Chapter 30
Chapter 30
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Eastern Knights (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The secretary and I approached the princess.
Thanks to that, Lydia's thoroughly soaked skirt was even more conspicuous.
However, the stained clothes weren't what mattered.
It was her unfocused, ferocious red eyes.
She was the sort who had mercilessly cut down knights far taller than herself.
Even ministers who defied her will.
So there was no way she'd let a mere commoner girl off easily for such an offense.
"How dare you..."
Her voice trembled.
You could tell at a glance she was seething with rage.
Soon her lips parted.
And her fangs peeked out as she snarled at the girl.
At that moment.
The capable secretary stepped forward and began berating her in the princess's stead.
"You wretch! Do you even know whose royal person you've soiled?!"
His voice boomed.
The child flinched in terror, huddling even smaller.
Because of it, the passersby in the area hurried away, not wanting to get tangled up with such a venomous noble.
"Hundreds of bottles of your cheap swill wouldn't cover the cost of that garment!"
"I'm sorry... Please forgive me..."
The girl wore a ragged dress caked in dirt.
Her arms were as thin as twigs, likely from a lifetime of hardship.
I hurriedly tried to intervene, to rein in these inflexible elites.
Even if the girl had bumped into her first, this was excessive.
But...
Just as I was about to step in.
Lydia grabbed the girl's shoulder.
And interrogated her with those ferocious eyes.
"How old are you?"
"F-Fourteen, Your Highness."
Lydia glanced down at the shattered bottles, then spoke in a cold voice.
"Since when do green kids like you deliver drinks?"
"W-Well... My mother's sick, and we need money for medicine, so I had no choice but to earn..."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Who among the poor doesn't have a sad story?
The prickly Lydia surely wouldn't let her off.
"So. Since you're earning illegally, you must have the means to compensate for my dress?"
"Yes, I'll pay it back. H-How much do I owe...?"
The girl's eyelids fluttered.
Lydia smirked like a little devil, eyes half-closed.
"100 gold."
The astronomical sum made the girl's pupils contract.
She sniffled, her eyes turning red.
"Can you pay it back...?"
Lydia looked down at her arrogantly.
The young delivery girl nodded through her sobs.
"I'll pay it back... somehow..."
I sighed inwardly.
As expected of a ruler.
Any faint sympathy I'd felt in the carriage vanished at her ruthlessness toward one of her young subjects.
"Foolish girl. Selling that cheap swill—how long do you think it'll take?"
She folded her arms alone.
And sneered at the child.
"How much for one bottle of this?"
"1 silver..."
In a world where 100 silver made 1 gold.
The girl would need to sell 10,000 bottles to cover the dress.
And besides, would the child pocket the full price?
Her unscrupulous employer would exploit her.
"After paying off the boss who hired you illegally, you won't even get that much, will you?"
Lydia eyed the blue bruises and scars mottling the girl's body.
Men's shoe prints stark on her skin.
The princess's brows furrowed at the sight.
"Secretary?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"This child has no means to pay. What should we do?"
"By law, we can force her into labor to repay it."
The middle-aged man's shadow fell over the little girl.
The delivery girl shrank back, on the verge of tears.
"Right. If she can't pay, we'll make her able to."
The princess ordered the secretary firmly.
"Take her away."
The secretary seized the child's hand.
And commanded her with a stern expression.
"Come with me."
"Where are you taking the child?"
I asked urgently, and Lydia replied with a cynical look.
"To my palace."
"To the palace?"
Lydia narrowed her eyes and grinned.
"Yes. From now on, the brat will clean the vast imperial palace every day. For a pittance of 2 gold a month."
'Huh...? Something's off.'
2 gold.
A fortune even an adult would struggle to earn daily.
Handing it over monthly until adulthood, plus work.
Was this really forced labor...?
"And that's not all. I'll force her through boring imperial education too."
Imperial education.
Having it on one's record opened doors to jobs after adulthood.
Especially favored for positions like noble maids or housekeepers.
"Isn't it horrific just imagining it...?"
"Y-Yes..."
Feeling the growing strangeness, I wore a hesitant expression.
"In the continent's strongest nation, this happens all too often..."
Lydia didn't look back at the girl heading off with the secretary.
She just whipped her head away, face sour.
"I don't like it."
"..."
Seeing that, I lifted the corner of my mouth.
I'd thought she'd only harshly scold the child.
But her actions were closer to salvation.
For a poor girl, becoming an imperial servant was a massive promotion.
As a royal underling, she could even get welfare for her sick mother.
'Acting all reluctant, but she's got a good heart after all.'
I'd misjudged her for a moment.
"You won't be able to have lunch like this. Shall I escort you back by carriage?"
"Nonsense. I can just change clothes. Backing down over something like this isn't what a ruler does."
'That damn ruler bit...'
