How To Subdue a Masochist Princess

"A black lion."

The princess murmured in a tone that seemed somewhat subtle, caressing the front paw of the giant black marble lion statue.

"I heard that Lord Wolfgang has just arrived here as the commander of the knights."

Her voice resonated beautifully, like the chirping of a nightingale.

Compared to her beautiful voice, the content of the conversation was not so beautiful.

And the vice-captain, who was the princess's conversation partner, was the same.

"It's strange, but this lion statue really resembles Lord Wolfgang's majestic appearance. Don't you think so, Sir Agnes?" "That's true. He looks big and scary, but he seems to have a kind heart inside, just like you, Captain." "…Hmm, is that so? Sir Wolfgang must have felt quite sorry for you, who took on the Knights on the verge of collapse." "Yes, that's right. The Commander takes good care of me personally, so thankfully, I even received a gift of clothes last night." "What, what?! Take care of me personally? Give me clothes?"

I don't understand why every word you say is so sharp.

And why does the Vice Commander insist on saying things like that?

I was impressed by the fact that you voluntarily worked overtime to prepare for your visit to the unit, so I introduced you to a tailor who could make custom-made clothes earlier than scheduled.

He said he would pay for it, and advised me that it would be better for your health and work efficiency to order a design that was more comfortable than the current one while still meeting the standards of the uniform.

So in short, it is correct that it is a 'personal gift of clothes', but doesn't it sound strange when you say it like that?

—Jirrit

Besides, why on earth does the princess look at me with such a scary gaze?

Could it be that she is still angry from that night?

"As you can see, my body type is a bit different, so the captain usually takes good care of me. Unlike the previous captain who would tease me with his eyes, he is truly grateful." "Oh, really? It must be very uncomfortable for a knight. It seems that you are so dull that it is difficult for you to swing your sword." "It is a blessing for a woman, but as a knight, it is as the princess said." "Then..." "However, I am grateful that the empire has recognized my skills and dedication. All of this must be the grace of His Majesty the Emperor."

Listening to the conversation, I felt embarrassed.

It was clearly a conversation between a young, excellent knight who had risen to the position of vice-captain and the golden girl of the empire.

In reality, the level was similar to that of children childishly nitpicking each other's words.

"Glory to the imperial family, eternal loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor." "Ugh, ahem! Let's end this conversation here."

Still, judging from the flow of the story, it seemed like the vice-captain had won in the end.

Even though the content was extremely absurd, if we were going to fight childishly, wouldn't it be better to win than to lose?

Baroness Youngae, who subdued the princess of the empire. It seemed like a title for a cheap, popular novel.

"Whew..."

Seriously, that was a really good thing.

My head started hurting as I watched that ridiculous sight, so I looked up at the sky to catch my breath and thought.

'How on earth did this happen?'

About an hour ago.

At first, the entire knights were in an uproar, but the princess's inspection of the unit went on very peacefully and smoothly.

Once the princess's schedule for visiting the unit was set, the servants and attendants stayed up all night.

Eventually, even the knights, who were supposed to focus their energies on practicing martial arts and tactics without doing any chores, were mobilized to beautify the unit.

The princess herself, who came to inspect, was surprisingly uninterested in the Black Lion Knights' fighting power or the facilities they had diligently maintained.

No matter what I showed her, she would respond with either "Wow! That's amazing~" or "Hmm, I see." and just followed me around like a baby bird.

That's why it's not that she came to point out the numerous flaws of the Black Lion Knights that night for revenge, or to harass me and my subordinates.

I thought he had come here because he had something to tell me, so I tried to make a quiet opportunity for the two of us to be alone.

The atmosphere started to get a little strange because of the sudden unexpected situation.

When the princess said she wanted to talk to me and dismissed the guards, I was about to let my subordinates who had followed me to guide the unit in.

'Ah...!'

The deputy commander, who had been suffering from overwork for several days without being able to leave work and preparing for the unit visit, let out a single scream and collapsed.

The deputy commander, who had been complaining of chest tightness and having a hard time, thought that it was the worst situation that could have come.

'Oh no! Are you okay, deputy commander?'

So I quickly went over and helped the poor deputy commander up.

Thinking back now, I think the princess's expression had become slightly hardened since then.

'Oh my, how tired must you be... Shouldn't the vice-captain be heading back now? Working his subordinates like this, Lord Wolfgang is such a cruel superior.' '... No. I've shown you such an unpleasant sight because the main officer was lacking. It was all my own will that I prepared for. The captain didn't force me to do anything.'

And the atmosphere between the two of them really started to get strange after that kind of conversation.

'Hmm... I see. I made a slip of the tongue.' 'A slip of the tongue? That's ridiculous. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask the main officer. The main officer has been here since his days as a servant.'

