Chapter 74
What Rovena saw in his eyes was definitely fear.
It was as small as a grain of millet.
It was probably because Ron was hiding, hiding, and hiding his feelings.
‘But the depth of that little dot……’
Even though he tried to hide it, the depth was unfathomable.
That enormous fear, which was beyond human comprehension, was an emotion that could have destroyed the mind of an ordinary person.
‘Ron learned fear?’
Rovena eventually chuckled.
She was feeling fear from a man who seemed to know nothing about fear.
It was a very strange and enjoyable thing for Rovena.
“You’re finally human.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s nothing.”
Rovena was in a good mood.
“Anyway, Your Majesty, I’m in a really good mood right now. So, could you please put down that menacing sword?”
“……”
“Alright. I’ll cancel taking the Princess’s five years.”
Only then did Ron release his momentum and sheathe his sword.
“No, I’m really curious…… If I hadn’t withdrawn, were you really going to fight to the death?”
“……”
Silence was affirmation.
Rovena sighed deeply.
“Really? You were really thinking of doing that? Huh, hahahahaha!”
“Why are you laughing?”
“I sometimes wondered if Your Majesty was a dragon, or a machine? But I see today that you’re not.”
It was fascinating that Ron was feeling fear.
But what was even more interesting was that the source of that fear stemmed from the emotion of love.
He was so afraid because he loved Isabel so much.
‘He loves Isabel that much, but he doesn’t show it much in front of Isabel.’
The whole situation was drawn in her mind.
Emperor Ron was perfect and mature in every aspect, but Ron as a father seemed a little clumsy.
So, he must have been hovering around Isabel, wearing that thick robe.
He couldn’t even stand in front of Isabel properly and was just manipulating things from behind like this.
Everything was awkward.
She burst out laughing again.
‘Even that great man is a first-time father.’
Even an absolute being who transcended human limitations was a first-time father and wasn’t perfect as a father.
“There’s something even Your Majesty can’t do.”
Rovena laughed for a while and then continued.
“I won’t take five years from her. But I need to confirm your sincerity. Your Majesty has to give me that much.”
Rovena and Ron talked for a while.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
Isabel was known as a mage from the House of Beloti.
However, the fact that she was actually a princess, not from a fallen noble family, was widely publicized.
“So, she wasn’t a mage hiding her identity? I thought she transformed into a child with magic.”
“So, she was really a 7-year-old child?”
“Yes. They say she looked around 10 years old because she had a Bilotian body.”
Rumors about Isabel spread like wildfire.
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s impossible.”
For ordinary people, mages were very mysterious beings.
They were transcendental beings who could summon lightning and destroy castles.
That’s how ordinary people viewed mages.
And usually, such mages were old.
Magic was a very difficult subject, and it took a very long time to master it.
There was another reason why the people were shocked.
“How could someone so lovely be a mage?”
Even fairy tales didn’t feature mages as lovely as Isabel.
Mages were usually treated as strategic weapons.
If a fairy tale featuring a cute mage like Isabel were published, it would surely be criticized for being too absurd.
“I was very surprised too, but what can I do if it’s true?”
Too many people had witnessed Isabel’s magic to call it a lie.
“That pulley was really amazing.”
“Not only that. There are praises for the Princess among the volunteers in charge of food. What was it called, air conditioning?”
And many people wondered why Isabel had hidden her identity.
“Why did she hide her identity as a princess?”
There were many opinions on that.
Among them, the opinion of Hector, the foreman, began to gain traction.
“She wouldn’t have wanted to stand out among the volunteers. Considering her personality, she would have thought that all the volunteers were precious and valuable beings. She wouldn’t have wanted to shine alone in a place where everyone should shine.”
Several people who saw Hector muttered.
“Th-that man’s eyes are strange.”
“Y-yeah.”
Hector’s eyes were gleaming. It was like a fanatic who had fallen into a cult.
“If Grand Duke Rovena hadn’t appeared, she would have hidden her identity forever. We would have remembered. One day, on a warm day, there was a beautiful mage in the form of a young girl. She made us all shine.”
As he gave his speech, people began to sneak away from him.
But Hector didn’t care at all.
He had watched Isabel from right beside her and prided himself on knowing Isabel’s true heart better than anyone else.
“She tried to hide herself until the very end. Not to shine herself, but to make everyone shine. She, who worked hard for disaster relief without avoiding any hard work and sweated profusely, was the most beautifully shining member of the royal family that I know.”
Countless reporters, smelling a scoop, flocked to the scene.
Yuli, the chief reporter of “Whisper”, the most prestigious news publication on the continent, also arrived.
‘No, how can this be?’
There is a common phenomenon when covering a story related to a certain person.
‘If nine people praise, one person is bound to curse……’
Even if it’s not a curse, someone is bound to find fault.
Such and such was good, but that part wasn’t so good.
But there was nothing negative about Princess Isabel.
She was an experienced reporter and she caught one thing for sure.
‘Everyone here likes Princess Isabel.’
It was no exaggeration to say that they loved her, not just liked her.
“She was always more hardworking than us. She volunteered and worked hard at shoveling, which everyone avoids. While we shoveled 10 times, she shoveled 100 times, and when we were frowning because we were tired, she was the only one smiling brightly like the sun.”
“It sounds funny, but that bright smile gave us great strength.”
“I’ve never seen anyone smile so beautifully. I was happy just looking at her.”
The volunteers all said the same thing.
‘I need some pictures.’
The camera was a very expensive piece of magic engineering equipment.
It was so rare that only chief reporters were given one.
It was usually very difficult to get photos, but fortunately, one of her old friends was an archivist who recorded disaster sites.
Yuli tilted her head.
“No, why is Princess Isabel in one of the five photos?”
“W-well……”
Isabel in the photo had a slightly different face from the Isabel she knew.
She must have changed her face a little since she was hiding her identity.
But one thing was certain.
Isabel with the changed face was also smiling very happily.
“Even if Princess Isabel is lovely, why did the people recording the disaster site only record Princess Isabel and not the disaster site? This is grounds for disciplinary action.”
“Disciplinary action, my foot.”
Michael, who was dispatched as a disaster site archivist, chuckled.
“The places are all different. In this photo, she’s wearing a safety helmet, in that photo, she’s pulling a pulley, in that photo, she’s in the kitchen, and in this photo……”
“……Huh? Oh, you’re right.”
The backgrounds of the photos were all different.
“I didn’t follow Princess Isabel around and take pictures, she was everywhere. As if she had ten bodies. If she were an ordinary person, she would have collapsed from overwork.”
“……”
“She was at all those sites. The places where she was were really sparkling and full of life.”
Even that little girl is working so hard, volunteering so happily, so we adults should work harder.
They said she inspired such a spirit.
Yuli stared intently at Isabel’s photos.
As an experienced chief reporter, she could fully read Isabel’s expression and her sincerity in the photos.
‘That smile isn’t fake. How can she be like that?’
She had 14 years left.
She had to give the Grand Duke five years, so now she had nine years left.
But Isabel was still like sunshine.
“……Huh? Yuli, why are you crying?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Yuli bit her lip slightly.
She immediately headed to the royal palace.
As she was acquainted with Isabel, she easily got permission to meet her.
“Reporter Yuli. Long time no see!”
“Your Highness. There’s something I really want to ask you.”
But at that moment, an emergency alarm started ringing throughout the royal palace.
Viaton entered the room without knocking.
He looked relaxed, but the fact that he entered without knocking meant that the current situation was not entirely relaxed.
“T-teacher, what’s going on?”