I forced a smile.
And scanned for a place to buy clothes.
One of Norton's few high-end tailor's shops.
It might seem shabby to Lydia, but it was the best around.
"Let's go to the tailor's. I'll escort you."
Lydia glanced at the shop I pointed to.
And muttered in deep disappointment.
"Sigh... To think I have to wear clothes from someone other than an imperial tailor..."
She grumbled on the surface but followed gracefully.
She couldn't wander around in sticky, see-through clothes, so we entered together.
However, Lydia didn't spare a glance at the clothes on the mannequins.
She plopped straight onto the leather sofa...
Crossed her legs, and ordered the tailor.
"Bring the most expensive, stylish outfit in the shop."
The female tailor, who'd been eyeing the shop, gauged the prickly princess.
And brought out the priciest white dress.
"This is our most expensive piece."
Lydia glanced at it.
Then snorted loudly enough to show her fangs.
"What is this frilly mess? You expect me to wear something so tacky?"
"I'm sorry... You said to bring the most expensive."
The princess clicked her tongue.
"As expected of the most backward region. Nothing decent."
To shut up the youngest princess, I scanned the racks.
Then spotted a white blouse with suspender skirt.
"I really should've had lunch in my palace, even if it was a hassle..."
Lydia muttered, chin in hand.
I presented another outfit before her.
"How about this one?"
White blouse with a tastefully elegant tie.
Navy suspender skirt of soft fabric.
And a suitable hat for disguise.
"Hmm?"
Lydia eyed the clearly not-top-tier fabric indifferently.
"What is this? Something academy students would wear?"
"It's the outfit from this shop that suits you best, Lady Lydia."
Perhaps because even I, who'd been stonewalling her, said it suited her.
Lydia seemed intrigued and rubbed the skirt with her finger.
"They say commoners only see commoners. You want me to wear factory trash?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to experience the common folk's life as a ruler?"
Caught by her own words, Lydia narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.
"Any garment looks different depending on who wears it. Even plain clothes like these will look different on you, Your Highness."
I smiled and gently placed the outfit on her thigh.
Then asked politely.
"Surely the ruler of the East can't fail to pull off commoner clothes?"
Subtle provocation.
Lydia snorted mockingly at the bait.
"Pathetic. Such low-class taunting."
Lydia picked up the clothes and dropped them indifferently on the seat beside her.
She stood, fixing me with a dry gaze.
'As expected, off-the-rack was too much.'
I moved to return the clothes to the rack.
But stopped short.
The princess's slender hand blocked the skirt.
"I never said I wouldn't wear it."
The haughty 3rd Princess.
She draped the clothes over her arm and menacingly ordered the tailor to show her to the changing room.
As she headed in, she glanced back at me.
And said casually with confident ease.
"Wait outside."
I dropped my blank expression.
And murmured softly, lips curving up.
"Understood."
I stepped out front.
And paced around with hands behind my back, waiting for Lydia.
Just in case there was any threat to the princess.
I calmly surveyed the area around the tailor's.
But no matter how I looked...
A swarthy man on the rooftop.
A swarthy man in the shadowy alley.
A swarthy man reading a newspaper by the fountain.
'No need to worry after all.'
The Eastern knights Lydia had dispatched to patrol in my stead.
They were systematically circling the tailor's vicinity.
Moreover, their piercing glares bored into me.
Wondering how a guard knight could be alone with the princess.
'I didn't want this either.'
I wanted to explain my innocence to them.
But before I could, the tailor's door sounded.
I turned toward the noise.
And...
Locked eyes with a lively academy miss who had once been a princess.
"You said it suited me... If you say it doesn't, you'll be executed."
She forced her usual impassive face.
But her lips pursed at the first-time suspender skirt and hat.
I glanced away.
And checked the Eastern knights guarding her from afar.
Their gazes fixed on their liege.
The princess's uniform-like vibe, never seen before.
And her haughty expression too.
They were entranced by this new side of their usually cold, self-willed lady.
"At least no one will suspect you're the princess now."
I was satisfied with her safer look.
Lydia narrowed her eyes and asked.
"What? What does that mean?"
"It means, as expected of the East's ruler, your disguise is perfect."
A subtly backhanded compliment.
Skipping her looks, she pouted.
"Even hidden among commoners, no one would ever guess... Ack!"
Mid-praise.
A sharp pain stabbed my side.
The princess's slender fist.
It sank deep into my ribs.
"You idiot... As expected of a commoner, no tact!"
Lydia folded her arms and strode ahead alone.
"The market's made me hungry, so let's go to the restaurant. If it doesn't taste good after all this trouble, you'll really be executed!"
'That damn execution...'
I clutched my throbbing side.
I'd never taken a single hit from Richard, or from Batsu or Allen...
After returning to the past, my first blow came from none other than the youngest princess.