Chapter 78
Duke Rovena realized the identity of the emotion welling up in her chest.
‘No way…… Do I find her cute right now?’
That tiny human child is trying so hard to protect the honey badger, which is actually a dragon.
‘No, get a hold of yourself!’
She deliberately frowned.
‘Remember what happened to Kadelina? The moment you feel cuteness, you’re doomed.’
The Black Flame Dragon Kadelina is still suffering from the “eighth-grader syndrome” that humans experience.
It’s because she felt “cuteness” towards a human 500 years ago.
That’s why she always used to say that the cutest things are the scariest, and the Dragon of Wisdom, Ravina, agreed with her.
‘Be careful. I can’t find her cute.’
However, the image of that child kept lingering in her mind.
That blonde girl, standing bravely despite being terrified, was more adorable than any other creature she had ever seen.
‘I need to change the subject.’
She didn’t intend to interfere significantly in the human world.
However, the situation was a bit dangerous now.
What if she gets consumed by that cuteness and ends up like the Black Flame Dragon?
Given the circumstances, she decided to talk about something else.
“Viaton. You felt it too, right?”
“Are you talking about the fact that that thing isn’t a typical one-eyed giant?”
“Yes. Let’s take a closer look.”
“You’re suddenly enthusiastic? Suspiciously so.”
“Just come with me. If I distract it, there will be an opening, and that means you’ll have a better chance of protecting the Princess, wouldn’t you?”
“Why aren’t you coming quickly?”
Viaton stood before the fallen one-eyed giant first.
Rovena examined the fallen one-eyed giant with Viaton.
‘Ah, this is frustrating. If I could actively use Dragon Eye, I could figure it out quickly.’
However, she was not the Dragon of Wisdom, Ravina, but the Northern Duke Rovena right now.
If she uses too much of her dragon powers, she would have to give up her identity as Duke Rovena.
That was the unspoken rule among dragons.
“Can you tell anything?”
“I’m not sure, but I have a hunch.”
Viaton imbued his voice with mana and spoke directly into Rovena’s ear.
He didn’t want Isabel to hear this.
『I’ve been tracking a certain human recently.』
『And?』
『His name is Wilhelm. You know him, right? The Creation Mage Wilhelm of the Mirotel Magic Federation.』
『I know his name.』
『This one-eyed giant’s body smells strangely like Wilhelm.』
『Is that so?』
『And look at his shoulder. There’s a strange skull-shaped pattern. It’s a pattern that’s not found on ordinary one-eyed giants.』
『Oh, really?』
Rovena looked away as if she wasn’t interested.
She wasn’t really interested.
All that mattered to her was ignoring the cuteness she felt towards Isabel.
She had diverted her attention sufficiently, so she decided not to look at Isabel anymore.
“Well, I don’t really care, so you can handle it. What’s important to me is that the Princess keeps her promise to me. 5 days left. I’ll be back in 5 days. Take good care of the Princess until then.”
Rovena disappeared from the spot after issuing her ultimatum.
Isabel was startled.
“Sh-She disappeared, Teacher.”
“Indeed. It seems like she was in a great hurry.”
“Huh?”
“She usually doesn’t use magic in front of others. Publicly, she’s a swordswoman.”
Isabel tilted her head.
“What do you mean, publicly a swordswoman?”
“She’s actually closer to a mage than a swordswoman. Well, her swordsmanship is stronger than mine, though.”
“What do you mean? I know that Duke Rovena is a powerful swordswoman, comparable to even Father.”
“Well, that’s how she’s known.”
Viaton chuckled.
“That’s why she didn’t use magic in front of me either, but she did today. And she used a highly difficult, advanced magic like teleportation. She just used it without even chanting? Oh, how strange.”
Viaton seemed to know something about Rovena.
✦✦✦✦✦✦
Yuli, the Chief Reporter of ‘Whisper,’ witnessed an astonishing sight.
The 7-year-old Princess, who was supposed to be hiding in the palace, personally went to the North Gate and stopped the one-eyed giant.
Yuli drafted the first draft of the newsletter article on the spot.
『The Princess, along with her teacher, Sir Viaton, joined forces and held off the one-eyed giant long enough for Duke Rovena to arrive……』
Yuli couldn’t take her eyes off Isabel.
‘So Bilotian has a Princess like that……’
The citizens of the Bilotian Empire are fortunate.
Yuli genuinely thought so.
While she was writing the draft, admiring the Princess, she spotted an unwelcome face.
‘Why is she here again?’
Whisper was the continent’s largest newsletter and had a total of 12 Chief Reporters.
Yuli was the 11th Chief Reporter, and she had a junior reporter right below her.
The 12th Chief Reporter’s name was LeSalin.
