Chapter 13: The Foolish Jester

"What shall we do about your next appointment, Lady Rishali?"

"Let me think..."

After seeing off Juugi, I had gone back to spending dull days at the royal palace.

"Today, I think I shall inspect the training grounds."

"Understood."

Still, it's not like nothing has changed.

I've started spending less time playing with bugs and more time watching the training grounds.

I’d already observed every insect in the palace, so I was hungry for a new form of entertainment.

"You’ve been visiting the training grounds quite often lately, haven’t you?"

"Takeru’s training is rather entertaining to watch."

Honestly, the way he trains is so absurd it’s fascinating.

His sparring with Knight Commander Paulik looks more like teleportation fistfights than real practice.

So in my mind, the training grounds had basically become a place to go watch a battle anime.

---

"Why would I spar with a commoner like you!?"

"M-my apologies, Lady Polie..."

"...Oh?"

There was, however, another reason I’d started visiting the training grounds more often.

I was worried Takeru might be getting bullied.

"Filthy! Disgusting! Revolting!"

"..."

"I can’t believe a monster like you is allowed to walk freely through the royal palace!"

When I arrived at the training grounds, I found Takeru being accosted by a girl knight.

With a furious look on her face, she had a sword pointed at Takeru.

"A filthy thing like you doesn’t deserve to lay a hand on someone of my status! What if your filth rubbed off on me!?"

"I-I'm sorry..."

...Sadly, the nobles are still very hostile toward commoners.

There are plenty of aristocrats like Paulik who believe in bloodline supremacy.

"Scum like you are the reason—!"

"...I-I'm sorry."

On top of that, Takeru—thanks to some behind-the-scenes maneuvering from Father the King—was being given extremely favorable treatment within the knights.

To prioritize his role as my bodyguard, his participation in training was left up to him.

Instead of staying in the standard knights’ barracks, he was given a private room close to my chambers, in case of emergency.

Father likely sees this as “proof that talented subordinates will be treated well, even if they’re commoners,” but... to the one receiving the preferential treatment, it’s just a target for jealousy.

"Filthy, idiotic, foolish! Just die already!"

"I’m sorry..."

Takeru bowed his head low, enduring the girl knight’s verbal abuse.

Sigh... Looks like it’s my time to step in. This sort of elitist attitude needs to be corrected.

If she really respects hierarchy, then she should be willing to listen to the words of a royal princess like me.

Just as I was thinking that and approaching the girl—

"It’s because of you that my father, Sir Paulik, suffered such humiliation!"

"I-I truly am... very sorry to hear that."

—It became clear that her anger was partially directed at me as well.

"If Takeru hadn’t meddled, my father wouldn’t have had to suffer that punishment!"

"I... I apologize. On behalf of my lord, I am truly, deeply sorry."

Now that I looked more closely, I saw the same crest on her armor as Paulik’s.

Ahh... so she’s Paulik’s daughter. No wonder she’s so obsessed with bloodlines.

"Forgive me for interrupting your conversation!"

"!?"

But Takeru did nothing wrong in that incident.

Paulik’s behavior toward the commoners was the issue, and the punishment was my responsibility.

If you want to blame someone, blame me!

"Ah, you’re..."

"Forgive the interruption. I am Rishali, second princess of the Kingdom of Saripa."

"...! A fine day to you, Lady Rishali. I am Polie Greedy."

When I stepped in, the girl—Polie—glared at me sharply.

...She’s facing royalty without backing down at all. Quite the strong-willed one, isn’t she?

"You seemed angry at Takeru. Did he offend you in some way?"

"...Yes! Just earlier, this commoner groped me! Such an outrage cannot be forgiven!"

"Takeru, is that true?"

"Y-yes. During our sparring, Lady Polie nearly tripped, so I reached out to support her by the shoulder."

I see.

Knowing Takeru’s personality, it was hard to imagine him ever harassing a woman.

So, it was just an accident.

“You think this Polie would have fallen without your support?! The mere act of touching me was an insult in itself!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Well, well. Supporting a lady who’s about to fall is the act of a gentleman, you know.”

