Published at 17th of August 2019 6:55 am

Volume 7, Chapter 6: The Ideal Knight

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Sunday, January 17

“Satomi-kun, Satomi-kun.”

“Yes?”

Koutarou was turning around to look after Harumi had called for him when her slender white fingers stuck into his cheek.

“Fufu, it's time.”

“...Senpai, why are you playing such childish pranks?”

With Harumi's finger still in his cheek, he laughed half-amazed.

“Sorry, I just wanted to try it.”

Harumi smiled and lightly tilted her head before grabbing the hem of her dress and turning around. She quickly climbed up the stairs and fled onto stage.

“Geez...”

Koutarou's armor made a clanking noise as he sighed. He scratched his head while looking up at Harumi. At this moment, Koutarou wasn't the only one looking up at Harumi; there were a lot of people involved with the play looking at her while smiling.

Sakuraba-senpai really has been acting more like a princess lately...

Harumi had been really energetic lately. With the performance only a week away and with everyone on edge, Harumi was the only one who still behaved like normal. On top of that, there was no anxiety noticeable at all in her acting. The soft atmosphere she created reduced a lot of people's stress; as a result, she had become the staff's mood maker.

“Theia, that's how it is, so I'm off.”

Having pumped himself up, Koutarou called out to Theia before he climbed up the stairs to chase after Harumi.

“Ah, Yeah...”

The preparations for the play were proceeding smoothly; the actors’ performance, the set, the lighting and special effects were all in the final stages of adjustment for the performance a week from now. Compared to last year’s play, the preparations were carrying on without a hitch. Although they were nervous, everyone was full of confidence and motivation.

“Keep it together and do your best...”

However only one, Theia, had a gloomy expression.

“Lord Bertorion. From now on this sword will protect you. From any enemy and any trial.”

Harumi was speaking in front of Koutarou, presenting him with a sword. Her tone of voice was calm and gentle. However at the same time, the painfully sad meaning behind those words was overflowing.

“Then I will use my life and this sword to protect you, princess Alaia.”

Koutarou, kneeling, accepted the sword and her feelings. Koutarou had noticed the feelings in the sword and Harumi's words. Even though he had noticed, he still didn't answer her feelings. He couldn't.

“Those two are wonderful...”

“I want to experience that kind of love...”

Yurika and Shizuka, who were looking up on the stage together, sighed. Yurika was always going on about her shoujo mangas and Shizuka loved love stories, so the two felt a strong sense of admiration as they looked up on the stage.

Koutarou and Harumi were currently acting out the scene where the Silver Princess, Alaia, was presenting the Blue Knight, Lord Bertorion, with the holy sword, Signaltin, which had been passed down in the royal family for generations. With the battles turning fiercer and fiercer, and Bertorion had come close to losing his life several times, Alaia just couldn't stand it and presented him with the royal family's greatest treasure, the holy sword, Signaltin.

To Alaia, that was an act equivalent to confessing her love for Bertorion. No matter how much power the sword held, no matter that Bertorion was the commander for the reborn regular army, presenting the royal family's greatest treasure to a mere knight was unheard off. So by doing that, it revealed Alaia's true feelings.

But even then, the two didn't speak up about their feelings. They simply couldn't. A princess and a knight; even though they were both nobles, that immeasurably large gap stood in their way. It was a love that would never be realized or permitted.

“It looks like we can relax for now.”

Ruth smiled while looking up at the stage and then whispered to Theia.

In this play there were three climaxes, and this scene was one of them. In the past, it had been said that the quality of the story hinged on the quality of those three climaxes, and fortunately, this scene came up as good enough. That's what Ruth had meant when she said that they could relax.

“That's... true, but...”

However, it seemed like something hadn't satisfied Theia. She looked up on the stage with a gloomy expression.

“Was there something you didn't like?”

“Yes...”

When Ruth asked that, Theia began muttering about the complex feelings inside her. Theia was only revealing that she didn't have an answer herself because it was Ruth asking.

“That is the Blue Knight and the Silver Princess... they've reached a sufficient level for amateurs... but... something's...”

“Something is missing?”

“...”

Theia nodded without saying a word. She was unable to give words to the gloomy feelings inside her small chest.

The play was reaching completion; Harumi was settling in as the Silver Princess and Koutarou was behaving like the Blue Knight that Theia had imagined.

