How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 2

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

002.
“Hehehehe, what a pretty lady! If you married me, I’d shower you with affection. Being my third wife wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
A bloated, washed-up mercenary approached her with a greasy grin.
Crash—
“Aaaargh!”
Tamia grabbed a wine glass beside her and brought it down squarely on the mercenary’s head.
“Third wife? What in the world is wrong with your brain?”
She’d even gone so far as to visit a Matchmaking Agency, but……
“If you wish to find a suitable husband, you must first prepare a list detailing your family background, assets, occupation, and so forth. As a special consideration, we can reduce the brokerage fee to three hundred derms…….”
Tamia trudged out of there with her head bowed, mouth open as if to scream in the middle of the street—but she held it in, venting her frustration silently instead.
‘Why is the Matchmaking Agency more expensive than the Mercenary Guild?!’
Was there truly no way to find a husband without spending a fortune?
As she’d wandered hither and thither searching for a suitable man, the days had slipped away.
The tournament was already tomorrow. If things continued like this, she wouldn’t find a husband and would lose the prize money.
That was when it happened.
As Tamia rolled about in her anxiety, a massive signboard caught her eye.
[Griffin Order Headquarters]
* * *
“Ahhhhh, finally done for today…….”
“Ugh, I wish the sun wouldn’t come up tomorrow. No training.”
“Wake up. His Highness would work us to death even if a hundred suns rose.”
“Ahhhhhhhhh…….”
Sweat-drenched knights lay scattered across the Training Grounds floor.
This was the headquarters of the Griffin Order, heralded as the Empire’s mightiest force.
The Griffin Order was the Empire’s greatest knight order, specializing in combat against Magical Beasts.
When the number of Magical Beasts had begun to surge uncontrollably, the Second Prince established the order specifically to combat them, accepting only those of exceptional skill as members.
A peerless knight order revered by all Imperial citizens for its reputation alone—yet these knights harbored one unspoken hardship.
“Why isn’t everyone heading home? Do you want more training?”
“No! Please, we want to go home!”
Their direct superior was a mad training fanatic who had mastered the art of driving soldiers to the brink.
Even though quitting time had long passed, he kept pushing the members harder. Leon’s aide and the Griffin Order’s vice-commander, Kalen Rodwell, pressed his fingers to his forehead.
His Highness was somewhat…… broken.
“Does Your Highness have no intention of marrying?”
“Marriage? Where did that come from?”
“If Your Highness were to start a family, I suspect you would quickly understand the members’ desire to return home promptly.”
“Marriage, hmm…….”
Leon stroked his chin with thumb and forefinger, sinking into brief contemplation.
His golden hair—the symbol of the Imperial house—caught the setting sun and gleamed with a soft radiance.
His eyes burned a vivid crimson. Coupled with his lean, muscular frame unmarked by any excess, it testified plainly to the grueling intensity of his training regimen.
“You see, Kalen,”
Leon answered with a faint smile, his deliberation concluded.
“I have no interest in a woman who cannot exchange five or more blows with me using a sword.”
“F, five exchanges?!”
Kalen’s eyes widened in shock.
“If that’s your criterion for a bride, Your Highness couldn’t marry a man either!”
“Well, that works out fine. I wasn’t thinking about marriage anyway.”
The members, whose eyes had gleamed with hope that their commander might actually marry, fell silent once more.
It was at that very moment.
Bang—
With a deafening crash that shook the earth itself, the front gate of the Training Grounds exploded inward.
“What?!”
“What on earth——?”
The members cried out in confusion as dust began to settle.
Through the haze, the silhouette of the intruder gradually became clear.
“……You. Come here.”
“W, who are you? Outsiders aren’t allowed in here!”
“Bring out whoever is strongest here! Right now!”
It was Tamia, her eyes wild with the desperation to find a husband.
“……The strongest person?”
Leon’s gaze drifted toward the mysterious visitor.
She was a woman he’d never seen before. Her violet hair was gathered high and bound in a single knot, and on her fist-sized pale face, large eyes, nose, and mouth were arranged in pleasing harmony.
The slightly raised corners of her eyes gave her the look of a sharp-tempered cat.
But what drew the eye most of all was something else entirely.
