Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Struggling to Pretend to Be Human Today Episode 069

 

Tears welled up again in Princess Chloe’s eyes.

 

As if she didn’t want to show these tears, she lowered her head and hesitantly began to speak.

 

“May I… live?”

 

“Just as death was, living is also your choice. But at least I…”

 

“Hope that I live?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“May I hear the reason?”

 

Now her demeanor had also become much more stable. I let go of her hand and took a step back.

 

“Before hearing the reason, there’s something you should know first. I’m neither righteous nor do I know you well. This is merely an outsider’s…”

 

“I’ll do my best to let it go in one ear and out the other. Please tell me.”

 

“…Alright.”

 

I answered lightly.

 

“To be honest, I sympathize with the people of the kingdom. I think their rebellion was justified too. What I dislike is dying from a blind arrow… that kind of death.”

 

“Blind?”

 

‘Was that too war-like a metaphor?’

 

I glossed over it with other words.

 

“I hate deaths that come unjustly without knowing the reason, or suddenly.”

 

“But I know why I should die.”

 

“No, you don’t know anything.”

 

I counted on my fingers one by one, voicing the doubts I had been thinking about.

 

“What the true nature of that black magic is, the authenticity of the divine oracle given to the royal family… nothing has been revealed.”

 

The royal family going mad was the beginning of all this, yet Princess Chloe didn’t know the reason for it.

 

The thought that an ignorant person who didn’t even participate in the tragedy would mount the execution platform before the king was frustrating.

 

“I hate such situations. It may sound convenient, but I wish all deaths would come justly. I really hate to see absurd disasters or sudden misfortunes.”

 

“…By any chance, Your Highness, do you only read novels with happy endings?”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

“You dislike protagonists who become miserable or unhappy protagonists.”

 

“You know me well.”

 

“If the villain is the protagonist, they must be a righteous thief.”

 

“Do you have any works to recommend?”

 

Princess Chloe was momentarily stunned by my consecutive answers.

 

For reference, this preference was the same whether as Asmodina or as Deina.

 

“Pff, pfft.”

 

Then, Princess Chloe suddenly burst into silly laughter. Unable to contain it, she covered her mouth and kept laughing.

 

“Ah, ahaha! That sounds a bit childish…”

 

“I know, I’m childish.”

 

“I’m not trying to tease you, it’s just that Your Highness is amazing. When I talk with Your Highness, worldly matters feel truly trivial, so surely you helped me for such a reason… aha, hahaha!”

 

Eventually she began laughing while holding her stomach.

 

Only after quite some time did she stop laughing and straighten her posture.

 

Wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes, she spoke with a much brighter complexion.

 

“I understand what Your Highness means. I can’t die like this without knowing anything. It would be better to live a little longer.”

 

“I’ll say it again, my words are merely…”

 

“I know. I’m not going to live thanks to Your Highness. I’ve decided by my own will, with my own strength, that I will live.”

 

It was a vigorous voice, unlike when we first met. With eyes that had cleared unbelievably from crying just moments before, she looked straight at me.

 

“To be honest, I don’t feel relieved even now. The guilt and regret are still there… but still, I’ll worry about it after living first. Is this enough?”

 

“Excellent.”

 

There was nothing more for me to help with.

 

Princess Chloe smiled brightly as if pleased by my words.

 

It was a cheerful smile I couldn’t have imagined when we first met.

 

* * *

 

After much trouble persuading Princess Chloe, I came outside for a walk. Perhaps because I had concentrated too much on the long conversation, I needed a change of mood.

 

It was late at night, when the moon had risen high in the sky. I felt the cool night air and looked around.

 

‘Come to think of it, where is this? Since I don’t smell the sea, it doesn’t seem to be Gilli Port.’

 

Just as I was thinking of calling Ivan again to ask, a man emerged from the darkness.

 

It was Grid, wrapped in shadow spirits.

 

“Good evening, Your Highness.”

 

“Did you also lose sleep tonight?”

 

“No, I’m pulling an all-nighter. I have many places to go here and there.”

 

Grid smiled leisurely, but looking closely, I could see faint shadows under his eyes. Perhaps because I had given him many tasks, he seemed to have suffered quite a bit.

 

“Since you appeared like this, I suppose you finished the task I requested well.”

 

“Half succeeded, half failed.”

 

“Half?”

 

When I narrowed my eyes, Grid waved his hands and said.

 

“It doesn’t mean Your Highness’s plan failed. Rather, it ended more perfectly than could be.”

 

“What on earth are you talking about?”