But as she looked at Koutarou, Theia felt like something was missing. The more he acted like the Blue Knight, the stronger that sensation got.

“It's strange. He is sufficiently acting like the Blue Knight, but I can't help but feel that something is missing.”

As Theia impatiently said so, she looked up at Koutarou on the stage while tilting her head. And for each time she racked her brains, her golden hair fluttered through the air.

“Your highness...”

Seeing Theia like that, Ruth was astonished for an instant before returning to her smile. It was an expression similar to an older sister checking on her little sister's homework. Ruth knew what the emotion Theia was feeling was.

“Your highness, that is probably because the one up there is the Blue Knight.”

“Because it's the Blue Knight? What do you mean?”

This time, Theia looked at Ruth in astonishment.

“It's just what I said. You are probably dissatisfied because the one standing up on stage is the Blue Knight, your highness.”

“What a foolish thing to say. Why wouldn't the Blue Knight stand up on the stage in a play about the Blue Knight.”

Theia rejected Ruth's words and looked up on the stage again. Her expression was still distorted by impatience. Looking at Theia like that, Ruth objected on the inside.

No, your highness. You are dissatisfied because the one standing on that stage is the Blue Knight...

It was the desire that Theia hadn't noticed, but Ruth had, since they had grown up like sisters.

Theia originally admired the Blue Knight because she wanted a splendid Knight just like him to help her and her mother. The strongest knight that Theia knew off was the Blue Knight, that's why she wanted his help. Reflecting her desire, she had written this manuscript where the strongest knight could shine.

But now, the strongest Knight that Theia could think of now had changed to someone else. So to reflect her desire, that someone else should be standing on the stage, but the Blue Knight was still there instead. That was why Theia had problems accepting it.

And one more thing... the heroine shouldn't be the Silver Princess... right, your highness?

Theia's ideal knight was someone who stood next to her and protected Theia's mother, who was serving as the empress, together. And since that ideal knight was now with the Silver Princess, there was no way Theia could accept it.

“In other words, her highness wants to be with Satomi-sama and...”

“Did you say something?”

“No, not really.”

But Ruth didn't tell Theia the answer she had come up with. It was an answer that Theia had to reach herself. If someone else were to tell her, the answer wouldn't hold any meaning.

Part 2

Ruth was trying to bring Koutarou over to Theia's side. For better or for worse, right now, Koutarou was the source of Theia's energy.

“Satomi-sama, a towel.”

“Thanks, Ruth-san.”

So Ruth used bringing Koutarou a towel to wipe off his sweat as an excuse to approach him. Unaware of that, Koutarou expressed his gratitude for her consideration and accepted the towel.

“And for you too, Harumi-sama.”

“Thank you.”

She also handed Harumi a towel at the same time. Although she wanted to talk to Koutarou, Ruth was the kind of girl that didn't forget her surroundings.

“Sorry for all your consideration, Ruth-san.”

“No, this is my job after all.”

What's wrong with Theia...?

While Ruth was talking to Harumi, Koutarou was looking at Theia.

Theia was sitting on a large cardboard box in the corner of the gym and with her shoulders, shaking her legs. She was staring down on the ground past her legs.

Koutarou was used to Theia always coming flying at him after he came down from the stage, so he found Theia's current behavior unexpected. Because of that, his hand wiping off the sweat stopped.

“Satomi-sama, do you have a moment, there's something I want to talk about!”

That was when Ruth, who had finished talking to Harumi, tried to catch his attention. She had been wanting to talk to Koutarou for a while now.

“Sorry Ruth, can we talk later? There's something I need to do...”

However, Koutarou didn't respond in the way Ruth had wanted and began walking away from her.

“Ah, w-wait a moment, Satomi-sama!”

Ruth wanted to talk to Koutarou about a very important matter to her. It was something that she didn't want ignored whatsoever, so Ruth raised her voice for once and tried to stop Koutarou.

“This is an important― Ah...”

However, Ruth stopped mid-sentence when she noticed where Koutarou was heading.

“Satomi-sama... how...”

Ruth put her hands on her hips and let out a large sigh. Whether she was surprised or happy, that was the only thing to come out of her mouth.

How do you understand me so well...

Ruth had gotten angry when Koutarou had ignored her important discussion. But in fact, Koutarou was already on his way to realize her wish before she could talk to him.

