Whoosh―
With black smoke, the shrank.
As if to prove that the horn flute was an item meant for defeating boss-level monsters and receiving rewards, my level rose rapidly.
After staring at the system window text appearing in succession before my eyes for a moment, I lowered my gaze and repeatedly opened and closed my right hand.
The sensation of slicing through the monster lingered on my fingertips. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling.
“Gasp, that’s…!”
“Her, Her Highness the Princess used sword energy…?”
“Lady Luibel has manifested sword energy!”
“What? Then could it be that Her Highness the Princess is a, a, a Swordmaster…!”
Murmurs of exclamation could be heard among the knights. As everyone’s gazes gathered at once, I felt somewhat embarrassed.
And amidst this commotion, my mother arrived with the urgent sound of hooves.
“Your Majesty…!”
The murmuring knights all fell silent at once and bowed their heads towards my mother.
Mother looked somewhat more urgent than usual.
Her disheveled hair, slightly flushed cheeks, and unsteady breathing… as if she had rushed here on horseback.
As I quietly observed my mother, our eyes suddenly met.
I hastily lowered my head.
But even with my head bowed, I felt as if my mother’s gaze continued to linger on me.
‘Is it just my imagination?’
I know better than anyone that my mother wouldn’t pay attention to me, so why am I feeling this strange sensation?
“I heard a monster appeared. What’s the situation?”
Mother asked in a brief but authoritative voice.
With Hezen, the Imperial Knight Commander, dead, the Deputy Commander Erbain who was nearby reported instead.
“A bald kraken appeared in the lake!”
“A bald kraken?”
Mother furrowed her brow, asking in a tone that suggested she didn’t understand.
“No monsters live in the palace lake. Moreover, bald krakens are originally sea creatures.”
“Ah, yes, yes! That’s correct, Your Majesty!”
“I’m deeply concerned that forces trying to undermine the empire might have infiltrated. Investigate thoroughly.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Erbain answered with a voice full of vigor and continued his report.
“Also, in the process of subduing the situation, Sir Hezen, the Imperial Knight Commander, has perished.”
“…”
Mother fell silent briefly at the news of Hezen’s death. Erbain glanced at mother’s expression and continued speaking.
“However, fortunately, Her Highness Princess Luibel manifested sword energy…”
“Sword energy?”
Mother interrupted Erbain’s words for the first time and turned towards me.
Is she displeased? Mother’s gaze as she looked at me was somewhat sharp.
“Yes, she manifested sword energy.”
Erbain answered in a tense tone.
“Luibel, manifested sword energy.”
Mother muttered like that for a moment before giving instructions to the knights for post-incident procedures.
I watched in admiration at those perfect instructions without a single flaw.
After finishing her instructions, mother ordered me.
“Luibel. You are to follow me.”
[This is the timeline separator]The player had changed.
The man who was the [System Administrator] of the Azester Imperial Palace and Brillanta branch was at a loss for the suddenly changed situation.
It was the first time. For a player to change.
Fortunately, the main scenario hadn’t started yet, so he hadn’t reported about to his superiors.
If such a situation had occurred right after reporting about the player to his superiors, the man would surely have been unable to avoid being held accountable for the sudden change in the player.
“Luibel Azester…”
The man recalled Luibel.
The inconspicuous 3rd princess of the Azester Empire who should have been consumed as a sacrifice for the player’s awakening.
It seems that while the [Herald] affected by the bug had collapsed, the player died, and the newly replaced [Herald] recognized her as the player.
Of all moments, she perfectly achieved [Lover’s Death], so it’s understandable that the [Herald] made a mistake.
“She might be better than that stupid player. He couldn’t even use the horn flute properly when I lent it to him.”
Recalling Hezen, he couldn’t help but click his tongue.
From the start, that guy lacked the qualities of a player.
Maybe it’s for the best.
Even if such a guy awakened as a player, he wouldn’t be able to defeat the Dragon King, let alone progress the scenario properly.
“But… where did the bug intervene this time?”
The man muttered with a slight frown.
Could it be that Princess Luibel came into contact with the bug?
No. Wasn’t Princess Luibel just an ordinary extra without any peculiarities until now?
“Well, as long as the scenario progresses somehow, it’s fine… But still, I should keep an eye on this for a bit longer.”
Judging that the bug couldn’t be eliminated by the same method as last time, the man chose to watch slowly instead of immediately sending cleaners to find the bug.
The man who took out a quill pen stared intently at the blank parchment.
He pondered for a moment on how much to report to his superiors…
Player awakening. Azester 3rd Princess. .
What the man scribbled on the parchment was just these three short sentences.
