RATH Side Story 7
TL: Eevee

Side Story – A certain princess’s memories (7)

This lad, no, lass was thoroughly insane.

“If you keep doing this then I’ll really seriously send in a request to my father to marry you?”

Was it because of my slip up last time where I showed her my shocked expression.

This little brat, every time she’s at a disadvantage she always pulls out marriage.

“Your Highness, even so, you cannot do what you cannot do.”
“Really? Reaally? Is that so? Alright then. Then I’ll go and tell Father I’m going to marry you.”
“Although the laws of the empire do not yet permit Your Highness’s marriage.”
“Heeh~ so you’ve been in and out of the imperial library lately whenever you had some spare time, so you were learning the imperial law?”

This little squirt, before she used to taunt me with an expressionless face, but goodness knows where she learned it from, lately she’s been pressuring me while wearing this evil look.

“Yes, you never know when you might need something you’ve learned, after all.”
“Alright, then you should also know that according to imperial law, although marriage is impossible, engagements are very well within the law, right?”

And why wouldn’t I. There were cases where families that would engage their children together even though they hadn’t even been born yet.

An engagement at ten years old was quite an acceptable age to get engaged at.

But the condition for that was very strange.

“Your Highness. For an issue of the imperial family, and moreover, an issue that affects the empire itself, isn’t the reason why a member of the imperial family seeks engagement too flawed?”

There was a reason why the princess who normally teased me just enough for me to be troubled before pulling back was saying this.

And that was…

“Are you not being too petty over threatening me with engagement just because you do not want to eat carrots and cucumber.”
“Ast. I don’t like what I don’t like.”

Indeed. The reason why Her Highness was going as far as to use her own engagement to threaten me was because she didn’t want to eat her vegetables, carrots and cucumbers.

Her Highness that was throwing a tantrum with a giant scowl looked exactly like her age, but to me who knew exactly what was inside that appearance, it was all but a disgusting act!

And so I need to push strongly here.

“Even if Your Highness threatens me, as a personal steward that must also look after your health I cannot acquiesce to Your Highness’s request.”
“There’s no problem to my health just because I don’t eat carrots and cucumbers?”

Although of course since she’s being fed all sorts of things good for the body in the imperial palace of course her health wouldn’t deteriorate even if she didn’t eat cucumber or carrot.

But, the only time where I can openly get revenge on Her Highness that keeps on giving me annoying work on a daily basis is this very mealtime.

I can’t miss out on this!

“Your Highness. Among the duties of a personal steward is the duty to ensure Your Highness grows up well. And so in order to fix Your Highness’s eating habits…”

I was going to convince(fool) Her Highness with a somewhat logical reason but beside me, Sir Reia bit into a sandwich she was eating as a light snack before lunch and she shouted.

“Ahh! Hang on a second, Sir Ast! When you don’t have cucumbers in your own sandwich, your argument to Her Highness has no merit behind it!”

Tch, I got found out.

“But why is Sir Reia eating my sandwich?”
“I finished all of mine.”
“And so is it right for a lady to eat someone else’s food whenever they want?”
“Oh my, since when was I ever treated like a lady here.”

Sir Reia who was eating my sandwich with an expression that nothing was wrong had definitely gotten stronger.

Not physically. She was already a swordsmaster when I first met her, so her martial skills were already strong.

But her mental growth over just this single month was so bright it was almost blinding.

Was this, the mental power she gained after getting rejected by all 15 men I introduced to her!

“Ast, it’s nice that you’re playing with Reia, but don’t you have something to say to me before that?”

While I was enraptured by Sir Reia’s growth, Her Highness was looking at me with the same look I so often looked at her with.

What look, you ask?

The gaze of someone looking down on unsalvageable trash?

“Your Highness. Cucumber is an ingredient that simply cannot be saved. Cooking is an art where you combine each ingredient to bring out the best in the others, and the thing called cucumber is a very poor ingredient that infects other ingredients with its smell and taste.”
“Mm. I think so too Ast, but why are you putting cucumbers in my food, and not in yours?”

That? Well that’s obvious.

“Your Highness, I am an adult. Children may not be fussy eaters for the sake of their growth, but I am an adult that has already finished growing up and therefore I do not have to eat cucumber.”
“What sort of bullshit is that?”
“Meaning, Your Highness is still in your growth period so you cannot be a fussy eater, but I have already finished growing up so I am allowed to be a fussy eater.”
“Do you realise just what kind of bullshit you’ve been spouting out for a while now, Ast?”

