The princess appeared in front of us and introduced herself to us.
She's about the same age as me, or maybe a little older.
Her long hair reached down to her waist.
The age when beautiful and cute mixed together.
Not very much, but I couldn't believe she had that king's blood in her.
Probably she definitely resembled her mother.
I was glad I don't look like that king.
"You're the light of hope Sakura was talking about." (Honoka)
It's been a while since I heard the light of hope.
There's something embarrassing about being told that by someone you didn't know.
"Um, do you know about me?" (Yuna)
"There is a gag order in place in general, but I have heard of it." (Honoka)
It wouldn't be strange for the princess of this country to know more than a little about me.
"Thank you for saving the country. And thank you for saving Sakura. Sakura is like my younger sister, so I have no words to express my gratitude." (Honoka)
"Honoka-sama" (Sakura)
Princess Honoka looked at Sakura with a smile.
Sakura also seemed happy to hear Princess Honoka's words.
"Um, do you believe it?" (Yuna)
"Father may sometimes joke, but I don't think he would lie about that matter. I saw Father and Sakura suffering when they learned of the signs of the serpent's resurrection." (Honoka)
Princess Honoka turned her gaze towards Sakura.
She was Sakura's cousin, and if she was a princess, she might also know about Sakura's dreams.
In other words, she knew about precognitive dreams and the appearance of a light of hope.
And judging from what she said earlier, she seemed to know that I was that light of hope.
"I was skeptical about the story about a girl dressed as a bear saving this country, but I also watched the match with Shinobu and Juubei earlier. No one will doubt you after seeing that." (Honoka)
"I showed you something embarrassing." (Juubei)
Juubei-san apologized.
I didn't realize I was being watched.
If Kumayuru and Kumakyu had been there, they might have noticed that there were people nearby, but I thought that bringing them to the castle would cause a fuss, so I sent them back.
"Anyway, you're really dressed like a bear." (Honoka)
Princess Honoka looked at me and smiled.
It's not a bitter smile.
"My father told me that she was a girl dressed as a bear, so I was imagining a different outfit, so I was surprised by how cute she looked." (Honoka)
"I thought the same thing when I first saw Yuna." (Shinobu)
"Those clothes are also one of the reasons I decided to fight Yuna." (Juubei)
"Is that so?" (Noa)
Noa, who was listening to the conversation, asked.
"You know Yuna saved this country?" (Juubei)
"Yes," Noa and the others who were listening to Sakura and the others nodded.
"They didn't think Yuna's appearance was a light of hope, so they made me fight in order to see what Yuna was capable of." (Juubei)
At that time, I was tricked into thinking that Shinobu was the enemy of Shinobu's parents, and I ended up fighting against Juubei-san.
"The result of that battle was..."
"As you saw in the previous match, I lost in the previous fight without even using my hands or feet. That triple thrust was my deciding move, but it was blocked. So this time, in order to counter Yuna, I even used a wakizashi, but even that was blocked. I wonder how strong she is." (Juubei)
"But I used magic to prevent it." (Yuna)
"It doesn't matter. There is meaning in preventing it." (Juubei)
"That's what happened." (Honoka)
Princess Honoka said with reverence.
"Then, why are you here, Honoka-sama? I think you've been given an order not to let anyone get close to them now."
Is that so!?
Certainly, there were some memorable moments.
No one called us, and when they saw us, they just bowed their heads and walked away.
I thought it was because Sakura and Shinobu were there, but it seemed that's not the case.
"I heard about it from the servants, but I haven't been told anything directly. In other words, there will be no problem if I meet you." (Honoka)
"I’m sure uncle didn’t tell you on purpose." (Sakura)
"That’s on purpose." (Shinobu)
"I guess."
Sakura, Shinobu, Juubei-san, and the residents of Land of Harmoni seemed to have figured something out.
"What do you mean?" (Yuna)
"Perhaps, but he may have wanted to bring Yuna-sama and Honoka-onee-sama together by chance." (Sakura)
Sakura shared her imagination.
"Why does he have to go to such trouble? Why doesn't he introduce me normally?" (Yuna)
"Yuna-sama is coming to visit this country right now. However, if we set up a place where she can meet the princess of a country, she might be suspicious of many people." (Sakura)
"...?" (Yuna)
I didn't understand what it meant.
"In other words, some people who know Yuna want to meet her. But the king is stopping them. If the king himself were to make his daughter meet her, I think people would cry out that it would be unfair." (Shinobu)
"Are there people who would like to meet me?" (Yuna)
"What are you talking about? Yuna doesn't know what she did. She's a hero who saved the country. Anyone would want to get close to her." (Shinobu)
"That's right. Marrying his own son..." (Sakura)
Sakura said something scary.
Moreover, I didn't want to hear words like marriage from a 10-year-old girl.
"No. Yuna-san won't get married!" (Noa)
Noa hugged me.
Then Misa, Fina, and even Shuri started holding my hand.
"No, no, I'm not getting married." (Yuna)
I was only 15 years old.
I didn't know about this world, but there were no Japanese people who would think about marriage at the age of 15. Well, if a girl had a boyfriend, she might think about marriage. I didn't think she's normal.
