Chapter 10
Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Princess Eliza
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Empress Yuria personally guided her through the empress's palace, explaining its layout. Yuno, who had been following along and providing explanations, returned to his own palace as time grew late, but Isabella and Marie continued kindly escorting her alongside Yuria.
"Finally, this is the room Eliza will use from now on. I've already spoken to the maids, so aside from the head maid Madeleine here, just give instructions to any of the maids you see if you need anything."
"...Yes, I understand. Thank you for your deep consideration, Your Majesty the Empress."
"There's so much I want to talk about with Eliza, but you must be exhausted today, right? So rest well tonight, and we'll chat tomorrow. Understood?"
"Sister, good night~ See you tomorrow~"
Empress Yuria said that and left Eliza's room with Marie.
Eliza looked around the room she would be using from now on. It wasn't overly ornate, but it carried a warm aura that perfectly suited her tastes. Lying down on the bed, she recalled the day she had arrived in the empire.
Boom!!
"What do you mean by that, Your Highness! That's impossible!!"
"...There's no other choice. For that child's safety, this might actually be better."
"Even so, how can we send an eleven-year-old princess to the empire all alone?"
"Perhaps she'll catch the emperor's eye? Then they won't touch our homeland anymore... They say that empire's emperor has a particular fondness for young girls. With our Eliza..."
"Your Highness... How can you say such a thing..."
The prime minister of Leon Kingdom opposed sending Princess Eliza as a hostage but ultimately knelt before King Charles IV's unwavering resolve.
The prime minister had at least tried to secure her safety with strict escorts, but Charles IV seemed to think it wouldn't be so bad if she ended up as the emperor's concubine.
In that very meeting where her fate as a hostage was sealed, Eliza stared at her father with an indifferent expression.
'That man is no longer the daddy I knew... Daddy is...'
The Charles IV in Eliza's memories was a man brimming with confidence and unmatched bravery—a true lion of a warrior. But after their defeat in last year's war against the empire, the father who returned having lost half an arm had become an entirely different person.
He always seemed haunted by something, gripped by constant fear. He'd grown petty in every matter, lashing out with violence against her mother and sisters whenever things didn't go his way.
He'd never been particularly warm or gentle with them to begin with, but he hadn't resorted to outright violence. In the end, drunk and tormented by nightmares, he murdered her mother.
Of course, the queen's death was hushed up in secret, but Eliza vividly remembered her mother's body being placed in the coffin.
And now, that same father was trying to sell her off to the empire's emperor.
'Coming to the empire was inevitable... but marrying an eighty-year-old emperor? I really don't want that... But what can I do...'
Creak
While Eliza sat alone in her room, tears streaming down her face as she agonized over her plight, her door quietly opened, and someone slipped inside.
"Eliza~ Are you asleep?"
That voice belonged to her eldest sister, Fiona. Despite having different mothers, Eliza—who had always trailed after her sister devotedly—rushed into Fiona's arms and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Sob sob... Sister... I don't want to go... sob sob... It feels like Daddy's trying to sell me off to that old emperor..."
Being born a princess meant political marriage was an inescapable fate, but Eliza's sister Fiona had avoided it. From childhood, she'd self-studied martial arts and military strategy, eventually becoming one of the kingdom's three Swordmasters.
It was only natural—no country would send a strategic weapon like a Swordmaster abroad, as it would drastically weaken their national power.
Seeing her half-sister in such a dire situation, Fiona felt deep pity. Sneaking into her room late at night, she comforted the girl who was being sent away as a hostage. As she patted Eliza's back and her sobs subsided a little, Fiona voiced the idea she'd been mulling over.
"Eliza, want to hear what your sister thinks? I caught a glimpse of the empire's emperor from afar a few times during the last war. In my opinion, if you play it right, you might even avoid becoming a concubine."
"Huh? Sister? Is that really possible? I'll do whatever it takes! How?"
Fiona instructed Eliza to wear a military uniform and to never yield an inch to the emperor's words, maintaining a proud and defiant posture throughout.
"That should win the emperor's favor... but he won't see you as a girl. And you've got those big breasts that don't suit your age, right? Hohoho. If you follow sister's advice to the letter, that lolicon bastard is sure to lose all interest in you."
Eliza prepared the military uniform as her sister instructed and practiced responses to the emperor's expected questions every single day.
And so, when Eliza arrived in the empire today and acted exactly as she'd practiced, her sister's advice proved spot-on—the emperor lost all interest in her, muttering about indulging his favorite concubine before departing.
Instead, the empress took an interest in her, forging connections with her own second princess, third princess, and third prince.
Expecting haughty, cold, and aloof royals, Eliza was a bit flustered by Yuria's family—warm, casual with one another, and genuinely caring. Still, she sensed that life in the empire wouldn't be as grueling as she'd feared, and with that quiet reassurance, she drifted off to sleep.
True to form, the very next morning at breakfast—where Yuria had gathered all the princes and princesses—she instructed her children to treat Eliza like one of their own while in the empire, speaking casually with her in private.
