The princess’s twisted sense of possessiveness mirrored the king’s.

Her stubborn personality and blunt speech also resembled the king.

But everything else about her was like her.

The ghostly pale skin, as if drained of all color. The bright red lips, reminiscent of a ripe apple. The silvery hair, so close to pure white.

The princess was a small cage, crafted with the king’s soul and the queen’s embrace, designed solely to capture me.

Had her eyes also mirrored the queen’s violet hue, I might have long since been consumed, wandering aimlessly in purgatory. Fortunately, the curse of the gods spared that one detail, allowing me to resist her.

“Stop it, Your Highness ,” I said.

“Stop? Are you giving me orders in my own home? This isn’t the wilderness, Alpheus. It’s not the untamed plains where your word was absolute.”

“That doesn’t mean you can threaten a member of the Hero’s Party as you please. That’s not right, nor should it ever be.”

“No, I can. Because I’m a princess.”

It was simple logic, but unassailable.

Had she been more mature, someone might already be hanging outside the city gates. But thankfully, she was still a child. Though she seemed grown outwardly, her mind had not yet matured fully, leaving room for me to intervene.

“Your Highness ,” I said again.

“Hm?” she responded.

“If you keep acting so childishly, I’ll get angry.”

“Oh? How will you get angry? Go on, show me. I’m so curious.”

“Well, since you insist…”

I trailed off ominously and stepped toward her.

When the gap between us was down to just a step or two, I placed my hands on her shoulders.

Then, with all my might, I tugged at her cheeks.

“Ow, ow, ow! Alpheus, that hurts! It hurts!”

“It’s supposed to hurt, Your Highness .”

“Argh! This is treason! Treason against the royal family!”

“No, it’s just a simple reprimand. So it’s fine.”

“Ughhh! Waaaah! Waaaaahhh!”

The princess’s bravado dissolved as she reverted to a little girl, her shrill cries echoing through the room. Despite being a royal princess, she was nothing more than a child yearning for someone’s attention.

Now, armed with perfect logic, she would have no grounds to rebel further.

And delivering logical truths was my forte.

“Besides, Your Highness , you made serious remarks about detaining an elf, something that could spark a diplomatic crisis. Such words deserve reprimand.”

“It was a joke! You know it was a joke! I don’t like Seha, but I’d never—OWWW!”

“Making such jokes is even worse, Your Highness .”

“Fine! I get it! I was wrong, so let me go!”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, her reddened cheeks evidence of how hard I’d pulled.

Only then did I release her, gently patting her flushed cheeks with a kinder hand.

“Do you really understand what you did wrong?”

“Ugh... It really hurts...”

“Your Highness , do you understand what you did wrong?”

“I know I went too far. So...”

“So?”

“I’m sorry, Alpheus.”

“Alright.”

Her belated apology made me nod slowly as I straightened up. The princess looked up at me, her face uneasy.

“Are you very angry?”

“Not at all. I was just worried you might act cruelly toward my companion.”

“You know I’m not like that. Besides... is that elf really more important to you than me? Is that why you’re upset?”

“You’re both important to me. Especially you, Your Highness .”

“Then that’s fine.”

With those few words, she cast aside all her emotions and embraced me once more. This time, however, not as a woman but as a girl—a princess who had been kidnapped in the bloom of youth and forced to grow in fear.

No matter how strong she appeared on the outside, the girl inside her, the one hidden beneath that forced maturity, was still a child to me.

“It’s alright, Your Highness . I’m not really angry, so stop crying now.”

“I wasn’t crying. It just hurt, that’s all.”

“Good. In that case, perhaps the flower fairies will leave a gift by your bedside this year-end.”

“Alf, you always treat me like a child. I don’t believe in that anymore.”

“Is that so?”

The princess who wept at being scolded by the hero, and I, who still clung to wishes whispered to the tail of a comet—I supposed neither of us had truly left childhood behind. If I wanted to move past it and reach for the stars, I needed a more concrete plan.

My drifting thoughts began to solidify into resolve.

“In that case, I owe you an apology, too. For my thoughtless words earlier in the court. I deeply regret saying something that might have hurt you, Your Highness .”

“Hmph. It’s too late for an apology to fix things now.”

“You’re probably right. Besides, there’s someone else I need to apologize to.”

She blinked at me, her expression puzzled.

“Which is why, Your Highness , I’d like to meet the Queen and apologize to her directly. Could you help arrange that for me?”

Her brow furrowed as she tilted her head.

“You’ll see her plenty in the future anyway, so why bother? Besides, if it’s an apology, you can just go on your own.”

“Even a hero can’t request an audience with the Queen anytime they please. And after what I said, I doubt she’d agree to meet me without some persuasion.”

“So you’re saying you need my help?”

“Yes. If you step in, it’ll be easier to arrange. And I’d feel braver about apologizing if you were there with me.”

“Hmm...”

“Can you do that for me?”

Like a fisherman casting bait to hook a big catch, I planted a whisper of temptation into her ear. I already had an idea of what her response would be.

As expected, she answered with delight in her voice.

“If you need me, then of course.”

“Thank you, Your Highness .”

Perhaps it was because I’d lied for the first time in my life, but the warmth of her embrace jabbed at my cold heart. Yet, oddly enough, it didn’t hurt. If anything, I feared I might grow addicted to the sensation and subtly pushed her away.

When we returned to the banquet hall, the party resumed as planned. Though there had been a minor disturbance, the kingdom’s guests were generous enough to brush it aside. As the drinks flowed, some even laughed about it, treating it as fodder for lighthearted jokes.

The party finally ended when the King himself, tipsy and exuberant, performed a sword dance in the center of the room. Exhausted, he was carried off by his retainers to his chambers. We, too, retired to the large room prepared for us.

Perhaps it was the accumulated fatigue—Seha, as drunk as the King, collapsed immediately and began snoring. Even Jorfe, the scholar often called upon for debates, sat down beside her with a weary expression and closed his eyes.

Unable to sleep, I stepped out onto the balcony. The crescent moon hung faint in the dark sky, blurred as if drunk on the night.

“...”

Countless lights illuminated the night within the palace, drowning out the stars. Unlike the outside world, no stars twinkled here, their faint glow eclipsed by the brilliance of the earth below.

Or perhaps, there was already only one star in this palace.

Convinced by my own thought, I looked up at the night sky again.

And there, amidst the darkness, a single bright star shone.

I sat quietly, gazing at the star. Time seemed to slip away as I leaned on the railing, my head tilted toward the sky. After what felt like an eternity, a familiar voice tapped at my shoulder from behind.

“The palace is quite cold, isn’t it? Must be because it’s built on high ground.”

“Jorfe. I thought you were asleep.”

“You know I don’t sleep much. Being in a strange place makes it even harder.”

“You’ve never been picky about where you sleep.”

“A proper sage knows how to choose a place to rest their head. Besides, after the chaos you stirred up, who could sleep peacefully?”

I had no excuse and kept my silence. Jorfe stepped closer, standing by my side, and looked up at the sky as I did.

“What were you thinking, Alpheus? You knew exactly what the consequences would be.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I lost my mind for a moment.”

“You’d need another eighty years to develop senility from aging. Even then, you’d likely overcome it. You’re not the type to act recklessly.”

“Get to the point.”

“I want to know why you did it. Do you truly love that witch?”

I slowly lowered my gaze and locked eyes with him. His green eyes, steadfast like oak, met mine. There was a magnetic pull in his stare, making it impossible to look away.

“As I’ve told you before, you already know my answer, Jorfe.”

“I don’t know. And I don’t want to go rooting through your mind to find out. Being inside your head always makes me feel like I’ve turned into a germ.”

“Then stop prying. Even for me, being interrogated by a sage is exhausting.”

“Alpheus, I just…”

“Besides, this isn’t something you need to concern yourself with anymore.”

It wasn’t a harsh rejection, just a calm statement of fact. Jorfe seemed to understand, his lips twitching briefly before falling silent.

“They say a sage’s advice costs a fortune, and to court an elf requires a thousand years of virtue. I managed to achieve both without any cost, but miracles like that only exist in fairy tales.”

“Coming from you, that feels even more disheartening.”

“The Hero’s Party may be eternal, but mercenaries like us have to disband once the mission is over. Seha will grow tired of this soon enough, and you’ll leave to pursue knowledge. For a Harbit Sage, curiosity is a thirst that even water cannot quench.”

“Heh…”

“So I’ll move on to my next reckless endeavor. If I ever need advice, I’ll make sure to save up for it.”

For those with an irretrievable past, fools forget, commoners regret, and sages resign themselves. Jorfe, undoubtedly belonging to the last group, showed no lingering attachment.

“If you weren’t human, I would’ve invited you to Harbit. Honestly, you’re better suited to being a scholar than a hero.”

“And whose fault is it that I ended up slaying dragons instead?”

“Perhaps I’m not as much of a sage as people say. Still, just this once, I wanted to hold on. Before it was too late, I needed to understand what you were thinking.”

“Too late? Why?”

“Because a guest came to see you earlier.”

His sudden statement caught me off guard. My brow furrowed, and I instinctively asked, “Who?”

“The Queen.”

“…What?”

I froze. It was unbelievable, but coming from Jorfe, there was no reason to doubt it.

As realization struck, my next move became clear. Jorfe, understanding my resolve, didn’t delay and gestured for me to proceed.

“She said she’d wait for you.”

“...”

“She’s probably still outside.”