How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 13

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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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013.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating the sharp definition of his muscular frame with almost indecent clarity.
“Wow, Leon! You have such magnificent pectoral muscles?”
Tamia let out an admiring exclamation and, before she knew it, slapped Leon’s chest playfully.
A literal slap.
But what was merely a playful tap from Tamia’s perspective landed as a direct hit on Leon.
“Ugh…!”
“Oh, are you all right?”
Leon stumbled backward with a loud grunt, crashing into the corner of the room.
Tamia started in alarm and rushed to his side, her father’s stern warning echoing in her ears: ‘You possess extraordinary strength; you must always exercise caution.’
“Are you hurt? I’m sorry, I couldn’t control my strength…!”
It was at that moment—Leon, bracing himself against the floor, seized Tamia’s arm and yanked her toward him with all his might.
Caught off guard and losing her balance, Tamia tumbled directly into his embrace.
“Leon? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?!”
“Stay like this. Don’t move.”
There was an irresistible force in Leon’s voice.
Flustered, Tamia could only blink rapidly, too startled even to pull away from his grip.
Then it came.
“Your Highness, are you all right? May we enter?”
A servant’s voice called out from beyond the door, clearly alarmed.
The Bridal Chamber door swung wide open.
The servants who had been waiting anxiously for the two to awaken came pouring inside.
“We heard a loud noise and grew concerned… Oh!”
The servants’ faces flushed as they caught sight of something within the room.
Leon stood leaning against the decorative cabinet, his robe half-open, his bare chest marked with vivid red handprints.
And above him…
“S-sorry, so sorry! Please, continue what you were doing!”
Tamia was straddling Leon, her expression like a cat caught in the act of mischief!
‘Close the door right now!’
‘Who let them in without permission?’
With a sharp bang, the door slammed shut.
Only after hearing the servants’ footsteps fade did Leon release Tamia’s hand and collapse sideways onto the bed.
‘That was close… if they’d noticed the chains were loose… ugh.’
A groan escaped him. It seemed he would need a diagnosis for fractures before any sleeping draught could be prescribed.
* * *
“The bones are not fractured, but… ahem, you must refrain from vigorous movement.”
The Royal Physician shook his head as he surveyed the various bruises covering Leon’s body.
“I understand that you are newlyweds, but if your activities are this intense, it poses a problem…”
“That’s enough.”
Leon cut him off with a cool expression.
“If there’s no fracture, that’s all that matters. Prescribe Medicinal Ointment and a sleep-promoting tea, and have it brought to me.”
“A sleep-promoting tea, you say…? Ah!”
The Royal Physician was a man well-versed in rumor. Word of the Crown Princess’s extraordinary energy had already spread throughout the Imperial Palace.
‘They say she lifted the Emperor himself and carried him to safety. And she’s supposed to have shattered a boulder with a single punch?’
There was even a rumor that upon waking this very morning, she’d begun a second round with tremendous noise and vigor!
‘His Highness wants to ensure the Crown Princess takes the medication so he can secure at least a minimum amount of sleep.’
The Royal Physician nodded to himself, his expression growing resolute.
“Rest assured, I shall prepare a draught that brings about very deep slumber!”
Though something seemed to have gone rather awry in the interpretation, Leon had no time to dwell on it. He sent the physician away and turned to the attendant standing nearby.
“Where is the Crown Princess?”
“The Crown Princess has already finished her preparations and is waiting for you, tapping her feet impatiently.”
Tamia’s first official visit as Crown Princess was to the Griffin Squadron Training Grounds.
‘Of course, that’s perfectly in character for Tamia.’
Leon smiled faintly, gently touching his sore ribs.
“Right. I’ll be heading out shortly.”
* * *
Meanwhile, at the Griffin Squadron Training Grounds.
Every Griffin Squadron member’s face was bright with joy. Good news had already begun to spread.
