The Regressed Tyrant Princess Rewrites Her Dark History - Chapter 1.15

The Depths of the Hunting Grounds

Klaus, Arnold’s personal guard, rode through the dense forest, deep in thought.

He had become a knight because he admired his father, Henrik, the Knight Commander.

Henrik had once served the late king, which was why he was assigned to protect Arnold, the son of the former monarch.

For Klaus, being selected as Arnold’s guard was an honor.

Yet, for that very reason, he could not accept the fact that the current ruler had broken his promise—choosing to pass the throne not to the late king’s son, but to his own child instead.

(That princess… She’s just King Raphael’s illegitimate daughter. They say she’s been treated coldly, but in the end, she’s still part of the Second Prince’s faction. Who knows what she’s scheming? I won’t let her get close to Prince Arnold.)

Political factions did not always translate into personal enmity.

Even among those with opposing interests, there were individuals who got along.

However, with tensions running high, Klaus was on edge.

That was why he had warned Ariadne to keep her distance from Arnold.

Of course, his father and superior, Henrik, had scolded him—telling him it was not his place to interfere.

(…I get it. If anything, I should have warned Prince Arnold instead of speaking to the princess directly. But His Highness seems to trust her. It’s true that she saved the former queen, Amelia, but… I can’t shake this bad feeling.)

He had only met Ariadne a handful of times and spoken to her for the first time today.

Yet, for some reason, it felt as if she had outmaneuvered him countless times before.

Whatever the case, he remained highly wary of her.

And perhaps that was why—

Why he was too slow to notice the danger.

“Klaus!”

His father’s voice jolted him back to reality.

Before him stood Henrik, shielding him.

Beyond Henrik, a figure dressed in black loomed.

The sharp clang of clashing steel echoed through the forest.

“Protect Prince Arnold!”

Henrik’s command sent Klaus into motion.

He drew his sword just as more black-clad figures burst from the shadows.

One of them lunged at him.

“—Tch!”

He deflected the first strike and prepared to counter, but before he could react, another blade was already slashing toward him.

Klaus yanked on his horse’s reins, narrowly evading the attack.

(Damn it, fighting against daggers is such a pain!)

Their weapons lacked power but made up for it with sheer speed.

As he shifted to counterattack, a sudden chill ran down his spine.

Instinctively, he jerked his upper body back.

An instant later, an arrow sliced through the air where his head had just been.

It embedded itself in a nearby tree.

“Watch out! They have ranged attackers!”

He shouted the warning.

Arnold quickly activated a magic tool, erecting a wind barrier.

The next incoming arrow bounced off harmlessly.

But then—

Klaus caught sight of a hooded man chanting an incantation.

Magic.

The wind barrier would not be able to stop it.

“Like hell I’ll let you!”

Klaus drew a dagger from his waist and hurled it.

The blade sank into the mage’s shoulder.

With a pained cry, the spellcaster’s magic dissipated.

Still, he wouldn’t stay down for long.

Scanning the battlefield, Klaus saw that a full-scale fight had already erupted.

“Father, we can’t stay here!”

“I know! We’ll break through their encirclement. Take Prince Arnold and get him to safety!”

“Understood! Leave it to me!”

“All right—charge!”

At Henrik’s command, the knights launched a desperate attack on the enemy’s perimeter.

A hard-won chance to escape.

Klaus refused to let it go to waste.

“Your Highness, follow me!”

Arnold nodded.

Klaus led the charge, cutting a path forward.

The knights held the enemy back, preventing them from intercepting Arnold’s retreat.

Arrows flew at them, but the wind barrier deflected them.

With their escape route secured, Klaus urged his horse forward, Arnold right behind him, and the remaining knights bringing up the rear.

They barely managed to break through the encirclement.

The attackers on foot were left behind, but soon, mounted pursuers emerged from the shadows, hot on their trail.

“Klaus! That’s the deeper part of the forest!”

Arnold called out from behind.

“I know! But if we turn back now, we’ll run straight into the enemies we just escaped from. For now, we must focus on gaining distance!”

“Understood! I’ll follow your lead!”

(Thank the gods Prince Arnold is decisive.)

If he had hesitated for even a moment, they would have been overrun.

Thanks to Arnold’s quick judgment, they had narrowly escaped immediate peril.

But they were far from safe.

Klaus frantically searched for a way out.

Then—

“What—?!”

Arnold’s alarmed voice rang out.

Klaus turned in time to see Arnold being thrown from his horse.

The uneven terrain had caused the animal to stumble, sending him flying.

To Klaus, the moment played out in slow motion.

(Grab him and pull him back onto my horse? No… I won’t make it in time. Then—!)

Without hesitation, Klaus leaped from his saddle.

Mid-air, he twisted his body, intercepting Arnold before he hit the ground.

The impact sent them both tumbling across the forest floor.

Pain wracked his entire body, but Klaus forced himself up.

