The Abandoned Princess, Yet She Is Loved - Chapter 77

Grace clenched her teeth. She had definitely learned this during combat training, but now that she had to use her power in real life, it didn’t seem to work well.

 

“I have to do this. Otherwise, it’ll be dangerous.”

 

She gathered energy in her core and drew up her Quantum. A white aura formed in her hand.

 

“Let’s convert it to an element.”

 

The most effective way to attack a flying monster would be by using wind, but Grace hadn’t learned wind-based attacks yet. So far, she had only trained with water and fire.

 

She decided to use water, the element she had learned first.

 

She focused and converted the Quantum into water. Droplets appeared, and she shaped them into a long, sharp form.

 

Aris and Seri had already formed spears or spheres of water and fire and were hurling them at the monsters.

 

“Aaah! Watch out!”

 

Just as Grace was about to throw her water spear, a wave of people surged toward her, pushing her away.

 

“Ah…!”

 

Grace let out a short scream and stumbled. By the time she regained her balance, Aris and Seri were nowhere to be seen. As she tried to refocus and gather energy in her hand again—

 

“Grace!”

 

A desperate voice called out, and someone wrapped her in an embrace. It was Frederick, who had tossed aside his helmet.

 

“Frederick!”

 

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

 

Frederic urgently checked her over.

 

“No, I’m fine.”

 

“Run quickly. The Imperial Knights will protect this place.”

 

“But I can fight too.”

 

Grace looked up at the monsters flying through the sky. She wanted to be of help, even a little, in this crisis.

 

“You don’t need to fight on the front lines. You haven’t even completed your training. You have no real combat experience. You could get seriously hurt—or worse.”

 

“But…”

 

“Don’t be stubborn. Just go.”

 

Frederic said firmly. But Grace hesitated, unable to step away so easily.

 

“Please, go somewhere safe. I’m begging you.”

 

He spoke with a pleading tone.

 

That’s not fair. Grace bit her lip. He had never spoken like that before. When he did, she didn’t know how to refuse.

 

“Frederick… please stay safe.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not weak enough to be beaten by such worthless monsters.”

 

But… you’re the one sending me away so I don’t have to face those worthless monsters…

 

Grace swallowed the words rising in her throat.

 

“Please go. There’s no time.”

 

Left with no choice, Grace did as Frederick asked. He could only fight freely if she left. She followed the crowd evacuating the area, glancing back.

 

Frederic raised his sword. A blue aura surged from the blade. Monsters nearby charged toward him. Frederick stood still, not moving an inch, then swung his sword just as they got close.

 

“Krrraaagh!”

 

With a terrible screech, three or four monsters were sliced clean in half in an instant. Frederick immediately turned to face the others. The nearby knights also drew their swords and began slashing down the attacking beasts.

 

“This way, quickly!”

 

Some knights had cleared a path and were guiding the women and children to safety.

 

“Miriam! Miriam!”

 

“No! No!”

 

The air was filled with the screams of people who had lost family or friends.

 

Mages and Armento also stood against the monsters. Attacks using mana and elemental power were flying through the air. Grace’s heart grew heavier.

 

“I want to get stronger… fast.”

 

She had learned how to fight—so why couldn’t she do it properly? She hated how powerless she felt. What if she was even just as skilled as Aris or Seri? Aris had been training for a while, and Seri had received training in her home country—both were more skilled than Grace in handling elements.

 

She didn’t leave because she wanted to run away. She just didn’t want to be a burden to Frederick. He needed all his strength to fight the monsters; the last thing she wanted was to weigh him down.

 

Outside the arena, crowds had gathered near the royal palace. Grace headed in that direction.

 

Aris and Seri were nowhere to be seen—they were probably still inside the arena.

 

“Ahhh…”

 

Injured people were everywhere. Some had light scratches, others had broken limbs, and some were bleeding heavily from deep gashes made by claws.

 

“Ahhh…”

 

“Hold on a bit longer, Hanna went to get a healer.”

 

Right beside her, a wounded man was groaning in pain. A woman who seemed to be a family member was anxiously tending to him.

 

He looked to be in the worst condition. The wound on his abdomen, visible through his torn clothes, was gaping too widely. At this rate, he might die from excessive bleeding.

 

It would be best to stitch the wound, but there were no tools nearby. Grace thought that maybe lightly cauterizing the wound with a small flame could help.

 

“Um… may I help for a moment?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I think we need to stop the bleeding.”

 

“Is… is that possible?”

 

The woman asked with desperate eyes. Grace approached the injured man. Seeing him sweating and moaning in pain made her heart ache.

 

“First, we should… clean the wound.”

 

She didn’t have much medical knowledge, but she figured cleaning it would be the first step to avoid infection. Grace gathered Quantum in her hand and converted it into water.

 

“Uh…?”

 

The woman’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar sight. Grace ignored her curiosity and poured the water over the wound.

 

“Ugh…”

 

The man groaned as the water touched the torn flesh.

 

“Using fire will hurt more…”

 

“This might sting a little, but I’ll cool it down right away.”

 

Grace brought her hand close to the wound, carefully gathering fire in her other hand. She needed to use it delicately—just enough to seal the torn skin while minimizing damage. She took a deep breath as she gathered more Quantum.

 

“…Oh.”

 

But during that breath, she lost her balance. Her upper body tilted forward, and the Quantum she had gathered spilled over the man’s body.

 

“…?”

 

His body was wrapped in a white aura for a few seconds, then returned to normal.

 

“What?”

 

Grace and the woman’s eyes widened at the same time. The gaping wound, visible through his torn clothes, had completely disappeared.

 

“My… my goodness.”

 

“Wh-what…”

 

The man himself looked stunned, glancing back and forth between his healed abdomen and Grace’s face.

 

“Jamie! Jamie, are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, sis. It doesn’t hurt at all… the wound… it’s gone.”

 

“…Why?”

 

Grace couldn’t understand it either. Aside from her desire to heal him, she hadn’t done anything special.

 

“Thank you, thank you! You saved him!”

 

“Ah, um…”

 

The woman, now crying, grabbed Grace’s hands. Grace nodded, still dazed. She never imagined her power could heal. None of the Armento at Panbion had ever told her such a thing.

 

“This is amazing…”

 

Grace stared blankly at her hands. She had healing power?

 

“Excuse me, there’s another injured person over here…”

 

Someone else called to her. When she turned, a woman was bleeding, her arm nearly severed.

 

“Yes, I’m coming.”

 

She wasn’t sure it would work again, but Grace approached the woman. She gathered Quantum and poured it over the injury. The woman’s arm was surrounded by white light, and a moment later, it was perfectly healed.

 

“My… my arm!”

 

The woman joyfully waved her arm. Her family members embraced her in relief.

 

“Thank goodness! We don’t need to amputate!”

 

“Ahhh, thank you! Thank you!”

 

Grace accepted their gratitude in a daze.

 

“Um… we’re injured too. Can you help us?”

 

“Oh, yes.”

 

She looked around. Many injured people and their families were gazing at her with desperate eyes. Grace nodded.

 

“I’ll heal you.”