Chapter 222: Lex's Promise

"You, Lex Lane, shall be executed tomorrow for offending the Royal Family."

The blonde Princess, lips pressed tight, delivered the death sentence. She looked at the man in the cage, declared his execution, yet she had not come merely for this.

Her Highness the Princess, knowing this was merely a misunderstanding, had come specifically to forgive the male protagonist.

Guided by fate, she entrusted him with a difficult task; their cooperation gradually formed a subtle emotion. How traditional and romantic a development—what nonsense!

"The Seal of Mosoro."

The Princess raised her long sword-staff, tapped the iron gate, and silver-white sealing light covered the cage.

"I know you are good at picking locks. Try a magic lock!"

The girl showed a smile missing a front tooth, smiling with great satisfaction.

"... You are doomed! I said it. Guards." She turned back and spoke to the prison guards.

"Watch him closely; keep him safe all night. If he escapes, execute him immediately. If he runs, the ones facing the execution ground will be you!"

The offended lioness smiled happily; she had come specifically to deliver the final blow.

No fairy tales, no love stories, only the offended dignity of the Royal Family, the dignity of the King offended, and a furious lioness swearing to kill.

The cruel class hierarchy stood between the two; before the swept-away dignity of the Royal Family, no one could save the unlucky Lex, and no one even dared to speak for him.

"Oh dear, it seems I really am done for..." Lex sighed.

So, he happily used a spoon and cup as percussion instruments, giving his cellmate a concert all night, turning "Our Princess is missing a front tooth" and "Beware that petty lioness, she will eat you" into a suite.

Lex, near death, only then discovered he actually possessed a talent for a bard; the little tunes he composed were not only catchy but had a particularly novel, cheerful, and ear-catching rhythm... Soon, even the guards could sing a few lines.

If the Princess did not conduct a thorough cleanup later, this tune would not only spread outside but also carry the amusing tale of the Princess losing a tooth.

In fact, the first few folk titles for Her Highness the Princess later on, such as "Her Highness the Princess with the Windy Speech" and "Her Highness the Princess with False Teeth," probably all originated here.

And afterwards, she basically never smiled with her mouth open, which was partly due to this reason.

Lex celebrated wildly all night, a final madness before death... yet he still did not die.

Because he was indeed a good person. On one hand, many who owed him favors came specifically to rescue him; on the other hand, besides being a good lock-picker, he was also a good mason, and amidst the chaos of the prison invasion, he directly dug out and collapsed the prison walls.

Ultimately, after experiencing a series of events, he escaped the death-row prison.

Originally, he thought he would have to develop in a different place or even a different country, but...

"The Sword of the Hero chose him?! No reason! Even a bipedal wild bear has more sense than him!" The Princess that day could not accept it at all.

"But... he indeed has great courage, very great courage; he is utterly fearless."

Events often unfold without reason; the Blade of Courage at the Hero Selection Ceremony chose Lex without hesitation.

And this twist, after experiencing a series of events, ultimately led to reconciliation between Lex and the Royal Family.

But do not expect Lex and Her Highness the Princess to reconcile; their relationship truly deserves the title of mortal enmity.

The Hero back then did not actually hold such high status; it was more like an ancient and powerful legacy. The Kingdom's Royal Family preserved it and could, to a certain extent, command it.

A stable source of high-end combat power—who wouldn't like it... but that was all; just a steadily improving golden-handed enforcer.

The previous Heroes were probably at the level of the Deputy Commander of the Royal Knights.

Later, the Hero's status became so special that the entire Kingdom was called the Land of the Hero... In the end, it was because Lex was strong, not because the profession was strong.

Lex, having obtained the Sword of the Hero and the title, actually became more arrogant and a bastard.

He started directly charging the expenses of the Flower District to the Royal Family, especially Her Highness the Princess; whenever they met, they would exchange vicious words.

If nothing unexpected happened, the two would likely never see each other again until death, and the Lord Hero might obtain the title of "The Worst Hero in History."

But war broke out.

Lex on the battlefield and Lex off the battlefield were truly two completely different people.

On the battlefield, he was the incarnation of the God of War, wisdom filled with rational intuition, always in an offensive state; victory after victory crazily accumulated his reputation and popularity.

Off the battlefield, calling him a salted fish would be an overstatement; most of the time he was at banquets and in the Flower District, a standard rotten scoundrel.

The only thing worth praising was probably his gradually rising singing skills and creative desire; too many songs with the theme "The Princess is a Toothless Lioness" were created, further driving Marianna crazy.

Their relationship continued to deteriorate, but in reality, Lex could only gain some superficial advantages; after all, this country was ultimately hers... at least in the future.

With the passing of years, the title of Hero grew louder and louder; constant victories gradually crowned him with the laurel of "The Strongest Hero."

Her Highness the Princess became mature and stable; having already started intervening in state affairs, she was no longer impulsive. Although her relationship with the Hero Lex was still very poor, at least it was passable on the surface.

"Does she have any weakness?" After another confrontation, Lex felt that Marianna seemed very hard to provoke, so he was inexplicably a bit annoyed.

So, he did the thing he would regret most in this world; he followed Marianna and planned to play a prank.

"Eh? She can smile like this?"

For the first time, in a private royal garden, Marianna's childlike smile of satisfaction surprised him a bit.

What surprised him even more was the person in black clothing who made the Princess smile so sweetly.

She... it should be her, wrapped entirely in black oilcloth, seemingly suffering from a serious illness, covered with a mess of sealing characters, and wearing a mask on her face that obscured most of her features.

"Ha, the legendary Princess's younger sister? It's actually true?"

