The Second Prince

The Grand Palace, located at the center of Elmia, the magical kingdom.

The one hearing the report in his office was a young man dressed in elegant formal wear.

Kyle von Elmia, the Second Prince.

There were not a few nobles who thought him a fool, a man who had earned countless romantic rumors thanks to his beautiful appearance and sociable, likable personality.

However, they did not know.

The truth that Kyle was deliberately spreading a reputation that made him appear foolish in order to avoid being seen as a threat.

(This country is rotten to the core.)

Kyle was looking at the hidden side of the nation more calmly than anyone.

(A corrupt political system. The Council of Three Hundred, which holds more power than the royal family. The nobles think of nothing but lining their own pockets. How many common people have been sacrificed because of that?)

Crushing taxes and oppression far beyond proper levels.

When it came to violence and crimes committed by nobles against commoners, it was rather rarer for them not to be covered up.

However, Kyle also understood that changing this situation was extremely difficult.

(It is not easy to change people. All the more so because, in Elmia’s noble society, the current situation has already come to be recognized as normal. My father—His Majesty the King—is also striving desperately, but before the overwhelming power of the Council of Three Hundred, he has been able to change almost nothing.)

One example of such evil governance was Lineage and its surrounding area, owned by House Lumiore.

This region was less suited to agriculture than other areas.

The nobles had concluded that its low productivity was due to the laziness of the townspeople.

Exhausted by crushing taxes and oppression, the townspeople had finally reached a hopeless state as infectious disease spread among them.

It seemed that the third son of House Lumiore, who had fled the territory, was desperately trying to conceal the situation.

(Thinking of nothing but self-preservation, without the slightest thought for the townspeople.)

On top of that, it was said that Ravel, the head of House Lumiore, had sent his fifth daughter to the territory as a substitute in order to hide the fact that his son had abandoned it.

There were rumors that this daughter, who was said to have had some kind of problem with her magical aptitude, had not even been permitted to go outside and had been confined in the mansion’s basement.

(Sacrificing his still ten-year-old daughter for self-preservation. What a cruel story.)

Even so, Elmia’s noble society was so thoroughly corrupted that one could no longer even be surprised by such shady stories.

(It must be changed. No matter what means it takes.)

Kyle had sent spies to the land of Lineage in order to gather information on the evil governance and wrongdoing in the Lumiore territory and its surrounding region.

It was not something he wanted to hear.

However, he felt that he had to hear it himself.

Otherwise, everything would be buried in darkness.

What kind of tragic events had been happening behind the scenes while the nobles were lining their pockets?

When it came to the abandoned land—to the voices of the oppressed weak—it seemed that he alone was left who could still hear them.

Even so, he needed time to prepare himself before hearing the report of the spy who had returned.

He moistened his dry throat with water.

Sitting on the sofa, he closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, and then said,

“Tell me.”

The returned spy nodded.

He opened his mouth.

Just how horrific a scene had spread out there?

“Please stay calm and listen.”

The spy said,

“It appears that the infectious disease problem in the land of Lineage has come to an end.”

Kyle listened with his brow still furrowed.

Several seconds of silence.

Then he looked up, his face full of confusion.

“………………What?”

It took Kyle no small amount of time to understand the situation.

The spy told Kyle the information he had gathered about the surrounding region.

“How in the world did they overturn a situation like that…?”

To the stunned Kyle, the spy said,

“It seems that the fifth daughter of House Lumiore, who was sent there as acting lord, overturned the hopeless situation. She distributed medicine that had been loaded into the carriage, and she herself treated more than five thousand townspeople with healing magic that far surpassed the bounds of an ordinary person.”

“But the acting lord sent there was supposed to be only a child, was she not?”

“A ten-year-old girl. And yet she accomplished it.”

Silence filled the office.

He needed some time to understand and accept that report.

Kyle tried to picture in his mind what the spy had told him.

A ten-year-old girl who had overturned a horrific situation all by herself and saved the townspeople.

However, he could not picture it well.

It was far too detached from reality.

He could not possibly believe it.

Not until he saw it with his own eyes.

“Prepare a carriage. We leave for Lineage at once.”

“However, were you not scheduled to go into the forest with Duke today to shoot birds?”

“There is something that must take priority over anything else.”

Kyle jumped into the carriage and headed for Lineage.

It happened while I was wearing a work cloth over my head, swinging a hoe, and reclaiming wasteland with household magic.

“There’s someone who wants to meet me?”

At my words, Vincent nodded.

“Yes. A man claiming to be the head of a merchant company from a neighboring country. He says he has taken an interest in your activities as lord, Lady Mythia.”

“Is his identity certain?”

“It has not been fully verified. There is also the possibility that he is disguising himself as someone else in order to investigate us.”

(Someone is trying to investigate us…)

At that information, I could not suppress the pounding of my heart.

A mysterious person who had come to investigate our side.

What a tense event straight out of a story!

The problem was that the other party was someone from noble society.

As the ultimate villainess, I did have the desire to beat up those corrupt nobles who were getting carried away, but I had only just begun rebuilding the territory.

Right now, I did not have the power to turn my ideals into reality.

(Beautiful roses have thorns, but I must not let the enemy notice these thorns. Not yet.)

I thought to myself.

(I will perfectly play the role of a good and ordinary lord who arouses no suspicion…!)

Holding that resolve in my heart, I headed for the meeting place.