“Really... that's why the role of the Blue Knight is not enough for you...”

Ruth was filled with a warm feeling as she stared at Koutarou’s back. The joy that filled her chest was deep and intense. Although she had gotten angry for an instant, she was now so happy she could break into dance.

That's because Koutarou was heading the direction of Theia.

Please take care of her highness, Satomi-sama...

However, she couldn't actually break into dance. She couldn't ruin her master's important moment. So Ruth sealed her own mouth and closed her fist as if to hold back her joy.

“Hey, what are you spacing out for?”

Having approached up to her side, Koutarou casually pulled on her cheeks with both hands.

“Eh...?”

Theia's glance slowly shifted upwards. This was when she noticed Koutarou.

“What, I'm not doing anything.”

“That's not what your face says.”

Hearing Theia's answer, Koutarou began seriously worrying.

This might be a serious case...

Koutarou was still pulling on Theia's cheeks, but she wasn't complaining at all. Like a sulking child, she turned her face away and looked down on the ground. With her high amount of pride, her just doing that was enough for Koutarou to realize that something was wrong.

“It's my face, let me do with it what I please.”

“Tell me, I won't understand if you're just going to frown.”

Koutarou went from pulling on her cheeks to pushing and rubbing them together with his palms. Although his actions had no meaning, he felt that it was better than just letting her frown.

“There's nothing to tell you. Even though this is all your doing, it's obvious you can't solve the problem.”

“Hm? What's that supposed to mean?”

Hearing what Theia said, Koutarou stopped moving her hands and instead stared into her eyes.

Oh crap...

Since Koutarou was holding onto her face, she couldn't turn her face away, but Theia quickly looked away from Koutarou.

“I don't want to say.”

“Tell me. If you don't I'll just keep doing this.”

Since Theia didn't answer him, Koutarou began moving his hands again. Theia's soft cheeks began changing shape in his palms.

“I understand, I'll tell you, so just stop.”

“Good, as long as you understand.”

Since Koutarou was being overly persistent, Theia finally caved. She sighed before she began explaining what she understood herself.

“Nine months have passed since I came to this planet. But you haven't treated me with respect even once. If anything, you're treating Sakuraba Harumi more like a princess than you are me.”

In order for Theia to complete her trial, Koutarou needed to swear his loyalty to her. However, Koutarou showed no signs of doing so. And to Theia, Koutarou was treating Harumi much more like a princess than her.

That's right, she was worrying about something similar during Christmas as well...

Hearing her words, Koutarou remembered her worries at the Christmas party. At that time, she was worrying whether or not she was worthy of standing above others.

However, her worries this time around were strictly different. However, Koutarou wasn't smart enough to notice that. So because of that, a slight difference in perception occurred between Koutarou and Theia. Since Koutarou was different from Ruth, that was unavoidable.

Even then, there was something common between them. So Koutarou honestly spoke his mind.

“That's not true. There's no way I'm not showing you any respect. That's just your misunderstanding.”

Koutarou shook his head. Theia looked up, but her eyes were full of doubt.

“Don't lie. Do you even know what you're doing right now?”

“I'm playing around with your face.”

“And that's how you show respect to a princess!?”

Theia shouted out furiously. Raising her well-shaped eyebrows, she revealed a very angry expression. If he was treating her like a princess, Koutarou wouldn't do as he pleased with Theia's face. That was the reason behind Theia believing that Koutarou wasn't showing her any respect.

And this isn't just limited to now. In school, in the city, in the room and onboard the Blue Knight; Koutarou was always treating her this roughly. And he would keep repeating something to the effect of 'Don't just make me your vassal'.

So having Koutarou say 'that's not true', Theia's dissatisfaction only grew.

“In the end, you don't see me as princess Theiamillis at all!”

“Was that the case... well that was my bad...”

Koutarou stopped moving his hand.

“Eh...?”

Koutarou easily moved his hands away from Theia's face. He then sat down on the same cardboard box as Theia.

“Hey, Theia.”

“What?”

Theia responded in a bad mood and turned her face the other way. She still hadn't calmed down yet.

“Because of some circumstances I can't swear my loyalty or hand over the room to you right away... But there's no way I don't acknowledge that you're a princess.”

