A Wager on the Snowy Mountain

A few days later, the knights finally received their punishment.

They were to climb to the summit of the Fedrica Mountains in the north—where monster sightings were relatively rare—in full battle gear, and then come all the way back down. It wouldn't be painful enough to kill them, Celine relayed to me, but supposedly it was the kind of punishment that would hurt right up to the very brink of death.

And naturally, I too had changed into my training clothes, thrown a thick coat over my shoulders, and stepped out of my bedchamber. I fully intended to keep my promise to share the knights' punishment alongside them. Even if I couldn't manage the full battle gear like they could.

"Your Highnesssss! Absolutely not! I'm telling you, no! Someone as delicate as—um, well, someone like you could freeze to death the moment you set foot at the entrance!"

I had no idea why she stumbled over the word "delicate," but our lovely Celine, true to form, planted herself squarely in my path.

I gently patted her round little head.

"Thank you for everything, Celine. You have no idea how much it's meant to me, having you by my side. If I don't come back... there's a silver candlestick and some silver spoons hidden under my bed. Take them secretly and sell them. Use the money for yourself."

They were items from the Grand Duchy that I'd squirreled away, just in case. It wasn't that I genuinely believed I wouldn't make it back—but I wanted to show her how much I trusted her, down to letting her in on my hidden emergency funds.

Perhaps my sincerity got through after all, because Celine promptly burst into tears.

"Waaah! Your Highness! When you say things like that with that look on your face, it's scarier than if you'd gone mad!"

...

What is that supposed to mean? I'm pretty sure I just said something incredibly touching, and you're telling me it's scary?

Shrugging, I lifted my hand from Celine's head and went to stand beside the knights.

"I'm sorry, Sir Knights. This treacherous mountain trip is all because of me."

My apology seemed to catch both knights off guard, and they flinched with wide eyes.

Yes, I knew. Those two, and every knight and servant in this grand ducal residence, thought poorly of me. I was, after all, a princess from an enemy nation—from Delmar, that kingdom responsible for the deaths of their comrades, their friends, their families.

And now the mad princess of that very kingdom had thrown a tantrum to visit the town, botched their mission, and landed them a disciplinary punishment on top of it all.

They probably want to spit in my face.

And yet, they looked visibly stunned—by the fact that I had defended them before the head butler and the Grand Duke, and then, not content with that, declared I would share their punishment and had actually come out dressed for it.

"Please don't apologize, Your Highness."

One of the knights scratched his head and spoke with an awkward expression. "The fact that it ended at this much is thanks to Your Highness stepping in. Had it been left to the Grand Duke's temperament, we would have been stripped of our knighthood and cast out."

At those words, I gave a bitter smile. "Then I'm even more sorry."

"Haha, that's not why we mentioned it."

Then the other knight, standing beside him, bowed his head to me politely. "We are grateful for the thought, Your Highness. But please return to the residence now. We can manage the round trip in a day—your legs will give out long before you even reach the foothills."

...

I blinked, taken aback.

Those words weren't spoken out of contempt for me. They were spoken out of genuine concern—worry that I truly couldn't endure it and would collapse.

The knights I'd assumed hated me, blamed me for everything, were actually worrying about me. If anything, I was the one left flustered. Whether it was mere pity for a mad princess or something else entirely... it touched me.

"But I—."

The moment I opened my mouth to answer, a low, chilly voice dropped from behind us.

"What are you all still doing here, seeing us off? Do you believe you can return before the sun sets?"

Varkan stood there, arms crossed, watching us—when exactly had he appeared? The two knights spun around as if struck by lightning.

"N-no, Your Grace! We depart at once! We shall return!"

The pair practically fled, sprinting off ahead of us. I watched their retreating backs and clicked my tongue.

"Goodness, what a scary man. My poor boys are already miserable enough about their punishment—why do you have to crush their spirits like that?!"

When I shot him a sidelong glare, Varkan stepped into my path. "Princess. Perhaps you'd care to reconsider."

"Reconsider what?"

"The northern mountains are famous throughout the entire empire for being treacherous and merciless. Do yourself a favor and return to the residence like a good girl."

At that, I flashed him my sweetest smile. "Then, shall we make a wager?"

My out-of-nowhere proposal made Varkan's brow furrow. "What kind of wager?"

"I can't promise I'll be back faster than the knights, but if I make it home safe and sound by the end of today, you'll grant me one wish."

Varkan's eyes narrowed. "...Provided it's something within my power."

"Deal!"

When I beamed with delight, he asked, "And if I win the wager? What do I get?"

Hmm. I deliberated for a moment, then answered. "Freedom?"

"...Freedom?"

My answer must have sounded rather nonsensical, because Varkan faltered. I simply smiled brightly at him and explained.

"If I don't make it back by today, that means I froze to death somewhere in those mountains or got eaten by a monster, doesn't it?"

...

"And with the Delmar headache gone, what greater freedom could you possibly want? You could finally pick yourself a sane, sensible woman and marry her. Isn't that right? So you'd better keep your promise!"

With that, I spun on my heel and went bounding joyfully off in the direction the knights had gone.

"Off I go!"

Wheeee! Yay! Mountains! Snow! It's a snow-covered mountain!

Tee-hee, tee-hee.

"...Ha."

Watching the back of that platinum-blond head disappear into the distance, a short, hollow laugh escaped Varkan's lips.

He had just confirmed, yet again, that the princess was not entirely sane. Climbing the northern mountains after the knights, proposing a wager with him—and then, worst of all, voicing the horrifying assumption of her own possible death with that guileless, sunny smile.

No sane person could say or do such things.

And yet there was exactly one reason he had accepted that absurd wager and permitted the mountain expedition: bound off like an excited puppy as she was, with that small, slender body of hers, she would never withstand the ferocious northern winds. She would collapse at the very foot of the range and give up long before she made it anywhere near the summit.

No matter how warmly she bundles up, that small, frail body cannot climb a northern mountain.

Just then, Lukas of the First Knight Order, who stood beside Varkan, stepped forward and bowed his head. "Your Grace. I shall follow Her Highness."

...

He meant to shadow the princess in case anything went wrong. But Varkan gave no answer.

Varkan, too, had no intention of letting the princess die. She was a princess of an enemy nation, a woman sent by the Emperor—but at the very least, on his own land, in the north, he had decided that this princess could not be allowed to perish. Because of her, the Imperial family must never be handed an excuse to persecute the House of Grand Duke.

Varkan raised a hand to stop Lukas from following. "No. There is no need."

"Your Grace?"

Varkan had spent more than the past week out on monster subjugation, unable even to set foot in his own residence. The subjugation had genuinely been necessary—but it was also true that he could have returned sooner had he pushed himself to wrap things up.

One way or another, contrary to his intentions, he had ended up dumping a princess he was responsible for onto his servants and knights. And now, having actually come face to face with her, he had some inkling of just how much of a headache she must have been for them all this time.

Which was exactly why he had decided that from here on, it would have to be him—not anyone else—who took charge of her.

Watching the platinum-blond head grow smaller and smaller in the distance, Varkan clenched his jaw.

Damn it all...

Pulling his cloak tight around himself, he strode forward.

"I'm going myself."

"Your Grace—!"

"Do not follow me."

Varkan's stride lengthened rapidly down the mountain path the princess had vanished along.