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A few more days had come and gone, and the princess appeared to mostly recover from her injuries. She still had a slight limp when walking and her nose was a little crooked to one side, but it didn't look that bad. Or so Rifana claimed. Not like there was a mirror in this place or even enough light to get a proper look.
As for Rifana, she seemed back to her relatively chipper self, even with worries about Keel weighting on her. Malty thought it pointless to fret over something neither of them could change. When she is back in her rightful place in the capital she'd dispatch people to search for the boy, as well as Rifana's other missing friend, Raphtalia.
Recent events aside, both of them were still going stir-crazy and were desperately trying to find new ways to entertain themselves. It ranged from the so called 'exercise' to increasingly less awkward dance practice (as much as the cramped space allowed) to word games, which both of them were terrible at.
Malty even tried to teach Rifana some spells, despite the fact that she herself couldn't cast them yet. Damn her complacency in allowing her parents do dictate whether or not she should level up!
"As the source of thy power, and future queen, I command you, decipher the laws of nature and incinerate my enemies. Faust Fire Blast!"
Rifana repeated Malty's incantation word for word and the princess laughed. The girl glared back.
"I don't see what's so funny, Your Highness. Nothing happened for you either."
"Um, it's not that. The 'future queen' part."
"But you said it."
"Well, I am the future queen. What? You've got something to say?"
"Nothing, Your highness. So what should I call myself then?"
"Eh, nothing? You don't have to add anything like that."
"Then why did you do it?"
"Because I wanted to. Stop asking stupid questions or no more lessons for you!"
What? Malty never claimed to be a saint, and the cheeky brat could still annoy her from time to time.
For the next few minutes Rifana sulked. The princess sighed. Did she spoil the girl too much? Maybe spoiled was better than frightened? She didn't know. No one but her mother and sister would dare to talk back to Malty as much as the weasel girl seemed to be doing lately. You'd think she'd be more respectful after the princess saved her life!
The next day things were mostly back to normal between them. Malty managed to embarrass herself by drooling all over Rifana's hair in the night. It wasn't her fault she couldn't breathe properly through her nose! At least the girl seemed to agree and just laughed it off in the morning. Then the princess had a good laugh herself as she rubbed at Rifanas's head and ears with the edge of the blanket while the girl squirmed and whined.
Being back to normal meant having to suffer through more uncomfortable questions from Rifana.
"Why is your level so low, Your highness? You said you were good with a sword, right?"
"I am. It's not about skill. How about that, why is YOUR level so low?"
The girl appeared to think.
"Well, I'd have to kill monsters to level up, right? And we kids weren't allowed to go out of the village without an escort. And even then, the adult hunters or adventurers were the ones doing the killing. I guess, everyone thought it would be too dangerous for us."
"Exactly. Look at it this way, how many adventurers survive until they are level 40?"
"I don't know."
"One in five or less. I think. Anyway, you can't level up through weak monsters, you need to kill the ones at your level or higher. And you need to do it alone, I mean, the party can help, but the EXP gain is pitifully small that way."
"Can't you share the experience from your party members? Without actually killing the monster yourself?"
"Not effectively. Only the Heroes can do it. Being in a Hero's party is a sure way to level up quickly. Otherwise it doesn't work nearly as well. Think about it. If I could level up from other people's kills, I could've just ordered my knights to go out and kill monsters all day while I would sit in the palace drinking wine and getting EXP points."
"That would've been unfair. I see. So you didn't want to risk monster hunting on your own? Wouldn't the knights still be nearby to protect you?"
"I know, right? It's not that I didn't want it, but both my mother and father forbade it. I guess, it was the only thing they agreed on regarding me. Even if for different reasons."
"What do you mean, Your highness?"
"Never mind. You don't want to get too deep into my family dynamics."
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry, Your highness."
"Didn't I tell you to stop it with 'Your highness' business? At least while we are in this cell. It's getting really annoying."
"Um, what should I call you then, princess Malty?"
"See, princess Malty is fine. You can even call me Malty, I don't care. At least when we are alone."
"I'd rather not. What if I slip up and do it in front of others later? I don't want to get in trouble."
"Who'd you get in trouble with? If anyone bothers you, I'll deal with them myself!"
Rifana just shrugged and turned away. What was wrong with that girl now? Sometimes it felt like Malty was walking on eggshells around her. But she didn't want them to revert back to wary politeness either.
