Kays Translations

Chapter 11

The evening breeze caressed the grass in the area.

The voices of the students who were still in the academy occasionally reached their ears.

“The girl who was born, the Eclipse Princess, possessed a magic power that could corrode anyone, even her parents could not touch her.”

“You mean she's the exact opposite of a broken vessel?”

"Yes. The vessel cracks will eat away at your own body, but the Eclipse Princess's magic power will eat away at others. And since she herself couldn’t control it, her father had no choice but to place her under house arrest in the tower.”

Rather than telling the story as he had been told it, Radius told the story in a few words.

As Ren listened to the story, he was saddened by the circumstances of the Eclipse Princess.

He also wonders why such an old tale was told to a young member of the royal family. However, when he listened to the rest of the story, he found that it had a fitting ending, just like an old tale.

"Soon, a man appears, who seems to be unaffected by the power of the Eclipse Princess.”

“So that means that man will play an active role in the story.”

“Just as you have imagined. The man collected the three treasures needed to suppress the power of the Eclipse Princess and proposed to her.”

In the old tale, the only way he could touch her is to collect the three treasures.

The details don’t seem to come out, and it seems to appear only as such an assignment.

Radius, being Radius, didn’t seem to care much about the fact that it was an old story.

“So what happened?”

“The man forcefully took her out of the tower after she had almost turned him down in case her power recurred. The guards of the tower, sensing something was wrong, followed them, and the Princess said, 'My power may come back someday. Or someone who tries to bring me back may swing a sword at you’.”

They continued talking as they made their way along the path of the tall hedges in the garden.

“But the man brushed the words off. He laughed and said, 'I don't care about that,' and asked, 'Don't you like having me by your side like this?’”

Ren listened attentively and Radius continued to talk.

“The Eclipse Princess did not answer his question, but said, ‘You will not be happy even if you stay with me. Someday you and I may both be attacked by new pursuers’.”

But the man says something that will make the Eclipse Princess, who has always wanted to avoid making others unhappy because of her, speak her true mind.

“I will protect you with my life.”

These words may have been cliché, but they were the only words he could think of.

But we can imagine that there were no other words that the Eclipse Princess wanted to hear.

"Then I will give you everything I have. So show me the world you have seen,' and she decided to live by the man's side.”

While the words Radius speak are part of the old tale "The Eclipse Princess," it didn’t end up being a heavy story, as he had said at first.

And this is where the story ends.

“The captive girl was led by a man out of the dark room. They fled somewhere far away and lived happily ever after, so we are told."

What do you think? Radius looks at Ren and smiles.

Ren looks at him and has only one question.

“I think it's a good story. I just have a few things on my mind.”

“Oh, what's the matter?”

“The Eclipse Princess, if she is called a princess, she must have been of a very high status.”

“It's just an old story, so I don't know all the details. In some villages in the countryside, even if the knight in charge of a village has a child, she is still called a princess, so I can't say for sure.”

"Well, I guess so... By the way, do you even know which country this story is about?"

“I don't have any of that information. But it's an old tale, so that's the way it is. It's more like a heroic tale to be told before bedtime than a story with any integrity. If it makes the kids happy, that's all that matters."

“Oh, so it's like a story made up by the royal family or the waiters in the olden days.”

“That's what I mean. I don't care about the details either.”

As they walked along, the two continued to talk about such things, as if they were just making small talk.

The girls of the royal family who have heard about the Eclipse Princess tend to have a longing for something like that.

If only they could find someone like that,---- they said.

Their feet stopped at a corner of a deserted garden.

"Is this a good place for us?”

"Hmm, yes."

They sat down on the terrace.

Their figures hidden by the surrounding hedges.

“We're not going to talk about the old days now, are we? How was your swordsmanship class? Tell me some more."

He was late because of a committee member's work and ended up crossing swords with Licia, and a teacher saw him and took him to the other room.

He was asked about his future in the other room, and he told him again that he had been there up to now, Radius laughed.

By "up to now," Ren meant up to today.

Radius shrugs his shoulders again and his cheeks relax as if he had no choice, as he had expected this.

After 30 minutes of this conversation, the sky begins to dim even more.

“Is it that late already?”

Radius looked at his watch and muttered to himself.

At the same time, Ren, sensing the presence of someone approaching, twisted his head, "Hmm?”　Then a voice came from behind the hedge.

“Your Highness, it's me nya.”

Following the voice, a cute girl of mixed blood between Cait Sith and human appeared.