“You liar!! Quit coming up with obvious random remarks to spout out!!”

Theia turned around to glare at Koutarou for a moment as she spat out her words at him before turning away once more. It looked like she didn't believe a word Koutarou said.

“You've always been calling me useless princess or pathetic princess all this time!!”

“It's true that's what I felt at first.”

Koutarou and Theia's first meeting had been a terrible one. Theia only considered the humanity on Earth to be neanderthals and Koutarou believed Theia was an evil alien set on invading the planet.

“I could never have imagined swearing loyalty to you.”

“See!”

Theia spat those words out and puffed up her cheeks.

That kind of action revealed her change, but having lost her cool, Theia didn't notice. In the past she probably would have pulled out her weapons and torn down the entire gym.

“But, a while back there was a time when I saw you act like a princess.”

“Eh...”

Like a popped balloon, the air in her puffed up cheeks vanished.

“T-That's a lie!”

Theia expression changed repeatedly and she looked at Koutarou with side glances. If Ruth had been there, she probably couldn't have discerned the worry, joy, doubts and expectations from her various expressions.

“As if I could believe that!”

“I understand how you feel. That's because I feel the same way.”

Koutarou balanced his elbow on his knee and supported his head with his palm before sighing.

That's right. When I think about, I still can't believe it...

At first Koutarou had determined never to swear loyalty to Theia no matter what. But his determination had wavered during the nine months they had spent together.

Having been clashing intensely all this time, Koutarou had become able to see her true feelings. Now he knew that behind her strong-willed mask was a gentle and lonely girl.

That hadn't been the only thing to change Koutarou's feelings. When Koutarou, Sanae or Kiriha had been in trouble, Theia had come to help, even though they wanted to defeat one another at first. At the time, she seemed reluctant, but now it was obvious she had seriously worried for them.

On top of accepting her opponents, Theia was trying to win room 106 fair and square as a princess. Knowing that, Koutarou could no longer deny that she was indeed a princess. It was a large change of heart that had only been able to develop because the two of them had matured.

“Theia, you've changed. You're completely different from who you were in spring. Before I knew it, you were no longer a pathetic princess or Tulip.”

“Ah...”

That was when Theia noticed for the first time, that a long time had passed since Koutarou last called her Tulip.

When? When did Koutarou start calling me Theia?

Theia's heart began pounding and she scanned through her memories, going backwards in time, confirming every time Koutarou had called her Theia.

It's possible that Koutarou had been thinking of her as a princess since he had called her Theia for the first time.

That desire fiercely stirred up her feelings, and for each time she recalled Koutarou calling her Theia, her heart beat got faster.

Since when...?

And after a while she reached a certain memory.

“Theia! Trust me! I'm your knight, remember!?”

That was back just before the performance of the first play when Clan had attacked. They were the words Koutarou shouted out when Theia had lost her cool.

Since that day, Koutarou had all but stopped calling her Tulip, and had instead begun calling her Theia.

That's right. That's when I stopped too!

The same was true for Theia. Since that day, she had stopped calling Koutarou pleb.

That was because she had acknowledged Koutarou as someone worthy of being her vassal. That night, she had visited Koutarou in his sleep and made him her knight on her own accord, and awarded him with the sword she named herself, Saguratin.

How foolish! How could I have not noticed!? That day we had both acknowledged each other!!

It was probably something they had both overlooked due to that lack of experience. Since neither of them refused to back down when staring at each other, the only thing they had changed after acknowledging one another was the way they were calling them. It was the same now. Since it was hard for them to speak face to face, Koutarou was sitting down next to Theia.

“So if you are really against our current relationship, then I don't mind changing how we associate.”

“Change how we associate...?”

“Thinking about it, I'm always doing rude stuff like this.”

While rubbing Theia's cheeks, Koutarou looked at what he was doing again.

That's right. Unlike Sakuraba-senpai who's only acting a princess, Theia is a genuine one...

Because their meeting had been terrible, their current rough relationship had been born. But in reality, Theia was a foreign, or strictly speaking an alien, princess, so she should be treated more courteously. Yelling at Theia or playing with her cheeks wasn't something you could do to a princess.

It's rude, it's stupid...

Noticing that, Koutarou finally understood the unmeasurable gap in their status.

“Koutarou...”

