Apparently, I’m a Childhood Friend of a Saint in the World of Light Novels, and When We Meet Again After a Few Years at School, She’s Turned into Some Kind of Yandere?
I used to be a selfish child, no different from today’s royalty.
I was an arrogant and selfish child who wanted everything to go my way, and would have everything I wanted bought for me, whether it was jewellery or dresses.
I was five or six years old when I was like that.
◇◆◇
“I want to see the flowers! Take me on a picnic now!”
“Yes! But you have a lesson in the afternoon, and you have to get permission from His Majesty the King to go out. ……”
I look up at the Kingsguard and feel annoyed.
I don’t want to do lessons because I don’t enjoy them.
Anyway, right now I wanted to see a field of flowers.
“I could sneak out! If I come back today, even Father won’t be angry!”
“B-but ……”
“Let’s go!”
“O-okay. ……”
The Kingsguard runs off and starts to prepare the carriages and escort.
Mouu, you should have done that from the beginning.
I get into the carriage that has been prepared and wait for the departure.
There was only one escort, as we didn’t travel that far.
“You got your lunch properly, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I had it prepared in a hurry from the kitchen.”
“I see. Good. We must leave at once.”
I sigh as the carriage rocks along.
I feel comfortable being a member of the royal family because we have power and wealth, but I don’t like it when I need permission to do every single thing I do.
And I didn’t want to do the lessons because they were not fun and strict.
So this outing was a natural.
When I arrived at the flower garden, I immediately started observing the various flowers.
I was made to learn the names of the flowers, but now I don’t care about that, I just enjoy the beautiful flowers.
Behind me, the guards were setting up sheets and shades.
(They are very thoughtful, aren’t they?)
I left the guards to set up and started walking through the flower field.
After walking for a while, I found a very large, shiny butterfly.
The butterfly was one of those rare butterflies you read about in textbooks that you may or may not see once in your life, and it is jinxed to be happy when you see it.
I hurriedly chased after the butterfly as it fluttered away.
How long did I chase it?
When I realised that I was surrounded by trees, I didn’t know where I was.
“I-I have to get back quickly …… I don’t want to be in this bug-infested, filthy place.”
I started to hurry back the way I came.
But the trees were too intricate and I had run after a fluttering butterfly, so I didn’t know where to go from there.
After a few hours, I can’t go on any longer and I fall down on the spot.
“I’m hungry……I’m tired……How did this happen……”
Not knowing what the future holds for me, I despair because I don’t know what I’m going to do.
It was at such a moment.
I heard snarling around me and I looked up and saw that I was surrounded by a pack of wolves.
I was so terrified that I started to cry.
“B…… barrier!”
I manage to activate the magic I learned, but nothing appears in front of me.
It was here and now that I regretted for the first time that I didn’t usually listen to my lessons seriously.
I can’t stop my body from shaking at the wolves that are slowly approaching me.
“No, no. ……”
I close my eyes the moment the wolves jump on me.
But the shock and pain do not come anytime soon.
When I fearfully opened my eyes, I saw a large figure standing in front of me, punching the wolves away.
He was holding a basket in his hand, and his hand was wet with the wolf’s blood.
“Are you alright? Young lady”
“Ah ……”
I was so hungry there and so relieved that someone had come that I lost consciousness.
◇◆◇
When I woke up, I saw a ceiling I didn’t recognise.
When I sit up and check around me, I see walls with holes in them and a slightly damaged floor.
But I don’t recognise this place.
“Where is this ……?”
“Ara, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“Eh….? I-I’m fine. …….”
A so-called ordinary farmer came from the back and spoke to me, wearing clothes with a hole in the top and her face a little stained with dirt.
She asked me how I was feeling and when I said I was fine, she smiled reassuringly.
At that moment, my stomach rumbled.
I hurriedly pressed down on my stomach, but the woman seemed to have heard me and laughed funny.
I felt embarrassed and my face got hot.
“Fufu, I’ll bring you some food now. Just wait a minute.”
Saying that, the woman went back into the back again.
Left behind, I sit quietly and wait.
The woman returns with a tray.
She then places it in front of me.
“Is this …… rice?”
It was a grain I had only seen in textbook pictures.
In the kingdom, rice was something only farmers in some areas ate, as wheat was basically the preferred grain.
“Yes. It rains so much here that it’s hard to grow wheat. …… We grow rice instead.”
“I don’t have a knife and fork, how do you eat?”
“Haha, maybe you’ve never seen it before because you’re wearing nice clothes. These are called onigiri, and you eat them by grabbing them with your hands.”
“Grab it with hand. ……”
I Fearfully grab a lump of rice called an onigiri with my hands.
The steam was still rising and it was warm.
“Itadakimasu”
I put the rice ball in my mouth with a snap.
At that moment, tears spilled down my face.
The quality of the ingredients and the time and effort involved are definitely lower than what I’ve eaten in the Royal Castle.
But it was more delicious and warm than anything I had ever eaten before, and I couldn’t stop crying.
“Araara, don’t cry.”
“Why …… why are you being so nice to me ……? I don’t even know you …….”
I asked, and the woman smiled.
“When you’re in trouble, it’s on both of us. Even people you don’t know can’t leave you alone.”
The moment I heard those words, I realised how foolish I had been.
I knew what it was like to live above my people.
The woman gently rubbed my back as I sobbed.
When I had stopped crying, the man who had helped me earlier came from the back this time.
“Oh, young lady, you’re awake. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“U-umm….. uncle. That hand …….”
The uncle’s hand was bandaged and slightly bloody.
It was obviously not there when he helped me earlier.
“Haha, I just screwed up a little bit, that’s all. No big deal.”
“But ……”
“Don’t look so tearful. I thought I’d taken them all down, I let my guard down, and then I got hit. It was my fault.”
“Really dear…… keep making mistakes like that, you’re going to die one day.”
The man laughed bitterly and the woman said tiredly.
I get up unsteadily and go to uncle.
I then gently take hold of his bandaged arm.
“I’m sorry ……I’m so sorry ……”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just that …… the mountains are dangerous and you shouldn’t be on your own anymore, okay?”
“Yeah …… yeah ……!”
I learned about free love and the warmth of a kind heart trying to help someone.
I never forgot that warmth even after uncle drove me back to the royal capital and I returned to the royal castle.
I started to do everything from then on, lessons, study, exercise and everything else.
A world in which kind people like them are oppressed must not be created.
It should be a country where kind-hearted people are rewarded and live happily.
As I grew up and gained more knowledge, I realised that this country is the complete opposite of my ideals.
“I will definitely change …… this country! I will make it a country where everyone can live happily and where smiles and kindness abound. ……”