Flinch. I looked back at the entrance of the Lord’s Castle. The road we used to enter in our carriage was silent. Nobody was leaving or arriving. The gentle breeze of the southern part of the Empire tickled my hair as it passed by.

It was currently the morning of December 19th, the scheduled time for the opening ceremony of the orphanage in the Bellang Barony.

‘……What was that just now?’

“What is it, your highness?”

“Oh, nothing. I think I’m just a bit sensitive because I did not sleep well.”

I smiled as I answered. Ganael instantly looked troubled.

‘Oops, I made another mistake.’

“It’s because I saw something so shocking last night. It’s what I told you about in the bedroom earlier.”

I whispered while talking, and the young boy’s golden eyes opened wide. Ganael understood what I was saying and lowered his voice.

“Yes, that is something I never expected either, your highness…… The Baron and his wife are truly amazing people.”

“I know, right? I really admire them.”

I meant it. I looked at the backs of the Baron’s family, who were leading the way for us. Benjamin had explained it to me at some point in the past when we were headed to the Duhem March for the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts. He said that there was a river in the southern part of the Empire. I thought about the blue Yangtze River, the one that I had seen a couple times on a map flowing through the continent.

‘The Unité River.’ This strand of water that carried the name of a long gone ancient kingdom was just a squiggly line to me until a few days ago. But to the three of them, this river was a precious lifeline flowing over from the Holy Kingdom. A reality where someone’s life hung In the balance.

‘Has your family been saving the refugees like this since your grandmother’s time?’ I cautiously asked last night. Baron Fabrice Bellang immediately nodded his head.

‘Yes, your highness. My grandmother prepared places for them to live, helped them recover, and even created new families for them. That ended up reducing the budget for the construction of the Lord’s Castle, which is how it ended up with its size. My father learned to do the same.’

‘And you learned from your father, Baron Bellang.’ I responded to him. Lady Anne Bellang quickly chuckled in agreement.

Talking about it was easy, but rescuing people like this for three generations in a small territory without any external support…… It was beyond amazing; it was basically a miracle. They deserved to receive the Imperial Medal. No, in my opinion, they should receive a much higher title than they currently possess.

“Are the citizens of Venetiaan struggling quite a bit?” I asked Sir Johann, who was quietly walking next to me.

I’m sure it looked really stupid for the damn prince to ask such a question, but I had no choice. All I knew about Venetiaan was superficial information I learned about through books. I thought Sir Johann would know better than anybody else from the Holy Kingdom about the situation of the commoners.

He calmly answered. “Ever since her Majesty, Queen Christanne, started suffering from insanity, some of the territory lords have been committing more crimes. Plundering and exploiting the commoners becomes more frequent the farther you get from the Royal Capital.

“Even with Prince Consort Werner there as the Regent?”

“The Regent is not a king. Furthermore, people say that he is lacking in leadership. Instead, he excels in social skills and extravagance.”

‘……I see.’ I thought over the cynical explanation given by the Holy Knight. Having the Queen lose her mind over and over must have led to instability in the kingdom. Things might get better once Crown princess Elise ascends to the throne, but it would probably take time before she could completely strip her father of his power.

There were plenty of bad people in Riester as well, but it seemed harder to handle on the other side of the continent because of the weakened state of their ruler. Only the innocent commoners suffered until they flowed down here.

‘Mm. Werner really has a lot of sins.’

– Step step

– Step, step……

We walked silently for a while. I was told that the orphanage was not too far from the castle. I was also told that in addition to the orphans in the Barony, the children who came from the Holy Kingdom, like the ones from last night, were protected there. They said it was just a short walk away so I happily chose to walk. This rural life in the country would be hard to enjoy back in the Imperial Palace, so I wanted to visit as many places as I could on my own two feet.

– Aaarf?

“That’s a bird’s nest. It is a house for our bird friends like Percy.”

– Oong.

“Yeah, they do make it themselves. They sure are hard working, aren’t they?”

Tithé, who was in my arms, arfed while looking at a tree. The way his black eyes were blinking made him seem curious, which was why I was sincerely explaining things to him. Demy was quickly trotting along behind me while Percy was peacefully flying above our heads.

“That must be it, your highness.”

Benjamin pointed at a building. My eyes opened wide. Ganael’s jaws dropped while Sir Johann was chuckling in a tone that made it sound as if this was unexpected.

“They must have come to greet you, your highness.”

“……”

All of the children in the orphanage were gathered in front of the newly built building. There seemed to be quite the range of ages. Some looked five years old while others looked to be in their late teens. The teachers who were taking care of the infants were smiling.

The Baron’s group looked shocked as well. I quickly started moving. We were in the south, but it was still too chilly to be standing around for long periods of time.

