The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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The smell of the sea, mixed with the wind, was something I never thought I would miss this much. Looking out the window, I could finally see the distant coastline starting to appear.

It must’ve taken about two weeks. I was too busy retching to taste any food properly. Honestly, it was a miracle I wasn’t sick all the time, but the taste of meat tasting like something other than meat was pure torture.

I never thought I’d end up in a situation where even with a free pass, it still felt slower than when I didn’t have one. Was it because I kept nagging the escort on the way here…?

“Ho-yeon, wake up. It seems we’re almost there.”

Dokan told me the harbor was in sight as he gazed into the distance. I couldn’t see anything but the beach. I considered moving out of courtesy but decided against it.

I really didn’t feel like moving at all. I was so lethargic and annoyed that talking was a chore, and all I wanted to do was sleep. It seemed to be the effect of being pregnant.

Dokan asked two or three times whether I should really move my body, but he soon gave up. We had run out of conversation and didn’t have the energy for it, so we just lay there.

At least I was. After a while, I pondered for a moment and suddenly asked Dokan.

“…Are you really going to say that to Dad? I don’t know about that…”

The words Dokan shared with me felt fundamentally wrong no matter how I looked at it. It was fine to express the necessity, but did it really have to be said in such a way?

“If we can solve it with other better words, I’ll do that. But for my brain, this is the best. Ho-yeon, if you have any advice…”

“…Sorry, hang in there.”

Not having the confidence to give Dokan any productive advice, I cut him off. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t see a way to solve it with good words.

Isn’t it fortunate that we’re not going straight for the knife, as the older brother said? Hearing my words, Dokan fell silent again. His expression slightly improved at my promise of protection.

“Thanks, that’s comforting. Um… but, Ho-yeon, how did you come here?”

How did I come here? Obviously, by boat. I wondered why he asked such an obvious question and concluded he must think some magical ship had some unique function.

…It was a good ship, but it was sturdy and nothing special.

“It was just a ship. Sorry, but there’s no special magic or anything like you think.”

“Really…? Then it didn’t take too long to cross the sea? From what I heard from my parents, it took an incredibly long time.”

Seeing him cling to that lie was somewhat amusing. He probably didn’t mean to, but a laugh escaped me.

“Then your parents must not honor the gods.”

“…Can I ask what the gods have to do with how long it took? Sorry, but I really don’t get it.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t shared that fact with Dokan. That’s why he seemed to ask such a clueless question.

“The gods are everywhere. In the sky, the earth, the wind, the rivers, the sea… even in the brooks. In fact, it’s this continent that’s strange. I was surprised when I first came here, you know?”

It was my first time in such a desolate and eerily quiet world, and I felt uneasy. Moreover, the only deity I found was sealed in a ley line.

“Everywhere in the world… really?”

It seemed Dokan misunderstood my words as if I were suggesting that every single object contained gods. While it wasn’t dramatically different, I still needed to clarify the misunderstanding.

“No, what I mean is that everything governed by the gods is basically that same god. All waters under the influence of the Water Goddess are like her.”

Thanks to that, when I was in my hometown, the Sky God was keeping a watchful eye on us every day. Back then, being under that gaze felt a bit uncomfortable. I wondered how it felt now.

“Ah… I see… wait a minute. But isn’t the sea a bit too big for just one god to manage alone?”

“That’s why multiple gods take care of it. The sky, the earth—there are indeed overarching ones, but the other gods handle the details.”

It seemed like Dokan had his questions definitively answered, as he repeated my words to himself as if engraving them into his mind.

“…Ugh… huh, ha… this is really uncomfortable…”

It felt like I was experiencing morning sickness at least once a day. But since it never happened more than once, I could take some solace in the fact that a disaster wouldn’t occur while eating.

Now Dokan seemed to be getting used to it, not reacting much anymore. Although he showed concern with his gaze as he came closer, it was only that.

…Even though I knew Dokan couldn’t do anything for me, shouldn’t I show him a little more? A mischievous impulse stirred, and I raised my head.

“Ugh, if only I could eat something sweet, I’d feel better… is there anything…?”

Of course, there was no way there was anything. Neither the escort nor I had bought more than we needed, so there was no sweet food. But I still wanted to tease him a little.

