episode_0466

“… … .”

“What, you’re not going in? You said it was the palace?”

“… Please wait a moment. A soldier has just gone in to tell you that the princess has arrived.”

“The princess is back, but I have to ask permission to open the door? Is there a rule like that?”

“… Sorry.”

“Miss Agnes, calm down. Miss Lydia is in trouble. And if we really want to be nit-picking, Miss Lydia isn’t even in charge in the first place.”

“… … .”

Agnes, with her arms crossed and a pouty expression on her face, is acting grumpy as if she doesn’t like the current situation.

It was a bit childish behavior, but it was completely understandable. After all, we had been waiting in front of the palace gates for an hour.

The gatekeeper soldier did not even open the door when Princess Raini arrived, but went inside the palace to deliver the news, and Princess Raini and our group just stood there waiting for an hour.

Breaking down or climbing over a closed gate wouldn’t be difficult, but doing something like that would cause more than just a small commotion.

Considering that even a minor disturbance could lead to a major accident due to Princess Raini’s unlucky constitution, for now, she had to wait quietly for the right time.

… Of course, the reason I can be this relaxed is because I remember experiencing Princess Raini’s event in my past life.

“Her Majesty the Queen is now coming out. Everyone, please bow your heads.”

“… Your Majesty the Queen? You left us standing there for an hour without saying a word, and then all of a sudden?”

“I guess Princess Raini is coming to personally greet you when you return home. If she went to greet Her Majesty the Queen, then it makes sense that it would take this long.”

A blue-haired woman leisurely walks out of the castle gate, one step at a time, escorted by soldiers.

Appearing in a luxurious dress studded with jewels, she opened the gate and approached Princess Raini.

“You’re back, Rainy.”

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

“So, did you enjoy your academy life?”

“… … .”

Princess Raini looked around with a worried expression on her face at the Queen’s question, and then our eyes met by chance.

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

And then, just like before, she nodded silently and answered.

“I’m glad you had fun. I was worried because I sent you away alone to a faraway place. Especially since your constitution is so dangerous.”

“… … .”

“Yeah, how many days until your twentieth birthday? About a week?”

“… … .”

-Twitching.

“… The princess’s birthday is four days later, on the twenty-first day of the twelfth month.”

“I didn’t ask you, so don’t interfere.”

“… Sorry.”

The two people continued their conversation in a rather cold atmosphere considering that it had been a year since the mother and daughter were reunited.

Since Princess Raini couldn’t open her mouth because of the spell, it was essentially just a one-sided question and answer from the Queen.

“Yeah, you must have had a hard time coming this far. You must have encountered a lot of bandits and wild monsters.”

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

“Still, I’m glad you came back safely. I’m really glad, Rainy.”

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

… If he really wanted Princess Raini to be safe, he wouldn’t have sent her a letter telling her to go home right after regular classes at the Academy ended.

In any case, amidst all the threats of misfortune, the safest place for her right now was probably the Academy.

The Queen’s words of concern about having to force them out of such a safe place and through a path filled with bandits and wild monsters did not sound sincere at all.

“We have returned from a long journey, so everyone should come into the palace and rest right away… But.”

“… … .”

“Still, I think it’ll be a little difficult to let you into the palace, Raini. There are still four days left until your twentieth birthday.”

“… … .”

“If you were to be brought into the palace where all kinds of people come and go, someone with ill intentions might hurt you… It would be better for you to stay in the villa until your twentieth birthday.”

“… … .”

“I’m saying this for your own good. Can you listen, Rainy?”

“… … .”

-…Nod.

After some thought, Princess Raini nodded cautiously.

She probably knew this would happen.

Princess Raini had written a letter to the point where she was inviting me to the annex instead of the main palace, so she must have expected from the Academy that her mother would kick her out like this even if she arrived at the main palace.

… because it was certain that Princess Raini would suffer all the ‘bad luck’ of her life until she was twenty, there was no possibility that her parents were good people from the beginning.

