A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 9

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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09.
The moment casual conversation resumed, the atmosphere swiftly settled into ease.
Leonard, his shamelessness returning in full force, flashed a smile and spoke.
“Princess, what do you intend to craft with the mana stone I gifted you? If you wish, I could recommend a skilled Mage.”
Ah, he’s referring to Delignon’s Tear. Now that I think about it, I’ve received this cheat item but haven’t bothered using it.
“That won’t be necessary. I know quite a few capable people myself.”
I refused outright, and while mentally rewriting the original plot, I recalled my slaves—or rather, the Mages who had become my friends.
Mages typically possessed the disposition of researchers, and they were the sort of race that grew fond of you if you simply handed them research funds.
I had generously loaned them money, then asked for a modest—well, three-hundred-percent—interest rate in return, and thus befriended them.
“That mana stone is of high grade, making it difficult to cut. Moreover, since it carries dark attributes, there would be considerable risk involved.”
The Sixth Prince continued, his expression betraying surprise that I would refuse.
“All the more reason I cannot entrust it to you. I do know a few… well, let’s call them Mages I’m acquainted with, so it’s perfectly fine.”
“You know a Mage skilled in dark attributes?”
“I’ve come to know one through various circumstances.”
“Mages are extraordinarily rare in Sincester. May I ask how you came to know them?”
“No. I’m afraid not.”
I couldn’t very well tell him I learned of them by destroying the original plot.
I refused once more, but realizing I’d been rather impolite, I added an explanation.
“They’re people I… well, friends I hold dear.”
“I see.”
“You’re not upset that I’ve declined, are you?”
“How could I be?”
Though he certainly seemed to be.
His face wore a smile, yet the atmosphere had already grown slightly subdued.
Getting his feelings hurt over two refusals—how petty.
I added a new entry to my mental handbook of handsome men: Leonard was directionally challenged, somewhat endearing, but remarkably narrow-minded.
Still, I couldn’t allow the mood to remain dampened while serving as Princess.
I clapped my hands together with a bright laugh.
“By the way, Sixth Prince, they say you’re a legendary sword prodigy in Blake. Is that true?”
“…It’s hardly an exceptional talent.”
“But the rumors have reached all the way to Sincester! That must make you truly remarkable, doesn’t it?”
“…”
At my words, he simply kept sipping his tea. His gaze fixed somewhere beyond my shoulder into the shrubbery—clearly he was embarrassed.
“I’ve also heard you’re called a Mage of Flame, skilled in both sword and magic alike. That’s quite impressive. Could you show me your magic sometime?”
Since this was my second compliment, I expected him to grow even more flustered.
Yet to my surprise, at my next words, Leonard’s face went rigid. As he set his teacup down on the table, the air turned cold once more.
“I do not use magic carelessly.”
“…”
Mages are arrogant creatures, always eager to flaunt their abilities anywhere and everywhere.
I’d thought a little provocation would make him boast and eagerly display his magic, but what was this reaction?
Rather than feeling wronged, I was curious about why he had suddenly turned serious. Perhaps I had made a mistake.
We were simply maintaining silence when it happened.
I could see a man—supposedly his aide—approaching from a distance.
All the men of Blake seemed to possess broad chests and sculpted faces, and this one certainly qualified for my handsome man dictionary.
“Your Highness, I have an urgent matter to report.”
“Eric. Can you not see that I am in conversation with the Princess?”
“It’s quite all right, Sixth Prince. Your aide appears to be in a hurry.”
I had learned long ago that one must never allow shadows to fall across the faces of handsome men. Being a considerate person, I rose quietly from my seat.
Leonard immediately stood as well.
“Princess, I fear this would be discourteous.”
“Then perhaps later I could meet with this Eric fellow—a two-against-one arrangement….”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind.”
As Abigail’s piercing gaze shot toward me, I snapped open my fan with a flourish.
Right. As a princess, I ought to maintain some dignity at a birthday celebration.
“Then I shall see you again later.”
During tea time, the Sixth Prince and his aide Eric hastily excused themselves, and Abigail took their place.
Abigail began her elegant and refined lecture, pleading with me once again to cure myself of my habit of devouring men with my eyes.
“But Abigail, of the twenty gentlemen I danced with yesterday, eighteen of them looked positively aggrieved.”
“Aggrieved? Whatever do you mean by that?”
“Well, they all had faces like they wanted to cry. My crying face, if you will.”
“Then what expression did the remaining two have?”
“A smiling face. My smiling face.”
I heaved a deep sigh before Abigail’s shocked expression and shook my head.
“Two out of twenty… a ten percent probability of discovering a handsome man mathematically speaking. I wonder if I could find beautiful men even if I traveled the world.”
That was when it happened.
A piece of paper fell into my lowered line of sight.
“Oh my, it seems that gentleman Eric dropped this.”
Just as a smile bloomed on my face at the thought of returning it and having another chance to meet him, Abigail’s eyes widened and she extended both hands.
“Please give it to me. I shall have a servant return it to them.”
“Abigail, this appears to be an important document. Wouldn’t it be better if I kept it safe and returned it myself? Look here—it’s bound with high-quality cord.”
The moment my finger brushed the cord, it made a sharp crackling sound. Simultaneously, I felt a strong static shock and dropped the paper.
“What, what is this?”
A small red magic circle appeared and disappeared on the dried paper.
“Your Highness, could this be magic?”
Abigail stared at me in alarm.
Fortunately, I had seen that magic circle before.
It was a protective spell to prevent opening and a tracking spell that recorded who had touched it.
Such magic is only placed on confidential documents. Why was this man Eric carrying classified documents?
Since it seemed only Abigail and I had witnessed this phenomenon, I quickly silenced her.
“Abigail, don’t breathe a word of this to anyone. I think I need to tell my brother about it.”
I headed straight for Erdan’s office.
But Erdan was in the midst of a Nobility Council meeting, and Aurora was occupied receiving dignitaries from various nations who wished to see the Saint.
After sending word that I’d come to them once they were free, I returned to my study and decided to break the enchantment on the paper, staring at it so intently I thought my eyes might bore through it.
Of course, I could roughly guess that this paper contained important Blake documents.
But first, it was the person who dropped it who was at fault. Second, they dared attack me and piqued my curiosity. Third, if this truly was an important document, wouldn’t it be better to know its contents and record them somewhere rather than meet a mysterious death while possessing it…?
Wasn’t it more prudent to see what it said and document it?
I nodded to myself, convinced my reasoning was flawless, then stared at the unyielding paper and slipped on my magic crystal bracelet before contacting Slave 1.
“Sara, come to my study.”
* * *
In the original work, Sara appears as an exceptionally talented mage of the “darkness” attribute.
When I was ten years old, Sara was a fifteen-year-old student at Elisium Magic Academy.
She was also remarkably skilled at deceiving and swindling others.
I valued her temperament far more than her magical abilities and provided her with unconditional support under an alias.
Later, when Sara attempted to swindle me, I hired dozens of lawyers and turned the tables on her, making her my slave—or rather, my friend.
Therefore, Sara was obligated to comply with my requests 99.9% of the time.
The 0.1% exception applied only to things Sara couldn’t do.
So far, no such magic existed.
An hour later, a woman with tangerine-colored hair cut into a careless bob suddenly materialized in my study from thin air.
“You called for me, Princess?”
“Sara, how did it take you an hour to arrive? You could get here in less than a minute with teleportation.”
I asked petulantly, and Sara replied with indifference.
“I haven’t bathed in ten days because I was researching magic. But if I came in such a filthy state, you’d hate it, wouldn’t you, Princess?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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