The Abandoned Prince Heals an Enemy Soldier on the Frontlines, Only to Discover She’s the Seventh Imperial Princess - Chapter 80: The Abandoned Prince Gets Attached to by a Princess

Chapter 80: The Abandoned Prince Gets Attached to by a Princess

“U-Um… Princess?”

“Oh my, Reyshel-sama. Please, call me Tomoe.”

The Kijin princess—

Now known as Tomoe—

Had gotten ridiculously attached to me.

Well… I can’t say I mind being liked.

Her horns have been jabbing my cheeks for a while now, but that’s… manageable.

That’s not the problem.

The real problem is—

“Fufufu. You truly are my destined one, my love♡ Anyone who tries to tear our love apart will never be forgiven♡ I’ll tear them apart myself♡”

Her eyes are terrifying.

Seriously terrifying.

I’ve met a lot of beautiful women in my life…

But she might have the most dangerous eyes of them all.

“Um, Ibara. Ibara. Please help.”

“Nhfufu.”

“T-That’s the face of someone who has zero intention of helping…”

I looked toward Ibara, who was watching Tomoe cling to me from nearby, hoping she’d step in.

But she just smiled brightly… and completely ignored me.

Hey!!

Didn’t you say earlier that you liked me!?

If you like me, shouldn’t you help me here!?

N-No, calm down.

First I need to explain things properly to Tomoe.

Like the fact that I already have several wives… and quite a few other women I’m close with.

“Uh, Tomoe. The thing is… I’m actually already married. I have several wives, and there are other women I’m close with too—”

“……”

Whoa!!

Those eyes are terrifying!!

Her pupils just blew wide open!!

“…I see. So that means I simply have to defeat those women, correct?”

“That’s not correct!! No, wait—listen! I’m a terrible guy, alright!? Tomoe, you’re cute, so I’m sure you could find someone way better than me!”

“My♡ Did you just call me cute?♡ My heart is racing with happiness♡”

This little oni girl is hopeless.

She apparently only hears the words she likes.

“…Tomoe. Let’s talk seriously for a moment. I can’t become your lover.”

“Oh my, why not?”

“Why… well…”

—Because your eyes look completely unhinged.

—Because you just said you’d tear apart anyone who tried to separate us.

It’s not that Tomoe isn’t my type or anything.

I mean, I can be with girls like Salion or Clyne just fine.

Even lamias are fair game for me.

But if there’s even the slightest chance she might harm the women close to me, then I can’t accept that.

If anything ever happened to Rosemary—or the child she’s carrying—

I’d never forgive it.

I’d chase the culprit to the ends of the earth if I had to.

That’s why what Tomoe said earlier scared me.

So I explained all of that and prepared to firmly reject her confession again.

“My goodness!! That is quite rude of you, Reyshel-sama!!”

“Huh?”

“I would never be so barbaric as to hurt someone precious to you!!”

…Huh?

Wait.

What?

“But earlier you said you’d physically tear apart anyone who tried to separate us…”

“Yes, of course. Anyone who tries to come between Reyshel-sama and me will be torn to pieces. Then I’ll boil them and feed them to the fish.”

“Eek.”

“But even if Reyshel-sama already has wives and lovers, I don’t believe that would break the bond between us. In fact, I’m rather inexperienced with nighttime matters, so having people I could learn from would be helpful. I apologize if my earlier words caused confusion.”

…Huh?

Wait a second.

Is Tomoe actually a really nice girl who just sounds terrifying?

Just then, Ibara let out a quiet chuckle.

“Nhfufu. The princess just has a way of saying things that sounds dangerous. Nothing for ya to worry about, bro.”

“I-Ibara…”

Now I understood why Ibara hadn’t helped me earlier.

She’d just been enjoying watching me panic.

You evil oni girl!!

Ignoring the glare I sent her, Ibara turned to Tomoe and dropped to one knee.

“Tomoe-sama.”

“You don’t need to explain, Ibara. While I was unconscious, Masura probably started attacking Ashuhara, didn’t he?”

“…Yes. That’s correct.”

“Masura listens to me. If I speak with him, he’ll understand. The real problem is his right-hand person—the woman he brought here from the outside world.”

“?”

Not really following the conversation anymore, I tilted my head in confusion.

That right-hand person of Masura they were talking about… was that the troublesome one Ibara mentioned earlier?

And if she was “from the outside world,” then she probably wasn’t a Kijin.

“I fell into that deep sleep because of a cup Masura’s aide gave me.”

