This Is a Misunderstanding!
Gray Garden and the Greighton family’s lands had now become the complete property of the imperial family. With every obstacle removed, everything proceeded without a hitch.
I already knew the Greighton family collected more taxes than Varshain, but—
“What? Is what this princess is seeing actually true?!”
“Yes… As you can see, the tax rate listed there is what the Greighton family collects.”
A brutal sixty percent tax rate—far worse than Varshain’s—was written there in plain ink.
“Change it to the same rate as the capital at once!”
“This is not something for me to decide, Your Highness. You must speak with His Majesty…”
“Then you will suggest it to His Majesty directly. You may use this princess’s name.”
Even while grumbling, the nameless official must have done his job well, because the very next day the tax rate dropped to fifteen percent. On top of that came abundant supplies of goods and all the materials needed for construction.
“Daughter… Did your father not tell you the national treasury is in dire straits these days…?”
“Who cares about the treasury?! What are you even saving money for?! Money is meant to be spent lavishly on things like this!”
“B-but…”
“That’s it. This princess refuses to eat with Father until you agree!”
“H-hurk…! I-I understand! I’ll approve it right away, so please, eat with your father…!”
After the terrifying threat, the imperial coffers were raided as well. Gray Garden began developing at astonishing speed.
Today, as I gazed at the transformed Gray Garden with deep satisfaction—
“Look, it’s Her Highness the Princess!”
“Thanks to Her Highness, we can finally breathe easy these days! We will never forget this favor!”
Becoming the ultimate social butterfly of Gray Garden was an added bonus. I accepted the people’s greetings as I arrived at the Greighton lord’s castle. Of course, every last descendant of Crimson Greighton had already been driven out, so the place had been reduced to my personal residence.
Once again I was peacefully reviewing documents related to Gray Garden when—
— Ding!
Discrepancy detected with The Hero’s Empire Reconstruction Records.
Current discrepancy rate: 30%.
Reward: 「Empire Status View」 has been unlocked.
Reward: 5,000 points have been granted.
With a slim probability, survival beyond the prologue is now possible.
“The thing this princess has been waiting for has finally arrived.”
The long-awaited Empire Status View and five thousand points. Just what kind of ability was locked away so tightly?
“Open the Empire Status View.”
The familiar sound effect greeted the newly unlocked window.
“With this I can finally see the empire’s true condition.”
I understood everything at a glance.
So the status window I wanted was hidden inside this all along?
Ahem. Well, since they showed it to me like this, I suppose I can forgive them. Still, seeing the treasury at D- made me feel a little sorry for Calian. It seemed his claim that there was no money in the coffers wasn’t entirely a lie.
The most important things to watch were security and public sentiment. Honestly, I couldn’t understand it. Just looking at the capital and Greighton territory, the people were clearly friendly toward the imperial family.
“Don’t tell me… the other territories are still the same?”
The figure shown was overall public sentiment. In other words, it was a comprehensive value representing every region across the empire.
That meant—
Other places must be B- or even lower.
Someone was gnawing away at the grades I had worked so hard to raise.
“And what does this security rating even mean?”
A huge land mass was also a problem. It created far too many blind spots, making it the perfect environment for evildoers. I wanted to rush out and deal with it immediately, but…
“Haa, there is simply too much to do…”
Damn it. I should have left Greighton territory to Calian. My greed in trying to handle everything myself had only brought me trouble.
I leaned back in my chair and called out.
“Roclaire.”
Roclaire spent every moment not training Riana in swordsmanship acting as my escort. I had asked Karl, Dias, and Jack to take turns teaching Riana, which naturally increased the time I spent alone with Roclaire.
I spread both arms toward her.
“Hug this princess.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Whenever work became overwhelming and I felt like escaping through the window, I called Roclaire. The so-called happiness recharge. When I grew too exhausted, embracing Roclaire restored my depleted energy.
Her armor was a little cold, but the warm body heat that overcame that chill—
This is what true quality feels like.
After savoring enough of Roclaire’s warmth, I let go.
“Ahem, ahem! Thank you for fulfilling this princess’s request. Now that I am fine, you may return to—hyeck?!”
“No! Your Highness’s happiness charge is not yet complete!”
Roclaire buried her face in my chest. Sniffing my hair was apparently part of the package.
“L-let go! This is disgusting…!”
“It is not disgusting at all!”
About thirty minutes later—
“Haa… My happiness charge is finally full now, Your Highness.”
My clothes were a complete mess, hair disheveled. To anyone who walked in, the scene would have been perfectly misinterpreted.
“Huff, huff… Did this princess not say the happiness charge was finished long ago?!”
“I hadn’t finished yet, so I had no choice!”
