Chapter 29

But when the noblewoman reached into her blouse pocket to search for that last remaining coin…

She froze in fear, drawing in a sharp breath.

——The silver coin was gone too!

Oh my heavens… could this really be some kind of curse?

Well, whether she was cursed or not was another matter.

But for the lovely Miss Shaya, today had certainly been a fruitful day!

………………………………

In the end, the noblewoman was left penniless. Without enough money to hire a carriage, she experienced a taste of common life, walking home on foot with a pale face.

As for the man who had committed robbery today, someone just happened to come take over dealing with him.

They were members of the royal guard who had left the palace in search of Her Highness the Third Princess.

Clad in golden armor that struck fear into the hearts of onlookers, they caused the crowd to part wherever they passed.

After much effort, they finally found Princess Livra and quickly knelt in a row before her, pleading for Her Highness to return to the palace at once. His Majesty the King was once again furious!

But they had not expected that this time, Her Highness had legitimate reasons—she was truly attending to official matters.

Princess Livra issued several orders.

First, the man who had committed the roadside robbery was to be taken to the Tribunal for investigation, with punishment to be reduced as appropriate.

Second, the man’s family was to receive aid from doctors at the Royal Capital’s medical house, and a suitable residence was to be arranged for them.

Third, the Viscount Governor of the border fortress was suspected by Her Highness of embezzling war funds—an investigation was to be launched immediately.

And finally, regarding the family of that last noblewoman—the House of Count Xilu.

They, too, warranted an investigation.

The reason being that in this era of unrest, when even the royal family lacked funds, it was highly suspicious that the wife of a mere count would be carrying one hundred gold coins on her person. There was likely something fishy about it.

Sheffy almost burst out laughing!

That fat woman had originally come to curry favor, but had instead run into a hard-nosed princess. Now she might end up dragging her own family down with her!

Puhihi, one could already imagine Count Xilu cursing the fat woman as a reckless spendthrift!

Hearing this string of official orders from Livra, the members of the royal guard looked at her with newfound respect, nodding repeatedly.

It was rare to see Her Highness so serious, which commanded everyone’s admiration.

In other words, they were more or less completely bewildered by now.

“That is all. Be sure to handle these matters properly. I still have other business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

“Ye… yes, Your Highness! Please rest assured!”

Livra nodded, exuding great poise. With a flick of her sleeve that stirred the air with a whoosh, she strolled leisurely toward the end of the street.

——Of course, she broke into a run at the end.

She ran as fast as she could!

In an instant, she vanished without a trace.

“Captain… it seems Her Highness has slipped away again. Should we give chase?”

“Forget it…” said the captain of the personal guards, who had served in the palace for several decades. “Let’s just carry out Her Highness’s orders. We have more pressing duties.”

“But how are we going to report this to His Majesty? He did say we must bring Her Highness back.”

“The usual story. We’ll say Her Highness was very busy dispensing justice again today. Can’t you tell? His Majesty may appear angry on the surface, but he’s always pleased deep down. If we actually drag Her Highness back, that would go against His Majesty’s wishes.”

“I’ve learned something…! As expected of the captain! So experienced!”

“You’ve still got a lot to learn, kid. Uh… by the way, was the Hero just here a moment ago?”

“Was she?”

“I could have sworn I saw her… did I mistake someone else?”

He hadn’t mistaken it.

It was just that Xiarette had already left with Sheffy.

Before Princess Livra slipped away, she had stuffed a note into Xiarette’s hand, with the meeting location written on it.

She had meant to say that she wanted to have a chat with Miss Shaya.

In truth, the moment Xiarette saw the note, her instinctive reaction was that she didn’t want Sheffy to go chat with Livra… so she had considered handing the note over to the captain of the guards.

But after giving it more thought, such an action would have been downright wicked and risked invoking divine retribution, so she decided against it.

On the way to the designated meeting place.

Xiarette was saying things that left Sheffy utterly confused.

“Sheffy, when we meet Her Highness later, try… not to stare at her too much, okay? I get the feeling Her Highness seems quite… eager about you… and that’s not a good sign.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean Her Highness is very beautiful, and she might find me a bit threa—cough! I mean, it’s impolite to stare at others! And besides, Sheffy, you don’t want to attract too much attention either, right?”

“Oh oh, I get it now. Don’t worry, I won’t.”

“Hmm? You’re agreeing so quickly this time?”

“Of course. She’s not better looking than you. If I’m going to look at someone, I’d rather look at you.”

“!”

Ahhh…!

Sheffy, when you eat doughnuts, does your mouth also absorb the sugar inside them?!

Even though Xiarette knew that wasn’t what Sheffy meant… her heart was still fluttering uncontrollably—what was she supposed to do about that!

The walk wasn’t too long.

In front of a newly opened forest fruit juice shop on another street in the Royal Capital, Livra, who had arrived early, happily stood up and waved to welcome them.

Under a large sun umbrella shading a round table—such stalls had become quite the fashion in the Royal Capital these days.

Standing beneath the orange sun umbrella in a black dress, Livra’s smile had returned to that same silly look she had worn when they first met.

