When I was about to die, I proposed to five cruel princesses

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✦ Chapter 20 – The Second Princess, Hedera (3) ✦

Dragons are solitary beings.

You, who face the dragon,

This truth you must know.

~~••~~••~~

In the distant past.

The Second Princess, Hedera, was engrossed in her magic training since dawn.

She was so untalented that she couldn't afford to slack off on her training for even a single day. Since she learned to read, she had never neglected her reading, and she was always willing to train even on gloomy days.

Everyone around her clicked their tongues and felt sorry for her. It was only natural. Even with her unwavering passion, she was not seeing any results at all. Could there be a more heartbreaking sight to watch?

But then, one morning,

truly, without any warning,

Dragon's Blood—

—the most noble Dragon's Blood was manifested in the girl. Of course, she also awakened dragon speech and lingual magic, and the news that a dragon's blood owner had appeared in the royal family spread throughout the continent.

Dragon Speech. Lingual Magic.

Their power was beyond imagination.

Hedera's position was turned upside down overnight. Just by looking at the titles that immediately followed her, you could tell. The girl who was once called a dunce was now being called a genius and a dragon-kin.

Academies and Magic Towers would periodically send invitations. They didn't want to teach, but they humbly asked for demonstrations just for the inspiration of other mages.

Hedera, starved for human connection, readily agreed, but there was still no one who was at her level. She just wanted to make friends, but neither the students nor the professors treated her that way.

— Rise.

— Shatter.

— Explode.

She could accomplish with a single word what would take an ordinary person a lifetime to master. Yet Hedera wasn't the type to become arrogant or look down on others.

Because she wasn't born a genius,

Because she remembered being slow-witted, she could only think—

…I'm lonely.

When she was still considered slow, she had companions who strived alongside her daily. Though the results were meager, the time spent together and the sweat shed through shared effort was rewarding.

I want to be with everyone.

Hedera valued togetherness over personal achievement. She hoped those around her would grow quickly to reach her level. So they could be together again.

However.

The world wasn't as accommodating as she had hoped.

Instead, things began to flow in the opposite direction of her intentions.

— The Second Princess? Just lucky.

— She succeeded overnight without any effort.

— Why did the Dragon's Blood choose her of all people…

Perhaps because the gap before and after obtaining Dragon's Blood was too great, Hedera had somehow become someone who had never made an effort in her life. She couldn't easily understand why she was disliked.

So she tried even harder to do well, and worked on her social skills to be friendlier to those she met. Only after Hedera had given her all could she finally understand one thing.

— Seeing the Princess makes me lose motivation…

— My own abilities seem so insignificant.

— We'd rather do this on our own.

Being a genius, in itself, was reason enough to be disliked.

One's mere existence becomes a catalyst for others' inferiority complexes and crushes their motivation. Paradoxically, to get along with them, Hedera had to hide herself.

How much time had passed?

She stopped going out.

She merely watched her peers through the window.

Waiting endlessly for their level to rise so she could mingle with them again, longing for the day they could be together, she uttered her Lingual Magic.

— Become great.

— Become magnificent.

Utterly abstract words. Lingual Magic unlikely to take effect.

— Hurry and become great.

— Quickly become magnificent.

Nevertheless, she repeated these words countless times.

She was already suffering from severe depression. Lifeless, she was like a withered plant, with only crumbling away left to do.

She might have truly died.

If that man hadn't appeared in the girl's life that day.

— I'm Ezekiel. From today, I'll be in charge of the Princess.

How long had it been since someone entered her life?

His face was barely visible due to their height difference, but his blue eyes were clear. Though impeccably polite, there was something sharp and frightening about him.

On the first day of lessons, Hedera displayed minimal skill.

For one reason — if she appeared too exceptional, he'd leave, saying there was nothing to teach. She didn't want that.

— Is this really your best?

Hedera felt relieved hearing those words. It went according to plan. Now the teacher wouldn't leave right away.

— Princess.

But what followed was something Hedera had never heard before in her life.

— To learn from me, you must do at least this much.

The man began weaving ice in the air.

It started as ice Hedera knew well. But as the magical formulas and strokes overlapped, it transformed into a scene she had never imagined. It was a feat that left her mouth agape.

This is… magic.

It was even more astonishing that a human had performed it.

The girl couldn't guarantee she could replicate this magic even using Dragon Speech. Could human magic be more advanced than that of dragons? As she pondered this…

— Young Princess.

— Ah, yes?

Hedera startled, her body trembling.

Thinking back, nothing good had ever followed 'Young Princess' in her life. She grew anxious, fearing he might leave without giving her another chance.

However, the man simply said—

— Always give your best in front of me. Always.

From the next day on, it was pure happiness.

Being able to give her all without reservation was like a blessing for Hedera, who had always lived hiding something.

Her master was stronger than she could imagine, always surpassing her even when she gave her best. It was reassuring.

Through her master, she slowly began to hope that humans could surpass dragon magic.

