Slime Reincarnation

Chapter 102: Let’s Make the Princess’s Dream Come True

"What about the marquis houses?"

I’d been asking about the factions of the three great ducal houses, but I also wanted to confirm things about the four great marquis houses separately.

"The four great marquis houses draw a clear line between themselves and the three ducal houses. They keep their distance from the ducal factions and manage their own territories independently. In that sense, quite a few nobles connected to the Draisen faction among the three ducal houses also have ties to one or another of the four marquis houses."

"So the four marquis houses don’t form factions of their own?"

"On the surface, the four marquis houses are recognized as the four pillars supporting the kingdom, each considered equal to the others. Though it’s also true that a year ago, the head of the Kirue marquis house and his wife died in a carriage accident, and now his only daughter has taken over as head, which has started to have a subtle effect on the balance of power among the four houses. The newly appointed Marquis Kirue, his daughter, is apparently quite serious and straightforward, which seems to be making her unpopular with some."

"The honest one gets the short end of the stick, huh. That’s an unpleasant story no matter what era."

"Nobles, for better or worse, are just what they are, nobles. If you flatly deny that, it calls into question the very reason for a noble’s existence."

"Seems like there’s plenty of them who deserve to have that questioned."

"That might be an undeniable fact."

My slightly barbed comment only earned a wry laugh from Fenberg. Nobles really are a troublesome bunch. I thanked him and got up from my seat.

That night, I was flying through the sky over the royal capital using Fly High. The chick captain came along with me. When I set out, Logan had woken up and called out to me, insisting he’d come along too, but I couldn’t very well bring him along while sneaking into the royal castle from the sky. I told him to stay behind and keep watch. He seemed pretty disappointed about it.

I arrived at a window at the top of a tower in the northeast corner of the royal castle and opened the wooden shutters.

With a creak, moonlight spilled softly into the room as the window opened. A woman appeared to be sleeping in the bed. Even while asleep, she kept her mask on.

"...Who’s there?"

She asked calmly, without any hysterics. This princess had some real composure.

"...A magician."

Damn it! I’d meant to sound cool, but in this other world, magicians aren’t exactly rare. Total failure.

"Excuse me, let me try again. I am the spirit king who grants your wish... wait, no, if it’s about granting wishes, magician probably sounds better after all."

"Um... just who are you? Also, you’re floating in midair, aren’t you? Would you like to come inside, if you don’t mind?"

I gratefully accepted the princess’s unexpected invitation.

"How very gracious of you."

I floated gently into the room. I was wearing a robe, but underneath I was still in my Derone Mk. II form.

"So then... what business brings you here?"

The princess, Cassina, asked with an unshaken, composed expression. I was glad she wasn’t screaming about an intruder, but her lack of reaction was almost worrying in itself.

"You are Princess Cassina, correct?"

"Yes, I am Cassina."

She answered with an unwavering expression.

"You seem remarkably calm about this. Doesn’t it worry you that I might be a suspicious intruder, or even an assassin?"

I asked, somewhat teasingly.

"I am not valuable enough to be worth assassinating... and if you were an intruder, you surely wouldn’t target an ugly woman like me."

"You seem to have let your heart grow quite clouded. It’s true you may not shine as dazzlingly as the sun. But to me, you look very charming. Yes, like the moon, gently lighting up the curtain of night with its gentle beauty."

Princess Cassina looked startled.

"You think... I’m beautiful?"

"Yes, you are beautiful."

I answered her question honestly. Princess Cassina walked up in front of me, removed her mask, and revealed her bare face. The left half of her face was terribly scarred and burned.

"You’re the first person to ever call my appearance beautiful... but as you can see, I am ugly like this. The left side of my body is burned the same way."

She said this, lowering her eyes. I placed both hands on her shoulders.

"?"

"You are beautiful. Your heart is beautiful, the way you think of those around you, choosing to shut yourself away like this so as not to be a burden to anyone."

"Eh..."

Princess Cassina raised her face, cheeks slightly flushed.

"For someone like you, I have a gift."

"A, a gift?"

"Piyoooo!"

"Ah, little chick!"

"My friend here, the chick, told me it wanted your wish, your dream, to come true."

"A dream?"

I threw off my robe. My Derone Mk. II body was revealed underneath.

"Am I... ugly?"

Princess Cassina, still stunned, blinked and then smiled.

"No, not at all."

"Heh, then let’s make your dream come true."

I formed a great pair of wings, moved behind Princess Cassina, and embraced her.

"Eh...?"

"Now then, let’s really become a bird. Let me escort you on a walk through the sky."

And with that, we leapt out through the window into the night sky full of stars.

"Kyaa!"

Princess Cassina let out a small shriek, but true to being a princess, she quickly settled in and began enjoying the rendezvous among the stars.

"Ahh... how beautiful! To fly freely through the sky like a bird, under a sky glittering with such lovely stars!"

"I’m glad it pleases you, princess."

"The air feels so crisp and clear... but the moonlight feels so gentle and soft. Do I really look to you like that moon, soft and beautiful?"

Princess Cassina, enjoying their journey through the sky, turned her face toward me to ask.

"Of course. That you yourself are beautiful is an unshakable fact."

Looking at Princess Cassina, I noticed she’d turned red all the way to her ears.

"...If you would have me, would you consider taking me as your own?"

She turned to speak to me again.

"...I’m honored, but I haven’t even introduced myself yet."

Princess Cassina turned back to face forward, looking embarrassed.

"Th, that’s true... I was much too hasty."

"Ha ha... don’t worry about it. Besides, the real gift is still yet to come."

"Eh!? You’ve already given me a walk through the starry sky as a gift, and there’s still something wonderful to come?"

"Yes, the truly special gift. Let’s head back to your room."

I decided to return to the princess’s room.

"Now then, let this Yabe bear all of your burdens for you. All you need to do is live as you please, staying beautiful, following your heart."

"So you are Lord Yabe."

Princess Cassina smiled warmly. Even with the left side of her face scarred, her smile felt beautiful. Anyone who couldn’t see that had no right to claim they could love her.

"If you’re willing to trust me, please remove all your clothing and lie down on the bed."

"Eh..."

Princess Cassina looked at me, her face turning bright red. Sh, she’s adorable...

"I should trust in Lord Yabe... is that right?"

"Yes, and if you’re willing to trust me, I’ll do my very best to live up to it."

I said this with a mischievous smile.

"Fufu, you really are a strange one... I never thought I would show my skin to a man, not in my whole life."

Saying this, still blushing, she shed her clothes bit by bit despite her shyness, until she lay bare upon the bed.

"Please close your eyes. By the time you open them again, I think your life will have changed."

"Well, that sounds like something to look forward to."

Still smiling, Princess Cassina closed her eyes. I extended tentacles and, just as I had done when treating Rina, assimilated slime cells into her body, reading the information from Cassina’s own cellular structure to determine what her original tissue had been. Using that data, I began transforming the slime cells accordingly. Her face was restored, cleanly and completely. The entire left side of her body, her left shoulder, her left breast, her stomach, her hip, all of it. I absorbed every bit of the damaged, altered cells and rebuilt her body anew with fresh slime cells.

"There, it’s done, princess."

Princess Cassina slowly opened her eyes and looked at me, hesitant. Then she looked down at her own body and noticed the scars carved into her side were gone. She covered her face with both hands to check, but indeed, there was no scarring at all.

"Eh? Ehh? EHHHH!?"

Too shocked to process what had happened, Princess Cassina then burst into tears and threw herself into my arms.

I held her gently and kept holding her until Cassina calmed down and her tears stopped.