 

“Well, you see.”

 

Perhaps to excuse his failure, Grid began explaining what happened after I fainted in quite a grandiose tone.

 

First, after I collapsed, the party including Ruslara immediately moved to face the third mercenary group.

 

This was something I had prepared for contingencies, a plan designed so they could handle the remaining mercenary groups even without me.

 

For this, I had requested Grid to provide supplies and trap materials to deal with the mercenary groups…

 

“My supplies arrived on time. But an unexpected incident occurred. Two people who were determined to return to Your Highness’s side as quickly as possible went berserk.”

 

“Two people, you mean…”

 

“Ivan and Sir Ruslara.”

 

The two, who thought my condition was dangerous, apparently felt they had no time to waste on such tactics, ignoring the traps they had set and engaging the enemies in battle.

 

Though they said they used the guerrilla warfare tactics they learned from me, to Grid it looked like sloppy frontal combat. Without a commander, the two charged recklessly at the enemies.

 

Since the third mercenary group was a powerful organization ranked in the top three in the Neutral Zone, I immediately had doubts upon hearing this.

 

“Wait, but they won?”

 

“Those two smashed half the mercenary group’s forces?”

 

The number of mercenaries was roughly over 100. Yet Ivan and Ruslara defeated about half of them by themselves.

 

Grid stroked his chin in admiration.

 

“It was incredible. Ivan dealt with enemies with invisible movements, so I couldn’t feel it was cool, but Sir Ruslara was no joke.”

 

He threw enemy horses, cut iron shields with his sword, and caught flying arrows with his fingers.

 

Grid described those events as if he were directly watching heroic legends.

 

“Thus the third mercenary group also retreated. No matter how great a mercenary group, it wasn’t a situation they could handle.”

 

It was an absurd result. I recalled Ruslara who had greeted me with a calm face.

 

‘Even if he had grown to the level of Baban Si of the Demon Realm, winning against a hundred mercenaries seems impossible.’

 

As if noticing my confusion, Grid chuckled and said.

 

“At that time, Sir Ruslara was in complete berserk mode. He fought without caring even when injured. It was like he was venting his anger.”

 

“Injured? He looked fine to me.”

 

“He must have hidden it. Roughly estimating, his arms and back were cut more than ten times.”

 

‘Ruslara…’

 

If I had known he was that injured, I would have shared blood with him once more. Why didn’t he say anything?

 

‘He completely ignored the command and still won. Should I be happy about this or not?’

 

I let out a short sigh.

 

“Ivan aside, I didn’t know even Ruslara would fight emotionally. I thought Ruslara would handle it coolly…”

 

At my words, Grid chuckled and muttered.

 

“Well, from what I saw, it was Sir Ruslara who wasn’t in his right mind…”

 

Anyway, he suddenly changed the subject.

 

“The real problem was what came next. Didn’t I say earlier that half succeeded and half failed?”

 

Come to think of it, if the story ended there, it wouldn’t explain what you meant by failure.

 

Grid withdrew his smile and continued speaking.

 

“The mercenary groups, I mean. There was one more hiding.”

 

“…What did you say?”

 

“It means a fourth mercenary group appeared. This time it was domestic mercenaries. We were so focused on the freelance mercenaries that we missed their movements.”

 

If they were domestic mercenaries, it naturally meant the person who hired them was also an imperial citizen.

 

But using mercenaries domestically would immediately leave a trail. What foolish bastard would do such a thing…

 

“Ah, surely not.”

 

At that moment, the name of a stupid person flashed through my mind.

 

“Prince Franz?”

 

The First Prince who was desperate to humiliate me – if it was that bastard, he would be more than capable of such foolish acts.

 

“Probably so. It was actually a mercenary group that handled Prince Franz’s dirty work. They were also targeting Princess Chloe like the other mercenary groups.”

 

‘That damn prince…’

 

The reason he suddenly targeted Princess Chloe was obvious. He intended to interfere with my mission to humiliate me.

 

Since he couldn’t target me directly, he went after Princess Chloe, who was my mission target.

 

“What happened to those bastards?”

 

“We were no match for them. Lord Ruslara and Ivan were exhausted and could barely resist, and all the hastily prepared traps were broken through. We were on the verge of defeat, but then…”

 

Grid continued reluctantly.

 

“Lord Loreil appeared.”

 

‘Why does that man’s name come up again?’

 

“He appeared quite dramatically and defeated the mercenary group in an instant… By any chance, Your Highness, are you dating him?”

 

“Are you insane?”

 

Profanity came out without me realizing it.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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