Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Princesses and the Witch (1)
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In the heart of a barren wasteland, a luxurious road was being paved.
Just like a red carpet laid out to welcome an imperial princess.
“What’s all this about all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know either. I heard they’re building a road connecting this place to the capital...”
Plain commoners gazed in wonder at the massive construction site.
Their eyes sparkled at the sight of the smooth, glossy road they’d never seen before in their lives.
“Wow... incredible. I’ve never seen a road so perfectly straight.”
“To think something you’d only see leading to the imperial palace is being laid right here in our Cornel!”
It used to take a full eight hours by carriage from here to the capital gates.
But now, with the road completed, it would take just four.
In other words, Cornel was transforming into the most conveniently connected satellite city to the capital.
But this was only the beginning.
Follow that newly paved luxury road all the way toward the orphanage...
「Ruton College, Basic School under construction.」
And there appeared the construction site for the Cornel campus of the capital’s top prestigious school in the eastern district.
“A little more to the left—! That’s it!!”
A few hours after Lydia’s command.
Laborers and dispatched mages arrived in Cornel and got to work.
The mages cast body enhancement spells on the laborers.
Thanks to that, the workers moved bricks with greater strength and skill than usual.
For these simple rural folk, seeing mages and cutting-edge buildings for the first time was a rare spectacle.
“Amazing... The ground just packs itself down when they reach out...”
“Yeah, to think I’d live to see mages with my own eyes...!”
Among them were young men preparing to study abroad in the capital.
They were the ones whose families had gone into debt just to send them off.
But now, with a prestigious university springing up right in front of their homes, they felt one step closer.
“Do we not have to leave anymore...?”
Their eyes sparkled with passion for learning.
Of course, not everyone flocking here was a youth hungry for knowledge.
This was a poor land to begin with.
Most were lowly commoners who knew nothing but farming.
And for them, vast farmlands were being established behind the orphanage.
「Come on, line up if you want to sign labor contracts!」
Men streamed past the school construction site.
The moment jobs appeared, they burst out of taverns and grabbed their rusty farm tools again.
No longer did they have to slave away on barren land for pennies.
The stones tormenting them in the fields were being cleared by Irina’s cadets and expensive hired mages.
「Those who’ve signed, head to the orphanage courtyard. A simple cafeteria’s been set up!!」
Shinsiya, the ace cadet of the New Green Knights, handled contracts under the tent.
The young knight with blue bobbed hair called out in a bright voice.
「We’re providing free breakfast and lunch to all laborers!!」
Having changed from her uniform into casual clothes, she directed operations with practiced ease.
She must have been properly trained by Irina.
“What in the world...”
I blankly watched the townsfolk heading to the orphanage courtyard.
The place was filled with women naturally hired on and serving the food Irina had prepared.
She’d created jobs for both men and women this time.
“What happened overnight...!!”
My quiet hometown of Cornel was turning into a city before my eyes.
The once-unknown haven was rising as a promising new suburb on the capital’s outskirts.
And word of it spread to neighboring lords and nobles.
Just like me, they rushed over in confusion at how development had started overnight in Cornel.
They began snapping up cheap land near the orphanage border at premium prices.
“Is this a dream...?”
I blinked my eyes.
Then, Saintess Irina, who’d been watching contentedly beside me, gently pinched my cheek.
“It’s not a dream.”
“Why are you going so far for me?”
My cheek stretched, I mumbled the question.
The saintess replied with a benevolent smile.
“Just because. I came here looking for you and stumbled upon this place. It was heartbreaking to see how barren it was.”
Her green eyes held no hidden motives.
Yet, for some reason, the hand gripping my cheek felt suggestive.
Soon, Lydia gently grabbed my other cheek.
She stretched it out just like the rice cake dish we’d eaten at the eastern palace.
“Exactly, no ulterior motives, so don’t worry, Veil.”
I looked back and forth between the two.
Both princesses wore caring expressions like sage rulers.
Gentle monarchs looking after their people.
“Thank you, Your Highnesses...”
I glanced toward Leah.
She sat gracefully sipping tea on one side of the orphanage lawn.
She didn’t approach me, just silently watched the construction site.
In the First Imperial Princess’s gaze were only the gaunt rural folk who hadn’t eaten well.
‘She’s taken on their debts.’
Lost in thought alone.
Footsteps sounded at the orphanage entrance.
I turned at the noise, and there was Mago, who’d gotten thoroughly drunk with me the night before.
“Veil...?”
The little witch, grasping the situation.
Dressed in a black dress with pigtails, she hurried over to me.
“What the hell is going on?”
The three princesses didn’t even register in her eyes.
She stared straight at me alone, grabbed my wrist, and approached.
