Mo Wang, male, approximately twenty years of age. Current occupation: a rookie in the Kanterbury Kingdom's Guardian Knights.
Secret identity: the hero chosen by a higher power to save the world. Possesses the strength to defeat even demon lords and gods. Arguably the strongest hero in history.
And yet, at this very moment, this powerful individual was in a state of utter panic.
"Um, Your Highness, do you really have to follow me around like this?" he asked, a pained expression on his face.
The Future Princess, a dark aura radiating from her, was scanning their surroundings with a grim intensity, as if expecting an assassin to leap out at any moment.
"Is there a problem?" she asked, her voice cold enough to make him shiver.
"N-no, I was just wondering... shouldn't you be trying to get back to the future?"
Her presence is really stressing me out, he thought. He couldn't figure out why she was suddenly so on edge.
"It's fine," she said. "The Fourth Corps Commander has been dealt with. The Floating Castle can manage without me for now. Besides, I don't know how to travel through time yet. Just focus on your own work."
But I'm the one who can't focus! he wanted to scream. He had just wanted to skip training and slack off, but now he was stuck with a beautiful blonde girl shadowing his every move. And he couldn't just ditch her; he had to go to the Knightly Order and face... her.
Queen Camilla. As beautiful as she was, her ambition and extreme sister complex were too much for him to handle.
(Did she figure out I was planning to run away?!) he thought, stealing a glance at her.
But the princess wasn't worried about him skipping training. She was worried about him getting hurt.
She vaguely remembered a time, before the invasion, when she had snuck out of the palace to see him, only to find him covered in blood.
(Who attacked him that day? Why?)
The more she thought about it, the darker her expression became.
...
The moment Mo Wang stepped onto the training grounds, the chatter died down.
"Well, well, if it isn't our little prince of truancy," a bearded veteran sneered. "Did you get lost on your way to the tavern?"
Mo Wang just chuckled nervously, acutely aware of the pair of icy eyes staring at him from behind a nearby tree.
"Hahaha! Look at those scrawny arms! You can't even hold a wooden sword properly!"
Just then, a bone-chilling aura descended upon the training grounds. The veterans' laughter died in their throats.
The princess stepped out from behind the tree, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Who," she said, her voice like ice, "did you just call weak?"
The two veterans, seasoned warriors though they were, were terrified. Her presence was even more intimidating than Captain Eva's.
In her eyes, Mo Wang was a hero, a man who remained optimistic and fought to protect the kingdom even in the face of adversity. His weakness was her fault, and to hear these men mock him for it... it was unforgivable.
What she didn't know, of course, was that they were just stating the facts. Mo Wang's reputation as a slacker and troublemaker was well-earned.
Just then, a familiar voice cut through the tension. "What's going on here?"
The princess's expression froze. "E... Eva..." she whispered, her eyes welling up with tears.
The young captain looked at her, a strange sense of déjà vu washing over her. "This is a restricted area. Who... are you?"
The princess opened her mouth, but no words came out. The Eva from her time would have ruffled her hair and teased her for staying up too late. This Eva was a stranger.
"Mo Wang, who is this?" she demanded, her suspicion falling on him.
He panicked. A distant relative? A lost noblewoman? A passing adventurer? None of them would work.
"She's my girlfriend!" he blurted out.
The training grounds fell silent.
The princess froze, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.
"...What?" Eva finally managed to say.
"Uh... yeah, she's my girlfriend. She came to watch me train, so... she got a little emotional."
Eva's eyes narrowed, but seeing the princess's mortified expression, she sighed. "...Fine. But this is a training ground, not a lover's lane. And you," she said, glaring at Mo Wang, "since you're here, you're not getting out of it. Double the training for you today!"
"Captain! That's too harsh!"
"Triple, then."
"No, no! Double is fine!"
She then turned to the princess. "As for you... you can watch from the sidelines, but don't interfere."
The princess just nodded, her head bowed.
As Eva walked away, the other knights erupted in a flurry of whispers.
"Hey, hey! Mo Wang has a girlfriend?!"
"And a beautiful blonde one at that?!"
"Damn it! Why does a slacker like him get all the luck?!"
"Get lost, all of you! Is it so surprising that I have a girlfriend? No wonder you're all single!" Mo Wang snapped, and then turned to the princess, only to find her staring at him with a terrifying expression he had never seen before.
(What's going on now? Is she angry?)
PS: The Preservation Mo Wang's signature diamond-like inability to understand a girl's heart.