Chapter 9

Given the circumstances, I told the Hero that I would probably need to visit a branch of the Adventurer’s Guild soon.

For some reason, though, Licht’s expression looked distinctly unhappy.

“Princess, I am a high-ranking noble, you know.”

“Yes. Of course. You’re the Grand Duke, after all.”

“Then why go through the trouble of registering with the guild? You have me.”

“Because this is the fastest way. Registering with the guild takes five minutes. But I heard that processing the paperwork for sponsorship takes more than a month even for a baronial family. And the other methods have plenty of hurdles to overcome as well.”

Besides, the sponsorship system was very different from the one in the era I had lived in.

Five hundred years ago, sponsorship was simply a form of assistance.

A noble family might give scholarships to students in its territory or send toys to an orphanage. There wasn’t much legal obligation involved, and the sponsor could end the relationship at any time.

But sponsorship in the Groxdel Empire was a very strict contract, and both the sponsoring family and the person receiving sponsorship had numerous obligations they had to fulfill.

“Sage Giorgio said legally, ending a sponsorship contract is actually much more difficult than getting a divorce or disowning an adopted child.”

“But registering with the Adventurer’s Guild isn’t entirely without drawbacks. Even at the lowest F rank, you have to accept at least three quests every month.”

“I’ll just choose easy ones. Besides, I’ll get paid for completing quests, so there’s nothing bad about it for me.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to simply apply for citizenship in the Empire? If His Majesty handles it using his authority, it shouldn’t take long.”

That wouldn’t work.

With the Holy Sword missing and the Four Temples destroyed, becoming a citizen of the Groxdel Empire could cause problems later.

There was nothing that could be done about the Hero being an imperial royal.

He had been reincarnated as the son of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, after all.

But as the Legendary Princess, I was currently unaffiliated, which meant I was free to choose where I belonged.

“If I obtain Imperial citizenship, other countries are more likely to make things troublesome later when matters involving the Holy Sword or the Four Temples need to be handled.”

“In other words, you’re worried about political and diplomatic friction.”

“Yes. Fortunately, Her Holiness Celestia is from the Kingdom of Odilan, so doing things this way should maintain a reasonable balance.”

The Hero didn’t seem happy about the fact that I would have to complete quests regularly, but the quests available to an F-rank adventurer were all easy.

“I’ll just choose things like gathering medicinal herbs, simple cleaning, or helping out at a shop. Of course, I’ll disguise myself.”

“Those kinds of quests shouldn’t be dangerous. Very well.”

Phew.

The Hero finally agreed.

We decided to visit the Adventurer’s Guild after moving to the Grand Duke’s residence.

Of course, I absolutely wasn’t allowed to go alone.

The condition was that the Hero had to accompany me.

Apparently, going out by myself was going to be impossible until the subordination contract was terminated.

And while I was attending my lessons, word came from the temple.

The contract termination ritual wouldn’t be possible for another three weeks.

“We can’t really blame them. A large number of priests have been mobilized to treat the wounded members of the subjugation army. They must be extremely busy. By the way, Princess, what are all those books?”

“Sage Giorgio recommended that I read them.”

Fortunately for me, even though 500 years had passed, the writing system and numbers used throughout the continent had remained the same.

However, the spelling and grammar had changed, and an enormous number of new words had been created.

If I had to describe my current condition, I could read sentences, but I couldn’t fully understand their meaning.

It was frustrating enough to drive me crazy, so I was investing a considerable amount of time into acquiring knowledge.

“Ignorance isn’t a crime, but I need to learn the basic knowledge of this era before my head explodes from frustration.”

“Did you enjoy studying from a young age, Princess?”

“Of course not. Whether I was receiving princess training or attending school, I always looked forward to recess.”

Playing was more fun.

But I had been born as a candidate for the title of Princess during an era when children couldn’t simply enjoy themselves.

And then I saw a young Hero being thrown onto the battlefield without even having the opportunity to properly learn.

That’s when I realized something.

The time and circumstances needed to study aren’t always available to everyone.

“If I want to live comfortably for the rest of my life, all of this is necessary. And, well… honestly, seeing all these books piled up makes me feel like I’ve become rich, so it makes me happy.”

“Ah. So it’s similar to the feeling of looking at jewels or a pouch full of gold coins.”

“Yes! Exactly. In the era I lived in, books were both valuable possessions and a form of wealth. I also feel bad making the maids run back and forth between the library and my room every time.”

Even so, I put the books I’d finished reading into a separate basket and returned them immediately.

As luck would have it, the only books I could read at my current level were in the Crown Prince’s library.

I needed to return them quickly so their owner wouldn’t have trouble studying.

For the record, the generous Crown Prince not only allowed me to borrow all the books for as long as I wanted, but even gave me a beautifully bound fairy-tale book as a gift.

“I think His Highness Wayln is going to be incredibly popular when he grows up.”

“He already receives numerous confessions from young ladies whenever he attends tea parties.”

“Ahahaha! Really?”