At least, I could definitely tell that the conversation wasn't going well.

I wasn't very good at dueling with tongues, not cold weapons, so I didn't know that the two women's words had any bones in them.

And then again, the present.

In fact, we have now seen almost all of the main facilities of the unit.

There were only places that were a bit vague to introduce separately or too trivial to look at.

While moving along the well-paved path without any particular purpose,

The route of the unit inspection was unique in that we had to visit all the facilities in sequence.

As the journey was nearing its end, the three of us naturally returned to the central training ground, which was the starting point of the journey.

'Ugh, I'd rather go out and fight. I almost died from suffocation.'

However, I was about to relax a little, thinking that such a large-scale incident was somehow resolved without any major incidents.

"This place right now. The central training ground is where Commander Wolfgang held his inauguration ceremony."

The conversation coincidentally turned to recalling the incident at my inauguration ceremony due to the vice-commander's words.

"Oh, the inauguration ceremony… I don't think it would have ended normally." "Your Highness's intuition is truly uncanny. It's exactly as you said."

But for some reason, the cold atmosphere that had been hovering between them suddenly became cheerful again.

"Ahaha! Really?! You said that?" "Yes. Honestly, it was a little funny how you ran away, panting. Although Sir Pietro was my former superior, he wasn't a person I could respect at all."

I can't even guess why. It's definitely not a very funny story.

Honestly, when I think about it now, it's just an embarrassing memory for me.

And yet, what on earth was so funny? The corners of the Vice-Chief's mouth, who rarely smiled unless he was alone with me for a regular report, went up.

The princess was openly covering her mouth and giggling.

Because of that, I ended up just quietly listening to the conversation from behind, like a sack of barley that had been placed there.

The vice-captain had a very cold and calm personality that didn't match her feminine appearance.

Except for the inevitable gender aspect, I had treated her no differently than my male subordinates.

"You are truly manly and respectable, Commander Wolfgang." "Hmm, does that really mean that Sir Agnes thinks that way?"

Seeing that I had fallen into a world that I couldn't understand with the princess, I guess women are women after all.

The world of women seemed very complicated and subtle.

"Yes. That's right. I want to stay by the current captain's side as long as possible." "Yes. I understand your thoughts."

But when I listened to it, the content of the conversation seemed quite unfamiliar.

I haven't done much for you yet, and yet the Vice-Captain is so loyal to me.

Of course, it may be empty words, but even so, I'm still grateful to the Vice-Captain. To be honest, I was a little touched just now.

'Yes. That's right.'

Also, the feeling I had just felt made it even more certain. She definitely seemed to be a subordinate I didn't want to let go of.

I've lost countless subordinates I've grown attached to during the war, so aside from a few subordinates I led when I was a rookie officer, I didn't intentionally get attached to them.

Now that the war is over, shouldn't I start digging deeper into a new relationship?

'I should never let an excellent subordinate go again.'

Assuming that the deep loyalty the Vice-Captain just showed me wasn't empty words, but sincere.

I'll do whatever it takes to keep the Vice-Captain by my side.

So that you never get hurt.

So that you never leave on your own.

'Captain, I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you until the end.'

Ensign Laurent, who followed Captain Schwarz, the commander of the 21st Assault Company, was ultimately unable to protect him.

Vice-Captain Agnes, who follows the Black Lion Knight Commander, Lord Wolfgang, will never let go.

Until I lost my strength and judgment as a leader.

Or, until she left me on her own.

'This can't go on!'

The princess of the empire, Alicia von Diana Solaris, was currently in a great crisis.

"The schedule is almost over. You've worked really hard, Vice-Captain." "No. It's all thanks to the captain's strong support." "Honestly, what have I done? You did all the actual work."

At some point, Alicia was treated as an uninvited guest.

The female cat with the big, ignorant chest and Wolfgang von Schwarz, who was still shaking her heart, were having a friendly conversation.

Of course, after talking to her, she didn't seem like such a bad female cat. This subtle feeling I felt right now was a completely separate issue.

Clearly, Alicia and Wolfgang were not in a relationship yet.

However, more than anything, the person who met Wolfgang first was Alicia.

That night. Didn't she allow Wolfgang to see her in a shameful way that was too shameful to express in words?

But that annoying man did all sorts of things to Alicia, the princess of the empire, without hesitation, and he was playing around with another woman without even thinking about taking responsibility.

And that was right in front of her with her eyes wide open.

'I, I tried so hard…'

Alicia felt like tears were welling up in her eyes as she felt a sense of injustice.

The plan had already been ruined.

Besides, things shouldn't have gone this way. If it were to end like this without anything happening…

Doesn't it feel like she, the princess, is losing?

Alicia looked at the two people ahead of her and grabbed the hem of her dress meaningfully.

'Is this the only way?'