Rishe bowed her head and watched as Rovine walked out of the training grounds.

After that, she pondered again.

I want to live freely. I don’t want to die. I want to stop the war for that… But that’s not all.

She crouched down on the ground again, meditating and looking inside herself.

I don’t want the Koyor Kingdom to perish. Besides…

She muttered “besides” with just a movement of her lips.

The current Garkhain is a military power that countries all over the world feared. Even His Majesty, the Emperor of the kingdom, is scared, not wanting to displease His Highness Arnold. Because Garkhain is an overwhelmingly powerful country, there is no other country with which we can have equal and friendly relations.

It must have been Arnold’s father, the current emperor, who had been conducting belligerent politics.

But Arnold said last night, “The Emperor and I are on the same side”. Rishe recalled the self-mocking tone that stained his voice.

His Highness said, “It’s more in my nature to invade and take someone under my control rather than join hands with another country”, but is that really the case?

It had been a month and a half since she had come to Garkhain. Thinking of Arnold, who had been by her side all that time, Rishe didn’t think so.

If His Highness sees himself as such.She slowly opened her eyes.

— I’d like to tell him that it’s not true.

Even if Arnold himself didn’t know that.

Not just to tell him in words, but to make Arnold himself understand.

Garkhain is neither dominant nor hostile. If such a country expands not just in Koyor, but all over the world, it might change the future behavior of His Highness Arnold.

Rishe stood up slowly and took a deep breath before slapping herself on the cheek.

Then she looked straight ahead.

Think, let’s go and make our wishes come true! Time never stops anyway. Nothing will be done if we don’t act!

As she spurred herself on, Sven and Fritz, who had gone for a drink of water, returned.

“Lu, we kept you waiting… Oh, are you feeling better?”

“Yeah. I’ve figured it out. There’s no point in worrying about it.”

First and foremost, she had to plan what actions to take after the training was over.

As Fritz said, she was feeling a bit more energized, just in the nick of time.

****

“――…… I’m pleased to have someone special to watch your training. This is the man you must risk your lives for, His Highness, the Crown Prince of this kingdom.”

“…”

After the training began.

The trainees who were lined up on the training field were buzzing at the sight of the person who had appeared.

They knew they shouldn’t make a fuss, but they all seemed unable to hide their excitement. When they first saw him, such as Fritz standing next to Rishe, they were so surprised that they staggered at the sight of him.

Under such circumstances, only Rishe was desperately struggling to keep her face from cramping.

Nevertheless, the voice of the instructor, Rovine, mercilessly spun the name of that person.

“His Highness Arnold Hein.”

“―― ……”

Rishe wanted to clutch her head.

The man standing in front of her, with the most beautiful colored eyes in the world, was sullenly looking at her.