Having received a reply that unmistakably exceeded his expectations, Cain fixedly stared at me.
As for myself, having experienced it personally I felt strangely excited.
âItâs the real thing! A ninja! Itâs a ninja! They are also in this world!â
My excitement rose to the max in the blink of an eye.
His appearance, his figure of making gestures with fingers just now, no matter how I looked, heâs one of ninja that I know of.
Perhaps they also exist in this world, I got totally excited.
âWoah, amazing! H, handshake! A handshake, please! Err, thatâs right, the school! I havenât heard about your school. Is it Iga, or Kouka, or maybe⊠ouchâ
âOiâ
Seeing me wipe hands on my dress and hold them out while roughly breathing, Cain, whoâd been taken aback, came to his senses. And, he poked my head.
With that, my sanity finally returned.
âAha⊠ahaha. Iâm sorryâ
Being stared with scornful eyes, I awkwardly apologized.
âGood grief, what were you thinking, suddenly rattling on that Iâm a ninjaâ
âShinobi then! Shinobi! Ouch⊠I am sorryâ
When I got excited once again, this time I was stopped with a chop.
I canât, calm down, me.
âA, ahahahaha. Err, I felt Cainâs left eye glowed some time ago?â
For now, I returned to our talk, even though Cain sighed, he answered.
âThe magic formation of my clanâs secret art is etched in my left eye. I can invoke it by making signs with my handsâ
I was impressed by the explanation.
âI see, the technique equation was activated so it started glowing. Ah, I surely thought Cain finally used ninja artsâ
Since the shape of his signs resembled the so-called nine symbols, I got excited thinking he used real ninja arts.
But, from Cainâs point of view, his clanâs secret art being mixed up with something unknown must be unpleasant. I felt a prickle of guilt.
While I was thinking so, as expected Cain spoke unpleasantly.
âWhat are ninja arts⊠Donât give Hiyumaâs secret art a strange nameâ
âYup, sorry. I was impoliteâ
â⊠Itâs fine as long as you understandâ
When I obediently apologized admitting my fault, Cain answered as he looked away.
Leaning on the mansionâs wall, he calmly asked a question without looking at me.
âMore important, wonât you call what youâve seen a while ago⊠disgusting, or something?â
He seemed to find it a little difficult to say, still Cain asked as if praying, to which I again sighed.
âWhat? That talk again? Cain, youâre persistent. I donât think that. Rather, I feel grateful for being shown something awesomeâ
â⊠Truly?â
When I heard Cain ask uneasily, I suddenly thought he mustâve been awfully persecuted.
No matter how much I say itâs pretty, he wonât believe it, it must be because heâs been continuously denied by others.
What I can do for such Cain is only to keep repeating it until he believes me.
Thatâs right, I think even the translucent red glow of his left eye some time ago was beautiful.
Come to think of it, ninja donât glow.
Moreover, they donât use genuine magical arts.
At best, what I think is âtypicalâ of them in fantasy is âwater escape artsâ or âfire escape artsâ, itâs only to that degree.
No matter how I look, Cain is better than that.
Reconsidering like that, I faced Cain with a serious face.
âYup, thatâs right. It was impolite to compare you to ninja. Cain, youâre much better than ninjaâ
âNo, what is this ninja⊠I donât get itâ
I meant to praise him seriously, but for some reason Cain weakly shook his head.
And, when I thought he hung his head, next moment his shoulders started trembling and he began laughing. Eh, why. I have absolutely no idea why he started laughing.
âKukuku⊠Ah, Princess, I absolutely donât understand what you meant, but youâre the bestâ
âNo, thereâs nothing to laugh aboutâ
What does he mean Iâm the best without understanding what I meant.
Not understanding him feels quite bad.
I was sullen, yet Cain didnât stop laughing.
It ended up with him holding his stomach. Impolite.
âNo, my bad. But, I was prepared to be called creepy, instead Princess started getting excited by yourself saying something incomprehensible about ninja. I was stupid to desperately put myself on guard against what Iâd be told, only to hear something strangely amusingâ
âThat wouldnât be the case. Iâve said Cainâs eye was really pretty many times before, I was surprised by the red glow a while ago, but it was truly beautifulâ
When I told him seriously, Cain laughed even more.
âYouâre amazing to declare it so simply. I see, Princess is such a person. To not notice that, I was truly stupid to worryâ
Saying that from the bottom of his heart, Cain stopped laughing and looked at me.
