**Chapter 2**
**Episode 15: The Princess Finds Me Anyway**
(≈720 words)
"Teleport"
A ripple of space, a lurch in my gut, and I was spat out on a quiet side road a few kilometers from the coliseum.
Safe.
No screaming crowds, no flower glasses, no teenage dark-history cultists.
Just trees, breeze, and blessed silence.
I staggered to the shade of an old oak, slid down the trunk, and waited for the usual post-Teleport nausea to pass.
"Ugh… that's disgusting…"
I really hate this spell.
Worth it, though. Elena and her royal goons were never catching me now.
Prize money? I'll have Ardi wire it later.
Or just rob his safe again. Same thing.
I closed my eyes, let the wind cool my face, and almost—almost—relaxed.
"Are you okay?"
A voice like wind chimes.
I opened one eye.
White dress.
Wide-brimmed white hat.
Snow-white hair fluttering like silk.
Skin so flawless it looked airbrushed.
The kind of beauty that makes traffic stop and bards weep.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
No way.
No way no way no way—
"I was so… worried."
Princess Rafine Odium Refinard smiled like an angel who'd come to collect my soul.
I shot to my feet so fast I nearly headbutted a branch.
"I-I'm fine! Just resting! Gotta go—"
I tried to bolt.
A delicate hand caught my sleeve.
"Please wait! Since we're here… why don't we have tea? Just a little?"
Her eyes were sparkling.
My fight-or-flight response broke.
I tried again, voice cracking. "Really, I'm in a—"
"I see…"
She let go, ears drooping like a kicked puppy.
"Then… just one thing."
She pulled out a portrait.
Black hair, black eyes, dead-fish expression.
100% accurate.
Reward poster vibes.
I looked away so hard my neck hurt.
"I'm looking for someone. If you ever see him…"
"Never seen him in my life."
"That's unfortunate…"
She clasped her hands, smiling sadly.
"If you do meet him, please tell him this."
I was already sweating bullets.
"I'm sure Jirei-sama had his reasons for disappearing. I was too excited back then… I only thought about my feelings. I'm sorry, truly sorry."
She bowed slightly, voice trembling.
"Nine years of feelings overflowed… I said selfish things like 'love only me.'
I still want that, but Jirei-sama is so attractive—other women falling for him is inevitable.
But I'm his legal wife. I won't yield that position."
My soul left my body.
"And living under the same roof with a woman he's not married to… please be moderate. Even if you have no feelings, she might.
Could you tell him that?"
I nodded like a bobblehead.
Rafine's face lit up like sunrise.
"Thank you. One more thing…"
She blushed, cheeks pink, eyes shining.
"Congratulations on winning the tournament, Jirei-sama.
You were so, so cool.
It reminded me all over again—no one else will ever do.
I'll only marry you."
She gave the most graceful curtsy in existence.
"Well then."
And walked away, humming, dress fluttering like a dream.
I stood frozen for what felt like a solid thirty minutes.
Brain.exe had stopped working.
When motor functions finally returned, I did the only rational thing.
I turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction like every demon in hell was behind me.
New life plan, effective immediately:
1. Change continent
2. Change planet
3. Maybe change dimension
4.Fake my own death
5. Never come back
Because apparently teleportation is useless when your stalker is a princess with protagonist-level luck.
I ran until my lungs burned.