“But being touched by a commoner like this is—!”

Polie, who clearly despised commoners, must have panicked after being touched by Takeru.

She completely lost it and just started shouting all kinds of complaints.

“Besides, he’s been causing me all sorts of trouble!”

“Oh? And what sort of trouble has Takeru caused?”

“...Please listen, Lady Rishali!”

I decided not to interrupt Polie’s excited rant and nodded along sincerely.

Arguing with someone who’s in a rage usually leads nowhere—both sides dig in and it just turns into a never-ending, pointless squabble.

“I’m participating in this training as a candidate for the Royal Palace Knights. I aim to become a knight as great as my father!”

“A noble ambition indeed.”

“But this Takeru…”

That’s why it’s better to just listen at first and let the other person vent.

Then, once the storm of emotions starts to calm, you guide the conversation toward a productive discussion.

...Of course, with people who stay angry forever, it’s best to just keep your distance.

“No matter how many times I tell him to fight seriously, he keeps holding back! I’m prepared to take the hits!”

“...Ah.”

“The other day too—after I fell and took a defensive stance, he had the nerve to say, ‘Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?’ It was the most humiliating thing ever!”

Listening to Polie’s story, it became clear that what really upset her was Takeru going easy on her during training.

But honestly, if Takeru went all out, even her father Paulik would get turned into a mop...

“That’s not all! Takeru’s rudeness doesn’t end there!”

“I’m listening.”

“This happened when I asked him, ‘How did you become so strong?’ Can you guess what he said!?”

Still fuming, she continued her rant, puffed up like a storm cloud.

Alright then. I’ll listen to everything you’ve got—just let it all out.

“He said, ‘I was just born strong, so I’m not really sure.’ Like he was mocking me!”

“M-Mocking you might be a bit of a stretch...?”

“That alone might’ve been barely acceptable. I understand talent exists. I might have let it slide. But then!”

Knight girl Polie kept shouting with her face completely flushed.

Both Takeru and I just exchanged troubled looks and kept nodding.

“He had the nerve to say, ‘If you’d like, I’ll help train you however much it takes until you get stronger.’ To me, an unmarried noble lady!”

“...Huh.”

“He tried to flirt with me! A commoner! And then—and then...!”

Yeah, I don’t think that’s actually flirting though?

“Even during training, if Princess Rishali so much as calls him, he immediately drops everything and runs off!”

“W-Well, he is my bodyguard…”

“And when I asked what kind of woman he liked, he said—he flat out said, ‘Someone like Lady Rishali!’”

“H-Hey, Lady Polie! I told you that was a secret!”

“Shut up shut up shut up!”

...

“And then when I was about to trip, he rushed over to help again! What is his deal?! What does he even want from me, that commoner?!”

“I’m really sorry, Lady Polie. But, um, why are you so angry about all this?”

“Rrrrgh!!!”

Ahh, I see now. I totally get it.

In other words, this is...

“Polie, do you… like Takeru?”

“Huhhh?! W-Who would ever like him?! There's no way I would!”

“Ah, yeah. Of course.”

“That was a terrible remark! I demand a retraction! I don’t care if you're Princess Rishali—I won't let that slide!”

She’s just a classic tsundere.

“Lady Polie, perhaps we should let Princess Rishali be… she seems a bit troubled by all this.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?!”

“If you have any complaints, I’ll listen to them.”

Just as I was sighing in exasperation, Takeru gave me a little wink and stepped in between us.

I see—he’s telling me, “Leave this to me and go on ahead.”

“Takeru! You just made eye contact with Princess Rishali to signal something, didn’t you?!”

“N-No, I didn’t!”

“Uuuuugh, what is this?! Are you two showing off in front of me?!”

Seeing our silent exchange, Polie turned to glare at me, her eyes sharp with jealousy.

Ahh. So that glare wasn’t because she’s strong-willed—it’s just jealousy.

“I still have things I need to discuss with Princess Rishali!”