“Oh, something sweet? Just a moment… um… there’s none, but Ho-yeon. Please wait a little longer; we’ll arrive in the city soon, and I can buy you some there.”

He’s gonna buy it, but it’s all with my money. Typical Dokan, fidgeting while coming up with solutions. But what I wanted was not a solution.

I just wanted to tease you a bit.

“If only we had it right now, that would be great~, not later, but right now. Is there really nothing?”

Even if it felt a little mean to take it out on poor Dokan, he was the original cause of it.

Well, who told you to get me pregnant?

“Right now…? Wait, I feel like there was some way… rice…? No, that’s not cooked… should I run and get some…?”

As he began to wander into the absurd while trying to find a normal solution, I figured it was time to stop teasing him. Though it’d be touching if he really did, that wasn’t what I wanted.

“No, it’s okay. I just wanted to mess with you a bit. Honestly, though, I really do want to eat something sweet.”

And sour too. Things I usually wouldn’t crave were now desperately desired. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but things like orange candies kept dancing in front of my eyes.

Even those lemon-flavored vitamin candies I would have tossed straight into the trash in my previous life. What a shame. They were priceless treats that probably tasted better than ambrosia.

“Then let’s buy some from the harbor. And please stop teasing me… You think it’s all fun and games, but I can’t really take it that way.”

What did that even mean? It obviously seemed like playful teasing between lovers. Just ignore it, right?

The sound of the geese made more sense to me than Dokan’s incomprehensible words.

– – – –

The escort had gone to inspect the ship’s condition, leaving just the Black Wolf with us.

That was more than enough. It seemed he could handle an army without breaking a sweat.

So, if someone asked what we were doing, we were browsing fruits in the market.

“Cheap, cheap! Fresh fruits just picked from nearby orchards! Hey there, beautiful lady! This persimmon is so sweet; won’t you buy one?”

Ho-yeon was carefully examining the fruits, pondering what to buy. Aside from a few persistent hawkers, no one else approached her.

“…How much?”

Before the Black Wolf could step in, she was the first to ask the vendor for the price. The vendor, as if waiting for that question, unleashed a flurry of compliments, but she responded by tossing a gold coin.

Just like that, several men who looked rough emerged from the crowd, demanding to know where the vendor learned to cheat and seized him for his swindling.

In an instant, the market turned into chaos as Ho-yeon bit into the persimmon she had bought.

“…It’s not as sweet as I thought, but it’s sweet enough to enjoy while watching the fight. Want a bite?”

“Aha… no, just the thought is good enough for me.”

Sometimes I feel like Ho-yeon has a twisted side. The Black Wolf watches her, with a complicated look, as she seems to enjoy the brawl unfolding around her.

“Miss… what are you doing again?”

“C’mon, it was obviously a plan to cheat an innocent rich girl, right? So I taught him a lesson. Now that guy will learn how to live honestly.”

Ouch, that’s going to hurt. An orc barrel—wherever it came from—flew into the fight, making it uncontrollable.

“…I think I’ve bought enough sweets, but… sour ones… ugh!”

Ho-yeon said that as she picked up a lemon, sniffed it, and almost threw it away in disgust. So, she seemed to want something sour—why was she like this?

“…You don’t look well; is something wrong?”

She reacted the same way to an orange next to it. Can she not eat sour? I remembered that citrus can be poisonous to cats, but did I really see that?

“…What is this smell…?!”

Upon her reaction, the Black Wolf did smell the lemon and orange but insisted nothing was wrong.

“Dokan, you should taste it too! Something feels off…!”

Well, I guess that means I could set down the box of apples I was holding. I took her suggestion and sniffed them, but like the Black Wolf, I didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary.

Just ordinary lemons and oranges. They seemed like they’d be sweet and sour.

“…Nope, nothing wrong. Unless it’s something… um. Yes. It’s nothing.”

I nearly blurted it’s your problem but abruptly canceled when shot a fierce glare. No matter how you looked at it, the problem seemed to lie with Ho-yeon.

In the end, all I managed to gather from this market was an overwhelming number of apples.

“…Alright. Let’s head back. The escorts should’ve finished their inspections by now.”

Still, it seems like the Black Wolf doesn’t have much to do… is that a good thing?