Chapter 266 : The Troubles of the Princess Hero
And so, Lonis was formally invested as "Princess Hero."
This wasn't just an honorary position—in fact, Lonis had essentially become nobility of the Bright Ember Kingdom... Not only did she have the ability to freely enter and exit all areas of the kingdom, she was even allocated a district in the royal capital as her territory, and her name could even be recorded in the history books.
Such a status was already incredibly prestigious.
But these past few days, Lonis hadn't been living comfortably.
Because...
She was simply too popular!
...
Elucia and Candel had gone to deal with the remaining demon forces, so they weren't by Lonis's side.
The Bright Ember Kingdom had just experienced warfare and was in the midst of reconstruction. While Lonis no longer needed to perform the princess's duties, there were still many things that required her attention.
For instance, those plants that had pierced through the ground—many of them had unstable forms and needed Lonis to run around neutralizing them with her energy.
For example, certain stones that looked very much like Exotic Decay fragments couldn't be confirmed for their actual danger level, so they needed Lonis to identify them using the Clear Staff.
...
Such work involved running around everywhere, and the silver-haired girl's beautiful figure naturally attracted everyone's attention.
"Look quickly, that's the legendary Princess Hero. So beautiful!"
"Really! She looks so much like Princess Sethilu too. If you don't observe carefully, you basically can't tell the difference."
"Is that tail real? It looks so soft and fluffy~~~"
...
(Why is everyone praising my beauty? Shouldn't they be praising my bravery?)
Being watched by people like this, Lonis felt like she didn't know where to look... This shameful feeling was even worse than when Lonis was a sickly maid at Clear Academy.
Because at that time, she was completely forced by Elucia, becoming a little maid was unavoidable.
But now?
This was the result of her own thoughts and actions.
In other words, Lonis had fully demonstrated her abilities and fully earned people's recognition. No matter how "heroic" and "valiant" she appeared going forward, it wouldn't change people's impression of her.
(Wuah... This way, aren't I basically like a girl idol? Damn it, Elucia must have anticipated all this, which is why she had Sethilu grant me the title of Princess Hero!)
...
The silver-haired girl sighed. While the enthusiasm from people made her uncomfortable, it wasn't entirely unacceptable.
What made her feel even more at a loss was...
Her mailbox in the Bright Ember Kingdom had been stuffed full of love letters!
Not only from men, but also many from women and even children...
This was certainly partly due to Sethilu's influence: Sethilu was very popular in the Bright Ember Kingdom, and people had always deeply loved this kind and mature girl... But precisely because she was a princess, people never dared to write her love letters or have any strange thoughts about her.
And Lonis's appearance?
Completely satisfied people's fantasies... She had the beauty and temperament of a princess, could competently handle a princess's duties, yet didn't have the status of a princess and could marry and become a wife.
Imagine if there was such a pure, lovely, handsome, and capable silver-haired beautiful girl—who wouldn't be moved?
If Lonis were still male, even she would be smitten.
...
So, Lonis received nearly a hundred letters in a single day!
Originally, this might have been an excellent opportunity to start a harem... But how could Lonis dare to start a harem while Elucia was busy?
Elucia was already busy with work. If she found out that Lonis was flirting around trying to pick up girls, then she might not see tomorrow's sun.
...
...
So Lonis could only obediently reject these love letters.
The male ones were relatively easy to handle—she just needed to write back saying she had no thoughts of romance at the moment. But regarding replies to the girls, Lonis needed to be very careful with her wording.
After all, having girls proactively write love letters to her was already quite remarkable.
And Lonis was also a very "gentle" man. Her inner compassion made her unwilling to see any girl get hurt.
So the wording and reasons for rejection needed to be quite skillful.
...
"Hmm... I could just say I won't be staying in the Bright Ember Kingdom for too long, or that I already have someone I like? But about having someone I like... that won't spread strange rumors, will it?"
Actually, Lonis's concern was justified.
Because among these letters, there weren't just love letters—there were even congratulatory cards blessing her and Princess Sethilu!
The senders seemed to mistakenly think she was Princess Sethilu's lover... Actually, having such misunderstandings was quite normal.
After all, during the ceremony that day, Princess Sethilu had been very intimate with her, appearing to have no barriers between them at all.
However, faced with such congratulatory cards, Lonis didn't plan to explain.
Because she knew...
Princess Sethilu needed her to provide cover.
And this cover wasn't just for the princess identity, but also for Lingli's identity.
After receiving treatment with the fruits, the blue-haired girl's condition had improved significantly... Although she still hadn't woken up temporarily, the black spots on her body had begun to fade.
And of course, Lonis hadn't forgotten that Lingli was actually Princess Sethilu's older brother, the son of Prince Ruowei Palace, and their relationship was also intimately close.
If she existed, then external attention toward Lingli would be much reduced—after all, whether it was demon bloodline or incestuous love between siblings, neither was good to announce publicly.
So...
"Alright, I'll write it somewhat ambiguously. I'll portray Sethilu as a sister who has helped me a lot~~~"
...
That's what Lonis wrote, but she hadn't expected...
After reading the reply, the sender showed a rather cunning expression.
"Oh? Replying so ambiguously? It seems like she's being evasive and tacitly admitting to having a relationship with Princess Sethilu."
The pink-haired girl sat at her desk, twirling her pen rather cunningly... That's right, that peculiarly angled congratulatory card was sent by Zhou Mixue.
Since she knew many noble young ladies of the Bright Ember Kingdom, Zhou Mixue had used one of their names. And since Lonis wasn't familiar with them, she foolishly didn't realize it.
"Haha, recently Junior Lonis and Junior Elucia have both been quite tired, haven't they? They need something to spice things up. Well then, I'll add some embellishments to this letter and send it to Elucia~"
...
And so, after Lonis's letter was embellished with some added drama, it was delivered to Elucia's hands.