If I remember correctly, a princess is someone her prince has to save when she's in peril. But stories and movies nowadays are either the princess saves the prince instead or the princess becomes independent. And what's even rarer, a princess falling in love with her maid. What has the world gone to?!

Well, that's earth problem. I live in Marzenthura now.

***

We immediately rushed inside the barn—err, the orphanage I mean. After that, I was led to a room where Wiz's little sister is currently in.

When I finally got to see her, I can see that her situation isn't really good. She's breathing heavily while her cheeks are red like they're burning. Her skin has some dark lines and most of all, she's tearing up some small amounts of blood. If I have to describe it in one word, her situation is Dire.

“Felin! Felin! I have some potions again! Drink it now to ease up the pain.”

“W-Wiz…”

“Wait!”

Just when Wiz was about to make his little sister drink the potion I gave him, I stopped his hand and took it away from him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET MY LITTLE SISTER KILLED?!”

“Woaw, hold your horses kid. I'm not trying to hurt her. In fact, I'm going to help her myself.?

I get that he's desperate, but yelling at me while hitting me is a bit too much. Since he's just a kid, I'll let him off the hook.

“But before I start doing my business, can you get her a spare of clothing? It seems that she's already soaked with sweat.”

“I-I'll get it instead—”

“No, you're staying here miss.”

When I gave Wiz a task, Zetta wanted to do it instead. But when I told her not to, she listened and sat properly. Did I sound too strict?

After Wiz has left, I close the window and then lit up the whole room with magic.

“And Miss Zetta, can you please close the door? And if possible, can you lock it too?”

“Why?”

Even though she's asking me why, she's actually closing and locking the door.

“What I'm about to do is something Wiz might never forgive me if he saw it. And before I start, please take note that I'm not into little children.”

I didn’t bother whether Zetta answered me or not. All I'm thinking right now is Wiz's little sister's condition. If I heard it properly, her name is Felin?

With a flick of my finger, the blanket immediate lifts up and folds itself properly and places itself neatly in a chair. After that, one by one, I undo the buttons of Felin's clothes.

I heard a “Gulp!” sound. Surely, it came from Zetta.

After I was done unbuttoning her shirt, I then open her chest bare. Although it sounded a bit like I'm violating her, I’m not.

Then to my surprise, what I'm seeing right now is something I've never seen before. Unlike her neck and arms which had a few black lines, on her chest, those lines aren’t simply intersecting there, it was the source of the black lines. A big black circle.

It looks like this is the first time Zetta saw this, she immediately stands out of shock while covering her mouth. Preventing yourself from screaming is a good call.

“What is that?”

“Although this is different from what I expected, this is called “Magic Intoxication”.”

Magic Intoxication, It's a case where a magician receives a large amount of mana more than his body could handle. There are many different reasons this could happen to someone, but it usually happens to Magicians. I was taught by Cherry on this after I experienced something similar.

“Is she been using magic?”

“Y-yes. Actually, she just awakened as a magician 3 months ago. Since she was compatible with water magic, she uses it a lot to help around the house.”

“And then she was becoming too helpful and got herself consuming a lot of mana, correct?”

“Y-yes.”

I can sense a pattern here.

Well, I really can't blame the cliché-ness of this world. I came from earth after all.

“Did you let her drink a mana potion or something else?”

“I didn't let her, but her brother gave her one since he wanted to make her feel better.”

So it's actually his brother's fault. I really can't blame a kid though. He just made a kind gesture as the older one.

“So now I know what the root of the problem is.”

Even though there are a lot of ways to cure “Magic Intoxication”, it's a different story with Wiz’s little sister. If she was an adult, I could have just burn away the mana inside her. But because she's a kid, burning it away could kill her.

“She has too much mana for her body to handle, but if I take it, there's a chance that she would die.”

“She's going to die?”

Did she listen to what I just said? Nah, let's just ignore her for now.

It seems that Felin is slightly awake. She's looking at me with really weak eyes.

“Don't worry Felin, I'm going to cure you.”

I raise my right hand and activated the ring.

“>”

What first came into me is that, what if I absorb the mana instead of burning it. But if I absorb it, she would lose it and die. After all, > spell will absorb the target’s mana 50% of the caster’s mana capacity. Since I’m infinite, she would unlikely die.

