The fake princess hides her scheme

Episode 5

But as soon as I thought of the pocket, I had to come to my senses.

Milligent. This is for Milligent.

I held his hand for my friend who I couldn’t trade for any handsome man in this world.

“I felt it yesterday too.”

Calrissian spoke as he escorted me to the carriage.

“Your hands are really warm. I’m glad that your health has definitely recovered.”

“yes?”

I looked down at the pink gloves wrapped around my hands, wondering what on earth he meant.

He added, looking into my eyes.

“Oh, I have naturally cold hands, so I can feel the other person’s body temperature even when wearing gloves.”

“ah…….”

Of course, my hands are warm, because they are the conduit through which magic is performed.

Not only me, but most magicians who use their bodies to generate magical power would be similar.

However, I had never expected that the Crown Prince could feel my body temperature through my gloves, so what he just said was quite disconcerting.

But the crown prince can’t possibly have magical powers, so he wouldn’t be able to tell that I’m a wizard just by looking at it.

As soon as I got into the carriage, I shook off his hand and sat down. Then I asked awkwardly.

“Your Majesty, are you still in poor health?”

No matter how beautiful you are as a star, being weak is nothing to be proud of.

But Calrissian didn’t seem at all flustered and landed opposite me.

“It’s a shame, but there are things in this world that don’t change easily.”

So does that mean you haven’t become as strong as a rock? You’re still weak?

I listened quietly and then suddenly said.

“Try some ginger tea.”

Calrissian tilted his head.

“Ginger tea?”

“Ginger warms the body.”

There was a brief silence.

In fact, this ginger tea theory was passed down from Milligent’s grandmother, and I was brainwashed by Milligent’s constant talk about it.

I told you this out of pity because you said such a pitiful and beautiful man would have to live his whole life weak. Was it a mistake?

Do nobles not drink ginger tea? Or is there no ginger in Bristol?

I bit my molars to keep myself from being embarrassed by his silence.

Fortunately, he continued.

“Then I guess I should try some too.”

Then, the very next moment, he burst into laughter as if he couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Welcome back to Justinian, April. It would be a loss to the continent if such a lovely and funny lady as you were confined to a narrow corner.”

Before anyone could gauge the truth of those words, Calrissian set off in his carriage.

“Have you heard? Since the last war, His Majesty the Emperor and his immediate family have only stayed within the Imperial City.”

I’ve heard it before.

According to the founding oath of Justinian long ago, the Magic Tower will forever be subordinate to the imperial family. In return, the imperial family agreed not to covet magic.

Such an oath would certainly have helped to separate the imperial family and the Mataib, who had assisted each other in the early days of the nation’s founding, and to distribute power appropriately, and had already maintained a balance between the two ruling classes for several hundred years.

However, after the last war of the current emperor ended and an era of peace arrived, unexpectedly, unauthorized magicians began to appear.

People like me who were born with magical powers, even though they are not direct descendants of wizards.

It was difficult to track down all of those unauthorized wizards from the Magic Tower, and each and every one of them who did not belong to the Magic Tower immediately became a threat to the Imperial Family.

Because by the standards of the royal family, they were extremely dangerous magicians who were not subordinate to the royal family.

Accordingly, the royal family was forced to refrain from going out and stay only within the imperial palace.

Because in the imperial palace, there is a permanent magic control barrier that the first Magic Tower Lord created before he died.

Thanks to this, the imperial castle grounds have expanded endlessly over the past dozen years, and the Magic Tower is constantly maintaining the expanded barrier while searching for unauthorized magicians with fire in its eyes.

Of course, Calrissian simply skipped over that part.

“The castle is so large, I hope you can find a place that suits your taste.”

I looked up at his beautiful smile and smiled back.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am really looking forward to it.”

The complicated circumstances surrounding the imperial family and the Magic Tower were none of my business.

I’m just looking around and I hope I find a loophole in the magic control barrier.

Or, a secret passage leading to the Crown Prince’s Palace.

***

But what I wanted never happened.

This was because the carriage that set off from the castle chose to circle east along the castle wall instead of heading towards the Crown Prince’s Palace, the nearest building.

I was a little excited, thinking that since he was a famous womanizer, he might invite me to the Crown Prince’s palace in broad daylight…

The Crown Prince’s tour of the palace was really just a tour, just as Rat’s bell said.

They say that the vast garden is the greatest pride of this castle, but the life of a nobleman is truly uneventful and uninteresting!

What was even more unfortunate was that the eastern section I had seen, roughly half of the castle, was tightly wrapped in a perfect magic control barrier.

Ah, if this is how it is, I won’t be able to sneak into the Crown Princess’ Palace, so I’ll have to receive a personal invitation within a month…

You’re like a uselessly loyal magic tower!

As I was thinking about that, I heard Calrissian’s voice.

“If I had known you didn’t like gardens, I would have taken you to the west side of the castle. That would have been more fun.”

I was trying hard not to yawn, but I opened my eyes wide and pretended I wasn’t yawning.

“Yes? I like that garden.”

Then Calrissian smiled faintly and asked back.

“Is that so? Then may I ask which garden you liked the most today?”

“Uh, um, the camellia garden?”

In my confusion, I just said the first name of a random garden that came to mind, and her mysterious purple eyes looked straight at me as if they were amused.

“Oh, you mean the camellia garden, where there aren’t any flower buds yet because it hasn’t reached the fruiting season? We just passed by that place.”

“Huh? That… … But the leaves are very green and… … .”

I’m screwed… … !

Actually, coming from the rural Bayswater, what’s the big deal about a garden? No matter how nicely trimmed it is, it’s still just a tree!

There are many flowers and trees in our countryside. We just don’t know their names!

But I couldn’t say that, so I had to make up another excuse.

“… … I apologize for guiding you so diligently, Your Majesty. It’s just that I am weak and spent a lot of time in the garden while growing up.”

“ah.”

An apologetic look quickly appeared on the playful face of the crown prince.

“… … I thought I knew what it was like to be locked up better than anyone else, but I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

Yes? If you apologize like that, what does that make me, who is actually healthy and has never been locked up?

But before anyone could respond, Calrissian added:

“As an apology, should we postpone our tour of the Imperial Palace and go play dominoes?”

“No, I’m fine… … I haven’t even seen the castle yet.”

“You can come see the palace again tomorrow.”

Calrissian winked one eye seductively.

Are you doing this on purpose because you want to meet me tomorrow too?

While I was wandering around, struggling with the difficult problem of being a single since birth, he continued talking.

“I don’t know if you know, but Lord Huibner is one of my few close friends. He would be delighted if you would grant me the honor of serving the princess.”

ah…….

I felt bad for having only had a quick look around the garden, so I couldn’t quickly refuse the crown prince’s subsequent offer.

“I’ve never really played board games before… … .”

Actually, I’m good at everything except dominoes!

Dominoes is a game that makes Milligent crazy.

But I’m not the type to be very careful, so I always had to use my psychic powers to secretly stop the blocks from falling.

“Oh, like that.”

Calrissian’s expression darkened as he thought about something.

“Don’t worry, April. There’s a first time for everyone. If you knock over the dominoes, I’ll pay the fine.”

No, you are a star with a reputation as a debaucher.

Instead, why don’t we just spend some time together, just the two of us, while living up to our reputation?

There are a lot of good things like secretly showing you around the Crown Prince’s Palace!