Chapter 181

“How dare you.”

The sound of the count drawing his sword had barely echoed through the air.

In a flash, the guards moved like lightning, restraining the count’s reckless action.

Behind them, the furious mages glared at him, spells swirling in their hands.

“To dare draw your sword in front of Her Highness.”

“Ah…! I- I did not mean to…!”

“Silence! You wretch!”

Even the usually amiable princess had not acknowledged his greeting, remaining silent, and the pressure was no joke.

Count Lair had rushed in after committing an outrageous act while harboring a hidden crime and now found it difficult to regain his composure.

Having resorted to unreasonable measures, he finally realized his mistake and turned pale.

[Uso Lair]
Thoughts: Damn it. How dare a princess treat me with such disdain!

Lair instinctively looked behind him. He had faith in his reliable knights.

However, the count’s knights were already stepping back, raising their hands in surrender, observing the situation.

“You, you bastards!”

Siervian grew increasingly angry as she witnessed his actions and thoughts.

She was also irritated that such an incompetent man, incapable of even assessing the situation, was in charge of the city.

“Arrest the perpetrator.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Now, wait, this cannot be!”

At Siervian’s command, the knights moved without hesitation.

However, it was not normally permissible to apprehend a nobleman of the count’s stature so roughly.

Therefore, Siervian kindly provided the reason, addressing the bewildered citizens who were now anxiously glancing in their direction.

“The crime of attempting to draw a sword on me, the crime of mobilizing his knights to assassinate me!”

At Siervian’s resolute words, the count’s knights prostrated themselves in unison.

“In- innocent! All of this was done by the count alone…!”

“Your Highness! I harbored no rebellious intentions whatsoever!”

Their claims sounded desperate.

However, just like their master, their intentions were undeniably wicked.

Were they truly innocent?

“Arrest them all as well.”

“Th- this is tyranny……!”

One of the knights, seemingly of a quasi-noble status, protested.

So Siervian smiled again and spoke softly, revealing what she had discovered.

“And the crime of daring to present an impostor, impersonating the princess.”

“Fa- false accusation…! You cannot do this simply based on the words of a mistaken guard!”

It was the count who, upon reaching the ramparts, had figured out how far the foolish guard had spoken.

Despite being arrested, he puffed out his chest with arrogance and shouted at the princess.

Her anger growing immense, Siervian spoke to Count Lair with a chillingly cold face that strongly resembled her father’s.

“Just a few days ago, you staged a play with an imposter whose face was even covered, didn’t you?”

[Uso Lair]
Thoughts: Damn it! Did she catch my scent! I finally managed to fill the treasury by inciting the people to demand money for the magic circle inspection, but surely she couldn’t have figured it out this far….

“To dare incite the imperial citizens with the lie that the imperial family is demanding an exorbitant amount of money for the magic circle inspection.”

“H, how…!”

As the princess accurately pointed out the part where he had committed a crime, Count Lair made an irreversible slip of the tongue.

The faces of the guards hardened at the truth finally being revealed.

Karmen had been standing silently on guard and had a face as cold as ice.

[Karmen Kasselov]
Thoughts: Was she already in a bad mood today because she knew about this? Tsk, I should have comforted her more properly.

‘Oops.’

Only then did Siervian realize that she had acted too impulsively.

She had created the situation too carelessly, considering she was hiding the fact that she could read minds.

‘Why did I do that?’

Suddenly, she was overcome with an anger that she couldn’t contain.

Fortunately, Karmen and the other guards seemed to think that the princess had come here today with this in mind.

‘I need to be careful.’

As she sighed inwardly, the chaos in front of the ramparts was cleared.

The imperial citizens watched with wide eyes as the noble princess suddenly appeared, and the count was apprehended.

At that moment, one of the guards tried to drag away the guard who had stopped them.

“Ah, release that man.”

“But Your Highness, he has been disrespectful to you.”

It was the knight who had most vehemently argued against the guard’s words.

He had a face as if he would strike down the disrespectful guard at any moment.

Siervian had come to her senses after carelessly using her ability earlier and calmly soothed him.

“I appreciate your loyalty. However, he was merely fulfilling his assigned duty. It seems he was genuinely misled by that count’s trickery.”

“Understood.”

As the princess thoughtfully acknowledged his loyalty, the knight quickly bowed in response.

Then, with a gentler hand than before, he untied the guard’s shackles and restraints.

“I, Your Highness, th- thank you.”

As the guard bowed his head in gratitude for having his life spared, Siervian nodded once.

“You must follow the guards and provide your testimony.”

“Of- of course!”

With those words, the guard raised his head abruptly and glared fiercely at Count Lair.

His determination to reveal everything he knew and contribute to the count’s downfall was evident.

[Uso Lair]
Thoughts: The information has already leaked out! They must have known everything and suddenly appeared here to capture me!