"Is it true?" (Noa)
"It's true" (Yuna)
I put my hand on Noa's head and stroke it.
"Hehe, they're kind girls." (Honoka)
Princess Honoka looked at Noa and the others and smiled.
"It's okay. That's why the king has prohibited him from getting close to Yuna by royal order." (Shinobu)
"Uncle won't do anything that Yuna-sama doesn't like." (Sakura)
"I didn't think father could be that considerate, but if you look at the situation, you can see that he cares about you." (Honoka)
Yesterday and today, I might have forced myself quite a bit.
Well, that's a great consideration, so I was grateful.
If all sorts of people came to visit me, I wouldn't be able to tour the castle, and I was sure it would be annoying.
I might have gone wild and unleashed magic.
"Well, maybe Yuna got angry and he thought that it would be a problem if the castle was destroyed." (Shinobu)
"Shinobu, that's..." (Sakura)
"Yes, I think it's possible." (Yuna)
Even though Sakura denied it, I affirmed it, so everyone looked shocked.
I didn't think I would have used magic to destroy the castle, but I might have been able to build a cage and trap the important people inside.
"So the king wanted her to meet me?" (Yuna)
"Maybe so." (Shinobu)
"If Honoka-onee-sama hears the word bear, I'm sure she'll come to see you. Besides, if I'm with you, she can say she came to see me." (Sakura)
"But why would the king go to such a roundabout way to make us meet?" (Yuna)
"I don't think there's any deep meaning behind it. I think he just wanted you to become friends with Honoka-onee-sama." (Sakura)
"Also, I think I wanted Honoka-sama to know about Yuna as the princess of this country." (Shinobu)
Somehow, I got the point.
But then what about another child? It would be.
"By the way, doesn't the king have any other children?" (Yuna)
"I have an older brother, but he is currently working as a lord in another territory as part of his studies to become a king, so he is not in the castle." (Honoka)
So, does that mean Princess Honoka is his daughter?
"If my brother had been in the castle, I think he would have come to say thank you. He said that when the serpent was revived, monsters' activity increased in the surrounding towns, and he was busy dealing with it. Because you subdued the serpent, the monsters were calmed down, the residents of the town were saved, and the damage to the soldiers was kept to a minimum. If it had lasted longer, the damage would have been even greater." (Honoka)
According to the king, monsters were beginning to gather on the island where the serpent was sealed.
"Yuna, thank you on behalf of my brother. And thank you again from me. Thank you for saving this country." (Honoka)
Princess Honoka bowed her head.
"I've said it over and over again. Don't worry, I was just helping a crying girl." (Yuna)
I turned to Sakura.
"Yuna-sama..." (Sakura)
Sakura looked happy.
"So, why were Shinobu and Juubei playing a match while Yuna was supposed to be touring the castle?" (Honoka)
Shinobu and Juubei-san explained why they were playing the match.
"What are you doing with our guests?" (Honoka)
After hearing the story, Princess Honoka looked at Shinobu and Juubei-san with a shocked expression.
If you asked me, what exactly were they doing?
From Princess Honoka's perspective, it might seem like they were testing their skills against the person who saved her country.
"I'm sorry. It was about Shinobu, but I also wanted to have a rematch with Yuna." (Juubei)
Juubei-san looked embarrassed.
"I'd be disappointed if we lost, so I prepared a technique to counter Yuna." (Juubei)
Did you want to try that four-stage attack on me?
Well, it's not like I didn't understand Juubei-san's feelings either.
When anyone learned a new magic or technique, they wanted to try it out.
However, I didn't like that the other person was me.
But…….
"Princess Honoka, don't get too angry. I had fun too." (Yuna)
It's not a lie.
It's been a long time since I last fought, and it was definitely a fun fight.
Lately, things had been so unreasonable.
"Well, if that's okay with Yuna, then that's fine. Even if father finds out and gets angry, I don't know." (Honoka)
"There's no one here, so if everyone here stays silent, it'll be okay." (Juubei)
"That’s why you specified this time." (Shinobu)
"I can't let the soldiers see Yuna's battle." (Juubei)
"That's a lie. Master just didn't want his subordinates to see him lose." (Shinobu)
"It is..."
"I want to protect Yuna's secret" (Juubei)
"That’s a lie." (Shinobu)
Shinobu said again.
"That's true, but it's also true that it's not important. If people find out that she was the one who subdued the serpent, there will be a big fuss. Especially if she defeat me." (Juubei)
"That's right. If they could see master win, they'd be so excited." (Shinobu)
"That's why" (Juubei)
"But that doesn't mean it's okay to play a match with father's guests." (Honoka)
Princess Honoka said something extremely obvious.
"I am very sorry" (Juubei)
Juubei-san apologized again.
"However, I was able to see some good things, so I won't tell Father from my mouth. If I hadn't seen the match with Shinobu and Juubei, I think I would have remained skeptical of what father said." (Honoka)
"Honoka-sama..."
"If you remained half-confident, you might have acted disrespectfully towards the woman who saved our country." (Honoka)
Well, she couldn't help but hear that a girl dressed as a bear defeated a giant snake because it just sounded like a joke.
Author's Note
Honoka seems like a serious person with common sense.
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.