Ren realized that she was related to Radius because she said "Your Highness”.

“What's the matter?”

“I was told it was time for you to leave, but I couldn't see you, so I was looking for you. I am sorry for interrupting your pleasant conversation.”

"I'm sorry about that ----Ren, let me introduce you."

Radius beckoned the girl to come closer.

The girl's walk and the grace she exuded made Ren think that she was a noblewoman.

His guess was correct, and Radius gave the correct answer.

“This is Mirei Arkheise. She is the daughter of Count Arkheise, whom I mentioned before, and was the student body president last year.”

“Oh! Radius, you said before that you would invite her to be a member of the executive committee!”

“It's nice to meet you nya. I'm Mirei, whom His Highness introduced to you. I was asked by His Highness the other day, and I will be assisting the executive committee, even if only in a small way.”

It seems that Mirei had agreed to be a member of the committee.

Ren thanked her.

Ren immediately introduced himself as well,

“Please call me Mirei, nya.”

“Outrageous. I can't call the daughter of a count by her name.”

Ren suggested that he call her in a different way, for example by adding "Miss," but Mirei was adamant about it.

“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t allow your highness's friend to call me "Miss” nya.”

Ren looked at Radius' expression and saw that he nodded his head as if to say, "Please do so," and agreed.

Mirei, on the other hand, preferred to hold it because of his usual tone.

“Ren-dono, I knew about you on my own without permission, so I feel a little bit of familiarity with you, nya.”

“As expected. I felt that you were watching the situation close to Radius.”

“Occasionally nya. For example, after last year's special request.”

“Oh, when I was talking with Radius in the back alley of Elendil.”

“I'm glad you're so perceptive. It’s helpful for you to be easy to talk to, and I was glad to be able to greet you in this casual manner.”

When they had finished greeting each other, Radius spoke up, "By the way”.

“Mirei, are you going to be able to rent the spare room I asked for?"

“No problem nya. However, it has been used as a warehouse for the academy, so you will need to move your belongings to another warehouse and organize them nya.”

“That's fine. It’ll be faster if we split up.”

Ren, who tilted his head slightly when he heard the story, did not interject, but was unsure if he was allowed to hear the story.

As he did so, Radius looked at Ren.

'It's about the executive committee,' Radius said.

“It's a place for us to use during our activities. I had asked Mirei, relying on her experience as student body president, to see if there was a place we could rent. The academy will provide the committee members with a spare classroom, but we will use it only as a window. We wanted another quiet place to work."

Ren nodded and asked if that was why.

“I see. Where is this room, Mirei-san?”

“The room I’m talking about is a small room at the back of the library. It has been a storage room for several years, so we are renting it on the assumption that we will clean it.”

They are dusty enough to be usable if cleaned.

After the executive committee members finish their work, they are allowed to use the room as it is unless someone else applies for it.

I wondered if that was the way it was,

“I think it's convenient for you too, Ren. If you want to use the time from your swordsmanship class to study another subject, this would be a good place to do it.”

“Ah, I can use it for that."

That's good to hear.

I haven't decided which subject teacher will give me assignments, but it looks like I can rent a quiet place.

(I wonder if both of them will be happy about that.)

Ren remembered Licia and Fiona talking on the rooftop and smiled softly.

“---- Ah."

Smiling, Ren's expression suddenly froze.

“What's wrong?”

“Sorry. I know it's sudden, but I just remembered something about this morning.”

“..... This morning?”

In front of Radius, Ren, thinking that he should discuss various matters with him, mentions what happened at the Holy Lion’s Sanctuary.

To tell Radius about his unexpected encounter in the morning.

“I met the chief of the Holy Lion’s Sanctuary this morning. But I couldn't greet her properly because it was right before the start of the academy, and I came to the academy in a hurry.”

“You feel like you’ve been rude, so you're asking me to arrange another meeting?”

“That's pretty much it.”

Ren said somewhat nervously, taking into account the other party's position, but Radius was not too concerned about the extent of it.

When he started walking with Mirei, Radius looked at Ren in his usual way,

“I’ve accepted your request, but if it’s about Estelle, didn't she tell you to go to the academy early when she heard it was time for the academy to start?"

Ren nodded his head, recalling the exchange at that time.

Radius didn't seem to be bothered by this and said, "I guess so”.

“I'll let her know later that you said you are sorry. You'll probably meet at the Holy Lion’s Sanctuary one day anyway, so this much is fine, right?"

"Thank you.”

When Ren said this, Radius immediately nodded back.

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