Chapter 26
Sir Viaton said with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
“I was just, happy.”
“Yes?”
Sir Viaton knelt on one knee, matching my eye level, and looked at me with kind eyes.
“I was happy that Your Highness was scared.”
That gaze was so warm and nice that I couldn’t even get angry.
“Wh, why is that good?”
“Because Your Highness isn’t afraid of the scariest thing in the world.”
“The scariest thing?”
“It hurt my heart so, so much because you were calm in front of it.”
Ah, wait a minute.
Don’t look at me like that.
Th, this is cheating.
Sir Viaton’s eyes were even pitiful.
I don’t know if it was my imagination, but it looked like tears were welling up in Sir Viaton’s eyes.
‘I must have seen it wrong, right?’
When I looked again, there were no tears.
“I was so upset that I didn’t know what to do.”
“……”
“But you were scared of dying. You were so scared that you hugged me. So I was endlessly happy.”
Even though tears didn’t flow, Sir Viaton’s appearance was so pitiful.
I unconsciously touched Sir Viaton’s cheek.
I just, wanted to do that.
Then, Sir Viaton covered the back of my hand with his hand.
My hand was caught between Sir Viaton’s cheek and his palm.
Sir Viaton’s cheek was soft and smooth, but his hand was big and rough.
Sir Viaton still looked at me with kind eyes.
I opened my mouth, embarrassed.
“My hand is stuck.”
“I guess so.”
“I want to eat a sandwich. Hehe.”
Sir Viaton stared at me for a long time again.
His eyes were definitely warm, but strangely, my heart ached.
“Seeing that I like Your Highness’s fear, I guess I’m a bad teacher.”
“……”
I was at a loss for words.
I didn’t know Sir Viaton was thinking like that.
“Your Highness. It’s a really strange thing to say, but can I say it?”
“S, say it.”
“That moment when Your Highness hugged me because you were scared was a blessing to me. I felt that Your Highness was alive next to me.”
“I, I’m alive every day.”
Suddenly, the ‘Mark of Narvidal’ caught my eye under my raised right hand.
The sand was still falling.
Towards my last 21 years.
Sir Viaton lowered my hand.
As if to hide the Mark of Narvidal.
Sir Viaton spoke kindly.
“That’s right. Let’s go eat delicious food every day. It’s okay if you don’t become a great a*ult. You’re 19, so you’re an a*ult, so please be an a*ult for now.”
“Then I can be an a*ult!”
Growl━━━
My stomach growled.
This young body boasted a strong appetite.
It was quite embarrassing in such a touching（?） situation, but the young body couldn’t go against its instincts.
I remembered hearing that there was a really delicious sandwich shop near the Imperial Palace.
“Can you buy me a sandwich?”
“You want me to buy you a sandwich?”
My voice got quieter because I was a little embarrassed.
“I, I don’t have any money.”
“Yes?”
“I, I’ll pay you back later.”
I was a princess, and I knew several ways to become a rich person in the future, but I didn’t have any cash on hand yet.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
The next day.
Lancer, as usual, visited Isabel’s room with a storybook tucked under his arm.
“Let’s not talk about storybooks today, let’s talk about something else.”
Isabel started talking about something.
After listening to Isabel’s story for a long time, Lancer coughed, clearing his throat.
“……So, you’re saying you saw the guards standing watch at the outposts in the Elbe Mountains?”
“Yes. So I was very concerned. I also felt sorry.”
“What are you so sorry about?”
“Those people are standing guard every day in such a cold place, watching out for the intrusion of monsters and other races……”
But my brother was sledding there and making bets with Honey.
I was so embarrassed that I wanted to d*e, even while being scared.
“The guards there can’t even use the Transfer Gate.”
“Ahem, that’s right. It costs a tremendous amount to operate it once. So there’s a rule that it can only be used in a national emergency.”
It was a very unfair world.
Prince Michael, who was sledding, used the Transfer Gate without hesitation, and the soldiers standing guard had to walk up the Elbe Mountains.
“Teacher, I don’t think that’s right.”
“Ahem……”
Lancer thought for a moment.
He couldn’t refute that it wasn’t right, but it was a bit awkward to teach her, ‘That’s reality.’
Usually, those who stood guard in the Elbe Mountains were mostly very poor, even among commoners.
