Chapter 38…
“Tell everyone who wants to become my teacher that they have to take the test!”
Ellie said this to Duke Notman alone.
The Duke was not only a royal advisor who managed state affairs on behalf of the king but also an executor who carried out the king’s orders.
It was a perfectly directed instruction to the right person.
“As Your Majesty commands.”
Duke Notman answered with the respectful tone one would use when receiving a royal decree.
The date was set for a month later, and the place—the Great Hall of the royal palace.
“Then we must also begin preparations for the coronation.”
Duke Notman continued, as if checking items off a list in his mind.
“Yes!”
At last, the coronation.
Even Princess Ellia had always paid special attention to the coronation—it was, after all, the most important event for choosing her dress, shoes, and hairstyle.
Ellie didn’t care quite as much about such details, but she still understood how important the occasion was.
She was worried, yes—but once that big event was over, surely peaceful days would finally follow…
“After the coronation, Your Majesty will need to summon the lords for their reports, review the tax adjustment proposal, and inspect the national treasury. …Though, since numbers are your strong point, I’m not too worried about that. You’ll also need to confirm the schedules for festivals and parties for the upcoming year, and please remember to authorize the selection process for the royal guard in the near future.”
“…Huh?”
“And after that, Your Majesty must send notice of your accession to the surrounding nations, and review trade agreements once more…”
The Duke’s words showed no sign of stopping.
With every sentence, Ellie felt a small piece of her soul drift away.
What was this?
Wasn’t everything supposed to be done after the coronation?
…Of course not.
A kingdom was a living organism where countless issues constantly arose, and the king’s role was to confront and resolve them, endlessly.
‘Princess Ellia didn’t do anything!’
Literally—nothing at all.
‘So that’s why she got overthrown!’
She had simply left all that work to others.
No wonder people were furious.
And with so many different hands meddling in royal affairs, nothing could have gone right.
Because of that, Nerendis had gradually fallen into ruin, and the angry citizens had risen in rebellion to overthrow their king.
‘If I don’t want to be overthrown…’
Ellie would have to handle all these tasks herself.
She looked at Duke Notman with a hopeless expression.
She had just promised herself to hang in there a little longer—but her energy drained out of her in an instant.
How could she already feel exhausted before even starting?
Whether or not he noticed her despair, Duke Notman nodded at her with a proud, approving gaze.
Ellie shook her head.
This couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t.
Maybe this was all a dream.
The entire kingdom entered coronation-preparation mode.
Many institutions cooperated to prepare the event, but in the end, the king had to give the final approval—so Ellie became busier than ever.
Today was the day the tailoring for her coronation gown would begin.
It was one of the few things that could actually make her feel excited, so Madam Laval tried hard to lift Ellie’s spirits.
“These are the portraits of the past kings. Do you remember them?”
Madam Laval raised her voice slightly as they walked down the long gallery.
Ellie, trudging along, looked up at the wall when she heard her words.
Princess Ellia might have been familiar with these portraits—but for Ellie, it was her first time seeing them.
“There are so many magnificent figures, aren’t there? These were all painted during their coronations.”
The portraits hung high up on the wall.
From one end of the gallery to the other, rows upon rows of portraits filled the walls—so many kings, most of whose names she couldn’t even recognize.
…She remembered someone saying that she would have to memorize them all once she became king.
Ellie, feeling momentarily dispirited, quickly steeled herself again.
‘Maybe it’ll be easier to memorize if I look at their faces.’
Determined, she leaned in to study the portraits more closely—only to notice something strange.
“…They don’t have pink hair.”
Some didn’t even look remotely similar—different features, different skin tones.
How could people of the same royal family look so different?
“Yes, well, you’ll learn more in history class, but the royal line of Nerendis hasn’t always been continuous through one bloodline.”
“Huh? How can that be?”
“Sometimes a distant relative would inherit the throne instead of a direct child, or even a spouse might ascend to the throne. So the bloodline occasionally changed over the centuries.”
They all shared the name Nerendis, but they came from completely different branches of lineage.
That gave Ellie another clue about why Princess Ellia had been so easily overthrown.
As Madam Laval said, one didn’t even need to be of direct royal descent to claim the throne—so anyone ambitious enough could try to seize it.
‘I have to become a strong king!’
Strong enough that no one would dare to pull her down.
Ellie decided she would only step down after saving the world from destruction.
Until then, even as queen, she couldn’t afford to relax. Someone could always be plotting to take the crown.
She scrutinized the portraits even more intently.
“Which one was the strongest?”
“Ah… I’m not sure myself, but—oh! This one was quite famous! Two hundred years ago, she led a great victory in the war against Woodlock.”
“Hmm!”
Ellie looked up at the portrait Madam Laval pointed out.
It was of a woman with long gray hair, wearing armor and holding a sword. Her sharp gaze met the viewer head-on, both hands resting atop the sword’s hilt.
She certainly looked strong.
‘Alright, then I’ll become a king like her!’
Foreign invasions were bound to happen someday—that wasn’t something Ellie could completely prevent.
But she could prepare for them in advance—by becoming a strong ruler.
Maybe she could even grow so powerful that no one would dare to attack.
Either way, her conclusion was the same: she had to become a strong king.
At the end of the long gallery was the tailoring room.
Normally, the tailor would have come to her, but Ellie wanted to see the palace herself, so she had walked there on her own.
“Thank you for coming all this way, Your Majesty.”
The tailor greeted her at the entrance.
“Mm.”
Ellie’s short reply made the tailor, Mollyn, blink.
‘Huh? That’s not how she usually responds…’
Princess Ellia had adored dresses—and by extension, adored her tailor.
She sometimes summoned designers from outside boutiques, but most of her regular dresses were Mollyn’s work.
Naturally, they shared a close bond built on their mutual love for dresses.
“Mollyn! You’re here? I want to wear the silver gown!”
That’s what their princess should have said.
But Ellie just blinked and stared at her silently.
‘…Ah!’
Mollyn suddenly remembered the rumor that the princess had lost her memory.
She had brushed it off lightly before—thinking, “Well, even if she did, she’s still the princess.”
But now, seeing her in person, Mollyn realized that the princess truly seemed like an entirely different person.
“…Ah, I’m Mollyn, the royal tailor. I’ve been making Your Majesty’s dresses until now, and I’ll continue to do so—including your coronation gown.”
“Okay! I’ll be counting on you!”
“The honor is mine…”
The more they spoke, the clearer it became—she was different.
Their princess never said things like “I’ll be counting on you.”
Mollyn had no idea how to deal with this new, changed princess.
“Um, may I ask why Your Majesty has come all the way here today?”
Normally, the tailor would visit the royal chambers instead.
This was a working space—not a place a princess needed to visit personally.
“I wanted to take a look around.”
“A look around…?”
“Yes! I want to know everything that’s inside the palace!”
Mollyn stiffened immediately.
‘Wait—does this mean she’s auditing the budget?’
Of course, Ellie was nowhere near that savvy. She simply meant it literally—she wanted to see and learn everything as the new ruler.
But meanings are often misunderstood.
