chapter 9
As soon as the conversation shifted to ordinary topics, the atmosphere quickly calmed down again.
Leonard, who had somehow already returned to being shameless, smiled faintly and asked,
“Princess, what are you planning to make with the mana stone I gave you? If you’d like, I could recommend a skilled mage.”
Ah, he meant Deligno’s Tear. Come to think of it, I’d received such an overpowered item and still hadn’t even thought about using it.
“That’s alright. I know quite a few people myself.”
I rejected him immediately while thinking of the mages who had become my slaves… no, my friends after I changed the original story.
Most mages were basically researchers by nature, so they were the kind of species that became happy as long as you handed them research funds.
I generously lent them money, then asked for a very small and modest interest rate of around 300%, thereby becoming their friend.
“That mana stone is high-grade, so processing it will be difficult. On top of that, it’s dark-elemental, which carries a great deal of risk.”
Prince Leonard continued speaking with a face that clearly showed he hadn’t expected me to refuse.
“Then all the more reason I can’t leave it to Your Highness. I happen to know a few sucke— …I mean, a few mages.”
“You even know dark-element mages?”
“I got acquainted with them somehow.”
“There can’t be many mages in Syncaster. May I ask how you came to know them?”
“No. You may not.”
I couldn’t exactly say it was because I’d wrecked the original plot.
I rejected him again outright, but thinking it might have sounded too rude, I added,
“They’re my sucke— …I mean, my cherished friends.”
“I see.”
“You’re not upset because I turned you down, are you?”
“Of course not.”
He totally looked upset.
His face was smiling, but the mood had already sunk slightly.
To think he’d get offended just because I rejected him twice.
I added another entry to my handsome-men encyclopedia: Prince Leonard — directionally challenged, kind of cute, but narrow-minded.
Still, as a princess, I couldn’t just let the atmosphere stay gloomy.
I clapped my hands brightly and smiled.
“Come to think of it, Prince, I heard you’re considered a swordsmanship genius in Blake. Is that true?”
“…It’s not such an extraordinary talent.”
“But your reputation has spread all the way here to Syncaster! Doesn’t that mean you really are amazing?”
“……”
At my words, he only kept sipping his tea. His gaze was fixed somewhere beyond my shoulder, toward the bushes, so he was probably embarrassed.
“I also heard you’re called the Flame Mage. It’s so impressive that you excel at both swordsmanship and magic. Could you show me some magic?”
Since it was my second compliment, I expected him to grow even more embarrassed.
But contrary to expectations, Leonard’s face stiffened at my next words. When he set down his teacup, the air turned cold once again.
“I do not use magic just anywhere.”
“……”
Mages were usually arrogant bastards who were dying to show off their abilities anytime and anywhere.
So I’d thought if I provoked him a little, he’d proudly show off some flashy magic.
What was with that reaction?
Rather than feeling wronged, I was simply curious why he had suddenly become so serious. Maybe I had made a mistake.
Just as silence settled between us—
I spotted the man who was supposedly his adjutant approaching from afar.
Were all the men of Blake broad-chested and sculpted like statues? He was handsome enough to earn a place in my encyclopedia too.
“Your Highness, there is something urgent I must report.”
“Eric. Can’t you see I’m speaking with the Princess right now?”
“It’s alright, Prince. Judging by your adjutant, it seems urgent.”
One should always ensure that shadows never fall over the faces of handsome men. Since I was a considerate person, I quietly rose from my seat.
Leonard immediately stood up as well.
“Princess, wouldn’t this be rather rude?”
“Then next time, together with this Sir Eric, we can have a two-against-one—”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s nothing.”
Abigail’s spear-like glare flew at me from beside me, so I snapped open my fan.
Right. As a princess, I should maintain some dignity during the birthday celebration.
“Then I shall see you again later.”
In the middle of tea time, the prince and his adjutant Eric hurried away, and Abigail took their place.
Abigail elegantly and gracefully began scolding me yet again, begging me to stop acting like I wanted to devour handsome faces.
“But Abigail, out of the twenty gentlemen who danced with me yesterday, eighteen of them looked unfair.”
“Unfair? Whatever do you mean by that?”
“How should I put it… they just looked miserable. Like the kind of faces that make me want to cry.”
“Then what about the other two?”
“They had smiling faces. The kind that make me smile.”
In front of the horrified Abigail, I let out a deep sigh and lowered my head.
“Two out of twenty… mathematically, that means the probability of discovering a handsome man is only 10%. At this rate, even if I travel the world, will I really be able to find handsome men?”
That was when—
Something like a sheet of paper entered my lowered field of vision.
“Oh my, that man named Eric must’ve dropped this earlier.”
Just as a smile naturally spread across my face at the thought that I’d have an excuse to meet them again while returning it, Abigail widened her eyes and held out both hands.
“Please give it to me. I’ll have a servant return it to them.”
“Abigail, doesn’t this look like an important document? Wouldn’t it be better if I kept it safe personally? Look—it’s tied with a high-quality cord.”
The moment I ran my finger along the cord—
Crack!
A sharp sound rang out. At the same time, I felt a strong static shock and dropped the paper.
“W-What was that?”
A small red magic circle briefly appeared on the rolled-up paper before disappearing.
“Princess… wasn’t that magic?”
Abigail looked at me in confusion.
Thankfully, I had seen that magic circle before.
It was a defensive spell that prevented the seal from being broken, along with a tracking spell that recorded whoever touched it.
Such magic was only placed on confidential documents. Why was this man Eric carrying around classified papers?
Fortunately, it seemed only Abigail and I had witnessed the phenomenon, so I immediately warned her to keep quiet.
“Abigail, don’t tell anyone about this. I think I need to inform my brother.”
I headed straight for Erdan’s office.
However, Erdan was in the middle of a nobles’ council meeting, and Aurora was busy entertaining distinguished guests from various countries who wished to see the Saintess.
After sending word for them to come see me once they finished, I stared intently at the paper in my study before finally deciding to break the spell.
Of course, I could roughly guess that this document belonged to Blake and was important.
But first, the one who dropped it was at fault.
Second, it had the audacity to attack me and spark my curiosity.
And third, if it truly was an important document, then rather than keeping it and ending up dying mysteriously…
Wouldn’t it be better to see what was inside and record the contents somewhere?
Thinking my reasoning was absolutely flawless, I nodded to myself, glared at the still-sealed document, then put on my magical crystal bracelet and contacted Slave Number One.
“Sarah, come to my study.”
Sarah was described in the original story as an exceptionally talented dark-element mage.
When I was ten years old, Sarah had been a fifteen-year-old student attending Elysium Magic Academy.
To add to that, she was extremely skilled at deceiving and swindling others.
I valued that personality trait even more highly than her magical talent and secretly gave Sarah overwhelming financial support.
Later, when Sarah tried to swindle me, I hired dozens of lawyers and swindled her back instead, making her my slave… no, my friend.
As a result, Sarah was obligated to grant 99.9% of my requests anytime and anywhere.
The remaining 0.1% accounted for things Sarah simply couldn’t do.
Though so far, no such magic had existed.
An hour later, a woman with messy tangerine-colored bobbed hair suddenly appeared out of thin air in my study.
“Princess, you called for me?”
“Sarah, why did it take you an entire hour to get here? With teleportation, you could’ve arrived in less than a minute.”
When I sulkily demanded an explanation, Sarah answered indifferently,
“I’ve been researching magic and haven’t bathed in ten days. But if I came here dirty, Your Highness would hate it.”