The Princess in the Chicken Coop - Chapter 1.8
***
Lenok refused to kiss Soria with his whole body. Soria too, flapping her wings, raged that if such a person was a hero, were all the heroes in the world dead?
With both parties refusing wholeheartedly, there was no way the kiss could happen. In the end, the group agreed to postpone the kiss and hurried to prepare for departure.
Soria, who ended up joining the journey, continuously complained about the unfairness of the cage until their departure.
Surprisingly, her arguments were accepted.
However, Soria quietly observed the situation where her opinion had prevailed with a complex gaze. More precisely, she glared fiercely at the string tied in a knot around her leg.
[What on earth happened in the last 147 years? To think that the treatment of a princess of a kingdom has come to this.]
She agreed that they needed to leave the Kingdom of Syenn first, regardless of who would break the curse. However, there’s a big difference between going voluntarily and being dragged along.
For instance, the string oppresses her ankle.
Noticing her discontented gaze, Lenok sighed and stroked Soria’s head as she sat in his arms.
“Be satisfied with this much. As you said, we can’t cage a royal who isn’t even a prisoner of war, but we also can’t put a chicken on a horse or in a carriage.”
[I suppose so.]
“See? Getting angry won’t change anything. Who would…”
Thump. Thump.
The hand that kept stroking her head was unbearably rough.
Soria thought, as his gesture seemed to make the whole world vibrate.
That man probably has never even petted a dog or a cat.
She pecked his hand with all her might.
“Ouch―!”
[I get it, so stop petting me and grab the reins, Your Majesty!]
Lenok stared bewilderedly at his right hand, which now bore the mark of a beak. He had done all sorts of dangerous things in his life, but he never thought he’d be pecked by a chicken’s beak.
What was more shocking was that it was quite painful. He looked at Soria, who was leaning against his chest with her head turned away stubbornly.
“I’m telling you this because you don’t seem to know. Usually, inflicting injury on the emperor’s body could be considered treason…”
[Go ahead.]
“What?”
[I don’t know who the judges of the Crotia Empire are, but go ahead and try. If you’re fine with being recorded in history as the first emperor to charge a chicken with treason. Hmph! That would be quite amusing!]
Soria’s voice was full of sarcasm. However, it hit Lenok right where it hurt.
For a moment, he imagined himself declaring a chicken as a traitor while holding it in his arms.
And the history books would record it like this: “The First Emperor to Charge a Chicken with Treason.”
“…How dreadful.”
Soria briefly watched Lenok shaking his head with a serious expression before turning away.
She glanced sideways at Lenok, who was now skillfully giving orders to the knights as if nothing had happened. It was quite an ordeal having to meet the knights’ gazes in between.
[Sigh.]
Though it couldn’t be helped, being tied to a saddle and made a spectacle wasn’t pleasant. However, she was prepared to endure even worse if it meant escaping the palace.
The curse was quite specific and complicated, with conditions even for leaving the palace. Thanks to that, despite using her now-messy magic countless times, she had spent years unable to leave the palace, and now she focused all her attention on the horse’s hooves crossing the castle gate.
Would they pass through, or would the curse grab her by the scruff of the neck and drag her back into the palace? As she waited for the result with her eyes tightly shut, a large hand was placed on her head. Unlike before, it was a careful touch that considered the other party.
When she slightly opened her eyes, she saw Owell.
Until just moments ago, he had been dressed simply, but now he was adorned with all sorts of ornaments on his hands and neck.
“Your Majesty. Princess Soria seems tired, would you please inform her in advance that the journey will be arduous?”
“…Owell, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t speak the chicken language.”
“Oh my. I apologize. I thought I heard Your Majesty make a ‘c**k-a-doodle-doo’ sound, so I unconsciously…”
Seeing Owell pressuring Lenok to hurry up and kiss her while she was between them, Soria made another firm resolution to herself.
That once she escaped from here, she would run away as fast as possible.
‘It seems there isn’t a single sane person here.’
No matter how she looked at it, none of these people seemed capable of breaking her curse. While she wasn’t sure about the knights, at least the emperor and Owell were definitely not the ones.
Convinced of this, she turned her gaze toward the knights.
As if their bickering was nothing new, the knights arranging the formation wore perfectly calm expressions.
The knights’ skill at doing their work while avoiding the two in the center of the formation could be considered master-level.
Should she be impressed by this? Or should she pity the knights who had to learn such useless skills?
While taking in the seemingly enlightened side profiles of the knights, Soria turned her head and tugged at Lenok’s collar.
[What’s this formation about?]
“No, I mean… Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Did Princess Soria say something?”
Lenok clicked his tongue at Owell’s gaze that kept shifting between him and the chicken.
Even though the chicken in his arms was Princess Soria, showing himself conversing with a chicken in front of Owell wasn’t exactly pleasant.
Even he had to admit that talking to a chicken didn’t look particularly normal.
Only after sending Owell back to his original position using his imperial authority, which he frequently employed when at a disadvantage, did he look around.
“Ah.”
Then he nodded as if understanding why she was puzzled. After all, the formation consisted only of mounted knights. It wasn’t normal, especially since they had abandoned even the supply wagons carrying basic food and medical supplies.
“We abandoned unnecessary baggage since we need to break through as quickly as possible.”
[Break through… Is the situation that serious?]
“That’s why I personally came here.”
Only then did Soria fully realize that Lenok was an emperor. How serious must an issue be for an empire’s emperor to move personally? Soria listened to his words with a rather serious attitude.
“Don’t worry. That’s why I brought Owell. Despite his appearance, he’s known as a Grand Magician unmatched across the continent, and we’ve even laden him with imperial treasures, so he should be worth his price.”
[Then those jewels…]
“They’re all magic stones. The amount spent on this matter alone is roughly equivalent to half a year’s budget.”
Soria shuddered at the unimaginable sum.
[Good heavens.]
