Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 163

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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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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 163
Jeina continued as if asking what the problem was.
“If you want to maintain family relations, isn’t it natural? If I call Deina mother, then naturally I become your niece.”
“Not a single expression changed while spouting such madness… So the Emperor is my grandfather?”
“The Emperor and my other siblings are enemies. I can’t consider them family. Do I need to explain such things?”
This girl is truly insane.
Asmo-rina stared at Jeina, whose common sense had completely derailed, her mouth falling open.
I couldn’t suppress my laughter at the sight.
This was Jeina’s own calculation and consideration. Unlike me, who was trying to live as a human, she was trying to make Asmo-rina, who wanted to remain a Demon, accept her as a colleague.
‘Of course, her claim that the Emperor and siblings aren’t family is probably sincere.’
In the past, I had at least respected the Emperor as Imperial Family rather than as a father, but now she seemed to regard him entirely as an enemy.
“Well, I’ll stay by mother’s side, but I won’t call a human like you aunt! Do you think I’m as crazy as you?”
“Is that so? If you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do. We’ll decide that later.”
Jeina gave up without hesitation and turned her gaze back to me.
Asmo-rina, who had been so quickly dismissed, seemed to have lost her senses.
“Your health has recovered, right? No problems with your activities?”
“Yes, my stamina has declined somewhat, but it shouldn’t affect my duties.”
“Good, then let’s head to Bindani tomorrow.”
“Bindani? Why there?”
Bindani was the name of the Trading City where Alberto’s Golden Plains were located. As I tilted my head wondering why that name suddenly came up, Jeina spoke in a voice tinged with a sigh.
“Things became complicated while you were asleep. I need to go to Bindani to resolve it.”
“Viscount Gorden said there was nothing unusual…”
“That’s about Monos. What I’m talking about is my Direct Dominion.”
I had heard that Jeina’s Direct Dominion was a major city unlike Monos. What could have happened there?
As I looked at her with curious eyes, Jeina glanced at the bedroom clock and spoke.
“It’s already evening. There isn’t enough time to explain everything now. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow morning on the way to Bindani. See you tomorrow.”
With those words and a wish for good sleep, she left the bedroom. As she exited as smoothly as she had entered, Asmo-rina, who still seemed dazed, muttered.
“That human would probably survive even if she fell into the Demon Realm.”
I couldn’t agree more.

