Chapter 17: Surviving the Royal Kiss and the Angry Ex 【Arc 1: I Was Expelled for Seducing the Enemy Princess】

Five Days Ago…

The kiss exploded absolutely everything I thought I knew about my life, shattering the peaceful illusion I had fought so desperately to maintain. It was not a simple, clumsy press of lips shared between two fumbling nobles in a dark corner of a ballroom. It was an absolute, terrifying rewriting of my physical reality and my political standing in a single, devastating move.

For one agonizing and universe-altering second, my traitorous body betrayed every survival instinct I possessed and melted into the sheer heat of Princess Diana’s embrace. Her lips were impossibly soft, claiming my soul with an overwhelming warmth that sent pure magical fire shooting straight through my panicked veins. The scent of winter flowers and incredibly expensive northern perfume clouded my senses completely, making it impossible to think straight or remember why I was supposed to be afraid of her.

The dark and foreign curse buried deep inside my chest, a lingering parting gift from the last border skirmish, sang with terrifying joy. It resonated perfectly with her royal aura, feeding off the dense, ancient mana that seemed to naturally radiate from her delicate frame. I could actually feel the magical pressure in the air twisting around us, sealing the heavy oak doors of the diplomatic hall and ensuring that no one could interrupt her meticulously planned ambush.

Then, my long-dormant survival instinct finally managed to kick down the sturdy door of my paralyzed brain.

Treason. War. Immediate beheading in the public square. My best friend Gabriel dramatically throwing me out of a tall stained-glass window into a moat filled with whatever terrifying creatures they kept in the northern territories. My mind rapidly flashed through a dozen different, highly realistic execution scenarios in the span of a single, thundering heartbeat.

I wrenched my hands free from the polished edge of the mahogany council table. I firmly grabbed her delicate, silk-covered shoulders. I made absolute sure not to push her hard enough to actually hurt her, considering she was still enemy royalty and I was still a polite, incredibly fragile healer from a rival nation.

But I forcefully broke the kiss, ripping myself away from the intoxicating warmth of her magic. I shoved myself backward with all the meager physical strength I possessed until I hit the heavy wooden chair behind me. The intricate wooden legs of the chair scraped loudly and violently against the polished marble floor, echoing heavily through the massive, empty hall.

I gasped for air like a drowning man desperately breaking the surface of a frozen, bottomless lake. My chest heaved uncontrollably, my pulse thundered in my ears like a continuous war drum, and my face felt like it was currently engulfed in highly concentrated magical flames.

“Your Highness!”

I choked out the words frantically.

“We absolutely cannot do that!”

My voice cracked entirely in half, sounding like a terrified teenager rather than a respected official representative of the southern medical division.

Diana did not look panicked by my sudden retreat. She did not look offended by my blatant rejection of her royal advances. She looked completely, utterly, and devastatingly triumphant, like a master chess player who had just watched her opponent walk directly into a perfectly laid trap.

She stood perfectly still in the center of the sunlit hall. Her stunning, glowing silver eyes sparkled with dark and predatory mischief. The afternoon sunlight streaming down from the high arched windows caught the intricate silver threads woven throughout her extravagant dress, making her look like an ethereal, incredibly dangerous goddess.

Slowly, deliberately, she lifted one slender, pale finger. She gently wiped her own plush, pink lips. She looked as though she was savoring the lingering ghost of our forbidden kiss, capturing the moment forever in her mind.

“Oh, Takashi.”

She murmured the words softly.

“That was merely the beginning.”

Her husky voice dripped with a heavy and syrupy satisfaction that sent a massive shiver of pure terror cascading down my spine.

My soul completely left my body in that exact moment. It did not even bother to pack any bags this time. It just instantly evacuated my physical form, abandoning me to deal with the terrifying consequences of being targeted by the most dangerous yandere princess in the entire northern hemisphere.

