Chap 5-A New Start with the Princess 2

 

“Escort? Not an assassin?”

The woman, who appeared to be a princess, sounded quite disappointed.

Of course, I did assassinate too.

But this time, I came as an escort, in my own way.

Considering that my master told me to be an escort but also attend the academy, I wonder if she thinks too little of her disciple.

I’ve received some education to be in the hero party in the kingdom, so I know quite a bit.

I briefly grumbled about Katarina inwardly and turned my gaze to the princess.

The time is approaching, but she’s like this from the first day.

Look at her. Trying to savor the tea with a dazed expression.

As her escort, I can’t stand to see that.

“Tea from morning on the first day, you’re living the good life.”

“No, just a cup of tea before leaving.”

She blushed and lowered her head, seemingly embarrassed.

Well, this would be the normal reaction.

There’s no way a flower in a greenhouse who knows nothing could sense the malice threatening her.

After staring at the princess with pity for a while, I snatched the teacup from her hand.

I put my nose to the teacup and sniffed, and as expected.

I could feel the aura of impure Mana with low affinity.

It was obvious what this was.

“It’s not ordinary tea, is it.”

“What?”

I splashed what was in the teacup at the woman who seemed to be a maid or something.

Splash!

The unclean tea splashed on the maid emitted an unknown, hazy aura.

Knowing well what happens when a human swallows impure Mana, I glared at the maid.

“Kyaa? What are you doing?”

“It means you put something impure in the tea.”

“How can you say such rude things? Who are you to take the princess’s teacup in the first place!”

She’s good at talking.

It seems like she’s trying to shift the blame somehow, but she’s barking up the wrong tree.

I naturally placed my hand on the maid’s shoulder.

Then, I took out the tea leaves that were still in the teacup.

“It’s tea for the princess, so why are you using such poor tea leaves?”

“Ugh.”

She seems to have a guilty conscience.

Yeah. That’s right. Anyone with a little knowledge would know what that Mana is.

In my opinion, that maid was slightly frowning.

It was as if she had something to hide.

“What’s going on?”

“Princess, do you know?”

“Wh-what?”

“Plants are suitable for holding natural Mana.”

“I know that much. Plants themselves purify Mana. So natural Mana is the most familiar among Mana.”

Arietta, who answered without realizing it, shut her mouth tightly.

Who on earth is this woman?

Who is she to come and throw away the teacup so casually and treat the maid who brought the tea so rudely?

She’s supposed to be the escort.

Such complex emotions were clearly visible on Princess Arietta’s face.

So, I decided to explain it to her.

As if explaining to a child in a gentle tone.

“But tea leaves are different. Tea leaves picked for brewing only merely absorb mana.”

“What does that mean?”

“This sometimes shows toxic effects. If you brew black tea with tea leaves that have been kept in a Potion for a long time, eating that accumulated, unpurified Mana Potion will accumulate in the body and gradually cause Mana Overload or dehydration. This accumulates little by little, so if you don’t find the cause, you’ll slowly die without realizing it.”

It’s not limited to black tea.

It can be used for anything that people can eat or inhale.

For assassination with a long-term plan.

“No wonder she suddenly offered to make tea or something. Could it be.”

“Th-that’s just speculation. Who are you anyway?”

The caught maid denies it, but her body and voice are already trembling.

Like a thief caught red-handed.

“Ciel von Adelheid Bathory.”

“Bathory?”

Judging by her reaction, she didn’t receive the message.

“Shall we take these tea leaves to an expert?”

“Kh. I just received the order to brew tea! Let go of me.”

In the end, the maid, who had nothing to say or excuse, ran away.

To be sure, as a poison, it’s harmless to the human body for only one or two times.

But these tea leaves are quite contaminated.

It would be a different story if you fed it to her diligently for a long time.

Especially in this imperial palace.

Maybe they’ll feed it to her even while she’s in the dormitory.

“She’s running away.”

“That’s how guilty people run away.”

Those kinds of people don’t live long.

I didn’t bother chasing after her.

I just planted a Magical Needle made of Mana so I could track her down whenever I wanted.

