THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"I will kill you!!!" Judy jumps again and crosses the hall then brings out another hammer from her bracelet. Are we going back in time or something? I catch her hammer again but this time, I don't kick her. I simply prevent her from moving by stepping on her foot when she lands.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!"

"You should calm down first. We can talk this out."

"There is nothing to talk about!! You die and that is that!"

"Princess, please!" The other girl comes and grabs her shoulder, her eyes are already teary.

"See even…" Wait, I don't know her name. I look at Cordel and he just sighs. Fuck you, man.

"Velvet. Velvet Tindel."

"See, even Velvet here is about to cry because of you."

"You!!" She tries to shake me off but I am not bulging at all. "RAHHH!!!"

"Screaming won't help, you know."

Why is that girl so violent? Even for a princess, her attitude is a bit weird. Let's see. I read her and Velvet's mind and finally, I understand what is her problem.

I release her hammer but since she was applying too much strength to it, it goes backward and she falls butt first to the ground. That's the first problem, the second problem is…

"Pink, huh…" Well, I am pretty sure I am not the only one who saw it. I turn around but every guy has his eyes raised to the sky. Especially Cordel who is being threatened by Esteressa's eyes. Shit…

"You…I will make sure you die the most painful death ever! Your friends, your-"

"Princess, please, I beg of you."

"Shut up!!"

"Princess."

"I said…" She raises her hand, ready to slap Velvet but stops at the last moment.

"Well, at least you still recognized your status."

"What did you say?!!"

"You heard me."

"What could you possibly mean?" Even Velvet, or well, what she says she is, is intrigued.

"Would you like me to tell everyone here?"

"I don't understand. Please explain yourself." Velvet stands up and comes right in front of me. Now that I take a closer look, she indeed looks more like a princess than the other girl.

The always composed attitude, the not so lacking breasts, the posture even. She is a bit more refined than Keltia when she is acting all noble-like.

"Kevin, what are talking about?" Even Cordel is interested now. Well, I guess it is better to reveal it and be done with it.

"This girl is the real princess here." I touch Velvet, well, Judy's shoulder while moving to the side.

"WHAT?!!!"

***

"W-w-what are you talking about?!! How could I be a princess?!" She gets away from me and hides behind Velvet.

"How much longer do plan on humiliating me?" Velvet's face has turned dark. She releases her physical aura. It is really not all that powerful. I guess she can't be too strong since I catch her weapon with my hands two times.

"What is more humiliating is you impersonating her so vulgarly. Though since you are paid to do so, I guess it cannot be helped."

"You must die!!"

"Stop Velvet!"

Judy grabs her hand and stops her before she makes another move.

"What are you doing?!!"

"Stop. It is clear he knows."

"But-"

"I said stop. Even if he is a spy, he can't kill us here and now."

She turns to me with a serious look.

"I am sorry to have lied to you. My name is Judy FAIRSWORD. I am the third princess of the Wendhalm kingdom."

"W-wait. I can't really process this."

"You are stupid so don't try to."

"What did you say, bastard?!"

Esteressa and Peter engage in their usual verbal fight, lightening the mood a bit. Meanwhile, Velvet stands back up and places herself between me and the princess.

"Well, I don't give a fuck about who sent you but I will only say this. Once we get out of here, you are dead."

"You are quite arrogant for somebody so weak."

"Say that again!" She tries to punch me again but Judy gets a hold of her hair and pulls them backward.

"HYAA!" Velvet makes a girly scream that doesn't suit her attitude.

"I told you to calm down."

"Princess, please, don't pull my hair like that." Even her voice has changed. It is now devoid of anger and sounds almost cute.

"It's your fault. You keep acting rashly."

"But…"

"No buts."

"So, are you going to tell us what is going on?"

Finally, Cordel snaps and advances to the princess, even grabbing her arm. She looks at him so coldly he retrieves it instantly.

"I am sorry for the confusion we created. Like I said earlier, I am a princess of Wendahlm. However, I cannot tell you more than this. So please, I would like you to not ask for further details."

Well, I am don't really need to ask since I know everything already. Judy ran away from her kingdom after she refused an arranged marriage with another noble and almost got assassinated because of it. Moreover, she is not recognized anymore in her kingdom as a princess, meaning that if she is killed here, nobody would say anything or ask for retribution.

"Then can we at least know what you hope to achieve by coming here? Wendahlm's academy has been said to be better than even the eternal academy for the past few years."

That's because she didn't have the choice Cordel, though I wonder why she came to Syldavie as well.

"Like I said, there are things I cannot tell you. But as for the reason of my presence here, I wish to speak with the heroes first."

I read her thoughts as she says that and there is one thing I can say for sure: this girl is stupid.

"It won't work."

"What?" Judy and everyone look at me with dumbfounded eyes.

"The church and the heroes cannot intervene in anything other than Longinus matters. It seems you didn't know that."

"Why do you-"

"Princess, this guy is dangerous! let me dispose of him!"

"Kevin, what are you talking about?"

"Sigh…You said it yourself Cordel. Wendahlm is rumored to be a better school than this one. So why would a princess come here then? There cannot be a lot of reason. Either her life is in danger or she has lost her title." Though in her case, both options are true.

"No wait, even so, it doesn't explain why she came here. Your explanations don't hold."

Even peter enters the conversation. I thought he wasn't interested seeing as he said nothing for the past while.

"That's where the heroes enter the stage. Or so she thought. Their authority is absolute, even in Wendalhm. But that's only when you talk about Longinus. For any other matter, sadly, they are as speechless as any commoner. But that's something our dear princess didn't know, it seems."

I look at her and her face has turned white. She is so pale you would think she lost all blood in her body.

"Seems like I nailed it."

Judy just turns around and leaves without saying another word. While walking, she almost falls but thankfully, Velvet was following her quietly and catches her before. She goes upstairs as quietly as ghosts, leaving us in the hall like decorations.

***

"And so, what do we do now?"

"About what?"

Everyone keeps looking at me after the princess left like I am some kind of genius. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything after all.

"Well, about her. If she truly came here seeking help, we should probably…"

"Talk to the heroes and the church?"

"No, no, not that. I know full well that they wouldn't help even if they wanted to."

"Then what? Involve nobles and create a war between countries for the sake a single person? Please, we both know you are not that altruistic." Though you keep acting like you are.

"Do you have a better solution then?" Once again, Peter steps up, with a serious and determined look.

"Why do you care so much, Peter?"

"Because you just broke her last hope. Or is it just that you like seeing people desperate?"

"Where does that even come from?"

"This is not the first time I see you do this. And I really don't like it. People deserve to have hope. Yet you just trample it every time you can and shatter it like you don't give a damn. Even though you yourself are the most sensitive there is out there."

"Hm-mhm. So YOU have a problem with me personally then. Well, just so you know-"

"You don't care, right? Just like you didn't seem to care about the woman from the canteen and yet you rescued her children after telling her that they would die anyway, whether she made a choice or not."

"Was I wrong, though?"

"Why did you save them then? Don't tell me you are afraid of going to jail?" Peter smiles like a little devil. So, you want to mock me? fine, do it, I don't care.

"It was actually the case. But you are free to believe what you want."

"Oh, I will."

"Guys, please calm down." The atmosphere tensed up quite a bit but Cordel tries to calm us down.

I leave and go back to my room. Why did I save her children? Like I have the slightest idea myself!!!