Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Secret Garden
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Dun had left home and was heading toward Prim's residence, the With Palace. It was located far from the central palace. Thanks to that, hardly anyone came or went, making it a quiet spot. Even before getting close to Prim, he'd visited often.
Since Prim had been insisting he come to the secret garden at the With Palace, he planned to go today.
He also intended to ask about some spacious land suitable for raising attribute-specific monsters. No matter how much of a pushover she was, she was still a princess—she had to have some expansive grounds.
The palace gardens were so beautiful that he'd frequented them, making it easy to slip past the guards. He'd even made a dog hole for easy access.
As he approached his usual dog hole, he spotted something utterly ridiculous.
"What the hell is this...?"
〔Welcome〕
A wooden sign read "Welcome." Someone had laid marble paving stones over the dog hole.
The entrance had been smoothed out perfectly.
Torches lined both sides of the marble path, lighting up softly one by one as Dun crawled through. They glowed in rainbow hues—clearly high-level magic.
〔→ Secret Garden Entrance →〕
"She really thought of everything."
Worried he'd take a wrong turn, perhaps? Signs like that were planted every three steps. There were even snacks nearby, in case he got hungry.
He emerged from the remodeled marble dog hole and arrived at Prim's secret garden before he knew it.
Prim, fresh from her academy lessons, sat gracefully in a rocking chair, reading a book. She took a sip of black tea.
Wanting to surprise her, Dun muffled his footsteps and climbed onto the back of the rocking chair. Then he suddenly thrust his face forward.
"Hey, whatcha reading?"
Pffft!!!
Prim spat out her black tea at Dun's sudden appearance. He hopped lightly down from the rocking chair's canopy and sat beside her. She elegantly dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief, coughing discreetly to hide her choking.
"Cough, cough, make some noise next time. I was, cough, in the middle of reading."
The princess held a book titled *Why Did the Princess Only Give Steak to That Knight?*
"Whoa, a princess reading stuff like that?"
"That's prejudice. As a princess, nothing is off-limits to me."
"You didn't make this secret garden just to read this stuff in secret, did you?"
"Spot on."
Prim took another sip of her tea and reopened the page she'd been on, resuming her reading. Dun stared at her in surprise, and she glanced sideways, pursing her lips.
"Of course, I'm kidding. You know that, right?"
"Hmm..."
"It was my best shot at a joke after racking my brain. If you're not gonna laugh, at least acknowledge it."
Her calm expression flushed red, which was hilarious. Dun rested his chin on his hand and chuckled.
"That funny, huh? Let me read along. Summarize it for me."
Pleased by his interest, Prim set her book down, cleared her throat, and loosened up. Excitement sparkled in her pink eyes.
"So there's this princess who likes a knight..."
The princess recounted the story with perfect structure—exposition, rising action, climax, resolution—in a captivating way. He'd only opened his mouth to make conversation out of boredom, but it turned out to be surprisingly fun.
"So what happened?"
"That's as far as I've read. I'm about to start the next chapter."
He itched to kill the knight in the story right then. The knight the princess loved had been faking it from the start, whispering sweet nothings to her. He'd approached her only for the benefits she provided. Once she was no longer useful, he dumped her and mocked her sacrifices. The story cut off just as the princess vowed revenge.
"Come on, read faster. I wanna know what happens next."
Dun snatched the book from Prim's lap and flipped it open. The crease marked the exact spot she'd summarized. Seeing his intense interest, Prim looked intrigued.
"You like this stuff, huh? I'll remember that. If you don't want snacks or desserts, I'll just stack a bunch of these books in front of your house."
He pictured a pile of trashy novels at his doorstep.
"Do that, and we're done."
"You're way too quick to cut ties. That's harsh."
After their brief banter, Dun and Prim dove back in.
"Come on, read faster."
"You wouldn't get it. These are meant to be savored. This line needs highlighting."
Dun rummaged for his pencil case, pulled out a highlighter, and handed it to Prim. She nodded and underlined a sentence.
"My kind of taste."
"Pervert."
The underlined part was pretty explicit. Dun smirked, curling one corner of his mouth.
"But aren't you like ten? How do you know so much? Suddenly feeling a bit guilty. Shouldn't have gotten you into this."
"I know a lot, so this is fine for me. Kids these days mature fast. And you're too young to be reading this stuff yourself."
They'd been enjoying it together when she suddenly closed the book. Curious about the ending, Dun rattled off excuses.
"Fourteen's basically an adult. The princess from the neighboring kingdom is just a year older than me, and she's already married."
Prim, unwilling to admit she was a kid, babbled excuses too. She looked so childish insisting she was grown-up, citing other countries' traditions to justify it.
Both Prim and Dun were hooked on the next part, so they quietly read to the end right there. The sun had been up when they started, but it was night by the time they finished.
"I half-expected a twist where it wasn't betrayal after all, but nope—total betrayal. Kinda bittersweet."
"That knight bastard didn't die? I'd have ripped the book apart."
Drained after the finale, Dun and Prim stared silently at the fireflies flitting across the sky.
