How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 21

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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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021.
It was clearly a rebuke, but Tamia merely laughed and tapped her feet against the floor.
“You mean I shouldn’t walk like an elephant, yes? Understood!”
“Come now, assist the Crown Princess, won’t you.”
As she issued the order to the attendants standing nearby, they retrieved books and began stacking them one by one atop Tamia’s head.
One, two, three… ten volumes.
Since the books were quite thick, balancing ten of them required Tamia to hold her arms pressed firmly upward to steady the stack.
Malisia smiled—faintly, subtly.
“Now, walk forward just like that.”
Gripping the books firmly, Tamia took her first step.
Most noble daughters would have recognized the books as punishment the moment they heard the instruction, and would have begged Malisia for mercy.
But Tamia’s gait was spirited beyond measure.
‘She’s walking like that with ten volumes on her head?’
Before Malisia could even register her surprise, Tamia had already reached the far end of the corridor and bounded back, nearly running.
“Hmm, Your Majesty. This doesn’t seem like much of a trial, does it?”
“Then—then we’ll add five more volumes!”
The attendants dragged a chair beside Tamia and stacked five additional books on her head.
Now the height of the stack exceeded Tamia’s arm reach, making it impossible to support the books with her hands.
Yet she managed to balance herself with remarkable poise, walking straight ahead.
Her movements were perfectly controlled, and all fifteen volumes sat motionless upon her head.
“Your Majesty, you said that’s fifteen volumes, yes? I think I could manage another fifteen or so on top of these.”
“Fetch more books at once!”
Malisia’s face flushed crimson as she snapped out the order, her voice sharp with frustration, and the attendants hurried to bring more volumes.
Stacking another fifteen books on the swaying tower above was grueling work. The attendants, standing on a chair and perspiring heavily, managed to arrange a total of thirty volumes on Tamia’s head.
“Kyaaaaah!”
The book slipped from the attendant’s hand as she placed the thirtieth volume. The precarious tower swayed and then collapsed in a thunderous cascade.
“This won’t do—let me stack them myself and place them on my head.”
Growing impatient with standing idle, Tamia stepped forward and began arranging the books neatly on the floor herself.
Once she’d stacked them to a height nearly matching her own, she hoisted the entire pile effortlessly onto her head.
“……!”
The books settled perfectly atop her head without so much as a tremor.
“So I simply walk to the far end and back, yes?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Releasing her grip, Tamia began to walk forward.
Though her pace was slightly faster than an ordinary person’s, not a single book shifted on her head.
Walking with complete stability to the far end of the corridor and back, Tamia tilted her head slightly downward. The books descended smoothly, settling into two neat columns of fifteen volumes each.
“I’m afraid, Your Majesty, this isn’t proving to be much of a training for me.”
Tamia put on a long face. But the one truly wanting to cry was Malisia.
‘How in the world is this girl capable of such a thing!’
The way she balanced so perfectly suggested that the rumors about dancing atop a moving beast were no exaggeration at all.
Gritting her teeth, Malisia drew forth her next strategy.
“Well then, don’t walk like an elephant. Walk lightly, imagining that thirty volumes are always stacked upon your head.”
“Wow, so I’ve passed this training, then?!”
“Don’t celebrate just yet—we’re moving directly to the next lesson.”
“What’s the next lesson?!”
“I’ll be teaching you the accomplishments befitting a Crown Princess. As a member of the Imperial Household, you naturally must know all about the principal Noble Houses and their characteristics, yes?”
“……The principal Noble Houses?”
“The empire has the Three Great Ducal Families, among roughly three hundred Noble Houses in total. You must memorize them all in order.”
“Three hundred……I can do that?”
For the first time since entering the Imperial Palace, Tamia’s face went ashen. The sight of it sent a surge of energy through Malisia.
“And that’s merely the beginning—you must also master the Inner Palace Administration, social management, the flow of state finances, and political currents besides.”
“……That’s quite a lot……”
“Not to worry, I’ll teach you perfectly. Why don’t we move to the next room?”
Malisia led Tamia into a nearby chamber and gestured to the attendants.
They retrieved all the books Tamia had balanced on her head and spread them across a desk.
“First, we’ll start with reading through all of these books.”
Tamia’s complexion turned deathly pale.
“Read all of…these?”
“You’re a member of the Imperial Household now, after all. These basic accomplishments are naturally expected of you. Once you’ve finished reading, you may return to the Crown Prince Palace.”
Malisia smiled sweetly, then turned and left the room without hesitation.
It felt like a thousand years of congestion had suddenly cleared.
* * *
‘Why hasn’t Tamia come back yet?’
When Tamia failed to return from the Empress Palace even as night fell, Leon grew anxious and questioned an attendant.
“Where is the Crown Princess?”
“Yes, sir. We believe she hasn’t returned from the Empress Palace yet.”
“…Still?”
A surge of emotion welled up in Leon’s chest, and he bolted from the Crown Prince Palace toward the Empress Palace without another word.
‘There has to be a limit to this. Keeping her there at this hour!’
The Empress Palace servants scattered in confusion the moment Leon appeared.
“Where is the Crown Princess?”
“Y-yes, Your Highness is still studying!”
“Take me to her at once.”
Faced with Leon’s sharp, cutting presence, the servants didn’t dare protest and led him to Tamia’s location.
“S-she is here, but…”
“I’m going in.”
Leon opened the door without hesitation. Tamia, who had been dozing, jolted awake and scrambled to her feet.
“L-Leon?”
“What is all this?”
The Imperial Nobility Compendium, the Imperial Revenue and Expenditure Ledger, Court Diplomatic Rhetoric, and more—
Nearly thirty thick volumes lay scattered across the desk in disarray.
‘She must have been pressing her to build up knowledge befitting a Crown Princess.’
He grasped the situation instantly.
“Leon, I think I might be stupid.”
Tamia’s face was ashen, and she burst into tears, throwing herself into Leon’s arms.
The book spread across the desk had been read only about a third of the way through.
“No matter how much I read, I can’t understand it. If I asked our old family tutor—the one who used to visit our house sometimes—she’d explain it well, but trying to read from books like this without help is too hard, too exhausting…”
Tamia rambled on from within Leon’s embrace.
“These things can be studied gradually. Let’s go back to the Crown Prince Palace now.”
Leon was about to lift Tamia to her feet when—
“We cannot leave like this.”
Malisia appeared, blocking their path.
“Her education is not yet complete. She must properly read at least one volume through.”
“Your Majesty, this marriage came about suddenly. Please do not force an excessive amount of knowledge into her in such a short time.”
“The Imperial Household has its dignity. I cannot present an ignorant noblewoman as the Crown Princess before the people.”
Leon and Malisia faced each other in a tense standoff.
“…If that is the case, then teach only the most fundamental matters.”
“The Nobility Compendium, budget management, court diplomacy—these are all exceedingly basic, aren’t they?”
Malisia opened one of the books stacked on the desk. It was a volume concerning Imperial finances.
She held it out to Tamia.
“Look here, Crown Princess. Can you read this ledger and understand the Imperial Household’s financial flow from last year?”
‘How many zeros are there, exactly?!’
Though her vision swam, Tamia resisted the urge to shut her eyes tight and instead, driven by stubbornness, opened her eyes even wider.
‘If I open my eyes wide enough, maybe something will come into focus? …Wait?’
Something actually did come into focus.
“Your Majesty, something seems off here?”
“Hmm, what seems wrong?”
“It looks like it should say 100,000 Der here, not 1,000,000 Der.”
Malisia’s eyes widened in shock. She snatched the book from Tamia’s hands and examined the section she had pointed to.

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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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