“They are commoners, and His Highness is a member of the Imperial Family. You can’t compare them on the same level.”
Isabel once again realized that this was a different world.
A world with clear social status and class.
This is not Korea.
If such thinking was common sense and law in this world, Lancer’s answer couldn’t be said to be particularly wrong.
“I think there’s a reason why the Imperial Family can freely use the Transfer Gate to the Elbe Mountains.”
“……Yes?”
It’s a world with clear social status and class.
Therefore, there are actions and thoughts appropriate for each status and class.
The Imperial Family enjoys many things, but they also have to bear many things.
“It’s meant to experience the Elbe Mountains firsthand and learn a lot by seeing the soldiers who suffer and dedicate themselves in unseen places for the peace and safety of the Empire. I don’t think it was made for them to sled like my brother.”
Lancer was at a loss for words.
‘Your Highness is only six years old.’
Isabel was only six years old.
He knew she was precocious, but he didn’t know she would say such things.
“……Your Highness is right.”
As far as he knew, that was the original intention.
That was the reason why the Imperial Family was initially allowed to freely use the Transfer Gate to the Elbe Mountains.
However, a lot of time passed, and the meaning faded.
Usually, they learned briefly through books that ‘The Transfer Gate was installed for this and that reason.’
‘You realized it yourself without looking at the contents of the book.’
Lancer couldn’t help but admire her.
But that wasn’t the end.
The truly amazing thing was what came next.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
Karin, who had left for the academic society, returned.
“I’m a little late. I apologize.”
She didn’t specifically mention the disappearance of her adoptive father, Wilhelm.
Karin treated Isabel coldly, as always.
‘She was scary usually, but she seems even scarier today.’
But she didn’t show it.
She carefully continued to talk about what she had felt.
“Do you remember when I said my life was a gift?”
“I remember.”
“That’s it. Before I left, I wanted to leave a gift behind.”
“……”
“Well, to be more honest, I want to leave something behind that people will remember me by.”
Isabel’s face flushed a little.
Is she being needlessly greedy?
“I hope people will remember me with good memories.”
“……”
Karin felt like her heart was dropping, but she didn’t show it on the outside.
She listened further.
“That’s it. I went sledding with my brother.”
She told her about seeing the soldiers in the Elbe Mountains.
“So, I wanted to make it so that those people could use the Transfer Gate frequently.”
“Your heart is very warm, but it’s not a realistic story.”
If it were possible, the mages would have done it a long time ago.
“I thought it might be possible.”
“It’s impossible with current technology and theory.”
“I felt a similar mana flow to when I cast the interpretation magic on Honey.”
Again, it was ‘intuition.’
A strange power that allows you to know right away without learning.
Isabel took out the Siberun Mana Stone from her arms.
“So I made this too. Can you take a look at this, Teacher?”
“It’s a Siberun Mana Stone. It’s designed to emit cold air……”
She was surprised.
“You’ve even incorporated magic engineering theories that I haven’t taught you.”
“D, didn’t you teach me, Teacher?”
“What I taught you were basic concepts and mana theory.”
Your Highness has figured out on your own how to apply those theories in an engineering way.
She didn’t say that.
She felt like she shouldn’t praise her.
She was so proud that she wanted to d*e, but she acted even colder to hide her feelings.
This was because she, too, had never received proper praise and education.
Karin unknowingly resembled Wilhelm, whom she so despised.
“Keep talking.”
“What I was thinking was……”
Isabel was a successful applicant for the Korea University Math Essay Exam and was scheduled to enter the College of Engineering, specifically Electrical Engineering.
As someone who enjoyed studying, she had already previewed theories up to the university level.
“It’s about converting the flow of mana from direct current to alternating current.”
“Converting from direct current to alternating current?”
Karin frowned slightly without realizing it.
Basically, all magic is based on a linear flow.
That was the common sense of the world.
‘D, did I do something wrong?’
Karin was so surprised that she frowned.
However, Isabel knew that Karin was the final villain, so she was a little scared by Karin’s expression.
‘She was scary usually, but she hasn’t really frowned like this before.’
She was scarier than usual Karin.
Karin asked with a serious expression.
“How do you convert a linear flow?”
“Th, that’s……”
It was the moment the history of the Sword Empire Bilotian changed.
