Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: The Treacherous Subject Has His Uses
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"That... was too... thoughtless of me, wasn't it?"
"No. People are creatures whose minds are always changing. Even if you decide today to eat bread tomorrow, when tomorrow comes, your mind might change again. Moreover, Your Highness the Princess has lived a life where she only had to ride on rails forced upon her until now... If a plan had already formed to that extent, you would have run away much sooner."
"Ah......"
"Usually, the world is not such an easy place, but Your Highness is fortunate. You met me, Beonald, right away. In a world overflowing with people who want to use and taint others, how lucky you are to have a guide like me?"
At first glance, it sounded like self-praise, but Princess Zelcy herself, and the others, knew Beonald's words were true.
Who would dare oppose the Empire's Emperor for a princess and devise schemes for her?
And even after securing her, he was having this respectful conversation, even taking care to let her think calmly.
"Now, then, let's look at the options. There are two, I suppose. First, continue running away like this until you give up, or second, end this as a brief escapade, return quietly, and go back to get married. So~ Your choice?"
"If I were going to go back, I wouldn't have run away in the first place."
"Understood. So you wish to continue living as a free person. But that path is not easy either. Abandoning your background as a princess and living as a woman of unknown origin with no connections... the world is never easy."
"In the end, I must depend on you, is that it?"
"That's not wrong, but it sounds as if I'm threatening you. The reason I'm sorting this out through such a complex conversation is also because I don't want to be swept up in emotions when regret comes flooding in later, or at some difficult moment. It's a kind of... well, I don't want to become material for shirking responsibility."
"So... what do you want? My body? Or weaknesses of the Imperial Family or royalty? Or perhaps the structure or information of the Imperial Palace?"
She didn't have much, but knowing her own value clearly, she presented them to Beonald and asked.
But Beonald answered her with a rather unpleasant expression.
"It's a little tempting, but I don't need it at all. That's not why I did this in the first place. I did it purely for self-satisfaction."
"Self-satisfaction?"
"Yes. So, please obediently listen to my instructions, follow me around, grasp how the world works, and gain the necessary knowledge. When that time comes, I hope you decide to do whatever you want. Any objections?"
"No. But are you really sure you don't need anything? Then what was that conversation earlier, where you made it seem like you were going to make me choose something......"
"Just a procedural, considerate confirmation. Because from now on, I'm going to make 'Her Highness the Princess' do a bunch of wicked deeds and actions she couldn't possibly do."
"W-wicked deeds?"
Princess Zelcy trembled and flinched at the word 'wicked deeds.' Seeing her actions, which seemed full of misunderstanding, Beonald quickly approached her, taking something out of his bag to correct the misunderstanding.
The flinching princess looked slightly frightened, but what Beonald held out was a bottle containing an unknown dark brown liquid.
"Hair dye. First, we'll change that dazzling, glittering hair that catches the eye so easily."
"Ah... is that all? Eek!"
The cold, sticky sensation of the hair dye transmitted to Princess Zelcy's head. Beonald mercilessly inserted his fingers into her hair, massaging to spread the dye evenly. Even she, who was usually cared for by maids, couldn't help but react to the unfamiliar stimulation of a man's rough fingers touching her scalp.
"Urgh... um, a little gentler, please......"
"Unfortunately, I don't have any hairdressing skills. Please bear with it a little. I did warn you it would be rude."
"Hng! Ugh......"
It was just hair dyeing, but as a peculiar atmosphere developed, Selina made a disgusted face, and Heidi covered her face slightly with a flustered expression.
Ignoring such reactions, Beonald continued moving his fingers, meticulously dyeing her hair.
Amid a warm, lukewarm, and quiet atmosphere, the princess's dyeing was finished before they knew it.
"Wait about 15 minutes, then change your clothes and go to the stream to wash your hair once. Here's soap."
"Ah... yes. But your hands......"
"Don't worry about me."
Beonald's hands were also stained with dye, but he calmly took out another medicine from his bag, sprinkled it on his hands, and showed her how he washed them.
And Princess Zelcy, whose silver hair had turned into a deep brown, looked completely different.
However, her still clear eyes and skin that didn't look commoner-like still gave a sense of incongruity, so more disguise seemed necessary.
"Hmm... for disguise, this is it. Selina, do you happen to know how to brand a slave mark?"
"Have you lost your mind?"
"I'm a man who does things thoroughly when I decide to. Look at the condition of this beautifully maintained skin. Even after camping out, it's like this. Who would think this is a commoner? Even high-ranking nobles rarely achieve this state. This is practically at the level of a craftwork. For disguise, becoming a slave is the most reasonable. So, is it possible?"
"It's possible, but... are you really sure? That... branding with magic hurts less than branding with iron, but it's still not easy, and removing it is no ordinary task either......"
Selina looked at Zelcy with a helpless expression as she asked.
