It was dark and late at night when we arrived at the Lord’s Castle. The air in the southern part of the Empire was perfectly cool.

I could tell that the Bellang Barony was small without even looking around. The Lord’s Castle was small and there were only a few magic lights lighting the area. It looked more like a house built to look like a castle than an actual castle.

A simply dressed couple greeted us once we alighted from the carriage. I immediately tensed up. I hoped that the two of them would not feel pained while looking at me.

“I greet our esteemed Royal Highness and Prince Jesse Venetiaan. My name is Fabrice Bellang. I am ashamed that you’ve had to travel such a far way to come to our shabby little territory, your Royal Highness and your highness.”

“My name is Anne Bellang. We ask for your magnanimity.”

The middle-aged man respectfully bowed first followed by his wife. The crown prince just responded with a slight flick of his chin.

Christelle, who was holding the sleeping Tithé, greeted them brightly. “Hello, my name is Christelle de Sarnez. We will be in your care for a few days. Thank you for having us.”

“We’ve heard of your renowned reputation, Dame Sarnez. It is an honor to meet you.”

“My name is Johann Geens.”

“Sir Imperial Instructor, welcome.”

Baron Bellang warmly greeted everyone. I gulped. The red pandas in my arms felt my discomfort and squirmed.

“……Nice to meet you. Thank you for inviting me.”

My voice came out normal. The couple slowly looked at my face. Their gazes looked similar and were full of warmth and affection. These two were the family of the deceased who lost their two sons because they sent them to me.

“Welcome, your highness. We are truly grateful that you accepted our invitation.”

The Baron smiled brightly and extended his arm toward me. I finally felt as if I could breathe a bit. I extended my hand thinking that he was asking for a handshake, but he bowed and carefully placed his forehead on the back of my hand.

“Oh Almighty God.” I could hear him quietly praying.

Lady Bellang then held my hand with both hands as if he passed the baton to her. I felt extremely awkward as they were treating me as if I was something super precious.

“Thank you very much, your highness. Our children…… Will be in awe of your divine benevolence as well,” he whispered before kissing the back of my hand.

I was thankful that they felt that way. I was relieved to see that the couple did not seem to be in pain while looking at me. I smiled in relief.

“This is our young Baroness, our eldest daughter, Elody.”

The Baron motioned with his hand. A lady who had a large cat in her arms quickly bowed. She seemed to be around twenty years old.

“I, it is an honor, your highness. My name is Elody Bellang.”

– Meow

The cat let out a short meow as well. Christelle squealed while Elody looked as if she didn’t know what to do. Her freckled face was turning red under the light.

– Squeeeee?

Demy poked his head out. He seemed curious about the cat. I politely greeted her.

“Nice to meet you, mademoiselle. What is the name of our cute little friend?”

“My goodness. M, my name is Elody, your highness. Oops. He, this guy……”

– Meow!

The tri-colored cat jumped off as if it couldn’t handle being in her arms anymore. Elody became flustered and adjusted her clothes. The cat had been hiding a portion of her worn out dress. Lady Bellang also looked at her daughter in shock. Elody looked around flustered for a bit before making eye contact with the crown prince and…

“……Coco! Come over here! You promised to sleep with me!”

– Meeeeeeeeow

She sounded teary as she ran after the cat. Lady Bellang sighed while the Baron wiped his face with his hands.

‘I guess the fat cat’s name is Coco.’

“Please excuse her behavior, your Royal Highness. Our daughter is still so immature……”

“Let’s go inside.”

The crown prince cut the middle-aged man off. His choice of words could be considered rude, but his tone was not cold. I was able to skillfully analyze this punk’s conversational attitude now. This was basically saying that everybody is tired so let’s go get some rest.

The Baron must have understood as he quickly bowed. An elderly attendant of the Barony escorted us. I could see the family coat of arms on the wall. I could see small but neatly managed bushes and old trees with colorful leaves for the fall.

– Moooo

I also heard a friendly sound nearby.

“They seem to have cows here too, your highness. How fun.” Christelle excitedly whispered. I smiled and nodded my head.

*

– Creeeeeak……

“Mm.”

My eyes opened after hearing the door open. I was still a bit dazed but I looked around. The warm morning sun of the south was shining down on the bed through the curtains. I could see Percy, who was sleeping on his bed, as well as the little troublemakers who basically melted away in front of the small wall furnace.