“Okay, then hurry and go back to the villa. If you stay in the capital for no reason, the country’s finances might be shaken.”

-Nod, nod.

“Mary, as soon as I get back, fill my bathtub with high-grade holy water. I need to wash away some of the bad luck I got from that kid.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

The Queen who openly treats her own daughter like a curse and walks in, and Princess Raini who remains behind the closed door and stands quietly.

And it was Lydia who, as if she had expected this to happen, quietly observed the reactions of others and then cautiously advised them to move.

“Since the Queen has said so… You will be treated at the villa for the next four days.”

“What? Are you really doing what that woman says… .”

“Agnes, here in front of the palace. Do it later, later.”

“… I came all the way here and you can’t get in? I fought and walked for hours and even stood here for an hour? ”

“… I have nothing to say, Agnes.”

“Miss Agnes, this is a helpless situation. Nothing will change if you take your anger out on Miss Lydia here.”

“I’m not taking it out on him… Haa, I’m so frustrated.”

It’s not that I don’t understand Agnes’ feelings, but… rebelling against the Queen of the Dephrin Kingdom here will only make you tired.

Even if there were only a few warriors in the party and even Ethan was included, they would not be able to fight against the elite soldiers of the Kingdom of Dephrin.

“Please return to the castle gate for now. The carriage is parked there, so if you take it, you can get there in a day.”

“Isn’t the palace a building within the capital?”

“… Yes. In the past, when the villa was built, the queen ordered that the villa be built away from the capital… .”

“Let’s go back for now! If we just stand here, time will just pass! Oh, Lady Agnes, please cheer up too! But since we’ve dealt with a lot of the troublemakers, shouldn’t we be able to go back faster than when we came?”

“… Haa, I got it.”

Even the always cheerful Natalie was cautious and tried to lighten the mood.

Even though we finally arrived in front of the palace, we had no choice but to go back the way we came and leave the capital.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

-Rumble, rumbling… .

“… … .”

-Rattle, rattle… .

“… … Sigh.”

Just as we entered the palace, we took a few hours to get out of the royal capital and boarded a carriage to go to the villa.

Agnes’s sigh was clearly filled with annoyance to anyone who heard it, but no one pointed it out. Perhaps, no matter how big or small, all the members here felt the same way.

The luxurious carriage, which had been in perfect condition just a few hours ago, had now shrunk to a third of its size and was rattling repeatedly even though it was traveling on a relatively flat road.

Instead of two strong horses, a common horse that can be seen anywhere is moving by itself carrying almost ten people.

Because the soldiers of the Kingdom of Dephrin arbitrarily took the carriage we were riding in back to the palace, we had no choice but to rent a carriage from a store on the outskirts of town and travel there.

“Now you’re even taking the carriage? That woman is really unlucky.”

“… … !!!”

“… I didn’t say that to the princess. That queen… C’mon, seriously.”

Agnes quickly corrected Princess Raini, who was surprised at being called an unlucky woman, but eventually realized that it was also an insult to her mother and kept her mouth shut.

It was secretly cute to see her sitting on Natalie’s lap and complaining because there was no room to sit in the cramped carriage.

… For your information, Princess Raini and I were sitting on top of Ethan and Silena respectively to save space. If we didn’t do this, there wouldn’t be any space left in the carriage to load up food and tents.

“By the way, how far do you plan on accompanying us, warrior? Unlike me and Lilith, didn’t you have business in the capital of the Kingdom of Dephrin?”

“That’s true, but for now, I feel like I shouldn’t leave the princess’ side. I think I heard a prophecy like that.”

“… Hmm, you really use the title of Warrior of Prophecy well.”

“Of course, he is the warrior of prophecy.”

Ethan, who seemed a little more cautious due to the cramped carriage, and Gyeomjoseogi-gwat, who still maintained his shameless attitude, accompanied Princess Raini.