Chapter 59

“Haaah, haaah!”

“Hmm~ Is that all you got?”

The harsh breathing wouldn’t stop. My heart felt like it was about to explode, and I could feel the blood rushing through my veins. Sweat poured off me like rain as every inch of my body burned.

There above me, Elise wore an irritating smirk. She looked down at me with eyes that said I was both pathetic and adorable.

SPLASH!

A sudden cool water bomb hit my face. Ariel, appearing from the side and shoving Elise aside, grinned as she held out her hand to me.

[Prince, you okay? You don’t need this brutal training! I’m here, so don’t worry!]

That’s right. I’m currently in training. While I’ve gotten better at using the scythe compared to before, I’ve come to painfully realize that my frail body is still no match for strong enemies. That’s why I asked Elise and Ariel for help.

To become stronger… To see a happy ending.

For the past hour, I’ve been sparring with Elise. If you could even call it sparring – it was practically one-sided beatings. All I could do was dodge her relentless attacks. Whenever I tried to counterattack, another attack would come raining down, leaving me scrambling to get away.

Elise pushed me like she wanted to kill me while Ariel intervened whenever things got too dangerous, healing my wounds.

It’s absolutely brutal…

“B-but I want to do something myself rather than just being protected.”

Just putting in effort feels rewarding. I grinned and took Ariel’s offered hand.

Ariel chuckled, shaking her head as she pulled me up.

“You~ I knew you’d be this weak. Like Rapunzel and that Candy House incident, how did you even survive on your own?”

[Don’t listen to her, Prince! Ignore those words!]

“Haha, it’s true though. But if I keep training like this, I’ll eventually be worth looking at, right?”

Elise smirked and shrugged.

“Meh, probably someday.”

“Phew~ Everyone’s so energetic this morning.”

At that moment, Adel finally woke up after sleeping in, stretching loudly. Seriously, how could he sleep through our battle demolishing nearby trees and my constant screaming?

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and ambled over.

“Is breakfast ready yet?”

Ugh, this guy… Elise smiled sweetly and grabbed his head.

“How about my fist for breakfast? You seem to think we’re maids here. This should wake you up nicely.”

“Eeeek! N-no! It was just a joke!”

“Riiight? Just a joke~?”

Elise burst out laughing and slapped his back, sending Adel sprawling to his knees.

“Haha! Of course! Definitely a joke!”

Adel nervously laughed in response.

[Seriously, what a weird dwarf.]

Ariel shook her head. Glancing beyond the forest, she handed me some dried meat made from yesterday’s boar.

[Here Prince, you must be hungry from training. We’ll meet the hunter soon.]

“Thanks.”

As I took the meat, Adel’s eyes gleamed hungrily, along with the drool dripping from his mouth.

“Well, let’s just eat now.”

We decided to grill the leftover meat from yesterday. Without proper cooking tools, we had to make skewers again, but nobody complained – it tasted amazing. Compared to the kimchi stew disaster, this was gourmet food.

Adel devoured his share greedily while I watched and asked:

“Adel, how much further until we arrive?”

“Munch munch, huh? Oh, arrival? Gulp! Let me see… Our base is about an hour’s walk from here. The princess is waiting there too.”

About an hour left. The outline of the castle was already visible. However, something was off – black beams shot from the tallest tower, creating massive storm clouds that trapped the kingdom in perpetual gloom.

“Hmm~ A princess, eh? Not the type who worships demons and offers sacrifices, right?”

“What kind of ridiculous thing is that?! …What are you implying?! Haha! Absolutely not!”

He clearly had to suppress his anger at Elise’s question. Adel forced a friendly smile.

“A princess with skin white as snow and beauty like a rose. And she’s revolutionary too.”

[What mission did this revolutionary princess give you?]

“Haha, w-well that’s top secret… But rest assured, the princess will be delighted to meet all of you!”

[So can we expect royal treatment in your kingdom? I haven’t rested properly lately and my body’s sore.]

“Of course! We have plenty of lodging available! Feel free to stay as long as you like! Hahaha!”

Adel gave an exaggerated laugh. Elise and Ariel exchanged glances then focused back on their food.