“Oh?”

I rarely have opportunities to speak with Lady Polie.

Female knights are generally prioritized for guarding my older sister, Lululu.

So she must’ve had something she wanted to say to me and saw this as her chance.

But… it seems the situation has gotten a bit out of hand.

“You are nothing more than a mere knight. A lowborn soldier. What business do you have bringing your petty grievances to Her Highness?”

“Eh… ah… Father?!”

“Don’t tell me you're wasting the princess’s time with personal grudges now, are you?”

Before we knew it, Polie’s father—Sir Paulik, the overpowered commander of the knights—was standing behind her.

And he was glaring down at Polie with a terrifyingly stern expression.

“What happened to your training with Takeru? Don’t tell me you’re skipping it.”

“N-No! This isn’t what it looks like—”

“Excuses are unnecessary!”

With that, Paulik gave Polie a solid whack on the head with his fist.

The sound it made was… kind of painful.

“My foolish daughter has been most discourteous, Princess Rishali. I shall offer a formal apology at a later time.”

“O-Oh, no, not at all. I find her to be a rather charming young lady.”

Then Paulik dropped to one knee and bowed deeply before me.

I gave a nervous laugh and waved it off to show I wasn’t offended.

“Polie, would you like to receive a punishment from the princess herself?”

“Eeeek!?”

Polie’s face twisted with fear at his words.

And just like that, the tsundere knight—gripped by the scruff of her neck—was dragged out of the training grounds.

---

“Polie’s always like that.”

After the training was over, I heard the story from Takeru.

“She’s the same age as me, and the daughter of Commander Paulik.”

“So it seems.”

“We joined the order at the same time, and maybe because of that, she sees me as a rival.”

Takeru gave a wry smile as he explained about Polie.

She probably entered the knight order with a lot of attention, being the daughter of the commander.

And then, having someone like Takeru among her peers—well, no wonder she can’t stay calm about it.

“Every time we meet, she insults me, yells at me, makes sarcastic remarks... It seems she doesn’t like me at all.”

“Y-yes, she certainly has a bit of a sharp tongue, doesn’t she?”

Takeru seemed completely convinced that Polie hated him.

Well, with a personality like that, there’s no way she’d get her feelings across properly.

If you want to win him over, Polie, you’ll need to be a little more honest.

“But, actually… I kind of like how she treats me like that.”

“Hm?”

“Someone like Polie being around actually makes me feel relieved.”

Surprisingly, Takeru didn’t seem to dislike Polie at all.

With a shy smile, he continued speaking.

“So, Takeru, you prefer to be yelled at and insulted?”

“Yes.”

“…W-well, I suppose there are people with those kinds of preferences. Ohoho! I hold no prejudice, of course!”

“Preferences? …What do you mean?”

Ah, so Takeru is the kind who finds joy in being insulted.

Wait, did I just intrude on you two in the middle of your little playtime?

Sorry, Miss Polie. Looks like there’s definitely hope. Go ahead, keep insulting Takeru as much as you want.

“In my hometown, no one ever treated me that way.”

“…?”

“Everyone always kept their distance from me. Like I was something fragile, like they were afraid to even touch me. All they did was bow and try to keep me in a good mood.”

Takeru said that, looking a little lonely.

“Everyone in the village was afraid of my power. Even adults, way older than me, looked at me with eyes full of fear and submission.”

“…Takeru.”

“That’s why someone who talks to me head-on like that… fufu.”

As he said that, perhaps thinking of Polie again—

Takeru’s lips loosened slightly into a smile.

“Um, Lady Rishali.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t mind, would you be willing to hear about my hometown?”

After that, Takeru put on a serious expression.

He bowed deeply to me, sincerely.

“It might be something unpleasant for the royal family to hear…”

“…Very well. I will listen.”

“Thank you.”

At that moment, Takeru looked like someone who had made a great decision.

So I straightened my posture and faced him properly.

“A village where the scorned clown of the kingdom sleeps—Crown Village. The legend of the foolish jester, Foolish Crown.”