“Don’t you need to catch her? More than that, a report.”

It seems like the princess has finally grasped the situation.

“I’ve planted a Magical Needle, so I can find her wherever she goes. If they planned this meticulously, they’ve already manipulated the imperial surveillance department.”

At this point, it’s useless to report it.

Of course, I couldn’t do nothing as an escort after experiencing something like this, so I took out insurance.

More than that.

I scanned Princess Arietta from head to toe.

She certainly had a face that was well-fed and well-off, considering she had to live by her wits.

I was expecting a woman like a crumbling sandcastle, but she’s quite carefree.

Or maybe she just has a good personality.

A type who lives as she is, accepting the fate given to her, without resignation or anything like that.

Or not.

Judging by the fact that she’s clenching her fists, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.

I could quickly figure out the princess.

“More than that?”

“You look more normal than I thought.”

Arietta von Paleob.

The fourth princess of the Paleob Empire and an abandoned daughter.

But in reality, she’s just someone who’s far behind in the imperial succession race.

The emperor was the type who didn’t care about his children in the first place.

Once the successor is decided, he’ll just pass the throne to that person.

“Ha, do I look normal to you?”

“It’s not like there haven’t been people like that before. How have you managed to stay alive so well?”

That alone is enough to be highly valued.

Considering she’s caught up in the imperial succession race, she seems to have a strong nerve.

“Hey. Miss Bathory.”

“Yes.”

“I have my own circumstances.”

It’s not like I haven’t suffered until now.

Unlike me, who highly valued her, Arietta, who only saw me with ridicule, coldly retorted.

“That’s right. Seeing that there’s no one around, you’ve been working hard to eliminate the princess’s supporters until the full-scale imperial succession race. Like the Franz Marquis family, for example.”

I already heard from my master Katarina that the princess’s maternal family is the Franz Marquis family, and they’ve been expelled from the political world and have virtually collapsed.

That’s why I see her as amazing.

She must have felt threatened a long time ago, but she’s still in the imperial palace.

Of course, before the direct imperial succession race, other competitors wouldn’t try to shed blood unnecessarily.

Unlike rational judgment, the person in question must have felt a threat to her life.

“Do you know about the Franz Marquis family?”

“I’ve received requests from them a few times before.”

“Requests?”

“Yes. They asked me to hit a rival family. I received a request for arms smuggling. Ah, that was quite fun.”

I twisted the corners of my mouth while reminiscing about the past, but Arietta frowned, wondering what was wrong.

Ah.

If an ordinary person hears this, it’s a crime.

Just listening to it now, it smells very illegal.

Hmm.

Well, it’ll be okay.

She’s managed to save her life until now, so this much is nothing.

Arietta knew about the Bathory family.

Surely not.

Still, she knows the Bathory family as a baronet family.

Arietta, who doesn’t know that the baronet title of the Bathory family is a disguised title, just shook her head.

Surely not.

She’s just saying that to relieve tension.

If it’s really true. If that lie is true, isn’t it possible that Arietta’s maternal family started the button of collapse because of the woman in front of her?

First, she decided to ask once.

“Isn’t Bathory a baronet family?”

“On the surface, yes.”

“On the surface?”

How should I explain this?

Since we’re on the same boat, we need to be open to cooperate.

After thinking for a while, Ciel shook her head.

After all, considering her master’s job, she can’t say it openly.

“You’ll get hurt if you know too much. Ah, and this is a gift.”

To change the atmosphere, Ciel took out a small package from her pocket.

“A gift?”

“Anyway, even if it’s shabby, aren’t you royalty? I’m going to be polite.”

When she received and unwrapped the package, a snow-white powder and a thin, long iron tube wrapped in paper came out together.

She’s the same woman, but she’s giving this kind of gift to a woman.

Is it because she’s the same woman?

She doesn’t have any friends, so she doesn’t know.

She’s not particularly hoping for jewelry, but do people usually give this kind of gift?

What is this in the first place?

As far as Arietta knows, white powder is usually known to be very dangerous.

She just had that feeling.

“What is this white powder?”

“You could say it’s a kind of torture tool.”

“Torture? Do you mix it with water and feed it to them?”

