I Couldn’t Stop my Childhood Friend from Turning Into a Villain

I couldn’t help but smile at the child’s eagerness to get to know Liel.

It didn’t last long, though, because of Liel.

“I appreciate your kind words, but……I will have to decline.”

He should give her an embarrassed look if he really thought so.

Liel’s response was more assertive than I expected, to the point where I felt embarrassed.

It’s a kid’s remark, why do you have to take it so seriously……?

“Uwaaaahhh!”

I thought we had safely gotten through the day, but because of him, the princess’s bottled-up tears burst out.

“You’re talking to a child…….”

I glared at Liel as I knelt down on the floor in front of the sobbing Princess. He shook his head, unsure of what he had done wrong.

I’ll see you later.

I helped her to her feet from the dirt floor and patted her on the back. Then Princess Chloe threw herself into my arms. My shoulders grew damp from her tears.

“Princess, Liel rejected you because you were too young, not because he didn’t like you…….”

Since it wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking in the first place, I tried to soothe her with the most plausible words I could think of. She gasped and asked, as if my words worked.

“D, do you dislike younger……?”

Who the hell taught her to say that?

Despite my bewilderment, I couldn’t help but glance at Liel, nervous that he’d make the Princess cry with another clueless answer.

Considering that in the original, he had a crush on Dioletta, perhaps it was more of an age thing……?

I hoped that he would at least use that as an excuse to tell the Princess that he was rejecting her proposal.

“……No. That’s not it.”

Contrary to my expectations, the words that came out of Liel’s mouth were words of denial.

It’s not that he dislikes younger women, but he just does not like her?

The next thing I know, the Princess is crying like a baby whale, asking me why he refused her proposal.

If I can’t comfort you, please stop crying…

⁂

Time passed steadily despite their hectic schedules, and it had been almost a month since Liel had returned to the academy.

I was a bit surprised when he told me that he didn’t want to go back to school because he was so eager to become a knight on the day of enrollment, but he went anyway.

It seems that he also realized that it’s not something that can be resolved just by insisting on his own way.

So I continued my daily routine as usual.

Almost a month later, I was on my way to see the Princess.

I saw a man with pink hair walking across the street. Dressed in the uniform of the Knights of Filia, he exuded an air of mystery that caught my eye unintentionally.

He seemed to be smiling, as if he was happy about something.

I was about to pass him by without giving him much thought, wondering if he was happy about something.

His ashen eyes met mine for a moment. But it was only for a moment; he soon looked ahead again and walked away.

“……?”

Maybe I was staring too hard.

He didn’t seem too interested in me.

“Come to think of it, the original male lead was also a member of the Paladins and had pink hair and ashen eyes—

Huh?!

At the same time as I remembered male lead’s striking features, I realized that the man who had just passed by was also handsome enough to be the main character of any story.

⁂

Spring must be coming soon for unnie.

No, I’m getting ahead of myself on this one. I still don’t know if he’s really the male lead, Dailor.

Furthermore, I don’t know if he has any contact with unnie.

On second thought, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

Thump—

A heavy noise interrupted my thoughts. I wonder if a picture frame in the hallway has fallen.

“You’ve been away for so long, what are you thinking about?”

Princess Chloe waved her arms in the air in exasperation. I thought she was so cute, so I waved back.

When she realized how funny it was, she wiped the grimace off her face and giggled.

Luckily, she must have gotten over it.

“……! Send the Princess to……!”

There was a commotion outside.

The only difference was that this time it was a man shouting.

He seemed to be looking for Princess Chloe, so I asked her permission to get up to look outside.

BANG!

“……Heok, Princess!”

The door burst open and one of the knights shouted, breathing heavily.

“You should take cover, the beast is—”

The knight didn’t finish his sentence. A black object slammed into his body, sending him flying down the hallway.

For a moment, silence reigned.

I subconsciously hid the Princess behind me. The silence seemed to foreshadow the coming storm.

Suddenly, a huge front paw popped out from beyond the door. One after the other, the paw’s owner appeared.

Its head turned slowly toward us, as if trying to peer into the room, stoking our fears.

“L, Lucy…….”

The terrified princess grabbed the hem of my dress. At that moment, my eyes locked with a pair of long, slit black eyes. Its black, hard epidermis and slender legs reminded me of an ant.

The beast’s eyes flashed like those of a beast.

My legs froze in terror at the sight of something I had never seen before. Still, my head kept rolling.

‘Why would a demon enter the imperial palace…….?’

The palace guards were not weak enough to prevent the demon from entering.

But why didn’t anyone send a signal while the monster was invading the palace?

It was puzzling, even in the midst of my panic, that no one in the palace, including me, had noticed its presence until it raised a ruckus.

“A demon has invaded!”

At the same time as I questioned this, a commotion began to erupt outside, the sound of a signal gun firing as if it had belatedly recognized the creature’s presence.

But first, the demon opened its mouth and wriggled.

Kiiik—

The demon was forcing itself through the narrow gap to enter the room.

One fundamental question after another fueled my panic: Can we get away from that thing?

The only good news was that the creature was too slow to break through the wall.

It didn’t seem to be trying to strike fear into us, it was just an inherently slow creature.

Eventually, the wall collapsed, unable to withstand the creature’s size. As the wall disappeared, the corridor was clearly visible.

“Protect the Princess!”

Just then, knights were coming up the stairs, and in unison, they charged at demon.

“You two, quickly evacuate the palace!”

From the sound of it, it was safe outside the palace. I nodded and grabbed the princess’ hand, which was clutching the hem of my dress.

“Princess, can you run?”

She squeezed my hand and nodded quickly. With her nod, I stomped my feet and started running.

The short hallway to the stairs was littered with the bodies of knights.

“They’re all down!”

“It’s okay…… the Princess just needs to keep running!”

Princess Chloe said as she looked at the fallen knights. I couldn’t bear to say that everyone was dead.

Kaaaak—-!

As we reached the stairs, another beast was approaching us from around the corner. I could hear the ground crack as it moved.

Unlike the ant-like creature behind us, this one was moving faster. I darted down the stairs before it could reach us.

Kiiik–-!

The beast roared again from behind, and soon the shouts of the knights mingled with the roar of the beast.

The Princess, who usually cried a lot, was now holding back tears and clutching my hand tightly.

Thud—

When we finally made it down to the first floor, I heard a series of thumping and tearing sounds coming from the floor I was on.

Luckily, I could see the back door not too far away, but behind me, the Princess gasped.

“I, I’m tired……. I’m sorry……. I’m tired…….”

Despite the unavoidable situation, she blamed herself for her behavior. I quickly picked her up and hugged her.

At the same time, the ceiling collapsed.

I quickly took a step forward. My hair brushed against the remnants of the collapsed bricks.

A chill ran down my spine, and my heart beat faster than ever.

“Ugh…….”

The Princess hugged me tightly around the neck.

“Chloe!”

Her Majesty’s voice came from not far away. I squinted and saw two knights at her side.

Then, I saw a giant, wart-like beast approaching from the side.

Behind him, the beast stamped its forepaws.

“uuuuu–-!”

Before I could shout out a warning, the swords of the knights, who were quick enough to recognize the demon’s movements, sliced through the mantis’s forepaws.

Thud—

“Mother!”

For the first time in my presence, the princess called the Empress, Mother. It meant that her fear reached its peak.

I also moved my feet frantically toward Her Majesty as the horde of demons approached us.

Thump, thump, thump.

As if to mock my efforts, a loud bang came from directly overhead. I instinctively knew it was coming.

I knew instinctively that I wouldn’t be able to dodge it at my speed.