His eyes were joyful, but there was a tinge of seriousness in them.
And after watching me intently for a while, he slightly nodded as if convinced.
I wonder if itâs my imagination that he looks a little happy.
â⊠Yup, you passed. I hate influential people, but youâre different from those I know. Interesting. Iâll listen to what you sayâ
âCain?â
âAh, itâs different, I want to receive your commands. Pleaseâ
Not being able to understand the meaning I tilted by head, and Cain smiled a little.
And filled with determination, he told me with a look that allowed no refusal.
âI decidedââââ. My master will be you. After all, it can only be youâ
Saying so, he kneeled at my feet.
Not understanding whatâs going on, I simply stared at him.
âC, Cain-san, what in the worldâ
â⊠You remember the story about my old manâs last wishâ
âEh, yupâ
Abruptly the talk changed, so I nodded in panic.
Cain continued kneeling, and without looking at me talked.
âMy old man was Hiyuma clanâs head. Our clan is unusual. We can demonstrate our ability only after finding a master, weâre a clan that serves a master. But, Father and everyone had it quite hard to happen across their masters. I donât know the reason, but I think itâs probably because the rumor of this eye creepily glowing red when using secret arts spreadâ
Cain touched his left eye while smiling in self-derision.
âSome people say they donât care about the rumors. But, in a way they are even worse. Such guys want to use us and throw us away. We arenât so stupid as to not understand that. As a result, itâs quite hard to happen across a masterâ
Itâs more and more like ninja⊠Having read the mood, thereâs no way I could say that.
Listening to the talk about serving a master, theyâre very much like shinobi.
âWhen I was let escape, my old man said. Find a master only for you. Thinking about it now, it wasnât just old manâs wish, it was the wish of everybody who couldnât find their master⊠Hey, Princess. Let me fulfill my clanâs wishâ
âNo, even if Iâm told thatâ
⊠Heavy! Cainâs past is in the heavyweight class!
What he told me is too heavy to readily answer with âYes, sureâ.
Whatâs with master. Canât it be friend!
Moreover, Iâve completely forgotten, but itâs dangerous with Cain here.
Itâs difficult to tell whether Father caught on, but I have little doubt. Father has an inkling.
âAm I a bother?â
Perhaps understanding I made a troubled face, Cain raised his face and looked at me with unease.
Donât look at me with that face of an abandoned doggy.
Whatâs this feeling of guiltâŠ
âNo such thing. But, Father is still searching for Cainâ
Telling Cain that Fatherâs aware of his existence, I advised him to quickly leave.
But, Cain lightly smiled.
âItâs okay, Iâll never get exposed to your father. I can swearâ
âI donât need an oath, but⊠Since itâs troublesome, donât say youâll kill. Thereâs one more problem. Iâll soon be getting married and moving to the castle?â
I thought the Royal Castle would be an obstacle, but Cain deepened his smile.
âItâs huge, but infiltrating the castle is surprisingly simply, you see? Besides, youâll be the Crown Princess, and in the future the Queen, right? I understand as I was in an assassinâs guild, but with Princessâs position, one day youâll be targeted by people like me. At that time the soldiers in the castle probably wonât be able to protect you. They have no way of stopping those guysâ
Fixedly looking at me, Cain continued speaking eloquently.
âI want to serve whom I accepted. Hiyuma clan decides on the master only once, no matter the reason we wonât change. I only wish to serve my master. It can only be you. I want to become yoursâ
He implored.
Hearing him appeal, I feel like Iâm doing something bad.
Cain didnât give up. To give me another push, he once again spoke.
âIâve already decided. Iâll absolutely not reverse it, and I wonât leave until you refuse or agree. Youâre good. Let me protect youâ
ââŠâ
After heâd appealed with earnest expression and voice many times, I realized he wouldnât backed down.
Even though I donât want to have a master and servant relationship with him.
And, even though I think itâd be better if he didnât stay in this country, for his sake.
As the daughter of the Prime Minister, as the Crown Princeâs Princess Consort, thereâs nothing good about it.
I have no doubt about this.
Nevertheless, before I noticed my mouth spun those words.
â⊠So, a ninjaâ
âEh?â
I couldnât help but smile at Cainâs alert reaction to my voice.
After all, I was touched.
Really, it truly couldnât be helped.