“Hey, Xiarette, I have to say, this girl looks pretty good.”

“…?! Sheffy, just now you said…!”

“But not as good as you.”

“Don’t talk in such broken sentences…!”

29. *Why are you looking at me like that?*

“Miss Shaya, nice to meet you. Let me formally introduce myself again. My name is Livra. Ahaha… as you can see, I’m still a very immature princess, working hard to improve myself. Please take care of me.”

“Oh oh, then you keep working hard! Aim to become competent soon!”

“……”

Ladies and gentlemen.

This is what they call the art of conversation.

Xiarette glanced left at Princess Livra, who had stood and introduced herself with a smile and poise.

Then she glanced right at Sheffy, who remained seated and waved cheerfully as she spoke.

She immediately sensed that this was going to be a linguistic landslide of a conversation.

She had originally intended to say a few words herself, but seeing this, she decided she might as well just drink her fruit juice quietly and not say anything.

To avoid causing a commotion, Livra had already removed the royal emblem from her shoulder and tucked it away.

She had worn the emblem earlier because they had been catching a thief; if needed, it allowed her to coordinate the crowd.

But for now, it wasn’t necessary anymore~

Sheffy didn’t think she had said anything wrong.

Look, the princess had said she was unqualified, so Sheffy had wished her to become qualified soon. Wasn’t that perfectly consistent? Was there a problem with that? No problem at all!

Had it been someone else, this conversation might have ended right there.

But sitting across from Sheffy was Princess Livra.

Upon hearing Miss Shaya’s response, not only did she not get angry, she even covered her mouth and let out several happy laughs.

It was clear she was truly delighted!

“Puh… hahaha! Miss Shaya, you really are an interesting person. I’m becoming more and more curious—just which family are you from, and how old are you this year? Why have I never seen you before? Logically, with someone as outstanding and candid as you, and someone who knows Lady Xiarette, I should have noticed you long ago! Also… could you… would you be my friend?”

“Ah ah, I get it already! Don’t lean so close to me…! Honestly, rattling off such a long string of questions, where am I supposed to start answering?”

“Hehe… sorry, sorry.” Livra sat back in her chair, pressing her hands together and sticking out her tongue a little in apology. “I just got a bit too excited… because Miss Shaya not only knows advanced magic like 【Restraint】, but also has such a frank and straightforward personality. I really do want to be your friend!”

“I’m saying, since you’re a princess, you don’t need to use honorifics with me…”

“Okay!”

Xiarette glanced at Princess Livra, whose eyes were sparkling with light, and more or less understood why she was so excited.

Princess Livra’s personality was clearly different from that of the other princesses in the palace. The others were the typical sheltered noble ladies, rarely stepping outside their quarters. Only Princess Livra was restless and constantly eager to go out.

Such a personality left her longing for a friend with whom she could genuinely speak, not just the fawning noble children in the palace.

Meeting someone like Sheffy—who would talk back to her without hesitation—was a first for Livra. How could she not be delighted!

Sheffy took a sip of the chilled fruit juice through a straw. Her eyes, shifting from a deep violet to a light purple hue, reflected Livra’s face—full of anticipation and genuine sincerity.

Well, to be honest, her first impression of this Human princess wasn’t bad.

Take one thing for example: when Sheffy had grabbed her ear and she couldn’t break free, Livra hadn’t once tried to pull rank. She hadn’t shouted anything like *”I’m a princess of the Kingdom, unhand me at once, you insolent wretch!”*

If she had said that, Sheffy probably would have twisted that ear all the way around on the spot!

And another thing—

She was buying her drinks now.

She seemed pretty nice, really.

Silently placing the drink she had been holding with both hands onto the table, Sheffy gave a light nod—accepting the offer of friendship.

“Being friends is fine… but don’t expect too much from me. I’m just an ordinary person. Remember that—I’m very ordinary, not as impressive as you make me sound.”

“Re… really?! Thank you, Sh… hiss…!”

“Your Highness?!”

*Thud…!*

Xiarette was startled by Livra’s sudden movement.

Good grief, Her Highness had suddenly stood up, only to abruptly crouch back down for some reason.

And when crouching, her chin had smacked against the table’s edge!

Was she practicing some kind of combo injury technique?!

Xiarette quickly got up in concern, only to see cold sweat beading on Livra’s forehead, though her forced smile was still valiantly trying to remain composed.

Livra attempted to prop herself up on the table with her arms, seemingly unwilling to make a fool of herself in front of her new friend, though it was rather futile.

Only when Sheffy hopped off her chair and came over to check on her did Livra finally confess the situation under Xiarette’s questioning.

“Ha… it’s nothing, nothing, I just stood up too fast, that’s all… minor issue!”

As she spoke, Livra remained half-squatting.

She slightly lifted the hem of her black dress, revealing part of her lower leg.

Just a slight lift—no need for modesty—allowing both Sheffy and Xiarette to clearly see the injury on her leg.

A large, long red gash streaked with dirt—quite a ghastly sight.

Blood had already seeped down her calf, staining the cuff of her white sock red. From a quick assessment, it appeared to be an abrasion.

Even Livra herself looked down and was a little surprised.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep