episode_0010

[Episode 10] – Hoping to Become Close (3)

Lady Lorenzo, the dowager.

In terms of the game’s story, she was the ‘guardian’ of the first queen, who had been responsible for the education of the first queen since her days as a mere noble lady before ascending to the position of queen. Currently, she was one of the NPCs in charge of the princess’s education.

If Lady Lorenzo, the dowager, were to be assigned as the princess’s educator during her upbringing, it was possible to acquire a fairly high ‘knowledge’ ability at the beginning. With its extraordinary performance that provided 1.5 times more ‘knowledge’ ability than other educators, I naturally entrusted the princess’s education to Lady Lorenzo, the dowager.

Although there was a downside in that the princess experienced a lot of stress due to the lessons, considering the princess’s stress, Lady Lorenzo, the dowager’s performance seemed quite attractive. At that time, I felt quite good about it.

Seeing the princess, who kept dying because of the witch, overwhelming the story with the increased abilities gained from Lady Lorenzo, the dowager’s education, was enough to bring me pleasure. Therefore, I naturally entrusted all matters related to the princess’s ‘knowledge’ ability entirely to Lady Lorenzo, the dowager. Surely, I expected that this time, I would be able to see a happy ending, but…

At that time, I didn’t know.

The fact that Lady Lorenzo, the dowager, was actually a trap NPC.

The fact that if the princess became deeply involved with her, she would head straight for a ‘bad ending.’

I was unaware of these facts at the time.

*

“Why is the first queen’s dog here?”

I turned my head slightly and glanced at Lady Lorenzo, only moving my eyes. It’s crucial not to bow your head. If you cross your arms here, it’s the perfect touch.

Looking down at someone with just your eyes, without lowering your head, was the basic posture when Vivian looked at someone.

As if she didn’t like my attitude, Lady Lorenzo narrowed her eyes and glared at me. So what? I provocatively smiled, further provoking her.

The reason I antagonized Lady Lorenzo was simple.

Because the princess was under her education.

I know well what kind of situation I’ll end up in if I stay by her side for too long. So, in order to somehow detach the princess from her side, I had no choice but to antagonize Lady Hwujak.

Whether worn out from the battle of wits with me or not, Lady Hwujak let out a sigh and turned her head to look down at the princess. The princess, catching that gaze, flinched slightly and shuddered.

“Your Majesty, as you are aware, I have been entrusted with the ‘educational responsibility’ of the princess by His Majesty. I have come to attend to the princess as it is time for her lessons.”

Lady Hwujak spoke politely to me, but her tone and demeanor seemed to suggest that there was no longer any value in speaking further. I turned my head slightly to look at the princess.

Clearly, the princess was still…

“The princess’s lesson time hasn’t arrived yet, has it?”

“…Where is the designated time for studying? The more time the princess devotes to her studies, the better she will become, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Wasn’t it you who set the lesson time? Shouldn’t you at least keep to that time?”

“Adjusting the time according to the lesson is only natural. Your Majesty surely experienced such cases often when you were young, did you not?”

…She’s avoiding saying anything, isn’t she?

For some reason, Lady Hwujak’s words felt like they were being interpreted differently. So, Lady Hwujak clearly meant something along the lines of “Didn’t you receive education properly when you were young?”.

Is this the elegant verbal sparring of nobles?

I crossed my arms for a moment, tapping my forearm with my finger, lost in thought. What should I do about Lady Hwujak? No matter how much I may be the Second Queen, it was not my place to disobey the king’s orders.

In other words, the current situation is one where I cannot do anything about Lady Hwujak, who has been appointed as the educational authority by Her Majesty’s command. Even if I were to give up, Her Majesty’s command would take precedence over Lady Hwujak…

“…Should I just overturn everything according to Vivian’s personality?”

…Even if I were to slap Lady Hwujak here, it wouldn’t really be a problem. Everyone would think, “Vivian being Vivian,” as if it were nothing unusual.

But…

I lowered my head and glanced at the princess and Ellie. The princess was at a loss, swaying her head back and forth between Lady Vivian and me.

“Now that Lady Vivian has barely started to shake off her notoriety, she shouldn’t want to increase it by causing more trouble, right?”

Sigh. I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. If only the king hadn’t abdicated, I could have somehow met with him and requested to remove Lady Vivian from her role as the princess’s educator. But now, the king was in a state of seclusion…

In this current situation, all I could do was step back and plan for another day. However, simply retreating like this was quite irritating. So…

“Princess.”

“Yes, yes…?”

I smiled slyly at the princess and asked, “It’s your decision. Will you play with Ellie and me until class time, or will you go to class as is? Surely Lady Vivian will respect the princess’s choice.”

“What? Lady Lorenzo? You mean to forcibly drag the princess to class without asking for her opinion?”

“I am responsible for the princess’s education…! So, I…”

“So, being responsible means ignoring the princess’s opinion?”

Lady Vivian looked at me incredulously. So what can you do here? Even if Lady Vivian calls herself the ‘educator’ of the princess, this is a strict class-based society. This place is one where even an elderly lady like Lady Vivian cannot ignore the opinion of a young princess.

As things didn’t go as planned, Lady Vivian’s annoyed expression softened, and she sighed before looking at the princess with a pleasant expression.

“Of course, I always respect the princess’s opinion.”

“That’s something you should naturally do as a subject.”

As soon as those words were spoken, I felt Lady Vivian’s fiery gaze, but I paid no attention and looked down at the princess. The princess blinked as if she was bewildered by the current situation.

“Princess.”

“Your Highness.”

I and the Marquess’s wife called for the princess at the same time. The princess’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck, seeming unsure of what to do.

