'Will QNW be okay like this?'
"Benjamin-nim, here is your mail. You have a lot these days."
"Thank you. Sit down and have some juice."
"Thank you very much sir. Are you perhaps seeing someone?"
Benjamin and Ganael were happily chatting away in a side of the indoor training ground while I was full of concern.
I watched Benjamin open the colorful envelopes while organizing my thoughts.
Yesterday, Imperial Prince Cédric challenged his cousin, young Duke Robert Blanquer, to a duel.
It was because the young Duke spoke ill of me.
They had their lesson with Sir Johann Geens today as well, so I hoped to speak to the Imperial Prince in person.
I was thankful that he stepped in on my behalf but it bothered me that he was fighting his cousin.
Even if their relationship was worse than normal cousins and they have not had contact since the Prince Consort was kicked out of the family, they still shared the same blood.
Unfortunately, the Imperial Prince skipped the lesson once again. That incident was not the only issue that happened yesterday.
– Piruuuuuuuuuu
"Is it too stuffy in here, Percy? Should I let you out?"
The chimney bird that had been on my knees gently flew up.
He didn't seem to find it too stuffy because we were indoors.
The little bird pecked at my chest with his small beak and flapped his wings.
The way he was tilting his head side to side made me think that he wanted me to take out the thing in my pocket.
He seemed to have become curious after seeing Ganael hand it to me a few moments ago.
"It's an invitation. An invitation to the Imperial Crown Prince confirmation."
I chuckled and responded.
I pulled the card out of my chest pocket and Percy's sunflower seed chocolate-like eyes sparkled as he chirped at me to open it.
The had the fancy Imperial family crest and was decorated in gold as it listed the date of the confirmation and a short message.
The Chambre des pairs, the advisory assembly of the Pair de Riester, was held yesterday.
The Imperial Prince's succession to the Imperial Crown Prince position was unanimously approved during the assembly.
He was scheduled to become the crown prince at his upcoming birthday.
"His Royal Highness's position seems quite firm for the invitations to have been made in advance."
Sir Geens, who had approached at some point, commented.
He had started shaving and keeping his white hair neatly tied down.
I looked behind him to see Sand and Christelle in the distance holding hands doing the 'Friendship Test.'
I couldn't help but smile as I watched Christelle teach Sand this hand gesture-based activity that I had not even seen Eunseo do since she was a freshman in high school.
Using such short moments of contact to have ether delivered seemed to reduce the burden on Sand's body thanks to the small gaps in the moments of contact.
'Although it seems like she's doing it because she thinks it is fun.'
"His Royal Highness is an only child. He also does not have any major faults to prevent it either."
I thought about 'Sadie' as I said that.
I was pretty sure that the reason he was unable to rise to the position of crown prince until now was because of his issue of turning into a child, but I didn't know how it was now.
He was probably doing it because having the Sword of Wisdom made it easier to deal with.
"Of course. May I sit next to you, your highness?"
"Of course."
It wasn't my training ground anyway.
Sir Geens sat down on the light purple couch that was made from cutting down onyx.
I then felt my surroundings close off.
I became slightly shocked and turned toward him.
Christelle, Benjamin, and Ganael were all far away from me.
The three red pandas must have noticed my anxiety as they quickly jumped onto my thighs.
'Sir Geens."
"Please relax, your highness. I just wanted to ask you something."
Percy quickly flew up and pecked the back of Sir Geens's hand with his beak.
It must not have hurt the Holy Knight at all as he looked at me with a tired look on his face.
"I was simply wondering if you received the letter I delivered, your highness."
"What... No way."
Sir Geens had never personally delivered something to me.
However, there was something that came to my mind as soon as he said that.
I raised my hand and put it over my chest.
I could feel the crystal bell and the suspicious note from Usil in my pocket.
"You put that in the pile, Sir Geens?"
"Yes, your highness. It was a request from crown princess Elise. It seems that you have read it."
His mint-colored eyes slightly curled up. I barely held myself back from feeling suffocated.
The Holy Knight who came from the Vatican was one of Elise Venetiaan's people. Usil really was the crown princess.
Numerous questions and situations rushed into my mind.