No matter how she ran away on her own, she was still Her Highness the Princess, and a fellow woman. She didn't want to brand a slave mark on someone else's body, even as a disguise.
It would be a scar, and removing it later would be incredibly difficult. She had a troubled look on her face.
"Um... isn't there a method of inscribing a magic formula? Like an enchantment. The kind that appears faintly when you place your hand on it... the one that disappears when the formula is dispelled......"
"I don't know where you saw such strange records... but that's impossible for me. It's not my specialty."
'...I just don't understand. Sigh~'
Feeling the 500-year gap once again, Beonald thought there was no choice but to use a real branding iron or another method to disguise her.
'Just what happened to the world over 500 years...? Magic for slave management was quite practical, so I thought it would remain... Tsk, no choice.'
"Then what should we do?"
"It's a little... no, a very unpleasant method, but for safety, this is the only way. Can you bear it?"
At Beonald's serious words, Zelcy felt uneasy, but with no other option, she nodded in agreement.
Confirming this, Beonald began executing a method to transport her safely without being detected.
Two days later, at the entrance to the Imperial Capital.
Princess Zelcy's whereabouts were still completely unknown, but the Imperial Capital's surveillance wasn't particularly strict.
They were trying to keep the news of the princess's disappearance as secret as possible, and it was unimaginable that a runaway princess would come to the capital, where many people knew her face.
So when an unfamiliar carriage appeared before them, the gate guards hurriedly approached.
"Halt. What is your business?"
"We're here on behalf of a mage from the Magic Tower. This person is that mage."
Beonald, disguised as a coachman, had also used hair dye to change his hair color and wore leather patches on his face, making him look much older than his actual age.
At his words, Selina, sitting next to the coachman's seat, quickly lifted her wand to prove herself, creating a flame with magic.
The guard, confirming she was a mage, looked surprised and asked additional questions.
"Looking at the carriage, there seems to be something in the back... what is it?"
"Our luggage and... one corpse."
"Huh? A corpse?"
"Yes, well... it died during an experiment of sorts. We're secretly disposing of something another mage did. Would you like to see?"
"No, no! It's fine! Yes, yes."
"Wait a moment."
At the coachman's words, the guard waved his hands and tried to step back, but a knight guarding the gate, suspicious of the unfamiliar carriage, approached and spoke to them.
For him, it felt uneasy to let a strange carriage pass without a proper search.
The moment Beonald saw the knight wearing armor over a cloak, he immediately dismounted from the horse and bowed.
"You said a corpse? Then I can't just let you pass. It might carry some disease or illness, and you could be smuggling in suspicious people under the guise of a corpse. I'm sorry to the mage, but please follow me."
"Of course. Please do. But absolutely... you must not divulge what you see, Sir Knight."
"Yes. I swear on my honor. Follow me."
The knight took Beonald, disguised as the coachman, toward the carriage's cargo compartment. Beonald climbed up to the coffin in the compartment very carefully and slightly opened the lid.
From inside, ominous purple smoke and a green light faintly flowed out. Between them, the blackened corpse of a woman was visible. The knight, startled, stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
"Wh-wh-what is that? What on earth? Doesn't it look dangerous? Cl-close it quickly!"
"Yes, well... according to what the mage explained to me, it was an experiment with reagents that ended in an accident... But the problem is the reagents and magic adhered there are the mage's research materials... and very precious. We must be very careful."
"Understood! Understood! I won't divulge it. Pass through!"
"Yes, thank you very much."
Thus, the carriage passed through easily and could arrive at Darren's trading company without any hindrance.
Beonald, having removed his disguise, immediately met Darren and Sane, moved the carriage to a secret warehouse in a secluded area, and after confirming no one was around, went to the cargo compartment, opened the coffin lid, and spoke.
"Now, Princess, time to wake up. We've arrived."
"I can't believe... this worked. I was nervous when they said they'd inspect the compartment......"
The woman lying as a corpse suddenly sat up and opened her eyes. Inside, flaming red eyes shone with light.
Princess Zelcy looked at Beonald in amazement that they had passed through the capital gate inspection using such a method.
The blackened skin and this glowing green light even now were all things Beonald had created from wild materials.
"People, by nature, tend to retreat when faced with unfamiliar situations and threatening colors they don't often encounter. So they can't help but be fooled by glowing pigments made from insect and monster magic stones. And with the name 'Magic Tower' involved, they naturally backed off."
"That's truly amazing."
"Anyway, come out quickly and wash up. Those medicines... there's nothing good about prolonged contact. And... from now on, it will be even more discourteous, but you will be treated not as a princess, but as my slave and maid. Understand that, Vessia."
"Ah, yes. Master."
The name Zelcy, being the princess's name, risked exposure if used carelessly in this capital, so Beonald even gave her an alias.
Vessia. Like Alterio, it was the name of one of his daughters in the past.
Now, until she herself wishes to return as a princess, she must continue living as a slave named Vessia.