Hmm, these two must think Snow White is in the castle. While the story has twisted somewhat, the basic framework seems intact. Based on my guess, this revolutionary Snow White is likely hiding from the queen and preparing something secretly.

“What’s Snow White like? Not appearance-wise, but personality.”

“Oh, extremely… cough! Strong! She’s the strongest person I’ve ever seen!”

“Stronger than me?”

Elise leaned in, making Adel flinch and look away.

“Haha~ I mean inner strength. Our princess has incredible mental fortitude. She looks delicate, like she’d break at a touch, but inside she’s incredibly strong. Yet at the same time, she’s very fragile and worries us a lot.”

Adel’s face showed a rare gentle smile – proud yet concerned.

“Sounds like an excellent princess if Adel speaks so highly of her.”

“Of course! Nobody beats our princess!”

“So is this revolutionary princess currently being pursued by the kingdom?”

“Well, yeah. But don’t worry. Our hideout is so well-concealed that…”

“EEK!? Wh-what do you mean I know that?!”

Adel jumped up like a spring.

“Haha. Just a hunch, you know.”

[Shock! Being pursued by the kingdom?! What does that mean?]

“Kekeke, figured as much. Nothing’s going right. Did you kill the king or something?”

Adel panicked for a moment before resigning himself with a deep sigh.

“Alright, I’ll tell you the truth.”

He sat back down and fiddled with his skewer.

“The truth is, our princess has been put on the run. Framed for assassinating the king.”

“What, really assassinated the king? Kekeke, this is getting interesting!”

[Framed, she said! Open your ears!]

Framed for killing the king, huh? Likely culprit would be the queen. The picture’s coming together. The queen killed the king and pinned it on Snow White, forcing her to flee here.

Adel scratched his head sheepishly and continued:

“Actually, it’s different. After the previous queen – Snow White’s mother – passed away, the new queen became the real culprit. She murdered the king and framed Snow White.”

Got it so far.

“Snow White escaped from the queen’s grasp and fled as far from the kingdom as possible. That’s when she met us seven dwarves. Having received favors from the late queen, we decided to help once we heard her story.”

“Wait, if she fled far from the kingdom, isn’t this near the kingdom?”

Adel shook his head sadly.

“No, this isn’t the queen’s castle. It belongs to Baron Baekjeok, her henchman. After killing the king, the queen expanded her influence. The princess’ base is inside there.”

[Isn’t that way too dangerous? How could they set up base in an underling’s territory?]

“Because darkness hides best under the lamp. They’ve been planning in secret for quite some time. While evading the cursed vampire’s grasp, they’ve been gathering allies to reclaim the nation.”

Huh? Did I hear that right? Vampires exist in fairy tales now? So that’s why the kingdom was full of storm clouds – to block out the sun?

“Vampire?”

“Yeah, vampire.”

“Those blood-sucking monsters who burn in sunlight?”

“Exactly.”

“Turn to ash in sunlight?”

“Correct.”

Crazy. Vampires! So that’s why…

“Hmm~ Now I get it. Your mission was to recruit people to support the rebellious princess, right? Hard to find them inside, so you were looking outside. Have you traveled to other kingdoms too?”

Elise rested her chin thoughtfully. Adel nodded solemnly.

“Yes, but nobody wants to help. The neighboring kingdoms are too busy with their own problems and fear the wrath of our infamous queen. On our return trip… we lost some comrades.”

[So you were trying to recruit us as soldiers?]

“Unfortunately, yes…”

Ah, that’s why. Now I understand why the mission was considered successful. Adel must have been confident that Elise alone would be powerful enough. He probably planned to somehow convince us to join once we arrived.

“Bold move.”

Elise gave a menacing grin, causing Adel to immediately hide behind me thanks to some survival instinct kicking in.

“Eeek! It wasn’t intentional! I-I was going to tell you! Look Siyoo, please! Could you help us? You guys would be a huge help to the princess! I’m begging you!!”

Adel immediately dropped to his knees and started bowing profusely.

Bowing so hard his hands and feet were on fire.