"For now, let’s have the Young Master know that you’re safe."
Crowe came back to the abandoned house and shook his head. As the droplets of water sprinkled down from the strands of his hair, I thought he looked like a dog shaking off water. Oops, how rude of me.
"Young Master…?"
"The Marquis' son. If I don’t let him know right away, he’ll pace around his room all night long."
Crowe who sat opposite to me diligently answered my question.
Thinking about it, Georg also said something about receiving a message from a bird. If it was Crowe that sent the bird then it would make a lot of sense.
"Thank you very much."
Perhaps my gratitude came out of the blue because Crowe widened his eyes in surprise. It’s getting awkward just seeing him fidgeting about and not knowing how to react.
"…Is something wrong?"
"Even though you have some doubts about me, you still said thank you."
Gulp. I was being stared at like some rare creature and couldn’t help myself.
I didn’t know Crowe too well, and I realised that thanking him while I was still suspicious was rather rude. If he’s really my father’s bird, then I’ll also be getting a stern scolding since he's saved me in the past multiple times.
"…I’m sorry." I apologised and hung my face.
This was the only thing I could do, just lowering my head like a little kid.
I didn’t think his eyes could get any wider, but it did.
"Apologising to a commoner? Are you really a royal?"
"If you’re asking Mary to behave like royalty then you’re wasting your time. She doesn't have the same type of dignity other royals have."
It wasn’t me but Wolf that replied to Crowe, who still seemed dumbfounded by my apology.
"If you’ve really been protecting her on the ship then you’d know what I mean."
"Rather than protecting, it’s more like keeping tabs on her."
I didn’t think that Crowe was lying.
Certainly, my father would put me under surveillance. Although he was acting like a (secret) escort, his first priority was to report my actions to the king.
When thinking about it like that, it certainly made sense…
But it’s not easy for me to just believe that.
The Crowe I knew wasn’t a spy but an assassin. He was hired by the Raptor Kingdom to kill off the main heroine.
So what happened? How come he became a spy for our country? Did some change happen in a place I couldn’t see?
The questions just kept on piling up.
However, even if he was hired by the Raptor Kingdom, there’s no reason to deceive me, right?
It wouldn’t matter how friendly we become to each other if he could’ve simply finished me off earlier.
Besides, I couldn’t imagine the Raptor Kingdom aiming for someone as weak as a talent-less princess. Honestly, at this point it would be easier to just chalk everything up to 'something' that happened, deviating us from the game's storyline and somehow we have Crowe as our spy.
…Alright. Let’s go with that for now. I’ll think about it later after I’ve seen what Crowe's up to.
"Anyway, nice to meet you. By the way, princess, will this guy even explain what's going on?" Once Crowe said that, I suddenly remembered.
That’s right. Leaving Crowe's identity aside, Wolf's motive was still largely unknown.
Wolf stopped tending the fire and turned to face us.
"I haven’t told you about that yet, have I."
"Yes. Why did you kidnap me?"
Wolf soured his face and gave a bitter laugh.
"Speaking of which, I haven’t properly introduced myself either."
"Eh? I thought when we first met…"
Ignoring my confused self, Wolf proceeded to kneel down before me.
"My name is Wolf Kua Lukka. I am the next chieftain of the Kua Clan, and I am extremely happy to have found you, Your Highness."
"Eh?… Eh!?"
Although I was confused with Wolf bowing down to me as part of his self introduction, it was what he said that truly surprised me.
Wolf is the next Kua Clan Chief!? Are you serious!?
"I’ve heard something outrageous just now…"
Even though I was still in shock and struggling to get back to reality, my ears somehow picked up Crowe's words.
"Re-really…?"
"Really."
At the sight of Wolf nodding with an extremely serious face, I was at a loss for words.
Just being able to meet anyone from the Kua Clan would be a miracle in itself, but meeting with the next chieftain? I wonder who set my luck stats. Hey, I’d like to see my status screen. All the points from Power, Intelligence, and Speed must have been dumped into Luck alone!
I quickly scolded myself for getting too distracted and returned my focus to Wolf's story.
"Remember I told you before that I wanted to find the Goddess of Nabel, right?"
"Yes. Though I haven’t heard the reason why."
"Ah. Well, I’m looking for a bride."
"Huh?"
What did this guy just say!?
Bride? Who’s the bride!? And a bride to which groom!?
"You wanna make 'the Goddess' your bride? Are you saying that you want this no-sex-appeal princess as your partner?"
This bird wants to have its feathers plucked!
I may have no sex appeal, and maybe I’m not very mature. But even if it’s the truth, there are things in this world that you should never say!
…I barely resisted the urge to retort.
"It’s fine, Mary. I didn’t kidnap you to take you as my bride."
What’s fine about that!?
No. I wanna be Sir Leonhart's bride, so this is fine. This is fine, right? It feels like they're rubbing more salt on the wound, though!
My pride as a female was waning thin.
Someone, please put me out of my misery already.
Wolf continued his story as I laughed dryly at myself.
It was for the prosperity of the Kua Clan that he searched for the Goddess. He wanted to incorporate new knowledge and ideas to further improve the clan's current medicinal practices.
However, Wolf gave up right after he saw the rumoured Goddess, because I had no sex appeal. No, wait, it was because I was a princess. Yes, that probably must be it. Totally. Oi! Don’t say something so mean!
"Mary is certainly cute. But that’s not all she's worth."
"Eh?"
I raised my face. My eyes were met with Wolf's serious gaze. It was kinda scary.
"Wolf…?"
"You know, Mary. I know this is coming from me, but I believe the Kua Clan is a good bargain. When it comes to drugs and herbs, our knowledge is abundant, and our hands and arms are skilled when it comes to tending others. Many of my clanmates are stubborn and cold, but I’d say it is part of our charms."
"R-right…"
Should you really be labelling the 'miracle clan' with words like bargain? Even if you were saying all of this as a joke, I wouldn’t know what to say to that.
More importantly, I was lost. I couldn’t grasp the true meaning behind Wolf's words. Unlike me who was confused, however, Crowe seemed to be surprised and amused at the same time.
"There’s no doubt that the Kua Clan's medicinal expertise is amazing. After all, the reason I came to Flamme in the first place was because I was hoping to get my hands on a Kua Clan medicine that would treat my people."
"Oh my, what a coincidence."
Don’t tell me that he’s going to sell it?
I didn’t really expect this outcome, so my eyes were sparkling in anticipation. I had heard that it was a rare medicine, as it was exclusive to the tribe. For that reason, I didn’t think obtaining it would be this easy.
"If possible, I would like you to hire all of the Kua Clan."
"Eh?"
As he watched me become dumbfounded, Wolf gracefully smiled.
"Rosemary von Wervard, would you kindly become our Master?"
"…What?"
My brain ceased to think, and a genuinely puzzled voice escaped my lips.
TN: I won’t bother you with excuses as to why the translations are slow. Please enjoy.
Join our Discord!
EN: Hey, kiddos. Anyway, there was this weird line where Wolf said that kids were playing with dust or some stuff, so I decided to make that image a reality.