How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 24

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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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024.
“That’s enough! Now, tell me about the major knight orders residing in the Capital!”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The Raven Knight Order serves as the Imperial Guard, loyally protecting Your Majesty the Emperor. The Griffin Order is a monster-hunting specialist order run by my husband, the Second Prince. The Titan Knight Order is dedicated to defending the Capital—particularly the city walls—of the Valentis Empire. And finally, there is the Phantom Knight Order, though that is… a state secret. Should I speak of it?”
“……Ah, no. That will suffice.”
Malicia, flustered, hastily looked about for water.
“Bring water at once! My throat is parched.”
While a lady-in-waiting rushed to fetch it, Tamia spoke with evident pride.
“Feel free to ask more. I’ve truly memorized everything!”
Malicia pressed forward with several more questions, yet each time Tamia answered without hesitation.
Watching Tamia rattle off details about even the two-hundred-ninety-seventh noble house in the Compendium of Imperial Nobility without a single stumble, Malicia could only click her tongue.
‘Claiming she hated studying, that her mind was empty from rolling about battlefields with monsters since childhood!’
Who on earth had spread such ridiculous rumors?
Now Malicia had no pretext left to torment Tamia.
Her hair turned snow-white as she drew her final card.
“Well, Princess. You are managing your weight properly, are you not?”
It was a primitively one-dimensional attack.
“……Weight management?”
“Indeed. Princess, do show me your forearm, won’t you?”
Tamia tilted her head curiously and rolled up her sleeve.
Her exposed forearm was corded with lean muscle honed through actual combat.
“My goodness, why are your arms so thick? It’s good I pointed this out, or it could have been disastrous.”
Such a primitive assault seemed more likely to work on Tamia. Malicia gritted her teeth and pressed the attack.
“Thick forearms? Thick forearms are precisely what anyone who wields a sword must possess.”
“Princess, listen carefully to what I say now. Before you are a sword-wielder, you are a member of the Imperial family. The people of our realm harbor a certain fantasy about the Imperial household.”
“A fantasy?”
“Men of steadfast, powerful bearing, and women of pure, delicate beauty who stir men’s protective instincts! These are the qualities every citizen of the Valentis Empire must embody. Naturally, the Imperial family must set the example first……”
“I believe Your Majesty the Empress is mistaken.”
“I, I beg your pardon?”
Malicia, mid-lecture, started so violently she nearly stumbled.
“Consider it. Even the Emperor himself bears little resemblance to someone of steadfast, powerful bearing, does he not? Although he said he would teach me exercises, he avoids me—which tells me His Majesty dislikes appearing powerful.”
“……!”
“And if His Majesty dislikes it, why should I, merely a Princess, feel bound to follow suit?”
Though it sounded sophistic on the surface, Malicia found no point to refute, and she froze in place, her face draining of all color.
“I would rather eat well and face that day in robust health than collapse from weakness during the wedding ceremony! By the way, it’s nearly lunchtime—would you care to dine with me? I’ve already arranged for meat to be prepared, several varieties!”
“I, I don’t particularly enjoy meat……!”
“How troubling. Your complexion is quite poor—I suspect nutritional imbalance. In any case, you have no more questions for me, yes?”
“……None.”
“Then I shall take my leave to eat. Perhaps we shall meet again!”
As Tamia began to bow but instead awkwardly lifted her skirt to execute a clumsy curtsy, Malicia felt her insides roiling once more.
* * *
“……So you answered every single question the Empress asked?”
Tamia cut eagerly into her steak as she proudly recounted her exploit.
“See? Tamia. You’re not unintelligent. Far from it—you’re quite sharp, actually.”
Leon, who in mere days had taught Tamia the entirety of the Compendium of Imperial Nobility, grinned widely.
In truth, it had not been difficult at all.
Only days before.
He had merely offered a few pointers to Tamia, who had been tearing her hair out over a thick tome.
