The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21

The horse carrying both of us had been galloping for quite some time before finally beginning to slow down only after completely escaping the forest.

The trees that had filled our surroundings thinned out, revealing a plain.

“…What just happened?”

Demian asked. His voice still sounded bewildered, as if he couldn’t grasp what had just occurred.

Imagining Demian’s expression behind me, I deliberately shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

“It’s nothing special.”

“That wasn’t nothing special at all.”

“Well… I expected Vincent to come anyway.”

The Emperor was quick-witted.

His intuition would have already figured out that this incident wasn’t just a whimsical runaway.

‘Then naturally he would have sent Vincent.’

“The Imperial Palace is a world of survival of the fittest. You know that, right?”

I said this while glancing back slightly.

Demian’s face was subtly contorted. Rather than displeasure, it was an expression of complete bewilderment.

“Does Your Highness the Princess also worry about such things? I thought you acted like everyone except the Emperor was beneath your feet.”

“That’s accurate, but it’s unpleasant hearing it from someone else’s mouth.”

“I’d call that objective.”

Is there no way to shut this man’s mouth?

“I don’t know if the Grand Duke agrees, but my control over the Imperial Family is also the product of my blood, sweat, and tears.”

“Should I be impressed?”

I glared at him before turning to face forward again.

But it was the truth.

My position within the Imperial Family hadn’t been solid from the beginning.

The Imperial Family valued bloodline. Just because I had the Emperor’s backing didn’t mean everyone would naturally bow their heads to someone who was only half-legitimate.

When I was first adopted into the Imperial Family, the First Prince’s Faction was overwhelmingly dominant, and the maid assigned to the Princess would pinch and make the two-year-old child cry, claiming it was to vent her frustration.

After all, they considered Lorea to be a princess in name only.

‘I learned at age seven that to survive in the Imperial Palace, you need to instill fear.’

Five years—it was a quick realization.

I rolled my eyes around before answering.

“Vincent has a pollen allergy. To birch trees.”

“So you deliberately made that strange sword to deal with him?”

“What choice did I have? The Grand Duke hates Imperial Family members to death, but you’re not desperate enough to just cut off their heads, are you?”

At my blunt question, Demian let out an incredulous breath.

“Why that reaction?”

“Shall I speak honestly?”

“…I think that question just answered itself, but I’ll listen anyway.”

“I’m surprised by the fact that Your Highness the Princess actually knows how to think.”

“Ah, I shouldn’t have asked.”

A sigh escaped me.

This Grand Duke was so infuriating that if I could, I’d love to give his head a good whack! Though I wonder how much it would actually hurt him.

When I looked at him with narrowed eyes, Demian just shrugged with a shameless expression as if to say ‘wasn’t I just stating facts?’

“Anyway, this has become troublesome. Since we dropped all our luggage, it’ll be difficult to reach the West like this.”

“I never thought we could go there directly anyway.”

I answered composedly.

Fortunately, there were several small cities on the way to the West. I briefly ‘pretended’ to think while keeping Demian behind me.

“Let’s go to ‘Jeda.'”

Then I announced the predetermined destination. It was a city I had planned as a stopover before we even departed.

However, Demian seemed puzzled by my decision.

“Leaving aside big cities like Akene, why specifically Jeda?”

I expected this reaction.

Jeda was a very small city. Actually, it was embarrassingly small to even call it a city—it was closer to a village in scale. While it wasn’t impossible to use it as an intermediate stop, there was no particular need to choose it.

I looked at him and smiled broadly.

“Yes, I have my reasons.”

“She really does think things through…”

I heard all of that.

“This time I won’t accept any objections. The Grand Duke is my escort, and this is a legitimate request from someone with a purpose.”

“Yes, yes.”

Demian answered halfheartedly, but he didn’t seem inclined to object to my opinion. He readily turned the horse’s head.

“Let’s hurry, we need to get there before sunset.”

* * *

The horse galloped swiftly and we arrived in Jeda just before sunset.

After what happened this afternoon, we needed to quickly unpack and rest for tomorrow…

“…Are you really sure about this? Seriously?”

Unfortunately, far from unpacking, we were now standing forlornly in front of an inn.

To be precise, because of Demian blocking my way, we couldn’t enter the inn and were stuck in front of the door.

I tried stretching up on my tiptoes to look over his shoulder, but eventually had to speak irritably as my legs began to ache.

“I said I’m fine. That’s the tenth time you’ve asked, you know?”

“Are you seriously okay in the head? Is your life as a pampered princess so boring that you need hardship in your life?”

I lightly ignored Demian and tilted my head back to look up at the inn’s exterior.

Since it was indeed a small city far from the capital, the inn was old and worn down. Still, it seemed to have everything we needed.

“This looks clean enough.”

“This is maddening.”

Demian roughly tousled his hair.

So, the situation was simple.

I naturally intended to stay at the inn, but Demian blocked my steps. The reason being that Carlos had given him an artifact before departure. It apparently had the function of creating a simple lodging place. Though they called it a ‘simple lodging place,’ it would definitely be more luxurious than this inn.

‘An artifact, really.’

I couldn’t understand why someone who would be drained just from existing due to his mana would go through such trouble.

‘He wouldn’t even accept my greeting.’

Really, I couldn’t tell whether Carlos found me annoying or was concerned about me.

“I’m telling you, I can create a place to stay with magic instead. Father gave me this artifact to use in situations like this. Because of you.”

Demian ostentatiously shook the red necklace hanging around his neck.

“I said no.”

I glanced at the necklace and turned my head away sharply.

‘Not a chance. I’ll conserve the mana in that artifact as much as possible so I can return it.’

Of course, to Carlos with his vast mana, this amount would be more trivial than dirt under a fingernail, but for me it was a different matter.

‘I have some shame, after all.’

I had a responsibility toward him. So traveling luxuriously at the cost of Carlos’s mana was absolutely unthinkable.

“I’ll go in first, so you pay and come up, Grand Duke.”

“What?”

“The deluxe room.”

I took advantage of Demian’s momentary lapse and slipped under his arm to open the door.

‘Times like this, I’m glad I’m short.’

Demian looked back at me in bewilderment as I passed by him in an instant.

“Ah, Prin…! Hey, miss!”

I ignored Demian shouting behind me and hurried up the stairs.

“That troublemaker!”

Look at how he talks to a princess.

To think that’s my real brother.

I stuck my tongue out where Demian couldn’t see me and headed to the top floor.

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