"What's wrong now, Rifana? What did I say for you to sulk like that?"
"I'm not sulking, Your highness. Princess Malty. Whatever."
"Oh, real mature."
The girl just mumbled something in response.
"Speak up if you've got something to say!"
"What happens when you change your mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you wanted me to die a few weeks ago, now you are treating me like a sister! How do I know what happens when we get out?"
"Believe me, I am not treating you like a sister, and you should be happy I'm not. My sister is a spoiled brat anyway."
"Is that the only part you heard, Your highness?"
"Ugh. Stop being difficult. I heard you perfectly well. When will you get it into your head that I never wanted you to die?"
"Of course."
"I didn't! What am I supposed to do for you to trust me? Get punched in the face again?"
"No, just tell me the truth!"
They fell silent for a moment and just sat there, breathing heavily. Rifana's pretty face got red and her fists were clenched tightly in her lap. Malty herself felt like shaking the girl and screaming at her, but somehow held back. She inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times and watched Rifana follow her example after a few seconds. How did they come to this? Everything seemed fine for days, maybe weeks.
Malty tried to think of what to say. She didn't owe Rifana anything. In fact, if the girl was her servant, she'd be getting lashes or worse for screaming at the princess. But she couldn't imagine doing anything like that to Rifana. What's more, at the thought of anyone punishing Rifana that way, the princess felt rage so hot, it scared her for a moment. No, this girl was her... her what? It didn't matter, Rifana was simply hers and was going to stay that way. Malty couldn't imagine ever changing her mind.
But that was the problem. Rifana didn't know any of that. The girl was probably still afraid of being discarded. How could the princess convince her otherwise?
Tell her the truth? Was it that simple. The truth could scare her away, but then again, maybe not. What was there to lose?
"You want the truth? Fine. I was initially planning to get rid of you. Not because I wanted you dead! I had nothing against you."
Rifana's face scrunched as if she wanted to cry. Shit. Wasn't there a saying that truth hurts? It appeared to be true. But Malty went on.
"Listen, Rifana. The truth is... I was ashamed. Ashamed and embarrassed by my weakness. I didn't want anyone to see me that way."
"And was that enough... enough reason to kill me? To kill Keel?"
"It wasn't. Alright? It wasn't. I was probably just in shock."
The girl looked skeptical still. Malty considered her own words. Were they true? Didn't she wish people dead for petty reasons before? Not that she acted on that, but that was mostly due to not having any real power under her mother's rule.
If Rifana bumped into her on that street instead of Rabier, would she have hit the girl? She lowered her head at the thought. Yes, she would've. Maybe worse. If she had her knights with her, and Rifana looked as she was now, dirty and dressed in rags? The princess shuddered at the image of what the old Malty would have done.
Old Malty. Was that it? Had she just changed so much over the short time stuck in this cell? With Rifana?
"I... No. It... it wasn't just shock."
Rifana's eyes widened at this admission, but for some reason her face seemed to lighten a little as if she got some new hope.
"I actually wouldn't have cared whether you lived or died at the time. I just was that kind of a person. But I'm not like that anymore, I swear!"
A small smile touched the girl's lips as if the words were a comfort instead of a damning evidence of Malty's character. But the princess herself was agitated now, she felt short of breath and her vision was getting foggy.
"You've got to believe me! I've changed, alright? I did! I'm not just going to go back to old Malty once we're freed. Am I?"
Suddenly, gentle hands cupped her face and through the fog she could see the girl's smile.
"Breathe, just breathe. In and out. It's fine. I believe you!"
After Malty's embarrassing episode was over, the princess shook her head and looked at Rifana in confusion.
"Why would you believe me? I don't even know what I were saying. How can a person change so much in a few weeks? Am I just fooling myself?"
"I don't know, Your... Malty. I don't know, but I think if you really want to change, you can."
"You think it's that easy?"
"Does it feel easy?"
"No, not really. Huh. Maybe you're right."
They didn't talk much after that, but the mood felt different than ever before as they prepared for another night in their small straw-covered corner.
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A/N: When are they finally getting out of that cell? Are they just going to spend the rest of their days there? Well, I sure hope not. Maybe the next chapter we'll finally meet Naofumi though and find out what happened to him.
Oh, by the way. Clearly, nothing romantic is going to happen between them until Rifana is grown and a couple of years after that at least. Same goes for Naofumi and Raphtalia. Maybe I'll have a time skip later.