Lex at that time did not take the rumors of the Second Princess seriously; instead, he came up with a rotten, pus-filled bastard idea; he decided...

"Since that toothless Princess values her sister so much, if I go and seduce her, heh heh, that should be quite interesting."

So, the fairy tale became reality.

The Hero cut through the thorns, forced back the guards, climbed Gao Ta, saw the caged bird in the tower, and fell in love with her.

Yes, he fell in love with her, but it was not so-called love at first sight.

"Small eyebrows, small hands and feet, pure black hair, the quiet and weak Princess is reading again... Eh, has the little bird she saved finally flown?" "Why do you do your own laundry? Don't you have maids?"

"Her drawing is terrible; is it a happy time with her sister? Pity, that lioness won't see you again for at least a month."

"Her singing is quite nice, though."

At some point, he always quietly infiltrated the depths of the palace and brewed his so-called revenge plan, but as he watched and watched, he stopped.

This girl was very pure, very kind, very innocent, even foolishly talking to birds and chatting with thorns.

But this purity, at some unknown time, made the Heroine, accustomed to turmoil, content with merely watching her in silence.

It seemed that in this very moment, his restless heart also settled down.

An utterly unreasonable love finally brewed in his heart; the prodigal son, seemingly cursed by the God of Love, finally began to turn back.

Finally, unable to endure it any longer, he went to her door.

"Um, who are you?"

"Me? I am the Heroine, the one who will save you. Imprisoned Princess, do you wish to go out and see? See the mountains covered in flowers, see the seawater filled with saltiness, and smell the fragrance of the flowers in the Flower Valley."

In this moment, the Heroine became a Heroine for one person, even prepared to betray the kingdom.

"I, I refuse. I cannot leave; it would cause trouble for everyone."

But the black-haired Princess refused him, her will in her weak eyes being very firm.

Yet, she was facing Laina, who never knew what it meant to retreat.

"Just go play, and you will know!"

Without a second word, the Heroine whisked the Princess away; just as promised, he took her to the mountains, to the seaside, and to the plain's flower valley.

That was a period of crazy playtime; in matters of play, Laina was nearly invincible, and his singing and dancing gave the little Princess a brand new experience.

They donned masks to act as righteous heroes together, rode giant dragons for a joyride together, and danced amidst the sea of flowers together.

Then, he rarely acted as a gentleman and returned her; mainly due to the little Princess's insistence, Laina had actually prepared to never return.

"It won't work next time; it will cause trouble for people! Um, Heroine Brother..."

But upon leaving, the little Princess, wearing a purple flower hairpin, finally lowered her head and thanked the Heroine for his kindness.

"... Will you come to see me again? Come to see me by chance? Talk to me about things outside."

What the little Princess requested was merely this.

And then? Then what was meant to happen happened naturally; overjoyed Laina would not miss this opportunity, and he spent most of his time in private meetings with the little Princess.

But he, still rarely acting as a gentleman, silently prepared to leave the kingdom.

Did anyone discover it? Actually, yes; the only person in the entire kingdom who doted on the little Princess was her older sister.

She first tried to stop it, but it was completely useless; she feared even more that if it blew up, news of the Second Princess would leak out.

She was initially driven mad with anger, but after a deep sisterly conversation one night, seeing her younger sister show genuine joy and a smile for the first time, she made a concession for the first time in her life.

"Scum... be good to her. If I find out you have betrayed her, I will absolutely kill you!" Perhaps, for the helpless First Princess, only a scum who feared nothing dared to approach her sister, who was entangled by curses and rumors.

At that time, Laina was overjoyed and, for the first time, did not speak evil words to Marianna.

Everything seemed to be improving; the prodigal son stabilized and began to turn back; Laina, who was working seriously for the first time and showing his potential, was simply too ridiculously strong... He very easily became the strongest in the kingdom, acknowledged by all sides!

It was just that when he received his title beneath the Crown, he was thinking about whether he had the confidence to withstand the siege of all the kingdom's knights.

He had truly prepared to break out of the country alone after the matter was exposed.

But war broke out again.

To be precise, war had not stopped during that period, but this time, even Laina had no confidence in returning.

He simply went to see his own Princess as usual, pretending everything was smooth.

But this time, seeing him with new scars on his body again, the little Princess gave him a small surprise.

"Brother Laina, I promise you; when you return, we will leave together..." The little Princess actually took the initiative to confess the feelings she had always suppressed.

"... To a place where no one knows us, we will live together."

The words of confession, the black-haired Princess still could not speak; finally, with her eyes closed, she offered a sweet kiss.

And overjoyed Laina, for the only time in his life, knelt halfway and presented a ring woven from fresh flower vines.

"Mm, when I return, we will elope... I love you too, my little Princess, my future little wife; I will make you happy."

Speaking thus, he even lifted the little Princess and started laughing while spinning in circles.

This was like the sweetest dream... Only the dream was gradually breaking, and cruel reality was becoming real.

"May you remain forever youthful like this flower ring, may our love never wither. Rosalind, I love you so much, I love you so much; I will make you the happiest girl in this world."

Li En, sleeping in a daze, finally broke free from this dream; the muttering from his mouth, however, spoke a name he did not know.

"Rosalind, cute, small, sweet... I love you; I will make you happy, my little Princess."

He gradually woke up, touching his head, slowly recalling the absurd dream.

Yet he did not know that in his room, a shadowy bird had watched him all night and attempted to pounce several times... Finally, only after he spoke the name "Rosalind" did it quietly vanish.

Upon his bedsheet, a flower ring that had been dried for a long time was gradually turning to ash.

(End of this chapter)