The weather on Peppel Island was as tranquil as usual. It got stormy out in the ocean, but the climate in the vicinity of the island was mild all year round.
Mia was quietly reading a book on the beach, sitting under the shade of a tree on a handcrafted chair she’d brought. That was about all the entertainment that could be found on this island. She was currently reading a book from Davier’s house. Technically speaking, the house wasn’t his, but since he was the current inhabitant, that was what everyone called it. Davier was a calm man with firm convictions. He was a bit too distant for Mia to call him a childhood friend, but perhaps because they knew each other’s past, she felt at ease when she was with him.
And when I’m really in trouble, he always manages to help me out. Mia looked at her suntanned right leg; a conspicuous scar ran from her thigh to her calf.
Not everyone on this island was born and raised here. It was a penal colony, so people who’d committed relatively serious crimes were occasionally brought here. The most recently arrived inmate was a soldier who’d assaulted a noble in the capital. The fact that he’d been forced to do his job under the orders of a malicious noble had been taken into account, so he’d been exiled instead of executed.
However, that soldier had been dissatisfied with the decision to send him to Peppel Island. He held a grudge against the country and the royal family, so he’d turned a blade against Mia, a former member of royalty. It was quite a nuisance considering she had already been removed from the royal family. Fortunately, the islanders had subdued the soldier, but Mia had been terribly injured and on the brink of losing her life because of the excessive bleeding. When everyone had been about to give up, Davier had treated Mia’s injury and saved her life. Luckily, she hadn’t been cut in a vital spot, so she could still walk using a cane, while managing the lingering pain from the injury.
Mia didn’t know the specifics of what had happened to the man who’d attacked her. Davier had told her with a smile that she didn’t need to worry about it, so she believed that he’d dealt with the man appropriately, just like he’d always handled problems back when he’d lived in the capital. Mia hadn’t seen the ex-soldier around the island ever since.
Davier is strong. He’s known as an intelligent and gentle young man here on the island, but he’s skilled enough to compete with that annoying Nazelbart. In other words, he wouldn’t lose to some criminal sent to the island.
As Mia was lost in thought, she heard a cheerful voice nearby.
“Oh, Mia, ya were here?”
Mia glanced up to check and saw one of the islanders: Largo, the daughter of the island’s toolmaker. She was the one who’d made Mia’s cane.
“Do you need something from me?” Mia asked.
“Yah, some weird thing washed up on the beach, and I thought ya might know somethin’ about it, so I came to ask.”
“Something ‘weird,’ you say?” Mia stood up, wondering what it could be.
“Is yer leg already fine, Mia?”
“Yes. Davier has forbidden running, but I don’t have any problems walking slowly. I will need to use a cane for a while, though.”
“Then it’s faster if I show ya. This way.” Largo took Mia down a path overgrown with tropical plants. The sunlight was intense. “Mia, seems that ya can walk just fine normally. Davier’s just too worried about ya.”
“Y-You think so?”
“Yah, when other islanders have gotten injured, he’s been more...relaxed. But when ya were bleedin’ and passed out, Davier got paler than I’d ever seen him.”
“Really?!” Mia’s heart pounded loudly. Without meaning to, she suddenly became very conscious of Davier. He’s just fussing about me because I used to be the princess, that’s all. At the moment, she had no value as royalty.
Mia calmed her heart and picked up the pace. Soon, she could see a broken boat washed up on the beach.
“That’s it! It’s different from the usual ship,” Largo pointed out.
It was certainly unlike the ship that regularly delivered provisions to the island. This boat was smaller and had a different design.
“Did a fishing boat go astray, perhaps? There’s no one on board...” Was it a civilian fishing boat? Mia wanted to get Davier’s opinion too. “I’m curious about the details. I’m going to ask Davier.”
“Gotcha. I’m gonna search through the boat with my buddies. There could be somethin’ strange aboard. If we find anythin’ nice, we’ll get your share too.”
“Thank you,” Mia replied after a pause.
As usual, Largo was brimming with curiosity and cheerfully ran up to the boat. It seemed that to the islanders, this wrecked boat and the ship that regularly came by were the same.
Mia turned back and headed toward Davier’s house. She walked along a narrow, sunny path toward the mountain. Large red flowers, each the size of an adult’s palm, were in full bloom on both sides of the road. After walking for a while, she suddenly heard a rustling sound from a nearby thicket. Then, something plump jumped out toward her with great force.
“Eep! What was that?” Mia screamed and jumped back. Was it one of the island’s animals? Her right leg hurt from the sudden movement.
It turned out that several large caterpillars had jumped out of the thicket.
