“Hey, just be honest with me.”
By the time I had tried to hit Lucas on the back of the head and failed over twenty times, he spoke with a look of disbelief.
“You really have nothing to do, do you? You’re just doing this because you’re bored, aren’t you?”
“……”
I swung my sword again without answering.
Thud.
This time, I actually hit Lucas’s shoulder. It probably didn’t hurt that much, though.
“It’s true that I have nothing to do.”
I placed the sword on the table and said.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m screwing around because I’m bored. I’m just… trying to find a way.”
“A way? What kind of way?”
“……”
For some reason, I felt like saying something like ‘a way to fix our relationship’ would be pointless, so I just kept my mouth shut.
“Ha.”
Ultimately, Lucas rubbed his face with both hands, rolling his eyes as he spoke.
“Then why not just choose the way you’re good at?”
“The way I’m good at?”
“You shoot well with a gun.”
“……”
Hmm.
“Well, if you adjust every time you miss and keep shooting until you hit, who wouldn’t be able to do that?”
“……But my skills are real.”
Right.
I only did that when I needed to ensure I hit the target.
Of course, in actual combat, I always had to hit the opponent, so I couldn’t help but rewind time dozens or even hundreds of times, but hitting Lucas’s shoulder was for real. It was because I knew exactly how and where he would dodge.
“So, you want me to bring real bullets and shoot at you?”
“……Well, go ahead.”
I stared straight at Lucas.
Was he really just saying that to ease his guilt? Up until now, the reason I had been missing was that I was swinging a wooden sword. If it had been a real sword that could actually cut, he might have stood still.
With real bullets, it’d be even less of a problem.
“I’ll think about it.”
I flopped back in my chair. Lucas’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Did he not expect me to respond like that?
But hey, what’s the harm in trying? Getting shot doesn’t always mean you die.
Well, most people would probably just die, but people like Lucas are a bit different.
*
So, what to do now?
Normally, I wouldn’t be able to bring a weapon into Lucas’s mansion, which was now under quarantine.
A wooden sword is a great killing machine, depending on the circumstances, but people would know that I couldn’t kill Lucas just because I charged at him with a wooden sword. So, they didn’t really care about me bringing that kind of weapon.
What about a real sword?
Even if I brought a real sword, unless Lucas intentionally let himself get hit, there was no way I could kill him.
In that case, my life as the Crown Princess would be at risk, so I couldn’t bring a sword for that reason.
What about a gun?
Of course, generally, I wouldn’t be able to bring one either.
Since I had led the Gryphon in battle last time, everyone in the army knew the kind of stuff I could pull with a gun. Ever since then, I had become, without a doubt, an object of admiration to the soldiers.
But just because I was respected didn’t mean I could ignore the rules. I had to adhere to what Princess Alice, the next Emperor, told me not to do.
So, regular-sized firearms were completely out of the question.
There’s no way I could bring a rifle blatantly, and even a handgun would be quite obvious if I tucked it inside my clothes.
Veteran soldiers guarding this place would easily see that I was hiding a handgun.
So, there was only one option left.
Click.
Bang!
Even the smallest handgun sounded incredibly loud in this room.
In fact, a Derringer-style pistol was designed to reliably incapacitate a person with a single shot, so unlike its size and number of rounds, it could pack quite a punch. Of course, considering the size, it would still be firing .433 caliber rounds, which is typical for military revolvers.
The smell of smoke and gunpowder wafted strongly from the muzzle.
“Crown Princess!? Prince!?”
Startled, the soldiers guarding outside rushed in.
Click, click, they aimed their guns at the two of us.
Truly, these soldiers were well-trained. To point guns at the Crown Princess and Crown Prince, nonetheless. But I guess Lucas might feel a bit unfair about that from his perspective.
It didn’t seem like he was showing it on his face, though.
“……What are you doing?” Lucas asked.
The barrel of my gun was aimed precisely at Lucas. If there had been a live round instead of a blank, he would have been dead by now, even at this distance of about five steps away.
So, Lucas was questioning the absurdity of this situation.
Since he was supposed to just drop dead from a bullet.
But, am I stupid?
I knew he wouldn’t dodge, so I shot a real bullet.
“……What are you doing?”
I asked, lacing a hint of annoyance into my voice.
Having decided to speak casually, I had also resolved to be a bit more emotional. Of course, I wasn’t completely hiding my emotions usually, but it wouldn’t be bad to live a little more casually after abandoning my entire concept.
It seemed Lucas was confused by my sudden emotional display. Even though I had already spoken casually in front of him, this was the first time I had shown this degree of emotion.
“You heard the sound, right? I even gave you time to dodge, so why didn’t you?”
“……Oh, I see.”
Lucas sighed deeply and responded.
“Oh, I see? What does that mean?”
I sighed dramatically.
“Crown Princess?”
A soldier cautiously asked.
“The next bullet will be a live round, is that okay?”
“……”
“Well, there’s nothing to ask. If I shoot, it’ll just hit you anyway.”
I spread my fingers, palm facing up.
The device hidden in my sleeve shrank back, allowing me to hide the handgun back inside my sleeve.
I waved my hand slightly at the soldiers. They looked a bit bewildered, but they put their guns down for the time being.
It seemed clear that I had no intention of actually killing Lucas.
I pulled up a chair.
“What on earth is the problem?”
My voice tinged with annoyance made Lucas shrink his shoulders.
He too sat down on a chair a bit away from me.
But he wouldn’t look me in the eye.
What a painfully frustrating guy he is.
“Do you really want to die?”
“……Not really.”
Lucas replied.
“Then what the heck do you want? Do you want me to shoot you? Are you a pervert? Do you want to be shot by someone you thought was your little sister?”
“……”
Wow.
I sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling.
“……Let’s just be straightforward.”
I had initially tried to approach slowly, but I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Are you feeling guilty about how many times you took me down?”
“……”
Silence.
“You remember when I shot you in the head, right?”
Of course, I rewound time afterward.
Honestly, it wasn’t like I shot him because my skills were that great. It just happened because Lucas was careless.
I wondered if he remembered that too. I didn’t really know if he could remember dying. I had never really died before.
“You’ve never killed me, but I’ve killed you.”
The soldiers had expressions indicating they didn’t get what I was saying at all, but I didn’t really care. They would struggle to understand no matter how much I explained.
“So let’s just say that was how things went.”
“How can we do that?”
Lucas said in disbelief.
“I remember every time you rewound time to avoid my attacks.”
“It’s all been reverted anyway.”
“As long as I remember it, it’s something I’ve actually experienced.”
“No.”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
“……You really resemble the Emperor in some ways.”
Lucas glared at me.
“You talk like you don’t hear a word anyone else is saying. It’s like you’re only saying what you want to say. Guess blood doesn’t lie, huh?”
“Is that something you should be saying?”
“I’m not even related by blood.”
As we talked, I could see the soldiers’ faces turning pale. I waved my hand at them again. They hastily retreated as if they didn’t want to hear any more.
“Let’s take it one step at a time.”
I said, trying to regain my calm and composure as much as possible.
“So, you feel some guilt or regret about taking me down multiple times. But there’s no way to go back, and even if I do rewind time, you remember it, so it’ll just be your fault. Am I right?”
“……”
Realizing how ridiculous that thought was, Lucas kept his mouth shut.
“……No.”
Huh?
He said no?
“Then what is it?”
“Well…”
Lucas thought for a moment before speaking.
“Well, since I ignored your efforts.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
I said, touching my forehead.
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