I take out some runes from the > and modified it. After that, I activated a second magic beside it and linked it together.

But if I replace it the moment it's gone, maybe I could stabilize her mana flow?

Then without wasting anymore second, I put my hand on her flat chest and activated my new spell.

Revised > and combined with >, we’ll have—

“>”

When my hard glowed on her chest, the black dot slowly dissipates and the lines on her arms retracted towards the center source. But then, however, the black big circle was trying to stop itself from coming out of her from her neck like it has a mind of its own. It seems that those lines acted like roots which created the Mana Intoxication.

“Doesn't she look like she's having a hard time to breathe?”

Just like what Zetta said, Felin is having a hard time to breathe. This is because of the black lines coiling around her neck. Now I'm convinced this thing really has a mind of its own. It's not letting go of her.

I look at Felin again.

“Please forgive me for what I'm going to do.”

Without minding Zetta's empty scream, I bit my lips and then kissed Felin. Well it's not exactly a kiss. I'm just letting her drink my blood in order to bait this thing inside her. If my theory where blood is mixed with mana is correct, this guy will not let such high quality mana pass by.

It took me quite some time to let Felin drink my blood by force, but then moment she did, I could tell that the thing inside her took the bait.

After I removed my lips away from Felin, a crimson line was formed between our lips.

Leaving the feeling of sexually assaulting a minor, I somehow succeeded in taking the thing that’s the core of this problem.

And of course, I didn't allow the thing to enter me.

Like a dragon breathing fire, I burned the thing inside my mouth using > at infinite output to make sure the fucker burns in hell. That's for making me sexually assault a kid!

After killing it somehow, I then looked at Felin's state. It seems that she's feeling fine now. Even the black lines around her neck are gone now. Just what the hell was that thing?

“Please give her a change of clothes, she's cured now.”

While saying that, I open the windows while simultaneously putting out the magic light.

Just then, the door opened up and I see Wiz standing there. I don't see any of the clothes I told him to get. Wait, by any chance, was he peeking somewhere?

“Is she cured now?”

“Yeah, somehow, why don't you check on her yourself?”

Zetta called Wiz while wiping off some of Felin's sweat. After that, Zetta held his hand and touched Felin's forehead together. I can see that Wiz is really shocked that her temperature is back to normal.

After confirming that her situation has become normal, he comes towards me while looking up to my face. The next moment, he drops on his knees and grabs my coat while bursting in tears.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

He kept saying thank you so much that I lost count. He also cried so much that he fell asleep on his own.

***

“How could I ever repay you?”

Currently, I'm sitting on a chair while looking outside from the second floor's veranda. I'm offered with coffee as a sign of hospitality and probably gratitude.

And out of the blue, I was asked by Zetta who's sitting in front of me, eating a cookie I brought with me.

“Hmm, maybe you?”

“WHAT?!”

“Woaw, I'm just joking.”

For such an obvious joke, she sure does overreact.

Seems that she realized her blunder, her face becomes bright red. How cute…

“On a serious note, I don't want anything. I have everything I need in this wo—life already. Helping others is just something common for me to do.”

Damn, I almost said “world” there.

“Hmm… You sound like someone who has life figured out already. I'm quite jealous.”

“Really? How so?”

I think I askes her something bad, her smile is losing its meaning.

“Well, you're probably someone who wanders around helping people getting contented of it. While here I am, helping these homeless children instead of pursuing my dream on becoming a nurse. It's not like I hate it here, I just want to become a nurse.”

Nurse huh. I never knew there was such a job here.

“Why didn't you chase that dream?”

Looks like I triggered the wrong flag again. She becomes sad even more.

“Well, it was just because of one rumor. That I was a bastard daughter of a noble.”

Hah. This is probably one of the top 10 things I hate about this world.

Although the nobility system is good and beneficial, the only ones who can benefit from it are the ones who are already rich. And there's this thing called “Succeeding” the family’s name. Although the ones that are children from the head of the family's wives, mistresses, or even concubines are accepted since they are candidates for succeeding, the children the ones who are about to succeed or not are considers shame of the household.

I don't really understand how this world's common sense works, but it seems that if an about-to-succeed noble has a child, he is considered to be impatient and bad for business. However, it's another story if the one who got pregnant was someone who they are about to marry.