Of course it sounds like bullshit even to my own ears, but the moment I admit that I’m liable to be eaten whole by that monster with a girl’s appearance.

Damn it, other kids that’re treated like this in other worlds are usually orphans and soldiers so if their superior tells them to jump, they have to ask how high.

But our monstrous Imperial Highness is a princess so she has no superior to tell her to shut up.

“Your Highness. I lost my parents at a young age, and shortly afterwards my country was also destroyed because of our territory lord’s stupidity.”
“So, want me to say I’m sorry?”

This stubborn princess.

Although of course if she treated me with pity then that would send shivers down my spine in its own right.

“No, I do not wish to blame my poor luck on other people. It’s just that, since that was how I passed my childhood I could not be a fussy eater when I was young.”
“Sir Ast…”

Sir Reia was looking at me with very sad eyes.

But, isn’t that sandwich in her hands mine? I only ate one, so half of my lunch has already vanished?

“And?”
“Since I was not a fussy eater when I was young, I could grow up as I have done. And so Your Highness may not be picky about your food.”
“Really, now?”

And as if she understood me, Her Highness nodded, smiled brightly at me and said.

“So enough of your bullshit, and swap your sandwich with mine, Ast.”

And at the same time the hand that reached forward to steal my sandwich was none other than Her Highness’s!

Whack!

“I refuse.”

And I reached my own hand out to knock away Her Highnesses to protect my sandwich.

“Are you mad? Slapping the hand of the imperial family?”
“Your Highness. In the laws of the empire, there are clauses that state for people that take care of young members of the imperial family, such as stewards like me or wet nurses. As well as teachers brought in for education all have the right to apply mild discipline as we see fit.”
“So you’ve memorised all those annoying things. But was there a clause that included picky eating among those necessities for discipline?”
“Your Highness, picky eating can be included under education related to daily life.”

Her Highness leered at me, or more accurately my sandwich with narrowed eyes, before her gaze turned to Sir Reia.

“Reia, were there carrots in Sir Ast’s sandwich?”
“Munch… ye, yes? Ah, Sir Ast’s sandwich?”

At Her Highness’s sudden question, Sir Reia hurriedly gulped down the sandwich she’d been chewing on before she nodded.

“Yes, there were.”

Well, I didn’t like cucumbers, but since I didn’t mind carrots I left the carrots in.

“Alright then, Ast. I will try to fix my dislike of carrots at this opportunity. They always say that small steps are always the beginning, right? So change your sandwich with mine.”

Ohh, to think that she would try to fix her pickiness against carrots that failed last time because of Sir Reia!

“To think you would try to fix your eating habits yourself, I’m proud of you, Your Highness.”
“I know right? So…”

Her Highness was saying with a slightly aggrieved look.

And I cut Her Highness’s words off, and continued talking.

“But I refuse!”
“Why?!”

Why? Well of course that’s because!

“Because I do not like cucumber, Your Highness!”
“…ggghhht.”(1)

At my words Her Highness made a stunned face briefly before commanding Sir Reia.

“Reia, I command you as your lord. Bring me Ast’s sandwich.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”

Mm? Hang on.

“Sir Reia?”
“I’m sorry, Sir Ast. But it is my lady’s orders.”

At the words that it was a command, Sir Reia’s whole aura changed.

Although I had seen many sides of Sir Reia during this not-all-that-short time, there was only one time I had seen this before.

It was the time where she cut down the magic barrage that Her Highness and I had tested and brought to reality.

And another difference was that this time her appearance from back then was right in front of me now!

“Sir Reia. This is an important aspect to support Her Highness’s growth…”
“Yes, I am aware. But Her Highness’s commands are more important than that.”

Wow, to think a person could change this much. Normally she would have just gone “re, really?” and glossed it over with just words.

“Must it be this way?”
“My sword was dedicated to Her Highness. And even if His Majesty the emperor was to command me, I must prioritise Her Highness’s orders.”

Now that it had gone to this I started to think.

Could I fight with Sir Reia as she was now and win?

Impossible.

Could I protect my sandwich from Sir Reia in her current state?

Also impossible.

Then that left me with only one thing I could do.

“Sir Reia, if that is how Sir is going to going to do it, then I must also be serious.”
“Yes, Sir Ast. I heard that you also train your swordsmanship daily, Sir Ast.”

