Chapter 23

The matter with Gatou, the don of the royal capital’s underworld, was settled.

With the best possible result imaginable.

Gathering information in the royal capital had been my initial goal, but I felt like I had somehow accomplished many other aspirations all at once.

Including making amends to Gatou, whom I had ruthlessly exploited in my past life.

He probably possessed the innate talent to stand above others from the very beginning.

It was just that he happened to be born into the slums, where becoming a major villain was the only way to reach the top.

However, if this environment changed, he could become a well-behaved human being to match it.

He possessed that kind of flexibility, too.

If I brought him to my side, I figured I could safely weather the rest of the Crown Prince selection.

Probably.

“That was truly splendid. I was captivated.”

As soon as our business concluded and we stepped out of the Southern Lunda district, the Crown Prince finally opened his mouth.

It seemed he had kept his promise honorably in his own way.

“To think you would rope in the boss of the capital’s slums—your scale of thinking is completely on a different dimension from other young ladies. Well, even if someone managed to think of it, actually persuading seasoned scoundrels is a totally different story. It just shows how exceptional your conversational skills are.”

“That is not the case at all. Everything is thanks to His Highness.”

“Mine?”

For a split second during the negotiations, Gatou’s gaze had shifted sideways and hadn’t been looking at me.

The person Gatou had been looking at during that fraction of a second was Crown Prince Kistihart, who had been standing by in my rear.

As someone who ruled the capital’s underworld and, as its top boss, fully understood the importance of information, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize the face of our nation’s royalty.

He had realized it. He noticed that the person tagging along under the guise of my bodyguard was actually the future king of this country.

And the other side must have conveniently assumed that the verbal promises I offered had the backing of royalty.

When that happened, the level of trust skyrocketed instantly.

In the end, what this unknown little girl said was essentially achieved by borrowing the credibility of her father, the Duke of Eldenvalk, and her companion, Crown Prince Kistihart.

It made me keenly aware of my own inadequacy.

Well, for a young girl who hadn’t even turned twenty yet, that was probably about right.

“Still, just how far ahead were you planning?”

“What do you mean?”

“Certainly, you might have wanted a private, active operational force you could actually use in the royal capital. For that, those ruffians are perhaps not the best… but they’re reasonably competent pawns. Even so, that reward is far too exorbitant. An unmarried duke’s daughter’s pocket money could never cover it.”

“Rest assured.”

This matter would be fully funded by the Eldenvalk Duke family, not by me personally.

I had already received permission for that from my father.

Since I had been steadily pushing forward with the plans themselves for a while now, those preparations finally paid off.

“The redevelopment of the Southern Lunda district will proceed entirely under the funding and planning of the Eldenvalk family. Well, since that district has been abandoned by the royal government anyway, I doubt any official permission is even necessary.”

“What if I said everything would be carried out under my initiative?”

“Oh? Does a lord intend to take the credit belonging to their vassal?”

Inwardly, I was shaken by this somewhat unexpected probing.

Or rather, that was a bit troublesome. I had already told Gatou that the project would proceed according to our agreement.

“I don’t intend to take all the credit, but it would be better to frame it as an order issued by me. That alone will significantly reduce any interference.”

“That is certainly true, but…”

“Everyone recognizes that district as a problem within the royal capital. If it gets resolved, your reputation will inevitably rise whether you like it or not. Furthermore, if it’s done under my command, many people will be forced to sniff out the close connection between you and me.”

“Huh?”

What kind of interpretation was that?

“While the nobles of this country are selecting a Crown Princess based purely on magic, you are trying to demonstrate your qualifications as a Crown Princess through practical results. You truly never fail to entertain me.”

That was not it at all.

While I was desperately trying to settle accounts from my past life, why was he weaving his own independent interpretations into it?

If this person stuck around, everything I did would get conveniently reshaped to fit his narrative.

If things kept going this way, I would just have to make sure I failed out of the next stage of the Crown Prince selection!

And several days passed.

A major development finally occurred regarding the selection of the Crown Prince’s future wife.

The young ladies were gathered at the royal castle once more on another day.

However, their number was far smaller compared to that previous evening party.

The count was less than one-tenth.

The actual number was around twenty.

Including this self, Eltriede.

