Chapter 19

Oh honestly, what on earth is going on right now?!

I had thought all the problems were finally solved and I could head back to the territory!

The first screening of the Crown Princess selection…

…This me passed without a hitch?!

You’ve got to be kidding me, why is this happening when I don’t even want it?

In my past life, I barely managed to get through only by bribing the court magic examiners who conducted the selection alongside the Crown Prince.

The moment I stopped wanting it, I pass unconditionally—things in this world really never go the way you want them to.

When the Crown Prince told me directly that night, I thought it was just idle talk.

Yet the very next morning, a formal messenger arrived straight from the royal castle…

“We are pleased to report and congratulate the Honorable Lady Eltriede of the Eldenvalk Duke family on advancing to the next stage of the Crown Princess selection. Furthermore, as you are invited to a new gathering, we ask that you remain in the capital until that time. This is by royal command.”

Having “by royal command” thoroughly hammered in at the end gave me the distinct feeling of having a nail driven straight into my coffin.

Coming from that Crown Prince, no less.

And so, departing wildly from my original plans, I was still staying at the upper mansion of the Eldenvalk family in the royal capital.

If things had gone according to plan, right about now I would be in the middle of a leisurely journey back to my territory, sightseeing along the way.

My secret plan to feast on the local specialties of every famous spot along the return route had been utterly ruined.

“Just how much of my plans does that prince intend to wreck before he’s satisfied…?”

“Truly, it’s preposterous. I wish those royal folks would realize how much trouble their behavior causes the common folk.”

Complaining right alongside me was my maid, Noah.

Normally, in a situation like this, adhering to noble common sense, one might spout something completely ignoring the master’s actual feelings, like, “Oh, what an honor to catch the Crown Prince’s eye!” or some such nonsense.

I really do have a wonderful maid.

“We want to get away from this stinking royal capital as fast as humanly possible, yet thanks to My Lady, even I am stuck here—it’s the height of a nuisance!”

Is she really a faithful maid, I wonder?

“The royal capital really feels much more like a rustic backwater than I ever imagined. Did you know, My Lady? There aren’t even any streetlamps out there!”

“Fancy things like that only exist in places like our territory in this entire country.”

Gas lamps, developed in foreign lands, had crossed the sea all the way to my port territory.

Father, who loved anything new, had immediately jumped on the trend, and for now at least, the port town where the lord resided had lights illuminating the night streets in various places.

“Father was quite boastful, saying that thanks to those things, nighttime crime had decreased significantly. So Noah, you mustn’t go wandering outside at night pretending you’re back in the territory, not in the royal capital.”

“I know, I know. It’s so pitch-black out that it doesn’t even put you in the mood for a stroll.”

There was no sewage system to banish foul odors, nor streetlamps to illuminate the dark night.

It would be quite a while before such infrastructure could be established in the royal capital. After all, the royals and nobles of this country believed that magic could solve any problem whatsoever.

In reality, that wasn’t the case at all.

“Even I myself haven’t been able to solve a single problem…”

I muttered those words to prompt some introspection.

Perhaps things turned out this way because my vigilance was lacking. And lacking the preparations that should have accompanied it.

As someone with no magic, participating in the Crown Princess selection shouldn’t have allowed me to pass even the first screening.

I was bound to fail immediately.

I had participated with that complacent assumption, yet my expectations missed the mark entirely, and I was still detained in the capital.

If things were going to be like this, I couldn’t afford to just sit back and let things happen from here on out.

The Crown Princess selection involved all several hundred noble young ladies of the kingdom, but last night’s banquet should have thinned the herd down to around twenty in one go.

How did I know? Because my past life had played out that way.

Of course, even after narrowing down the candidates that much, the screenings would continue until the very last person—the one who would formally become the Crown Princess—was decided.

And I, too, had to participate in at least the upcoming second screening.

There was zero doubt that the second screening would be harsher than the first.

That was precisely why, if I sat back complacently assuming that a magicless person like me would definitely and instantly fail, it could easily turn into a repeat of the first screening’s blunder.

Since it had come to this, instead of just letting myself be swept along by the circumstances, I needed to take the initiative and act proactively.

“Not ‘I’ll fail just by doing nothing,’ but ‘I will take active steps to utterly fail.’”

If I didn’t have at least that kind of resolve, there was no way I would ever get rejected from the Crown Princess selection!

