The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 02: The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier

Chapter 02: The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier

It had been five years since I was sent to the frontlines.

I was now twenty years old, but I hadn’t exactly grown.

I wasn’t even 160 cm tall.

I knew the reason why.

The rations distributed on the frontlines were barely edible, and the nutritional balance was terrible.

The beds for short naps were rock-hard, and with enemy attacks possible at any moment, getting proper sleep was impossible.

I had heard that a lack of food and sleep stunted growth.

And now, even at twenty, I was still stuck at this height.

Well, at least I still had some royal privileges, so I got slightly better supplies than most.

It turned out that quite a few people on the frontlines were against Hecton and his mother, so they still treated me like a prince.

I figured I should just accept my height and move on.

Besides, it wasn’t all bad.

Being short made it easier to hide behind cover. I wasn’t as strong as others, but I was faster.

For a battlefield medic running around treating wounded soldiers, being small was actually an advantage.

“Your Highness!! Prince Reyshel!! Wake up!!”

“Mmm… I prefer toast for breakfast.”

“Get up, you idiot prince!!”

“Abafu—!? H-Hey!! Who the hell wakes up their superior and a member of the royal family by punching them in the gut!?”

A heavy blow to my stomach snapped me awake.

“It’s a wyvern air raid!! If you’d rather end up as burnt toast, I can just let you sleep!!”

“No thanks. I can regenerate, but being burned alive is ridiculously painful.”

“Then hurry up and retreat!!”

I grabbed the white cloak beside my bed and threw it over my shoulders.

Stepping out of the tent, I looked up—and sure enough, the sky was filled with wyverns.

This base was one of the safer rear camps, positioned deep in the forest to stay hidden from aerial scouts.

But it looked like we had finally been discovered.

Fires were already raging everywhere, and the screams of soldiers echoed through the camp.

“Prince Reyshel!! We’re abandoning this position and moving to another base!! We need to retreat immediately!!”

“Ahh… nope. Denied.”

“Hah!? W-Wait, what did you just say!?”

“Not everyone has made it out yet. There are still injured soldiers. We’re not leaving until we treat them and get them to safety. That’s called a rear guard, isn’t it?”

“That’s not the job of a medic unit!!”

“Hah! Like that even matters. Since when does a medical unit sprint around the battlefield, casting healing magic left and right?”

Normally, a medical unit’s job was to stay in the rear, treating the wounded and handling sanitation.

But my unit was a little different.

The soldiers figured that since I could instantly heal even the most severe injuries as long as someone was still alive, it would be more efficient to deploy me directly on the battlefield.

At first, I worked alone, but over time, I gained subordinates, and now I led a team of twenty healing mages.

Lately, the Empire had started calling me the “White Knight” because of my signature white cloak.

Apparently, the name came from how fatally wounded soldiers would be back on their feet the next day, and I would always show up on those battlefields.

Our mission was simple: Don’t let soldiers die.

If our base was under attack, then we had to save as many soldiers as possible before retreating.

“Well, since everyone else would actually die if they got hit by a wyvern’s fire breath, I’ll handle this. You guys go on ahead.”

“Understood!! May fortune be with you!!”

“Wait—!? This is the part where you say, ‘We can’t just leave you behind!! We’re staying too!!‘ Right!?”

“Uh… yeah, no. I’d rather not die.”

Seriously, my subordinates were way too honest.

But I couldn’t blame them. They weren’t soldiers to begin with.

They were just conscripts, forced onto the battlefield because of mandatory service.

Much like wartime Japan, Agarham Kingdom had been spreading this idea that dying for the country is the greatest honor.

Apparently, it was one of Hecton’s mother’s schemes, along with the other high-ranking officials.

But after spending time on the frontlines, many of them snapped out of the brainwashing and started thinking rationally again.

Of course, they wanted to live. No one actually wanted to die.

Honestly, considering how reckless I could be just because I was harder to kill, maybe I was the abnormal one here.

“I see. Well, catch you later.”

“Agh, fine!! But if things get too dangerous, I’m retreating, got it!?”

“A guy acting tsundere has no appeal, you know?”

“Tsun…what?”

I crouched inside a trench made of earth magic, watching as my men used spells to shoot down the wyverns overhead while I went around healing the wounded.

We managed to minimize casualties, and the soldiers stationed in the rear successfully retreated to another base.

“Your Highness!! We should pull back too!!”

“Yeah!! Honestly, being stark naked is rough on the soul!!”

“That’s what happens when you let your guard down and take a wyvern’s fire breath head-on

Cracking jokes as we went, my medical unit began our retreat.

That was when it happened.

One of our magic troops fired a spell that struck a wyvern mid-air, sending it plummeting to the ground.

And, of all places, it crashed right in our path.

“W-Whoa!!” My subordinates yelped as they scrambled to avoid it.

“Your Highness!! We need to move!! Its wings are damaged, so it can’t fly!!”

“Ah… yeah. I mean, you’re not wrong, but…”

That was when I saw him.

A single soldier lay motionless in my field of vision.

He had been riding on that wyvern before it crashed.

In other words—a Dragoon Empire soldier. An enemy.

He must have hit his head hard when he was thrown off, because he wasn’t moving.

Looking closer, I saw shards of stone and splinters of wood piercing through his heavy armor, stabbing deep into his body.

