Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Second Princess's Gift
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Novarens Empire's capital
Imperial Capital - Novaresia.
The most splendid city in the empire, filled with golden decorations symbolizing the emperor's authority, showed no signs of sleep even today.
And in the heart of it all, within the palace's most secretive forbidden quarters for men—the Second Princess's palace.
There she was, lounging alone in a massive golden bathtub that gleamed inside the Second Princess's palace.
Her black hair shone brighter than obsidian, complementing her calm, warm brown skin like the dawn light of a desert. As she bathed, she listened to the reports from her maid and let out a cheerful laugh.
"Hadem really ran away!?"
"Yes, Your Highness Seleneia. Word has spread across the entire continent that Baron Hadem of the Lion Family retreated in terror from Sharen Lirisia, the mage of the Cron Family."
"Hahaha! For that boastful axe-wielder to show such an ugly side... my brother must be furious."
"Indeed, as you say, Your Highness Seleneia."
As her maid bowed her head, everyone present nodded in agreement with her words.
Her name was Seleneia Lily Novarens.
The second princess of the Novarens Empire, she was one of the empire's most noble figures, tied with the crown prince for the highest claim to the throne.
From her perspective—playing a grand game of chess against her brother on the stage of the empire—the events unfolding in the south were endlessly amusing.
At first, even she had been caught off guard by the sudden emergence of this unheard-of Cron Family.
The various reforms starting from Cron had even damaged the territories she supported.
She had initially worried that her brother, the crown prince, had extended his reach all the way to Cron. But this incident washed away those concerns.
If Cron were aligned with her brother's faction, they never would have humiliated the Lion Family like that.
"What was the name of the Cron Family's lord again?"
"Calix Cron, Your Highness. The rumor mill calls him the 'Silver Dragon of Cron.'"
"Silver Dragon of Cron... That's the nickname of that great general who helped our ancestor become emperor, right?"
"Yes, that's correct, Your Highness Seleneia."
Seleneia recalled her childhood history lessons.
The first emperor, Belselion Ark Novarens, had owed his greatest debt to the Silver Dragon of Cron, Draygon Cron, the general who contributed most to his ascension.
In this era, as the War for the Throne drew ever closer, she felt that the reappearance of the Silver Dragon of Cron was like fate itself.
"I like him! Let's bring him to our side!"
"Yes, I'm sure the lord of Cron will be delighted by Your Highness Seleneia's proposal."
Splash—!
Seleneia rose from the golden bathtub.
As her jewel-like nude form emerged from the water, maids on either side hurried over with large towels to dry her off.
"Then we should send a gift first... Lumiel, who would be a good choice to send?"
At Seleneia's question, the maid by her side—Lumiel, with her light green hair, oversized horn-rimmed glasses, and role as the princess's right-hand woman—smiled warmly and replied.
"I think that 'child' who just arrived would be perfect. As the top graduate of the academy, the lord of Cron is sure to be pleased."
"Ah! That child... Yes, that'll do nicely. Handle it for me, Lumiel."
"As you command, Your Highness Seleneia."
With that, Seleneia walked toward her chambers.
Lumiel let out a tiny sigh that no one could see, watching the two maids scramble to wipe up the trail of water without hindering the noble lady's graceful steps.
After the Deep Rock incident, the Cron Territory enjoyed a long-awaited peace.
And that peace owed much to Sharen's power.
She truly lived up to the descriptors "rights-protected character" and "three sacred treasures," displaying utterly overwhelming abilities.
Because of her nickname "Red Mage," people mistakenly thought she only used fire magic, but she was actually a sage candidate.
The first requirement to become a sage was mastery of every existing school of magic.
Naturally, she excelled not only in fire magic but also in healing and earth magic, surpassing ordinary mages. This was a tremendous boon to Cron, which had practically no mages before.
She healed the people, restored their health, and swiftly removed salt from the newly cleared land, making it ready for crops.
In simple comparison, the territory's operational efficiency had at least doubled since her arrival.
"This month's territory revenue is up 114% from last month, my lord!"
"This is all thanks to your wisdom in recruiting Lady Sharen, my lord."