Without speaking another word, I scrambled awkwardly around the massive, heavy council table. I grabbed my worn leather healing satchel like it was a legendary physical shield meant to deflect high-tier magical spells. I sprinted desperately for the massive, iron-wrought oak doors at the end of the hall.

I threw them open with a frantic burst of adrenaline, nearly tearing the heavy hinges out of the stone wall. I bolted blindly down the polished marble corridor. I was fleeing the diplomatic wing of the castle as if the legendary hounds of hell were actively biting at my ankles, completely ignoring the confused shouts of the royal guards stationed at the various intersections.

The Interrogation

I practically shattered the thick wooden door to our assigned guest quarters when I finally reached our wing of the palace. I threw myself violently inside the room and slammed the heavy door shut behind me with a loud, echoing thud. I immediately threw the heavy iron bolt into place, locking out the terrifying reality of the castle.

Gabriel and Togashi were already waiting there inside the spacious, richly decorated room. They had been forcefully dismissed to the outer guard rotation earlier in the day by Diana’s personal knights, and neither of them looked remotely happy about that blatant, suspicious breach of diplomatic protocol.

Gabriel was currently pacing a literal, visible trench into the expensive, intricately patterned northern carpet. He was a tall man with broad, armored shoulders and a terrible tendency to violently overreact to literally every minor inconvenience. The exact moment the metal latch on the door clicked shut, he spun around wildly.

His hand instinctively dropped to the leather-wrapped hilt of his massive broadsword. When his frantic eyes registered that it was just me stumbling into the room, his expression shifted immediately. It transitioned instantly from combat-ready paladin to purely unhinged diplomatic paranoia.

“Where have you been?!”

Gabriel whisper-shouted furiously.

“We have been trapped in this room for an hour!”

He crossed the spacious guest room in three massive, angry strides, waving his muscular arms frantically in the air.

“The King’s personal guards would not let us back into the diplomatic hall!”

He grabbed me tightly by the shoulders and shook me slightly, his eyes wide with panic.

“Did the mana calibration work?”

He demanded to know, desperate for good news.

“Did you stay in proper formation?”

I pressed my back heavily against the locked wooden door and slowly slid down the cold surface until I was sitting completely flat on the wooden floor. I could not speak a single word in my defense. I was sweating profusely from every pore in my body, my breathing was completely erratic and shallow, and my face was flushed a brilliant, extremely guilty shade of crimson.

Togashi stepped silently closer to me. He was as silent and observant as a deadly, highly trained shadow. He wore his dark, functional ninja garbs even indoors, refusing to adapt to northern fashion. His dark, calculating eyes scanned me meticulously from the top of my messy hair down to my scuffed leather boots.

He paused his inspection halfway. His sharp, unforgiving gaze locked firmly onto my upper chest area.

“Your collar is undone.”

Togashi stated clearly.

His tone was entirely flat, deadpan, and devoid of any human emotion.

Gabriel completely stopped breathing in that exact, horrifying second. He slowly, mechanically turned his head. He stared directly at my exposed throat. He was looking right at the exact spot where Diana’s nimble, aristocratic fingers had playfully tugged my stiff, formal uniform collar open just moments before the disaster occurred.

“Why is your collar undone?”

Gabriel asked quietly.

His voice trembled noticeably with sheer, unadulterated mortal terror.

“Takashi.”

He whispered my name like a desperate prayer.

“Look at me.”

He took a slow step backward, looking at me as if I suddenly carried a highly contagious, flesh-eating magical plague.

“Why is your collar undone?”

He repeated the question, his voice growing significantly louder and more unhinged this time.

“Did you heal her?”

He started listing off terrible, life-ending scenarios.

“Did you compliment her dress?”

He grabbed his own blond hair in absolute frustration.

“Did you charm the enemy princess?!”

“I didn’t do anything!”

I yelled defensively at the top of my lungs.

I pulled my knees tightly against my chest to make myself a smaller target for his inevitable wrath.

“She weaponized the ancient treaty text to illegally clear the room!”

I tried desperately to explain the absolute madness of the political situation that had just occurred.