“…Wait. Don’t tell me it was poisoned?”

“No. I checked earlier, and there were no traces of poison on it. It’s possible they cleaned it afterward… but the moment I used that cup, my body suddenly felt heavy, and I fell asleep.”

“Ah, that’s not poison.”

““??””

I felt a little bad interrupting them, but this was something I needed to say.

“Not poison?”

“The reason Tomoe fell asleep wasn’t poison. It was a curse. I’ve seen this exact curse before.”

There was no way I could forget it.

Because the curse eating away at Tomoe’s body was the same one that had affected Alcarion and Olivia.

A curse that slowly weakens its target until it eventually kills them.

Though compared to the one cast on Alcarion, this one wasn’t as strong.

It was about the same level as the curse that had been placed on Olivia.

“So what you’re saying is—the one who tried to curse your wives to death and the one who tried to kill our princess… might be the same person?”

“Yeah. If possible, I want to catch them. If they’re just some disposable pawn they might not know much… but still.”

I had no intention of letting someone who targeted my wives run free.

“Then let us go.”

“Huh? Go where?”

“To deal with Masura and the others.”

Tomoe said that with a sweet, adorable smile.

…While talking about something extremely violent.

A little scary.

And so—

We went to see Masura.

“P-Princess Tomoe!? Y-You’re awake!?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for worrying everyone.”

“N-No!! Not at all!! Just seeing you awake again is enough for me, Princess!!”

“Fufu. Thank you.”

Masura clearly respected Tomoe a lot.

When he was talking with Ibara earlier, his glare was terrifying.

But now he looked as quiet and obedient as a house cat.

Though honestly…

The scary one here was—

“By the way, Masura. It seems you’ve been doing quite a lot of as you pleased while I was asleep, haven’t you?”

“T-That… well…”

Masura was obviously happy that the master he admired had woken up.

But he also seemed to understand that what he’d been doing went against Tomoe’s wish to build friendly relations with humans.

Right now, he was trembling like crazy.

If he was this scared, maybe he shouldn’t have done those things in the first place…

Then again, among the Kijin the rule seemed pretty simple.

The strongest one is always right.

So when Tomoe fell into a deep sleep and stopped waking up, he probably got carried away.

If you suddenly became number one, it’s easy to imagine someone doing whatever they wanted.

Luckily, thanks to Ibara, the beastkin hadn’t been eaten.

So the relationship between Onigashima and Ashuhara might still be salvageable.

“So then, Masura. Where’s that right-hand person of yours?”

“Huh? You mean Farna? No idea. That woman disappears whenever she feels like it.”

“Honestly… dealing with idiots is exhausting. That Farna woman is the one who tried to kill the princess, you know?”

“W-What!? T-That woman!!”

And right then—

Something strange happened.

“Huh…? Gah—guh!!”

“““!?”””

Masura suddenly coughed up a massive amount of blood.

The amount was shocking.

I immediately rushed forward, touched him, and activated Perfect Regeneration.

But—

Nothing happened.

“Gah!! W-What the—what’s happening to me!?”

“…He’s…”

“Bro!! Hurry and heal Masura-san!!”

“I-It’s impossible. I can’t do anything.”

Maybe the panic was showing on my face.

Ibara and Tomoe rushed toward me, demanding an explanation.

But impossible was impossible.

“My Perfect Regeneration can restore people or objects to their normal state. But… it can’t bring someone back from the dead.”

“…What?”

“What do you mean?”

“Masura is already dead. He was a living corpse.”

It was a feeling I knew far too well from the battlefield.

The same sensation from when I used Perfect Regeneration on someone I thought I could still save… only to realize they were already gone.

I was certain.

The Kijin named Masura had died long ago.

The one standing in front of us now was somehow a corpse that still retained consciousness.

Just as I was trying to process something that made absolutely no sense—

“Well now. It seems you’ve interfered with my plans once again.”

Masura suddenly spoke in a completely different tone.

Like he had become an entirely different person.

And then, without anyone even asking—

He began explaining everything himself.

[Afterword]

A Random Tidbit

Author: “I like super-heavy yandere heroines… but I prefer the moderate kind. The kind that don’t hurt unrelated people. I’d like to be hurt by that kind of yandere.”

R: “You masochist…”

Author: “Is there a problem with that?”

If you found yourself thinking: “Hey, it’s a loli heroine!!” “Wow, things got serious for once.” or “The author is surprisingly honest about this,” —then please leave a comment, bookmark, ★ rating, or review!