In the middle of our petty argument—
“Your Highness, Lady Riana’s training today was also a great suc—”
Karl froze the moment he saw us, as if someone had pressed pause. He remained rigid for a full three seconds.
“Since when have you two been in that kind of relationship…? Sir Roclaire, no matter how cute and beautiful Her Highness is, that is clearly a crime.”
Having said his piece, Karl turned and left the office.
“W-wait! It seems you have misunderstood something!”
I rushed toward the door, but—
“Is that all our relationship means to you…?”
Roclaire grabbed my wrist, and every chance to explain vanished completely.
I thought scenes like this only happened in trashy dramas. Turns out they were based on real life?
“Roclaire, we must clear up Karl’s misunderstanding, must we not?!”
“What misunderstanding?! Our bond is more special than anyone else’s!”
I was genuinely going to lose my mind. The chocolate I had fed Roclaire a few days ago as a “gift” flashed through my head. She definitely hadn’t been this kind of character before, yet ever since eating that chocolate she seemed to have a few screws loose every single day.
“Roclaire, if you truly like this princess, release me this instant.”
“B-but…!”
“Release me.”
I had grown somewhat used to using this skill. I hadn’t expected much, but the effect was better than anticipated. After all, even a powerhouse like Roclaire felt fear toward me.
The moment Roclaire let go, I quickly opened the door, but of course—
“Uwaa!! Karl, you are making a very small misunderstanding…!”
There was no way he would wait.
In the end, I only managed to give the long-desired explanation when I reached the place where Riana was training. Roclaire looked somewhat unhappy, but I knew she would cheer up later if I patted her head. I decided to leave her be.
As I was about to return to the office, Dias made an interesting suggestion.
“Your Highness! Would you not like to watch Lady Riana’s training?”
“Ack! Dias, don’t say weird things like that. It’s not like you’re sparring!”
Jack’s face turned bright red.
Look at him. He really is a man. He’s embarrassed because he’s afraid he’ll lose?
That kind of attitude only made me more curious. I had planned to return to work after clearing up the misunderstanding at the training grounds, but my mind changed.
“Hmm, this princess is also quite curious about the extent of your martial prowess.”
“Y-Your Highness…!”
I patted Jack’s shoulder.
“It is fine. This princess knows well that her vassals are second to none. Jack, I ask you to spar with Riana.”
Jack wore a slightly troubled expression for a moment. Perhaps thanks to my lip service, his eyes soon filled with determination.
“…Very well. It is time to show Your Highness our splendid selves.”
Thus began the big match. The Jack versus Riana bout was set.
News that the two would hold a proper spar spread, and the former Greighton knights gathered around the training ground. And I—
“Your Highness, please sit here.”
I had no idea where he found it, but Roclaire had prepared a chair. I was able to watch the match from the best seat in the house.
For a second I thought Roclaire was going to make the chair using all four limbs.
Beside the chair—brought from who knows where—was a table piled high with snacks. I nibbled on the treats while waiting for the two to prepare. Finally, they stepped onto the training ground.
“Jack! You have to win!”
“Lady Riana! It is time to crush Jack’s arrogance!”
Cheers of support rang out from both sides as the two gripped their sword hilts.
“Begin the spar!”
At Roclaire’s shout, Jack and Riana charged toward each other. As he ran, an orange aura surged fiercely from the tip of Jack’s blade.
“Hey! Jack pulled out his aura!”
“Jack! Go easy on her!”
Jack’s cheering section was in a festive mood, yet Jack himself wore the most nervous expression of all. Of course he would. No one knew better than Jack just how monstrous Riana was.
—BOOM!!
Their swords collided. A tremendous shockwave burst in all directions, and the knights cheered even more passionately.
“Whoa, whoa! Is she okay?!”
“Jack! That’s going too far!”
The knights who had never seen Riana’s usual training were clearly worried she would get hurt. But—
Our Riana is the original heroine, you know!
Hadn’t Roclaire proudly declared that Riana possessed the qualities of a Grand Sword Master?
Soon the shockwave subsided and their figures became faintly visible. The knights stood frozen, unable to hide their shock. That was only natural—Riana had taken Jack’s aura sword head-on. Moreover, she stood perfectly straight without even bending her knees.
““……Uwaaaaaah!!””
Riana even had the leisure to smile at the knights.
“Now it’s my turn, Sir Jack.”
The moment her words ended, the air itself trembled.
“N-no way…?!”
Roclaire looked genuinely astonished at Riana’s display.
“…Hey. Didn’t you say her opponent had only been holding a sword for about a month…?”
“I don’t know, you idiot! Shut up and watch!”
The other knights looked just as shocked as Roclaire. It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. After all, a warm golden aura was flickering along the edge of Riana’s blade.