Taming Her Highness the Princess

32 – Prejudice (4)

“Damn it!”

Beyond another middle gate, Prince Peres gritted his teeth, unable to clear himself. Beside him, Erete, Peres’ teacher, stood in silence.

“Why did Irea…… You mean that lesser b*tch should be rated better than me!”

In this royal council, the ministers’ compliments and blessings were directed toward Irea, not herself. Even his father applauded Ireah’s growth, so Peres couldn’t help but be annoyed.

The future emperor should be himself, not Ireah. So, it was Ireah who should have quietly crouched in the corner, but in the final discussion before the court, he stood out.

If his father, who saw potential in Irea, had a different mind when selecting a successor, Peres would have no choice but to give up his ambition to rule the empire.

That must be stopped. He couldn’t entrust the empire to Irea, who had fallen less. He somehow found himself ruling the empire and wielding full power was a path to the benefit of all.

“Erethe. Isn’t the situation very different from your story?”

The stress of things not going as planned goes downhill. As Perez looked at her annoyedly, Erete bowed her head deeply in apologetic expression.

“Sorry. I never knew that Her Highness, the princess, had come out with such thorough preparations. Perhaps Sir Jeniel arranged all of this behind the scenes.”

“Jeniel…… The eldest son of the Mallaig family.”

I clearly recall the face of the guy who arrogantly refused even though he promised to guarantee power and honor. Jenny Earle, who had humiliated herself in front of his sister, was now an enemy to Pérez.

“How can you handle it? Aren’t you savvy in this way?”

“That sounds difficult. Others can be persuaded with money or threatened with the lives of family members to force them to step down, but the opponent is the Malaig family. As long as the owner of the Mallaig family, Jung Seo-ryeong, is an aide to His Majesty the Emperor, hasty tricks are close to poison.”

“So what? Are you saying that I should just watch as Jeniel tries to appoint Irea as emperor?”

Erete laughed and shook her head.

“Don’t worry about that. Didn’t I tell you clearly? She said that she would make His Highness the emperor sit in the emperor’s seat no matter what.”

Erethe’s closed eyes slowly open.

Her vertically slit pupils were like those of a snake.

“As Your Highness said, I am knowledgeable in this area.”

*

After her royal evaluation, Ireah returned to Yeonhwa Palace, but before she entered the palace, her legs gave out and she collapsed.

Because she used her mana to the limit for the first time in her life, her body began to suffer. Her Louis Nel rushed to her aid, but Irea’s breathing became rough, like someone who had already suffered from a fever.

Seeing that, Jenny Earl advised her Irea to rest for a week. It was judged that it would take that much time to replenish her lost mana and regain her energy.

After listening to Jenny Earl’s advice, Irea replied that she would, and after that, she lay down in her bedroom and spent four days under the care of her ladies-in-waiting and Louis Nell.

“Ah… ….”

After repeating waking up and falling asleep, Ireah regained her sanity and opened her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Irea lifted her upper body and leaned her body against the back of her bed.

Her dizziness remains a bit, but not severe. She controlled her breathing for a while, then Irea coughed a few times and looked at her door, she said.

“Ruinel? Are you there?”

The door bursts open as soon as Irea finishes speaking. Through the open door, Ruinel, who saw that Irea had regained her senses, spoke anxiously.

“Your Highness, are you feeling better?”

Tell me what to do. Irea raised her right hand and spread her index and middle fingers. She makes a V and smiles with strength.

“Hey… ….”

That mischievousness showed that Irea was in good health. With her tears in her eyes, Ruinell hurried over to Irea and put her on her knees.

“Really! Stop worrying about people! Do you know what will happen to Your Highness and how anxious I am!”

“Lou, Ruinel? Didn’t the professor say you’d be fine after resting?”

“Even if you know it’s going to be okay, if you’re watching from the sidelines, it’s going to get annoying! So, don’t overwork your body from now on!”

Is this why she is making such a fuss? Even though she was a little bewildered, the fact that Ruinel was so concerned for her had colored a part of her heart warmly.

“Okay. I won’t overdo it in the future. However…… Is there a professor nearby?”

Irea asks in a strangely expectant tone. Suffering from her fever, she manages to come to her senses, and when she says she is looking for Jenial, she is puzzled in many ways.

Come to think of it, for the four days that Ireah was ill, she sometimes called the professor’s name in her sleep. No matter how ignorant she is, she has no choice but to know at this point.

Irea…… She likes her lord, Her Highness Jennie Earl, whom she serves. If she was found out by His Majesty the Emperor, she would be in for four months, but she was not a job that Luinel, a mere escort knight, could intervene.

“…… Professor Jenial returned to the mansion on the first day after making sure that His Highness was getting comfortable.”

“That, right?”

She feels ashamed because she seems to have had false expectations. Although she was the eldest son of the Malay family, she had a lot of family business to handle, but she couldn’t spend all her time at the Lotus Palace.

In addition, the relationship between Jeniel and Irea has no point of contact except for the fact that they are lord and servant. It was greed to the end to want Jenny Earl to protect him by his side all four days.

