I’m scratching Princess Bianca’s ears, who, apparently, is not above being petted. I have the big wizard hat on top of my head, and the other Princess living under my roof is currently laughing.

Princess Bianca squeals at Princess Laura, leaving the latter slightly puzzled. From the little I’ve understood of this white creature, she’s probably mocking Laura’s ignorance. Bianca can smell the insane magic coming off the hat, unlike the other Princess. Therefore, I guess she finds it juvenile for Laura to react like that.

My head goes back to what happened a few hours ago during my practice. I didn’t even need the help of the magical hat. Apparently, my theory works extremely well. On top of that, the Cantrips gave me such expertise on a basic spell like [Light] that no one else, not even an [Archmage], could reproduce what I just did. I stacked every single odd in my favor. It was so effortless and already in the realm of my capabilities that I didn’t even level.

Lord Juler had blabbered about [Heroes] before retiring in silence to process what went down. A very rare occurrence, if you ask me. But a welcome one.

“So, how’s being a Princess in a bakery? Is anyone giving you any problems? Have you been feeling bad about it?”

I don’t know where that question came from, but I realize I haven’t really paid much attention to how this woman is feeling. We had a fair share of deep conversations – and interrogations. She tried to kill me, and I almost blinded her. There’s history here – this much is obvious. But I realized I don’t really know much about how Princess Laura feels about this whole thing. Her mother being relegated to her estate isn’t good. But at least she’s alive, right? Stanimal can be very scary, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he told me he had to slay tens – if not hundreds – of people when he visited the royal court.

I see Laura’s face going a bit dark.

“I have greater responsibilities to take on. Spending time here is relaxing and, in part, enjoyable. But I’m missing crucial parts of my duties.”

“Considering you tried to murder me in broad daylight, I think that missing some of those duties might actually be better for those on the other side of the table. Plus, I think that’s what Stanimal wants.”

The Princess nods.

“I am not a flat-eared idiot, nor am I green. However, I feel fidgety. There’s no defined goal here. Everything’s up to my Ancestor. I don’t like the lack of control.”

“Isn’t ruling a kingdom giving away a lot of control? I imagine you’d have to delegate all but the most important matters. Hell, I delegate some of those too, thanks to Stanimal. Relax and be a nice person; that will suffice. If not for Stan, at least for your future husband.”

The last part is more for my sake than hers. She doesn’t realize how insane it is that we are really discussing marriage as a result of me winning some duels. This whole arranged marriage business might be familiar to her, but it’s utterly alien to me.

“The marriage is more complicated than you would imagine,” Princess Laura says without missing a beat. “If we married, you would become King.”

“Nah, thank you. I’m okay with more responsibilities and war, but I’m afraid that a King has too much paperwork on his plate.”

She ignores me.

“And if you are in line to become King, one day, you need to prove, beyond reproach, that you are on our side. You would have to raze Teiko to the ground veritably. Or make them sign agreements that would shame the centuries of war we have been waging against each other.”

“Well, that’s doable. I’ll charm them, you know? You wanted to kill me not even ten days ago; now, you are my future wife.”

I know it’s a sign of insecurity, me repeating that over and over. But I can’t help it. It feels so surreal. It feels like it could slip through my hands at any moment.

A thought crosses my mind before Princess Laura can say more.

Lord Juler! Yo! Answer! I just had an idea for something extremely cool! Check this mental image and tell me whether it’s doable or not!

“You are taking all of this too lightly. In fact, you are not considering the amount of [Assassins] that will come after you as soon as we are done at the academy. And that’s if you manage to beat all the [Mages] of your age, even those with an ungodly talent—”

Yes. It would require a complex spell matrix. I would say it’s a 5th Tier spell nowadays. When I was young, it could have barely passed as 3rd and—

Jesus, why do all these people like to talk this much?

I see Laura’s mouth moving, but my brain has turned off my hearing. What surprises me is how she changes, how she reassesses every situation based on the new circumstances rather than her own emotions. That’s an incredible quality to have.

And do you know when that quality really helps?

Oh, man, I don’t want to say. But I’m convinced that that’s a perfect quality in a zombie apocalypse.

A person who learns, improves, and grows… that’s the perfect partner to avoid getting chewed alive by zombies—assessing the environment, pivoting, balancing your mood with the objectives in front of you.

For all this woman was a royal racist hillbilly not even ten days ago, she’s changed now. Profoundly changed.

Now, for the most important question…

Is this real?

Did we both just change completely and mostly because of each other?

Could she just barge into my life like this, fit me so perfectly that we talk casually about marriage, change each other for the better, and be so comfortable in the other’s presence?

If this is indeed real and not a shallow feeling like with Lucinda…

Is it love?