The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 79: The Abandoned Prince Gets a Strange Sense of Déjà Vu

Chapter 79: The Abandoned Prince Gets a Strange Sense of Déjà Vu

“Alright. Everyone’s treatment is done, so let’s start planning our jailbreak.”

“Well, maybe don’t shout that so loudly.”

“……”

After I healed the beastkin’s legs, everyone was finally able to move again.

Naturally, the next step was planning our escape.

…Or at least, that was the plan.

Unfortunately, we got caught immediately.

By Ibara.

“…W-We haven’t actually done anything yet! It’s just a plan! We’re still in the planning phase!”

“Nhfufu.”

“Eek!? U-Um, l-listen! If you lay a hand on me, you’re gonna regret it!!”

“You’re threatening me in this situation? That’s a new one.”

My desperate resistance meant absolutely nothing.

Ibara simply grabbed me and dragged me right out of the cell.

This is bad. Seriously bad.

At this rate… am I going to be killed?

Would she forgive me if I just dropped to my knees and begged?

“A-Ah!! Please wait!! Don’t do anything terrible to Reyshel-sama!!”

And right then—

Lapi stepped forward, trembling as she called out to stop Ibara.

Huh?

Is she some kind of goddess?

Though… when did she start calling me “Reyshel-sama” instead of “Reyshel-san”?

That part bothered me a little.

With tears in her eyes, Lapi pleaded with Ibara.

In response, Ibara gave a troubled smile—one that didn’t feel malicious at all.

“Relax. I’m not gonna eat him or anything. I just have a small favor to ask.”

“R-Really?”

“Course. I don’t lie, ya know?”

Ibara looked at Lapi with a gentle expression, almost like she was calming a child, and softly patted her head.

When I first heard about Ibara from Lapi, I wasn’t sure if I should believe it.

But seeing it now, it was true—at least when it came to Lapi, Ibara didn’t seem scary at all.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

And just like that, I was dragged off again to who-knows-where.

This is bad. Really bad.

Man… I’m scared.

“Um, Ibara. Where exactly are you taking me?”

“Like I said earlier. There’s someone we want you to heal, bro.”

“Someone… important?”

Ibara answered without hesitation.

“The boss of Onigashima. The Kijin princess. She collapsed from some weird illness nobody can figure out.”

“An unknown illness?”

“The problem is, us Kijin aren’t exactly united. The princess wants us to get along with beastkin and humans. But some of the others… well, they’d rather eat ’em.”

“…Yeah. That explains a lot.”

I nodded, finally understanding what she meant.

So Ibara belonged to the princess’s faction—the group that wanted peace with humans.

“Then right now, the ones running Onigashima are the ‘let’s eat humans’ group?”

“Yep. Ever since the princess collapsed, they’ve been acting all high and mighty. Pisses me off. It’s not like we need humans to survive. Livestock works just fine.”

“…A friendly Kijin, huh.”

If I actually managed to heal the princess, there was a chance the Kijin of Onigashima would stop attacking Ashuhara.

We might even be able to build a friendly relationship.

The problem was that even if the princess recovered, there were clearly plenty of people who saw her as an obstacle.

Actually… now that I think about it, that “unknown illness” might not be so mysterious after all.

“By the way, Ibara. Aren’t you part of the ‘eat humans’ faction? When we first met, you tried to gouge my eyes out.”

“Nhfufu. When I fall for a man, I like bullying him a little.”

“Scary… Wait, did you just say fall for?”

“Before this, I secretly went to Ashuhara to see the cherry blossoms. That’s when I saw you fighting that duel. You looked amazing. Covered in blood like that—it must’ve hurt like hell. But you didn’t hesitate. Didn’t back down. And that’s when…”

“!?”

Ibara suddenly turned toward me and traced her slender fingers across my chest.

Ah—hey—wait, that tickles!!

“That’s when I fell for you. So much I almost want to eat you up.”

“I-Is that the good kind of ‘eat’… or the scary kind?”

“Both.”

“…I-I’m already married…”

At this rate, I was going to get eaten.

And in both meanings of the word.

Touka had directed her appetite at me before, sure.

But somehow…

Ibara felt far more dangerous.

I tried to shut down her advances by bringing up the fact that I was already married…

But it didn’t look like that excuse was going to save me.