I calmly asked the first question.
"It was not an order but a request?"
"You are quite sharp, your highness."
"Please answer my question, Sir Geens."
He looked pleased at my response.
"Yes, your highness. It was a request. I am not loyal to her highness, I am loyal to the money she has paid me."
"Are you saying that you are a Holy Knight but working as a mercenary?"
His voice became lower.
"I don't really care about things like a Knight's honor, your highness. I am quite famous in the underworld in this aspect."
There was a short moment of silence. A famous mercenary.
The fact that he was not Elise's loyal subordinate but connected to her through money might be advantageous for me.
He wouldn't know how the real Prince Jesse would have acted in the past.
"Is that all? Was the request simply to deliver the letter?"
"There were two things, your highness. One was to deliver the letter to you without anybody noticing, and..."
Sir Geens moved like a breeze and grabbed the teapot on the table.
He poured himself some noni tea into an empty gas and caressed my teacup with one hand.
It was an odd movement.
"It is expected, but there is no poison, your highness. My task is to protect you."
"..."
The Holy Knight checked his fingertip before speaking happily.
He watched him put some honey into his tea before sternly speaking.
"I cannot respond to her highness."
"That's a relief. I didn't get paid to do such a thing, your highness."
He smiled like a beautiful painting as he sipped his tea.
I felt my ears clear and the air started flowing properly again. The private domain had disappeared.
Demy immediately whined and dug into my chest.
I slowly patted his back.
Hugging Rhea and Perry as well made me feel as if my anxiety was going down.
I made a Promise of Ether with the Imperial Prince that I would not contact the Holy Kingdom.
I was relieved that I wouldn't end up breaking that promise in any way.
Then there was only one thing for me to confirm.
I gathered the ether in my body and Percy flew over to my sleeve and started chirping, as if he was counting down.
"Your Holy Domain will not work, your highness."
Sir Geens, who noticed my intentions, commented. It cut my flow of movement.
"I am an Archbishop level Holy Knight. My apologies but you will not be able to determine the truth to my words with your current level of Divine Power, your highness."
His eyes were awkwardly smiling as we made eye contact.
He was saying that using ether as a lie detector as I did for confessions would not work on him.
I became a bit dejected and sighed.
I subconsciously turned my gaze and made eye contact with Christelle who was looking this way.
Her bright smile made it seem as if she was saying that everything would be fine. But I was in a complicated situation.
*
The main character was unbelievably sharp.
She could probably put a blanket down at the Imperial Capital's central market and do well.
"Did you have an argument with Sir Geens, your highness?"
"Excuse me? No."
I immediately said no as I did not argue with him.
Her pink hair shook a bit as she tilted her head with suspicion.
She squinted her blue-gray eyes. The clacking of horse hooves could clearly be heard.
"You two seem quite awkward with each other yesterday and today though."
"We are not close."
I smiled bitterly.
Honestly speaking, I didn't know how to treat Sir Geens after our conversation yesterday.
Percy chirped, 'pii po pii po' while seated on Christelle's shoulder.
It sounded like he was telling me that I was terrible at lying. Maybe what I had right now was a feeling of inferiority.
"It is understandable since you seem to be more on the shy side, your highness. It took you a long time for you to get close to his Royal Highness and me as well."
Christelle thankfully seemed to have accepted my excuse.
I thought that there was some debate as to whether we were close, but Benjamin and Ganael had recently said similar things.
Furthermore, I was headed to the outskirts of the Imperial Palace with Christelle right now.
The Imperial Palace's duel with young Duke Blanquer was about to start soon.
He was fighting on my behalf for my honor and we each knew a secret about each other.
Were we really something similar to friends now?
"I'm kind of excited. I want to see how his Royal Highness will punish the young Duke."
"Young lady Sarnez."
"He apparently said that he would not kill the guy, but he never said anything about cutting off some limbs."
'Holy shit.' My jaw dropped in shock and she laughed out loud.
I was not feeling good because I had not managed to see the Imperial Prince.
I'm sure he acted that way after having thought things through, but suddenly being the cause of a duel between members of the Imperial family was quite the dynamic incident after living my whole life as a typical Korean person.
It made me quite nervous.