If he was left like this, he was definitely going to die.

“…Your Highness. You’re not seriously thinking about treating an enemy soldier, are you?”

“W-What? I didn’t say anything yet.”

“You always try to play it off, but we know. We know you heal dying people, enemy or not.”

“Ghk—!”

H-How did they find out!?

“I-I mean, come on. Even if they’re the enemy, isn’t it kind of… awful to just let someone die when you can save them?”

“Even if the person you save might kill our own troops later?”

“Ugh… Y-Yeah, I get that, but… I just can’t. Watching people die right in front of me… it just messes with me, you know?”

I knew that saving him could end up causing more harm to my own people.

I wasn’t stupid enough to ignore that risk.

There were times when I thought about putting dying enemies out of their misery instead.

But then, right before I could do it, they’d say something like “Mom… I’m sorry…”

How was I supposed to kill someone after hearing that!?

How could I finish off a person who was calling out for their family or lover in their final moments!?

So, in the end, I always ended up saving them.

“A-And besides! I only heal them just enough so they can’t return to the battlefield! If our soldiers get hurt, I’ll just heal them again!”

“…Sigh.”

My second-in-command let out a deep sigh.

Ugh… Maybe secretly healing enemy soldiers was a bad idea after all?

But then, after glancing around cautiously, he muttered—

“If you’re gonna do it, hurry up. If more enemies show up, we’re running at full speed.”

“T-Thanks!!”

I rushed over to the Dragoon Empire soldier and started treating his wounds.

Meanwhile, my subordinates were watching and whispering among themselves.

“Sigh… Seriously, Prince Reyshel is way too soft.”

“It’s fine. That just means we have to step up and be more reliable.”

“You guys spoil him too much.”

“Well, I do have a younger brother, so I guess it’s a habit. I mean, look at him—he’s tiny for his age. You kinda want to pamper him.”

“Yeah, I get it. Besides, I don’t actually mind his way of doing things. It makes it less likely that grudges will carry over after the war.”

“Too bad he sometimes pulls dumb stunts just because he’s got royal authority on his side.”

…They were really saying whatever they wanted, huh.

Ignoring their chatter, I focused on treating the Imperial soldier.

“Huh? Wait a second… this guy…”

I removed the soldier’s helmet to check their face.

Beneath it was a woman with long, fiery red hair and striking, doll-like features.

Imperial soldiers who rode wyverns—Dragoon Knights—wore thick, full-body armor, and they were all nearly two meters tall.

At a glance, there was no way to tell she was a woman.

And now, I had a problem.

If I wanted to use Perfect Regeneration on someone else, I had to touch them directly.

“A-All right, here goes nothing!! Forgive me!! This is purely for medical purposes!!”

Bracing myself, I started removing her armor so I could reach her wounds.

And in that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

“…Whoa. Huge.”

So, uh… removing the female soldier’s armor revealed a stunningly curvy figure, and I was suddenly having some very inappropriate thoughts.

N-No, this was medical treatment.

At a glance, it might look like I was just groping an unconscious woman’s chest, but I was actually healing the wounds on her upper body.

I was definitely not doing anything improper!!

…Still, wow. So soft. And she smelled really nice.

I could do this all day.

I mean—I could keep treating her all day.

“Your Highness!! Prince Reyshel!!”

“Huh? What? I’m almost done here—”

“That’s not the issue!! Look around!!”

“Huh?”

I turned my head—and immediately felt a chill run down my spine.

At some point, I had been completely surrounded by Dragoon Knights, each mounted on a wyvern.

Oh.

Oh crap.

I was totally encircled.

“Hey, you. Get your filthy hands off her.”

“I-I’m treating her wounds!!”

“What kind of idiot strips naked and treats an enemy soldier in the middle of a battlefield!?”

“””They have a point!!”””

“Oi, you bastards!! If you’re my subordinates, at least defend me a little, you idiots!!”

“…I see. So you are their commander.”

“Ah—”

…Oh no.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!!

Judging by the way these Dragoon Knights were glaring at me, the soldier I was treating was probably someone important.

They looked like they were ready to tear me apart at any moment.

W-What do I do!?

Would they let my subordinates go if I dropped to my knees and begged?

No, probably not.

“Stand down, all of you. I will not allow you to harm this boy.”

“““““”!?””””””

The one who suddenly came to my rescue was the last person I expected.

The red-haired woman I had been treating.

She had regained consciousness, and her crimson eyes locked onto mine with sharp intensity.

“B-But, Princess Rosemary…!”

“Are you disobeying my orders?”

“N-No, of course not.”

“Then be silent.”

…Wait, Princess!?

“I appreciate your help, healer from the kingdom. My apologies, but could you continue treating me until I feel a bit better?”

“A-Ah, y-yes.”

“Mmm♡ A-Also… if possible, please try not to touch my chest too much. It’s, um… a bit sensitive.”

And so, I continued healing her while doing my absolute best to avoid certain areas.

Meanwhile, the Dragoon Knights behind me were radiating pure murderous intent… and it was terrifying.

―――――――――――――――――――――

[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “Reyshel, that’s a foul!!”

R: “It was medical treatment!! Medical treatment, I swear!!”

If you thought “Their chain of command is way too lax,” “For all his recklessness, people actually like him,” or “It’s fine because it’s medical treatment,” then don’t forget to leave a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, and review!