“Ah, you can do that, but the effect is weak. This is how you use it. Put this small iron tube against this powder.”

Ciel calmly and kindly explained to Arietta how to use this iron tube and showed her directly.

Bring the iron tube close to the white powder to some extent and lower your head to put your nose to the iron tube.

Something is gradually becoming a strange pose.

“Yes. And then?”

“If you put your nose like this and inhale-”

“Isn’t this a drug?”

When Arietta raised her hand and spoke, Ciel couldn’t say anything more.

Well, it can be classified as a drug for the time being.

Of course, if you go into the details, you can insist on it in a different way.

Ciel realized that this princess obviously didn’t know anything.

She kindly handed over what she had painstakingly left for ‘torture’ along with instructions on how to use it.

Then, wouldn’t it be possible to deceive her innocently?

“A drug? It’s just Pilly Herb, which has a stimulating effect, dried, finely ground, and mixed with purified Mana. It feels good, but it has side effects.”

“Side effects?”

“If you inhale too much at once, you’ll experience Mana overdose symptoms and hallucinations.”

“This is a drug, isn’t it? I think you’re worse than that maid? Are you really an escort?”

“A drug? That’s harsh. It’s a ‘miscellaneous item’ that belongs to a ‘Potion’ that restores Mana in its own way. Marquis Franz also enjoyed it. Of course, you have to inhale it with this specially made iron tube. If you just eat it, it feels like your brain is burning. You use that for torture.”

“Then why are you giving me that special iron rod if you’re just going to tell me that?”

“…….”

“…….”

Ciel, who was about to make an excuse, shut her mouth.

She had nothing to say about that.

No, at first, it was really with good intentions. If there was someone who showed malice to Arietta, she thought she would force them to inhale it.

‘Damn it, I was just going to tell her how to torture them.’

She habitually told her how to inhale it safely, just like when she sold it to nobles.

And Arietta, who was looking at Ciel, who didn’t answer, had cold eyes.

Very.

“I think my family was ruined because of you.”

Is that how it happened?

“Other royals politically attacked them. Rather, I and Marquis Franz had a good business relationship.”

Unlike the princess’s gaze, Ciel shrugged with a bored expression.

She was quite close to the marquis, to the point where she could openly roll around in the Franz Marquis family’s mansion.

“A business relationship?”

“He was a grateful person who generously gave me money when I threatened to tell his rival family. Ah, thanks to that, many problems were solved.”

For example, replenishing the budget that was lacking because the heroes of the hero party recklessly spent money.

Or passing on the task of accommodating refugees to manage the image of the hero party.

Or attracting the attention of the Demon King’s Army with the Franz Marquis family’s private soldiers.

Compared to the useless hero party, the marquis family was much more useful.

“You told the other nobles because they didn’t give you money?”

“Of course not. I couldn’t threaten them anymore because they had collapsed.”

Ciel just shrugged lightly.

Arietta felt dizzy as her head became hazy.

One of the reasons why her maternal family collapsed is in front of her.

She’s even shameless without any change in emotion.

Yeah. What’s the point of arguing about it now?

It was her grandfather’s choice, and as a result, it only provided her other siblings with a reason to attack Franz.

In the first place, she doesn’t want to get angry for a maternal family she hasn’t seen much and is related to the underworld.

‘Then it’s not like it’s a false charge?’

The truth is that everything was true.

Arietta’s head became complicated as if she was being poked with a needle.

No, now that she thinks about it, it doesn’t really matter.

It’s already over.

“Are you sure of your skills?”

“The escort is a bonus.”

“A bonus?”

Of course. How long has she been under that master?

It’s obvious that the master, who has hundreds of those sly snakes, will eventually start anew at the academy.

So, even though it’s a disguised identity, isn’t that why she had her registered in a noble family?

If she could, she would love to sell everything she had secretly embezzled and roll around, but.

Unfortunately, the problem is that she’s in the kingdom.

Ciel firmly vowed to take it back someday and stared at the princess, who was still hesitating.

“Let’s go for now. It’s time to go to Schperen.”

It was time to go to Schperen now.