look of apology on her face.
"Chloe, may I ask you one thing? Why is the person who was a hero living as a commoner in this country?"
"...I think you probably know a lot already, but we originally came from the Beast Kingdom. As the hero who saved the Beast Kingdom from a crisis, my father was treated there, but he didn't like being treated that way. So he brought my mother and me to an unknown country and abandoned his 'hero' persona to live a normal life."
Even though I didn't know about it in the game, I was inwardly surprised to hear Chloe reveal her father's secret for the first time.