The guestroom the Baron set up for us was a modest but cozy space. I slept well despite being in an unfamiliar place. My hair was a mess since I had a magpie, no, a chimney bird nest on my head as I slowly got up.

‘What time is it?’

“Wow, so pretty!”

“Shh.”

“Is he an angel?”

“They really are purple.”

I heard children’s voices coming from somewhere. I flinched and looked toward the door. And then…

“He saw us!”

“I want to see too……”

“You were late, Romain.”

I made eye contact with multiple brown eyes of different shades visible through the gap in the door. All of the eyes were low. I was shocked for a moment before slowly smiling. I felt as if I knew who these children were. I slowly waved so that they would not be surprised before brushing my messy hair with the other hand.

“He greeted us!”

“I’ve never seen such a pretty person before.”

“No, the pink princess earlier was more elegant.”

“Romain! Don’t push me!”

“Ahem.”

A gentle voice echoed in the hallway.

“Kyaa!”

“Run!”

“Oh no!”

-Thump thump thump.

I heard the children laughing and screeching before they ran down the hallway. I started to laugh. Benjamin, who had knocked on the door, came in with an awkward look on his face.

“I ask for your forgiveness, your highness. Those children are basically the Baron’s family, so we could not stop them from coming in. They are still young and haven’t learned……”

“It’s okay, Benjamin. I was already up. Did you sleep well?”

I waved my hand to tell him it was okay as I asked. The orphanage that was built was the first childcare facility in the Barony. Until now, the Baron and his family personally took in the orphans to teach them manners and to read and write. Those children must have been some of those orphans. Benjamin smiled benignly.

“I only have great dreams thanks to you, your highness. However, breakfast is a bit delayed.”

“Did something happen?”

“They don’t have enough staff in the kitchen so the Baron is personally doing the cooking. Lord David and Ganael are helping him out as well.”

I blinked my eyes. Benjamin’s eyebrows sank a bit.

“They seem to be struggling more than I expected, your highness. Starting from the former territory Lord, they have been personally doing manual labor in order to lessen the amount of taxes used. Most of the money you sent seems to have been used for the orphanage and canal construction. It must have been costly for the furniture and appliances and they said that they hired multiple mages to finish the construction before January as it gets cold here.”

“……”

I felt completely awake and my jaw dropped. I was sure that it would have cost a lot to hire people as well as mages to make sure the children did not shiver in the winter. I had no idea about something like that and was spoiled just thinking about how disappointing it was that all of my friends could not be here with me. The Baron couple must have had to firm their resolve about a lot of things before inviting me, but I was just here thinking about what I would be eating for breakfast. I had not paid much attention whenever I was told that it was a struggling territory. ‘I thought that even though I have Julite’s headdress that the couple put up for auction as well.’

My face turned red from embarrassment.

I wasn’t a kid who didn’t know the adults’ situation so I couldn’t help but wonder when I would mature. This was not the time for me to be doing this. I quickly got off the bed and undid my pajama buttons.

“What about Christelle and his Royal Highness? Is Sir Johann up as well?”

“His Royal Highness and Sir Geens have been cultivating their souls since seven in the morning, your highness. As for Dame Sarnez, she got up around the same time as you.”

“That’s great. We should help out as well.”

I sternly responded. Benjamin smiled bitterly before nodding his head. He seemed to have expected my reaction.

*

A vast forest in the eastern part of the Riester Empire. In a villa located at the corner of the Blanquer Duchy…

– Crackle, crackle!

“Fuck.”

Robert Blanquer swore while sitting right in front of the furnace. The quill pen in his left hand was shaking as he wrote words that looked extremely illegible, like bugs. His right hand that was injured by the crown prince’s flame was burnt and his nerves were destroyed, making it so that he could not hold anything with it anymore. However, it was enough to ruffle up his hair. The man with the now messy hair clenched his teeth.

“Fuck. Eva, you will have to respond to this.” He mumbled to himself almost as if he was saying a curse. The contents of the letter to his younger sister was not different.

‘I know that you are not capable of handling the young Duchess position.’ ‘Be honest to mother and let it go.’ All sorts of threats filled the expensive paper.

