The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 23: The Abandoned Prince Goes Night-Night

Chapter 23: The Abandoned Prince Goes Night-Night

“Hmmm. This saddle is kind of annoying.”

About an hour west of the imperial capital by magic train, there was a lodging facility where the empire kept its wyverns.

Right next to it was a special runway for the wyverns. That’s where I was now—with Rosemary and Salion—doing a bit of prep work.

Standing in front of me was a jet-black dragon, almost twice the size of a normal wyvern, looking visibly annoyed by the saddle strapped onto its back.

That black dragon… was Salion.

As expected of Alcarion’s mother, it looked like she could transform into a dragon too.

So then—why was Salion saddled up and standing on the wyvern runway?

The answer was simple—

“Come now, boy. Hurry up and get on my back.”

“R-Right.”

That’s right—I was about to ride Salion and fly through the sky.

Apparently, Alcarion didn’t plan on using Salion for actual combat.

It seemed she was serious about capturing the Agarham Kingdom without bloodshed—just like I asked.

But… that was really just wishful thinking on my part.

I didn’t think it would go that smoothly. Still, Alcarion’s eyes told me she was completely serious about making it work.

Salion was basically meant to be a threat—an overwhelming presence to make the kingdom believe they didn’t stand a chance.

And by having me ride on her back, Alcarion wanted to create a dramatic effect.

I had to laugh when I saw her dressed up like some old-fashioned movie director.

Where did she even find that outfit?

Anyway, for this whole no-bloodshed invasion plan to work, I needed to practice flying on Salion—

Which is why we came all the way out to the runway.

But then…

“Is something wrong, Reyshel?”

Rosemary tilted her head slightly, sitting atop her own wyvern.

She was probably wondering why I still hadn’t gotten on Salion’s back.

The truth was—

“I-I’m scared of flying!!”

Back when Alcarion went out of control, I had to stop her by skydiving… without a parachute.

If I’d done that by choice, maybe it wouldn’t have scarred me so badly.

But thanks to that drunkard princess—no, Ailynn—I ended up a little traumatized.

To be honest… I was scared of flying.

Still, if I didn’t fly, Alcarion’s whole plan might fall apart.

What was I supposed to do…?

“Enough of this nonsense! You’re wasting time!!”

“Wahhh!?”

Salion suddenly grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and tossed me into the air.

Then caught me on her back.

Ow!! I landed hard—right between the legs!!

While using Perfect Regeneration to erase the pain, I turned to Salion and protested.

“No more violence! No more violence!”

“Then fly.

“Can we talk about this first!? Wait—whoa—”

“If you open your mouth midair, you’ll bite your tongue.”

The scenery blurred past in an instant.

Then, with a powerful flap of her wings, Salion shot up into the sky.

I clamped my legs tightly around the saddle and clung on for dear life, gripping the reins as hard as I could.

Before this, Rosemary had given me a quick crash course on how to ride a wyvern.

But Salion wasn’t just any wyvern—

Her speed and lift were on a whole different level.

The wind pressure alone felt like it could crush me.

If I wasn’t careful, it might actually snap my bones.

I hurriedly used Perfect Regeneration to heal myself as we flew, keeping my skeleton intact.

If I didn’t have this special helmet thing—one of those magical tools that helps dragon knights breathe at high speeds—I probably would’ve suffocated by now.

Empire tech really was something else.

Meanwhile, Salion left Rosemary and her wyvern far behind in the blink of an eye.

“How is it? Comfortable ride, isn’t it?”

“—!!”

Salion spoke directly into my mind, like some kind of telepathy.

So yeah, I could hear her just fine.

But unfortunately… she couldn’t hear me.

No matter how hard I screamed “Slow down!! I’m gonna die!!”

It didn’t reach her at all.

In fact—

“Oh-ho! Still not fast enough, I see!!”

She sped up even more.

This damn smug little loli dragon… I swear, I’m going to make her cry in bed later. Seriously.

Despite all my silent pleading, she just kept accelerating.

My whole body kept creaking like my bones were snapping nonstop, and there was no way I could enjoy the view at this speed.

Pretty sure we were breaking the sound barrier at this point.

From what I’d heard, a regular wyvern’s cruising speed was around 300 kilometers per hour.

The enhanced ones were supposed to be even faster, but even they didn’t come close to Salion.

It felt like I was clinging to a modern Japanese fighter jet, getting slammed by the wind.

Not that I’d ever done that, so I couldn’t say for sure… but that’s what it felt like.

“—!!”

I started smacking her scales as hard as I could, trying to signal her to stop—

But with those thick scales, she didn’t even notice.

This is bad. I’m gonna die.

I could feel my consciousness slipping…

“Hm? —nwa!?”

Bit by bit, everything went dark.

My hands let go of the reins.

That weightless feeling hit me as I started falling through the sky.

Salion scrambled to catch me, but she clearly wasn’t good at diving.

She was just barely not going to make it in time.

“Gahh!?”

I must’ve blacked out for only a second.

Because when I woke up—

I was lying on a soft, fluffy bed.

Looking up, I saw a giant hole in the ceiling.

…Did I crash into someone’s house?

“Maybe if I bow and apologize, they’ll forgive me…?”

Come to think of it—I fell from the sky at a pretty crazy speed.

So how was I even alive right now?

Did I use Perfect Regeneration without realizing it?

No… if that were the case, my body wouldn’t be in pain.

And yeah—it definitely still hurt.

“…you okay…?”

“Huh?”

Someone spoke to me, and I turned toward the voice.

There sat a girl with emerald green hair, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she slowly sat up.

Her soft, wavy hair shimmered faintly in the light.

Despite her small, delicate build, she was wearing a nightgown—a bit much for me to handle right now.

But I recognized her immediately.

She was the little girl who’d clung to my sleeve and fallen asleep when I was kidnapped before—

Clyne.

“Ah—wait, this place… is this the imperial castle?”

“…mmh…”

Apparently, I had been flung over the capital and crash-landed right above the royal castle—

Specifically, through the ceiling of Clyne’s room.

No wonder she woke up.

Anyone would if a person literally dropped into their bedroom.

So this soft, fluffy bed was actually the luxury bed where Clyne slept every night… huh.

Clyne looked up at me with worried eyes.

“Ah—um, I’m okay. Really. Sorry for the trouble…”

“…mmh. …come.”

“Huh?”

“…mmh.”

Clyne sat upright on the bed, legs folded under her in a neat kneel, and gently patted her lap.

Was she… offering me a lap pillow?

“Yes, please!!”

Maybe I really was a little messed up right now.

Falling from that high up might’ve left me with injuries so bad that even Perfect Regeneration needed time to fix them.

So just for a bit… resting my head on the lap of a sweet, angelically cute girl shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“…mmh.”

As I gratefully laid my head on her lap, Clyne gently began to stroke my hair.

Her soft, careful touch made me feel sleepy in no time.

“…hey.”

“Hmm?”

“…wanna… sleep together…?”

Wait, that’s a bit much…

Rosemary, Salion, and maybe even others might show up any minute after hearing the commotion.

“Absolutely!!”

But I was exhausted today—so yeah, I was going to sleep.

I was done with the sky for a while.

I curled up in bed beside Clyne and slowly closed my eyes.

Then, Clyne quietly snuggled up against me.

She was just… so cute.

With that warm thought in mind, I drifted off into sleep.

―――――――――――――――――――――

[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “I want a cute little girl to pat my head while I fall asleep next to her.”

R: “Relatable.”

If you thought, “This was totally Salion’s fault,” “Clyne’s adorable,” or “Honestly, this is a perfectly wholesome dream,”—Then please drop a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, or a review!