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

“Y-Yeah… You shielded me, didn’t you?”

“That’s a relief…”

“Klaus! Are you hurt?!”

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Klaus forced a smile.

“I’m fine.”

Just then, the other knights rode up.

“Your Highness! Are you unharmed?!”

“I’m fine. But Klaus is injured!”

“I told you, I’m fine! Focus on protecting Prince Arnold!”

With a sharp push, he sent Arnold toward the knights.

“Klaus, get on my horse!”

One of the knights extended a hand.

But Klaus shook his head.

He was wounded.

If they took him along, he would only slow them down.

“Ensure Prince Arnold’s safety first! I’ll hold them off!”

“What nonsense is that?! I won’t allow you to stay behind!”

Arnold shouted in anger.

The knight who had reached out to Klaus clenched his jaw.

Then, with a pained expression, he withdrew his hand.

“…Klaus, don’t you dare die!”

“Wait! Klaus—Klaus!”

Arnold’s desperate cries echoed through the forest.

The knights rode off, taking Arnold with them.

In their place, the black-clad assailants closed in.

Klaus reached for his sword, but his arm lacked the strength to hold it.

The weapon slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground.

(…Damn it.)

He had no regrets about saving Arnold.

But he had yet to fulfill his dream—

The dream of becoming a great Knight Commander like his father.

He couldn’t die here.

Forcing his battered body to move, he stretched out his hand to retrieve his sword.

But his balance faltered, and he collapsed in a heap.

The assailant loomed over him, silent, raising his blade.

“Tch… Is this it…?”

And then—

Klaus’s consciousness flickered.

The next moment, a figure interposed itself between him and his attacker.

Even without seeing his face, Klaus knew.

It was his father, Henrik.

The man he had always admired.

But as he looked up, his breath caught—

Henrik was covered in bl00d.

“Klaus! Is Prince Arnold safe?!”

“Yes! I entrusted him to the others!”

“Well done! Then I will hold them off here!”

Henrik let out a beast-like roar, charging at the black-clad assailants.

Despite his injuries, he fought on equal footing with them.

Klaus would never forget this sight.

But—

It was the last time he would ever see his father alive.

Henrik, in his final moments, took an assassin down with him.

Klaus was the only one left standing.

And for his bravery in shielding Arnold, he was honored.

In the wake of his father’s death, he inherited his title—

The new, young Knight Commander.

But his grief turned to hatred.

Blaming the Second Prince’s faction for his father’s death, Klaus became one of their fiercest adversaries.

And eventually—

He faced Ariadne, who, now a central figure in that very faction, maneuvered in the shadows.

His lands and family became hostages.

“If you don’t want to lose anyone else, you’d best not defy me.”

Her words were spoken with a smile—cold, merciless.

Like a witch sealing his fate.

Klaus had screamed in despair.

The next thing he knew, he was back on the ground.

Black-clad assassins surrounded him.

(This… is real? Then what was that just now? A vision?)

Yet he was still on the verge of death.

His reality had only shifted from one nightmare to another.

But—

(If my father doesn’t die, then maybe… this is the better outcome.)

If Henrik lived, he would protect their land.

That future—at least—would not be the nightmare Klaus had once lived through.

He had given up escaping.

And yet—

“Klaus!”

Just like in his vision, Henrik came charging in, covered in bl00d.

“F-Father?”

“Snap out of it! Is Prince Arnold safe?!”

“Y-Yes! I entrusted him to the others!”

“Good! Then I only have one task left—to save you!”

Henrik engaged the enemy once more.

Just like before.

Just like in the nightmare.

“No, Father, don’t!”

If things played out the same way—

Henrik would die.

Klaus knew this.

But his battered body refused to obey him.

Meanwhile, Henrik’s fight continued.

And just like before, the moment came—

Henrik launched his final attack.

“Damn it! Someone—anyone! Please save my father!”

A desperate plea.

“I’ll grant that wish.”

A voice—clear and resolute.

A flash of silver filled his vision.

No—

It was not light.

It was the hair of a girl leaping down from horseback.

Ariadne.

Even before her hair settled from its flight, she raised her hand—

And snapped her fingers.

Thunder roared through the sky.

Lightning struck.

The assassin facing Henrik was obliterated in an instant.

The air still crackled with static as knights rode in to secure the area.

Ariadne turned.

“Klaus, consider the debt repaid.”

Her blue-silver hair caught the light as she moved.

Her features—flawless, sharp.

Just like the witch from his nightmare.

But then—

“Klaus?! Hey! Stay with me, Klaus!”

She looked panicked.

Frantic, even.

Nowhere near the cold, terrifying figure he had once envisioned.

(Hah… And I thought she was suspicious? What the hell was I thinking?)

Relief washed over him.

For the first time, he felt safe.

And with that comfort, Klaus let go—

Surrendering to unconsciousness.