Chapter 85 – Things You Shouldn’t Mess With

“What do you intend to do with me…?” The princess suddenly said. It’s been three days since I kidnapped her, but that’s the first time she said anything. I wonder what changed her mind to make her open mouth…

“Well, that depends on what the empire wants to do with you.” I replied.

“… Will you really sell me to the empire?” She asked.

“I mean, why not? And I may not know what they’ll do with you, but I can make some guesses…” Like holding her hostage while warring against this kingdom, forcing her to give birth to a child in order to justify the union of both countries… Among other options, “Do you want to hear them?”

“… Have you ever heard that you lack humanity?” That annoying girl asked.

“Your point being…?” I asked back. I did hear things like monster and lack of humanity, but why is she suddenly bringing that up?

“Can you even look your parents in the eye?” She said.

“You’d do well to be an obedient girl and shut up now.” I replied.

“My dad is a wonderful ruler… but yours? He’s just crap, isn’t he?” She said.

“Oh, he certainly is.” I agreed. After all, that man that I am related by blood to has only kept me around because of my talents. I wouldn’t even be allowed to talk to people otherwise.

“I see…” She said. “My mom was very kind, you know? She always listened to my worries and cheered me up when I was feeling down.” I didn’t reply. What is she getting at…? “What about your mother? Could she properly listen to you? Could she properly cheer you up?”

“You really should shut up.” Of course she listened to me and cheered me up…

“And yet, with you like this, it’s obvious that your mother was a failure at educating you.” She said what!?

“… Shut up.” Mom didn’t fail.

“She couldn’t teach her daughter, nor stop her when she was doing something wrong.” That brat said.

“Shut up!” I shouted as I grabbed her neck and threw her on the floor with just enough strength to not kill her.

I firmly held her neck while pointing my shortsword directly at her face.

She coughed once, then said, “So that’s your weakness, huh?” I did not reply, but I stomped her back. She made a small scream of pain, but then continued, “… What about Annabella? Did she resemble your mother perchance?”

“She’s not my mother!” They’re definitely different. They may have a few similarities though, maybe she might have been able to grow close to mom if she was alive… Is this what this girl is trying to imply?

She giggled, “Your probably dead mother is certainly crying right now…”

“… Die.” I swung my shortsword at her hateful smile, “Eh?” A dull sound echoed in the room… “What are you doing?” Even though I aimed it at the princess’ face, the shortsword hit the floor instead… “Yamada…?”

… It bit me. First an NPC and now my servant bit me. But thanks to that, I was able to calm down a bit, “I’ll forgive you this once. Though you’ll still go to the furnace as punishment.” Yamada was clearly desperate, but I ignored it, “It’s useless to resist.”

I turned back towards the silent princess who seemed absolutely clueless about what had just happened… and kicked Yamada away as a small punishment, I’ll send him to a proper blacksmith later, “I’ve changed my mind.” I told her.

“… What do you mean?” She asked.

“I won’t sell you to the empire.” I replied.

“… What are you going to do then?” She said… She seemed worried… Rightfully so. There’s no way I’m going to simply sell her after she annoyed me this much.

“I’ll declare war against the empire by using your name.” I told her.

“Wh-what!?” That’s a nice reaction.

I giggled, “You were the last person that your father, the king, met… Soon after, you declared war on the empire… I wonder what will be left in the historical records of the kingdom about you.”

“S-stop it…” She begged.

Let’s see… She killed her father, the king, and pretended to be a victim. She fueled the political conflict between both princes, delaying the coronation of the next king, and used that time to invade the empire… What else? Maybe she could have complained about her rights to the throne being low due to her gender? It’s a not a bad tale.

“The stigma of killing her father, the deadly sin of putting the kingdom in a war against a nation as strong as the empire… I wonder what will be told of the princess mother, the queen?” I continued.

“Please stop it…” She said again.

It really isn’t hard to tamper history when you’re making it. Historians won’t have enough material to judge the truth behind things, and they’ll just explain things by blaming it on human stupidity.

“Oh, and the maid who suddenly disappeared without a trace… Could she have been sacrificed for the sake of the princess’ dark ambitions? Or maybe she was the one that pushed the princess in that direction in the first place.” I said.

“I-I’m really sorry! Please stop this!” The tied up princess begged as she lowered her head to the floor and started sobbing.

“… You know, my mother taught me about what to do when someone apologized to me… What do you think she said?” I asked her.

“… Could you please forgive me?” She asked back. She doesn’t understand it, so she can say this kind of unreasonable thing, but still…

“Mom told me that, even if the other person apologizes, if I’m not convinced that they’re sorry, if I still can’t forgive them, if I don’t feel better about the matter… Then I don’t need to force myself forgive them.” I explained.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tried to speak, but only sobs and tears left her.

“I personally think that it’s a really arrogant notion to assume that one can be forgiven just by apologizing, don’t you agree?” I asked her.

And, while using her tears and sobs as background music, I started planning the war out.