Chapter 19
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 19. Survival Strategy
As soon as she opened her eyes in the morning, the first thing Lucia Von Astellia recalled was a contemplation regarding her 'Edible Grade'.
1st Imperial Princess. Blonde hair. Green eyes. Virgin.
It is a so-called Premium Label.
A top-grade ingredient that would break the highest price record immediately if put on the market.
Direct from the farm, pesticide-free, organic certification complete. A masterpiece among masterpieces with a certificate of origin attached.
……It sounds somewhat like self-praise, but right now Lucia is not praising herself.
Rather the opposite.
Because high product value means 'high possibility of being eaten'.
The Black Knight definitely said so.
Become mine. Become a puppy.
But 'it is not the time yet'.
In other words, it means a maturation period is needed.
"So… for now, it’s safe."
Lucia covered herself with the blanket up to the top of her head and comforted herself desperately.
"Mm-hm. Because I’m still unripe. Because green apples don't taste good. Right, I am a very sour and astringent green apple. If eaten, he will get a stomachache. So that man won't eat me. At least for now."
But what kind of comfort is this?
Isn't it like a patient sentenced to a time limit rejoicing saying 'I still have 3 months left'?
A situation where 'Recommended Dish: Princess Lucia (Maturing)' is written on the menu board.
It’s already hell from here.
Even green apples ripen someday.
And the black farmer is a patient existence who waits endlessly for the apple to ripen red.
Knock knock.
At that moment, the sound of knocking on the door was heard.
"Your Highness, Lady Freya is looking for you."
The maid's voice. Lucia peeked only her eyes out of the blanket.
"What is it about?"
"She said it is urgent. Asking you to come to the office…"
Urgent matter?
Don't tell me that man caught something again?
This time Snowfield Worm? Or Glacier Cockroach?
Or.
'Don't tell me he judged that I am fully ripe?'
Hiek!
Fear grows feeding on imagination.
And Lucia's imagination is the best in the Empire.
An honor student who received 'Creativity A+' in the Academy's Creative Writing class.
Now that excellent literary ability was infinitely generating worst-case scenarios.
"Urgent matter? Does the Black Knight… does the Black Knight say he is hungry?"
"Yes? No, not that…"
The maid made a troubled expression.
"She said documents are attacking the Lady."
"…What?"
When she arrived at the office, Lucia realized the meaning of those words.
Frostgard Main Castle, Grand Duke's Office.
Musty smell of dust. Pungent smell of ink.
And paper. Paper. Paper.
Bundles of parchment piled up like towers from floor to ceiling swayed precariously.
And in the center of the paper mountain range, the girl called the Sword Princess of the North was tearing her hair out.
"Aaaack! Sister! Help! The letters! The letters are attacking me!"
Freya screamed.
"What is this! 'Proposal for Balancing Expenditure against Revenue'? It’s definitely Imperial Common Language, but why can't I read it? Is this a code? It must be a secret command sent by enemies!"
"F, Freya…? Calm down first."
"I can't! Can't calm down!"
Bang!
Freya struck the desk. The ink bottle jumped and barely landed.
"I'd rather go into a spider's belly and come back! That’s easier! Spiders die if you stab them! But these scraps of paper don't die even if stabbed! Don't die even if cut! Rather multiply into two sheets!"
It is a natural law of physics. If you cut paper, it becomes two sheets.
But discussing common sense with Freya right now seemed as meaningless as preaching the utility of vegetarianism to a starving Ogre.
Three old civil officials standing by the window looked at Lucia with dying eyes.
'Please save us.''I want to go home.''I miss my granddaughter at home.'
Lucia instinctively stepped back.
'I don't know the situation of the North well, and although I am the Temporary Leader, it’s only an honorary position, and if I step forward needlessly and get embarrassed……'
The Black Knight.
That hateful face came to mind.
He would definitely say this.
'Useless Princess is for disposal.'
Here, disposal means Lucia being judged as having no possibility of becoming Emperor and immediately degrading into a plaything.
It was the moment Lucia grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn her body quietly, very secretly.
"Done. If I burn all this crap, the problem itself disappears, right?"
Freya grabbed a handful of document bundles and strode towards the blazing fireplace.
"Making it as if it never existed. Yeah. Right. As expected, I am a genius."
She muttered to herself.
"Financial deficit? If you burn the ledger, the deficit disappears too! A perfect solution! Why has no one used this method until now?"
"M, My Lady!?"
The civil officials screamed in astonishment, but dared not have the courage to block the Sword Princess's path.
Freya's hand extended over the flames. What was held in that hand was the tax collection record of the North.
