The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 21: The Abandoned Prince Makes a Deal

Chapter 21: The Abandoned Prince Makes a Deal

Let’s start with the conclusion.

I won. No—crushed it.

It was a total and absolute victory.

Honestly, I had no idea why she even challenged me in the first place—this girl was way too weak.

“Y-You caught me off guard~♡ Y-You must be a descendant of the Dragon Slayers, aren’t you~♡”

I’m not.

…Or at least, that’s what I wanted to say.

But after hearing a bit more from her, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

Apparently, the Dragon Slayers were a legendary bloodline known for bringing down mighty dragons using a very… specific method.

That method? Seduction.

A classic honey trap.

Male Dragon Slayers seduced female dragons.

Female Dragon Slayers charmed male ones.

Now that I thought about it…

Alcarion, who’s basically a dragon, and Rosemary, who carries dragon blood, both had feelings for me.

Maybe—just maybe—I really am descended from Dragon Slayers.

But setting that aside for now…

“Take that!! That’s payback for trying to kill me earlier!!”

“Ahii~♡ P-Please forgive meee~♡”

For once, I was actually the one taking control.

When I was with Alcarion, Rosemary, or Eliza, they were always the ones who completely drained me.

I didn’t usually take the lead—mostly because I didn’t want to come off as too rough and risk upsetting them.

Well… knowing them, they’d probably be fine with it anyway, but still.

But with this smug little loli gremlin, I didn’t have to hold back.

I didn’t care if she hated me—and I definitely owed her payback for nearly killing me.

So yeah, I spent some sweet, steamy time in the hot spring with the cocky little brat.

And somehow… she ended up getting attached to me.

“U-Um, you’re kind of close…”

“Mufufu, don’t worry about it. After what we just shared, we’re practically partners now.”

“Partners? We don’t even know each other’s names yet.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’m Salion. I’m the master of this dungeon. Now, tell me your name, boy.”

“…It’s Reyshel.”

Salion, as she called herself, wrapped her arm around mine.

Her soft, squishy skin pressed against me—it felt kinda nice.

“By the way, boy. What brings you here? This isn’t exactly a place someone can just wander into by accident.”

“Ah—well, you see, it’s a long story…”

“Hmm.”

I explained how I ended up here after triggering a teleportation trap inside the dungeon.

“I see… So the dungeon went and shifted its layout again.”

“Wait, dungeons can change their structure?”

Salion nodded at my question.

Apparently, a dungeon itself is considered a kind of living monster.

The original form is said to be similar to a mimic—monsters that disguise themselves as treasure chests or other things to lure in prey.

In the case of dungeons, they lure in humans with resources and treasure, then try to finish them off using the monsters they spawn inside.

Now that she mentioned it, I had heard before that anything—people or monsters—who die inside a dungeon end up getting absorbed by it.

So dungeons really are living creatures…

“…Well, putting the whole dungeon stuff aside for now.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Actually, I came here on an errand from Alcarion. I was supposed to come with Rosemary.”

“!?”

The moment I said Alcarion’s name, Salion’s eyes shot wide open.

That reaction confirmed it—she was the person Alcarion had mentioned.

Trying to hide her surprise, Salion asked in a cautious tone,

“W-What kind of business does she have with me?”

“Oh, well… she gave me a letter to deliver, but Rosemary’s the one holding onto it, and—”

That’s when it happened.

Part of the rock wall near the lake suddenly collapsed and out of the opening came Rosemary, bursting into the area.

She didn’t seem injured, but she was completely out of breath.

I reached out to use Perfect Regeneration on her, but before I could do anything—she tackled me and buried my face in her chest.

…This felt strangely familiar. Pretty sure something like this happened before.

“Reyshel!! Are you hurt!?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m good, I’m good.”

Well—I did lose an arm earlier, but it’s grown back now, so we’re calling it even.

“Ohh, Rosemary. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“G-Grandmother!?”

