How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 33

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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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033.
The journey back to the Capital after the hunt.
The party that had set out leisurely, as though embarking on a pleasant outing, quickened their pace on the return journey.
Leon had vanished abruptly, and they needed to return to tackle the mounting backlog of work.
The group bought a new Sleeping Bag at a village they passed through.
As the sun set and everyone filed into the barracks to sleep.
“Leon.”
Tamia, lying in her Sleeping Bag, called out to him.
“Mm?”
“Thank you for coming.”
Though he was staring at the ceiling, Leon could hear the sincerity in Tamia’s voice.
“I wanted to show you how well I can hunt jellyfish Monsters. I was incredible, wasn’t I?”
“…Who in the world could possibly defeat our Tamia?”
Leon didn’t immediately notice that he had placed “our” before Tamia’s name.
“And I’m sorry I got you hurt. Um….”
Tamia paused for a moment before continuing.
“I’ll give you a bonus—no, ten times the usual bonus.”
“I’m truly grateful.”
That Tamia, so fixated on repaying her debts, and especially having learned only days ago how terrifying interest could be, would say such a thing.
‘Could there be a more genuine expression of that?’
He found himself smiling. Imagining Tamia wrestling between the demands of debt and thoughts of Leon, her head spinning with calculations, he found it endearing.
“When we get to the Capital, help me sell the Monster Cores… please… zzzz.”
Once again, Tamia fell asleep almost immediately.
Leon wriggled out of his Sleeping Bag and carefully arranged Tamia’s, then returned to his own.
* * *
A small stone rested in Dupont’s hand.
He stood before the carefully stacked stone tower he had built, hesitating for a long while, before finally placing the stone in his grip atop the tower.
……
The final stone balanced precariously for a moment, then the entire structure twisted and came crashing down in a catastrophic collapse.
“…Damn it!”
Dupont erupted in fury, stamping and smashing the pile of stones to pieces.
The process of stacking had been tedious and grueling. Yet all that painstaking effort collapsed so devastatingly.
“Why can’t anything ever work out the first time! Why!!”
All the anger that had been building inside came pouring out.
He had believed it would be simple to infiltrate Arderin Estate in Arderin’s absence.
But his calculation had been a complete miscalculation.
‘He apparently threw some Jerky, and the Monsters immediately broke free from control and came running like a pack of dogs toward the food,’ his informant had reported.
Jerky, of all things.
It was absurd, infuriating. Had the “Monster Slayer” Arderin devoted himself to death just to find food suited to the Monsters’ palates?
That was not the only problem.
‘And the gardener I had secured by threatening his grandson’s safety—he’s vanished.’
As a result, all the Bellar Flowers he had accumulated disappeared entirely. The damage was beyond his ability to estimate.
‘Where am I supposed to begin rebuilding?’
As he stood overwhelmed before the scattered rubble of stones, Chris appeared.
“Father! Oh my, the stone tower has collapsed. Shall I rebuild it for you?”
“…What?”
“I’m quite skilled at building stone towers, you know.”
His only son, utterly lacking in perception, cheerfully began reconstructing the tower.
Oblivious to his father’s bewildered expression.
“First, you must stack large, flat stones on the foundation. That way, the base becomes sturdy. Ah, just like this stone.”
Chris picked up a particularly large and flat stone.
“A stone like this becomes the foundation of the tower. You must never overlook it.”
“Wait.”
Dupont took the stone from Chris’s hands.
“…Father?”
Chris looked at Dupont with a dissatisfied expression, caught off-guard by the sudden confiscation.
Dupont’s gaze did not leave the stone. Yet his thoughts had traveled to an entirely different place.
‘The stone that becomes the foundation of the tower, the one you must never overlook….’
Yes.
The foundation was already laid.
The Earl of Arderin was already ensnared in a trap of debt he could never repay, even in death.
‘No matter how gifted my daughter is, that money won’t come from her.’
In the end, the Earl of Arderin would struggle to repay the debt and collapse into ruin.
“You’ve done very well, Chris.”
“Pardon? Oh, yes!”
Chris’s mood brightened considerably at the unexpected praise.
Just then, Dupont’s informant approached them.
“I have something to report.”
“Go ahead.”
The sharp-eyed informant, seeing Chris at Dupont’s side, leaned in and whispered into the Duke’s ear.
He knew full well that Chris would fly into a fury at the mere mention of Tamia’s name.
“We’ve discovered where the Crown Princess Consort and a small contingent of the Griffin Squad are headed. They’ve gone to hunt jellyfish monsters, by all accounts.”
“……Is that so?”
Dupont grasped their true intent at once.
‘They’ve gone out to make money.’
Just recently, the Duchess of Dupont had mentioned that Tamia’s wedding dress was all the rage in high society.
‘Planning to sell a stockpile of Monster Cores and pocket the earnings?’
Unfortunately for Tamia, Dupont had no intention of letting her designs come to fruition.
He issued an order to his informant.
“Take this information exactly as it is to the Magic Tower and spread it. Add nothing, omit nothing.”
“Understood, sir.”
Dupont watched the informant disappear, a satisfied smile playing at his lips.
* * *
Dominique, Master of the Magic Tower, was a man of principle and clarity.
He believed that if the world operated according to rules alone, primitive chaos and unnecessary crime would never occur.
But unfortunately, the world was not so orderly.
Knock, knock.
“Dominique, it’s time for your midday meal.”
A junior Tower Member rapped on the laboratory door.
He pressed his fingers to the corners of his eyes and removed his spectacles, setting them aside.
The gaze hidden behind them was cold and piercing.
“You’re five minutes early. Come back in five.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
As the junior member asked blankly, he suppressed a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
Silver strands tied back at the nape flowed steadily through his fingers.
“Do you not carry a timepiece?”
“Ah…… My apologies.”
The flustered junior Tower Member hastily pulled out a pocket watch, checked it, then bowed deeply and retreated from the laboratory.
“……Tch.”
Dominique clicked his tongue, replaced his spectacles, and returned his attention to the documents.
Then came another knock.
“You should have four minutes left.”
“My apologies, Dominique. I have urgent information.”
This time it was a different Tower Member’s voice.
“Information sharing occurs after lunch, at two o’clock in the afternoon. Surely you’re not unaware of that?”
“This is an urgent matter.”
Dominique set down his documents with an audible thud, visibly irritated.
If he heard this report in full, he would certainly exceed his scheduled lunch time.
Loathing any breach of protocol, he was prepared to dismiss the Tower Member on the spot if the news displeased him.
“Very well, let’s hear it.”
The Tower Member stepped inside the laboratory, swallowed hard, and began his report.
“The Crown Princess Consort has gone to exterminate monsters, taking a few members of the Griffin Squad with her.”
The news proved more disappointing than expected, and Dominique’s brow furrowed.
“Didn’t she once set out with the Second Imperial Prince to hunt a large-class monster? Is news of another monster hunt really so crucial?”
As Dominique’s voice rose, the Tower Member trembled and hastened to add to his report.
“No, sir—the crucial point is that the monster she’s gone to hunt is a jellyfish monster!”
“……Ah?”
At last, a glimmer of interest kindled in Dominique’s eyes.
“Which means—”
“Yes, she intends to bring the Monster Cores she obtains back to the Capital.”
“When do you plan to return to the Capital?”
“Today.”
“If I hadn’t heard the news, I could have stayed put—but now that I know, I can’t simply sit idle. Let’s go.”
Dominique shot to his feet and strode toward the door in long, purposeful strides. At that moment, the newcomer who had been shifting nervously outside stepped back in.
“Dominique! This time you really must take a moment to eat—oof!”
The recruit collided hard against his solid shoulder and lost his footing, stumbling backward.

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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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