RPL 27

Chapter 27

“A certain soldier working in the imperial family recalled the events of that day like this. ‘She bluffed that she was a princess to the knight and made him kneel. Since the princess had come out, we naturally…’”

At the story the girl was telling, the boy lying on the sofa clutched his stomach and laughed loudly.

“So? So which other knight got into trouble?”

“Lucior. At least read the newspaper by yourself.”

“Ehh. I hate reading letters. It needlessly hurts my head.”

At the answer of the boy called Lucior, the girl, Celianne, pouted and picked up one newspaper.

“Meanwhile, one of the emperor’s attendants testified that Princess Reijina shouted at the emperor and spoke informally…”

“What? She spoke informally? To the emperor? And shouted too?”

Lucior, who had been lying face-down on the sofa, abruptly sat up.

“You believe this? They’re putting out malicious articles to refute the article that the empress assaulted Princess Reijina.”

As if he couldn’t even hear Celianne’s words, Lucior stroked his chin with a serious expression.

“She said she doesn’t use honorifics with the empress either, right? That princess?”

“…Why do you believe this?”

“Should I also start speaking informally to my parents?”

“……”

“I was going to become the empire’s greatest problem child. Suddenly a rival has been sent from the sky.”

Lucior stood up from the sofa and tightly clenched both fists.

“I’ve decided! I’ll also speak informally to my parents!”

At that sight Celianne slowly shook her head.

“I’ll become the greatest problem child! Just you wait, Princess Reijina!”

Looking at Lucior’s resolute expression and sturdy posture, those words were clearly sincere.

In another mansion in the capital, a disturbance also arose.

“What is all this!”

A blond boy shouted as he threw newspapers onto the floor.

“What are you so dissatisfied about, Fabiel?”

A middle-aged woman sitting in a rocking chair, watching the appearance of the boy, Fabiel, asked with a gentle smile.

“Grandmother!”

Fabiel scurried up to the woman he called grandmother and knelt down.

“Grandmother wrote articles that would help Re! But other newspapers!”

“Did that displease you that much?”

“Yeah. There are a lot of things written that will put Re in a difficult position. I hate it.”

“Even though you’ve never even seen her face once, you seem to like that princess quite a bit.”

At those words Fabiel, who had been hanging his head and on the verge of tears, abruptly raised his head.

“Yeah! I like Re!”

With a clean, clear face that did not shed even a single tear, Fabiel spoke.

“What about that princess has completely enchanted my grandson like this?”

The middle-aged woman asked gently.

Fabiel pressed a finger against his cheek.

Judging by his upward-turned pupils, he seemed to be deeply pondering the answer to the question.

Having finally found the answer he wanted, Fabiel removed his finger from his cheek and clapped his palms together with a *clap*.

“The point that she can treat her parents roughly! That’s cool!”

At her grandson’s answer she stiffened her expression for a moment. But she soon smiled gently again and opened her mouth.

“This grandmother will make sure more good articles about the princess come out.”

Fabiel, who had been smiling as if satisfied at finding the answer, shook his head dejectedly.

“No. Don’t do that, Grandmother. What if more bad articles like these come out one after another?”

Fabiel continued while fidgeting with the hem of his grandmother’s skirt with his fingers.

“Re might get hurt. I hate that.”

“Then shall I arrange for you to meet Princess Reijina?”

Fabiel’s face brightened in an instant.

“Really? You’ll really let me meet her?”

“If you want it.”

“Wow! Grandmother is the best!”

Fabiel abruptly stood up and tightly hugged his grandmother’s neck.

***

I woke from sleep at a disturbance coming from somewhere.

When I opened my eyes a crack, I could see that the day was brightly lit.

‘Annoying.’

I rolled over onto my side and covered the exposed ear with a pillow.

Even though I had fallen asleep around dawn, the day was already bright. That meant it had only been a few hours since I fell asleep.

Yesterday evening I had coaxed, soothed, pressed, and finally even threatened Moa and Nea to send them out of the palace.

In order to find the secret passages.

And I had personally proven the hypothesis that when a person is driven into a corner, superhuman abilities can be displayed.

Seeing that I had found as many as four entrances to the secret passages that I had been unable to recall all night.

I hadn’t been able to check where those passages connected because of lack of time, but finding them at all was something.

‘If I just suffer for a few more days…’

Then I stopped thinking and furrowed my face.

Looking at the fact that I was having these thoughts, it seemed sleep had completely left me.

‘It’s so noisy I could die.’

I sighed, stood up, and glared at the source of the disturbance that had woken me from my sweet sleep.

“……”

Outside the door. The disturbance was coming from there.

I rubbed my eyes and opened the door. Whatever it was, I intended to tell them to be quiet and let me sleep.

“……”

At that moment, four pairs of pupils simultaneously fixed on me.

The owners of those pupils were standing in a form of confrontation, divided into two sides.

Among them, two were people I knew.

“Your Highness.”

Moa and Nea called me with awkward expressions.

“I am Lydia von Isaac.”

The one who spoke next was one of the women standing as if confronting Moa and Nea.

‘Lydia von Isaac, is it.’

From her elegant dress attire together with the name, I could tell she was a noble.

While I was guessing her status, Lydia bowed her waist.

“Starting today I will be serving Your Highness. I look forward to working with you from now on.”

Those words meant that she had become my lady-in-waiting.

‘In the original there was no case of a lady-in-waiting coming to Reijina.’

Something that did not exist in the original had happened again.

“This child is the maid who will serve Your Highness together with me.”

“I am called Mary.”

The woman who had been standing behind Lydia with her hands gathered bowed her head to me.

Mary. It was a name I knew.

She was that maid who had appeared in the early part of the original and, under the empress’s orders, had viciously tormented Reijina.

At that name I flinched, but without showing it I looked at Moa and Nea.

“We are temporary maids assigned from the emperor’s palace.”

At my gaze asking for the reason, Nea revealed their identities.

Hearing those words, everything fell into place.

Even if somewhat twisted parts had arisen, the large flow was clearly following the original.

‘Seeing that that damn maid has come to me.’

As expected, the empress was a damn villain who had no intention of escaping the original at all.

“But why are you standing like this?”

Having roughly sorted out my thoughts, I asked Moa and Nea.

“Since the people assigned to me have come, shouldn’t you just go back?”

Was it just my imagination? From Moa and Nea’s clouded faces, a glimpse of regret seemed to be felt.

“That’s right. As Your Highness said, they just need to go back.”

Lydia covered her mouth with a folded fan and *tsk-tsked*.

“But they tried to enter all of a sudden while Your Highness was sleeping.”

Moa answered a little sharply. From that answer I could tell why the disturbance had been heard.

“Look at this insolent thing.”

Lydia poked Moa’s forehead with the tip of the fan she was holding.

“Would Your Highness really have slept past noon? Are you trying to ruin Your Highness’s dignity?”

Past noon, she said. Still, it seemed I had slept roughly six hours.

“Acting like a loyal watchdog when you’re only temporarily assigned. What are you trying to get out of Your Highness by doing this?”

At that moment, Lydia, who had been poking Moa’s forehead with the fan, struck Moa’s forehead with a sharp *smack*.

“Hurry and go. Your Highness told you to leave. Don’t presumptuously add remarks in front of a noble.”

Moa’s face turned red. The face of Nea standing beside her also hardened rigidly.

At Lydia’s rude behavior I let out a short laugh.

‘I thought things had been progressing too smoothly until now.’

For such a rotten character to appear was fitting for having been possessed into a novel nicknamed the worst sweet-potato novel.

“That looks good.”

At my words the four pairs of pupils all looked at me at once.

“I like it very much. I will grant you the honor of offering it to me.”

“…Yes?”

At Lydia’s blank retort I calmly held out my palm.

“Give me that fan.”

“……”

Lydia’s face turned sour.

It wasn’t even something rare—just a fan she had been using.

It was awkward to make a fuss over this, but it was also awkward to hand it over readily when asked. Human psychology was like that.

“What. Are you stingy over even something like that?”

“No.”

Lydia held out the fan to me with a reluctant expression.

The moment I accepted the fan, I threw it straight onto the floor.

“Your Highness?”

At such behavior of mine, Lydia furrowed her brow and called me.

“Come to think of it, I don’t need it.”

“Yes?”

“I said I don’t need it so I threw it away. Why? Is there a problem?”

“…No.”

Her face was full of dissatisfaction, but she did not refute my words and obediently stepped back.

Since she had come as a lady-in-waiting to serve me, it seemed she was holding it in even if she was angry.

‘That’s why you shouldn’t hit people’s foreheads.’

Just try bringing another fan. I’ll snatch and throw away every single one you bring.

“Go.”

I took my gaze off Lydia and spoke toward Moa and Nea.

Since a lady-in-waiting and a maid had officially come, there was no need to hold onto Moa and Nea, who had only been temporarily assigned.

My holding onto them would rather be a more troublesome matter for Moa and Nea.

And if they continued to stay here, they might get into trouble with Lydia again.

“But…”

“Your Highness…”

Moa and Nea trailed off and glanced toward Lydia with worried faces.

They seemed uneasy about leaving me with a woman whose personality did not look very good.

‘They’re good people.’

To be concerned about me, who was nothing more than the child of a criminal, and whom they had only temporarily served for a single day at that.

‘It was because I knew they were good people that I got heated the moment Moa was hit on the forehead.’

Looking at them hesitating, I wore a faint smile.

“Hurry.”

Moa and Nea still hesitated as if worried about me, but when I continually urged them they finally bowed their waists and left.

I took my gaze off their retreating backs and headed toward the room. In order to sleep the sleep I hadn’t finished.

“The palace people assigned to Your Highness’s palace are waiting to offer their greetings to Your Highness.”

Lydia stopped me as I was like that.

Having properly suppressed her emotions while I was sending Moa and Nea back, the dissatisfied expression had completely disappeared from her face.

‘More watchers have increased again.’

I turned the steps that had been heading toward the bedroom and followed after Lydia.

She guided me to the hall on the first floor.

“These are the palace people who will reside in this palace from now on and assist Your Highness.”

Listening to Lydia’s words, I scanned the people lined up long on both sides. At my appearance they all bowed their waists in unison.

“The head maid is not yet here. Her Majesty the Empress said she would select and send a trustworthy person…”

“Send them back.”

I cut off Lydia’s words.