Third Princess Yerina Friedelia. She turned 14 this year, therefore, she was qualified to participate in the succession battle of the superpower ‘Friedelia Empire’, which spanned over half of the continent.
No, rather than qualified, as a princess, she was forced to take part in the struggle. After all, as long as she was a member of the royal family, it was impossible for her to refuse to participate. If she gives up or refuses to participate, only death awaits her.
In addition to her life, the lives of all her attendants and every noble house who followed her would also be taken for the felony of supporting a princess who failed to become the Empress. It was nothing but a cruel and merciless treatment, but it was said that this culture of Friedelia was the reason why the Empire of Friedelia was the most powerful nation in the world. In order to survive, to qualify to become the Empress, the princesses were forced into extreme conditions and finished a more perfect and systematic education course.
“Interesting.” While chewing popcorn, Yoo Seodam who disguised himself as a woodcutter heard the story about the succession battle. The old-fashioned carriage which they boarded was neither very convenient nor comfortable enough for him to relax. He felt that his ass was about to break but he could still bear it to some extent.
“…it is an implicit rule not to bring in outsiders to the battle, but somehow, we ended up bringing you in. We are very sorry about that." Saeran, Yerina’s exclusive maid, said with an apologetic face. Together with her, Yerina herself bowed her head all the way to the ground with an apologetic expression as well, but Yoo Seodam only picked his ear and responded bluntly.
“I have no intention of receiving an apology from an exclusive maid.”
"Pardon?"
“It’s my decision to serve the Princess. And it was the Princess's decision to hire me. So, I will not blame anyone if something bad happens to me. By the way, is it okay for a maid to apologize on behalf of the Princess?”
"Ah…" At that time, Saeran hurriedly bowed her head toward Yerina. "Princess. I apologize for acting presumptuously.”
"No, that's fine. I know that you only do actions that benefit me. Saeran was smarter and more thoughtful than me, so it's no wonder you are concerned."
"Thank you very much, Princess. I will think more carefully in the future.”
‘Hmmm…’ Yoo Seodam looked at Yerina and Saeran while stroking his chin. He was trying to figure out what their relationship truly is. He thought that their relationship was nothing more than a ‘master-maid relationship’, however, now, he was sure that Saeran truly supported the princess she served.
‘She’s a loyal woman.’
However, he still had some questions in his head. Why were there only two of them? Where’s the princess’ other attendants?
Neither the princess nor the maid could properly answer that question and only hung their heads in shame. At that moment, Yoo Seodam could roughly understand the situation, but he still pushed them to tell him the full story.
“As I said earlier, whoever supports the defeated princess in the succession battle will be executed. So, of course, competent knights, wizards, and nobles will be siding with the princess who has a higher chance of winning…”
"Right…"
“First Princess Perina Friedelia. She is the prime candidate for the throne. You can literally call her the next Empress already. Her ‘guardian' is the Duke of Maracello and Haivan, a great War Hero who stopped the ‘Great Civil War’ in the past with his own knights.”
“What a cool guy…”
“Second Princess Kerina Friedelia. After the Hero ‘Ivan’ was attached as her guardian, she formed a power and network comparable to that of the First Princess. Even if Kerina Friedelia loses the battle for the throne, it is said that if she revolts, the empire will be shaken violently.”
“Hmmm…”
Guardian of the First Princess, a War Hero.
Guardian of the Second princess, a Hero.
And the guardian of the Third Princess…
Yoo Seodam, a woodcutter.
By that fact alone, it was clear to see just how bad Yerina’s situation was.
“Ha, but! It doesn’t mean that princess Yerina had no chance to win at all. Network and supporters are, in the end, only a factor in the battle for the throne. The battle for the throne has to be fought by the princesses themselves.”
“Well, that’s right.” Yoo Seodam said. However, in the end, the First and the Second Princess could be said to be on the super-elite course because of the support of a War Hero and a Hero. Will the Third Princess have any chance of success with only a woodcutter as her guardian?
Yoo Seodam did not know. He just had to do what he usually did. Because this was the only way to hunt the protagonist. However, unlike him who was quite relaxed, the Third Princess was quite worried.
“But now that I think about it, I’m a little worried.”
"About what?"
“I was wondering if I was driving the woodcutter Yoo Seodam to death for nothing…” She had impulsively asked him to be her guardian. But now that she remembered that her chance of winning was quite slim, she felt quite sorry for him.
“I don’t have any thought of dying, though?” Yoo Seodam said calmly.
"Pardon?"
“I will live a good life for a very long time.”
"Ah…" At Yoo Seodam’s words, Yerina’s face softened. She was moved. The words Yoo Seodam just said was no different than he saying that he was going to make Yerina the Empress. She never thought that the person she met for the first time would risk his life and do the best for her since she was used to the situation where her family and servants abandoned her all the time.
