"Are you okay?"
"I... I'm okay. Ahem, I looked ugly because I was so flustered."
Ugly? Where on earth was it? It was actually beautiful to the point of being excessive.
Silver, pure white, pink.
The miracle created by the harmony of those three colors will probably remain in my memory for the rest of my life.
"..."
"..."
And then, silence.
The suffocating silence continued for a long time. It was impossible to have a normal conversation.
'At least that's fortunate.'
Still... the worst was avoided.
The princess must have been so shocked by the fact that she had shown her naked body to a man she didn't know, she stumbled back in surprise and fell on the grass.
I was also very embarrassed when I witnessed the sudden transformation of a spy I had been suspicious of into a beautiful woman with impudent tastes and a princess of the empire in real time.
Princess Alicia, who was known to have not even gotten engaged, let alone married, even though she was twenty.
No matter what the process was, I had already committed a great sin by seeing her naked.
After worrying about what to do, I reached out to help her up, but she closed her eyes tightly, so I thought it was over.
For some reason, instead of calling out the name of the escort knight, the princess stayed still for a long time and started blinking and blushing.
And then, after a while, she grabbed my hand and stood up without saying anything, but there was no progress after that.
'What on earth should I do in this situation?'
I felt suffocated.
I had not had much of a relationship with women up until now.
When I was just starting to grow up. I was dragged to the battlefield by my family's will and was forced to work there for five years before finally being liberated, so it's only natural.
That doesn't mean I'm completely ignorant, but my limited experience was only a brief physical relationship.
For me, the current situation of having to deal with a princess who is not even an ordinary woman is too burdensome.
It's to the point where I feel like it would be better to go back to the battlefield and fight.
At this point, I was seriously contemplating whether I should just say something and force a conversation.
"…Echwi!"
The silence broke in an unexpected direction, and I had to deeply reflect.
'Damn it. You idiot!'
Why have I been worrying about useless things until now while leaving a naked person in front of me? I really must have lost my mind.
I hastily took off the shirt I was wearing and put it on the princess who was shivering from the cold.
I know it was very rude, but isn't it better than catching a cold?
"W-what?"
She seemed a bit flustered by the sudden consideration, but soon she knew what I was going to do and accepted it obediently.
The princess's naked body was covered up to the lower half of her body by a shirt that was too big for her body.
I felt a little regret, but thanks to that, we were able to have a conversation.
I bowed my head deeply toward her and said,
"I sincerely apologize. I couldn't help you properly because of the sudden situation, so please kill me."
Even though she happened to show me her naked body, she is still a member of the royal family.
She's not a mere slacker who can be a reserve knight commander.
Fortunately, the princess, who was known for her kind nature, carefully closed the hem of her shirt and accepted my apology.
"No. You can raise your head." "I am simply touched by your incomprehensible mercy."
"And… please refrain from using honorifics. It makes me uncomfortable to listen to."
"Yes. I understand."
As the conversation began to flow peacefully, I felt a great sense of relief.
If we continued like this, I felt like we could pretend that today's incident never happened.
"You seem to be a noble since you are being polite. What is your name?"
"My name is Wolfgang of the Schwarz family."
I have no intention of interfering with the hobbies of the princess who was walking around naked in the middle of the night wearing only a hood.
I just want to quietly cover up this incident while remembering only the princess's naked body.
Also, from the princess's perspective, she would absolutely not want anyone to find out about today's incident, so our goals are the same.
"Okay, Lord Wolfgang. Listen carefully. What happened today is…"
I knew what he was going to say. He'd probably say something about covering it up.
"Yes. I will never tell anyone."
The princess slowly nodded and blushed as I answered in advance.
She seemed to feel embarrassed again as she thought back on what had happened.
"That… that's right. Don't tell anyone. Of course you should."
"Of course. This was just an accident. Let's pretend nothing happened today."
"Hmm…"
I emphasized it more forcefully and more clearly to reassure the princess, but she seemed to be completely unconvinced.
Well, she couldn't completely trust me, so it was natural.
We met for the first time today.
