小嫂子的味道

"Sigh! Yeah, yeah, I know. Now will you give her some first aid or do you plan on crying a bit more," I said to Ron in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

I know that he was worried but...ah well, it's useless to argue on that.

Ainge also came running after she heard that Anya had an accident. She quickly sat on her knees and started looking through Anya's injuries, the only thing was that she didn't take any external damage so Ainge only ended up removing the dust that was on her feet and clothes.

It felt kinda odd since both Ainge and Ron completely ignored my presence right now. But I was used to it, and that wasn't what I should be focusing on right now.

A guest would be arriving soon.

We were still at the entrance when Ron made all this ruckus so after he calmed down we went inside the house.

Once the situation was calm we told them everything thing that happened in the tournament. Of course, we left out some things; things like how Anya wasn't really injured and was faking it.

"Still, someone attacked the princess. With all the security and considering the fact that she is a princess this seems unrealistic," said Ron.

What he was saying was right. An attack like this did seem out of the palace. Leaving aside the number of guards that the princess had, the security in the coliseum itself was pretty high.

There were security guards outside the coliseum and as well as in the arena where the battles were taking place.

And the way that platform crumbled, it was good to assume that someone used explosives or some kind of explosion magic, but with all that security it was almost impossible for someone to bring in explosives or cast a spell without being noticed.

…However, that wasn't the case if someone were to use magic like elemental magic and break the platform itself. Using elemental magic didn't require the user to use flashy magic circles that attract attention.

You can only magic if you have graduated from the magic academy—because it's the only place where you can learn it—only rich nobles and their heirs were able to use magic.

And someone like that can't possibly have any reason to attack the princess since they knew very well what would happen if they are found out. Though it was not completely out of question it still had very slim chances of some noble doing this kind of thing.

This was what made the knights and the security let their guard down and they ended up ignoring the possibility that a magic user can attack the princess and didn't take measures against it.

While I was lost in thought, Ron and Ainge were going back and forth in an argument over who would have attacked the princess.

Then suddenly a maid came rushing and stood before Ron, she seemed out of breath as she was heavily gasping for air.

"M-M...Mr. Ron, someone, someone has come to meet you," said the maid. Her voice was trembling and was kinda panicking.

'Looks like they arrived,' I thought to myself.

"Who could it be at this time?" said Ron, as he pondered over who would come at this time while he took a glance at the wall clock that was hung at a distance.

It was past 11 PM and it's not every day you have a visitor this late at night. And the way that maid was panicking and had cold sweat all over her face, it looks like I wasn't the only one who noticed that.

It was natural for Ron to be cautious of this "someone" who is waiting for him outside.

Still, he came over to a decision that he should at least check who it is.

He stood up from the sofa he's been sitting on and headed toward the main door. I was also interested in finding out who this person was—even though I was mostly sure who it was—so I also followed him.

We reached the entrance of our house; I stopped at a distance while Ron went and opened the door.

I closed my eyes for a second and then opened them again. It was a reflexive action performed by my body when the cold breeze from outside embraced me when Ron opened the door. It was night and the temperature outside was low so it made sense.

But it seems like that wasn't the reason behind Ron freezing right in his place Rather than the cold temperature, it was more like he was frozen out of fear.

He moved his mouth in order to speak but he didn't utter a single word.

No, it was more like he wanted to say sometime but was not able to find the right words.

More or less I understood the reason behind his current behavior, it was normal for him to be shaken like this. After all, the person who stood on the other side of the door, in front of Ron, was none other than the princess of this kingdom; Princess Rishia.

Along with Rishia, there were four knights—in full-metal armor—who stood around her in a circle.

"Hello Mr. Ron Blanks, I am Rishia Lockhart," said Rishia in a soft tone. Her words smashed Ron back into reality as he regained his senses.

"Miss. Princess! It's…ah, I don't know how to respond. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, even though he tried to stay calm it was clear as cum that he was still panicking.

His words made sense though. You can't just expect a normal person to behave "normally" if a princess came to their house out of nowhere without any prior notice.

"There's no need for you to trouble yourself, after all, it is my fault to show up this late at night," she said, apologizing as he bent forward just a bit and bowed.

Seeing this made Ron go even crazier, I knew him pretty well so I was sure that right he was filled with the guilt of having a princess bow to him. Even so, he finally regained his composure.

He overreacted to things and all but it was not like he was an idiot. He understood very well that if he kept acting that way, not only things will get difficult but it will also be like insulting the princess.

"Please, you don't have to apologize. I am more than pleased that you came to visit us," said Ron, he opened the door fully and welcomed princess Rishia with open hands.

"Thank you for having me," Rishia said before she stepped inside our house.

Two of the four knights tried to accompany her and come inside but, "Don't worry, it is fine. I will be alright in here," said Rishia and stopped the knights.

Looking at things objectively it seems like she trusted us quite a bit too much. After all, if she didn't then she would have let the guards come with her considering the fact that she had just been attacked today.

I knew the reason behind that too, it was because Anya has saved her life. I don't think it would've been too much of a trouble for her to find out which family she was from and where we lived.

It kinda felt like stalking to me but that's just how things work in this world. Also, she probably came here to thank Anya so I ignored that fact.

When those two were about to turn my way and started walking, I quickly ran to the wall and hid in a corner. I don't want to be noticed by them as I don't want to be involved in this "thank you talk" or whatever discussion they are gonna have.

…Pretty much because I already know what's it going to be about so there's no point in wasting time.

Both Princess Rishia and Ron walked through the hallway and went to the main hall—where we were sitting before—, Ron didn't even care about where I disappeared.

Well, I expected this.

But at that moment when they passed right in front of my eyes, I got a closer look at Princess Rishia. It's not like I was expecting her to be covered in blood but all her injuries from before have been healed.

'I guess that's healing magic for you.'

After I made sure that they have left I came out from my hiding spot and headed toward the main door.

***

It has been a while since Ron and Zero had gone to check who this unknown visitor was. Anya and Ainge were starting to worry since they haven't come back.

But just when Ainge was about to go and check what happened, Ron entered the main hall but he wasn't alone. For a moment Ainge lost sense of herself when she saw who it was, the person who was with Ron was Princess Rishia.

Unlike Ainge, Anya had a different kind of reaction. It would be wrong to say that she was surprised like the other two, rather, her reaction was that she expected this to happen.