She was Yuli’s colleague and competitor, and they weren’t on good terms.
“I can’t trust what you’re doing, senior.”
“What do you mean?”
“The manuscript you sent last time was scrapped by the higher-ups.”
“What?”
Yuli had recorded the events in the Linta region and included them in the newsletter.
The protagonist of the article was, of course, Isabel.
It was quite favorable towards the TeyIsabel Transfer Gate, and it also included many of Isabel’s achievements in the Linta region.
“Are you some kind of Princess follower, senior?”
“……”
“Have you forgotten what our job is? We’re reporters.”
“Yes. We are the ones who need to tell the truth.”
LeSalin shook her head.
“Are you reading fairy tales these days? Or have you suddenly become an idealist? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Reporters don’t tell the truth. They’re just employees hired by the newsletter.”
“……”
“So we just need to do what the people who pay us want and get paid. Have you forgotten who pays us?”
Whisper’s biggest sponsors were the Mirotel Magic Federation and the Magic Tower.
“You should back off now, senior. All your manuscripts will be scrapped, and I’ll be doing the reporting from now on.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Here. I even brought the order. Michael. Give me the order.”
Behind LeSalin stood a very large man.
His name was Michael.
His position was Trainee Reporter, and he was learning from LeSalin.
In reality, he was mainly in charge of bodyguard duties rather than reporting, though.
“Oh my, what to do? The performance evaluation is just around the corner, and it looks like you’ll be working under me, senior, hohoho!”
✦✦✦✦✦✦
A day passed.
There were no casualties from the one-eyed giant incident.
‘Phew. That’s a relief.’
As expected of a place ruled by the ‘Holy King,’ who is highly praised even in the Kingdom of Alphea.
The general consensus was that if it weren’t for Holy King Rahella, there would have been significant damage here.
However, Isabel’s achievements weren’t particularly publicized.
It was only natural.
For some reason, Chief Reporter Yuli had disappeared from the scene, and another reporter, who wasn’t friendly towards Isabel, had been dispatched instead.
‘Judging by the way she’s asking questions, it seems like she wants to find fault with me.’
The reporter named LeSalin asked me a few questions.
‘Why did you leave the palace and head to the North Gate?’
‘Because of that, there was a gap in the Holy King’s administrative power, and the damage to the South Gate increased slightly. What do you think about that?’
‘Thankfully, the Northern Duke arrived just in time, but did you consider the possibility that there could have been greater damage if she hadn’t?’
‘Did you anticipate that if you had been seriously injured there, the Holy King would have been put in a very uncomfortable and difficult situation?’
And so on.
I didn’t answer those questions.
In a way, I could be considered more familiar with the media than Reporter LeSalin, so I could read her intentions.
In situations like this, it was better not to answer.
‘I understand, but……’
I could understand with my head why Reporter Yuli had disappeared and why Reporter LeSalin had replaced her.
But it was also true that I was upset.
Sir Viaton, who came to tuck me in as usual, spoke in a gentle voice.
“Princess, your expression is dark.”
I’m a little sad.
I almost said that, but I managed to hold it back.
‘Sir Viaton is on vacation.’
Strangely, he was sticking close to me, but anyway, Sir Viaton is on vacation.
I thought I shouldn’t burden someone who should be resting comfortably.
“Did something happen during your volunteer work today?”
“Volunteering was enjoyable.”
“Then?”
“It’s nothing.”
I deliberately put on a bright smile.
Sir Viaton stared at me with his handsome face.
I laughed awkwardly and said,
“It’s embarrassing when you stare at me like that.”
I pulled the blanket over my head and hid.
It was partly true that I was embarrassed, and I also didn’t want to show my upset face.
‘There’s nothing about me in the breaking news about the one-eyed giant. That means my story is being processed in a different way, right?’
I could guess what kind of story would be published about me without even seeing it.
I had experienced similar things many times in my previous life.
The most common tabloid was ‘She’s actually not sick at all, she’s just putting on a show to beg for money,’ and there were many other ridiculous rumors.
‘Surely something like that will happen again.’
This must be the ‘narrow and difficult path’ that Karin talked about.
It was something I was quite used to, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bother me at all.
‘But I shouldn’t be this depressed before anything has even happened. It’s a burden on Sir Viaton, who’s on vacation.’
I don’t want to be a burdensome child.
Being someone who only received help and caused trouble was enough in my previous life.
‘Huh?’
But something was strange.
I couldn’t sense anyone’s presence, so I lowered the blanket.
Sir Viaton, who had been here just a moment ago, was gone.
There was a small note on the table.
‘What’s that?’
It seemed like a note left by Sir Viaton.
『I will find your true smile, Princess.』
Sir Viaton knew that I was faking a smile.
