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In the novel <The Princess is Loved>, Damian Kraus is the antagonist. In fact, he is a villain who gets eliminated early on. There are ways to recycle a fallen villain, but at least in the story I saw, he doesn’t appear anymore.

From the perspective of the readers, who focus on the protagonist, Damian is merely a supporting character and serves as the starting signal for Elena’s serious actions. However, he is still tagged as the heir of the Count Kraus House, one of the three great martial families of the Empire.

Among the male candidates, there is Reinhardt Cromel, who is also from one of the three great martial families, and later reaches the level of Sword Master, known as the ‘Sword of Heaven.’ Despite not having attained the exalted status of Sword Master at the time, the imposing figure that Reinhardt showed led some readers to take an interest in the movements of the Count Kraus House, which is led by a Sword Master.

The head of the family, Arthur, directly knelt before Elena and Joachim to apologize, but readers speculated, “He’s probably grinding his teeth behind the scenes, waiting for revenge,” or “He’ll show up as a villain later.” Ultimately, what they hoped for did not happen.

In the Kraus family, the only disgrace is Damian Kraus. Just him.

After some developments in the story, the Count Kraus House does make a reappearance, through a boy named Alphonse Kraus.

Alphonse is the new heir of the Count House, taking Damian’s place, and appears as Elena’s ally.

The reason for this is as follows.

The reason the Kraus family can maintain their status as the great lord and ruler of the South isn’t just because their territory is fertile and well-located. The main reason is that the Kraus House is known as a famous swordsmanship family and serves as the protector of the Runfroud Mountain Range, which is teeming with monsters.

Every year, monsters that inhabit the mountains start large-scale migrations toward human settlements, and it is the Kraus family’s role to protect the people from the march of these monsters and lead the defense efforts.

However, heretics, who could be considered the shadowy villains in the story, appear and caused the frontline, which had been held until now, to collapse. As a result, most of the South falls apart, leaving only Sarham, under Arthur Kraus’s protection, as the last bastion.

To support Sarham, various families from the Empire send aid, including, of course, the Duke House of Edelweiss, among whom is Elena, who has grown into an outstanding sorceress.

With the protagonist’s arrival, the heretics’ fate is practically sealed. The heretics are swiftly dealt with, thanks to Elena and the male candidates following her.

At this time, Alphonse steps in, positioning himself as the heir of the Kraus House, meets Elena, apologizes for the wrongdoings of Damian, and offers help to ensure that Elena’s monster hunt goes smoothly.

Rather than a return of Damian, this kid barely even gets named; according to Alphonse, Damian’s whereabouts are a mystery. Readers joked that Damian must be the cause of the monster wave, wondering if he was too scared to show himself.

Probably because he has such an older brother, Alphonse’s appearance received a decent response.

He apologizes for his brother’s mistakes as if they were his own and shows actions throughout the hunting expedition worthy of being called a hero.

Some readers even speculated wildly that he might be the new male candidate.

With this episode, it was proven conclusively that the only trash in the Kraus family is Damian Kraus. At this point, one might even think that the gods crafted Damian with only malice towards Elena in mind.

So is my existence interlinked only with Elena? This is truly maddening.

Of course, I am now grateful to be Damian, with such a kind younger brother. From what I’ve heard from acquaintances, siblings tend to shed their past personalities as they grow, regardless of gender.

But perhaps knowing such a future was why things were like this.

Knowing that despite having a brother like Damian, he grew up just fine may be the reason I felt some relief.

I even forgot that the kid was still not even ten years old.

*

A portrait hangs above Elena and me.

In the painting, there is a woman sitting quietly in a chair. She has light brown hair and emerald-like green eyes. The aura she gives off simply by being in place is wonderfully captured in the painting.

And a young boy with the same color now trembles right in front of me.

I looked around. Had he come alone without any attendants? There were no other people aside from us. Perhaps he got lost. It wouldn’t be surprising for a little child to lose themselves in the immense Count Kraus’s Lord Castle.

But that’s precisely why attendants should be around him.

Just looking at the armor displayed in the hallway tells me that even a healthy adult man could suffer a serious accident if he were to trip over one. Where on earth have the attendants gone, leaving Alphonse all alone? Regardless of how he might grow in the future, Alphonse was now just a seven-year-old child.

Maybe that’s why I inadvertently frowned.

“Big… Brother… that…”

Upon seeing my face, the words trailed off in Alphonse’s mouth, and in his hand was something grasped tightly.

The object wasn’t something that could easily be hidden in a child’s small hand. A shiny golden chain slipped through the cracks of Alphonse’s fingers. Attached to the chain was a necklace bearing our family’s crest. I also knew well what that necklace represented.

The portrait of our mother with the cloth draped over, and the Isilia Pavilion filled with traces of her. And the locket held in Alphonse’s hand.

At that moment, I began to understand what was happening now.

I rubbed my furrowed forehead with my fingers, knelt to Alphonse’s eye level, and said.

“Alphonse. What are you doing here alone without any attendants? What if you get hurt?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Have you always come here at this time?”

“….”

Alphonse didn’t respond. But I could tell that his silence meant yes without needing a reply.

My visits to the Isilia Pavilion were always at the same time. And today was not that day. If it hadn’t been for Elena, today’s Isilia Pavilion would have been empty. Then why was Alphonse here, without attendants, avoiding my gaze?

While the Isilia Pavilion isn’t strictly forbidden, that is.

“Father.”

The truth about that was already vaguely becoming clear in my mind. There was only one person who could control Alphonse’s actions within the family.

I turned my head to look up at Elena, standing next to me.

She met my gaze without saying anything.

Elena smiled gently and greeted Alphonse.

“We met last night. I’m Elena Edelweiss.”

In response to Elena’s greeting, Alphonse, who had been maintaining his silence, finally opened his mouth. Despite being still young, Alphonse was learning the etiquette of nobility, so he knew it was rude to ignore a lady’s greeting.

“…Ah, I’m Alphonse Kraus. And… you can just call me Alphonse. Since you’re engaged to my brother.”

“Yes, understood. Young Master Alphonse.”

At the end of her sentence, Elena softly smiled, causing Alphonse’s ears to turn red.

The power of beauty is indeed tremendous. She brought Alphonse to his knees in an instant.

I held Alphonse’s hand and said to her.

“Elena. It seems we should take Alphonse back to his room. Unfortunately, I think we need to cut our exploration of the Isilia Pavilion short today.”

“Hmm, it’s unfortunate, but I think that’s the best course of action. Shall we try again tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry… it’s my fault…”

I gently patted Alphonse’s head as he continued to apologize. I felt even more guilty myself. Alphonse seemed to be worried whether I would ask about what happened today, but the person I needed to speak with wasn’t Alphonse.

My head started to throb again at the series of continuous events. After my engagement with Elena, now it’s Alphonse? Was the problem of the Kraus family not mine alone?

It felt as though events that should have happened to me, which had been at a standstill, were now pouring in all at once.

 

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