The Extra Saved the Terminally Ill Princess and Ran Away - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Confession (1)

***

The scenery changed with each step we took. I could feel through my skin and airways how even the flow of air was transforming into something unsettling.

What had started as dense forest gradually became a dark and gloomy space where even sunlight couldn't penetrate through the tree shadows—the kind of place that would instinctively terrify any human.

Tch.

-Click!

Unable to see in the darkness ahead, Lili clicked her tongue and conjured a light.

-Rustle!! Rustle!

As the sudden light illuminated our surroundings, large crimson shapes darted into the thick undergrowth with movements far too quick for their size.

'So it begins.'

Our mission in Section B-04 was simple:

Reach the target point, infuse magic into a human head-sized orb, and return.

The objective itself couldn't have been more straightforward.

But the process was brutally difficult.

Because the mission seemed so simple at first glance, they'd ramped up the difficulty of reaching the target point.

They'd calibrated it to be just barely clearable based on the protagonist and main heroine's specs.

By filling it with beasts that radiated both ferocity and predatory pressure.

-Swish... swish...

This time the sound of breaking undergrowth came from right beside us.

Lili must have detected the creature's blatant presence too, as she stretched her hand toward the source of the sound.

'Oh for fuck's sake, she's going to use magic already?'

I tried to block her path and cut down the beast charging at us, but before I could, Lili had already clenched her fist toward the sound's source.

Then came the sound of the beast's body being crushed.

-Crunch, squish... crackle.

"Why are you using magic so early... Your Highness?"

I had to say something. This was still the very beginning of the practical training, and it wasn't wise to keep using colorless magic—which, while unmatched in destructive power, consumed an enormous amount of magical energy.

She shifted slightly away from me, avoiding my questioning, slightly reproachful gaze.

"I can handle my own problems, so I'd appreciate it if you'd mind your own business."

Her expression suggested she understood my intentions... but there was clear hesitation in her manner.

Her tone was as prickly as ever in rejecting me, but her heart didn't carry the same venom as before.

'The malice I planted in her as Finn seems to have completely washed away....'

One year ago.

I realized my plan to take on all of Lili's guilt through my death had somehow achieved its goal in an unexpected way.

According to my plan... with me, the object of her resentment, dead and gone, she would inevitably be influenced by the Emperor, her new emotional anchor.

That was just who she was as a person.

And since the Emperor was the type to constantly shower his daughter and wife with love and devotion, I thought the more influenced she was by him, the faster she would return to her original self.

That's why even in my final farewell, I'd reminded her that he was her only ally and to take good care of him...

'Before I could approach her, someone else... no, that fiancé bastard must have heavily influenced Lili.'

This son of a bitch.

I couldn't help but curse.

It was like I'd set the table, prepared the meal, and laid out the chopsticks, only for some starving dog to barge in and make a mess of everything.

'Calm down, calm down.'

Taking a deep breath, I walked ahead and asked, deliberately not facing her.

"...You mentioned having a fiancé."

My face was surely twisted with the jealousy eating away at me inside.

"Yes."

A simple, clear answer.

That single word stung my throat. Those online posts about NTR causing physical pain weren't lying after all.

I could actually feel my insides churning as if in pain.

"Hey, hey!! In front!!"

Lili shouted at me. She must have just noticed the boar-like beast charging at us. She stretched out her arm.

-Slash.

But before she could clench her fist, I'd already drawn a white crescent with my sword and severed the beast's neck.

Then I spoke to her, who still hadn't processed what had happened.

"This fiancé... might I ask what kind of person they are?"

"...Why are you asking about that?"

Her blatant wariness pricked at my back. She must think I hadn't learned my lesson from last time's thorough rejection.

Trying not to arouse her suspicion, I spoke as calmly as possible.

"Isn't it natural to be curious about what kind of man could capture the heart of the Imperial Princess?"

"..."

"I don't mind even if you want to sing your beloved fiancé's praises."

I had only one goal.

Know your enemy and know yourself... or was it know yourself and you'll never lose? Anyway, I needed information about this fiancé bastard.

There was a chance he might be someone I'd seen in the original story.

***

"So to me, he is like the sun..."