But in Zetta's situation, it seems that she is considered bad luck. That was why she was kicked out of nursing school. Those fucks!

“Well anyway, that's my story. It's not really interesting, is it?”

“To be honest, it is actually, and it’s slightly infuriating to listen to. Do you want me to beat up those people in the nursing school?”

“Oh, please no.”

“I was just joking.”

“Your sense of humor is slightly cruel sir Key.”

Then while we're talking to each other, I notice a cheap carriage stopping in front of the orphanage.

When Zetta noticed it, he face suddenly becomes bright.

“Can you wait for a moment here sir? It seems that I have a visitor right now.”

“Sure, why not?”

She then dashes into the building (and somehow hits her forehead on some random wood), and went down to the first floor. After that, I see her now standing in front of the carriage.

It looks like the person in the carriage isn't going to come out. Zetta is just talking to her casually. I'm guessing this person is someone like a VIP.

Oh? What's this? Why is she pointing at me?

Then after that, I could see the carriage window moved. Is that person trying to look at me?

I waved my hand to the person in the carriage. This feels awkward.

For some reason, Zetta became panicked while looking around. Since this street isn’t on the main road to the market, there aren't that much people passing by.

To my surprise, the person in the carriage suddenly opened their door and came out.

WHAT THE?! Although it was just for a moment, I was able to see it! I was able to see Zetta’s panties from the second floor! You might be my enemy Elthesius, but you do give some nice treats to everyone.

Dem yellow ones sure are cute too.

Back to the main topic, the person who came out of the carriage seems to be a woman. Anyone could tell even under that thick over-cloak just by looking at the chest area. Judging by the way Zetta treats her, I'm guessing that she's a daughter of a duke or an earl. Princesses are out of the questions since they're cannot come out of the castle like what Sora said.

It seems that she wants to meet me properly. She's walking into this barn-like Orphanage without minding the mess.

When she finally got up here in the veranda, he looked at me from head to toe. I can't tell what she looks like because of her cloak covering her face. But I can tell she's extremely rich just by looking at those necklaces she's wearing right now.

“Is it true? You saved Felin from the brink of death?”

“I did, somehow.”

When I answered her, she slowly raises her cloak.

I see that she's very beautiful, but when she fully took off her hood, I see a small crown on her head. A small FUCKING CROWN! THIS GIRL'S A PRINCESS!

Wait, no. Calm down me, I need to play this one safely and carefully. She looks like a ticking time bomb for trouble. I don't want to trigger that needlessly. Damn, I wish I had a mask or something to hide my face. Wait no, maybe I can just use a mind erasing—wait, I don't know such!

“I can tell that from your face that I'm just a trouble waiting to happen.”

“My apologies, your highness, I didn't mean to make such impression towards you. My name is Key, just Key.”

“I am the second princess of the Valeshtyre Kingdom, Thema. You may raise your head.”

If I was acting like a noble, I would have bowed for a moment. But since I'm acting like a commoner now, I had to bow until she makes me stop. I hate this world's customs.

After she was given a seat of her own by the kids, she decided to sit in front of me. After that, she signaled someone from the carriage. The coach immediately got into the carriage and while carrying a sack of something along with small pouches.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“Ah, yes. It’s food for the children here.”

“But her highness to come down here and give it herself…”

While I was saying that, she looked at me like I'm a very weird person.

“Are you not from here? No, you are not from here. Even the way you talk is odd.”

“I've been told that frequently. It's just the way I talk.”

She took a sip from the coffee that was offered. After tasting it, she smiled to Zetta who brewed it and said, “It was excellent.”

“And by the way, is true you cured a girl named Felin? I had my hunches, but I think she was ill because of magic intoxication. How did you cure her?”

Hmm… Obviously I can’t say the part where I looked like I sexually assaulted Felin.

“Actually, your highness, although she had symptoms of Magic Intoxication, it wasn’t simply just it. I didn't see it myself but, I think it was caused by a parasite.”

“A parasite?!”

“Yes. I immediately burned and kill it the moment I was able to take it away from her. It was also a risk from my side, but I managed.”

Thinking back, why did that creature die because of >? As far as I know, the things that it can burn are only magic and probably magical creatures. So does that mean the creature I burned was actually a magical creature? If so, how was she able to make contact with one? I can feel that this thing can escalate to more problems if I poke my nose into it.

“How did you manage to get rid of the parasite?”

There's no dodging this question huh. Please, don't make it Obvious what I did Zetta. Stop blushing please. It's making the part of my lip that I cut starting to irritate.

“It was something too much for the faint of heart so I can't really say it, even to you, your highness.”

“I see. Then I will stop inquiring about the matter. All that's important is that child's health. I like her very much after all.”

High five brain! She bought it!

Then suddenly, to our surprise, Wiz and Felin are now standing by the door. Felin looked like she's fine already and has changed her clothes.

“What do you mean by ‘not for the faint of heart'? Didn't you just kiss Felin to cure her?”

YOU LITTLE FUCK! I JUST MANAGED TO FOOL THE PRINCESS!

Wait, I gotta keep my calm here.

Because of what she said, the princess cool and calm expression broke and looked at me with such eyes like she couldn’t believe it. On the other hand, Zetta and Felin are blushing like tomatoes. And of course, Wiz is clueless in this area. Ignorance is bliss.

“You…”

“There’s a very, VERY, big misunderstanding here. In my defense, I had no choice but to do it. It was the only thing I could think of at that time.”

“But to a child, an 8 year old no less…”

“Please?”

I sat, smile, and kept up a poker expression. I know that what I did was something unforgivable, but please spare me from getting beheaded by you who-knows-where-he-came-from knight!

“P-please don't hurt sir magician!”

Well, I know that I can easily get out of here if I want to. But seeing a little girl trying to protect me warms my heart somehow.

“He didn't do anything wrong! He saved me and just like he said, he had no choice but to k-k-k-kiss me!”

I was hoping she wouldn't say that last part.

But it seems that it was effective, the princess signaled her knight to stand down and made me stand up. After that, she looked straight into my eyes for some reason.

“You're not faltering? That's some composure for a commoner in front of a royalty.”

“Why would I falter? The girl in front of me has a beauty as rare as diamonds. There's no way I'll look away from such a gem.”

This is my way of proving that I'm not into little girls. It might be very roundabout, but I'm hoping she would understand.

“Do you think I'd fall for that kind of flattery?”

“Whu!?”

Okay… I was expecting her to NOT understand it and became flustered. Instead, she got angry. And without wasting another second, my neck was cut in half.

-or so how it should've been.

“To think that you're this feisty for a knight, you're ruining my image of them.”

“Why isn't your neck in half?!”

It didn't really cut my neck, but I know that the sword the knight is holding is really sharp. I enchanted my overcoat not too long ago to the limit with > making it indestructible against normal attack. But to think that attempting to kill me without a second thought in front of the kids, that's beyond my expectation.

Looks like her highness and her pop-up knight is surprised with my durability. But Wiz’s expression is quite out of place. Please don't be amazed kid.

And let's leave Felin and Zetta's terrified expression for now.

“I know both of you are surprised, but rest assured, I will not retaliate. I'm not an enemy.”

“Resisting an execution of attempting to seduce her highness is a crime. And because you committed a crime, that makes you an enemy!”

Incomprehensible!

Pop-up knight is not listening to me. He started slashing my neck repeatedly like chopping a tree with an axe.

And since it's getting really annoying—

“I'll be putting your sword down if you're not planning to.”

I grabbed the sword's blade and tightly gripped it making the knight stop his attack. After that, I enchant the sword with > and multiplied its weight to a hundred folds. When I let go of the sword, the knight couldn’t handle the weight and dropped along with his sword on the wooden floor.

The durability of the floor wasn't included in my calculation. So I misjudged and made a hole on it with the knight. Luckily, no kid got hurt. And I hope he's okay.

“You're amazing, big bro!”

I will ignore that compliment from Wiz for now because I'm looking at a person whose eyes are full of hostility towards me.

It hasn’t been 10 minutes yet and I already made the princess see me as an enemy. Is this a new record perhaps?

“Like I said earlier, I am not your enemy and you are not one to me. You might be a princess, but against me a commoner, such status does not apply.”

“Grr! To think that you're not some common magician, you're way more powerful than I thought.”

Actually, I'm way more powerful more than you can imagine. But of course I wouldn't say that.

“And now that you have calmed down, may we talk like civilized and NOT barbaric people? I'm more accustomed to peace than battles.”