“Let’s talk.”
“Got it.”
I gave the princesses a quick nod and slipped away with my old friend.
They watched us go with cold eyes.
“Haa...”
Mago rounded the orphanage corner with me.
Then, in the quiet rear yard, she began speaking.
“Who the hell are those women? Who are they to invest so massively in our village?”
She’d clearly been gathering info on every woman entering the place.
But she looked flustered about the three who’d been in the yard with me.
“Oh, uh... They’re the noble ladies I met at the imperial court.”
“Yeah, I know they’re noble ladies. That one in the nun’s habit came before, too.”
Mago remembered Irina, from our drinking contest at the owl house.
But the other two she’d brought along since then were new.
“How many households have you set up while I was gone?!”
“N-No households! Nothing like that...!”
I frantically shook my head.
Mago’s pigtails shook as she fumed.
“Hah, then why are they helping you this much?”
Fair enough reason to misunderstand.
Even nobles wouldn’t easily provide support on this insane scale.
“Be honest. They want your body, don’t they?”
‘Uh... Yeah, seems like it. But not in a bad way...’
While I pondered how to explain.
Mago took my silence as confirmation and made a sad face.
“I knew it. I wondered what price you paid for the barony...”
Her fists clenched tight.
Her hands trembled.
“Losing my brothers and sisters... and now you too...!”
Seeing Mago so thoroughly misunderstanding, I scratched the back of my head.
Then, my childhood friend’s black eyes flashed as if she’d made up her mind.
“No can do, Veil. I’ll deal with those barbaric women.”
Wanting to protect her most precious friend, she boldly headed for the princesses.
I hurriedly grabbed her wrist.
“Wait! They’re not the kind of people you think!”
Mago ignored me.
She got angry at my attempt to stop her and shook me off, marching toward them confidently.
Because she didn’t want to admit I was fond of them.
“The road should be done paving in about a week.”
“The school will take longer. It needs a lot of manpower to match the main campus design.”
“We’re taking it slow anyway. The land’s been left fallow so long, it’ll take time to restore fertility.”
The three princesses sat at the orphanage’s round table, discussing their progress.
Accustomed to massive national projects, they handled things cleanly and professionally.
“...”
Mago glared at them most unpleasantly.
Her cute lips pursed tightly.
A schoolgirl, a nun, and an official.
Their outfits seemed ordinary, but their refined features and figures were highly suspicious.
Clearly no commoners.
“To dare come here in such indecent attire...!”
Unable to forgive it, she boldly approached the table.
She slammed her palm down and flashed a menacing smile.
“Is the tea to your liking, ladies?”
The witch’s menacing smile.
Ordinary ladies would tremble at the mere sight of it.
But.
“It’s alright. Less fragrant than what I usually drink, but not bad.”
Leah looked up at her with perfect composure.
“This quality could turn a solid profit if we set up a farm and manage it well.”
She was solely focused on business plans for Cornel.
“Indeed. It doesn’t quite match our eastern standards, but it’s worth investing in.”
Lydia agreed, elegantly sipping her tea.
“Thanks for the tea, Mago. It’s easing my fatigue.”
Irina raised her teacup with a bright smile.
‘W-What... these women.’
Anyone meeting the eyes of a witch like her would normally cower.
Yet they were far too relaxed.
Like rulers who’d endured far scarier trials than her.
“...”
But Mago didn’t back down.
“We’re truly grateful for your help with our orphanage.”
This was her home turf.
She planned to leverage that to chase these predators from her and Veil’s nest.
“But this place is like ‘home’ to the children. It might scare them if outsiders stay so long.”
Mago smiled at them.
“Could you please leave before evening...?”
Go back to your own homes.
“...”
The princesses at the table looked up at Mago expressionlessly.
Soon realizing her intent, they smirked.
And flashed their own signature mature smiles.
“Hmm, well...”
Irina reacted first.
She looked at the children approaching with serving trays.
“Nun Sister--.”
The kids, hooked on her honed cooking skills.
They clung to the saintess, begging for dessert.
“Oh dear—alright, alright—.”
Irina rose reluctantly.
She smiled brightly at Mago.
“Sorry, Mago, but could I borrow the kitchen for a bit? The kids love it so much...”
“Ugh...”
Mago flinched at the interfering siblings.
“Hey, you lot. I make you midnight snacks every night!”
The witch scolded them, but the kids pouted.
“But Sister’s snacks taste even better—.”
“Yeah, we wish you’d come every day!”
Mago’s eyes twitched at how captivated they were in just one day.
“Now, now—be nice to your big sister—.”
Irina brushed dust off them while smiling benevolently, like a gentle reprimand.