I took a breath and strengthened my resolved, then impishly raised my index finger.
âFine, Cain, as long as you say youâre my exclusive ninjaâ
Cain became crestfallen upon hearing those words.
âSo why is it ninjaâŠâ
âItâs a general term for people like Cainâ
Still, I wonât explain in detail.
The point is, itâs fine if he understands Iâm OK with it.
Cain also understood what I meant. Slightly smiling, he happily nodded.
âWhatâs that⊠But okay. If youâll accept me with that, Iâll become that ninja for youâ
âHonestly, I wanted to say that wouldnât it fine if we became friends, but Cain, you wouldnât agree to that, right?â
âYeahâ
To me asking just in case Cain clearly nodded.
âI donât want a friend. I want a masterâ
â⊠Isnât that right. I understand. Stop with that way of speaking. Itâs unpleasantâ
When I said that, Cain scratched his head with I also dislike it .
âProperly speaking thatâs no good, but Iâll honestly be saved with thatâ
âIâm glad. Then, with this weâve formed the contractâ
âWrong, it comes nextâ
Saying so, he once again kneeled.
He joined his hands and held them out to me.
Seeing his behavior, I tilted my head.
â⊠Are we doing something special?â
âThatâs right. Itâs an important clanâs ritual. Princess, wrap my hands in yoursâ
âLike this?â
At Cainâs words, I wrapped his hands in mine.
Feeling his handâs coldness, I put strength into my hands to warm him up.
In this posture he bowed his head, and calmly spoke.
âYour wishes are my wishes, my life is for your sake. My name is Cain Lux Hiyuma. From this moment I accept you as my master, on this life I pledge eternal loyalty to youâ
I could only gaze in wonderment as he spun words like a poem.
In response to Cainâs words, his left side slightly shined.
Raising his face, Cain had a faint smile. In his left eye the magic formation faintly appeared, I understood it was the source of that light.
I gasped at this somewhat fantastical spectacle.
âThis is the contract. Now, touch my left eyeâ
âEh, yupâ
I couldnât go against him in this atmosphere.
But even though I nodded, both my hands were occupied.
Judging from the atmosphere, I probably shouldnât separate them yet.
I was troubled, but with my both hands wrapping his, I reluctantly decided to lightly kiss his left eye. When I bestowed the kiss upon the magic formation that appeared, the light shined dazzlingly. I reflexively closed my eyes from the excessive radiance.
When I opened my eyes next, Cain was smiling in satisfaction.
Seeing such him I was utterly astonished.
âEh⊠Eeh? WhyâŠâ
âWith this our contract is complete. Princess is now my masterâ
âNo, thatâs not it⊠rightâ
I think my surprise was natural.
His left eye proudly declared that different from before, it now reflected color properly.
The color of both eyes, with which he was looking at me with a smile, was naturally pigeon blood. Itâs a beautiful red.
The two jewels that didnât look out of place gazed at me happily.
Reflected in his eyes, I was pathetically agitated.
I donât get it at all.
Why did sight suddenly return to his left eye.
No doubt about it, a while ago he shouldnât have been able too see in it.
The me who completely couldnât understand what happened just stared at Cain.
Cain happily smiled at such me, and slowly got up.
âIâve said that a magic formation is engraved in my left eye. That magic formation by nature cannot be used until I settle on a master. Thatâs why I couldnât see in this eye. Itâs obvious Iâd be able to see as before once the contract is completeâ
Perhaps finding the bangs he grew out to hide his left eye troublesome, Cain brushed them up.
The left eye than hadnât had light in it before, as if that fact was a lie, now had the same brilliance as the other.
That eye captivated me, and it narrowed in satisfaction.
âPlease take care of me from now onâ
â⊠Likewiseâ
While surprised, I still accepted his words.
After checking the surroundings, Cain presented me a hand.
âLook, letâs return to your room soon. Wonât you be troubled if the guards notice?â
âWoah, I forgot!â
Afterwards, thanks to Cainâs secret art I managed to return to my room safely.
I was saved as we returned before it could become an uproar, but it certainly made me realize this convenience could also get me targeted.
I donât feel like having another troublesome thing, but oh well.
Letâs think of him as a friend I can speak my mind to.
In any case, thatâs how I somehow obtained my personal ninja.
As I Favor the Villainess resumed, until I catch up with it Iâll be slowing down to a release every other day to make time for it. Please bear with me.