Robert’s eyes were full of venomous aura. His ugly handwriting was writing down all sorts of terrible things.

‘You are a good little sister, but your brain is slow and you are not considerate at all. It will be hard for you to earn the respect of the residents of our territory. It will be easier for you to live off of an allowance from your older brother. How could a punk like you, who has only been interested in dresses and ribbons, deal with politics? Plus, you are not skilled in magic either. If you ascend to the Duchess position like that, people will point their fingers at you for dirtying the honor of a mage household. Don’t waste your time when the simple answer is in front of you……’

“Should I write a bit slower? Tsk.”

Some spit came out of the man’s mouth. This was potentially his last chance to convince Eva. Although he was ordered to not approach her, nobody said anything about sending her letters. However, portal delivery was expensive, and his now extremely tiny salary made it so that he had to worry about how to pay for things.

Baaaaang! Robert slammed his hand on the desk once he thought about that. The custom-ordered scented ink splashed everywhere.

“If I end up as the young Duke again……”

He huffed and puffed while wiping his cheek. All of the letters he had sent to the Blanquer Estate in the Imperial Capital until now had been returned. The first few showed signs of being opened, but the rest of them came back like new without even the shortest of responses.

This was not like Eva. He was sure that there was someone controlling her from the shadows. The person that filled Robert’s mind the last few days had beautiful grey eyes.

Élisabeth Moutet. The swordswoman who took his sister away at some point and basically kept her at her side.

“She’s just a dog for the Imperial family. How dare a member of the Margrave’s house, those damn demonic beast eating barbarians in the north, do something like that.”

He was sure that she had brainwashed his young sister in a desire for power. Furthermore, young Countess Moutet was famous for being Prince Jesse’s close friend.

“The Empire will be ruined because of that prince. No……”

He peeked at the other envelope on the desk. It was an anonymous letter he was going to send to Sarah Belliard. The ‘Pair de Riester’ who had secretly contacted him at the Masquerade had sent it to him this morning under the name of a Social Club. Robert just had to change the envelope and play the role of messenger, but it still allowed him to observe the fall of the Prince with a great seat.

It was a very unpleasant revenge. Thinking about the content of the envelope made him feel better. He smiled and quickly scribbled out the last line of the letter.

‘The illegitimate child that you are mindlessly following around will soon find himself in great trouble. So think it through carefully. Think about who will be your older brother for the rest of your life.

– R. B.’

He signed his name extremely fancily. He then rang the bell to call his wet nurse over. The door to the study opened and a middle-aged woman appeared.

“You called, my lord?”

“Yeah. I’m going to send some portal letters. This one to the Estate in the Imperial Capital, this one to Sarah Belliard’s office. Have it arrive the morning of the nineteenth.” He placed the letter in an envelope and handed it to her. His wet nurse’s eyes opened wide.

“Belliard? Are you talking about that reporter, my lord?”

“Yes. It is anonymous so take care of it properly. You know what I mean, right?”

He quietly spoke before glaring at her with a sharp gaze. The middle-aged woman gulped. She had been working at the Duke’s Estate for a long time. She was extremely sharp and did not need a long explanation. The young master found the contents of the letter to be extremely important and it could not be found out that he had sent the letter to the Imperial Capital. Her poor young master seemed to be asking for an article to let others know about his terrible situation. The wet nurse stopped thinking things through and quickly answered.

“Please leave it to me, my lord. I will go out for groceries and buy off a beggar. Giving him a silver coin and putting a thick coat on him should encourage him to send a letter without any issues.”

“That’s a good plan. I’ll be skipping lunch so don’t look for me.”

“……Yes, my lord. But please call me if you feel hungry.”

The woman looked concerned before she left with the two letters in her arms.

Robert looked out the window to confirm that she left the gate before organizing his desk with a satisfied look on his face. The note he received before the Masquerade had been burnt as the ‘Divine Oracle’ told him to do. So he just had to place the envelope that came under the Social Club’s name into the furnace.

– Slam!

– Crackle!

The paper left his hand and started to burn. It was at that moment.

“Ugh.”

The man curled forward. Plop. He spit out a black blood clot.

—
Translator’s Comments

Make sure to check our discord for event pics related to TWSB!

<< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >>