episode_0033

Episode 33.

When I returned to my room, I first ordered herbal tea with a lot of honey from the maid. But even after emptying the teacup, my mood did not calm down.

The main reason is the distaste for Carmel.

A conversation with the type of person I disliked the most took place in the absence of the person involved. There will be no one who won’t be offended.

But that’s not all. I felt something more, a kind of betrayal, from Carmel’s actions.

‘How dare you…’

My fists are clenched and my nails are digging into my palms. I feel like my mind is becoming a tangled mess. It was different from intense anger. It was difficult to come up with the right word to describe this feeling.

Phew, let’s calm down.

In order to condemn the cheeky Carmel, I must first solve the difficult problem Carmel posed to me. In order to do that, I first needed to calm my mind.

First of all, I have no intention of accepting this self-talk. It is an absolutely immutable position that is not worth discussing.

According to what I heard through the maids’ behind-the-scenes rumors, Walter Grave was quite the libertine. His appearance as a proud commander of his direct division is only superficial. In reality, he seems to be a piece of trash who only touches a woman he likes once.

On the other hand, as Philgret said, the evaluations of the knights who followed him were consistently good. The evaluations of men and women were completely different. I have to say that I know how to manage my reputation well.

Or perhaps that level of cheating is quite acceptable in this country.

Anyway, to me, he’s just an annoying person. This marriage talk never comes to fruition.

Pato has already been confirmed. If so, how you break it is important.

Even in the worst case, the damage is not great compared to accepting divorce. Even if everything goes to the worst, the Graves’ loyalty will likely hit rock bottom. It’s not like there’s a problem that’s going to be dangerous right now.

But if that happens, Carmel will take advantage of the situation and make something up again. The fact that the Grave family, which protects the royal capital, turns its back on the royal family could have a fatal effect depending on the situation.

Moreover, I really don’t like the fact that things are going as Carmel intended. I don’t want to see Carmel’s triumphant face. Carmel looks better with an angry, trembling face. Of course, the best thing is to fall over in a state of triumph.

A reasonable move would be to go to Grave Street myself and refuse marriage talks. Depending on the delivery method and attitude, friction with them may be minimized. If that’s the case, I have some confidence.

However, it does not change the fact that the royal family broke its promise first without any particular reason. No matter how good things they hear, it won’t be able to stop their faith from shaking.

Then, there are two better cases.

One is that there arises a reason why marriage talks cannot take place. For example, the sudden death of Walter Graves.

It’s a pretty attractive choice. As long as I don’t find out about my involvement in his death, everything will be neatly sorted out.

However, the means of realization are not that easy. Walter is the eldest son of the Grave family, a commanding general and a renowned military officer.

Moreover, his personal power must be considerable enough to be called a swordsman genius.

It wasn’t easy to think of a way to kill him without leaving any traces of me.

In that case, another neat solution is… for the Graves themselves to break up the marriage talks.

This too is neatly organized. As long as you break your self-confidence, there is no reason for your loyalty to decline.

But how? It would be nice if that could happen, but the method of realization is more vague than assassination. Unless it is backed by a realistic plan, it is nothing more than a wish.

There is no easy answer. In times like these, it might be better to put it aside for a moment and focus on the problem at hand.

The problem before me now is the Festival of Swords, which is coming up in three days.

Just imagining Walter, who won the Battle of the Sword, making a cringe-worthy marriage proposal with a face full of self-confidence, makes me want to punch his face.

Moreover, the problem that it becomes difficult for Pilgret to move freely remains if he is defeated in the Battle of the Sword.

No matter what happens, you must not lose the battle of the sword.

Carmel would not simply let the game flow according to its abilities. He will definitely do something to ensure that Walter wins.

For example, taking medicine that could ruin one’s physical condition at a meal right before the sword festival begins.

Of course, it is quite noticeable that Queen Carmel is in and out of the knights. However, Carmel has black magic that allows her to change her appearance.

Shimasa’s spell. You should be able to use it much more freely now. If you change your appearance to one of the people who regularly enter the Order, things will be very simple.