“It was a trap!”

I insisted frantically, my voice pitching up in panic.

“The whole thing was a massive, terrifying, perfectly executed romantic ambush!”

Gabriel stared down at me in pure, unfiltered horror. He looked exactly like a devastated man watching his entire life savings burn to ashes. He looked like he was holding a bucket full of highly flammable cooking oil while watching the fire spread to his childhood home.

“That is absolutely it.”

Gabriel declared with grim finality.

His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and totally frantic with despair.

“We are barricading the door.”

He gave the ultimate, irrefutable order of a truly desperate man.

“Togashi.”

He pointed wildly across the large room.

“Grab the heavy wooden armoire.”

He turned his wild, terrified eyes back to me.

“Takashi.”

He said my name like it was the most terrible curse word in the southern dictionary.

“You are officially confined to this carpet.”

He began drawing an imaginary, restrictive line around me with his armored boot.

“You are not allowed to breathe anywhere near an open window.”

He continued dictating his absolute, draconian lockdown rules.

“You are not allowed to exist in three dimensions until we safely leave this cursed, ice-covered country!”

Togashi did not even bother to argue with the completely absurd orders. He simply walked silently over to the massive, heavily carved oak wardrobe in the corner. He began pushing it steadily toward the locked door. The heavy wood scraped violently and loudly against the polished floorboards.

I buried my burning face deeply in my trembling hands. I silently prayed to the goddess of healing for a swift, painless, and merciful meteor strike to instantly end my suffering. My life was practically over. The terrifying princess of the enemy nation had officially marked me as her personal property, and there was no escape.

The Balcony Ambush

Hours later, the oppressive, heavy tension inside the barricaded room became absolutely too much for me to bear. The suffocating silence was heavier than a thick lead blanket, making it hard to even process my own thoughts.

Gabriel had finally passed out from sheer, overwhelming nervous exhaustion. He was sleeping deeply, fully clothed in his heavy armor, right on top of his expensive, silk-spun guest blankets. He was still instinctively clutching the leather hilt of his broadsword in his sleep, ready to fight off imaginary royal assassins.

Togashi was meditating calmly in the far, dark corner of the guest room. He was sitting in a perfect lotus position, holding his sharp iron dagger with a relaxed but incredibly deadly grip. He barely seemed to be breathing, completely blending into the shadows of the room.

I desperately needed oxygen. I desperately needed to not smell the lingering, phantom scent of winter flowers that seemed to be permanently burned into my olfactory senses.

I carefully bypassed Togashi, making absolute sure not to step on any creaky floorboards that might alert his finely tuned senses. I unlocked the glass latch and slipped out quietly onto the secluded, attached stone balcony.

The freezing, unforgiving northern wind bit immediately through my thin cotton shirt. It felt exactly like a thousand tiny icy needles piercing my unprotected skin. But the harsh, icy air felt absolutely amazing against my flushed and burning face, snapping me back to reality.

I leaned my elbows heavily on the freezing cold stone railing. I stared out blankly at the pitch-black, sprawling royal gardens located far below my position. The bright, full moon was high in the starry sky, casting a pale, ghostly light over the meticulously trimmed hedges and frozen water fountains.

I seriously contemplated my current, terrible life choices.

Maybe I could just jump over the stone railing right now. A three-story drop would definitely break my legs, but it would not actually kill me. I could easily channel my specialized healing mana directly into my lower body right before the painful impact to minimize the skeletal damage.

I could run away into the treacherous, snow-covered mountains surrounding the capital. I could become a lonely hermit living deeply in the forbidden woods. I could peacefully farm cabbages and root vegetables for the rest of my natural life, far away from any royal courts.

Cabbages were incredibly safe. Cabbages were highly reliable crops. Most importantly, cabbages did not forcefully pin people to mahogany tables, kiss them violently, and cause massive international treason incidents.

Clank.

The heavy, distinct metallic sound echoed sharply through the quiet, frozen night. It was the unmistakable sound of heavy armored boots clicking firmly against cold stone.

