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I am looking for the runaway princess – Chapter : 4
Elizia nervously messed up her neatly tied-up hair. Strands stuck out in every direction.
Rakan, who had been watching her, lifted the corners of his mouth in a faint smile.
“Protecting a beautiful woman is a duty and responsibility a man should have.”
As expected. Elizia bit her lip tightly.
“Next time, why don’t you face me seriously? I’d like to see if you can still win so easily then.”
“……”
“Just so you know, I will defeat you someday. I absolutely will.”
Rakan fell silent at her combative tone. He only looked at Elizia with an indifferent expression.
Elizia met his gaze calmly.
Soon he crossed his arms. What followed was not an answer like “I will” or “I won’t,” but a quiet silence.
Elizia pointed just under her eyes.
“I may be inferior to you in stamina, senior, but my observation skills are very good. That attack you aimed at my neck earlier—you held back on purpose, didn’t you?”
“……”
“So next time, let’s have a proper spar. Even if I lose, I want to lose honestly.”
Rakan tapped his arm with his fingertips. He looked deep in thought.
Then he looked up at the sky, glanced back at Elizia’s face, and let out a laugh that sounded almost like a sigh.
“Fine. I understand what you mean. And… about earlier, if you were offended, I apologize. I didn’t intend to mock your effort.”
“……”
“……Yes.”
Elizia stared at his face with a strange expression.
Royalty and nobility each had their own temperament.
Not all were like that, but most were selfish and self-centered. It was only natural, given that they were always served and revered.
She didn’t want to admit it, but she herself also had such tendencies inside her.
Because of that, Elizia was slightly surprised by Rakan’s apology.
His clean, immediate apology.
For a moment, she felt that Rakan, though arrogant, might not be as narrow-minded as she had thought.
In any case, there was nothing more to say.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
She still needed to bathe and change clothes.
After a simple farewell of “See you in the next class,” Elizia bowed slightly. Without hesitation, she turned around.
Rakan stood on the afternoon road, watching her as she walked away. Her tied-up hair shimmered and swayed under the sunlight.
His clear emerald eyes, tinged faintly with blue, gleamed with interest.
Her whole body ached. Unlike the royal palace where swordsmanship lessons were free and unstructured, here the classes were extremely systematic—and even strict.
By evening, Elizia could only groan and melt onto her bed.
Her roommate Sophie sat on the opposite bed. The two made eye contact and chatted casually.
“How was class, Elizia?”
“It was fun, but I fell asleep in the first lecture… it was a bit embarrassing.”
She swallowed the rest—and Senior Rakan looked at me with humiliating eyes.
“The first class was Ancient History, right? It makes sense you’d fall asleep.”
“But still… anyway, after that was sword training, and I got completely defeated by a male student.”
She also swallowed the fact that that male student was Senior Rakan.
“That so?”
But Sophie simply looked at her as if it were obvious.
Of course a delicate princess wouldn’t be able to beat a man.
Elizia recalled her spar with Rakan.
Bragging aside, she had never been inferior to male knights before. Even when she lost, it was always close.
But Rakan’s skill today had been on a completely different level. So overwhelming she couldn’t even feel envy.
Suddenly, the imperial prince came to mind.
The one said to have earned merit by going to various battlefields at a young age.
Prince Nobilia Herbe Karund—whose twisted smile she had seen in portraits.
She had always thought the rumors were exaggerated.
But now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
If a mere noble like Rakan was that skilled, then how strong would the rumored prince be?
“…If war breaks out again, wouldn’t we be in trouble? Even imperial nobles are that strong. Is that why it’s the Empire?”
A chill ran down her spine.
But she quickly shook the thought away and relaxed her tense shoulders. There was no need to worry about something that might never happen.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen the prince today.
Well, the school was huge, with many buildings and students in different years. It made sense.
Still, she was curious.
“Senior Sophie, what is the imperial prince like?”
Sophie’s expression turned slightly odd.
“You haven’t met him yet?”
“No. The school is big.”
“…Is that even possible?”