Hah… Damn, because of these series of being overpowered, I sometimes play outside my character. Well, it’s something that can't be helped.

Well at least I made her highness calm down. She sat back on chair while throwing a sharp glare at me.

She reminds me of Cherry when we first met.

“So, how should I thank you for saving Felin? Surely, a traveling magician like you needs money right? I can give you one right here and now.”

“P-princess!”

“Wiz, Felin, please get away from the hole. You might fall.”

So you're just going to pretend that none of this happened huh. I'm impressed by your quick decision making princess.

“I don't need anything. Although I do need some peace and quiet moments from time to time, can I expect you to grant me that?”

“After showing me that much power, I can't guarantee what you want.”

So it's really bugging you huh?

For now, let's try and divert the topic.

“I forgot to ask you this, your highness, but why did you come to such place with only one knight (who was the coachman) as your protection?”

“I was supposed to ask you that. But well… I only came here to directly give this orphanage’s monthly needs. I couldn’t trust the people who are tasked to do this because they’re infamous for being drunkards.”

“I see. Well, even I wouldn’t trust people with that kind of rumor around them.”

While I sipped the last of the coffee in my cup, it was her Highness’s turn to ask.

“It might be late for me to ask, but who are you really? Surely, you're not some nobody with that much power. Not only that, you also saved Felin who you never once met before without anything in return. Your very appearance is very suspicious.”

“You are right, I am not a nobody. I'm just simply a magician who is on a journey. Helping people is just normal for me. I believe that is what a normal person would do, no?”

Her highness became a bit red with rage as I answer her questions evasively. Sorry princess, you’re not going to get anything from me.

“Then, can you tell me where you came from?”

“I came from a far away place, very far from here to be exact.”

She becomes redder that she was already was like her hair. I have to admit, pissing her off is quite fun. But let's make the princess save a face. Her puffing cheeks are ruining her cool beauty. It's cute though.

“And one last question, are you a noble or just a commoner? The way you act and talk gives me the impression that you are a noble.”

“Hmm. Probably? I’ll let you think about it yourself.”

Then all of a sudden, she makes a smile like she won already.

“Then if you really are a noble, I could strip you off of your peerage. With just one word from me, I could destroy your status.”

Okay. You win, you win my full attention princess.

“Let me warn you a little, princess. You may be the daughter of the king, but try to get in my nerves. I could wipe this kingdom clean off the map. For me, it will just be like baking cookies. I have temper problems of my own, so be careful of choosing your words against me. For me, that status of yours means nothing. I suggest that you'd be careful in choosing your words against me.”

I heard her make a “Gulp” sound. It looks like it worked, but somehow, she isn't giving up.

“I call it a bluff! There's no way someone like you could wipe a kingdom alone. Even if you defeated my knight, that doesn't mean you're already that powerful to destroy a kingdom!”

So you're going to act tough now. Let's see if you don't get scared after I pull this trick.

I pick up the cup I used and put it near my mouth. After that, I use > while keeping its form intact by >. When my short preparation was completed, I blew it like a candle and the cup disappeared into thin air. I'll replace that of course.

“N-no way!”

It seems that she was expecting me to be bluffing, but after that such display, her face turns pale white. It's also the same with Zetta who's standing beside her. Wiz and Felin on the other hand…

“Amazing! You turned that cup into smoke! How did you do it?”

“How cool!”

I think these kids are not reading the mood too well. But who cares, they're just kids.

Then out of the blue, the princess bowed her head in a panic. For some reason, I could see her sweat dropping from her face.

“P-please, spare my Kingdom from your wrath! I'll do anything to protect it! In my name as Princess Thema of Valeshtyre kingdom, I will receive your full anger and wrath.”

Okay…. This is unexpected. It seems that I made a very bad impression of her on me. She got scared out of wits and probably started imagining the worst case scenario. And even if I’m angry now, I’m not THAT angry.

“Please raise your head princess. I have no such intention—”

“But did you not say it just now? You can wipe our kingdom anytime if you wanted too! If the cause of this was me, I will not be able to forgive myself! So please, spare this kingdom!”

“P-princess, d-don't bow!”

“I will, Zetta, if I need to.”

“How troublesome!”

How do I deal with this kind of people?