Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Translation: godsn
Neril's eyes widened for a moment before she resolutely nodded her head.
"Let's see them try to outwit their own scheme. No matter how they try to steer this situation, they won't be able to target Her Highness."
"Here it is, Your Highness."
There was a small side door in the wall of the western training ground warehouse in the Valdina Royal Palace.
"It's a tunnel the Royal Guard members used when sneaking out. It connects directly to the city."
This passage, dug out by palace guards exhausted from harsh training while confined to the palace grounds, was said to be unknown even to the royal family.
For a tunnel dug without proper equipment, it was remarkably well-constructed, and Medeia could sense the madness of the former guards.
At the end of the tunnel, an ordinary four-wheeled carriage awaited them.
"Neril, you finally made it. I thought you'd be digging a new tunnel to get here, honestly."
A young coachman idly swinging his whip cracked a joke at Neril.
His round eyes quickly took in Medeia standing behind Neril.
"Hello, Princess."
"Tom, show proper respect to Her Highness."
"Hmph, go easy on me. A lowborn like me can't be taught manners, what can you do?"
When the freckled young man cheerfully greeted her, Neril coldly warned him.
"My apologies, Your Highness. I warned him beforehand."
"It's fine. Hello."
When Medeia calmly returned the greeting, the young man named Tom paused briefly before nodding.
'A palace archer.'
She could tell from his seated posture and the way his fingers gripped the whip.
He must have been a disciple of the former Royal Guard captain.
'He dislikes me.'
Medeia read the clear hostility hidden in the coachman's eyes.
He probably thought he'd hidden it well behind his smiling face, but that fleeting emotion had already been caught by Medeia.
Given how her reputation as the foolish princess had spread among the populace, the coachman must view her the same way.
'Still, this is acceptable.'
Compared to the colorless, odorless criticism and contempt she'd endured in her past life, this was practically endearing.
"Giddyup! Giddyup!"
With a rattling noise and a cloud of dusty sand, the carriage set off.
Her prediction about the coachman proved accurate.
"Your Highness, hold onto me here."
Though the carriage seemed to be moving smoothly at first, the roads grew rougher as they moved away from the city center.
Whether the carriage couldn't move comfortably or simply wouldn't on the unpaved roads, it jolted incessantly.
"Giddyup! Giddyup!"
The enthusiastic urging of the horses could be heard. The carriage wheels seemed ready to bounce right off.
"That bastard..."
Neril, biting her lip, steadied Medeia before clenching her fist tightly.
"Let me go have a word with him."
"You're certain we're going to meet your teacher?"
"Yes. That's true, but..."
"Then it's fine."
Medeia leaned back with a bored expression.
Neither the coachman's silent spite nor the jolting rumble of the ground bothered her.
'They must think I'm a princess who's never set foot in mud my whole life.'
But in her past life, the times she'd traveled comfortably with Iason on campaigns could be counted on one hand.
With Magic Beasts leaping out from collapsing terrain being commonplace, bumpy ground like this was comfortable enough for a good night's sleep.
Medeia drew back the curtain.
"The dust will make everything dirty."
"It's fine."
Medeia kept her gaze fixed outside the window.
The carriage had left the Royal Castle behind.
'No cooking smoke rising.'
Barren, desolate plains. Ramshackle houses that looked ready to collapse at any moment.
'This is reality. This is the real Valdina.'
This was the truth the Regent wanted to keep from Medeia's eyes.
Unlike the clean, splendid interior of the Royal Castle, this was the current reality of Valdina that had endured a decade of war.
'Even after winning the war, it wasn't easy.'
While Pelleus was away, the Regent's influence within the kingdom had grown too powerful. Rebellion after rebellion had broken out.
Moreover, the King's only sister indulged in luxury and pleasure until she was eventually captured by the Rebel Army, becoming an embarrassment to the royal family instead.
Yet my brother never once blamed me for it.
'Pelleus, this time I won't let it happen like that.'
Around that time, Tom shouted from outside the carriage.
"Hey! We're almost there. Can you see it? That's Marquess Gilifos's estate."
In the distance beyond the carriage window, a red-bricked estate came into view.
But tiny ant-sized dots were swarming around the estate.
'What is that?'
Only after the carriage crossed the hill and entered the road did the true nature of the gathered crowd become clear.
"They're retired soldiers and their families. Their numbers keep growing as the war drags on," Tom explained loudly enough for Medeia to hear.
Most of them were people whose hometowns had burned down or who were too maimed to make the journey home, left to wander near the royal castle.
"Fought for the country and ended up like this, hehe. Far from being rewarded, they can't even set foot in the royal castle—just get chased away."
The edges of his giggling laughter were sharp.
"My master couldn't turn away from their pitiful situation and took them in, but now even the estate's interiors are packed full. Can't kick them out, so we just feed them outside like that."
"......"
"Well..."
After having driven like mad until now, he suddenly began guiding the horses at a leisurely pace.
Just as the carriage was passing through the crowd of retired soldiers.
With a clattering sound, the carriage lurched sideways.
"Oh dear. A wheel's come off! Oops, now this breaks down here?"
Just as his cheerful voice rang out, Tom's grinning face appeared outside the window.
"What to do? Guess we'll have to repair the wheel here. Won't take too long!"
"You......"
Neril stood up with a stiff face, preparing to step outside the carriage.
"Gonna hit me? Tsk, still won't fix the broken wheel any faster. I'm no mage either."
His snarky face quickly disappeared.
"My apologies, Your Highness."
"It's fine."
Medeia's expression remained serene.
Meanwhile, the carriage that had suddenly stopped on the road drew people's attention.
"Who's that? Who's inside?"
"Here to see the Marquess? Thought visitors from the royal castle had stopped coming altogether lately," someone answered gruffly.
"What's it to us who it is? Don't drop your damn food. Like His Majesty cares if we starve."
The cold and hunger had made them irritable.
As the war dragged on, the national treasury had emptied.
In contrast, forced labor and taxes increased daily, weighing heavily on their shoulders.
Valdina, located in the barren north, was never a land of abundant resources to begin with.
"And here we are like this, while they say banquets are held daily in the royal palace? At royal feasts, they drink wine like water and cover tables with meat, they say."
"Wow. Just one piece of that meat could keep me alive a week."
"Just meat? That cursed princess is said to drape herself in all kinds of jewels."
They might not know the royal family tree in detail, but they certainly knew about one princess.
"Aren't those jewels bought with our lifeblood? Greedy bloodsuckers. Royal parasites!"
The people raised their voices one after another.
They raged against the King who was mad with war and his sister who indulged in luxury while ignoring the people.
The retired soldiers had pitched makeshift tents haphazardly along the roadside, so the carriage wasn't far from them.
Their angry voices carried all too clearly.
Medeia listened to the colorful curses directed at her from outside the window.
'Is this meant for me to hear?'
She could discern the intentions—whether Tom's or Marquess Gilifos's.
"Your Highness......"
Neril was the one fidgeting helplessly.
Then someone rebutted:
"Hey you, shut your mouth if you don't know. What nonsense about the princess draping herself in jewels."
"Huh?"
"Didn't you hear? What state the princess was left in at the palace? You folks are behind on news!"