Eliza was utterly shocked by Yuria's directive, but seeing Isabella, Yuno, and Marie immediately switch to casual speech with her eased her heart even more.
During breakfast, they shared stories about each other and grew much closer—Yuria's family and Eliza alike.
'Leaving aside the emperor, crown prince, and second prince... these people seem trustworthy... It's the first time I've felt this since Mom passed... Maybe here, I can...'
It hadn't even been a full day since arriving in the empire, but Eliza already felt like they were family. She even thought it might end up more comfortable than her homeland's palace, where Fiona was her only confidante—but that notion shattered come morning.
"Huff huff huff... Yuno, how... how are you managing this?"
"Hahaha, you get used to it quick if you keep at it? It's your first day, so don't push yourself too hard, Eliza."
Following the emperor's orders, Eliza had been assigned to shadow Yuno's schedule, starting with morning training alongside him.
Right after finishing breakfast at seven, Yuno suggested a light jog to warm up before liberal arts class at nine. Eliza, who usually enjoyed exercise, figured it was no big deal. She changed into the workout clothes the maids had prepared and followed Yuno to the training grounds—but she regretted it almost immediately.
Though confident in her stamina, Eliza was just an ordinary princess. There was no way she could keep up with Yuno's regimen, which even the Imperial Guard Knights' trainees barely managed. She staggered along, barely making it to the training field, before collapsing flat on her back.
"Ehey~ You can't just lie there resting during training, Eliza. When you rest, do it with jogs in place. Breathe deep and slow to settle your breathing, then start running again once it's regulated. Now! Up!!"
Drawing on his past-life experience as a trainer, Yuno began tormenting Eliza from the morning onward. Of course, he was adjusting for her as a total beginner, but to Eliza, it didn't feel like consideration at all—Yuno started looking like a devil in her eyes.
'Ughhh... My eyes must've been playing tricks... Of course... The son of that lolicon emperor couldn't possibly be normal!!'
Eliza inwardly cursed Yuno, but regardless of her thoughts, he kept pushing her relentlessly. By the end of exercise time, her feet hadn't rested for even a second.
"Alright~ That's it for today~ Good work, Eliza! Now you can sit."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Eliza flopped onto the ground. Watching her, Yuno fetched some water, handed it over, and began massaging her legs.
"Puha!! What... what are you doing!! To my legs!"
Having never so much as held hands with a boy from outside the family, Eliza panicked at his touch and spat out the water she'd been drinking. Yuno, however, calmly continued kneading her legs.
"If I leave them like this, you won't be able to walk tomorrow morning? Be grateful—I'm loosening them up in advance."
"I don't need it? Ugh, really—as expected from the lolicon emperor's son... Already groping a girl's legs... Hup!!"
Eliza realized her slip the instant the words escaped and clamped her hand over her mouth, but it was far too late—they'd reached Yuno's ears long ago.
"Y... Yuno, Your Highness... That's not what I..."
"Nah, it's fine. Who doesn't know my dad has a thing for young girls? Heh heh heh. Doesn't bother me, my sisters, or Marie, but still—gotta be careful who hears. Got it?"
Yuno magnanimously forgave her and patted her head.
'What... Is he really the emperor's son? He's kind, handsome... Trains so diligently... At this rate, he'd make a perfect husband... No!! Snap out of it—he's the empire's prince, enemy of our kingdom! No getting attached!! Get it together! Eliza!!'
But Eliza's cheeks burned red as she stared at Yuno. Oblivious or not to her feelings, he finished massaging her legs thoroughly and stood up.
"Alright, now head to the empress's palace to wash up, then come to my Third Annex. You got the route from yesterday's tour, right? If not, just ask the maid sisters."
"I know that much? It's right next door!"
"Yeah! Good memory. Class starts at nine, so don't be late?"
"Nine... Hey! It's already 8:20—how am I supposed to wash up that fast!"
"Eh? Isn't ten minutes plenty? I even finished ten minutes early to account for your travel time."
"You think washing up takes the same for boys and girls? Ugh!! Really!! So clueless!!"
Eliza grumbled at Yuno's utter lack of consideration and dashed off toward the empress's palace. Yuno, clueless as to why he'd earned her ire, headed to his own palace to rinse off his sweat.
By nine o'clock, Eliza arrived at Yuno's study in his palace, water still dripping from her hair. Maids trailed behind, frantically toweling it dry, but her dress was half-soaked anyway.
"Look at me? From tomorrow, you gotta wrap it up a little earlier! Just ten minutes early is fine, right? Can't keep running around like this every day?"
"Hmm... Deal~ I'll finish at 8:10 starting tomorrow. But in exchange, let's bump the start time up ten minutes. That squares it, yeah? Just wake up a tad earlier."
Eliza was dumbfounded by Yuno's obsession with his training schedule, left utterly speechless.
'No way—does cutting ten minutes off training spell the end of the world or something? Like how the emperor's obsessed with kids, is this guy obsessed with training?'
Her inner evaluation of Yuno kept swinging wildly back and forth.
But Yuno paid her no mind, pondering how to nap undetected during today's lecture. As Baron Kimberly's history class began, he quietly closed his eyes.