Of course, not just anyone can change. Although it was not described accurately in the novel, it was said that only people whose soul type matched Carmel’s could use Simasa’s magic.

The only character in the novel that is explicitly stated as such is Princess Sera. There was no attempt to transform Carmel into another person.

But there is no harm in being careful.

I got up, called the maid, and got ready to go out.

* * *

Roberts Chamber of Commerce headquarters.

Thanks to having announced my visit in advance, Grus came out and greeted me in person.

“Welcome, wow, princess…”

You still have a confused attitude. Still, he seemed a little calmer than before.

“Well, but for some reason…”

“There is something I want, Grus.”

“What do you mean… what do you want?”

“A magic item with the effect of seeing through transformations caused by magic. It doesn’t matter what the price is. It’s urgent. You can get it within 3 days, right?”

I already knew through Monaz that such an item existed. Groose, who was reflecting on my words, tilted his head and said.

“As for an item that can see through magical effects… Are you talking about the Necklace of Truth?”

“Necklace of Truth… What kind of item is that?”

“This is a magic item that meets the conditions mentioned by the princess. When a person with magical powers wears it, it has the effect of seeing through illusionary magic. As far as I know, it was definitely included in the collection of Count Roberts, no, Graham Roberts…”

“That turned out well. Where is that collection?”

“It will be stored at the Roberts Mansion. Because it was Graham Roberts’ personal collection.”

Is this the Roberts mansion? Good.

Now I am Baron Roberts’ guardian. The things in the mansion are like my things. I said hello to Grus and left.

It’s good that I was able to get what I wanted easily, but there was something that Grus said that was slightly different from my plan.

Only people with magical powers can use it?

Originally, I had planned to wear the item myself and hunt down Carmel. But in this case, you will need someone else’s help…

Well, let’s think about it first after getting the Necklace of Truth.

While I was thinking, the carriage arrived at the Roberts Mansion. As I got off the carriage and headed toward the mansion, a familiar face came out the front door to greet me.

“Welcome, princess.”

William Roberts. The young-faced boy bowed his head in a polite manner.

“How have you been? William.”

“Yes, thanks to the princess. What brought you here today?”

“I have something to take. From Graham’s collection.”

Even though he openly said he would take the Roberts family’s belongings, there was no sense of caution from William. I just nod my head willingly.

“I see. My uncle’s collections are stored in the annex. I’ll guide you through it. Come this way.”

“You don’t hate it? I can freely touch the Roberts family’s belongings.”

William stopped walking and looked up at me. And he answered with a youthful smile typical of a boy.

“That’s a strange question, princess. Since you have the qualifications to be my guardian, the princess owns this mansion and all the items in it.”

Compared to Grus, he clearly has a clearer sense of self-interest. If William grows up just a little bit, Grus might lose his job.

William took the lead and entered the annex, and I followed him. As I entered, I saw a transparent divider on the stackable storage rack. Inside were numerous dazzling treasures.

It’s quite a sight. The sight of treasures of various and colorful shapes majestically piled up seemed like something that could make even a person without much of a desire for money get excited.

“What kind of thing is the princess looking for?”

“It’s the necklace of truth. I heard it was here…”

“The Necklace of Truth… Is it a magic item?”

“Yes. It is an item that has the effect of detecting illusion magic. But it seems like it will take more time to find it than I thought…”

It was fortunate that I could see it with my eyes because it was placed inside a transparent space, but there were too many of them. It seemed like it would take quite some time just to look through it with my eyes.

“If it is a magic item, the number will not be that large. Hmm… I’m sure my uncle would have sorted them by price… so let’s go inside.”

As William said, I went deeper. As soon as I reached the innermost part, I found a necklace with a blue sapphire in it.

Necklace of Truth. It was clearly written that way on the nameplate.

William removed the partition and stepped back. I reached for the necklace inside and took it out.

It was that moment.

“Huh?”

The moment my hand touched it, the sapphire, which had been shining by reflecting the light of the lighting, began to glow on its own.

The Necklace of Truth is a magic item that reacts to humans with magical powers.

That means… do I have magical powers?