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 21

Chapter 21: Apparently Feared as the “Mastermind” by Some

And this is an epilogue of sorts.

After wrapping up the aftermath, we left the scene under the protection of Maguire and his men, wary of new enemies taking advantage of the chaos. Up until today, we had been staying with one of the divisions of the Great Lion Knights, the “Sword of the Tail.”

A month passed. Even after confirming there was no danger, I avoided returning to the court mages’ quarters because of what I had done. Instead, I took shelter with Maguire.

Today, from early morning, I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the spacious room they had given me. I prepared the formal robe of a court mage and straightened my appearance.

At that moment, the princess, who had been watching me with a happy smile from the sofa, clapped her hands.

“Well, it looks like you’re ready. Shall we go, Papa?”

“…Yes.”

The princess stood up. Like me, she was dressed in formal attire.

Her beautiful silver hair was adorned with golden threads woven in for decoration. Light makeup enhanced her already artistic, flawless face. She wore a deep purple dress that matched the color of her eyes.

She was as stunning as ever. Dressed up like this, she looked so mature that it was hard to believe she was only two years older than me.

“? Is something wrong, Papa?”

This. This way she calls me Papa.

I thought it was just during that time when her heart was unstable, but ever since then, she has kept doing it. She holds back in front of others, thankfully, but still.

Being called Papa by a girl who is older and almost the same height…doesn’t it give off a kind of forbidden vibe? Well, I can’t say anything about it, so I have no choice but to accept.

“It’s nothing. Um…I was just thinking the dress suits you very well, princess.”

“! Really? Hehe, that makes me happy. It’s a special day today, so I put a lot of effort into choosing it. So I wouldn’t look inferior next to you, Papa.”

“If anyone would look inferior, it’s me. You don’t need to worry. You’re very…beautiful.”

“…~”

Whoa. She suddenly jumped at me.

“Papa, how much are you going to make me happy? …I love you!”

Her face scrunched up with joy as she hugged me tightly.

It was kind of heartwarming. The Papa thing might be going too far, but if this satisfies the princess who never had a normal parent-child relationship before,

“I love you too, Killriera.”

“!! Nn! Papa…!”

She looked at me with a melted expression and hugged me even tighter.

Hehe. She really starts to feel like my actual daughter. What a cute girl.

As I thought that,

I finally noticed someone else’s presence. When I turned my eyes to the room’s entrance, there was Maguire, grinning as he slowly closed the door.

“Sorry for interrupting while you were busy. But it’s about time.”

This is definitely going to lead to another misunderstanding. I can already picture his bad habit of connecting everything to romance adding fuel to the rumors.

“Come on. I’ll hear the details from Albert later. His Majesty is waiting, so let’s go.”

Urged like that, finally,

The princess let go of me. Under Maguire’s escort, we left the room and headed through the palace toward our destination.

The scene shifted to the grand hall in the palace, used for various ceremonies.

Amid a crowd of many nobles, knights, and mages, the princess and I stood at the very front with our backs to the audience. We faced the dignified man across from us—His Majesty.

“And thus, on this occasion, in order to carefully consider and address the recent unstable domestic situation, diplomatic relations, and various widespread concerns—”

Watching him give this speech, he somehow looked like a proper ruler. It was hard to believe he was the same person who, just a month ago, had been rolling on the floor covered in tears.

As I thought that while listening to His Majesty’s words directed at the audience,

“That man, saying such things with what mouth…”

“Princess. Shh. I understand how you feel, though.”

“Yeah…”

The princess looked dissatisfied, but she must have accepted that His Majesty would continue in his position as ruler.

A month ago, on the day I unexpectedly completed the princess’s coup for her, she spoke in front of His Majesty, who had lost all means to protect himself. She asked to leave his fate in her hands.

As for me, since things had gone this far, I was fine going all the way. But I couldn’t do it without her permission, so I had been careful not to take any lives.

So I had no objection to leaving the decision to her. If she couldn’t forgive him, I would kill him. If not, I would have him promise not to harm her and release him.

The wise decision the princess made was answered by the fact that His Majesty was still alive and acting as ruler now.

“Because Papa was far stronger than I imagined,” she had said at the time.

Originally, her goal was just for me to keep working safely in the palace, but her miscalculation was my strength.

If I rarely lost even against many opponents and could use super-powerful healing magic, physically eliminating me was nearly impossible. In that case, her judgment was that it was better to politically “kill” him and let him live in humiliation rather than forcibly take the king’s life and cause unnecessary chaos in the country.

Besides, at that point, His Majesty no longer seemed capable of trying to harm me further.

Even now, he kept glancing at me with fearful eyes. When I smiled back nicely, he gasped, and his speech paused for a moment.

It seemed scary to him that, despite the grudge over Call Village, I so easily left the king’s life and death to the princess without a word.

As for me, I hated His Majesty and couldn’t forgive him for hurting the princess, but honestly, I had no interest in his life or death. As long as he couldn’t do whatever he wanted anymore, anything beyond that didn’t matter to me.

While I observed His Majesty closely, the talk finally reached the main point.

“Taking the above into consideration, as the twelfth king of the Atlas Kingdom, I hereby grant my daughter, First Princess Killriera Atlas, the position of Plenipotentiary Regent of State Affairs.”

Yes. Just as agreed beforehand.

There had never been such a thing as a Plenipotentiary Regent before; it was a new concept created specifically for this occasion. Essentially, it meant she could hold real political power in place of His Majesty.

Everyone present understood that and directed various emotions toward the king: pity, mockery, anger. The king, receiving them, probably just wanted to end this quickly.

But that wasn’t all.

“In addition, as a role to assist Killriera, who will take an important position in the country, both publicly and privately, I grant Senior Court Mage Albert Toll the position of Regent’s Adjutant.”

Those words caused a stir around us.

The princess and I exchanged a quick glance, then turned back to His Majesty. Together, we said,

“We humbly accept.”

And so,

I officially gained the backing of power to remain in this palace. With this, the upheaval that started with His Majesty’s declaration to fire me finally came to a close.

There were still various problems left, like how, for some reason, rumors had spread among some knights and mages that I was a romance scammer plotting to take over the kingdom.

Even so, the immediate issues were mostly resolved, so the rest could be handled slowly.

Feeling a bit relieved, I turned my gaze to the princess beside me.

“From now on…no, from before and forever after, please take care of me as my adjutant, Papa. Praise me a lot again, scold me…”

This concludes one arc!