* * *
The next day, I boarded the carriage bound for Bindani as Jeina had suggested. On my previous visit, I had traveled on foot with the Guard Knights, but this time, as a formal visit warranted, we took the carriage.
In the carriage were myself, Jeina, and Asmo-rina. Asmo-rina, still seemingly unable to make a decision, sat with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
“Are you certain you’ll be fine without us, Princess?”
Just before boarding the carriage, Ivan caught hold of me. I had been about to order the two Guard Knights to wait in Monos.
The reason, of course, was Asmo-rina. The two of them remained wary of her, and Asmo-rina, in turn, looked down upon them for having received my magical power.
‘Sharing your magical power with humans and elves? Do those wretches not even understand how glorious such a thing is?’
Asmo-rina had said as much openly in front of the Guard Knights, and the atmosphere had grown tense.
Fearing a confrontation would break out if left unchecked, I decided it best we operate separately for a time.
“It’s fine. Bindani Territory isn’t that far, and Jeina has her own guards with us.”
Though they paled in comparison to my Guard Knights, Jeina’s guards were among the Empire’s finest warriors. And should the Emperor make a move, I would be there to handle it.
At that, Ruslara beside me frowned, shaking her head.
“It’s not enemies we’re concerned about, Your Highness. It’s Asmo-rina.”
“Right. You were asleep and didn’t see it, but that woman has made these past few days unbearable. The Black Rabbits couldn’t even get close.”
The two of them regarded Asmo-rina as a beast liable to rampage at any moment.
I would have agreed in times past, but not now. I offered them a wry smile to ease their minds.
“It’s fine. Rina won’t cause such trouble now.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“She’s calling me Mother. When she uses that title, she behaves herself.”
….
The two exchanged bewildered glances, but this was no jest.
The moment Asmo-rina began calling me “you” or using my name directly, that was the signal for a rampage.
It had taken me a century to discern this pattern.
At the time, I had considered it quite the achievement.
“So… is that how all Demon family relationships work? Children just call their parents by name and attack them?”
“No, ours are far more formal. Submission to the stronger is not bound by parent and child.”
From that perspective, we could hardly be called harmonious, but we were at least a mother and daughter in a more human sense.
Ivan clutched his head and muttered.
“The more I hear, the more my common sense feels negated.”
“Don’t dwell on it too much. In any case, we’ll be back soon, so don’t worry.”
Leaving the two in their confusion, I boarded the carriage.
Whether she had been listening to the conversation, Asmo-rina spoke in a disgruntled tone.
“Are you going to keep dragging those weaklings around? You don’t need guards weaker than me anymore.”
“Ruslara and Ivan are still growing. There was a time they couldn’t even match a common soldier.”
“Hmph, as if humans and elves could ever become truly strong.”
It seemed it would take considerable time to foster goodwill between Asmo-rina and my Guard Knights.
Once we were all seated, the Carriage Driver set the carriage in motion. As Jeina gazed out at the landscape beginning to move slowly past, she handed me some prepared documents.
“These are reports on my Direct Dominion. I’ll explain why we’re going to Bindani after you’ve read them.”
A Domain’s administrative reports were classified documents that should never be shown to others. The fact that she had shared them with me without hesitation suggested there was something unusual at hand.
I accepted the documents and quickly scanned through them.
The documents were systematic and substantial in ways that Monos could never compare to, and admiration flowed naturally as I read through them.
‘The industrial scale appears to be three times that of Monos, food supplies are abundant enough for self-sufficiency, and tax collection is solid. There’s nothing wrong with this, is there?’
As I continued turning pages, I soon discovered something odd.
The amount of grain harvested last autumn and the amount stored didn’t match. Yet the quantity exported wasn’t particularly large either.
An enormous quantity of grain—equivalent to Monos’s entire annual budget—had simply vanished from the records.
Because of this, all the subsequent expenditures and budget figures began to fall out of alignment.
“The grain storage quantities seem off. Is this a clerical error?”
“No, I checked it properly.”
Jeina, who had retrieved the documents again, exhaled deeply.
“The grain was disposed of in bulk, so it wasn’t recorded. A disease broke out suddenly.”
“A crop disease? But I’ve never heard any rumors about that.”
News of crop diseases spreads faster than political gossip. The Empire had enjoyed a bountiful harvest recently, so such talk should never have circulated.
“That’s right—all the neighboring territories were fine. The disease struck only my Direct Dominion, without warning.”
“What kind of disease was it?”
“An unidentifiable fungus bloomed on the harvested wheat. I hastily separated the warehouses and implemented quarantine measures, but… it was already too late.”
This didn’t seem to be a problem caused by poor storage. And of all people, Jeina wouldn’t make such a mistake.
“The Emperor cannot learn of this fact. Even the slightest sign of a grain plague results in regional lockdown. That’s why I’ve kept my administrators silent and been careful to prevent information from leaking until the matter is resolved… but.”
Jeina continued, her brow furrowed.
“While you were unconscious, rumors began to leak out. The source was a certain nobleman who backs Franz.”
That man had spread word that there was a problem with the wheat sold from Jeina’s Direct Dominion.
The story was that an unidentifiable fungus had been discovered in the wheat.
“Of course, I never distributed grain affected by the disease. I only sold it after completing a full inspection. So that means he must have known about my Direct Dominion’s circumstances.”
“The mastermind behind this conspiracy… is it Franz, after all?”
“Yes, without a doubt. There’s no way an ordinary nobleman could have access to classified information about my Direct Dominion.”
Now I understood why Jeina had asked me to go to Bindani together.
Alberto is there—a man seeking revenge against Franz for his dead brother.
“… You knew about Knight Alberto’s secret too?”
“Of course. He’s a man with useful value.”
As if stating an obvious fact, Jeina brushed back her bangs with indifference.

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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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