Chapter 0 - Prologue

She was so beautiful as she stood on the edge of the boat and looked out to sea.

The way she holds her ebony black hair fluttering in the wind with her slender fingers is neat and neat, and the reflection of the sunlight shimmering on the surface of the sea makes her worthy of being called a saint, like a scene from one of the sacred paintings.

It is a scene like a painting of a saint.

 

When we started our journey together, she was a sixteen-year-old girl who still had a lot of youth left in her, but a year has passed and her beauty seems to have been perfected.

 

She is not as tall as she should be, but her slender arms and legs are long, and her head, which sits on a thin neck, is small, giving her a good impression of style.

The nun’s habit that wraps around her curvaceous, but not rich, body gives her an immoral s*x appeal, even to the same s*x.

She has a doll-like face with a somewhat melancholy expression.

 

「Theresa.」

 

When I called her name, she turned around slowly.

Dark purple eyes that don’t show much emotional color and seem to suck me in, like when you look into a deep sea, catch me.

 

「Princess.」

 

Theresa smiles a ladylike smile.

I don’t really like being called a princess because it feels distant.

Theresa never called me by name.

I think we have gotten to know each other a little better over the past year, but Theresa’s polite attitude leaves me feeling somewhat distant.

I find this attitude frustrating.

 

「We’ll be going home soon.」

 

Standing next to her, I look ahead to where the ship is headed.

There is only the horizon, but beyond it must be my home country of Lauretalia.

I am deeply moved by the fact that this was a journey to which I was prepared to never return.

 

The four of us set out a year ago on a journey to defeat the Demon Lord.

Me, Theresa, my twin brother Alec, and the witch Titis.

The Demon Lord is a ruler of demonic beasts who appears once every few decades. When the Demon Lord appears, the beasts take a unified and hostile action against humans.

The Five Kingdoms of the continental powers formed an allied army to prevent the hordes of demonic beasts and infiltrate the Demon Lord’s stronghold from many directions with the bearers of the Sacred Sword that can defeat the Demon Lord.

The reason why we don’t rally the bearers of the Sacred Swords is because when the Sacred Swords are brought close together, they interfere with each other and block each other’s power.

We were one of those groups, and we succeeded in defeating the Demon Lord.

 

「I’m sure they’ll be in a frenzy when we get home.」

「I’m sure there will be plenty of celebrations and such.」

 

Theresa shrugs her shoulders as she says this.

She is a saint officially recognized by the Orthodox Church. With congregations across nations throughout the continent, the Orthodox Church has a voice that even the Five Kingdoms cannot ignore. Among them, the saint is an existence that transcends the organizational system and that even His Eminence the Patriarch, who stands at the top of the Orthodox Church, is unable to command.

In terms of rank, she may even be higher than me, the first princess of the Kingdom of Lauretalia, one of the five kingdoms on the continent.

Yes, she may be the only girl of her generation on the continent who does not have to be beholden to me.

Someone I might be able to be friends with without worrying about my status.

 

「Hey, Theresa.」

「Yes?」

「I want to say something now because I may not be able to say it when I get busy.」

「What is it?」

 

Theresa tilts her head.

The gesture, which comes out casually, is somewhat childish and cute.

 

「Umm, will you be my friend?」

「A friend, you say?」

 

I wonder why she looked so strange.

Perhaps I thought I was friends with Theresa long ago.

 

「You may think it’s a little late for this, but I, uhh, I don’t have any friends.」

「I’m sure the Princess is adored by all.」

「It is because of my position as Princess of Lauretalia that I have no friends who will speak to me personally as an equal.」

「Equal?」

 

I, who let the words slip out in a daze, fell flat on Theresa’s face.

Was it such a strange word?

 

「As a saint, you are free to come and go as you please in the palace, and we will have a room ready for you if you like. So…」

「I refuse. I will not be your friend.」

「…Eh?」

 

For a moment, I didn’t understand what was being said.

I looked up and sees a strong rejection in Theresa’s eyes, and I swallowed the word「Why?」

In my arrogance, I had not anticipated being turned down at all.

We had been traveling together for a year and had passed through the line of death together. Was I so crazy to think that we had a strong trust and bond?

 

「Why, is that?」

 

Her eyes staring at me.

They were not her usual calm and somewhat awakened eyes.

Anger, hatred, disgust. The intensity of the emotions involved is so overwhelming that it is all I can hear back.

 

「Because I hate you.」

 

The cold words that did not allow me to pursue the matter further left me unable to say anything.