“Yes. He has an attractive appearance and has been strictly educated, so his manners are excellent. He acts spoiled around me, but during official events, he behaves like a proper Crown Prince.”

“If his uncle were the Hero who defeated the Demon King, I think I’d want to act spoiled around him too.”

All of the Crown Prince’s close relatives had died, leaving him with only one uncle.

And that one uncle happened to be a handsome, well-built man with magnificent golden hair and jewel-like blue eyes.

He was the Hero, so his swordsmanship had reached the pinnacle of human ability.

He was also brilliant enough to lead the subjugation army and successfully defeat the Demon King.

And, as the final touch, he’d even rescued me—the Legendary Princess—from the Demon King’s castle and returned with me.

Honestly, he was basically the embodiment of every boy’s dream.

He really was cool.

Very cool.

“Licht will definitely become the protagonist of legends someday. Artists might even use him as a source of inspiration.”

At that, the Hero, who had been listening to me, gave me a slightly troubled expression.

“Requests have already been coming in. Painters, sculptors, opera composers, playwrights… Artists from every field are asking for permission to create works based on the successful Demon King subjugation.”

“Oh. So it’s already happening.”

But even if he was the Hero, were artists really allowed to freely use members of the imperial family as subjects for their works?

“According to my retainers, half-mad artists have been bombarding me with letters…”

So they’d lost their minds and were going completely overboard.

I understood that artists had an enormous creative drive, but if they ended up in prison for committing lèse-majesté, they wouldn’t be able to paint, sculpt, or write anything.

I sincerely hoped they would put reason before emotion when making important decisions.

Although, judging by the situation, it seemed they were already a little too late.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Legendary Princess. I am Jiana Groxdel, Empress of the Empire.”

“I heard you’ve been suffering badly from morning sickness. How are you feeling?”

“I can at least eat fruit now, so I’m doing somewhat better.”

Tomorrow was the day I would move from the imperial palace to the Grand Duke’s residence.

Empress Jiana’s condition had improved somewhat despite her morning sickness, so she had invited me to the Empress’s palace.

Before her marriage, she had been an archaeologist and had desperately wanted to meet me.

However, her condition had become so bad that she could barely go outside, and the Emperor had stopped her from doing so.

“Oh, honestly. I had mountains of questions I wanted to ask the Legendary Princess! I’ve wasted so much precious time lying in bed because of my second child.”

“If you send me letters later, I’ll write down everything I know and send it to you.”

“I’d love to do that, but if I monopolize you all by myself, my professors and fellow students from my school days will protest like crazy. After all, you are living history. I’m simply jealous of Dr. Riepart.”

Empress Jiana carefully asked whether I had any intention of staying in the imperial palace a little longer.

I understood her feelings, but hiding the subordination contract from the maids wasn’t exactly easy, so I declined.

Lately, after the maids finished work at night, Licht would come to my room and sleep with me, then slip back into his own room before dawn.

We’d been repeating this for several days now.

Maybe because the amount of time we could sleep without worrying was so short, both of us were suffering from terrible sleep quality and were exhausted.

Licht, who had the stamina of a Hero, was managing somehow.

But I had only recently awakened after 500 years of sleep, and I was reaching the point where the sky itself looked yellow!

If I wanted to secure a humane eight hours of sleep a day, I had to move to the Grand Duke’s residence.

“I’ve been surviving on black tea and coffee so I don’t look sleepy. The maids think I’m staying up late reading at night.”

That’s why they’d started lecturing me more often whenever I asked for coffee or tea.

Yesterday, one of them had recommended that I take a nap with such a terrifying expression that I had ended up sleeping for about thirty minutes.

“I heard that only a very small number of people closest to the Grand Duke’s family know about the subordination contract.”

“I only found out on the night I married His Majesty.”

“I discussed it with the Hero, and we decided not to have any live-in attendants in the annex where I’ll be staying. It’ll be easier to keep the secret that way.”

“Are you planning to cook and clean for yourself as well? The Grand Duke’s butler will have a fit.”

He’d already had more than a fit.

The moment I’d conveyed my wishes through Licht, the old butler had practically unleashed a lion’s roar in protest.

Apparently, that part was absolutely unacceptable.

So we had to compromise.

“They’ll come at designated times, quickly take care of everything, and leave! I’ll handle the rest myself.”

“That sounds like a reasonable solution.”

Empress Jiana was an archaeologist, so she could also interpret ancient languages.

She had even researched the Holy Sword during her university days.

She knew a great deal about me as the Legendary Princess, and on top of that, she came from a viscount’s family on her maternal side, which was a relatively low-ranking noble house for an empress.

That made her extremely easy to talk to.

“I also had a difficult time adjusting to the imperial palace during the early years of my marriage.”

“So it wasn’t just me.”

“His Majesty and the Grand Duke were born into the imperial family, so they probably wouldn’t understand. That’s why I also understand that the annex will be more comfortable for you, Princess.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

We chatted quietly over lemon tea prepared to suit a pregnant woman’s tastes.

We continued talking until the sunset appeared outside the window.