Chapter : 08
One hour earlier.
After the faint glow faded, Aello glanced down at the milk glass for a moment, then shrugged.
“There’s no poison.”
At those words, Rovelius turned his gaze toward me.
“Didn’t you say you were so anxious you couldn’t live like this?”
“Judging by how carelessly you keep picking up and eating whatever’s around, you don’t look all that worried.”
Aello, who had been snickering beside us, chimed in cheerfully.
“I think it’s just because you don’t think at all!”
…The moment the possibility crossed my mind that the reason Eirencia had collapsed might have been poisoning, my appetite completely disappeared.
“I’m done eating. I’m full.”
“How can that be, Your Highness? You must eat well to recover quickly.”
Even though he knew the princess had monstrous recovery abilities, and that she’d already healed enough to run freely through the garden, the old man still looked worried to death.
I stared at Gott for a moment, then spoke.
“Why did you leave them alone? The people who made this.”
“…His Highness the Crown Prince mentioned it.”
“Yeah. He said no one was punished.”
“Then what about the real culprit?”
“We couldn’t uncover them. No—more accurately, we didn’t.”
“You mean you didn’t try? Why?”
“His Majesty ordered that those involved be disciplined with pay cuts or temporary suspension.”
Which meant that from the moment the ingredients were handled until the food reached me—
Even though the culprit could poison it again at any time, I was expected to quietly eat my meals.
Aello added lightly,
“The funny thing is, no one even suggested finishing the investigation properly or punishing the culprit! It’s honestly impressive how thoroughly disliked you must be. Ahahaha, really amazing, right?”
Then Rovelius approached me as I stood there with my lips tightly pressed together, and whispered a single sentence before leaving.
“You understand your position, don’t you? And that His Majesty does not favor you. You’d do well to behave yourself. Staying quiet and keeping your head down like this isn’t such a bad choice.”
“Remember this—anyone, at any time, can put a blade to your throat.”
‘For a precocious little brat… you really take after someone.’
That arrogant, infuriating way of speaking.
Those eyes that looked down on others.
The image of him acting as if he could crush my life whenever he pleased, like I was some hamster in the palm of his hand, kept replaying in my mind.
“…I’m going to sleep.”
My stomach felt heavy and unsettled.
I shuffled over to the bed and pulled the blanket over myself.
Sniff.
Once again, my nose started running.
* * *
The wrinkles on the old man’s face deepened as he looked at the blanket curled into a tight ball.
Whenever the Crown Prince visited, dark clouds always seemed to gather around His Highness afterward.
‘He must have said something harsh again.’
He was gentle to everyone—except when it came to the princess. The moment he saw her, his gaze turned sharp.
‘To speculate about one’s master’s thoughts… that, too, is irreverent.’
Guessing the reason, Gott quickly buried the thought.
“……”
He remained silently by Eirencia’s side.
She said she was sleeping, but in truth, she simply didn’t want him to see her crying.
If he waited long enough, she would usually steady herself and peek her face out from under the blanket again.
“Gott.”
Just like now.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Hey… are we really just going to keep playing around like this? Aren’t there any lessons or classes?”
‘Am I hearing things now?’
Gott doubted his ears and examined her carefully.
Eirencia wore an expression of firm resolve.
‘Surely not…’
Half-doubting what he’d heard, Gott asked cautiously.
“Lessons… you say?”
“Yeah. I can’t live like an idiot forever. I should learn something.”
“Didn’t Your Highness drive them all away?”
“…Ah. Did I?”
She scratched her cheek awkwardly.
In truth, she had bitten every prominent noblewoman from high society and every renowned academy professor with those tiny teeth of hers—fairly and equally—until they fled in terror long ago.
‘If only His Majesty had shown even a little interest in the princess’s education.’
Because the Emperor was especially indifferent toward her, once the teachers ran away, he’d simply given up, saying there was nothing to be done about her temperament.
‘After that, unlike the Crown Prince, she received no education at all.’
She never even set foot in the library, so people mocked her behind her back, calling her no better than livestock.
Ill-mannered high-ranking nobles openly disrespected her to her face.
It was worse because no one—aside from Gott himself—ever stood on the princess’s side.