Yes, the epitome of fantasy.

If I, who can’t use neither magic nor summoning were to survive in this fantasy world then at least I need to know how to swing a sword.

I was living the life I was because at least my previous life and this one weren’t too different in that respect.

I had to at least swing a familiar sword.

And because of that, I had never ever lost my touch with a blade.

To the point where even the organization acknowledged my swordsmanship, as far as I remembered my sword had always been in my hand my entire life.

Shhhing.

Sir Reia drew her sword from her sheath and looked at me with enough fighting spirit to send shivers down my entire body.

“Although I’d rather have it been under different circumstances, but I always wondered what Sir Ast’s swordsmanship was like.”

I too took distance from her. And reached my hand out.

Towards my sandwich.

“Mm?”
“Eh?”

Both Sir Reia who was facing me seriously, and Her Highness the imperial princess that had been happily watching over the two of us watched my foodie show with dumbfounded eyes.

“Wa, wait, Sir Ast! Wasn’t this moving to something on the lines of you and I meeting swords?”

Meet swords? With the Sword Princess?

To be honest when it came to pure swordsmanship alone I was confident that I wouldn’t lose to Sir Reia.

No matter how much of a genius Sir Reia was, when you added my past life and my present life, I had over 40 years of experience in swinging a sword.

But it wasn’t like I had the balls to fight serious mode Sir Reia.

Why would the Sword Heaven receive the most respect out of the five Sword titles?

Because it belonged to the strongest among those that practiced swordsmanship.

And yet even so, they say that the Sword Heaven is the weakest among the five titled Swords.

Because the majority of the people that become the Sword Heaven are people who use their swordsmanship to overcome their deficiencies in magic power.

Sword ki uses magic power.

And sword auras are the compressed version of that sword ki, and therefore use disgusting amounts of mana.

Because of that, even if you overcame the hurdle of a swordsmaster, if you lacked in magic power then you couldn’t even use sword aura all that much.

And even in reality, among the Sword Heavens in history, there were even people that were said to only have enough magic power to be able to use sword aura just once per fight.

Because of that, in order to be judged purely on their swrodsmanship, they say that Sword Heavens do not use magic where their titles are on the line.

But reality doesn’t care for any of that.

In reality, magic is the best. Even when you looked at wuxia novels the protagonist always beat down their enemies with inner ki, when was the last time you ever saw them become invincible with martial prowess?

No matter how good your martial arts were, you would be decimated with a single swipe of sword aura, such was how the murim worked.

Meaning if I’m the master of martial arts and the sword, Sir Reia is the master of inner ki and the sword.

No matter how much I swung my sword and got stronger, I would get snipped in two with a single sword aura-imbued swipe from Sir Reia, sword and all.

But this fight is not between myself and Sir Reia.

“Thanks for the meal.”

And the finisher was my stuffing the few sandwiches that were spared by Sir Reia into my mouth and swallowing it all with a gulp.

The cause of this fight was Her Highness ordering Sir Reia to bring her my sandwich.

“Now then, Sir Reia. There’s no more need to fight anymore, is there?”

And therefore if I make it so that said sandwiches can never reach Her Highness’s hands, it’s my victory!

I can just eat them all and not even fight!

“S, Sir Ast… do you have any pride as a swordsman?”
“Before I am an honourary knight, I am Her Highness’s personal steward. Fixing Her Highness’s eating habits are a greater priority for me than my pride.”

Although to be honest this was all to give Her Highness a giant middle finger, I at least need to package it like this so I get less coming back at me.

“And on the contrary, shouldn’t the one whose pride should be suffering yourself, Sir Reia?”
“Urk.”

At my words, Sir Reia’s faced stiffened.

“Since you could not carry out Her Highness’s command, after all.”

And as I looked at that Sir Reia, I gave her a sadistic smile that a certain note’s shinigami once wore.(2)

“I, I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

At my words, she bowed her head to Her Highness even as her eyebrows shivered.

“No, it’s alright.”

Crunch.

“Both of you did it for my sake.”

Stuff, crunch.

‘S, should I have just given it to her?”

As Her Highness glared at me while angrily toothbrushing, no, angry sandwich eating I started to feel cold sweat running down my back.

“Mm, that’s how it is. It was all for me. So I should be understanding.”

The look in Her Highness’s eye as she ignored all rules of imperial etiquette and gnawed away at the sandwich in her hands seemed so very far removed from the thing called understanding.