In this pitch-black space, she finally opened her mouth to share her thoughts about that man, perhaps unable to reject my questions—the only conversation partner around—especially when they weren't about her personal information but about her fiancé.

-Slash.

"Like the sun...?"

At first, she kept stumbling over her words, wary of the beasts that kept appearing suddenly,

But each time I swiftly cut them down as we advanced, she eventually started talking about her fiancé without paying much attention to the beasts.

"Yes, the sun."

I roughly understood what she meant by the word, but I turned to her to ask exactly what she meant by calling her fiancé the sun.

Then I saw her faint smile. And an expression that seemed both sorrowful and painful... as if she were suppressing something.

The smile must have been from thinking of her fiancé, and that emotion of holding back sadness... must be the pain of wanting to meet her beloved fiancé but being unable to.

'...Fuck.'

Feeling my expression twist involuntarily, I hurriedly turned away from her.

Even if I'd managed to smooth my expression, she would surely have noticed the clear teeth marks on my lip, so I turned away from that painful scene.

"The sun originally means the Emperor of the Empire. It's a term that refers to my father."

...You reap what you sow, they say.

Seeing me turn away, unable to hide my sorrow and jealousy, she began to tell me just how deeply she loved this fiancé.

Because I had asked. Because I'd said she could praise her fiancé.

"And he truly showed me as much love as Father... no, even more than that."

"He was the only one... besides family... who always looked at me with warm eyes and loved me."

I didn't want to hear any more. No, if I heard any more, I felt I might burst into tears, unable to hide my sorrow.

"And for my sake, he even gave his—"

"I can see it."

Fortunately, we reached our destination before she could finish praising her fiancé with grand words about his life.

Though I hadn't gotten any of the intended information about the fiancé, if there was one thing I'd learned...

'Next time I ask about the fiancé, I need to really, really steel myself first.'

Sometimes in NTR stories, there are men who get excited hearing their woman talk about other men,

But experiencing a similar situation firsthand, I realized those guys weren't just incomprehensible—they were straight-up crazy masochists.

-Step.

The moment she took a step toward the orb, the only light in this darkness.

"So we just need to infuse magic into that orb..."

"Your Highness!!"

I leaped to block her path, swinging my sword in a great arc from lower left to upper right.

-Clang!

Or rather, I tried to.

The beast's fangs, suddenly lunging at Lili from the darkness, deflected my blade.

"W-What is that...?"

Lili's voice trembled in fear as she saw the massive white fangs set against black that had just tried to devour her.

Even she, who always tried to maintain her dignity as Imperial Princess, couldn't help but show her instinctive prey animal fear.

The creature, whose outline I could barely make out.

House-sized, covered in pitch-black fur that made only its teeth visible in this darkness, gleaming white in the orb's reflection.

The beast that was supposed to encounter Ian Cedric and Selina.

Its name in the story was Lycansthrope.

"What else could it be but a beast?"

"That's... a beast...?"

-Grrrr....

Well, that's a relief. At least you make sounds like a proper beast.

It was welcome news to me, as I'd been wondering how to fight an opponent that made no sound and could barely be seen.

So I turned to her with a slight smirk.

No need to be scared.

I'm by your side.

Conveying with my eyes that I would absolutely protect her, if no one else.

"It's just... a rather large beast. No need to worry too much, Your Highness. I won't let even a single hair on it touch you."

She stared intently at my eyes in the light of her magic. Then she swallowed hard and put on a determined expression.

"Three minutes. Just hold out for three minutes. I'll prepare a spell that can crush this mere beast in an instant."

"..."

Three minutes.

Our cup ramen Princess confidently declaring she only needs three minutes for what took Selina five minutes in the original story.

I couldn't help but smile, knowing exactly what magic she planned to use—the same colorless magic as the main heroine.

"...Whether it's three minutes or thirty, I'll hold out as long as needed."

As I said this and looked at the creature, the Lycansthrope, apparently finished sizing up its prey, disappeared back into the darkness.

'...Sorry to disappoint, but I know all your attack patterns, puppy.'

You dare bare those filthy fangs at our Princess? Unless you've got gold teeth in there, I'll tear them all out.

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