Recruiting Ann

I went to the vacant house to bring Ann back and told her everything the three of us had discussed. After entering the base, we briefly introduced Ann as a new companion who had received Ernesto’s approval, and the four of us entered the same room again.

“Princess Henriette… is that truly you?”

Once the four of us were inside the room, Ernesto looked toward Ann, who was wearing the Transformation Robe, and spoke in a tone that showed he had not fully believed it yet.

Ann then nodded with a beautiful smile and slowly began removing the robe. When the item’s effect wore off midway… Ann’s true appearance was revealed.

“It has been a while. Are you perhaps the knight who was assigned to guard me?”

“Your Highness…! Y-Yes, my name is Ernesto, and I had the honor of serving as your escort. I am truly glad to see you safe. I sincerely apologize for failing to protect you during the journey.”

Ernesto showed clear shock at Ann revealing herself, but he quickly suppressed the expression and bowed deeply. Then he spoke words of apology.

Seeing Ernesto like that, Ann smiled gently and placed a hand on his shoulder. Then she softly raised his face, deepening her smile before speaking.

“I accept your apology. But it is fine now. That was an unfortunate accident. And although my life was in danger, it allowed me to escape from a marriage I did not want.”

“…Thank you for your generous words.”

“So, you had something to discuss with me, correct? Luca and Rebecca told me it would not be to my disadvantage.”

At Ann’s question, Ernesto immediately straightened his posture.

“Yes. Please rest assured that we will do nothing that would harm Your Highness—specifically, we will never inform the Emperor that you are alive.”

“Thank you. I will trust you.”

“With that said, please feel free to refuse this request if you wish, but we want to correct this Empire. We want to purge the corrupt leadership and restore it to a healthy nation. —If possible, would you assist us with that?”

Hearing those words, Ann stared directly into Ernesto’s eyes with a serious expression, and then spoke with the dignity of a princess.

“Is that a request directed to the Albanell Kingdom?”

“No. It is a request directed to Princess Henriette personally—to Lady Henriette who is hiding her identity with the Transformation Robe. We do not wish for a war between nations.”

“I see. Very well then. I will help.”

“Really…! Thank you. This truly helps us. I sincerely apologize for dragging you into another country’s problems.”

“There is no need to worry about it. This also concerns me deeply. And above all—”

Ann cut off her words there. The princess-like expression disappeared from her face, replaced by a mischievous smile as she revealed a bit of her true feelings.

“If the person involved disappears, then the marriage will be completely canceled. That benefits me as well. If I returned to the Kingdom now, the other party would still exist, so even if I insisted I nearly died, Father would probably send me back here again. But if that person no longer exists, that possibility disappears. And if that happens, Father will likely stop insisting on using me.”

Ann said that in that case it might even be possible for her to leave the royal registry. Apparently the king was not attached to Ann as a daughter, but rather judged her based on whether she still had value to him.

Since no one would want to marry a princess who had already failed once in her marriage arrangement, Ann’s value would drop significantly once the Empire’s leadership disappeared.

Talking about someone’s “value” like that was really unpleasant… but since it concerned Ann, we needed to understand it properly as well.

“For the sake of my future as well, we must absolutely succeed.”

When Ann finished with those words, Ernesto—who had been stunned by her frank confession—finally relaxed his expression slightly and bowed deeply.

With this, Ernesto would surely trust Ann and accept her as a companion. Ann really was skilled at talking. As expected of a princess.

“That is very reassuring. I look forward to working with you from now on.”

“Yes, the feeling is mutual. From now on I will be living in the appearance created by the Transformation Robe, so please stop using formal language with me. And call me Ann. That goes for you too, Luca and Rebecca.”

“Understood. …Ann, I look forward to working with you.”

“Ann, I’m looking forward to it.”

After Rebecca and I addressed Ann casually, Ernesto also opened his mouth hesitantly.

“Ann… n-nice to work with you.”

“If you sound that stiff it will seem unnatural. Smile a little more naturally. I am your subordinate now.”

“…O-Okay. Ann, I look forward to working with you.”

Ann nodded with a smile at Ernesto’s words, and Ann officially joined us as a companion.

After that, we introduced Ann to the other members as well, and Ernesto shared the information they had gathered so far about the birthday party on the day of the coup. Once that discussion was finished, we left the base for the day.