They aren’t ordinary caterpillars... Are they manabeasts?
The plump caterpillars were about as big as a child’s arm. Although Mia could tolerate them better than when she’d first come to this island, she still loathed bugs—especially oversized bugs that looked like manabeasts.
“Eeeeeek!” Mia’s scream echoed across the entire island.
The startled caterpillars all spit threads at Mia to intimidate her. Perhaps because they were large, their threads were significantly thicker than those of ordinary caterpillars. The sticky threads fell onto Mia, who screamed again and fell on her backside. The caterpillars were probably panicking too, as they never stopped spitting their thread. At this rate, Mia would end up completely covered in thread. Even if she wanted to stand up, her cane had fallen out of her hand and rolled away, so she couldn’t grab it. Despair overtook her.
What should I do? Will I end up getting turned into a cocoon? The sheltered Mia had no idea what to do at a moment like this, and she was left paralyzed. She unconsciously shut her eyes. I’m done for! I’m in such a state of shock, I feel like I’ll pass out...
But the next moment, someone’s hand grabbed Mia’s shoulder. She was forcefully pulled back and away from the caterpillars. Her fading consciousness started gradually becoming clear. She then saw someone standing between her and the caterpillars.
“Y-You...”
Davier was the one protecting Mia; he must have come after hearing her scream.
“I was really surprised and rushed over. Just what is going on here?” he asked.
“These caterpillars suddenly jumped out in front of me. So...” Mia started explaining while clearing away the countless threads on her body.
“You were surprised and both sides panicked?”
“Exactly.”
Perhaps Davier’s intervention was fortunate, as the caterpillars also seemed to calm down, slowly crossed the road, and left. His magic allowed him to control any kind of small animal, and in the process, he could even communicate with them to a certain extent. Mia had been unaware that insects also counted as small animals... She suspected that Davier could use his magic to escape from Peppel Island, but he had no intention of leaving. King Bertrand understood that, so ever since passing his verdict, he hadn’t interfered in Davier’s affairs.
Davier nonchalantly turned around.
“Those were fat crawlers, harmless caterpillar manabeasts unique to Peppel Island. They turn into large azure butterflies.”
“Come to think of it, I’ve seen large butterflies on this island.”
“These manabeasts only eat leaves from the island’s trees or weeds; they don’t cause any harm to humans,” Davier explained, “but they’re timid, so they spit their thread when startled.”
“They were too large for maggots.”
“They’re manabeasts, so it’s only natural that they’re bigger than ordinary insects. Heave-ho.” Davier placed his hands under Mia’s arms and pulled her up to her feet. He then picked up the cane she’d dropped.
“Thank you,” Mia eventually said. With Davier always taking care of her, her heart felt unstable. Her feelings for him were clearly different from the time she’d been smitten with Robin.
Before coming here, I only had eyes for Robin’s good side and didn’t notice his selfish behavior... No, I tried not to notice, because I was afraid to admit it. If she’d accepted the truth, the reality that she hadn’t truly been loved and had instead been just a convenient pawn for him would have become clear. And she’d hated that thought.
When Mia had been in love with Robin, she’d constantly been jealous and had no peace of mind. Even though she’d loved him, she’d always been in pain. The only times she’d felt even a little calm had been when Robin used his magic on her. However, it was different with Davier. When she was with him, she felt at ease even without doing anything.
“Are you injured, Lady Mia?”
“I’m all right. Thank you for helping me.”
After Mia had pointed out that Davier had been calling her “Your Highness,” he’d switched to “Lady Mia.” She’d told him that he didn’t need to be so formal anymore, but he’d adamantly refused. His weird sense of virtue might have been at work again.
Davier looked at Mia with worry, even though she’d told him she was fine.
“Oh yes, a wrecked boat washed up on the beach, but I can’t tell where it’s from...” Mia said.
“That’s unusual. Let’s go take a look.”
By this time, the islanders might have already scavenged anything of value that had been aboard the boat. They acted on their curiosity and seemed to think that everything that drifted here from the outside world was a blessing to them.
“But before that...” Davier stared at Mia. “Let’s do something about the way you look. You’re covered in fine thread from head to toe.”
Mia didn’t say a word. It definitely looked like she needed to get changed and wash up. It was really unpleasant, but since she was going to be living on this island, she had to get used to it.
“Haaah, I suppose I have no other choice.” Mia chatted with Davier as they headed to her house together. She took the hand that he naturally offered to her and started walking on the unpaved path. She used her other hand to hold her cane.
Perhaps Davier found himself unable to stay indifferent to Mia walking unsteadily, because...
“Excuse me,” he said as he picked her up.