The Princess Who Saw the Fall of Her Homeland Strives to Change Fate by Becoming the Cold Prince's Bride! - Chapter 6

“If we cross this mountain pass, we’ll finally reach Ernstahl.”

“Really!? Finally…!”

Exhausted from the long journey, Elze cheered at the envoy’s words.

Since the day she left her homeland, Elze had been riding in a carriage, heading toward Ernstahl’s royal palace.

Because of her unique ability, “Future Sight,” Elze had never left her homeland before.

At first, she was excited by the scenery outside the carriage window. But after sitting for so long, her entire body ached terribly.

Now, she just wished they would arrive at the royal palace as soon as possible.

“But Ernstahl is huge, right? Won’t it still take days to get there from here?”

“It won’t take as long as the journey so far. Please bear with it a little longer, Princess Elze.”

“Hehe, thank you for bringing me all this way. My body hurts, but I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Perhaps because she had cried when leaving her homeland, the envoy had been looking after her and talking to her throughout the journey.

Thanks to him, Elze had made it this far without much trouble.

When she honestly expressed her gratitude, the envoy narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“…The honor is mine, Princess Elze. I know this may be inappropriate to say, but… you remind me of my daughter, and I just couldn’t leave you be.”

Elze blinked in surprise, then laughed cheerfully.

“Hehe, people say that a lot. That I look like their daughter, their little sister, or even their granddaughter. It just means I’m an easygoing princess, right?”

“…Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Why would it? I’m happy about it. It’s much better than people keeping their distance just because I’m a princess. Talking like this is much more fun.”

That was Elze’s true feeling, without a doubt.

Hearing her words, the envoy widened his eyes in surprise, then muttered softly:

“Someone like you might just be able to…”

But just as Elze opened her mouth to ask what he meant, the horses suddenly neighed loudly, and the carriage jolted violently.

“Ahh!”

“What in the world—”

“We’re under attack!”

Before they could grasp the situation, the coachman shouted in a frightened voice.

The unexpected crisis left Elze in shock.

(Wait… an attack…?)

Nervously, she peeked out the window and saw the guards from the other carriages fighting off what appeared to be attackers.

“Ugh, being attacked by bandits in a place like this…!”

The envoy muttered in frustration.

(So these are… bandits?)

In the remote Maglier Kingdom, not even bandits would bother coming.

Experiencing this for the first time, Elze’s heart pounded with fear.

(Speaking of which… my sister did tell me about Ernstahl’s situation…)

Compared to Maglier, Ernstahl was a massive nation.

But that also meant conflicts between territories were frequent, and some areas still suffered from instability.

She had been warned to be extra careful when traveling through dangerous areas—

(But now that it’s happening, there’s nothing I can do!)

There were more bandits than expected, and the guards were struggling.

Watching the situation, the envoy quickly gave orders to the coachman.

“…We have no choice. While they distract the enemy, we will escape from here.”

“What!? Are you saying we should abandon the people fighting for us!?”

Elze shouted in shock, but the envoy shook his head with a pained expression.

“Princess Elze. Our mission is to deliver you safely to the royal palace… even if it costs lives.”

“That’s…”

“Please, understand.”

As he bowed deeply, Elze bit her lip in frustration.

(There are people who might die… just because of me, a mere princess of a small kingdom…)

But Elze couldn’t afford to die here.

For the sake of her homeland, and for the people she cared about—

(What should I do…?)

As the crushing weight of her own powerlessness sank in, she clenched her fists tightly.