With her eyes wide open in surprise, Koutarou was still rubbing her cheeks around. Normally Theia would probably thrust his hand aside, telling him not to belittle her. But when Koutarou had asked her if she wanted him to stop, the idea of pushing his hand away didn't occur.

This kind of association will end...?

Theia felt a deep sense of loss. Just a moment ago, she had wanted Koutarou to treat her more like a princess, but now she had changed her mind.

In Theia's mind, her memories of the days she had spent with Koutarou popped up.

The fist fight that had erupted after Koutarou had stolen her side dish for dinner. The all-nighter versus gaming session that had happened because of a simple stubborn rivalry. The tennis match that had continued until they were completely worn out. The practice that had continued without breaks, despite their respective complaints.

They would clash on an almost daily basis. However, when they really needed it, they would lend each other a hand. There was no end to the memories that filled Theia's small chest.

If Koutarou starts treating me like a princess, this kind of thing will stop too...

If Koutarou began treating Theia like the princess of a country, she would never experience events like the memories filling up her chest again. A princess and an alien; between them was a helplessly large gap.

No! I don't want that!!

However, Theia couldn't accept that. She wanted more memories like that. If she put an end to it now, she wouldn't be able to stand it.

What's wrong with me...? Even though I want Koutarou to be a knight, I don't want him to treat me like a princess...

That's why Theia noticed that she didn't want Koutarou to treat her like a princess. It was something similar but completely different.

“I―”

Theia tried to say something. But not even she knew what.

“I―”

The conflicting emotions within her chest, she wanted Koutarou to treat her with respect, but not to treat her like a princess. Since she wasn't sure why, the following words couldn't leave her mouth.

What is this...? Just what do I want from Koutarou...?

Just as she was perplexed by her own feelings.

“...Actually, I'd rather not.”

As Koutarou said that, he suddenly put force in the hands holding Theia's cheeks, locking her head in place.

“Eh?”

And before she could question it, Koutarou began shaking her head.

“W-What are you doing all of a sudden!?”

This irritated even Theia and she yelled at Koutarou with raised eyebrows. Because of that, the hazy feelings brewing up inside her vanished with her yell.

“I really can't show any class. I just can't come up with an elegant way of cheering you up.”

Smiling wryly, Koutarou continued shaking Theia's head.

In the end, I really am a commoner...

Koutarou knew that it would be better if he treated Theia like the Silver Princess, if he acted like the Blue Knight in the manuscript. But he just couldn't imagine himself doing that.

Or it could be that while I acknowledge Theia as a princess, I want her to stay as Tulip at the same time...

Looking at the golden hair that fluttered between his hands, Koutarou smiled wryly at his convenient ideas.

“N-No one, no matter the person, regardless of status, would get cheered up by this!!”

“Really? You seem quite energetic to me.”

Besides...

Koutarou glanced at Ruth behind him while moving his arms. While shaking Theia's head, he recalled his previous discussion with Ruth. In the past, she had said that she wanted Theia to live as a normal girl for a while.

Treating Theia in a suitable fashion would divert from Ruth's wish of treating her like a normal girl. So even with that in mind, Koutarou believed it was best to continue like this.

“T-That's not it at all!! Oooooooooooooohhhh!!”

“Oh, so energetic.”

Theia struggled between Koutarou's hands. By now, the two of them had returned to normal.

This is for the better. Well, this isn't, but it's for the better...

Theia still hadn't found an answer. But even with it, things wouldn't change. So while Theia was getting irritated about being shaken about, she felt relief and joy at the same time.

The only person who knew what Theia wanted, was quietly watching over them from a distance.

“Just one more step, your highness. Just take one more step, and jump in with all your might...”

If Theia realized her feelings and showed it, Koutarou would surely respond to her. There was no way he wouldn't, Ruth was certain of that. So she gently watched over the two, full of faith.

At that moment, a whispering voice could be heard next to Ruth.

“So that's princess Theiamillis... owner of Saguratin...”

The owner of that voice was Harumi. She had a crest in the shape of a sword glowing on her forehead as she looked at Koutarou and Theia. Her appearance was dignified and beautiful, and like when she stood on top of the stage, she had a mysterious atmosphere to her.

“And... she's Koutarou-sama's princess...”

However, no one around noticed Harumi's voice. Contrary to her seemingly large existence, her whispering voice was seemingly unhearable.

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