Princess Margaret had a very crude flyer laid out before her.
The paper was cheap flax fiber, and the handwriting and drawings upon it were so simple they were mind-boggling.
The rough brushstrokes looked as if an orc from the North Realm had clumsily imitated a human noble child’s copybook.
In Margaret’s eyes, this thing was far from art; it couldn’t even be called a decent drawing!
Most hateful of all was the content, which made Margaret’s blood pressure soar.
[The Princess Is Lost! Help Us!]
[Lost Item: Princess]
[Location: All areas affected by the flood]
[Age: 10 to 80]
[Gender: Possibly male, possibly female]
[Physical Features: Possibly two eyes or one mouth, possibly two ears or one nose.]
[Reward: Our benefactor’s kindness is so great that the Princess cannot repay it, save for offering her hand in marriage!]
“Riiip!—”
Margaret tore the flyer to shreds, her pretty face flushed redder than a Pupu.
She pursed her lips tightly, her pearly teeth biting down hard on her lower lip, as an uncontrollable fire ignited in her bright amber eyes.
“Who did this! How wicked! What do they take this Princess for! Lost? Am I a 5-year-old child?”
“I, a dignified Advanced Combatant, trapped by a flood! Does that make any sense? How stupid must I be in the eyes of the people who believe this rumor!”
Ananna hurried forward to soothe her, attempting to calm her anger.
“Your Highness, it’s all right. It’s just a rumor. We just need to go out and clarify things now.”
“Heh! That’s not enough! I want this bastard who slandered me dead!” Margaret’s cheeks were flushed, and she shouted sharply, “Where is the Royal Guard? Kobilio! Kobilio! Get in here!”
“Your Highness, I am here.”
Kobilio entered the bedroom as ordered.
“Mount your dragon. Now, immediately come with me to find the source of this disaster. I’m going to tear her limb from limb!”
Margaret prepared to storm out in a rage, but in the next second, Kobilio stopped her.
“Your Highness.”
Kobilio’s face was solemn, and he spoke nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
“It’s very dangerous outside right now. Many people are looking for you, and we cannot risk going out.”
Margaret dazed for a moment.
“That’s true…”
Suddenly, she snapped back to her senses.
“Wait, no, no, no!” She stomped her feet in anger, steam nearly rising from her head as she shouted on the verge of a breakdown, “What are you saying! They’re looking for me because they can’t find me!!!”
“That may be so, but Your Highness, don’t you find it strange?” Kobilio’s brow was furrowed tightly, his expression as grave as if a demon army were besieging the city.
Margaret was also made a bit nervous by his expression.
“Strange? What’s strange?”
“I’m saying, Your Highness, could this be a conspiracy?”
“…What conspiracy?”
“Your Highness, think about it. What is your first reaction when encountering something like this?”
Kobilio’s tone was full of sincere concern as he asked leadingly.
“Uh, go to a public place to clarify?”
“Exactly!”
Kobilio clapped his hands, his expression becoming even more solemn.
“That is precisely the enemy’s goal! They want to lure you out, so you must not go. What if this is an assassination trap set by the remnants of the Demon King, targeting you, a great hero of the demon subjugation, in a fit of rage…”
Margaret’s delicate body trembled as she reached a sudden realization, feeling as if she had uncovered a massive conspiracy.
She became nervous.
“Wh-where is John? Where is John? Why hasn’t he come back to protect me?”
“Your Highness, Sir Hero is currently clearing out the remnants of the Demon King’s army and cannot return for the time being. But please rest assured. As long as you stay in your room, the Royal Guard and I will guard the City Lord’s manor so tightly that even water cannot leak through, and we swear to protect your safety until death!”
Kobilio pressed his fist to his chest and performed a solemn salute of loyalty, giving a vow of a guarantee.
Margaret was deeply moved.
“There are still loyal subjects in the kingdom. Lord Kobilio, you are much more loyal than the Hero. I will certainly credit you before my father when we return.”
“It is my duty; I would not decline even 10,000 deaths!”
Kobilio took the opportunity to drop to one knee and bowed his head deeply.
The maid, Ananna, stood silently to the side.
Her gaze moved between Kobilio and the Princess, and several times she looked like she wanted to speak, but she ultimately swallowed her words.
Her Highness completely took Kobilio’s nonsense as truth.
She began to busily set up traps in her bedroom, then huddled back onto the bed and hid under the covers like a little girl who had just woken up from a nightmare.
“Nanna, Nanna.”
A snow-white little hand reached out from the covers and beckoned toward Ananna.
“Come in quickly, let’s hide together.”
Ananna’s lips moved slightly, but in the end, she shook her head.
“No, Your Highness. I’ll go out and keep watch for you.”
Outside the bedroom, the clouds were as deep as spilled ink.
Passing through a silent and desolate corridor, Ananna found Kobilio in the empty Royal Guard barracks.
“What is your goal in deceiving Her Highness like this?”
Her tone was unfriendly.
The Princess couldn’t hear through those lies, but how could she not?
However, out of wariness for Kobilio’s position as the Commander of the Royal Guard, and even more out of fear that exposing it on the spot would make the Princess angry and escalate the conflict, she had remained silent.
“Please rest assured, Miss Nanna. All of this has nothing to do with Her Highness, and no one will hurt her.”
Kobilio knew he couldn’t hide it from this exceptionally shrewd maid, so he admitted it frankly.
Ananna stared closely into Kobilio’s eyes.
Seeing no trace of pretense in his honest gaze, she sighed in relief.
After calming her mind, she asked curiously, “What are you all doing, anyway?”
“The Dry River Territory is flooded, and Sir Hero wanted to provide relief to the victims, but the lords in various places were feigning compliance while secretly opposing him. So, Sir Hero came up with this method.”
Kobilio shrugged and poured a glass of berry wine for Ananna.
Ananna was left speechless.
She sat down and held the wine glass in silence for a long time before finally uttering a sentence: “This really is… a terrible idea!”
“It’s not that bad,” Kobilio chuckled.
“It’s quite effective. I suspect the City Lords everywhere are currently scared to death.”
Ananna reached out her finger in annoyance and poked his forehead with a hint of intimacy.
“Have you been with the Hero for so long that your brain has been assimilated by him? Did you ever think about how to clean up the mess after making such a big scene?”
“That has nothing to do with me!”
Kobilio immediately put on an innocent expression and raised his hands in surrender.
“Sir Hero threatened me into doing it. I’m a victim, too.”
“You guys really are…”
Ananna wanted to cry but had no tears.
After a long silence, she asked again, “Did Sir Hero never consider his own career?”
“Maybe he doesn’t care at all, feeling that high office and riches are far less important than those lives.”
Kobilio took a sip of wine and sighed softly.
“Or perhaps he has nothing to fear. His own strength has already given him enough security that he no longer needs to pursue power or wealth to fill an inner void.”
“Just how strong is the Hero?”
Ananna couldn’t help but ask the question that many people were speculating about.
Everyone knew the Hero was strong.
But few people knew exactly how strong he was.
Because the Hero was a good-tempered man, he rarely fought, let alone fought with his full strength.
It seemed there was only one person who had seen him use his full power, and that was Demon King Ria—but the Demon King was already dead, and he had died quite miserably.