“I am deeply grateful, everyone.” The princess bowed her head deeply. Her tears fell to the hospital floor. “For you do not shun the person I have become… You went to great lengths for me. Although there were difficult times, the days we spent together on that journey were…”
Although the princess had been cleared of suspicion, she was signaling the end of the adventure.
“…like a dream to me. It was Shangri-La!”
In the end, we were all friends who had embarked on a long journey together. Listening to the princess’s tear-filled speech, none of us could hold back our tears.
“Cheer up, little princess. This ain’t gonna be farewell forever, ya know?” In a rare display of gentleness, the bandit patted the princess gingerly on the shoulder. Even he seemed to be aware of how uncharacteristic this was for him, however, because he turned his face away immediately afterward. “That said, I’m a wanted man in this kingdom. I gotta get my ass outta here, and soon.”
“Hey, don’t count me out, will you?” the beastmaster shot back. “Don’t you reckon it’s time for us to elope?”
“Hey, I’ll come along too!” said the henchman.
“Oh? A journey with two men?” The elderly knight seemed dryly amused. “That would require some tactical maneuvering, I would expect.”
The beastmaster grinned. “You mean something like, ‘I have feelings for only one man. But if another one enters the picture, my eyes might just wander?’”
The bandit was alarmed. “Hey, if I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?!”
It should have been a familiar sight from our journey. Well, perhaps that was all the more reason why I found this scene so peculiarly amusing. I expect anyone would see the humor in it.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
She gave a hearty laugh. We all did.
Side. S
I was so relieved that we managed to reach this point…
The tactician general investigating the empire from the inside to discover which nobles were conspiring with the prince had all been part of the original story. She would then disguise herself as a secret agent and team up with the beastmaster and the bandit. Although I knew who the conspirators were, we didn’t have any connections to the nobility. Or so I had thought.
“The Hanazono Company’s empire branch has many dealings with the nobility,” Hahari-san revealed.
“I will sneak into the empire as a maid under Hahari-sama’s employ and make a secret deal,” said Mai-san.
And with that, the matter had been settled.
“Jeez, won’t Hahari leave a serious hole in this world once she’s gone?” Kurumi-san commented.
“Tee hee, there’s no issue at all,” Hahari-san said coolly. “I have already passed all the actual production on to other hands.”
Hakari-san grimaced slightly. “My mother’s annoyingly good at business…”
“Anyway, can you really sneak into the Empire so easily?” asked Karane-san.
“Wasn’t Mei raised as a spy?” Kusuri-senpai pointed out.
“Please allow me to clarify.” Mei-san spoke up. “I honed many different skills so that I may carry out any order Hahari-sama may give. On this occasion, I suspect that a number of those skills will come into play.”
“My goodness, Mei! What sort of ridiculous task are you expecting?”
“What if the one you love is taken away somewhere where you’ll never see them again? That’s a powerful motivator,” said Hakari-san.
“There is a high possibility that any individual who would threaten Aijo Rentaro is already a nonfactor,” said Nano-san.
Either way, we were all very relieved.
“Hey, guys! You all did good!”
At that point, Rentaro-kun returned to us. Going by the story, the squire boy would have no further appearances.
“Shizuka-chan, all that’s left is that scene!” Rentaro-kun said.
I nodded, my heart pounding vigorously. At the end of the day, we had interfered with the story at so many points. Would that scene really, truly occur?
An Excerpt from Circlet Love Story: “Fate”
Now that all suspicion had been cleared, the princess was allowed to return to the royal court. His Majesty bequeathed me the title of captain of the knight brigade. Although it was under the pretext of a promotion, I wondered if he perhaps suspected that something had happened between the princess and me during our long journey together. This was the last day that I could be the princess’s knight.
“I will formally accept the third prince’s marriage proposal,” the princess told me, which led me to believe that her engagement to the neighboring country’s prince had also been decreed by the king. “They reminded me once again that I must maintain abstinence until marriage, even though I have always been chaste.”
From her words, I could tell that the king did indeed suspect us of indiscretions.
“Princess…are you all right with this?” I asked.
The princess shook her head. It did not surprise me that her heart rejected the marriage. She wore a defeated expression that was very much reminiscent of her time as a captive of the court.
“Even so,” she said, “I understand that there are some fates which can never be avoided. Were I to turn down the marriage, relations between our countries may worsen. It is the duty of royalty to ensure peace and stability for the people.”