‘That’s why it was a surprise.’

If only he had properly familiarized himself with the inspection schedule announced by the imperial palace, he would not have been caught so embarrassingly.

‘That’s strange. He doesn’t seem like the type to plot anything, no matter how much I think about it.’

Siervian tilted her head, unaware that she was evaluating Count Liar quite harshly.

[Uso Lair]
Thoughts: Damn it, I didn’t want to go this far! If only I hadn’t been threatened by that bastard! On top of that, there’s been a disturbance in the imperial palace, so what’s that all about!

‘Aha.’

Thought Siervian, who was now beginning to understand.

It seemed that there is a good reason why he couldn’t move, beyond the fact that he didn’t know the itinerary.

‘If it’s a disturbance in the imperial palace, does that mean the Mana Windless Zone has appeared? He must have thought that I wouldn’t be able to move because of that.’

Then, an even stranger feeling came over her.

It was as if he had known in advance that the Mana Windless Zone would appear.

Because of that, Siervian would have a conflict with her father and wouldn’t be able to move.

‘I need to find out who the Count was calling bastard.’

Thanks to Count Lair’s stupidity, the aftertaste was not good, even though it was easily resolved.

“Tell him to report specifically to my father.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Even though they had been awkward since the “I hate Dad” incident, Siervian thought she should send a message spell when she returned to the palace.

After the situation was sorted out, Siervian’s party headed straight for the magic circle.

‘Fortunately, he didn’t touch the magic circle.’

It was because Count Lair had at least some sense and only made the substitute act as if she was going near the magic circle.

The inspection of the magic circle in Anduham ended smoothly, despite the unprecedented incident of the city lord being captured.

‘Whew, I hope the next city is safe.’

The episode with Count Lair left her feeling very uneasy, but she couldn’t neglect the magic circles.

So Siervian had to pat her shoulders and hurry to the next city.

* * *

Fortunately, Tiham, their next destination, was safe.

Surprisingly, the lord of Tiham said that he had waited patiently, trusting the imperial family.

Of course, he wondered if she would have come sooner if he had offered a bribe.

‘Still, I think the perception is changing a little.’

Siervian was lost in thought as she stared blankly out the carriage window.

Then, Karmen spoke as if something was bothering him.

“Are you worried about what happened earlier?”

“Huh? What happened?”

“That, about the count.”

[Karmen Kasselov]
Thoughts: That pig of a Count. His neck folds were so thick that even ten necklaces wouldn’t show.

“Pfft.”

“Why?”

“Uh, no, it’s nothing.”

Siervian had been caught off guard and laughed as she saw Karmen’s truly scathing inner thoughts.

When she was met with curious glances, she quickly composed her expression. Then, even more curious glances were cast her way.

“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t worried, but for now, I was just spacing out.”

Karmen stared at Siervian, who grinned, for a long time.

When it seemed like a long time had passed, Karmen spoke first.

“Yeah. Don’t worry too much. You’re doing well.”

Strangely, his words made her heart skip a beat.

Siervian, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, awkwardly looked away. Karmen’s brilliant platinum blonde hair seemed to shine even brighter today.

‘Is it because of the sunset?’

The more she savored his words, the better she felt.

It was definitely a happy thing to have someone who cared about her so much by her side.

“Thank you, Karmen.”

“Y- yeah.”

With a happy heart, Siervian linked arms with Karmen and rested her head on his shoulder, just like she did on the way here.

This time, too, Karmen’s strange response and status window popped up.

[Karmen Kasselov]
Thoughts: React normally. Like a noble, be careful with your words! Words! Careful!

‘Hmm, was I not supposed to touch you?’

Come to think of it, she wasn’t a child anymore, so she wondered if she had been too forward.

In general society, people didn’t engage in such close physical contact.

‘But it’s Karmen….’

Even as she slowly let go of his arm, Siervian felt a slight pang of regret.

Just as her arm fell away, Karmen unconsciously grabbed it tightly.

“Huh?”

“Ah, no, that’s….”

[Karmen Kasselov]
Mood: Nervous
Thoughts: Damn it. I told myself not to be so rude.

Karmen barely came up with an excuse and pulled Siervian’s arm very, very carefully.

Naturally, it seemed that Siervian was leaning on his shoulder again.

“…If you’re tired, you can sleep for a while, like before.”

Siervian smiled unconsciously at the shoulder that was firmly supporting her.

Without hesitation, she linked arms again and rested her head on his shoulder.

It seemed that Karmen’s status window passed by in a blur as her vision clouded.

* * *

“What? There’s someone impersonating Siervy?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The knight who had accompanied Siervian immediately contacted the imperial palace.

This was because the crime of impersonating a member of the imperial family was not something that could be easily overlooked.

Emperor Alderuan was in a meeting in the Great Hall and had a chilling glint in his eyes when he heard the news.

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