“It must be possible, right?”
Elizia replied innocently, not understanding.
Sophie murmured something like “maybe he skipped class,” then changed her expression.
“The prince is, in one word… extremely popular.”
“…Is that so?”
Elizia repeated Sophie’s earlier reaction.
She recalled the prince’s portrait sitting in her closet.
Well, it’s not every day you see someone that ugly…
But if he was popular, then he must still be the imperial prince.
The power of status, or perhaps charm beyond appearance.
Sophie continued:
“He’s basically the heir to the throne. And he’s unmarried—completely free. If you connect with him, you become part of the royal family.”
“I see.”
Elizia answered indifferently.
Love, royal family—everything felt distant, like someone else’s story.
Especially since she had no personal connection to the prince of an enemy nation.
“And he’s practically confirmed as the Crown Prince.”
“Then he’ll become emperor. Wouldn’t he need a political marriage? Even if you meet him here, it would just be passing romance.”
“Still, there’s always a ‘what if.’ And he doesn’t even get close to female students, which makes him even more appealing—like an unreachable flower on a cliff.”
“Ah…”
Elizia laughed softly at the comparison.
A flower? From every angle? Hard to say that fits. More like a sharp sword… And the more unattainable, the more people desire it.
Then she thought of Damien.
“Come to think of it… is Damien doing well?”
Damien—the young duke’s heir, one year younger than her.
Her unofficial fiancé.
It wasn’t officially decided, but it was practically understood.
When he came of age, an official engagement would likely be arranged.
And yet, he had feelings for someone else.
The boy she had always loved since childhood.
But reality had been cruel.
It had all been her misunderstanding.
She had never imagined his heart was not hers.
“Damien, I’m so happy you’re mine. I feel like I could be happy forever with you!”
When she had said that with a bright smile, what had his expression been?
He had always smiled gently and said, “Yes, Your Highness,” but never returned her feelings.
And then she saw it.
At a party hosted by his family.
In the garden under the moonlight, Damien whispered to another woman.
“Damien, the princess is inside.”
“It’s fine. The only person in front of me right now is you.”
“And Princess Elizia… she won’t resent me. She loves me too much.”
“Damien…”
“Melissa, it breaks my heart that I can’t be with you…”
Elizia’s world tilted.
Damien had known her feelings—but still chose someone else.
He was a coward who hid his true feelings to avoid losing his future position.
That was what she would have thought normally.
But in love, she could not help but still like him unconditionally.
She convinced herself he was only trying not to hurt her.
A princess who had always been firm and decisive… became foolish when it came to love.
“…In the end, I’ll be marrying him anyway.”
She left the rose garden, wiping away tears.
Eventually, she came to the royal academy to distance herself from him.
Even now, thinking of Damien made her chest ache.
His gentle face. His consistently kind blue eyes.
Then, Rakan’s face overlapped in her mind.
Both were blond, yet completely different.
Rakan felt cold despite his golden hair and emerald eyes.
“…Come to think of it, I haven’t thought about Damien much since coming here. That’s good, right?”
But instead, she kept thinking about Rakan.
She lay down in bed, exhausted from training.
Pulling the blanket up, she thought of him again.
Next time, I really want to beat that guy… Maybe I should throw sand? No, that would just be embarrassing if I still lose.
She pulled the blanket over her head.
After saying goodnight to Sophie, the lights went out.
Sleep slowly came.
And that night, Damien’s face no longer appeared in her dreams.
Elizia was waiting for her next swordsmanship class, lounging in the cafeteria with Sophie.
“Ah!”
She suddenly stood up, knocking her chair.
Something cold and melting slid down her shoulder—ice cream.
Someone passing by had spilled it on her.
A voice, amused, reached her ears.
“Sorry, Elizia. I’m not used to carrying things myself instead of a servant, so I slipped.”
She slowly turned her head.
Bess stood there holding an empty ice cream cup.
She did not look sorry at all, despite saying “sorry.”
As always, she was surrounded by three female students who followed her like attendants.