"Now that I think about it, Benjamin-nim is quite suspicious these days too."
"Benjamin is suspicious?"
Christelle clicked her tongue as I blinked in shock.
She was probably trying to change topics on my behalf, but even I could tell that my reaction was boring.
"He's been receiving a lot of letters. Do you think that he is seeing someone, your highness?"
Benjamin has been in frequent contact with someone even when I first entered the palace. I was thinking that he was sending letters to his family."
"Hmm."
She tilted her head. She then commented about how the atmosphere was quite odd.
The envelope I saw yesterday was quite pretty but I kept my mouth shut because that was not enough to make an assumption.
Benjamin, Ganael, and Sir Geens were in the carriage behind ours.
There were a lot of things I was curious about as well if Benjamin was dating.
But it didn't seem right to ask about his personal life like that if he didn't mention it first.
Personal life... 'Speaking of personal life…'
I quietly observed Christelle as she looked out the window.
I heard that a lot of nobles would come watch the duel as well.
However, nobody would be able to shine like a star as she does.
Her fancy baggy pants, white boots, luxurious cravat and sparkling broach were all clearly made of the highest-grade materials.
She had a cute hat on her head and opera glasses in her hand, making her seem like the perfect spectator.
Not only did she seem like she was used to life after transmigrating, she seemed quite happy.
I was curious about her thoughts.
What was the goal the main character was moving toward while Sir Geens appeared in front of me, the Imperial Prince challenged his cousin to a duel, and his confirmation as crown prince was being determined?
I thought that it would be okay to ask since she considered me to be a friend.
Maybe I could even get some hints about the future.
"Young lady Sarnez, what are your hopes and dreams for the future?"
'Wait, why did it come out like that?'
I put too much emphasis on how to ask my question after deciding to suddenly ask a serious question.
Christelle's eyes opened wide as she turned toward me. I awkwardly smiled.
"That's very random, your highness."
"No, that's not what I, mm. Are you getting along with his Royal Highness?"
'Haaa, this isn't it either...' I couldn't help but let out a deep sigh through my nose.
I was curious to know whether Christelle was getting interested in the Imperial Prince like in the original novel.
It was true that I wanted to know whether QNW was moving along properly because there were so many changes already.
Of course, I wasn't planning on throwing a fastball like this.
"You are asking some entertaining questions out of the blue, your highness. You're such a bundle of charm."
Christelle responded as if she was quite amused. My ears felt hot from embarrassment.
She patted her opera glasses and continued to speak.
"His Royal Highness and I... At first it felt like we were studying together simply because my choice was to do that or go and die, but it's sort of decent now. It is not comfortable, but I have gotten used to it. We have you with us as well now, your highness."
I nodded my head. It felt as if a wedding invitation wouldn't be too far away.
"As for my hopes and dreams for the future, I'm not quite sure, your highness. I want to try a lot of things without any regrets until my memories return. Of course, I have no plans on committing any crimes or evil deeds since I don't want to be in a complicated situation when that time comes."
She was speaking in a roundabout way but I understood what she meant.
She was preparing for when her transmigration would be released and the real Christelle would return.
She would freely use her wealth and abilities right now but she would control herself to not cross the line in order to not harm the young girl.
'But she even abducted a pirate ship… Is it okay because it was for a just cause?'
"Oh right. I want to see the remaining divine item. I have one, his Royal Highness has one, and I got to touch the Ark of the Wind Deity in Yvelines."
"I see."
'Divine item. That might be the hint I was looking for.'
I quietly started to think.
The main character gathering divine items as if they were Dragon Balls didn't seem too bad as a story if I was the author.
It would be easy for the readers to understand and the ability earning process would be quite intuitive.
"Ah! Prince Jesse's carriage has arrived!"
I heard a too familiar voice. I jerked my head up.
The carriage slowly came to a halt.
"Just now…"
"It's the MC of the people, the MC of the people!" (TL: A Korean term for emcee who has earned the love of people all over Korea)
Christelle shouted with excitement while looking outside the window. I couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
'Has Marquis Duhem just cast aside his own territory?'
—
Translator's Comments
Does this guy not have his own territory to run?