“Young ladies gathered here. All of you are persons who continue to possess the qualifications to become the wife of Crown Prince Kistihart.”

Speaking in the manner of an MC was someone who appeared to be an administrative official working at the royal castle.

He was around his forties, and his tone and attitude gave off a sense of pride from long-standing service to the royal family.

“To begin with self-introductions, I am Marquis Azuro, an administrative official. I shall be managing your second selection. Now, all of you are those who achieved a certain score in the covertly conducted magic measurements at the recent evening party, and were judged to have the qualifications of a Crown Princess… Though that is with a few exceptions.”

An overt glare was sent from the person calling himself the manager.

The target of that look was clearly me.

It was as if to say, with what face is someone with no magic even standing here?

Though I would prefer they complained to the Crown Prince instead.

After all, approving my passage must have been a decree straight from him.

“In the first screening, you young ladies demonstrated the magnitude of your magic. However, having large magic does not necessarily mean one is excellent as a magic user. Being first-rate means using great power appropriately.”

The administrator’s explanation continued.

In short, the first round showed power, and the second round was meant to show technique.

I already knew what he was going to say and what he wanted us to do.

After all, I had already experienced it in my past life. Having to pretend not to know what I already knew, and even pretending to listen eagerly, was surprisingly tough.

“Therefore, the Crown Princess candidates will enter the Gremlin Forest.”

The “Gremlin Forest.”

At that place name, which I had heard in my past life as well, a slight tension crept over me.

It was one of several magical places located within the Spiritual Kingdom.

It served as the habitat for evil fairies.

Fairies were generally neither good nor evil; although they were otherworldly beings, they were considered harmless.

However, among them were fairies whose pranks went too far, causing them to be shunned as beings that inflicted harm upon humans.

Gremlins were one such type of fairy.

The forest where the gremlins lived was situated at just the right spot—neither too far nor too close to the royal capital—making it convenient for events like this.

Gremlins made for ideal opponents to give half-fledged knights and soldiers a taste of actual combat.

They eagerly attacked upon seeing humans, but since it was ultimately just excessive prankishness, even if one got injured, it rarely became life-threatening.

The goal was to use magic against such opponents and gauge our skill.

Hearing it explained all over again, the absurdity of it doubled.

To decide a Crown Princess using a method like this.

“This event is scheduled twenty days from now. Until then, I ask that everyone neglect no preparations.”

And for some reason, the period leading up to the event was long.

I just wanted to finish it quickly and go home. I had wondered how to spend this idle period, but then I remembered that the schedule for the Southern Lunda district redevelopment discussions was going to be hectic anyway.

In that case, I might as well finish up quickly and head back without wasting time… just as I started to stand up.

“Wait right there, you ‘one with no magic’.”

Someone called out to me.

Since I was the only noble with “no magic”, it was safe to understand that they were calling out to me.

So, who on earth was calling me?

When I turned around, a striking red-haired young lady was standing there.

Her hair color was a crimson hue, resembling a blazing flame.

That characteristic brought someone to mind.

Marquis Françoise Bonukut.

One of the four young ladies considered strong contenders for the next Crown Princess.

One of them, Lady Adelina from the Count of Fwanze family, had found another partner and voluntarily dropped out early, leaving only three for now.

The other prominent figures—the Margrave of Celine’s daughter and the Duke of Bonukut’s daughter—had naturally advanced to this second screening as well, and their figures could be seen scattered about.

However, standing right in front of me with an imposing presence that threatened to swallow my entire field of vision was none other than Marquis Françoise.

She had obviously called me out for some utter nonsense of a reason, but ignoring her and walking away would also violate etiquette as a noble.

With no other choice, I braced myself to deal with her.

“Do you need something from me, Lady Françoise?”

“You are an eyesore. Drop out of the Crown Princess selection right this instant.”

She really did just come right out and say it, didn’t she?

Come to think of it, she had this exact personality in my past life, too.

Should you call it straightforward?

It was only in this present life, with room in my heart, that I could tolerate such a cheeky attitude, but back in my past life when I had zero leeway for anything else, her every move and gesture used to irritate me to no end.

That was precisely why, in this second screening, I had faked an accident to inflict a major injury on her back then.