{HIKARI'S POV}
I have another soft and bland meal for breakfast. It's tasteless, but Bertia said to eat so I eat.

I'm debating what to do with myself for the day when there's a ping against the glass of my sole bedroom window. I look over.

Nothing is there. My room is at the top of a small tower. What could possibly reach up here? I must be sicker than I thought if I'm hallucinating.

But then a dark thing pings against my window as I'm watching. That wasn't a hallucination. Was that... a rock? Hesitantly, I open my window.

"I told ya! That was the princess's room!"

"Nice shot, Ebisu-kun!"

"Oi, Hikari-sama! Good morning!"

I look down, following the voices. A group of children, lead by Jun Kirigawa and Ren Ito, are standing in the clearing in the fortress beneath my window. One of the younger boys, eight-year-old Ebisu, is particularly gifted in the art of slingshot.

He's holding one in his grubby hands right now: stretchy reeds tied to a Y of wood, with a leaf cup to hold ammo. I can easily guess what happened.

The children's caretakers never reprimand them for flinging stones at a princess's window. In fact, the adults seem quite amused by their antics. They stand along the outskirts of the clearing and also wave, bidding me a cheerful good morning.

"Hikari-sama!" Ren shouts, pulling my attention back to the younger generation. "Mum said you need ta be quarantined until your lungs feel better!"

"So we're maintaining an appropriate distance for your safety whilst entertaining you!" Jun adds, displaying a broad, dung-eating grin that I can spot even from all the way up here.

Nobody has ever done something like this for me before. The maids in Wistal palace were all afraid of making my condition worse.

"We made up a song for you!" One little girl shouts. "Based off the birthday song!"

A chorus of children's voices rises up in the crisp morning air: "Happy morning to you! Happy morning to you! Happy morning, Hikari-sama! We hope you feel better soon!"

Tears well up in my eyes.

"Knights of Taj!" General Isamu booms. The children scurry off in different directions, except for those like Jun and Ren who have joined the war effort.

A small platoon of armored knights marches into the clearing. Jun and the other fighters join them, melding into perfect formation.

"In eight hours, we'll be the ones to defend the East Gate from enemy assault! We must be prepared! To be prepared, we must train diligently!"

"Yes sir!"

"To train diligently, we must strive to improve our battle skills every single day!"

"Yes sir!"

"Today, we've changed the location of our swordsmanship training to invigorate the princess! She'll be watching us, so do your best! Make Hikari-sama proud of you!"

General Isamu raises his sword in the air. My face feels like it's on fire. Must he embarrass me so?

"YES SIR!" The knights of Taj roar.

Dozens of swords jab the air in a salute to me. I'm mortified, but ducking out of sight would be rude. I must maintain a princess-like serenity, so I smile and wave instead. I'm lucky I have strong composure.

The knights practice their sets of slashes as one collective group, then break into partners for sparring. They leave to run drills much later, but more people show up to take their place.

Some of the citizens whose job is to stitch clothes and tents seat themselves in view of my window to work. They wave at me and smile when we make eye contact. Children play in the clearing, running around the outskirts in a game of tag and calling for me to look when they find something interesting.

A group of farmers parade some animals through; horses prance, cows and goats trot, pigs and freshly shorn sheep shuffle along.

One man performs a magic show for me. He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket when I sneeze, and just keeps pulling. His pocket must lead to a bottomless magic dimension because the handkerchief is so long that it could probably reach me way up here!

Some people bring instruments in the afternoon and serenade the clearing with upbeat music. Adults and children dance together to the music. Even I bop my head along with the catchy beat.

I'm so entranced by everything going on beneath my window that my lungs hardly irritate me. I barely remember eating lunch and dinner. The evening arrives much too quickly.

The next morning, breakfast tastes good. New people hang out below my window for the entire day again, keeping me company from a safe distance.

Instead of being isolated for a week, the tightness in my lungs eases after only three days. I've never recovered from an illness so rapidly before. I'm already able to return to the position of leading our resistance against Cojaca's invasion.

I've been exerting myself lately more than ever. Muscles grow bigger the more you use them; perhaps my lungs have gotten a bit stronger?

I'm healthy again thanks to the support of the people of Tai—my people.