* * *
He hadn't expected much, but hanging out with Prim was pretty fun.
Especially touring her secret bases—they left a strong impression.
Her various hidden bases were stocked with weapons, potions, magic scrolls, and more.
Prim said he could come anytime he was bored or being tracked.
She probably had all these scary secret bases to evade the emperor's pursuit.
He'd learned while sneaking into the palace gardens: the emperor and Prim were at each other's throats. They acted like they cared, but their eyes screamed they'd kill each other in a heartbeat.
Unsure of the details, he'd avoided getting too close to the princess with her complicated backstory to steer clear of trouble.
Dun found it odd that Prim so readily revealed her secret spots to him, but he chalked it up to her way of showing trust.
It was too late to head back, so he decided to stay the night in the palace. Prim sent a servant to get permission from Rihowel, then pumped her fist in delight.
For Dun staying over, Prim lent him one of her nightgowns.
Dun changed quickly and watched as Prim slipped into hers.
"What's that on your back?"
"What do you mean?"
Dun pointed to the long burn scars across her back and the raised scars from sharp blades.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just some injuries from when I was little."
"Those look like torture wounds, not 'just some injuries.'"
"...Uh, yeah. 'Torture' is a strong word. Let's say I got roughed up a bit."
Dun examined the scars closely.
"Most people freak out over scars like these. Why are you so chill?"
"You're one to talk—casually admitting you got beat up bad enough to scar like that."
"No reason to hide it. They're proof I survived tough times. Makes me look tough and scores sympathy points."
"You're more... cheerfully twisted than I thought."
"You mean positive?"
Dun nodded vaguely and eyed her scars again.
Small cuts from sharp weapons and bizarre red scars. They resembled burns at a glance but were far darker than normal burn scars.
"Dun, staring like that is embarrassing."
"But don't these still hurt?"
"How'd you know?"
How could he not? He'd seen plenty. These weren't from regular fire—they were scars from Montghell's flames.
Dun clicked his tongue instead of answering.
Montghell was a hidden continent, hard to even reach. How had Prim gotten these? Dragged there and torched?
If they were from Montghell, they had to be from a monster.
Finding such brutal scars—even mercenaries didn't have them—on a princess surprised him a bit.
Dun pretended to rummage in his pocket while opening his inventory window.
[Epic] Pearl of Purification
He summoned the item visually, and a small bead appeared in his hand.
"Prim, water."
Prim fetched a basin of wash water from the bedside table.
"It's for washing up before bed, but why water?"
Too lazy to explain, Dun crushed the pearl in his hand into powder. Prim's eyes widened at the crunching sound.
There was more water in the basin than powder. Dun gulped it down anyway.
"Uh... hey! Dun! If you need drinking water, just say so! You don't have to chug wash water..."
Ignoring her fluster, Dun mixed the pearl powder with the remaining water.
The wash water turned into a large lump of white dough. Dun scooped a handful of the shimmering white paste onto one hand and beckoned with the other.
"Back."
Prim tilted her head in confusion.
"Nah, you do it. Just rub this on the scars."
Worried he'd crush her bones if he applied it, Dun tossed the paste to Prim.
She caught the oddly glowing dough and went to the mirror. Reaching back, she spread it over the burn scars as instructed.
The paste melted into her skin on contact. The deep red marks faded rapidly.
"!!!!!"
Prim gaped at her scars turning into ordinary burns. The ones that had plagued her since childhood no longer hurt.
She'd scoured imperial mages and pharmacists friendly to Bachinum for pain relief, but given up as hopeless.
Her usual ointments at least prevented worsening, even if they didn't help much.
Yet in an instant, so simply, one of her life's headaches vanished.
"How did you do that? What was that powder?"
"Pearl of Purification powder."
"?"
Prim smirked in disbelief.
"Isn't that... a national treasure from the neighboring kingdom? The kind that can reattach nearly severed limbs if used right...?"
"Didn't steal it."
"Then?"
"Beat a monster, and it dropped."
He couldn't recall when, but smashing a giant clam-like monster had yielded several.
Prim stared at her healed scars, then gave him a look of exasperation.
"You sure it's okay to use something you worked hard for on me? Seems valuable."
A village kid having a kingdom's treasure was weird enough; knowing its use and giving it away freely was weirder.
From what Prim knew, Dun wasn't the type to hand out stuff sacrificially.
"Stop asking questions. You looked like you needed it."
Battered by her queries, Dun replied curtly.
A princess making a fuss over an epic item. In Montghell, heal items like this were essential for survival.
Not much was known about the continent—only exiles like elves and other NPCs knew that common knowledge.
"Heard you lived in Montghell as a kid. Figures you'd know a lot."
"You really dug into everything."
Prim gazed at him with sparkling eyes, like he was some fascinating creature.
"Oh, right. Gratitude later—how about compensation? How much?"
"Actually, I came to ask you for a favor."
Her eyes lit up even more at the mention.
"Knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. Spill—what is it? I'm dying to know."
"Got any wide-open land I could lease?"