‘If things go south, I can just run away.' Yoo Seodam thought. If he ever found himself failing and in danger of being executed, he was going to take Aracelli and escape to another dimension.
* * *
The imperial road, a road which only opened on the day the next Empress was crowned, passes through the whole Primel City, the capital of the Friedelia empire, and ends in the Friedelia Imperial Palace.
Today, the guardian of the Third Princess has been decided. Compared to the other two princesses, who returned after completing the ‘guardianship quest' in just one day, the Third Princess took a whole month, but Empress Primel still gave Yerina her blessing nonetheless as she returned safely anyway.
However,
“Did you say that your guardian is just a woodcutter?” The current Empress, Primel Primellia said as she arrogantly crossed her legs on her throne and looked at the four people kneeling in front of her. Yerina as well as her exclusive maid were both skinny. On their side, the man who was supposed to be Yerina’s guardian was also skinny and didn't have a lot of muscles. On top of it, he even wore armor.
“Hey…! Heaven has finally abandoned the Third Princess…!" Someone muttered. But since everyone was thinking the same thing, no one could say otherwise.
"Hmm!" When the Empress, Primel Primellia jumped up from her seat, Yoo Seodam broke into a cold sweat. It’s because she towered two or three heads more than Yoo Seodam, who was close to 2m tall himself. On top of it, her forearms and thighs were thicker than his waist, which made her even more intimidating.
Crunch-!!
Empress Primel Primellia chewed and swallowed the protein bar (439kcal) she was holding in her hand, and touched her forehead. Then the First Princess Perina Fridellia, who was standing to her left, opened her mouth.
“To bring in a weak man as a guardian… Also, a coward in armor! Are you really crazy, Yerina Fridelia!”
“First Princess! How dare you open your mouth in front of the Empress! Are you trying to challenge my authority?"
"HAH! Shut up, Empress! How dare you speak like that as someone whose skeletal muscle mass is 0.2 kg less than mine!”
"Tch! That’s because I urinated that day and measured my whole body!”
Their family was truly a muscle maniac family.
The Second Princess also did not stand still.
“Yerina! No matter how weak you were and how desperate you are, how could you bring such a skinny guardian! It's unsightly! Look at the muscles of your guardian! Aren't they thinner than even my fingers?"
Yoo Seodam frowned at her words, That's a bit of an exaggeration.
“How can such a skinny guy be strong! Can you see the muscles of my guardian, the Warrior Ivan? Even though he was born as a weak man, he has beautiful muscles comparable to mine!”
Then, Ivan, who was standing next to her, ripped his shirt off, tossed it away and did a ‘Side Chest' pose. Standing on the side and showing off his side chest, this pose boasted the savage muscles of his shoulders. His thigh muscles that looked like a log were also wriggling like crazy.
‘Are they crazy?’ Yoo Seodam stroked his forearm. It was true that he was definitely slender compared to them. However, his muscle was a ‘real-life muscle' which was trained in a superhuman way by using magic rather than in a human way which could make their muscle bulge and raise their total weight. But since Yoo Seodam pursued agility rather than strength, it was inevitable for him to look relatively thin.
Even when that was the case, he'd never thought he would be treated like a skinny anchovy. In fact, if anyone in the throne room had a one-on-one battle with Yoo Seodam, he would definitely wipe the floor with them in less than 5 minutes. After all, he had fought in too many fights to know that muscle strength wasn’t all that there is in a fight.
In the end, when Yoo Seodam was silent and kept his mouth shut, the Third Princess, Yerina, covered her mouth and burst into tears. She felt pathetic since her mother and sisters treated her badly. She regretted being born with a body which couldn't build any muscle at all. She also felt sorry for her guardian for being compared to a War Hero and a Hero.
So she cried silently, and no one comforted her even when they saw her.
“Shut up and scram! I am really looking forward to the battle for the throne.” At the request of the Empress, Yoo Seodam and his party were kicked out of the palace and driven outside.
“Hiks… Hiks…!” the Third Princess sobbed, but no one could offer her some condolences.
At that moment, a huge shadow passed in front of her. It was the shadow of the guardian of the First Princess, the War Hero, Duke of Maracellona and Haivan. He, like the other princesses and the empress, was flaunting enormous muscles. As he hardened his expression, his shadows were thickly cast, creating a heavy atmosphere.
The Duke of Haivan patted the third princess on the shoulder and passed.
“Don’t cry, girl.”
At the firm voice which pierced her trembling heart, Yerian lifted her head involuntarily. The War Hero didn't even turn her head, only showing his back and waving his hand.
“If you shed tears, you will lose muscle.”
Yerina immediately stopped her crying. It was because, if she lostlost more muscle, it would be problematic.
Comments