The [Master of the System] was someone who hated uncertainty the most.
‘Until something certain comes up, I’ll tentatively withhold reporting this incident.’
He resolved the complex situation with that decision.
[This is the timeline separator]Mother called me separately to the Emperor’s office.
This was where mother handled her official duties as the Emperor.
Naturally, it was also my first visit as an ordinary princess.
Unlike me, who entered hiding my awkward feelings, mother immediately walked across the office to where a table and sofa were placed beside the desk.
“Sit over here.”
Mother, seated on the antique red leather sofa, offered me the seat opposite her.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I sat down nervously in front of her.
The chief attendant brought warm cups of tea for mother and me.
After sitting silently for a while, mother suddenly spoke to me.
“Luibel. You never look me straight in the face.”
“I’m, I’m sorry…!”
Quickly apologizing for seemingly displeasing mother, I raised my head, only to freeze in place.
As I stared blankly above mother’s head, she spoke in a satisfied voice.
“Good. It’s much better to see you with your head raised like this.”
“…”
I looked at the name window floating above mother’s head several times.
But I hadn’t seen wrong.
Emperor of the Azester Empire
Affection: 902
‘Mother’s affection…’
That figure exceeding 900 felt unreal.
It couldn’t be…
Could it be that the affection for Hezen still remained?
But I clearly witnessed the affection dropping to minus (−) at that time…
Who knows. Maybe there was some event that could raise the affection in the meantime…
“Is it true that you manifested sword energy?”
At this moment, mother asked me as she put down the teacup she was holding.
“It happened somehow.”
“According to Sir Erbain, you, who hadn’t fled the scene until then, were shocked by Hezen’s death and manifested sword energy while facing the monster.”
‘Eek!’
It’s true that I was shocked, but it wasn’t because of Hezen’s death, but because of the system window that suddenly called me a player.
But it seems that’s how it looked to others.
‘Well, since the condition for awakening was [Lover’s Death] in the first place…’
But the story that I awakened from the shock of Hezen’s death was a bit unpleasant. Doesn’t it make it seem like I had some grand love affair with that guy?
“It was a dangerous situation. Why didn’t you run away and instead rushed at the monster? Was Hezen’s death that shocking?”
“No, Your Majesty. While Hezen’s death as the Imperial Knight Commander is of course a sad event, that’s merely a feeling I have as a member of the royal family. From the moment I requested to break off the engagement, he and I were no longer in a romantic relationship.”
“Then why did you act so dangerously?”
A sharp question.
“I just… felt like I had to.”
I answered while glancing at mother’s expression. It was a somewhat sloppy answer, but this was the truth.
It wasn’t because of some grand sense of mission.
It was just that at that moment, in that place, I was the only one who could eliminate the monster, and that was how everyone could survive.
‘Huh…?’
It was at this moment.
[SYSTEM] ‘s affection has increased by +9. (Affection: 911)The affection above mother’s head seemed to blur, then the number changed.
Mother’s affection had increased due to my answer.
‘That’s… affection towards me, not Hezen.’
I denied that it could be directed at me because of the unbelievably high number.
Even though I knew that Hezen was no longer the player. Even though I knew that I had now taken his place as the player.
But it wasn’t so. It was clearly affection directed at me.
‘This can’t be.’
Could it be that there’s another error in the system?
‘Mother… likes me…?’
My chest felt ticklish.
The attitude of my family members towards me was one of two types.
Either treating me as if I didn’t exist like elder sister Gloria, or despising me as a disgrace to the royal family of unclear origin like elder brother Orent.
Mother didn’t give equal affection to all her children, but I thought her attitude towards me wouldn’t be much different from theirs.
I thought she might not pay much attention to my existence itself.
To mother, if anything, I was like a blemish left on the name of a master craftsman who only produced the greatest masterpieces.
A child born from a one-night mistake, whose father was unknown.
However, despite that, mother loved me. That high affection number was representing mother’s love.
Feeling choked up, I sniffled and rubbed my stinging nose.
Then mother scolded me.
“Luibel Azester. You have fulfilled your proper duty as a member of the royal family by protecting people and defeating monsters. Now that you’ve even manifested sword energy, how can you cry out of fear?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
I answered like that while thinking ‘I’m not crying out of fear’ inside, and hastily lowered my head to hide my eyes which had probably turned red.
“However.”
But I immediately raised my head again at mother’s voice that followed.
“You did well, Luibel.”
Mother said to me with a stern face.
“You were truly admirable.”
You did well… Well done…
It was the first time I heard mother’s praise.
It was strange. It felt as if there was a faint hint of a smile in that indifferent voice.
__________
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
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