‘Even the children who serve her directly act that way…’
They only refrained from showing it openly because of the difference in status and fear of her violence.
At first, Gott had tried correcting them, but what could he do? People grow resentful when beaten for no reason.
Unless the princess herself changed, this cycle would never end.
“I won’t chase them away this time. So you can schedule things without worrying.”
Hiding his complicated feelings, Gott replied,
“Did someone displease Your Highness again?”
“Huh?”
“Have you not often summoned teachers you disliked just to torment them?”
A brief silence followed.
Then her voice came again—hesitant, uncertain.
“…It’s because there’s so much I don’t know. Don’t you think I should at least know the basics?”
“Then let us arrange the schedule once you’ve fully recovered.”
“……”
At this point, he should have been shouted at—cursed out, told to go prepare his own grave for daring to talk back.
‘Why is she so quiet?’
“Not this time. Really.”
Instead of the expected tirade, her voice sounded drained of strength.
When their eyes met, her clear—but never angelic—eyes shimmered, brimming with tears.
Seeing her look so pitiful, like a tiger cub caught in the rain, the old man’s heart wavered helplessly.
The last time he trusted her, she’d bitten a baron’s head bloody at sunrise.
But still… maybe. Just maybe…
“Just trust me once. Okay?”
“…I will look for someone suitable to be your teacher.”
“I knew you would! Thank you, Gott!”
Since awakening, Her Highness had shown remarkably little emotion.
Seeing her face light up with a pure smile, like spring flowers blooming, a small hope stirred in Gott’s chest.
She really did seem gentler these days.
Though whenever he left her side, someone still ended up injured…
‘Compared to before, she has softened. I only hope she keeps this up and refrains from raising her hand against innocent children.’
Besides, wasn’t she calling him by his name instead of “wrinkled old man”?
Her speech and manners had become noticeably refined and mature.
‘No. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.’
That was something Gott had learned many times over.
‘But perhaps… perhaps she truly has changed.’
Suppressing his strange excitement, the old man smiled as he always did.
And then, a few days later.
‘Ah… maybe not?’
“Ughhh…”
Gott blinked as he stared at the man slumped limply on the floor, wilted like overcooked spinach.
* * *
So, this happened just thirty minutes ago.
Three days after I claimed my right to education.
Thanks to his remarkable connections and negotiating skills, the veteran chief attendant succeeded in finding a teacher for the princess—one rumored to be beyond saving.
“This is the instructor who will teach Your Highness basic subjects such as history, mathematics, and mana studies.”
When Gott finished the introduction, a sickly-looking man with dark green hair bowed deeply.
“I-I’m J-Jaden Rojas. I-it’s an h-honor to t-teach Y-Your Highness the Princess. I-I’ll do my b-best, w-with all my h-heart!”
“I heard you ranked first throughout your time studying mathematics at the academy. It’s an honor for me as well to learn from such an excellent teacher. I look forward to working with you.”
“H-How could you! P-Please don’t lower your speech. I’m m-merely a teacher.”
“If that makes you uncomfortable… should I stop?”
Watching the anxious Gott and the flustered Jaden, I smiled like a well-fed cat.
‘I didn’t think anyone would come at all. This is better than expected.’
Jaden Rojas.
Having graduated not long ago, he was still virtually unknown outside the academy.
But in the future, after meeting an anonymous patron, he would rise rapidly and become a leading authority in magic-circle theory.
‘That anonymous patron was the hidden main male lead.’
Jaden Rojas would become the dark mastermind’s closest aide—and the rebellion’s brain—an unparalleled strategist who led popular uprisings and won countless local battles.
Because he was excessively timid, usually stuttering and awkward, most people who met him for the first time were disappointed or dismissed him outright…
‘But talk to him just a little, and you realize he’s an awl hidden in a pouch.’
Not just any awl—one made of titanium alloy.
Behind his bookish exterior lay a mind that was ruthlessly calculating, cold, merciless—and brilliant.
“T-Then, f-first, let’s begin with a s-simple Q-and-A to s-see how much Y-Your Highness already knows.”
And as for me—
I wasn’t even a titanium awl.
I was cotton candy.
Blow on it lightly, and it would collapse with a hole straight through.