If that burns, the North is bankrupt.
If bankrupt, can't pay the army's salary.
The army that didn't receive salary raises a rebellion.
If a rebellion breaks out, Lucia becomes useless.
'No!'
Survival instinct overtook the thought circuit.
"Wait! Freya! That is the tax collection record! You must not burn it!"
Lucia ran and snatched Freya's wrist.
No, tried to snatch, but Freya's strength was so strong that she ended up hanging on.
"Sister?"
"That is the tax ledger! Quarterly revenue record! Without this, there is no way to check who paid taxes and who didn't!"
"Just don't check then? A society trusting each other, beautiful North!"
"Money isn't created by trust! Please wake up!"
Dangle dangle.
After Lucia hung on desperately, the bundle of documents barely escaped burning at the stake.
"Sigh. It was a good method."
Freya threw the documents back on the desk with regret.
"But how does Sister know such things? Do you know what it is just by looking?"
"I learned it at the Imperial Academy. 1st year required liberal arts, 'Introduction to Imperial Administration'. There was class every week…."
"I graduated from the Imperial Academy too?"
Freya tilted her head.
"I never learned such things. Only learned swordsmanship and tactics."
"…Curriculum must be different."
There is no way it is different.
Freya either slept during class, skipped it, or threatened another innocent student to attend by proxy.
"Sister."
Sparkle sparkle.
Freya looked at Lucia earnestly.
"……What."
"Help me."
Freya started rubbing her hands together.
"Please. I beg you. Only Sister. I only know how to use a sword, my head hurts if numbers go over three. Father was good at this… Sob sob, why did Father go missing and give his daughter such pain…"
Twinkle twinkle.
The eyes of the civil officials changed too. Sublimated into the eyes of fanatics greeting a savior.
Lucia swallowed dry saliva.
'Me? I? Do this?'
It was burdensome. She had lived acting as a fool Princess who knew nothing in the Imperial Palace until now.
Not standing out. Looking incompetent. Erasing presence.
That was her survival strategy.
Because competent royals are priority target No. 1 for purging.
Because a shining star falls first. Because a protruding nail gets hit by a hammer.
But the situation is different now.
This is the North. There is no Empress's check.
Instead, behind her back is the Black Knight.
The Black Knight's voice rang in Lucia's head.
'What I want is solely your body alone.'
Hiek!
Lucia's thought circuit spun quickly.
Livestock also have ranks.
While there are livestock raised simply for meat.
There are livestock raised to shear wool. Livestock raised to milk. Livestock raised to help with farming.
Meat livestock die when they fatten.
But working livestock are not killed.
Because there is no farmer who eats a cow that works well.
'Right… I must be competent.'
Stopped the shaking in her eyes.
'Let’s become a delicious… no, excellent Princess. If I become irreplaceable manpower, even that monster won't be able to eat me carelessly! I can extend the expiration date by at least 10 years, no, about 50 years!'
Once resolved, the world looked different.
The messy desk was now a territory to conquer.
Lucia picked up the document on top with trembling hands.
Shuffle.
Her eyes scanned down the document quickly.
"This is tax record. This is food purchase expenditure detail. This is weapon repair bill… Why are they all mixed? There is no classification system at all."
"Classification? What is that? Isn't it just piling up as they come?"
"……."
At the innocent answer, Lucia felt dizzy for a moment.
'How did the territory run until now?'
It’s a miracle.
"Excuse me."
Lucia called. The old civil officials who were crushed in the corner jumped out, startled.
"Yes, yes! Your Highness!"
"Bring the original ledgers. Everything up to last year's. And the warehouse inventory list and requisition details too. Ah, please prepare new ink and pens too. The pen nibs are all crushed."
"Ah, understood! We will bring them immediately!"
The civil officials ran out with speed as if rejuvenated.
Lucia rolled up her sleeves. White forearms were revealed.
"Freya, you don't play either, carry that."
"Eh? Me too?"
"You asked for help. Said you are confident in using your body?"
"Th-That is true but…."
"Classify this first."
Freya grumbled but obediently lifted the document box.
Lucia took a deep breath.
Numbers are visible. Flow is read.
Structure of revenue, allocation of resources, signs of embezzlement, inefficient expenditure.
It smelled like the lecture room of the Academy.
'Numbers do not lie, Your Highness. Only humans who write the ledger lie.'
The boring voice of the finance professor played in her brain.
'I'll show you. I am Imperial Princess Lucia. Not a green apple that is only pretty. I won't be eaten easily. Absolutely!'
Lucia dipped the pen deep into the ink bottle.