Extra's Path To No Harem-Chapter 211: Traitor [2]

"So, have you caught him?"

The question was asked calmly, yet the atmosphere in the room tightened the moment the name went unspoken.

"No. Unfortunately, he escaped."

Anna replied. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"He concealed his whereabouts starting the day before the incident. It seems he anticipated our movements."

A quiet breath passed through the room.

Leonardo.

A man once hailed as the empire’s strongest force.

A symbol of stability, power, and absolute loyalty.

And now—its greatest traitor.

Given who he was, capturing him would undoubtedly be a difficult task.

Not only did he possess overwhelming strength, but he also understood the empire’s systems, strategies, and weaknesses better than anyone.

After all, he had helped build them.

But no matter how skilled he might be, no matter how far he ran, he would eventually be caught.

That was inevitable.

Leonardo’s actions crossed an unmistakable line.

His actions were unmistakably treason.

He had raised his blade not just against an idea, but against the empire itself.

There would be no mercy for him.

They would mobilize every available force.

Intelligence networks, knights, mages, informants—nothing would be spared.

The empire could tolerate cracks in its image.

It could not tolerate a symbol turning against it.

Especially not one as powerful as Leonardo.

That was why it had only ever been a matter of time before he was caught.

"So it’s all over now..."

The wanted order against me has been lifted.

The dangerous elements have been captured.

The streets that once swallowed me whole have finally gone quiet.

We’ve reached the end of this long, exhausting story.

When I close my eyes, the moments I spent wandering the back alleys rise up uninvited.

Rain-soaked stone.

The smell of rust and smoke.

Footsteps that were never mine but always felt too close.

My body still aches, as if it refuses to forget.

Every stiff muscle feels like proof of how much I endured just to stay alive.

How many times I ran.

How many times I barely escaped.

Can I finally rest now?

The thought drifts through my mind, fragile but tempting.

The tension I’ve been gripping for so long begins to loosen, thread by thread.

For the first time in what feels like forever, sleep starts to pull me under instead of fear.

"By the way, Louis."

Just as I’m about to sink back into sleep, Anna’s cautious voice reaches me.

It’s soft, careful, as if she’s afraid the question itself might shatter something.

I open my eyes again and turn my head slightly.

"What is it?"

She hesitates.

I can see it in the way her fingers fidget with the blanket, the way her gaze avoids mine for a moment before finally meeting it.

"Why are you being so formal with me again?"

...What?

The question catches me completely off guard.

Why is she asking that all of a sudden?

I stare at her, genuinely puzzled.

For a moment, my exhausted brain struggles to understand what she even means.

Formal?

Then it clicks.

Since everything ended, since the title and the weight of the empire settled back onto her shoulders, I must have unconsciously drawn a line again.

Words chosen more carefully.

Distance where there hadn’t been one before.

I let out a small, confused breath.

"Because you’re the imperial princess?"

The answer feels obvious to me.

Too obvious.

Anna blinks.

Once.

Then again.

Anna was the only imperial princess in the entire empire.

Although she had younger siblings beneath her, she alone was named as the next Emperor. The court spoke of it as if it were a natural law—inevitable, unquestionable. And because of that, there was an invisible line drawn between her and people like me.

I couldn’t speak casually to someone like Anna.

Naturally, I had to use honorifics.

We were on different levels.

"In the armory, you called me by my name," Anna said, tilting her head slightly. "Why are you being formal again now?"

"What? When did I...?" The words slipped out before I could stop them. "...Oh?"

A vague memory surfaced, hazy but sharp around the edges.

The countdown. The red digits blinking mercilessly. The bomb’s timer screaming that there was no time left.

In that moment of urgency, I hadn’t been thinking about status or etiquette. I had spoken to Anna as if she were just another person standing beside me.

I had even ordered her to throw the bomb.

"No, that was—" I stopped myself mid-sentence.

Was she upset about that?

If she was going to reprimand me now, there was nothing I could do. Disrespecting the future Emperor wasn’t exactly something that could be brushed aside with an apology. My stomach tightened as I searched her face for any hint of displeasure.

Maybe—just maybe—if I pretended I didn’t remember, she would let it slide.

As I hurriedly scrambled for excuses, trying to arrange words polite enough to soften the situation, Anna spoke first.

"Call me by my name from now on."

"...What?"

Her words didn’t register right away. I blinked, certain I had misheard.

"Just call me by my name comfortably," she repeated. "No formalities. Speak casually."

Then she smiled.

Not the composed, ceremonial smile she wore in public, nor the distant one she used during official meetings. It was bright, open, and strangely warm—like sunlight breaking through a clouded sky.

I stared back at her, completely dumbfounded.

"...Are you sure?" I asked before I could stop myself. "I mean—Your Highness—"

She frowned immediately.

"There," she said, pointing at me. "That. Don’t do that."

I awkwardly closed my mouth. "Sorry. It’s just... habits don’t disappear that easily."

"I know," Anna replied softly. "That’s why I’m telling you now."

She took a step closer, her voice lowering just enough that it felt personal.

"In the armory," she continued, "you didn’t hesitate. You didn’t stop to think about who I was supposed to be. You trusted me."

I stiffened.

"I wasn’t thinking," I admitted. "I just wanted everyone to survive."

"That’s exactly my point," she said, eyes bright. "You spoke to me as Anna, not as the imperial princess. And I liked that."

Liked it...?

I didn’t know how to respond. The distance I had carefully maintained suddenly felt fragile, as if a single wrong word could shatter it.

"But the court—" I began.

"The court isn’t here," Anna cut in. "And even if it were, this is my decision."

She straightened her posture, and for just a moment, I caught a glimpse of the authority that made nobles bow and ministers tremble. Then it faded, replaced by something far more human.

"I’m tired of everyone measuring their words around me," she said quietly. "Tired of being treated like a title instead of a person."

She met my gaze.

"When you called my name, it felt... normal."

Silence settled between us.

I swallowed. "...Anna?"

Her eyes widened, then curved into a smile even brighter than before.

"Yes," she said. "That’s perfect."

Somehow, saying her name felt heavier than using any honorific. More dangerous. More intimate.

And yet—

For the first time, the distance between the imperial princess and myself felt just a little smaller.

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Author Note.

Thanks for reading and supporting the novel till now.

I hope you will continue to do so.