Alan Welford's eyes were focused only at one being. A girl. Her hair was white as platinum, eyes red as blood yet dazzling, her skin as white as snow, and beauty that one could never dream of ever laying their eyes on. Yet, that was not all there was to her.
The princess was already leaving after the mock battles of the knights. And yet, Alan felt like his heart was leaping forward, wanting to follow after her. But that was a ridiculous endeavor to do. At first, he was only captivated at the first time he ever saw her.
However, now, why was it that his heart was pounding every time he lay his eyes on her? Even her presence alone would make his heart jump. Alan had realized what this feeling was, perhaps this was love.
Which was strange since he just recently met her. But, such things do happen.
The princess was pure and kind. She might as well be the purest of all the people Alan had ever known. She was even kind enough to help him even though he only had a small wound on his hand.
But when he looked at her eyes at that moment, he saw true concern in her eyes. Which made his heart warm only by remembering it. How wonderful it was to receive the concern of such a beautiful person. Her compassion was something to be valued, and if ever received, one must treasure it for the rest of their life.
"Uwah, the princess is gone…"
Alan heard the disappointed voice of one of his fellow knights. He held a spear in his hand. He approached Alan and smacked his back.
"... Rogan, stop that," Alan said to him.
"What? Am I interrupting your "mesmerization"?" Rogan chuckled as he slapped his back a few more times again.
Truth be told, it hurt quite a bit.
Alan frowned as he responded to Rogan who had his carefree smile as always.
"What are you talking about?"
"Come now, I'm also a man you know. I know that kind of look anywhere."
Rogan pointed a finger at his face. Alan couldn't deny it. He stepped back, removing Rogan's hand from him.
"Stop it before anyone gets the wrong idea."
Rogan had an amused smile as he heard that.
"Oh? You afraid someone else might find out."
Rogan placed his hand on Alan's shoulder before whispering.
"Fine, a secret among men. So how was it?"
"... How was what?" Alan had no idea what he was referring to.
"You know, it's rare for us to see the princess, no less touching her. So how was her hand?"
"W-What?"
Rogan ignored his confusion then continued.
"Was it soft? Was it smooth? Come on, let's spark the wonders of youth here, you follow me?"
"... Yes, it was soft, and smooth."
It was indeed. It was incredibly pleasant to the touch. Alan somewhat wished he could hold them a little while longer. But, he shouldn't talk about something like this to the princess.
"Let's not talk about the princess when it involves such a thing as this."
"What…?" He sounded disappointed. "And you had just responded. But whatever, it is kinda blasphemous."
Rogan chuckled as he stepped away.
"But isn't it wonderful?! To be helped by the princess herself!"
Alan furrowed his brows as he realized that Rogan was still teasing him. As he was about to respond, another voice intervened.
"That's right, and he even had the audacity to refuse the help asked by her highness."
A woman joined them. She was the female knight who healed Alan earlier.
"Ayana…" Alan called her out. "I…. well, it was just a small wound."
Ayana merely scoffed.
"Didn't you see how worried she looked? There's no way I could just ignore her request when we can just heal you on the spot."
".... Yes, my bad…"
"Aren't you the lucky one to be noticed by her highness. I'm sure Rogan over there is jealous."
Ayana said with a wince as she pointed at the spearman.
"Of course, what man wouldn't?"
"I expected so."
Alan smiled as he watched the two. But then, a knight suddenly joined them. His voice was stern and with a mocking tone.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Alan."
Alan froze when he heard his brother's voice.
"Brother…"
"Don't think highly of yourself that the princess noticed you. You are still weak, our father couldn't be more disappointed when he hears you barely improved."
Alan averted his eyes away and bit his lip. He was always compared to his big brother who was one of the strongest within the knight order. Perhaps because he was the strongest that Alan was always compared to him. And their father had some high expectations for Alan to follow in his brother's footsteps. It was not pleasant at all to be compared, and always being called weak.
Would he be able to catch up to his brother? Such questions would often pop up into his mind.
"You should stop it, Alzen."
Another voice joined it. Alan turned his eyes towards that person with hope. It was the princess's brother, Estevan. He must have joined them because he was done tidying things up.
"Stop demotivating those who had the chance to improve."
"Hmph. Whatever you say, your highness. If you'll excuse me."
It was rude to act that way to a royalty, however, Estevan let it pass and watched Alzen walk away.
"Ain't that guy cocky," Rogan said with a grin on his face. He didn't seem to be afraid of giving that remark.
"Men always act that way when they have power."
Estevan smiled when he heard that statement from Ayana.
"But I'm not like that at all, Ayana."
"... It would appear so, your highness."
Estevan nodded with satisfaction before turning to face Alan.
"Alan, don't let his words get into your head. Keep training, and you will undoubtedly improve."
"Y-Yes."
"Don't worry," Rogan wrapped his arm to Alan's shoulders tightly. "He got the princess as motivation, that would suffice."
"Huh? My sister…? What do you mean by that? Rogan?"
A shiver ran down Alan's spine as Estevan said those words. He had his usual smile, however, what he sensed from him was completely different from warm.
"Ah — Eh — well you see…" Rogan also seemed to be having difficulty finding the proper words to say.
And the one to save him was Ayana.
"Anyway, your highness. It's rare to see the princess go out of the palace then to here. No, it would be more accurate to say it is more than rare."
"Hm? Oh yes, indeed, it is as you say. But this is the second time she visited us."
"I heard, and unfortunately we weren't here."
"To be honest, ever since the incident, there had been slight changes to her. But I guess something might have crossed her mind after that terrible thing happened."
"But it sure is nice to have the princess visit us often. Keeps you going you know," Rogan said.
"Indeed, and it was of great pleasure that her highness watched the knight's mock battles," Ayana added.
Rogan nodded then he raised his spear a little.
"And I even gave my all seeing that the princess was watching. Hell, even that dual wielding maniac didn't even hold back!"
Alan did notice that the battle between the two was oddly intense considering it was only a mock battle. However, it would seem that the knights wanted to show off to the princess. Alan felt bitter that he only looked pathetic in front of her.
"Indeed. It would appear that with the appearance of my dear sister, it boosted the troop's morale. As expected of my sister!"
"The knight order has fallen for her~! The pure princess, so innocent and lovable! An angel so fragile that must be protected at all cost!" Rogan declared loudly and all the knights heard him.
"Indeed, my sister is the best there is! Hahahaha!"
Alan smiled wryly as he watched the two of them. Ayana sighed then quietly spoke to Alan.
"Better keep your distance from those… weirdos."
"He-he-he. Not that I can avoid them."
That being said, the look of the other knights seems to agree with those two's words.
Alan thought about the princess, whose beauty surpasses all, and a person full of compassion. He hoped he would have a chance to speak with her more. Have a proper conversation.
The princess would not easily go out of his mind. He would always recall her. Her smile. Her eyes. Her kindness. Her whole being, Alan would keep thinking about, that was what he expected. But that was fine. It was completely fine.
"Then, Alan, let's go train you hard."
Estevan called out to him. Alan smiled as he nodded. He felt motivated.
"Can I help?"
Ayana pulled Rogan by the arm after his question.
"Yes, you can help clean."
"Wait what?! No, don't wanna."
"You can't resist."
"Dammit, Ayana, this is why you could never get a man!"
The next Alan heard was someone being punched on the face hard.