She couldnât immediately understand her request .
Then, a second later, she was finally able to understand what she said . However, she was still unable to read Nellâs intentions .
âWhatâs the matter? Please, letâs go back at once . â
Only when Nell got up and seized Helenâs shoulder as if she were in a hurry she was finally able to feel something was wrong, and called out to her .
âW-wait just a moment, princess!â
âAll you need to do is go, thereâs no need to get any equipment or anything like that . Just go like that, please, hurry . Hurry!â
âPlease, princess, stop! Youâre not making any sense!â
Against Helenâs clear words of refusal, Nell raised her eyebrows as she expressed her displeasure with her face, and finally got back to her seat .
ââŚWhy wonât you heed my request?â
She looked like a spoiled child, but her eyes were now muddy out of hatred .
âAh, itâs just that what you ask of me is simply impossible⌠and whatâs more, I donât really understand why you ask that of all thingsâŚâ
âYou donât understand why?â\nShe sounded like an arrogant teacher scolding a poor student . Even though everything seemed utterly unreasonable, Helen had no choice but to bow down and apologize .
âI donât⌠Iâm truly sorryâŚâ
Nell sighed in such an exaggerated way that it was similar to how Nero had done earlier when he found out about Kaiâs folly .
âIf you go to Galahad Fortress, I can help you fight, donât you think?â
ââŚYes?â
âYouâre my friend, so Iâll go to Galahad Fortress to help you . And if I do, I can see Kurono again, right?â
That kind of logic wouldnât be normally understood by ordinary people . \nâThat⌠that wonât do, princess! Itâs not thatââ
âI want to see Kurono . I want to see him now . I donât care what happens, I want to see him, talk to him, and hold him tight . â
So go to Galahad Fortress and become my excuse for me to see him .
Thatâs what Nell was saying .
âYouâre my friend, right? So please do me this favor!â
âPlease donât say these unreasonable things! I understand your heart is upset right now, but please, try to calm down!â
âIn that case, Iâll make it an order, okay? An order from the First Princess of Avalon to you, Helen . Go to Galahad Fortress at once . â
âWh⌠Wh-what shâŚâ
âAh, I know! Please fight bravely and die . If you do, Iâll be so sad about my dear friendâs death that Kurono will have to come to comfort me . â
âBut princess, that⌠thatâs tooââ
âHehe, ehehe, I canât wait⌠Yeah, letâs do that . Come on, Helen, hurry up and die . â
Nellâs lightless blue eyes looked at Helen with expectation . She wished it from the bottom of her heart, so it couldnât be helped . Helenâs eyes started to well up in tears as she lowered her head and asked for her forgiveness .
âIâm sorry, princess⌠I intend to carry out His Majestyâs⌠King Mirialdâs command . He has entrusted me with taking Her Highness back to Avalon safely⌠I cannot obey your command, princess . â
Helen wept as she resorted to the most appropriate explanation she could think of .
ââŚIs that soâŚâ
Nellâs face once again went back from looking in good spirits to an expressionless, sick looking mask as she spat out her next words . \nâUseless woman . â
With another unnatural, forced sigh, Nell threw herself on the soft and tender seat that would support many a royal body on such long journeys . There was no one in that carriage who would reprimand her for such improper posture .
âTell me, Helen, which knighthood was it that you wanted to enroll in after graduating? You know, for someone as useless as you, I can tell Father to appoint you as a warehouse keeper . â
Sprawled back on her seat like a discarded doll, Nell speaks rashly about snatching away Helenâs brilliant future from her, muttering as if she was half-asleep .
âThereâs this old gramps named Thomas whoâs in charge of the castleâs 13th warehouse, but heâs been on that post by himself all this time, even before I was born⌠Heâs been doing that for so long, it would be nice if someone else were to take over his post so he can finally rest those old bones, donât you think?â
Protecting the castleâs treasury was one of the duties of the elite knights, but Helen quickly understood that this â13th warehouseâ was obviously a much less important place which was clearly much less used, let alone talked about .
âHehe, itâll be a perfect job for someone as incompetent as you . â
Helen could do nothing but endure, biting her lip as she continued to shed tears .
Crying her heart out, Helenâs heart was being painted with dark emotions rather than filled with sorrow .
The princess had changed . No, rather, she had been changed . Changed by that devilish man .
The kind and tender Nell would never abuse or ridicule anyone like that . She was pure and kind-hearted . She was an example, no, an ideal, of what a princess should be . Thatâs why it made no sense that she would be so cruel to Helen that it would test her loyalty like that . \nHelen couldnât feel anything but hatred for the one responsible for driving her beautiful, pure princess this mad .
ââOh well, how am I going to see Kurono, then?â
Who was she asking that question to? At least Helen had no interest in answering it . She already thinks highly enough of her princess, but her heart wasnât so numb that she would take further abuse from her .
âI want to see you, and yet, I⌠I⌠Iâm no good, am IâŚ?
She buried her face in the seatâs cushions as she mumbled incomprehensibly, answering her own questions . It was almost as if she didnât want to hear her own answers .
âWhy, why am I not the one at your side, why is that⌠that⌠ahâŚâ
Her words were suddenly cut off . Helen noticed . Nellâs body trembled as she moaned, unable to say another word .
âPrincess!? Stop! Stop the car now!â
Helen raised her face, which still had traces of dry tears, as she yelled her command as loud as she could, and the carriageâs driver reacted instantly . The carriage stopped without making any sound nor shaking even once . Needless to say, the knights who were around the carriage also stopped, forming lines next to it .
âAh, uh, uuhhâŚâ
âPrincess, letâs go outside . â
Helen quickly unlocked the door and opened it, then carried Nellâs tender body outside . The princessâs face was pale, and her eyes were blank and devoid of light .
The two tumbled out of the carriage and onto the snowy ground, almost falling .
Paying no mind to the silver knight who hurriedly got down from his horse to tend to her princess, Nell faced the white ground andâ
âUh, kuh⌠bleeaaaaargggghhhh⌠. â
Started to throw up . \nDespite not having had anything to eat or drink during their journey home, dirty vomit was being expelled from Nellâs pretty mouth .
Seeing that unsightly and miserable display, Helen started to cry a third time .