"Humans can do the impossible too. If there were more mages like the master, we could all get along…" Happy thoughts piled up in the girl's heart day by day.

The girl repeated endlessly—

— Humans can surpass dragon magic!

— It's possible!

— Let's all surpass it together and get along!

Though she didn't know when that day would come, she could always proclaim it with confidence. With her master, that day would surely come. Until then, she'd stay close to her master.

However, the master was extremely busy.

He had to teach other princesses besides Hedera, and was often called away during lessons for various matters. Though she understood, it really upset her.

Was that why?

She took out her frustrations on her only ally?

Made unreasonable demands?

— I don't understand well. Please give me extra lessons.

— Am I doing this right?

From one hour to two hours.

From two hours to four hours.

The time Hedera demanded from her master gradually increased.

"Could you make an ice sculpture of me?"

Later, she began asking for things beyond time.

"Master, why won't you play with me?"

"I heard you do various things with the other princesses."

"I want to play games besides studying too."

She regretted it as soon as she said it, but surprisingly, the master readily agreed. The girl's heart filled with excitement.

When the promised day for play arrived.

The master looked different from usual.

Unlike his usual attire, he wore a formal uniform and military boots. A hat covered his eyes. He wasn't even alone.

— Captain, we need to leave immediately.

— …Time.

— Urgent…

At least ten others in identical attire stood beside the master, all with serious, frightening expressions.

After a while, the master approached Hedera and said—

— Princess, today's game is hide-and-seek.

— You must not come out until I find you.

Hedera finally understood the situation. Everyone dressed like the teacher must be "it." Thinking the difficulty would be quite high, she nodded vigorously.

But the master never found Hedera.

No, he vanished completely.

Hedera hid and waited for two whole days.

What's two days? She could have waited longer. But palace guards found her first and forcibly dragged her out.

— Princess, here you are!

— We found her! We found the Princess!

— Let go! The hide-and-seek isn't over…!

At first, she denied it and kept waiting.

But a week passed.

A month.

A year.

The master never returned.

Perhaps if she found the other seekers, it would solve the problem?

— Such people do not exist.

But searching through the royal personnel records, she couldn't find those who were with the teacher that day. Maybe the master left because she had been too difficult?

If so, she wanted to apologize somehow.

But the master never returned. Even when she sought the Emperor, she only received unhelpful answers.

— He had his reasons for quitting.

Hedera was alone again.

Left alone, she devoted herself to building a Magic Tower.

So that someday, when the master returned, he could praise her. To proudly show him what she had accomplished while waiting.

And soon after, she realized.

Other humans weren't as great as the master.

The potential she had seen wasn't human potential, but something unique to the master. Hope was soon covered in dust.

She cried every day, spending nights with hollow eyes.

— Come back.

— Please come back.

Those Lingual Magic commands were never fulfilled.

Several long years passed.

The girl who grew on tears as nourishment stopped crying one day.

She had finally bloomed into the flower of adulthood.

Simultaneously, her emotions completely dried up.

After abandoning the Magic Tower, she secluded herself in the realm of dragons. Having realized that no matter how much she begged, the master wouldn't return, she no longer clung to futile dreams.

However… occasionally, she tried to forget.

— Make me forget.

— Make me forget.

— Make me forget.

Like embers left behind, she no longer had the passion to burn brightly. She just wanted to forget. If she could never meet him again, she thought it better to forget.

If she forgot the taste of hope, the present wouldn't be painful.

That day too, Hedera was engrossed in training in the dragon realm as usual. If nothing else, training had never betrayed her.

It was then that she unexpectedly received a letter.

"...…?"

She read it once. Then once again.

"…What is this?"

After reading it ten times, Hedera couldn't help but furrow her brow.

She didn't know how to react, but the letter was just one line long with a seemingly hand-drawn picture enclosed.

Moreover, a marriage proposal.

…A marriage proposal? It lacked any sense of reality.

"...….."

There was too much time omitted between her and him. Yet, suddenly a proposal without any explanation? Complex emotions tangled and rose from her withered heart.

She soon made a decision.

The young Hedera, the current Hedera.

The biggest difference between the two was her ability to act. The girl who once feared stepping outside had become a woman who could confidently stride through the world.

So, she intended to confirm it herself.

She had to meet him, ask something, and hear something in return.

…Without fail.

.

.

.

.

.

And now.

In the corridor of the Imperial Magic Tower.

"......…."

That man stood before Hedera's eyes.

Still with unreadable eyes, a mouth chewing sunweed, mixing exhaustion and composure. The same as in her memories, yet at the same time, an appearance so different from what she remembered.

What could have been his thought in sending a marriage proposal?

Because she absolutely couldn't understand it.

Because she truly couldn't even guess.

"…It's been a long time."

Hedera finally managed to part her lips.

It was the beginning of a reunion that would shake the entire continent.

To read all 150 episodes, patreon.com/Makima02