She couldn't even believe whether my name was real or fake. My overly cool answer must have aroused suspicion in return.
Even though she has a quirk that enjoys exposing her body in the middle of the night, is she really a princess?
If I were to get investigated later, I would be tired, so I would rather instill solid trust. There is no way to do that.
Just as the subtle atmosphere between the two of them was about to begin to linger.
"Hmm. Lord Wolfgang? I think I've heard your name somewhere. What the... What?!"
"Shh, quiet!"
I cut off the princess who was about to say something and hurriedly pulled her body towards me.
As a result, she ended up leaning against me and hugging me, but there was nothing I could do.
"D, D, you finally couldn't hold it in and showed your ugly true colors! I, I am the princess of the empire. I will never give in to pleasure...! Hmph?!"
I covered the princess's mouth with my hand as she suddenly started talking nonsense, and whispered in her ear.
"There are people coming this way. Two of them."
"...!!"
When she heard that people were coming, she, who had been struggling in my arms, immediately became calm.
—Thump, thump…
The sound of footsteps getting closer and closer.
I had to come to my senses, but the pleasant scent coming from the princess's hair and skin in my arms was so dizzying.
I barely suppressed the urge to bury my face in the princess's nape and hair and waved my empty hand toward the sound.
Then, the guard who had been cautiously approaching with a torch in one hand and a sword in the other relaxed and came right over.
"Oh! Master Wolf! Are you out for a night walk again? Hey, why don't you feel alone today?"
Fortunately, he was someone I knew. The difficulty of keeping my mouth shut was greatly reduced.
"Ah. We were in the middle of a hot secret meeting. Is that a newbie next to me?"
"Yes! He came in three days ago!"
But the guy next to me was the problem. His gaze was filled with the sense of duty typical of newbies.
"You two. Since you violated the curfew, you must accompany me to the police station."
As expected. I sighed involuntarily.
If I were alone, I would have happily accompanied him to the police station and enjoyed watching the warden, who saw my face, contemplate and press the newbie.
—Shiver shiver shiver…
I'm not alone today.
Perhaps because of the tension that she might get caught, the princess began to tremble violently.
"Hey! Are you going to run wild again without being able to tell the difference between shit and pee? Even though he looks like that, he's still a noble!"
"Huh, noble?! No, then at least confirm your identity…"
"Hey. This kid… You already caused me a lot of trouble today! Do you want to go after me?"
The senior guard who had been cussing out the junior swore at me as if he was annoyed and looked at me with an apologetic expression.
This is not going well.
"Excuse me, Lord Wolf. Can I just check your lover's face? That's the proper procedure. Even if you're a noble…"
If you try to act clumsily, you'll end up being questioned. In this case, you should be strong.
I took a deep breath against the princess's hair and muttered softly.
"I don't like that."
At that, the atmosphere suddenly became cold.
The senior guard started to back away from me with a thoughtful expression, and the junior sank to the ground with his legs shaking.
It was bitter to see the soldiers who were faithful to their mission being threatened, but it was unavoidable.
"I'm a bit possessive. You understand."
"T, yes... uh... oh, I have committed a mortal sin! Lord Wolf. No... Lord Wolfgang!"
"No, what sin? It's clearly my fault. Isn't it?"
He spoke with sincerity and gazed at his junior with warm eyes.
"Hee, heeeek..."
However, when the pleasant scent of the princess began to mix with a strange smell, he wanted to get out of here quickly.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to show my woman's face, so I'd like you to let this go."
I put two gold coins in the upper pocket of the senior guard who was looking at me with trembling eyes.
"The fine for violating the curfew is 6 silver. For two people, 12 silver. Since you paid properly, I can go now, right?"
Then, the senior guard, who had been frozen as if he had committed a mortal sin, quickly returned to his previous cheerful attitude.
"Oh, yes! 12 silver. I checked it for sure! Hehe, I will train the junior well, Master Wolf."
"Thank you for your hard work."
The senior guard lifted up the junior, who had wet his pants and was making a blank expression, and ran away from me as if he was running away.
After checking the situation until the end.