However, we didn’t have time to wait for the princess’s judgment. Standing on either side of her, the Marquess’s wife and I crouched down with our arms wide open, beckoning her like one would call a puppy.

“Come this way, Your Highness!”

“No, come this way, Princess!”

In the end, it was I who lost. Perhaps it was because I hadn’t spent much time with the princess yet. She seemed to hesitate for a while, then ultimately took the Marquess’s wife’s hand. It was disappointing, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Returning to my room, I tossed and turned on the bed, trying to shake off this uncomfortable feeling. I had wanted to go for a walk to lift my spirits, but I ended up returning with an even more uneasy feeling.

“Sigh…”

-Stop sulking, there’s nothing you can do about it. Vivian never got along well with the princess in the first place. Every time Vivian met the princess, she would spew curses…

“…Yeah. There’s nothing to be done about it. After all, it’s not like I’ve known the princess for a long time.”

As I lay quietly and contemplated, the irritation was unavoidable. I kicked the blankets with my foot, unable to do anything to improve my mood.

“Sigh…”

-Your temper…

It was frustrating, but there were things I could learn from this incident. First, Lady Lorenzo, appointed as the princess’s educator by His Majesty. The moment I heard that, I knew for sure.

“Oh, the ‘king’ is definitely not a ‘transmigrator’ like me.”

Honestly, the most worrying part for me after possessing Vivian’s body was whether the ‘king’ was also a transmigrator like me. Displacement, yes, I might have displaced to escape reality after transmigrating.

But any user who had played the game even a little would never appoint Lady Lorenzo, an obvious NPC, as the princess’s educator. If they did so even after seeing that ending, they wouldn’t be human. Therefore, the king definitely wasn’t a transmigrator.

Initially, the king would have definitely banished or killed someone who was possessed like me. Although I wasn’t completely sure until now, Lady Lorenzo’s words had given me some confidence.

So, what in the world made the king abdicate? Bangsho and Ainsel didn’t know the reason for the king’s abdication… Could it be related to the first queen? Why does it seem like the first queen isn’t active, and was she even alive to begin with? But Ainsel clearly mentioned that “Vivian performed a ritual to switch bodies with the first queen.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer. Neither Bangsho nor Ainsel, not even the maid Elly, said anything to me about the first queen. They kept avoiding the topic.

“…Ainsel.”

-Yes?

…Well, I should put aside things I don’t know about and focus on the most important thing right now, which is none other than the “princess.” The problem was how to drive away the “Lady Lorenzo” associated with the princess.

What can I do for the princess right now?

“Tell me everything you know about the princess.”

-Everything? All of a sudden?

“Even trivial things will do. What she likes, dislikes, her age, and since I don’t even know the princess’s name.”

It seemed like the only way to control Lady Lorenzo after getting closer to the princess was through knowing as much as possible about her. Stopping Lady Lorenzo’s filthy schemes was my best option.

“Um… Do you really need to ask me about the princess? I, I’m not sure…”

“..? You’ve been in the palace for a long time… So you must know the princess’s age and name, right?”

“W-well, but… Oh! How about asking Elly?”

“..? Ainsel, don’t avoid my gaze.”

Ainsel’s avoidance whenever talking about the princess was suspicious. Now that I think about it, Ainsel referred to the princess in a rather special way. While addressing the king and queen normally, when it came to the princess, she always added ‘님’ (nim), a respectful title used in Korean.

As the princess approached the mirror, Einzel’s eyes began to dart around. It was a clear reaction of someone hiding something.

“You’re hiding something from me about the princess, aren’t you?”

“Uh, well, you see…”

“Speak quickly, before I smear fingerprints all over the mirror and don’t wipe them off.”

“Oh, please don’t! It’s really dirty!”

As I reached my finger towards the mirror, Einzel screamed in terror. After a moment of contemplation, she sighed deeply and looked at me.

“I can’t tell you everything, but I’ll tell you some details about the princess.”

“…Want a taste of my fingerprint?”

“Ah!! No!! I can’t help it if I can’t speak! It would be the same with other fairies! It’s our ‘species’ trait!”

“..? Is that so?”

If she insists that much, there’s no helping it. I didn’t press further, as I’ve seen this in games. Perhaps the princess being able to see ‘fairies’ is related to that?

After all, the seven dwarfs are also ‘fairies’.

Thinking about it, it was natural for the princess to be able to see fairies.

“…Anyway, don’t get angry like you did in front of Lady Lorenzo earlier. For now, the princess is 6 years old. Since her birthday is coming up, she’ll be turning 7 soon.”

“? Wait, why do you think I’d get angry?”

“And, the princess’s name is…”

*

A secluded room used for the princess’s lessons.

The moment she entered, Lady Lorenzo’s expression turned as dark as pitch. As if she had suddenly removed the mask she had been wearing, the princess tensed, swallowing hard.

As the door closed and Lady Lorenzo turned back, she grabbed the princess’s shoulder firmly.

“Why were you with the Second Queen Consort?”

“Well, I was sleeping under the tree…”

Twisting the princess’s arm as if wringing out a cloth, Lady Lorenzo caused her pain. The princess tried to scream but bit her lower lip to stifle it.

“Why do you keep behaving in such a vulgar manner? Last time, you freely accepted candies from the maids, and now you claim to have slept under a tree? Why do you not recognize your own worth?”

*Sniffle*

“Your mother, the queen, has never engaged in such vulgar behavior in her entire life! Why do you!!”

The princess could endure this level of suffering. However, the next words that came from Lady Hujak felt like a stabbing pain in her chest, making it unbearable.

“Since the princess acts this way, Her Majesty probably hasn’t even given the princess a name.”

Tears welled up in her large eyes, streaming silently down her cheeks.

Drip. Drip.