That single, terrifying sound froze the warm blood completely in my veins.

“You really need to stop looking so incredibly tragic under the moonlight.”

A sharp, familiar female voice spoke smoothly from the thick darkness of the balcony.

“It only makes you look significantly more appetizing.”

I slowly, painfully turned my head to look. My stiff neck literally cracked with the intense physical tension.

Lady Elara stepped out gracefully from the deep shadows of the adjoining terrace. She wore her sleek, highly polished silver breastplate over dark, flexible combat leather. Her raven-black hair was whipping fiercely and beautifully in the freezing northern wind.

She looked exactly like a merciless goddess of war descending to the fragile mortal realm to claim a human sacrifice.

She was my highly toxic, absolutely terrifying northern ex-girlfriend. She was the incredibly violent woman who had broken my fragile heart and my left collarbone three turbulent years ago during a training exercise.

And unfortunately for me, she also happened to be Princess Diana’s absolute best friend in the entire world.

“Elara.”

I whispered her name weakly into the freezing wind.

“Please tell me you are just here to break another piece of my furniture and leave.”

My voice sounded completely and utterly defeated.

She laughed aloud. It was a rich, dark, and entirely unapologetic sound that echoed dangerously over the quiet, empty courtyard below us. She closed the physical distance between us with the terrifying, predatory grace of a starving snow leopard.

Her heavy metal boots echoed loudly on the stone as she expertly trapped me completely against the balcony railing.

“I have eyes everywhere in this palace.”

Elara said the words smoothly, her voice laced with obvious threat.

“My sweet, fragile southern host.”

Her smooth tone dropped suddenly into a deeply territorial, overwhelmingly possessive register that made my stomach do terrified backflips. She leaned her heavy armored forearm against the cold stone railing right beside my head.

She effectively caged me in. There was absolutely nowhere for me to run, and a three-story drop was no longer looking like a viable escape route.

“I know perfectly well that Diana completely cleared the diplomatic hall today.”

She whispered the words dangerously close to my left ear.

“I know exactly how she cornered you alone in that room.”

I swallowed a massive, incredibly dry lump in my throat. My panicked heart was hammering violently against my ribcage, threatening to break through the bone.

“It was just a simple political misunderstanding.”

I lied smoothly through my teeth, hoping against hope that she would believe the fragile excuse.

“Do not ever lie to me.”

She purred softly, the sound vibrating with suppressed anger.

“Takashi.”

She reached out slowly with her cold, gauntleted hand. She used a single, cold metal-plated finger to gently trace the sharp line of my jaw. It was dangerously, terrifyingly close to the exact spot where Diana’s soft lips had been resting just a few short hours prior.

“Diana always gets exactly what she wants.”

She stated the fact as a matter of absolute, undeniable truth.

“But if that pampered, spoiled princess honestly thinks I am going to just stand by quietly.”

Her metal grip tightened painfully and possessively on my chin.

“And let her openly steal my absolute favorite prize right out from under me.”

Elara’s dark, beautiful eyes flashed instantly with pure, unrestrained competitive violence. The bright moonlight reflected sharply off the polished, deadly metal of her heavy armor.

“She is in for a very, very rude awakening.”

I closed my eyes tightly, completely surrendering to the absolute madness of my current situation. I accepted my terrifying, unavoidable fate.

I was officially and completely trapped.

I was hopelessly stuck directly in the middle of a deadly, high-stakes romantic war.

It was a violent conflict between an overwhelmingly powerful, magically gifted yandere princess.

And an aggressively territorial, highly trained armored knight who knew all of my physical weaknesses.

Gabriel was absolutely and entirely right.

I truly belonged safely inside the heavily barricaded guest room. I should never, ever have left the safety of the patterned carpet.

I was absolutely going to die in this frozen, miserable northern country.

And it was going to be entirely, completely, and frustratingly because I was apparently far too attractive to incredibly dangerous women.