“Hooray! Our commander has finally gotten married!”
“Maybe now he’ll come to work less, and he’ll work us less too?”
“Ah, I wish that were the case.”
The squadron members gathered in small clusters, abandoning any thought of training and fell into gossip instead.
“So he married that young lady who broke into the training grounds back then, didn’t he?”
“That’s what I heard. And apparently they competed in the Couple’s Love-Protection Monster Hunting tournament right after and took first place.”
“Isn’t that tournament mostly for ordinary people? That’s cheating, plain and simple.”
They never imagined the two had married on impulse for the prize money, and instead spun a web of wild speculation.
Meanwhile, Kallen, standing amid the chattering members, looked thoroughly conflicted.
‘He wouldn’t even tolerate brushing hands with a woman, so how did he decide to marry?’
Impossible scenes flashed through his mind in dizzying succession.
Like Leon recoiling in alarm and pushing Tamia away, her stumbling backward and crashing into a decorative cabinet with a loud bang…….
‘Whatever the circumstances, His Highness needs to maintain his marriage properly…….’
Kallen, who understood well Leon’s standing in the imperial family, was gnawing at his lip anxiously when—
The training grounds’ main gate swung wide open.
It was Leon, wearing the most exhausted expression the Griffin Squadron had ever seen on him.
“Your, Your Highness?”
“Did you perhaps sweep through an entire monster horde last night? Your face looks…….”
‘My fears were justified after all!’
Kallen tore at his hair in despair.
His Highness had spent his first night alone with the Crown Princess and had stayed up all night, unable to endure it!
“……Your Highness, you’ve arrived.”
“Why have you abandoned your honeymoon bliss and come to the training grounds?!”
“The Crown Princess will be upset. Please return to the Imperial Palace at once! We’ll train among ourselves.”
The squadron members, unaware of Leon’s true situation, began clamoring over each other.
“The Crown Princess wanted to see the Griffin Squadron training in person.”
“……Pardon?”
Before the dumbfounded members, Tamia appeared, dressed in simple training clothes.
“Long time no see, everyone.”
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation, a broad smile spreading across her face.
“Ah, welcome!”
“I missed you all, so I pestered Leon until he agreed to bring me here. Now then, roll up your sleeves, all of you!”
Though they didn’t understand the purpose of the command, the squadron members obediently rolled up their sleeves.
“……Is that really all the muscle you have on your forearms?”
As Tamia’s gaze swept across the members’ arms, a flicker of disappointment crossed her eyes.
“What’s the matter?”
“Leon, it seems the squadron’s training volume is severely inadequate. Their forearms are barely half the thickness of yours.”
“……!”
The members swallowed hard, stunned by Tamia’s bombshell pronouncement.
The Crown Princess, arriving unannounced, was already criticizing their training regimen?!
‘……This woman is a far more formidable opponent than Leon!’
“This won’t do. Come forward one at a time. I’ll train you myself.”
“You’ll train us personally, Crown Princess? Your Highness, no offense, but we didn’t gather here to engage in child’s play.”
One squadron member who hadn’t witnessed the fierce sparring match between Tamia and Leon days earlier stepped forward.
His name was Fenril, a newly recruited member still burning with enthusiasm.
Leon regarded him with an expression of bewilderment, as if asking why he was digging his own grave, while Tamia stared intently at his thin forearms and laughed heartily.
“Haha! You’re confident, are you? Fine—whoever can go five exchanges or more against me will get a full squadron vacation in the name of the Crown Princess. How’s that?”
As Tamia pointed a wooden practice sword at the members, every eye in the Griffin Squadron widened.
“You mean, a full vacation for all of us?”
“We won’t miss this opportunity!”
Led by Fenril, they rushed at Tamia with fierce determination.
Ten minutes later.
The members, who had charged at her with the ferocity of starving wolves, now lay sprawled across the ground like limp vegetables that had been boiled to exhaustion.

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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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