‘Tamia, you’ve memorized every monster that appears in the Empire, haven’t you?’
‘The Empire? I know all the monsters in the neighboring nations too. There are over a thousand species!’
‘Nobles are similar to monsters. Listen closely.’
Leon opened the first page of the Compendium of Imperial Nobility.
‘House Dupont is an all-rounder. There are monsters—well-balanced in both offense and defense, excelling at neither yet failing at neither. Dupont is similar: wealthy, powerful, and even militarily strong.’
‘House Dupont is an all-rounder……’
Tamia opened her notebook and began scribbling intently.
‘House Glacsia rules the North and has formidable military might. And their temperament is utterly frigid.’
‘Like an ice golem that appears only in the North—all offensive power?’
‘Exactly. And House Dragoon excels especially in the arts. Their eloquence is such that people listen spellbound to their every word.’
‘Like those monsters that sometimes appear at sea and bewitch people with song!’
In this manner, Tamia memorized every noble house and organization in the Empire.
Eventually, even Leon found himself in awe.
‘It took me a whole week to memorize this thick book, so how on earth did I get through it in a single day?’
‘Hmm, perhaps I’m genuinely a genius?!’
Elevated to genius in an instant, Tamia was positively gleeful as she called out toward the kitchen.
“Today I want five plates of steak! Make sure you have plenty ready beforehand!”
“Yes, Your Highness, the Crown Princess!”
A resonant reply echoed from the kitchen.
Now there was nothing left to do but wait for the wedding without a care in the world.
* * *
At last, the wedding day had arrived.
As if to bless the couple’s future, the weather was nothing short of perfect.
“The Crown Princess still hasn’t arrived?”
Leon, who had been pacing the corridor since earlier, peeked into the bridal preparation room once more, his impatience showing.
“Just a moment longer, if you please. This is the twenty-fifth time you’ve asked.”
“Ah, understood.”
Leon clenched his fists tightly and stepped back, resuming his restless pacing.
‘What kind of Wedding Dress could she possibly be wearing that she’s kept it secret even from me?’
He hadn’t expected Tamia to spend the entire twenty thousand Der allocated for the wedding budget on the Wedding Dress and accessories alone.
‘But to embezzle the whole amount……!’
For Leon, who always tried to remain composed about everything Tamia did, this was a shockingly audacious decision.
“My, Your Highness! You look absolutely radiant!”
From within came a stream of gasps of admiration directed at Tamia. Yet Leon remained skeptical even of that.
‘What if they’re just laying groundwork by calling her beautiful, and then if I’m disappointed, they try to make me look like the unreasonable one?’
“There, the preparations are complete. The Crown Princess shall make her entrance!”
The curtain swung wide open, and Tamia finally revealed herself.
“Husband, what do you think? Isn’t the dress beautiful?”
The Wedding Dress was dazzlingly white. Leon reflexively narrowed his eyes, then gradually regained his vision.
As he took in the garment Tamia wore, he let out a gasp that bordered on astonishment.
“Tamia, what on earth……!”
The sumptuous Wedding Dress that Tamia wore was densely embedded with something that shone even brighter than diamonds.
Toward the hem of the dress, the stones grew progressively larger, and a radiance of countless hues emanated from the Gems themselves.
Adorned in the Wedding Dress, Tamia shone as though she were a goddess of light itself.
“……Truly, you are beautiful.”
“I knew Your Highness would say something like that!”
The ladies-in-waiting who had assisted with Tamia’s attire made a fuss of delight.
“I didn’t even know such Gems existed.”
“I saw them for the first time today too! How can they possibly be so lovely!”
Leon examined the Wedding Dress carefully. It seemed that even twenty thousand Der in full wouldn’t be enough to purchase a single such garment.
Looking more closely, he noticed that the same Gems adorned the Necklace, Earrings, and Tiara as well.
“Tamia, what exactly are these Gems?”

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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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