The Invincible Aloof Yandere Princess Falls in Love with Her Younger Court Mage's Fatherly Warmth! ~She Clung to Him So Much That the King Fired Him. When He Made Marriage His Official Reason for Resigning Under Royal Order, the Light Vanished from the Princess's Eyes~ - Volume 1 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Crouching Dragon, Still Sleeping Beneath the Rubble

Third-person perspective.

—

“Eh?”

The spilled voice belonged to the girl who until moments ago had been shouting her love for Albert.

Killriera looked beside her, behind the shield for one that Albert had made, at the spot where he had just been standing.

Right before, she had faintly seen him push Killriera behind the shield and turn his hand toward the direction where the king and the others had come from. Then in the next instant he was swallowed by black murky flames, and just now from behind her came the roaring sound of something crashing into the wall.

Her mind filled with question marks. Confusion, blank shock… and then, belatedly—from overhead, something rod-shaped, charred completely black, fell down.

Looking closely, it had a structure like a spread hand at one end. At the opposite end, a familiar mage’s robe was caught on it.

Faced with that unbearable sight, her brain refused to comprehend.

“Hahaha, as expected. Did he burn away leaving just one arm? Or was he blown away with the flames and now lies dead under the rubble?”

“We have at least eliminated one obstacle to His Majesty. Regrettably, however, Her Highness still appears to be unharmed.”

What are they saying? They spoke as if they had merely plucked an insignificant weed, but could they mean Albert?

His arm burned off, his body under the rubble? And even… d-dead…?

Killriera looked at the charred arm on the floor. It was as if it reached out for help, the open palm turned toward Killriera…

Eh? This… Albert’s?

When her understanding finally caught up with reality, belatedly.

“Ah, ah. Huh? Aaaah—!?”

A voice came from her throat on its own. Her body moved by itself.

Killriera picked up the arm and clutched it tightly to her chest, then ran backward without sparing a glance for the king and the others.

Silver light—something like magical power—flashed even more intensely, and each step she took shattered the floor and scattered fragments. She reached the far wall of the vast hall in an instant and began digging through the collapsed rubble with her bare hands.

“Aaaaaa wait, wait. I’ll get you out now, it’s dark in there. Right away, aaaaaa—”

No good, no, right away. She muttered deliriously while frantically picking up rubble and hurling it aside at tremendous speed.

Words were hurled at her back.

“What an utterly disgraceful sight… Killriera. Royalty should not kneel for lowly, disrespectful commoners.”

“Hahaha, Your Majesty. She can no longer be called royalty. A princess who raised arms to kill Your Majesty—a coup plotter—should be stripped not only of succession rights but of her very status. And she should atone for her crimes.”

“Yes. That is probably correct. Though it pains my heart to do this to my own daughter… It is for the peace of the nation. No choice.”

“Then?”

“Yes. A daughter who threatens her father’s position… Please take care of it.”

“Ha.”

Such a conversation, like a badly acted play. Killriera no longer even registered that noise in her ears.

But the Court Mage Commander built up his enormous magical power further. The pressure that seemed to crush everything around him, befitting his position, was the complete opposite of Albert’s ever-serene spellcasting.

And his unique magic [Black Flame], a higher fire-attribute ability, was also power that Albert did not possess.

He prepared to wield it once more against the princess Killriera, when—

“I won’t let you harm my master…!”

Karen and the three shadows tried to leap at the Court Mage Commander to stop him.

“Fallen failures. Baring fangs at His Majesty is a disgrace to the shadow clan.”

“Gah!”

Figures wearing the same outfits as Karen and the others emerged from behind the king and the Court Mage Commander, restraining Karen and her group.

“You lot are headed to the punishment cells after this. Prepare yourselves.”

“I, da, ug”

They were beaten roughly. No matter how they struggled, they could not escape the restraints.

With the interference gone, the Court Mage Commander gathered his magic again and turned his hand toward Killriera, who paid no attention whatsoever as she searched for Albert in the rubble.

“Do not resent me, Your Highness. At least allow me to send you to the next world without pain.”

He channeled magic through the appearing magic circle and chanted.

“[Black Flame]—Spider’s Thread”

What was released toward her defenseless back was a rope-like band of flame made from bundled thin threads. It heated the air as it advanced straight, seeming moments away from piercing Killriera from behind, but—

“That! Is perhaps a bit too hasty!”

At the moment of impact, a figure slipped in between the spell and Killriera and readied a sword.

That figure—the knight in the knight corps armor, whom Albert had called “knight big brother”—swung his knight sword cloaked in green light straight at the approaching flaming rope.

The long flame was split left and right by the sword blade, continued through the air for a while, avoided Killriera, and struck the ground.

The abnormality of cutting magic with a sword. Yet the Court Mage Commander recognized it, suppressed his agitation, and spoke.

“You are—Grand Lion Knight Order, division commander of the ‘Tail Sword’, Lord Maguire…?”

—

Poor thing is cute… If only there were more good guys like Maguire, things wouldn’t have come to this.