Chapter 29: Chapter-29

When she’d needed information from the city before, it had been Lisa’s external contacts—merchants, clerks, her network of acquaintances—who’d gathered it. The knights, despite their combat training and palace access, were functionally blind to anything beyond the walls.

Useful for internal security. Useless for external strategy.

She studied the fox knight more carefully. He stood at attention, waiting for orders, expression carefully neutral. She could discuss anything in front of him—sedition, murder, treason—and he would remain exactly as he was now: present, listening, and utterly silent unless directly questioned.

It was a degree of loyalty that bordered on inhuman. Not ’trustworthy’ in the sense of shared values or moral alignment, but reliable in the sense of absolute behavioral conditioning. These knights wouldn’t betray her because they were programmed not to betray ’any’ master they served.

That programming could be enhanced. She’d seen references in the administrative files to “personalized knight contracts”—a ritual binding that elevated a guard’s power in exchange for deeper loyalty ties to a specific royal. The bonded knight would be marginally stronger, faster, more attuned to their master’s needs.

But the ritual required magical synchronization. And Elara’s control over this body’s magic was still unstable at best. She could perform basic spells with preparation, but complex rituals? Under observation? With a living subject whose life might depend on her precision?

Unacceptable risk. If the binding failed or revealed her incomplete mastery, every mage in the palace would know something was wrong with the Fourth Princess’s core. Questions would follow. Investigations. Physicians poking at her with diagnostic stones.

No. Better to work with standard-contract knights for now. Limited but predictable.

She set the personnel files aside and looked at the fox knight. “I need external intelligence. Commercial contracts, noble house finances, shipping records from the port. Information that doesn’t exist in palace archives.”

“Your Highness would need to contract civilian informants.”

“Exactly. Which is why my first priority is hiring administrative staff who have external networks.” She tapped the files. “These four—the dismissed clerks with merchant family connections. Send formal interview requests. I want them here by week’s end.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As he left, Elara returned to her desk and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. She began mapping what she knew:

’’Internal Assets:’’

– Beast Knights (palace intelligence, combat, absolute discretion)

– Lisa (minor administrative support, limited external contacts)

– Rescued fox knight (probationary loyalty, motivated by debt)

’’Internal Gaps:’’

– No external intelligence network

– No independent financial auditing

– No mage corps access

– No noble house alliances

’’Immediate Objectives:’’

– Hire civilian staff with external connections

– Establish intelligence pipeline beyond palace walls

– Complete secondary research projects to maintain Emperor’s interest

– Avoid magical rituals that would expose incomplete core control

’’Opposition:’’

– Eleana (active hostility, combat magic, unknown resources)

– Empress (political authority, willing to use summary execution)

– Second Princess (status unknown, likely monitoring situation)

’’Timeline:’’

– Crown Princess selection: not yet announced

– Succession battle: already active

– Personal survival window: shrinking

She studied the map for several minutes, then drew a single line at the bottom:

’’Core Problem: If I don’t win, I die. So I must win.’’

Simple. Clear. No emotions required.

Just execution.

Also Elara needed to learn magic—properly, systematically, from the ground up. But that presented a significant problem.

This body had considerable magical potential. According to the records she’d found, the previous Fourth Princess had been tutored directly by a master mage who’d taught her advanced theory before retiring into seclusion. Everything the princess needed to know, she’d already been taught.

Which meant Elara couldn’t simply approach that teacher and ask to “start from the beginning.”

The Emperor didn’t know the Fourth Princess well. Eleana saw her as competition, not as a person. The servants kept their distance. Even Lisa’s knowledge was surface-level—administrative details and public behavior, nothing deeper.

But a teacher? Someone who’d spent years training a student, watching her progress, correcting her mistakes, observing her personality through the intimate process of magical education?

That person would notice immediately that something was wrong.

Elara’s gaze drifted to a small framed portrait on the writing desk—one of the few personal items the previous princess had kept. It showed a younger version of this body standing beside a tall figure in a black hooded robe and mask. Only his eyes were visible, and they were unmistakably warm, crinkled at the corners with what could only be a smile as he looked down at his student.

The composition, the posture, the way the princess leaned slightly toward him—this wasn’t a formal master-student relationship. This was someone who’d cared about her. Known her. Perhaps the only person in the entire palace who had.

Approaching him would be suicide.

One conversation, maybe two, and he’d realize the Fourth Princess he’d taught was gone, replaced by someone else wearing her face. Then what? Would he report it? Investigate? Try to “fix” whatever had happened?

Elara didn’t know. And uncertainty was unacceptable.

Besides, she wasn’t particularly eager to return to her original world even if that were possible. She’d been murdered—she was certain of it. That business partner, the one who’d smiled and poured her tea right before everything went dark. He’d killed her. Her body was gone, disposed of, probably already buried or burned while investigators wrote it off as sudden illness or accident.

If someone did find a way to pull her consciousness out of this body and send it back… where would it go? A corpse? The void?

No. Staying here was the logical choice. This body was alive, young, and—despite its previous owner’s neglect—had significant potential. She had resources, legal status, and a clear objective.

Learn enough magic to survive without a teacher. Build a power base strong enough that it wouldn’t matter if anyone discovered her secret. Win the succession, or at least position herself so that eliminating her became more costly than tolerating her.

She’d survived worse with less.

The magic problem would solve itself eventually. For now, she had books, imperial research archives, and time. Self-study was inefficient, but not impossible.

And if the mysterious master ever emerged from seclusion?

She’d deal with that obstacle when it became relevant.

Three days later, Elara sat in her newly reorganized office as the first candidate was shown in.

The woman who entered was perhaps forty, dressed in modest but well-maintained clerk’s robes. She bowed correctly—not too deep, not too shallow—and waited.

“Mira Castellan,” Elara said, reviewing the file in front of her. “Former senior accountant for my household. Dismissed eight months ago when my staff was… restructured. You’ve been working as a freelance bookkeeper since then.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Your dismissal paperwork lists ’budgetary constraints’ as the reason. But the Fourth Princess’s household budget wasn’t reduced that year. It was reallocated.” Elara looked up. “Someone wanted you gone. Why?”

Mira’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in her eyes—surprise that the question had been asked at all. “I refused to sign off on falsified expense reports, Your Highness.”

“For what purchases?”

“Luxury goods listed as laboratory supplies. The amounts were small enough not to trigger audits, but over six months, approximately fifteen thousand gold vanished into personal accounts.”

“Whose accounts?”

Mira hesitated.

“I’m not asking you to testify in court,” Elara said. “I’m asking if you kept records.”

A longer pause. Then: “Yes, Your Highness. I kept copies.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep