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 2 - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Confession

“Okay, princess. No one’s listening anymore—so tell me what you’re really aiming for.”

I stepped right up in front of her as I said it.

Suu-san, standing next to me, was already growling, “Hurry up and spit it out already—!”

The princess glanced at me real quick, then dropped her eyes again. Maybe she’s feeling guilty about all the stuff she did when we were enemies.

I was wondering about that when she suddenly lifted her face like she’d made up her mind—

“W-whoa… your cheeks are bright red…”

“Sh-shut up! Don’t say that, Papa! I’m trying to gather my courage right now…!”

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry?”

She looked so embarrassed, scrunching her brows together—it was kinda cute.

The princess cleared her throat with a tiny, adorable “kohon” to pull herself together. When she looked at me again, her eyes still had this lingering heat in them.

Maybe trying to calm down, she let out a soft breath and her gaze drifted around a little.

But right then—maybe something caught her eye—she looked toward the barrier, toward Mel-chan and Leo, and in that instant… her whole expression changed.

What showed on her face wasn’t the frustration or embarrassment from a second ago.

It was—urgency, resolve, fierce obsession. And straight-up, stubborn… devotion.

“…Princess?”

And then.

She took a slow breath in through her nose and quietly opened her mouth.

“—Papa, you keep saying you’re not worth much… but that’s not true. In this whole world, you’re the single most irreplaceable, most precious person. I’m never letting you go anywhere again…”

Seeing the completely serious look on her face as she said it, no joke, no playing around—

…Yeah, lately I’ve been fully aware. I know how intensely the princess is fixated on me.

She cares about me way more than I care about myself. And, well… sometimes she goes pretty extreme and kinda stomps over everyone else, but she’s desperately doing it all for my sake.

Even so—I was still way too naive about it. If I really wanna protect and support her, the very first thing I should do is actually look at her properly, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been falling short there.

Her clear, see-through eyes pierced straight through me, shining with something that almost looked like faith.

“So… I thought about it a lot. A whole lot. What I wanna do, what I have to do. I thought and thought and thought………… And then I decided.”

And then.

The princess said it.

“—I’m going to make Papa the king of Atlas…!”

………………

Huh?

For a second I wasn’t even sure I heard the same words I thought I knew. But… that’s the only thing it could be…

“King… like, the king king? The actual monarch?”

It was so shocking I seriously wondered if I misheard. I couldn’t even connect this to why she’d sided with the Church of the Supreme Star this time.

While I was standing there totally lost, the princess let out a relieved breath like she’d just finished a huge task.

“…Phew, I finally said it…! So, um, of course there are a few big obstacles we have to get past to make you king. First is bloodline. About that…”

“—I didn’t mishear. …Sorry, princess, just a sec? Are you seriously trying to make me… the king of the Atlas Kingdom…?”

“…Yeah. That’s exactly it. I figured you’d be shocked, and maybe you’d say no, so it was really hard to bring myself to say it………… So… is it no good?”

She looked up at me with this mix of anxiety and clinging sweetness in her expression.

No, wait—forget how I feel about it for a second.

“There’s no way, right? I’m not even nobility, let alone royalty.”

“Ugh, that’s exactly what I was gonna explain! The bloodline problem can be solved super easily.”

Before I could even ask how, her cheeks flushed bright red again and she looked away from me as she said,

“—If, if you and I… um… get married! Then the bloodline issue disappears!”

Oh…

Man, I’ve been hit with too many bombshells since earlier—my brain’s not working right.

“Actually… the absolute best would’ve been if you married my mother! Then you’d get succession rights and you’d officially become my papa on paper too, it would’ve been perfect…! But, y’know, my mom disappeared when I was little…”

She started talking really fast, almost tripping over her words.

Sure, a royal consort becomes part of the royal family, I guess that checks out. But wait—what happens to His Majesty in that case? Please don’t tell me you’re gonna say “kill him again” like before…

While I was racking my brain trying to figure out what to say to the princess, who kept sneaking glances at me,

“—That’s obviously NO GOOD!!”

The almost-shout came from… Suu-san.

She was staring at the princess like she was looking at a total lunatic and kept going.

“I was so stunned I just blanked out for a sec…! You always call Al-kun ‘Papa’ in this completely unhinged way! You do know normal parents and kids don’t get married, right?!”

“Ugh… you’re so loud. We’re not actually blood-related parent and child, so there’s zero problem with us getting married.”

“Ohhh, you finally said it out loud! That makes the whole ‘Papa’ thing even weirder, you massive father-con…!”

Ahh… the conversation’s starting to spiral. Gotta get it back on track…

“Um, princess… Even if marriage isn’t allowed, still—why did you even start thinking about something like this in the first place?”

“It is allowed! I’ve already thought it through. And the reason’s simple… Papa might not have noticed, but you’re actually in a really dangerous spot. It’s seriously messed up, but there’s no telling when or who might try to take your life…”

Hm. Makes sense if it’s because I’m in a position kinda like one of her personal guards.

“But if Papa becomes king, then no one can complain—I can surround you with as many guards as I want! And if we’ve built up a solid enough foundation to even reach the throne, that alone makes it way harder for any shady people to move against you…!”

“Yeah, sure, that’s true, but… going that far just for…”

Isn’t that kinda overkill? I don’t even know how bad the situation she thinks I’m in really is.

Is my safety seriously the only reason?

Suu-san, brows raised high, voiced the totally normal question I was thinking.

“That’s obviously so the princess can keep Al-kun glued to her side forever! She’s trying to chain you down with some massive responsibility!”

“That’s…—!”

“See? Bullseye! You hear that, Al-kun? No way, no way—you can’t fall for her smooth talk! One slip and you’ll end up devoting your whole life to that sneaky princess!”

“…Mmmph…”

Both of them were staring at me like they wanted to say something.

Suu-san might be exaggerating a bit, but yeah, it did feel like the princess was hiding some other motives.

While I was thinking that—

“…Ugh. Papa… don’t you wanna? Being with me forever…”

She kinda glared, but her eyes looked anxious too.

“…It’s not like there’s some other girl, right—? Ever since that lie you told back then, I’ve had people thoroughly checking everyone around you, so there shouldn’t be any mistakes…”

Suddenly the air got heavy. The light in her eyes vanished and what she was saying turned kinda ominous.

Oh yeah… I did lie to His Majesty about that once. Now that I know how much she really cares about me, I feel awful about it.

So don’t worry anymore.

Because.

“—If something as worthless as my life is okay with you… I already gave it to you and everyone else a long time ago.”

“!!”

“…‘Everyone else’? Does that include me? Can I take that as including me!? Hey!?”

“Papa…! Then, in that case—”

And with a relieved look on her face, what the princess said next was—

“—I’m so glad I made Papa’s fight public after all! Having that recording or not makes the path to becoming king completely different…!”

Wha… public? Wait—you mean somewhere besides right here?

Princess, no—going that serious about it is—way too much…!