Noah and Hart, who had been fretting over the expenses from the large-scale battle and migrant support, reported to me with refreshed smiles for the first time in ages.
The news put me in a good mood too.
"Good! That's great news. Haha!!... Huh?"
Wait a second!
This isn't something to celebrate!!
Staring at the gold piled before me, I realized my mistake.
I'd invested so heavily that money was tight, so I'd hustled to run the territory efficiently... and now I'd made even more money.
Ha... Where to spend this cash? Should I build an 'academy' or something?
I thought of Cron's woefully lacking educational facilities and recalled the World Archive's special education building, the academy.
As I pondered how to burn through the increased revenue once more, a sound came from outside.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in."
At my words, the door opened, and a messenger entered.
He looked extremely tense.
"What is it?"
"Yes! A letter has arrived for you from the imperial family, my lord."
"A letter from the imperial family!?"
Damn it all! What I feared has come to pass!!
In World Archive, once your fame rose as a lord, you'd get letters like this from the imperial family, kicking off various events.
What event is about to start!? Please, anything but the 'Imperial Capital Invitation Event'!!!
Worrying as I took the letter from the messenger, I noted it was sealed with the imperial family's crest—not the emperor's personal one.
That meant it came from either the crown prince or the second princess.
Which one was it?
Praying it wasn't the prince, I opened the letter. The contents were strikingly simple.
——————————
Let's get along from now on.
As a token of friendship, I'm sending a little gift!
Second Princess / Seleneia Lily Novarens
——————————
"…………"
What? Am I seeing this wrong?
I was speechless at this letter, simpler than anything I'd seen even in spam emails from my past life.
Calix had never received a letter from the imperial family in his memories either, so I couldn't help but be flustered.
Is this how the imperial family does things?
Or did the princess just send whatever suited her fancy?
Either way, it was avant-garde to say the least.
"My lord! What does it say?"
"...The second princess is sending a gift as a gesture of friendship."
"From the princess!?"
Noah was stunned by my words.
The tales of the princess battling her brother for the throne were famous even down here in the south.
And Noah, who had done business with countless lords, surely knew all about her.
"This is tricky. We can't just send back a gift from the princess."
"True. It could be seen as an insult to the imperial family."
Even if it was a personal gift from the princess without my consent, it had come from the palace itself.
Refusing it without reason—or accepting it—would inevitably affect my future either way.
"By the way, my lord, did it say what kind of gift the princess is sending?"
"No, it didn't."
"...I see."
Hart's eyes darkened, as if he knew something.
Noah wore a grim expression too, apparently in the know.
"Rumor has it the princess enjoys raising things. It's probably that sort of gift."
"Raising..."
Noah's words jogged a memory from my past life.
They said the nurturing part was crucial if you played as the princess.
But I'd never played as her, so that was all I knew.
"Let's wait and see for now, my lord. We can decide how to respond after the gift arrives."
"Yes, do that, my lord."
"Alright, we'll handle it that way."
And so, we decided to respond once the princess's gift was clarified.
A few days later, it arrived.
A lavish carriage bearing the imperial crest pulled up to the modest Cron palace, and its door opened.
Out stepped... her.
"The gift is... surely not..."
"It seems so, my lord..."
A single maid descended from the carriage.
With golden hair reaching just past her neck, sapphire-blue eyes,
and exquisitely beautiful, cool features that stirred the heart, she approached me in a perfectly tailored maid uniform, carrying what looked like her own large bag.
She greeted me with picture-perfect poise and politeness.
"Greetings, Lord Calix. I am Rana Anthus, the maid sent by command of Second Princess Seleneia Lily Novarens to serve you."
Her unwavering gaze met mine directly as she spoke.
"From today onward, I will demonstrate perfect devotion at your side. Command me as you wish."
I knew her well.
Her name was Rana Anthus.
Among servant characters, she was an SSR of the absolute highest tier, nicknamed the "Super Maid"—one of the few SSRs I'd ever owned.
She was perfect... but she had one major flaw.
Her class.
In the game, she had two classes.
One was, of course, Maid. The other was... Assassin.
A Trojan Horse had just been delivered to our territory.
Second Princess - Seleneia Lily Novarens
Maid - Rana Anthus