Chapter 11
Kuncha, though not as prestigious as Hiserion, still came from the high-ranking Diomene family and carried himself with a lofty air.
Karus, on the other hand, was from the Oclante family, the weakest of the ten pillars supporting Rozantina.
As a result, Karus’s standing in the imperial palace wasn’t very good.
He was often ignored by palace staff and treated like a punching bag.
In the novel, the sickly and delicate fourth prince had a gloomy childhood until he first encountered the warmth of the heroine, which turned him into her clingy shadow. That environmental influence also explains why he later fell for the villains’ manipulation and became a puppet—his fragile mental state developed in such a weakened upbringing.
“Of course! Don’t worry. I’ll keep this matter a secret until the grave.”
“I just want to say, don’t mistake this for us getting any closer because of it.”
“Of course not! How could I possibly have such a foolish misconception about Lord Kuncha…!”
Karus was such a pushover.
He didn’t seem to mind Kuncha’s words at all, his moist eyes sparkling as he bowed respectfully.
“Hmph, understood. You may go first. I’ll step out shortly.”
Cradling the item Kuncha had given him, Karus left first.
I watched the two with a curious feeling.
‘What’s with Kuncha…? Is he actually soft on the inside?’
The object Kuncha had just given Karus was tightly wrapped in thick cloth, so I couldn’t see exactly what it was—but I could feel its auspicious aura.
‘So Kuncha really did try to take care of Karus in his own way. I don’t understand why he talks like that after doing a good deed.’
Instead of following Karus, I whispered to the ferrets.
“Pio, go follow Karus. Kino, keep Margaret from coming over here.”
They hesitated briefly at the sudden command, chirping among themselves, but then quickly moved as I instructed.
I turned my attention back to Kuncha.
Having sent Karus off, Kuncha remained alone, frowning as he stumbled slightly.
“Ugh… something feels strange. Why is my body acting so….”
I hid in the bushes and clicked my tongue softly.
Earlier, when he exchanged an unknown object with Karus and their hands briefly touched, the faint aura that had been lingering around Karus transferred to Kuncha.
I could see his complexion worsen rapidly afterward.
Karus probably didn’t even realize what had happened—yet as a result, Kuncha had been repaid good intentions with a bit of misfortune.
‘But Kuncha really is so Kuncha-like.’
A normal person wouldn’t be affected so easily by such a weak aura, yet Kuncha’s body seemed to absorb even minor energy with alarming efficiency.
‘Just like his son—weaklings through and through. Both of them look as feeble as they are.’
Then the stumbling Kuncha noticed something in the bushes.
“Huh? What’s this? Why is a mana stone here…?”
Ah!
It was the black mana stone I had been looking for.
“I’ve never seen such a black mana stone before… how could it be this beautiful….”
Kuncha’s gaze glazed over, his hand stretching toward the dark stone as if hypnotized.
In the novel, it was Kuncha who found the black mana stone abandoned in the herb garden in the third arc.
So that’s how he ended up with it this time.
But if he touched it now, his condition would only worsen.
‘Ugh, this won’t do. I need to handle it first.’
Although his sexual power hadn’t awakened yet, the effect had worked on Karus yesterday, so it should work on Kuncha as well.
I sprang up and rushed toward Kuncha.
He seemed entirely entranced by the black mana stone, oblivious to my presence.
I charged and struck Kuncha, who was flailing toward the stone through the bushes.
“Yah!”
Thunk!
“Ugh!”
He collapsed beside me like a fragile paper flower, trembling under my weight.
Fortunately, he had immediately disconnected from the stone, so he seemed to regain awareness quickly.
“Wha… who is this?! Do you know who I am… ugh!”
Slap, slap!
My maple-leaf-shaped hands moved quickly.
Kuncha, already weak, and having absorbed some aura, flailed like a kelp strand on the ground, unable to shake me off.
Every time my palm touched him, the clustered black aura dispersed like mist.