Since the princess couldn't walk properly in this position, I took the risk of carrying her and left as quickly as I could.
Whew, the operation was a success.
Honestly, I was nervous that things would go wrong at any time, but the princess was much more cooperative than I thought.
It must have been quite hard to be held by a man I didn't know as if he were my lover. As expected, she was the princess of the empire, so her mental strength was not ordinary.
"Princess. It's all over now. I shook off those guards earlier, and there don't seem to be any other guards nearby, so I'll let you down."
"..."
Why isn't she answering? Did she faint or something?
"Princess?"
I hurriedly checked the condition of the princess in my arms, but fortunately, she wasn't fainted.
However, her face was bright red, as if she was extremely angry because of what she had just done.
The reason she didn't answer was probably because she was really angry.
"Uh, Princess?"
She still didn't answer. It seems like she's in serious trouble.
The situation worked out well a while ago, but this time, I really can't do anything.
It's completely my fault for acting without asking for her consent under the pretense of being in a hurry.
While I was just stamping my feet, wondering what to do.
"...Don't do that."
The princess's voice, trembling with anger, began to be heard faintly.
I asked nervously.
"I'm sorry. Could you say that again?"
"I told you not to let me down! How can I walk without shoes? I'd rather just stay like this!"
Oh no. I think I left the princess's shoes and hood behind in my haste as if I was running away earlier.
Now, she didn't even want to look at me, as if she didn't want to even make eye contact with me.
At this point, it seemed like it would be better to just keep my mouth shut and walk quietly. There's a saying that if you don't do anything, you'll get halfway there.
"...Turn right at that fork in the road."
I quietly obeyed the princess's order, which had begun to indicate the direction in my arms.
As I continued walking, I could sense the distinct presence of an unmanned force in the distance.
Knight. He seems to be a skilled person. He must be the princess's escort knight.
But if he's this far away from the object of his escort, it wouldn't be meaningful. Why on earth…
'Ah.'
For a moment, I had that question, but when I remembered what the princess was trying to do in a place with few people, it naturally made sense.
He was deliberately placed so far away. So that he could enjoy himself alone without being disturbed.
When I thought about that, I couldn't help but look at the princess in my arms with cold eyes.
As one of the most important factors in the empire, it was truly an irresponsible act. I knew something would happen. Didn't something actually happen?
If someone other than me had found out, an irreversible misfortune could have happened.
With that thought, I continued walking toward the escort knight, but now the other side must have read my mood and started running towards me in a hurry.
The author is also pitiful. It's always the lower class who suffer because of the higher-ups.
"Princess! What the heck is this… What on earth is this masculine outfit! You! What on earth did you do to the princess?"
"I didn't harm her at all, so you can rest assured."
I tried to explain myself, but I couldn't think of a proper answer, so I just mumbled something.
"… Let the princess hear it herself. I'm tired, so I'll go now."
"Wait! Do you think I can get away with that! Hey!"
I heard the knight's sharp voice shouting something from behind me, but I just ignored it. I didn't want to get involved anymore.
Now that the princess's safety was guaranteed, my duty was done.
'Tomorrow's inauguration ceremony... Will I be able to do it properly?'
Once bad luck starts, it tends to continue. I'm worried that it will affect the important event tomorrow.
As I tried to calm my exhausted mind and turn my steps toward the mansion.
"Wait!"
I heard the princess's voice stopping me from behind.
I didn't know about the knight Naburang, but I couldn't ignore the princess, so I turned around and saw her still looking at me with a blush on her face.
'Oh no. I was trying to sneak away.'
I couldn't do anything about it. Please, I hope she's a little less angry than before.
"You, you said you were Wolfgang of the Schwarz family, right?"
"Yes. That's right."
"What happened today. Don't forget it. That's enough. Let's go now, Liz."
As expected, the princess left on the knight's back, leaving behind a scary word.
Damn it. She's not going to let this go.
To incur the royal family's wrath. This is practically a death sentence.
Suddenly, I felt a heavy feeling in my chest. I sighed involuntarily.
"Haa…"
It looks like things got tangled up wrong.