“…Grandmother? Wait—so that means…”

“Y-Yeah. Lady Salion here is actually my grandmother.”

After saying that, Rosemary leaned in and whispered quietly in my ear.

“Are you sure you’re okay!? Grandmother seriously hates humans… no, she enjoys tormenting them. She’s notoriously cruel. Did she do anything to you!?”

“Well… yeah, something did happen. But, uh… there were some good parts too, I guess…?”

“? What do you mean by th—”

Just as Rosemary tilted her head in confusion, trying to figure it out—

Salion grabbed my arm.

Then leaned in to whisper in my ear this time.

“H-Hey… you and Rosemary seem awfully close. What’s your relationship exactly?”

“Oh, she’s my wife.”

“!?”

“Also, Alcarion is my wife too.”

“!?”

Being Alcarion’s mother, you’d think she’d be able to sense stuff like this with her dragon eyes or something.

But maybe Salion just doesn’t rely on those powers much.

From the look on her face, she was clearly shocked by what I said.

Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as she processed my relationship with both Rosemary and Alcarion.

“H-Hey, boy… can we just keep what happened between us a secret?”

“Huh?”

“N-No, I mean—look, it’s just… I don’t want my granddaughter to hate me, alright? And Alcarion’s terrifying when she’s mad.”

“…Oh reaaally?”

My reaction must’ve rattled her a bit, because she started panicking.

“F-Fine! How about we make a deal, then?”

“A deal?”

“Yes! I’ll let you do whatever you want with my body! Didn’t you enjoy it earlier too?”

As she said that, she pressed her soft chest—just barely there—against me.

I swallowed hard without thinking.

“W-Well… I mean, I’m all healed now, so I guess there’s no reason to bring it up.”

“T-Thank you, boy!! Now that I really look at you, you’ve got such a cute face—totally my type! I wouldn’t mind making you my husband!!”

“…A loli grandma wife, huh.”

For a moment, I let myself imagine it… and kind of liked the idea.

No, no, bad thoughts. I already have Rosemary, Alcarion, and Eliza.

I really shouldn’t add anyone else.

…Then again, didn’t Alcarion make it legal for me to marry multiple people?

So technically, it’s not impossible… right?

“What are you two whispering about, Grandmother?”

“It’s nothing, Rosemary!! Wahaha!!”

Salion reached over and started patting my head.

It felt weird—getting headpats from a little girl.

Alcarion did the same thing a lot too.

Maybe it runs in the family? A royal family tradition of patting people’s heads?

“Oh, that’s right. Rosemary, you said you had a letter for me from Alcarion, didn’t you?”

“Ah, yes. Here it is.”

Rosemary handed her the letter, and Salion began reading through it.

“…Hmm.”

“W-What does it say?”

“Alcarion, that brat… she really does love working her own mother to the bone. But fine. It’s not like this is anything new.”

“Uh… what does that mean exactly?”

“Here, you two can read it for yourselves.”

She handed the letter to us, and Rosemary and I read it together.

That’s when we learned something… truly unexpected.

“Looks like Alcarion wants to use me as her ‘ultimate weapon’ in the war against the Agarham Kingdom.”

Let me be honest.

That’s complete overkill.

I mean—this is Alcarion’s mother we’re talking about!

When Alcarion lost control and turned into a full-fledged dragon before, she was terrifying—absolutely massive.

If Salion transformed into a dragon even close to that size, anti-air magic probably wouldn’t do a thing.

Just a single flap of her wings could cause a tornado and wipe out half the kingdom.

And look, even if I got kicked out, that was still the country I was born in.

Hecton, the one who exiled me, is a different story—

But I really don’t want innocent people getting caught in the crossfire.

Yeah… I should probably have a serious talk with Alcarion about this.

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[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “I want to get my head gently patted by a cute loli and feel healed.”

R: “Relatable.”

If you found yourself thinking, “Salion’s actually adorable,” “So she does care if her grandkids hate her,” or “Okay, I nodded at that afterword,”—Then please leave a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, or review!