The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 58: The Abandoned Prince Falls into the Sea

Chapter 58: The Abandoned Prince Falls into the Sea

“Land hoooo!!”

Who knows how much time had passed since we set sail.

The moment someone with sharp eyes shouted from above, the crew burst into cheers across the deck.

Lately, it had been nothing but fish.

Thankfully, one of the Arachne crew members had a hobby of growing vegetables, so we had a small garden onboard.

Thanks to that, we avoided scurvy and didn’t end up vitamin-deficient…

But still—eating the same thing every day gets old fast.

As for Ailynn, she finished off her entire alcohol stash within the first few days.

So now… she was sober.

Well, okay—maybe not entirely sober.

“Ailynn, are you alright?”

“Uuugh… yeah… urp—blerrgh…”

Turns out Ailynn gets seasick.

She was leaning over the deck, throwing up a waterfall into the ocean.

Ah… there’s even a little rainbow in it…

And now that the alcohol had worn off, even her mental state was shaky.

“Ugh… I’m sorry, Reyshel… You probably hate having someone like me as your sister-in-law, huh? I’m always running away into a bottle, never doing anything that makes me a proper big sister… And lately, I’ve been feeling like even my little sisters are going to surpass me, and I should be happy for them as their older sister but instead I just feel scared and—”

Yeah… this was getting bad.

She seemed like she might seriously break down, and honestly—it was tempting to just hand her a drink.

“Ailynn, we’re almost at land!! You can drink as much as you want once we’re there!! So hang in there!!”

“No, I can’t. If I keep running away into alcohol, I’ll just become even more of a failure… As Mom’s daughter, I have to act like it—but I’m so scared and anxious, I feel like my heart’s going to explode…”

“Ugh, umm…”

Ailynn really was difficult to deal with.

When she was drunk, she turned into a complete disaster.

But when she was sober—this happened.

If I gave her alcohol, it’d be a headache.

If I didn’t, I just felt sorry for her.

What was I even supposed to do?

“Hey, Reyshel. It’s mealtime.”

“Huh? Oh—Touka. Wait, already? We’re almost at land—”

“Shut up. Just feed me like usual!!”

“Wait, okay!! I got it, just don’t start pulling down my pants!!”

“I’m starving here!!”

Leaving the very unstable Ailynn behind on the deck, I got dragged away by Touka back into the cabin.

And then, as usual, she yanked my pants down and began her “mealtime.”

Ever since the day she physically attacked me, Touka had been feeding off me like this.

Just like I feared, the billions of life units my faithful sword released were apparently a super nutritious delicacy—and Touka couldn’t get enough.

“Uh… y-you’ve gotten even better at this…”

Unlike a succubus, Touka couldn’t absorb that through skin contact.

Her method was strictly oral.

Maybe that’s why her techniques for draining me had been getting sharper and more efficient by the day.

But still—this was just a meal for her.

She never took things further.

And she never let me take things further, either.

So I was constantly left hanging.

That’s why, to blow off steam, I’d end up doing all sorts of things with the lamia girls, succubi, dark elves, and even some of the Arachne women.

But still…

I missed Rosemary.

I missed Alcarion.

I missed everyone so much it hurt.

Once I got back, I’d make up for all the time we were apart—with all the love I could give.

And then—it happened.

“Whoa!? W-What was that shake!?”

Out of nowhere, the ship shook violently, making me stumble.

But Touka caught me before I fell.

“Careful.”

“Ah—yeah, sorry. Thanks. But wait—what was that just now…?”

“…An attack.”

Touka grinned as she said it, like she was excited.

“W-Why are you smiling!? If we’re under attack, that means enemies are coming!!”

“You really don’t get it, do you? If they’re enemies… I get to eat them.”

With a bounce in her step and a twinkle in her eye, Touka dashed out of the cabin.

She must’ve been headed for the deck.

I tried to stop her, thinking it was way too dangerous—but she was too fast. I couldn’t keep up.

By the time I made it topside, Touka had already leapt off the ship—

And somehow, she ran across the ocean, stepping forward before her foot could even sink.

“W-Whoa—what is she, a ninja!? No, focus!! What is that ship!?”

The ship attacking us looked nothing short of insane.

It was like a floating island.

Our own ship was already pretty large and made of metal, but the enemy ship was at least fifty percent bigger.

And what shocked me even more—it was armed.

Those massive iron barrels lined up like spines on a hedgehog made our super ballista look like a toy in comparison.

Cannons.

And not the old-school kind you’d see on medieval European warships.

These were modern turret-style cannons—like the ones on actual battleships.

“This is bad—really bad!! They’ve locked onto us!! Wait—did they just fire!?”

Suddenly, one of the cannons belched out a blast of pitch-black smoke.

At a glance, it looked like their ship had exploded—but no. That wasn’t it.

Ailynn must’ve sensed what was coming, because she yanked the helm hard, turning us with all her strength.

Just seconds later—a massive geyser of water erupted beside our ship.

If Ailynn hadn’t made that clutch move when she did, we would’ve been blown to pieces.

“Ailynn!! W-What do we do!?”

“I-I don’t know!! What do we do!?”

Without alcohol in her system, Ailynn didn’t have her usual cool. She was clearly shaken.

While she panicked, the enemy fired again.

She managed to swerve the ship and dodge, but with so many cannonballs flying at us, it was impossible to avoid them all.

Two shots hit.

Screams rang out from the dark elf engineers.

“We’re taking on water!! Flooding in Sector One!!”

“Reyshel!! You handle the repairs!! Everyone else, use magic or whatever you can to get the water out!!”

“G-Got it!!”

Following Ailynn’s lead, I activated Perfect Regeneration and started patching up the ship.

Honestly, in this high-stress situation, Ailynn giving orders like that…

She was the coolest and most reliable I’d ever seen her.

“Repairs done!!”

“Then get to the hole in Sector Three next!!”

“On it!!”

“Ahh—again!? They’re firing again!? Ugh, please help us, Mom!!”

The enemy bombardment wasn’t letting up.

At this rate… we really might not make it.

Should I start mentally preparing for death?

No—no. Not yet.

As long as I’m here, I can keep repairing the ship.

Or… so I thought—until that moment.

“H-Hey!! There’s a hole on the other side!! A ton of water’s coming in!!”

“Hek!! Look out!!”

“Wha—!?”

Hek had come to warn us about another breach—

But just then, a cannonball hit nearby, and a burst of metal shrapnel flew straight at her.

She barely managed to dodge thanks to my panicked shout, but in that exact moment—

“Huh?”

She was thrown right off the deck, flying out over the ocean.

Ailynn and the others were too busy dealing with the chaos to even notice.

I acted on instinct and reached out toward her.

“Watch out!!”

“—Ha!? W-Wait, what are you—!?”

I managed to grab her and yank her back toward the ship—

But in the process, I lost my footing…

And I was the one who got tossed into the sea.

Ah—crap.

The waves swallowed me up instantly.
And just like that, I blacked out.

―――――――――――――――――――――

[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “Getting a surprise bj from a busty loli… I’m jealous!!”

R: “Lmao.”

If you thought, “So jealous!!” “Ailynn was seriously cool this time,” or “Yeah, even Hek would fall for him now,” —don’t forget to leave a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, or review!