“Your highness, I truly ask for your forgiveness. I asked them to wait inside……”

“That’s okay, Baron Bellang. They are welcoming us with good intentions.”

I smiled and shook my head. I walked briskly, and the building quickly got close. I couldn’t help but chuckle because it looked bigger and better than the Lord’s Castle.

I made eye contact with a little kid in front of the group and slowed down. The child was holding a small purple bouquet. It looked shabby, but it didn’t matter at all. I slowly lowered myself in front of the boy.

The teachers who were bowing quietly groaned. Young Baroness Elody urgently called out to me. “Your highness.”

“The children’s necks must hurt. I am okay with this. Hi there. Did you make this for me?”

“Yeeees……” The child shook as he answered. He must have forgotten the greeting he memorized as he looked anxious and even opened and closed his mouth a few times.

Everybody, including the little kid, was wearing clean clothes.

I received the bouquet and smiled brightly. “Thank you so much. I’ve never seen such beautiful flowers before. I’ll cherish them.”

“……”

‘Aigoo, his face is starting to scrunch. Oh, he’s crying. I’m totally in the wrong.”

“Sorry. Did I scare you by suddenly coming here?”

“Soooooooooooob.”

“Should I leave? Should mister go back home?”

“Sob, no, even prettier……”

“My deepest apologies, your highness.” The Baron had seen enough and carried the child to console him.

Lady Bellang said that I was more beautiful than the flowers. That was what the child was trying to say. She also mentioned that he seemed to be crying because he was nervous, not because he was scared. It seemed to be true as the little kid did not look away from me even while being in the Baron’s comforting arms. I was relieved that I was not tabbed as a bad guy.

“Shall we go inside, your highness? I’m curious to see what it’s like on the inside.”

Sir Johann, who had been quietly watching, made the suggestion. We all happily agreed.

“I baked a cake with Teacher Roland…… I’ll give it to you, your highness.”

The crying boy whispered to me. I chuckled and wiped his wet cheeks.

*

“Ahh, aaaaaah……”

Christelle de Sarnez, well, Ham Ga-in, stretched as she got up. It seemed to be the middle of the day as parts of the bedroom were quite bright.

“I’m hungry.” She mumbled to herself as she scratched the back of her head.

She left the Bellang Barony last night after hearing the news about her ‘father.’ She arrived at the Sarnez Duchy around three or four in the morning. Even as an Archbishop-grade Holy Knight, it was hard to overcome the fatigue of helping the Baron and his wife all day and riding in a shaky carriage all night. She was jealous of her teacher, Sir Johann, but she was not at his level yet.

That had been Christelle’s final thought last night. She barely managed to brush her teeth before collapsing on her bed.

‘See your father in the morning, baby miss. Get some sleep first. You can’t even open your eyes as you walk.’

‘Yes ma’am. You get some rest as well, wet nurse.’

She recalled having that conversation as well. However……

“It’s too quiet.”

The castle felt abnormally silent. Yes, it was Saturday, but it was odd that she couldn’t even hear the Knights Brigade shouting as they trained outside. It was also weird that her wet nurse, someone who always made sure that she had her meals on time, had not come to wake her up.

– Rustle, rustle

Christelle instinctively quieted her footsteps as she got off the bed. She created some fresh water to quench her thirst and wash her face. It finally snapped her back to her senses. She rubbed her face on the pajamas that her wet nurse put her into and cautiously checked the next room.

“Wet nurse? Hello?”

However, nobody was there. She squinted her blue-gray eyes.

-Tap, tap.

The fireplace was full of new firewood. She looked at the clock to see that it was almost noon. ‘It’s clear that someone was here……’

“What the?”

Christelle scanned the room before frowning. There was a covered meal on the table. Others might think there was nothing wrong with this, but to her, nothing could be more suspicious. Ever since Ga-in transmigrated into this body, her wet nurse never missed her eating breakfast. No matter how busy she was, she always confirmed that Christelle ate her food, even if she was half-asleep. It had been the same in the Duke’s Estate in the Imperial Capital. She was overly concerned about her baby miss who had been sick for a long time.

“……My goodness!”

“Shh!”

She heard the staff speaking outside the window.

Christelle basically ran over and stood in front of the door. She pressed her ear against the door and channeled the ether inside her body. She could now clearly hear their quiet whispering. It was just as her teacher had taught her.

“That’s the reason for the confinement?”

“Exactly. The entire Imperial Capital is in an uproar!”

‘Confinement? Who confined whom?’ Christelle scowled. ‘What’s going on?’

“That’s so scary, I have goosebumps…… Then what about his Royal Highness?”

