[V4C25] The Selfish Princess and the War Wolf of the West
Translated by Jodas 4: Flying Through the Sky“Have you heard of the pride of our Empire, the Sword Saint?”
Tia responded to Sevil’s words with an energetic “I haven’t!” while Ella spoke cautiously.
“The ‘War Wolf of Warmberg,’ right?”
Those words made Sophie shake.
Holding territory on the far Western edge of the Empire, the former Margrave of Warmberg, Teodor Blanke: Better known as ‘The War Wolf of Warmberg.’
His swordsmanship skills were off the charts, earning him the title of ‘Sword Saint,’ and declaring his deep loyalty to the Emperor, he was a hero who played a major role in the war with their neighboring country over fifty years ago.
…Meaning, he was a serious old man by now.
Tia was into Dammer, who was almost twenty years older than her.
Roswitha said she liked Headmaster Möbius, who was over thirty years older than her.
And now Sevil liked the Sword Saint, who was more than fifty years older than her.
(Eeeek… What do I do? The age gap just keeps getting biggeeeeerrrrr….)
Ignoring Sophie’s gasps, Sevil continued.
“I’d heard that Sword Saint’s grandson, the current Margrave of Warmberg, was quite powerful, so I paid him a visit.”
“Oh, thank goodness! You were talking about his grandson! Not the old grandpa! …Oh, sorry, sorry, continue~!”
Sophie waved her arms back and forth and, relieved, encouraged the story to keep going.
Sevil, seated atop Rukiye’s bed, crossed her legs, and spoke with nostalgia in her eyes.
“Back then, I believed that strength was everything. I thought that the weak had nothing to gain.”
Roswitha paused, about to eat a biscuit, and mumbled with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t you still believe all that?”
“Obviously, I thought that the man who was to be my husband must also be strong.”
“You definitely still think that.”
Sevil swiped the paper bag of snacks off of Roswitha’s lap with astounding speed and secured the last biscuit for herself.
“As it happened, the current lord who came to greet me was a malnourished, unreliable man. He had no presence to speak of, and looked like a ratty old dog.”
Sophie reckoned it would be hard to find a man who had presence comparable to Sevil’s own.
If there was one, it would probably be Sevil’s own brother: the Black Lion Emperor. Sophie had never seen him herself, but rumor had it that he was a fearsome man.
“That was the current Margrave of Warmberg, Henrik Blanke. Even when I referred to his own castle as a dog house, that man only laughed awkwardly, without any signs of indignation.”
(T- That’s rude…)
“I was appalled. Just when I’d planned to marry into the Warmberg house, declare my independence from the Empire, and rule as Queen of Warmberg!”
Upon hearing that sentence, Sophie felt as if her jaw was about to fall off.
Sevil, the sister of the current Emperor, had planned to marry the Margrave of a territory inside the Empire, then declare that territory as an independent nation. It sounded absurd, but in the state of constant civil strife that plagued the Empire these days, it wouldn’t be impossible in the right circumstances.
“—Hold on, don’t just go around spreading the seeds of civl war everywhere you go!!”
Sophie shouted, and Sevil only chuckled with a beautiful smile.
Had her hand not been holding a biscuit, she might have fallen in love.
“That was a good, solid one-liner, Sophie. I’ll give you my compliments. It almost reminds me of Wren’s.”
“Eek, I’ve been complimented but I’m not happy at allll…. Wait, but where’s the love talk? Huh? What about the sweet and sour feelings of a first crush?”
Rather than sweet and sour, she worried this story would just smell of fresh blood.
Sophie felt her intuition was correct.
“Indeed. I thought to test the Margrave of Warmberg — Lord Henrik — so I gave him this selfish request: ‘I’m in the mood for a new brooch. I want one made with a dragon’s scale. Could you make one for me?’”
Tia, who was nibbling on a biscuit, spoke up. “Piyo!”
“Oh, I get it! That’s the brooch Sevil had! ….But, aren’t dragons stronger than Monsters?”
“T- That’s…. Um…” Ella, who always spoke so warmly, struggled to get any words out.
Even Ella was left speechless by the rambunctious exploits of Sevil’s youth.
Rukiye stopped weaving her colored threads and lifted her face.
“…You can’t be referring to that dragon scale that was taken off of a still-living dragon, can you?”
“In fact, it is precisely that one.”
“You basically just told him to go die.”
“At the time, my response was ‘Surely the grandson of the Sword Saint would be able to manage this.’”
Rukiye frowned.
“…Truly the destructive whims of a selfish princess.”
“Forgive me. At the time, I was still young.”
Back then, Henrik Blanke, Margrave of Warmberg, responded to the young Sevil’s selfish demands with a troubled expression.
The man, with pale blond hair and a malnourished body, was six or seven years older than Sevil, and yet had not a shred of presence or intimidation.
With his ever-present face of concern, this man looked more like a starving stray dog. In short, he smiled awkwardly, and was always hungry.
“Your Highness Princess Adelheid, are you saying to offer you a dragon’s scale…?”
“That’s what I want at the moment.”
“Well, that would be somewhat…. Um, you could say that cleaning up after a dragon hunt is a time-consuming endeavor…”
“You impudent wretch. You’ve been nothing but excuses.”
After coming all this way, it turned out to be a complete waste of her time. Who would have expected the Sword Saint’s grandson to be such a worthless man!
Irate, Sevil thought to give this man the shock of a lifetime.
“No matter. I shall collect one myself! You just wait there and twiddle your thumbs for all I care!”
With that, Sevil jumped on her favorite horse and headed for the site where a dragon was most recently spotted.
Sevil had participated in an Earth Dragon extermination before. While Fire Dragons could breath fire, their bodies were smaller than Earth Dragons. Thus, she assumed that she would easily win with the mobility of being on horseback.
“Well, thinking back on it now, it was a reckless plan.”
Sevil spoke with a twinge of regret, and Roswitha groaned with narrowed eyes.
“You don’t have to think back on it. It was reckless. Just look at Tia’s face!”
Tia was chirping “Pirororororo…” with a face that said “Eugh.”
Even Tia, the most carefree of the Apprentices, understood just how reckless such a foolish act was.
Tia, huffing and puffing like “Pefu, pefu,” Asked a question.
“So, what did you do, Sevil? ….Piyo… You got the Fire Dragon scale, right?”
“Indeed. I set out on the extermination by myself, yet there were two Fire Dragons before me. Just as I was about to get roasted alive, Lord Henrik came running up.”
Sophie searched through her memories.
Did the Margrave of Warmberg switch out at some point? Were they still talking about that same person who was still alive today?
Ultimately, she couldn’t recall, so she asked.
“Was he okay? Didn’t you say that Margrave was the one who looked like a ratty dog?”
“When Lord Henrik had a sword in his hands, he essentially became a different person. He was absurdly strong. Not only did he save me, he extracted a scale, and finished off the two Fire Dragons.”
“Ooh,” Said everyone aside from Rukiye.
Dragons were considered living natural disasters. Even though the Earth Dragons and Fire Dragons in Sevil’s story were categorized as Lesser Dragons, depending on the amount, they would often require the formation of a large-scale team of hunters to deal with them.
They weren’t the sort of opponent that one could take on one-on-one. To take out two of them by oneself was an impressive display of strength.
The Margrave came running to save the Princess when she was in danger. Now it was starting to sound like a love story, so Sophie leaned forward in her seat.
“What next, what next!? Did the Margrave sweep you off your feet with your heart pounding, then you rode together on the horse into the sunset exchanging your promises to love each other forever!?”
“Hmm. After slaying the two Fire Dragons, Lord Henrik turned to me and said…”
With a face filled with nostalgia for a time long past, Sevil repeated the words she heard once, long ago.
”‘Those who don’t know their strength have no place on the battlefield!!’”
“……. Ah. Yeah. He’s not wrong~…”
Of course he said that.
It destroyed the wonderful love scene that Sophie imagined, but the Margrave’s response was on the money.
Sevil folded her arms, and spoke with a delighted smile.
“I was stunned by those words. It was then that I thought that, if I was going to get married, this man would be a good choice.”
“He yelled at you, so you fell in love with him… I see…”
“Since then, while I’ve earnestly requested a betrothal, my brother has stood in the way.”
Sophie would never get married to someone who yelled at her like that, but she could strangely understand why Sevil would. This Princess disliked humble personalities.
However, regardless of Sevil’s feelings, the problem was her status and her plans.
“Of course if you’re thinking of independence, he’d try to stop you…”
Sophie mumbled. Then, “Ah!” Ella raised a voice like she’d realized something.
“Umm, I heard that you were ordered by His Majesty to marry to a foreign country, and that you came to the Wedge Tower because you didn’t want to…”
Sophie understood what Ella was trying to say.
Why had the Black Lion Emperor tried to marry Sevil off to another country? — It was because it would be a problem if she ran off to Warmberg and declared independence.
“Indeed. My brother ordered me to marry into the Kingdom of Darwock, in the Northern Federation. It ticked me off, so I thought about usurping the throne, but he got me right back, and now I’m here.”
Wow. The purest example of reaping what you sowed. What a selfish princess. And of the type that tries to solve everything with force, no less.
That violent princess shot a beautiful smile towards the exasperated Sophie.
“How about that, Sophie? A love story, just like you asked. Wasn’t it romantic? Feel free to cheer on my love as much as you wish!”
Perhaps that Margrave really did have feelings for Sevil, but he’s held back out of a wish for Sevil’s happiness… Sophie considered that sort of delusional story.
No, it just wouldn’t work. Even in the deepest delusions, Sevil’s aura was too strong for any romance to get going.
She’s definitely just bothering that Margrave, Sophie was certain in that conclusion.