‘Her stance isn’t half-bad.’
It was more composed than that of the Griffin Order members writhing on the ground around her.
The sword hanging at her waist was clearly no ordinary blade.
Leon found himself intrigued and raised one hand in greeting.
“Were you looking for me?”
“Are you the strongest person here?”
The woman who’d burst into the Training Grounds—Tamia—raked her eyes over Leon from head to toe.
“Hmm, you look a bit young to be the strongest, but then again, skill doesn’t always match age. Come on, draw your sword already!”
“…What?”
“Forgive me, but do you know who this person is?”
Kalen Rodwell quickly stepped between Leon and Tamia, blocking her path.
“How would I know? I’m seeing her for the first time today.”
“This man is the Empire’s—!”
“That’s enough, Kalen.”
Leon raised a hand gently to stop him.
“It seems she’s looking for a sparring partner. Who knows? Perhaps this woman might last five exchanges or more with me.”
At his dismissive remark, Tamia’s voice rose sharply.
“Five exchanges? Is there really someone so weak they can’t even manage five with a scrawny thing like you? Is the Griffin Order really that pitiful?”
“Scrawny—! Please, just close that mouth of yours!”
Kalen Rodwell, caught in the middle, felt his head spinning.
As if appearing suddenly in the Training Grounds weren’t enough, she was hurling remarks that bordered on treason against the royal family!
Yet a smile played across Leon’s face.
“So you’re confident you can match me for five exchanges or more?”
“Five exchanges would be disappointing.”
Tamia grinned widely and drew her sword slowly from its sheath.
“Come at me with everything you’ve got.”
Now, look at this.
‘She dares provoke me?’
Leon’s lips twisted into a smile.
Since claiming the title of youngest Sword Master, he had never lost a single match.
Even Kalen Rodwell, the second-strongest in the Griffin Order after Leon, feared crossing swords with him.
And now? She was telling him to come at her with his best?
“I don’t go easy on people just because they’re strangers.”
Leon leveled his blade at Tamia with its edge gleaming pale blue.
“Y-you’re actually going to fight that woman?”
“Kalen, just keep the count properly.”
“I hate people who claim they’re going easy when they have no grounds for it. Here I come!”
With a sharp laugh, Tamia rushed at Leon at lightning speed.
With the Griffin Order members gathered in a circle around them, the two swords clashed.
Clang—
‘Ugh…!’
Leon barely stifled a gasp, forcing back the cry that had nearly escaped his lips.
‘What… what kind of strength is this…!’
It was the most overwhelming power he’d ever encountered in any match before.
With nothing but their blades meeting, Leon’s body was being pushed backward helplessly.
He quickly withdrew his sword and retreated, searching for an opening in her guard.
But no matter where he struck, she deflected his blade with ease.
She even countered his attacks in return, driving him into a corner.
Leon’s body swayed unsteadily as he struggled to maintain his footing.
‘I’m the captain of the Griffin Order, the Empire’s finest—and she matches my strength?’
Leon had expected her blade to be sweeping the ground within two exchanges, but her overwhelming skill left him genuinely shaken.
“Why do you keep getting distracted? Do I really seem that easy?”
Sensing his wavering concentration, Tamia pressed her attack with even fiercer intensity.
‘At this rate, I’m going to lose…!’
Finally, Leon cast aside his pride and resorted to his final measure.
He sheathed his blade in a pale blue glow of Sword Qi and unleashed it with all his remaining strength.
“Haa—!”
But Tamia was ready—she parried with Sword Qi far more dense than his own.
Clang!
The tremendous impact shattered Leon’s stance completely.
“Ugh…!”
In that instant, his vision flared white, and he felt the icy kiss of her blade against his throat.
“…I’ve lost.”
“Pff. How anticlimactic.”
Tamia withdrew her sword with an exasperated sigh.
“Wooooah!”
“Five exchanges! And she beat His Highness!”
“Your Highness, you’re finally getting married!”
The Griffin Order members surrounding them erupted in unison, their shouts overlapping in a frenzy of celebration.
Some clasped each other in their arms, tears of joy streaming down their faces.
“What are you talking about? Marriage?”
Tamia’s eyes widened as she turned to Leon, bewildered by the commotion.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not marrying anyone.”
“You have to!”
“…What did you just say?”
“Marry me.”
Standing before the entire Griffin Order, Leon received a marriage proposal so sudden his face crumpled like crumpled parchment.

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