“Fortunately, he is unharmed. His Royal Highness is the reason all of the weak commoners survived. I heard from my cousin that something went bang! The moment it exploded, a flame crackled! It apparently flew like a leaf. Only the wind went bang! And the spectators plop! They fell over. His Royal Highness managed to control the fire in an instant.”

“My goodness…… That is clearly the Almighty God’s blessing. No, wait, no! Then the Duke was the only one harmed by the terrorist attack?”

‘What?’

– Clunk!

Christelle pushed hard against the door. The large wooden door didn’t even budge. She tilted her head in confusion. The staff on the other side gasped.

– Bang!

“Excuse me, could you please open the door? I think it is locked from the outside!”

Bang bang. She firmly knocked against the door. However, the hallway was completely silent. They were deliberately being quiet. Christelle’s mind instantly turned cold.

‘Maybe the one they were talking about being confined……’

“Hello, young lady Christelle, did you sleep well? I’m sorry but I was the one who locked the door.”

She heard an elderly voice. It was not one of the voices that had been chatting. Christelle clenched her teeth after her suspicions had been confirmed. She was currently confined to the Lord’s Castle without knowing why.

“Is that you, Grandpa Chief of Staff? Why did you lock the door? What about my father? I’m here to see my father.”

“I am aware of that. Your father only received minor burns and is safe.”

“No, I heard that he was extremely ill……”

“The Duke gave the order that you are to remain in your bedroom, no matter how frustrated it may make you, until the Imperial family confirms Prince Jesse’s whereabouts and finishes their investigation.”

“Excuse me? What investigation?”

Christelle scowled. Her partner looked as pure and beautiful as usual when she last saw him. Nothing would happen to him and nothing should happen to him. However, an ominous feeling traveled up her spine before she even heard the answer. The old man’s calm explanation continued.

*

“It was extremely delayed. I’m really sorry.”

“That’s okay, your highness. We expected this to happen.”

Benjamin sounded calm at my apology. Ganael just said anything I did was fine.

I was thankful they said that, but our plan to leave in the morning being delayed until 6 pm was clearly my fault. I played hide-and-seek with the kids, ate a slightly crushed but still delicious cake, and heard some confessions from former child soldiers. The sun was already setting when I checked.

My eyes felt dark as I didn’t know how I should apologize to our young Countess. The plan was to get to the Imperial Palace by tonight to get a good night’s rest before meeting Eva early in the morning tomorrow. It looked as if that wouldn’t work anymore. I was preparing an apology in my mind as the staff of the Baron’s Estate put my luggage into the carriage.

“You made core memories for children with no family or home, your highness. I’m sure young Duchess Eva will understand.” Sir Johann, who seemed to have read my mind, commented. ‘He’s so sharp.’

“……It was a short volunteer activity. I only did it for one day,” I answered and then turned around. The Baron’s family, who had come to see us off, were looking at us. “They are the ones who work tirelessly day after day. I would like to ask her Majesty for some assistance.”

“That is a great idea, your highness.”

The Holy Knight gently responded. It was at that moment.

– Piiiiiii!

Percy chirped loudly and flew into my clothes. Tithé wrapped him with his fins. Demy, who was by my feet, raised his head.

‘What’s going on?’

– ……Clack, clack, clack.!

“Hut! Hut!”

– Neeeeeeigh!

Everybody looked toward the entrance of the Lord’s Castle. There seemed to be two knights on horses raising clouds of dust as they quickly rode toward us. Sir Johann moved as smoothly as a gentle breeze as he shielded me.

I tiptoed and extended my head to look. ‘Hold on, that……”

“The Second Sword!”

A familiar voice shouted from the front. It had looked like there were only two knights, but a bunch of knights suddenly fanned out to the side. Their movements were so well-coordinated that it gave me the chills. I instantly recognized their Captain and their insignia. My eyes slowly opened wide.

“What is Captain Hervé Duhem doing all the way out he-”

“Twenty,” The Holy Knight protecting me mumbled.

‘That many knights are here? Why?’

– Neeeeeeigh!

“Wooooah! Woah!”

The Imperial Guard didn’t even dismount as they instantly formed a circle around us. I hugged Demy into my arms out of reflex. Ganael and Benjamin were standing right behind me while the Baron’s family were quietly hugging each other. The atmosphere seemed serious. All of their gazes were so hostile……

“Prince Jesse Venetiaan.”

I flinched. I gulped and looked up at Captain Duhem.

There wasn’t even an ounce of warmth in those familiar light pink eyes.

“You are accused of orchestrating a terrorist attack on a member of the Imperial family, attempted murder, as well as conspiring to start a rebellion. Under the authority of the Imperial Guard, you will now be taken under arrest with your freedom stripped.”

‘……What?’

—
Translator’s Comments

Werner you son of a bitch…

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