But if you think so…… Even if there is no point of contact, I think of Ladne, who wakes up in the same mansion as Jennie Earl every day and goes to work looking at her face.

She doesn’t know exactly what kind of feelings Radne had with her and why she ended up living in Jenial’s mansion. But what is certain is that Radne is trying to seduce Jenial and get something out of her.

‘I’m sorry.’

I don’t know anything else, but that alone was absolutely unacceptable. How did you get Jenial, and how hard was it to be sure that you were ‘my person’?

I didn’t want to die for Jenial, who had a place in my heart as a precious person, to be taken away by another woman.

In that case, before Radne seduced Jenial, she had to strike first. Before Jenny Earl could give his heart to Radne, he had to receive Jenny Earl’s heart first.

It was absolutely not something a country’s princess would do, but it was unavoidable. She was only stepping out in person to prevent her own subjects from going astray.

Irea, who rationalized her own love affair, looked down at Ruinel. Her eyes were calm, but the emotions inside her were sharper than her sword.

“Ruinel? I must go to the professor’s mansion. I need permission to go out, so can you put the word up for me to my father? Since you saw me favorably at this royal meeting, you will probably allow it.”

“You mean going out?”

Getting permission to go out is not too difficult. However, the fact that the destination was Jeniel’s mansion puzzled Ruinel.

The rest period recommended by Jeniel was a week, so if I had to endure for another three days, I could see Jeniel during class anyway.

However, Ireah couldn’t endure those three days and, like a person who was anxious, said that she would go see the professor.

Irea’s cheeks are weakly red as Ruinel stares at it, guessing the reason. Because it was a remark that seemed too deep to even think of itself.

“I hope I don’t misunderstand you. It’s not because the professor wants to see it…… It’s because I have something to tell the professor.”

I just wanted to have a cup of coffee, discuss my performance in the royal family meeting again, talk about my favorite hobbies, and ask about my favorite food, scent, clothes, and ideal type. It is natural for a master to know the tastes of his servants.

“And…… You should also write a wish ticket.”

Jenny Earl said that he would grant one wish after the preliminary discussion. The problem is that I don’t know how to use the right to wish.

There is a high probability that Jenial will feel burdened if she blurts out her true intentions, so she had to make a wish that would definitely advance the relationship without feeling burdened.

While wondering what it was, Ireah thought of a trick. Irea, who wanted this trick to work, decided to try Ruinel first.

“Hey, what if I told the professor that I wanted to find out about the lives of the subjects? The two of us wander around the island and explore what the subjects enjoy. If you want to be a good ruler, you have to know the lives of your subjects, don’t you? I mean, from an educational point of view.”

In short, he wanted to ask her out on a date. It seemed like he was trying to hide his true feelings, but it was so obvious that he couldn’t even laugh.

“In terms of education…… I think the professor will most likely allow it. However, there are many dangers lurking in the system, so His Highness must pay special attention to safety.”

Safe? Even when she tried to ask where the princess had to pay attention to her safety in the capital, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut, thinking about the time when Mandel’s mansion was attacked the other day.

Ruinel looked at Ireah like that and then took a look around her. After confirming that she had no maids waiting on her, Ruinel opened her words with a serious expression.

“Your Highness should be especially careful on the subway.”

“Subway?”

“Yes. You can think of it as a train that runs underground. However, if there is one difference from the train, it is a train that runs in the city center, so the price is cheap and there are many people who use it. In other words, a large number of people using it means that it is easy to be exposed to crime.”

I’m breaking out in a cold sweat just because it’s a crime. Irea’s body stiffened a bit, but Ruinel continued with the thought that he had to convey what he had to say.

“It is said that there are a lot of perverts in the subway in particular. You must be very careful as they choose beautiful-looking women and commit sinister acts behind their backs. Of course, even if that happens, Professor Jenial will stop it, but you won’t do anything wrong by being careful.”

As expected, it is dangerous outside the Lotus Palace. Ireah nodded her head amid her tension, and one of her questions suddenly entered her mind. How does Ruinel know this?

“By the way, Ruinel? Have you ever used the subway?”

“No, but…… That’s something you can know enough from rumors.”

“Rumors? Have there ever been rumors like that in the lotus palace?”

Ruinel and Irea spend most of their daily lives in the Lotus Palace. If such a rumor spread within the Lotus Palace, there was no way that Irea was unaware of it.

But why did Louis Nell know so much about the rumors that Ireah didn’t even know? As she stared at it, puzzled, Ruinel said in a cold sweat.

“I don’t want to misunderstand you, but I’ve never read a book with a scene like that.”

“…… Didn’t I say a word about the book?”

Irea’s question becomes a sword and comes right in front of her eyes. Ruinel, who seemed to be a really strange person if he stayed here, made an excuse.

“Your Highness. I was just curious about the culture of the system, so I read a lot of books! I swear I haven’t read the kind of books you imagine!”

“Ah, yes. Are you okay. Because I believe in Luinel.”

Irea, who was looking at Ruinel somewhat pitifully, smiled awkwardly.

“I will keep it a secret from others. It’s a promise.”

Thanks to that, Ruinel stopped wanting to die.