Then, she gazed leisurely at Mago.
‘You gonna kick me out now?’
Her expression seemed to say.
“Please be careful not to break the dishes...”
“Thanks—. Kids, let’s go?”
The children followed the princess disguised as a nun into the cafeteria.
Mago sighed deeply at the sight.
She had to yield a step for the kids’ sake.
“Haa...”
Instead, she turned to her next target, Lydia.
“Shouldn’t you be done with classes for the day too?”
Lydia responded by folding her arms alone.
She leisurely looked up at the witch with matching pigtails.
“Well...”
Soon, children approached her with notebooks in hand.
They proudly showed Lydia their diligently done homework.
“Teacher, here’s my homework—.”
“Let’s see.”
The eastern ruler ignored Mago and examined the notebooks.
In an unusually gentle tone, she praised them.
“Oh—solving problems at this level at your age. It’s like seeing the eastern Zhuge Liang himself—.”
Arrogant phrasing fit for royalty.
Mago furrowed her brows.
“However, there’s a mistake here. ‘I’ll wait, so hurry and fix it—.’”
“Yes—!!”
“Me too, Teacher!!”
As Lydia graded their thick notebooks, she glanced up at Mago.
‘See that? Try kicking me out now.’
She didn’t say it aloud.
But Lydia signaled Mago with her eyes alone.
“As you can see, the kids are so passionate about their studies. A bit early to clock out.”
“You could assign homework and grade it tomorrow.”
At the witch’s probing, Lydia slipped away smoothly.
As if taught by a sly fox of a man she mingled with.
“I’d love to, but I also have to oversee the school construction. Can’t be helped—?”
‘A kid this young managing a site?’
Mago doubted the Third Imperial Princess’s words.
But since she’d personally secured the school project, Mago couldn’t press further.
“Hehe... Well, time to teach the children.”
Mago could only silently watch Lydia head to the auditorium with the kids.
“Ugh...”
The witch groaned in frustration.
Then, her eyes fell on the one woman still seated.
Leah.
“...”
She could boldly confront Irina and Lydia.
But this sensual, haughty woman before her.
She felt utterly different from anyone Mago had dealt with.
“Um... Miss Official.”
Mago mustered courage and asked her too.
She wanted to oust at least one.
“It’s past 5 p.m. Shouldn’t you be getting off work soon?”
“...”
At the petite witch’s question, Leah smiled.
“Oh, it’s fine.”
She slipped her fingers into the tight breast pocket hugging her chest.
And pulled out a single key.
“I’m here on a ‘business trip’ right now.”
The key to the orphanage guest room.
“I’ll be staying here. Overnight.”
Daring to nest in Veil’s and her sanctuary.
Mago got thoroughly pissed at the declaration.
“Look, you seem highborn at first glance. Can you really stay here?”
Her voice rose a bit as she asked.
She couldn’t believe even trusted foster father Hans had given her a room.
“Why not a nearby inn...”
As she continued.
Leah stood.
“That comment was a bit offensive.”
The First Imperial Princess, taller than Mago.
She approached with a queenly glare.
“Does being highborn mean I can’t stay here?”
Mago froze at the nearness of her voluptuous form.
“Cornel or the capital, it’s all places where people live. What’s nobility got to do with it?”
Leah removed her monocle.
“I respect everyone based on ability, no matter their bloodline. Plenty of war orphans work under me, in fact.”
She slipped it into her taut white shirt pocket and continued.
“So I came here with good intentions. Yet you doubt my sincerity, Miss Mago.”
Turning the tables, Leah accused Mago of prejudice.
Her blue eyes pierced the witch’s heart.
“I’d appreciate if you recognized my good intentions.”
“...”
Mago had once led countless mercenaries.
She thought no one could match her at handling people.
Yet this woman’s swift advance left her speechless.
“Then I’ll head to my room. I’m a bit tired.”
Mago blankly watched Leah ascend into the orphanage.
“What kind of person is she...!”
The official woman moved with the ease of someone who’d lived her life in debates.
She strode freely through the orphanage like her own palace.
Right next to Veil’s room...
“Huh...?!”
Mago hurriedly followed Leah, who’d chosen among many rooms the one near Veil’s, up to the second floor.
And she saw it.
The guest rooms stretched long beside Veil’s.
Nameplates reading Lydia, Irina, and Leah hanging on them.
“Good intentions my ass...!!”
Fuming, Mago gripped her pigtails like handles and yanked.
Her hair came loose into long black waves.
“I’ll never forgive this...!!”
The petite witch fumed until tears welled, glaring resentfully at the nameplates.
“Veil’s next-door room was supposed to be mine alone...!!”