“Nhfufu. I actually looked into you a little. Since you’re always fooling around with other women, that excuse doesn’t sound very convincing.”

“Hiie!?”

Sure, it’s nice being popular with beautiful girls…

But Ibara is honestly terrifying!!

“Well, jokes aside… stay quiet for a bit.”

“Eh? O-Okay.”

Ibara’s expression suddenly turned serious.

Following her gaze, I saw a large Kijin walking toward us from the other end of the hallway.

The guy was huge—nothing but muscle.

“Aah? Ain’t that Ibara? What’re you doing here?”

“Oh my, Masura-san. It’s not like I have to report every little thing I do to you, right?”

“…Don’t get cocky. With the princess bedridden, the strongest one around here is me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure thing.”

The two Kijin locked eyes, glaring at each other.

The pressure in the air was intense. It was so heavy I almost felt like shrinking where I stood.

But since Ibara told me to stay quiet, I kept my mouth shut.

“Huh? What’s with that human?”

“My new prey. Touch him and I’ll kill you.”

“Ain’t interested in a guy’s meat. If it’s human, women are better. Human girls taste the best.”

“The ones in the underground prison are my prey too. Eat them and I’ll kill you.”

“…Hmph.”

They continued glaring at each other as they passed by, clearly warning one another.

Only after he was gone did the tension finally fade.

My legs nearly gave out on the spot.

Ibara let out a small laugh.

“Nhfufu. You handled Masura’s pressure pretty well. As expected of the man I fell for.”

“W-Who was that Kijin? The pressure he gave off was insane.”

“The strongest Kijin on Onigashima right now—Masura. Leader of the ‘eat humans’ faction. Honestly though, he’s just a big idiot, so don’t worry too much about him. The real problem is his right-hand man. But we’ll talk about that later… for now—here we are.”

“Huh?”

Ibara stopped in front of a door.

She knocked lightly, opened it, then stepped inside and waved me over.

“E-Excuse me…”

I stepped into the dim room.

The candlelight gave just enough illumination to see where I was going, but it was still so dark that I almost lost sight of Ibara walking ahead.

After moving deeper inside, we reached something that looked like an altar.

No… actually, it was probably closer to a bed.

Lying on the hard stone surface was a small girl.

She looked about ten years old.

Even younger than Lapi—about the same small size as Salion.

Her hair was a pale violet color.

“…This kind of looks like a little girl being offered as a sacrifice.”

“Nhfufu. Try not to call our princess a sacrifice, alright?”

Ibara said that with a smile…

But—

“I want you to heal this young lady.”

“…Alright. But in return, I want a promise. No more attacks on Ashuhara. And the beastkin being held on Onigashima get released. Also… if possible, let’s try to get along. We’re neighbors, after all.”

“Nhfufu. You really are an interesting man. Worrying this much about another country.”

“…Are you going to promise or not?”

“Once the princess wakes up, everything will sort itself out. So yeah—I promise.”

If that was the deal, then fine.

Let’s do it.

I placed my hand on the girl lying on the altar and activated Perfect Regeneration.

“…Huh? This is…”

“Mm…”

“Ah.”

The moment I noticed something strange while healing her—

The princess’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

“Nh… where am I…? I…”

“You’re awake?”

“……”

“Um… hello? You’re conscious, right?”

“……”

For some reason, the princess froze the moment she saw my face.

Uh… what?

Why that reaction?

“I… have found the man destined for me.”

“Huh?”

“Sir whose name I do not yet know!! Please become my husband!!”

…Wait a second.

Why does this feel familiar?

Didn’t this exact same thing happen with Alcarion before…?

[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “I think both big oni girls and small oni girls are cute.”

R: “The first one’s fine, but the second one should probably be reported.”

Author: “If anyone’s getting arrested, it’d be you for actually touching them.”

R: “Nope. The one getting arrested would be the author who wrote it.”

Author & R: “…Tch.”

Author: “I’ve started posting a new series: Starting a Skill Farm with a Clumsy Goddess–Freshly Harvested Skills Delivered Straight from the Source. If you’ve got some free time, feel free to check it out.”

If you found yourself thinking: “Just how big is this harem going to get?”, “This feels weirdly familiar…”, or “Stop fighting already”—then please leave a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, or review!