‘Whoa… but this feels… so good?’
Every time I struck him, the satisfying sound and the relief of clearing out stale energy made my stomach tingle with a pleasant sensation.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve often felt itchy to hit Kuncha before!’
Technically, striking him with force wasn’t the most effective method.
But memories of Kuncha and Rubellio constantly causing trouble in past lives made me involuntarily put emotion into both my hands.
And I had every right to! I had been holding back for a very long time!
Think about it—during the first timeline, when I was pretending to be the sunny heroine, would I have hit Kuncha like this? Or in the second, when I lived as the trusted princess, would I have done it?
‘Hah!’
I suddenly snapped back to reality.
I had gotten carried away, completely absorbed in pounding Kuncha.
‘Ah, no. If I keep going, I might grab his hair without realizing it!’
“This—this insolent brat! Is anyone there?!”
But as I hesitated, Kuncha began flailing more wildly.
“You… I’ll report this to Her Highness… ugh…!”
That won’t do.
Apologies, but my fists are faster than tattling.
I tightly clasped the hands that had been clearing Kuncha’s aura and pressed firmly on his back, over his heart.
At that moment, Kuncha fainted.
‘Hah, defeated?’
“Ugh…”
But premature celebration was premature.
Kuncha groaned and writhed, a thin wisp of black smoke curling out of his mouth.
Startled, I slapped his mouth once more with my tiny hand.
Finally, he went completely still.
“Phew, that’s really over now.”
Honestly, I was too kind.
Helping someone who had repeatedly caused trouble for me and my son, pouring all my energy into it… and they wouldn’t even feel it against such small hands.
“Princess, where are you hiding~? Behind this bush~?”
Ah, Margaret.
I quickly climbed off Kuncha and picked up the mana stone that had fallen into the bushes.
“Margaret!”
Then I ran to her.
“Oh, Your Highness? Why aren’t you hiding…?”
Kino was in Margaret’s arms, squealing in distress.
He had tried to stop her but ultimately failed, looking unjustly frustrated.
Still, good effort.
Anyway, my task was complete, so Margaret’s arrival didn’t matter.
“Princess, Lord Kuncha is collapsed!”
“Eh?!”
My attendants rushed Kuncha out of the garden and called a physician.
After a detailed examination, they confirmed that Kuncha was mostly fine aside from exhaustion.
Of course—he’d just been purified.
“Why was Lord Kuncha alone in the garden without attendants? Well, he’s usually delicate… maybe another fainting spell from anemia.”
“True.”
“Still, thanks to the princess, we found him early.”
Margaret and I escorted Kuncha to the palace and stepped aside while the physician performed a thorough examination.
Kuncha, naturally frail, often summoned a physician periodically, so no one seemed overly surprised.
I was confident there were no other issues.
‘And this time, he didn’t even pick up the black mana stone.’
In previous timelines, Kuncha had been weakened from carrying the stone for an extended period.
By the emperor’s birthday, the stone would have been on him for roughly half a year, exposing him to aura constantly.
In the novel, Kuncha, a consumable villain, attempted to harm other royal family members under the stone’s influence but failed due to poor physical ability, ultimately confined to the side hall.
As a result, the second prince, Rubellio, grew even more bitter and awakened as a mid-boss-level villain in the early stages of Princess Asphodel.
‘Tch. That brat and his son should really be grateful to me… if only they knew.’
Recalling Kuncha flailing weakly like a jellyfish earlier, I clicked my tongue.
“Princess, shall we return to the palace now?”
Margaret asked, and I hesitated briefly.
I had collected the black mana stone, but still needed to check on Karus…
Whoosh!
But I couldn’t dwell on it.
Suddenly, strong wind and light poured from above.
“Oh my, it’s Their Majesties’ divine beasts, Your Highness!”
As Margaret said, a blue and a white divine beast had just entered the imperial palace barrier.