“Noah, we’re going out! Help me change!”

“Understood, My Lady. Where are you heading?”

Noah asked because she intended to accompany me herself.

As my exclusive maid, it was only natural for her to follow me wherever I went and take care of my personal needs.

Normally, anyway.

“You don’t need to come with me today. Noah, stay here and watch over the mansion.”

“Eh? What are you saying? Since I, Noah, took on the duty of attending to My Lady, I intend to accompany you no matter where you go! Even if it’s to the foul-smelling royal capital!!”

She really couldn’t stand the smell of the royal capital.

Yet this time, I genuinely wanted Noah to stay behind.

To safely weather the upcoming stages of the Crown Princess selection, I wanted to acquire some more reliable assistance.

The place I was heading to for that reason was… well, a bit aggressive.

Since it was a rather stimulating location, I didn’t want to drag an innocent young maiden like Noah along.

Was I fine, you ask?

Me? I used to be a villainess who drowned and wallowed in the dark, pitch-black depths of human malice in my past life!!

And so, we departed.

Noah begged to come along until the very end, but after repeated persuasion, I succeeded in leaving her behind.

In the end, I struck a deal by promising, “I’ll buy you sweets as a souvenir.”

Was this the kind of condition a master made her servant swallow?

Anyway, I climbed into the carriage, rocked back and forth alone as I watched the passing scenery.

The carriage was driven by a deeply loyal coachman who had served the Duke family for twenty years, but even he, upon hearing our destination, grew pale and bewildered.

“My Lady, that place is far too…!”

“It’ll be fine.”

The fact that he shuddered just hearing the name of our destination truly proved what kind of place it was.

Since I couldn’t provide any concrete grounds for why it would be fine, I could only simply say, “It’ll be fine.”

The coachman followed my orders with a pale face, but after we had rolled along for a while, the carriage suddenly ground to a halt.

“What’s wrong? We haven’t reached our destination yet, have we?”

Judging from the scenery outside the window, I didn’t think we had arrived in the region I was aiming for at all.

Before I could check if something had happened, the carriage door swung open without even a knock.

And stepping inside was…

“Your Highness? Why are you here?”

“That’s my line, you know?”

The man who had forced his way into the carriage without so much as a by-your-leave possessed a very familiar face and form.

Was it not Crown Prince Kistihart himself?

“Where might you be heading, young lady?”

“That’s what I’m asking you. Why on earth are you here? Are princes so common that one randomly bumps into them in the middle of town?”

“Haha, well, I am a creature native to the royal capital, after all.”

Spouting such a worthless joke, I felt an indescribable sense of crisis and agitation at this turn of events.

Even if it was just a corner of the royal capital, what were the odds of accidentally running into the Crown Prince?

Naturally, something like this couldn’t possibly happen by mere coincidence. If that was the case, it was only natural to assume this situation had been intentionally orchestrated.

Furthermore, unlike the dazzling attire I had seen at the royal castle the other day, the Crown Prince was dressed in simple commoner clothes… his disguise was flawless.

Considering all of these factors together, it meant the Crown Prince was present here with full, deliberate awareness.

“By any chance… were you having me watched?”

Yes, the only way to explain the uncanny coincidence of our meeting just as I went out was if the other party had been keeping track of my movements down to the finest detail.

You mean to tell me he’d been keeping tabs on me twenty-four hours a day?!

What on earth is wrong with this man?!

“Well, considering your attitude when we parted ways… Even if I pressed it by royal command, there was a chance you might ignore it and flee back to your territory. Just thinking about that made me so anxious I couldn’t sleep at night…”

“Did you violate my privacy?”

“I tried to be considerate about that, at least. I stationed my men to monitor the coming and going at the Eldenvalk upper mansion, and ordered them to notify me if a carriage loaded down enough to suggest a retreat to the territory rolled out…”

“As you can see, the carriage I’m using right now is a small one meant for getting around town. It isn’t loaded with heavy luggage, is it? There’s not a single element here that should look suspicious to the Crown Prince.”

“As far as the carriage goes, yes. What I’m taking issue with is the destination this carriage is headed toward.”

So that was what caught his attention…

The Crown Prince rushed over in a panic. The place I was aiming for was…

“The northeast area of the royal capital, the Southern Lunda district. Commonly known as the Dump Slum.”