The princess's introduction completely shocked everyone.
D-Damn it, Valon...
You could have AT LEAST told us who it was, and we wouldn't be this surprised.
Not just me, everyone on the team was extremely surprised. It's as if her appearance here was a miracle, that they had their mouths open.
"Pr-Princess Lescia?? What are you doing here??"
Fran specifically, is more shocked than everyone and shouted when she recognized the girl sitting next to the knight. Seeing this, the princess simply grinned cheekily at Fran.
"Hello there, dear cousin! Are you excited to see me? It's been a while since we last saw each other."
"Y-You never left the castle... Ever..."
"Yeah, well, this is an important mission, after all. My father, he… probably realizes that I really liked the snow, so he let me see it myself."
"U-Uncle did..."
The princess said while scratching her face with her finger, and Fran let out a long sigh.
I tend to forget that Fran is also a member of the Mazino family. Her mother is the younger sister of the queen, while Valon is the third child.
So Fran is the cousin of the princess…? From the looks of it, Lescia is the same age as us young adventurers, around eighteen to twenty-ish. So she must've been the same age as Fran.
Wouldn't they be close, then? As cousins of the same age?
But before I get to ask that, the princess turned her gaze to me and spoke again.
"Anyways, my mother has told me a lot about you. She said you are a very talented healer, as well as a really powerful magician. And you became an adventurer instead of being a mage? That is a fascinating choice!"
She… seemed to be quite chatty, at least…
Her insanely pretty smile is freezing the boys completely. And if I wasn't her talking partner, I would also get frozen like them. After all, she is just so beautiful.
Her appearance is nothing like what I have ever seen in this world. No Xyphon noble girls at the magic academy are as pretty as her. Her smile felt so genuine, and her voice was soft and soothing to listen to.
Her pale white eyes and her bright yellow hair is just a perfect combination. Not to mention the softness and sincere air that she is emitting, it is just calming.
Fran has a similar appearance with her, since she also has golden hair. But something about the princess is just making her so different from Fran.
Fran has this fearsome aura that made people aware of her existence no matter what, whereas this princess emits the opposite aura that made people want to be aware of her existence. She also has silver eyes, a different case to Fran's yellow ones.
But, if anything is making her interesting the most, is her smile.
Her smile... it feels so soft and calming… so genuine.
But, that just simply made me feel uneasy.
There is something… hidden behind those calming smiles.
The trip is rather far, since the location of the village is at the edge of the kingdom's territory. And as the carriage moves, the princess just won't stop talking with me.
"I am always curious about magic. I was actually hoping to get into the magic academy, but my father never allowed me. He said I can study magic by calling a teacher, and it was already better than the academy. Can you really believe that?"
She said with a really pissed tone, because she was probably genuinely pissed about it. I simply laughed at that and gave my opinion.
"Haha. I can tell why he said that, though. The academy might be famous for its good achievements and teachings, but there are also plenty of dark sides to it. Just a year ago, we got attacked by demons."
"Yeah! I heard! W-Were you there!?"
Ah… shit. Why did I mention that?
"I... Yeah, I was."
Shoot. Why did I start this topic?
"That's… so cool! What happened to the demons!? They said they died without any reasonable cause?"
The princess seemed quite interested in this topic, but this is a really deep topic for me.
After all, I lost a friend that night.
"I... I was also not sure. Probably a devil flew in and killed them or something, haha."
Hearing that, my friends quickly understood what happened. Everything about me is always somewhat similar to the description of a 'Devil', such as with my shadow wings and scythe. Which is why my friends immediately understood what I meant by a devil killing the demons.
But, the princess somehow stopped talking and leaned her back to the carriage wall behind her.
"You... killed the demons?"
Hearing her sudden correct guess, my eyes opened wide, and I stared at her with an unbelieving expression.
"W-What…?"
H-How did she… guessed that?
She shouldn't have known that I relate to myself as the 'Devil'. There's no way she heard it, or even seen my wings before. After all, I've never met her before this.
But, that got answered rather quickly. Next to me, Fran patted me on the shoulder and chuckled.
"You may not know this, but Lescia has an ability."
She said, and the princess quickly pointed at her own face. Specifically, at her eyes.
"It's called the Eyes of Truth.
My eyes can see what people are saying truthfully. And from your words, I can see that you were saying the one who killed the demons is yourself."
"T-That's..."
That's the same ability that Lyona has…
But from how she was able to tell that accurately, I am certain that it was much more powerful than Lyona's.
"It's okay, though. You did a really great job protecting the academy from the demons. In fact, it's even more interesting! Demons are supposed to be really powerful and... you killed them??
How strong are you? Do you eat eggs for breakfast every single day? How big are your muscles?"
And there she goes with the chattiness again...
I simply laughed as I answered those questions. Talking to her seemed... fun.
She never went into the deeper topics, like the moralities behind me killing the demons or any of the dark truths behind it. She simply wanted to know more about magic… and well, me in general. So she is rather nice to talk to.
I told her about my magic and abilities, while she also told me about the restrictiveness of her life.
She lived her whole life inside the castle, like a caged, beautiful and rare bird. Unlike the queen who is now already grown up, she is merely 19. She is not allowed to leave the castle at all.
"Wait, nineteen? That's my age!"
I said, and Princess Lescia chuckled.
"Looks like we are the same age. Not Fran, though."
Immediately, I turned my shocked gaze to Fran.
"… I'm eighteen."
Apparently, Fran is still 18.
She was still underage when I first met her… What the heck?
Unlike Fran who is adventuring around the world as freely as she wanted, Lescia seemed to be kept tight by her parents in the castle. She said this is her second time actually leaving the middle castle.
The first one was during her sixteenth birthday, and her only wish is to have a day outside in the city. Her father and mother, along with the knights, went around the town while visiting places and bought her some things. When she requested to do the same on her seventeenth, her parents rejected her offer.
Until now, when a new threat emerged from Veldonia.
"Why did they send you? Aren't you just a princess?"
I asked since I was genuinely curious. From the looks of it, what I said was quite confusing to her.
"Right... My mother also told me that you may be quite... blind with your surroundings."
Heh…? What?
"She meant that you are unaware of most things normal people would know."
Fran translated it for me, and I chuckled.
"Ah... Well, I didn't originate from the kingdom, so of course I didn't know."
"I am also curious about that… Where did you come from?"
"A land… far-far away from here. What were you saying?"
I quickly changed the topic, and the princess immediately noticed that I did not want to talk about my origins.
"Ah, right... So, I was betrothed with Veldonia's second prince. He will become my husband when we are… of age."
She said that with a really grim tone, one that is much deeper than her previous chatty tone when she was talking about magic.
It didn't take anyone to have the 'Eyes of truth' to know that she simply never agreed to this betrothal, and I assume not even the king would want her to be betrothed.
But, that's another topic for another time. I can tell that she doesn't want to talk about it.
"I-I see, and your parents sent you to... negotiate?"
Seeing that I changed the topic simply made her brighter again. She knows that I'm not someone who can't read the air, and she is very glad about that.
"Yes. They wanted to use me as a negotiator with the king from Veldonia. They said this is the sixth time Veldonia has meddled with the villages at the borders, and they wanted to do something about it."
"And they sent you out for something like this... How are you feeling about it?"
"Pretty mad, but at least I get to go outside."
She laughed while saying that, and I can tell that she is enjoying every second of this.
It pains me to see her like this…
"Say! Tell me more about your magic!"
Once again, she changed the topic.
Something tells me that her entire life, she has been miserable.
Which means, the only thing I can do for her right now, is to make sure her only chance of walking outside is as enjoyable as possible.
If she wants to talk to me, then I'll talk to her. If she wants company, then I'll make her laugh. I won't let her forget these moments with me.
This feels a bit cheesy… but I'm just feeling sympathy for her. As someone who has been living in freedom for so long, it pains me to see someone else being cooped up and locked away their whole life like that. Especially when they are the same age as me.
As a result, we spent the rest of the trip talking about magic again. Mostly about me, since I am an abnormality that exists within this carriage. The others simply listened in, and maybe they jumped in at some points to either mock me or to laugh at me after they mock me.
Friends are indeed what they are… a bunch of assholes.
The knight who came with her simply stayed silent next to her. At least he knows that we are not a threat to the princess, in fact we are something that entertains her before the serious business comes. I can tell the knight is pretty glad as well.