I paused. “Is that really what life’s like at court?” I could not help but murmur.
What must it be like to live for a concept as enormous as the country itself? It brought the sheer gulf between me, who only thought of himself, and the princess, who was concerned for the good of all, to the fore. And yet, despite all that, I still…
“But…even so…”
I could sense that the princess was fighting back tears.
“In spite of everything…I love you,” she whispered, her voice a strangled whisper. “I apologize,” she continued, voice trembling and tears streaming down her face. “Pray, pay it no heed.” As if to cut me off before I could interrupt her, the princess spoke without pause. “I ask not for an answer.”
Her words served as a plaintive reminder. “I know already that there is a maiden promised to you.”
His Majesty had bequeathed a betrothal to me alongside the title of knight captain. Needless to say, however, I did not possess the slightest feelings for a fiancée whose face I had never laid eyes on.
“I only wished to make my feelings known!” The princess looked down, tears streaming down her face.
“I love you too.”
The words sprang from my mouth, unbidden, as I placed my hands on the princess’s arms. She stared up at me, dumbfounded.
“And yet…”
Alas, she lowered her head again, sorrowful.
“Our love is forbidden by fate.”
“Then we need only defy fate!”
It mattered not to me whether a betrothal had been forced upon me, or if others schemed to drive us apart. I resolved to do away with all such fetters. This, and only this, was the fate ordained by God!
“Let us go forth together…”
To open the door and venture forth to a hitherto undiscovered world!
“Io!”
As I reached out my hand once more for the princess, she—
Side. S
I sniffed loudly.
“Thank goodness,” sobbed Rentaro-kun. “I’m so happy for them!”
Princess Io took his hand, and Sir Kamakuru threw his arms around her. Rentaro-kun and I were quietly beside ourselves with emotion as we watched the two of them come together. I was so grateful, not just for being able to progress this far but to actually witness the scene play out in person!
Looking over my shoulder, I saw that everybody else was tearing up as well. I was so happy we could share this moment together. And then I blacked out.
“Mm…”
Slowly, my consciousness returned to me.
After what felt like a pleasant nap, I opened my eyes and found myself on the familiar school rooftop.
Rentaro-kun yawned. “When did I fall asleep?”
“I deeply apologize for falling asleep without Hahari-sama’s command,” said Mei-san.
“You know you can sleep without my say-so, right?!” Hahari-san retorted.
“Given that we all slumbered simultaneously,” said Nano-san, “there is a high possibility that we came into contact with some kind of harmful substance.”
“Kusuri doesn’t remember well, but she might’ve given out medicine, aye…”
“Looks like you’re right on the money, Nano-senpai,” Kurumi-san commented.
“How cute!” Hakari-san giggled. “You held hands with me while you were asleep, Karane-san.”
“Whaaat?! I bet you were the one who latched onto my hands!”
Everyone had woken after me and were now chattering. Still, I had to wonder: when had I fallen asleep? And what a peculiar dream I had.
“Hey, I had this weird dream,” Rentaro-kun said.
I was a little surprised to hear him verbalize exactly what I was thinking.
“You know the novel me and Shizuka-chan like? Circlet Love Story? We went to that world, but then a bunch of things happened, and I ended up being a stand-in for one of the characters. It had me running ragged, but it was a lot of fun.”
I was even more surprised to hear that his dream was identical to mine, right down to the fine details.
“W-wait, you too?” said Hakari-san. “I had the exact same dream!”
“Me too,” Karane-san admitted. “And I’ve never even read the book…”
“I, too, dreamed that I was supporting Hahari-sama,” Mei-san remarked.
“That alone doesn’t make it sound any different than usual,” Hahari-san pointed out.
Who would have thought that everyone had experienced the same dream? Could it be…?!
“Was it the Dream-Sharing Medicine or the Isekai Medicine?” Kusuri-senpai wondered aloud.
“The former sounds at least somewhat plausible,” said Nano-san.
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” said Rentaro-kun.
It might have just been a dream. Yes, it was more realistic to think of it that way. But even if it had been a dream, I got to experience an irreplaceable adventure with my friends and boyfriend. Yes, to me, it was the Shangri-la of dreams!
Hmm? Wait… I couldn’t help but notice the hair accessory Rentaro-kun wore. It was a four-leaf clover, identical to that of the squire boy’s…