Chapter 15
Continental Year 761, January 29th (Friday).
The story circles back to the beginning.
After finishing her lesson and enjoying a delightful dinner, Princess Muriela stayed up late examining the remainder of the report.
Although a significant amount of the document was left unread, Solinor didn’t plan on finishing it all in one go. Despite feeling physically tired, his spirit was ablaze.
“I can’t leave things to my son anymore. Starting today, I’ll set this country right! Make Silbrenoa great again!”
The reports, which were arranged chronologically, showed a downward trend in various governance indicators. Infuriated, Solinor, now in Muriela’s body, resolved to reclaim the throne.
The idea of inheriting the throne from Eldric, the son to whom he had previously passed it, now felt odd. But given the current circumstances, it seemed the best course of action.
This didn’t mean he hated his son. However, with the citizens’ lives worsening by the day, as a former king, he couldn’t just sit idly by.
Of course, if a few pieces of advice could have fixed things, there wouldn’t have been a need for such an extreme measure as dethroning Eldric.
But from what Solinor gathered from reading the reports, Eldric seemed well past the point of improvement. It wasn’t a case of missteps or poor judgment.
It was as if he was completely indifferent to the safety of the country or the well-being of its people.
His policies lacked consistency, and he often squandered precious tax revenue on pointless endeavors.
He frequently abolished well-functioning systems for no apparent reason.
Worse, detailed budget reports indicated that the administrative officials weren’t taking their duties seriously either. They were merely embezzling taxes. Like king, like administration.
The continuous misrule of Eldric over the past decade had rotted the country from its roots, causing corruption and incompetence to flourish everywhere.
It was as if Silbrenoa, the beautiful garden Solinor and his companions had painstakingly cultivated, had been overrun by a cursed parasitic weed meant only to destroy.
Thus, the gardener Solinor resolved to prune the diseased branches. He had to reap what he sowed. Not to kill, of course.
Just to turn Eldric into a former king who could live comfortably without responsibility. After all, he couldn’t bring himself to kill his own son.
As Solinor wrestled with these intense thoughts, night fell, and the weariness of anger and contemplation sent Muriela’s consciousness drifting into sleep.
“Mmm… snore…”
Even drooling from her tiny, adorable mouth, she left the documents, which Anton had stressed must never be seen by others, sitting on her bedside table.
Teacher, all your efforts were in vain.
Fortunately for Anton and Muriela, there were no consequences involving being caught and sent to prison for leaking the documents.
It’s only an assassination if there’s no one left to tell the tale, right? Similarly, if no one saw it, leaking a million confidential documents would still be harmless.
No one had any reason to enter the sleeping princess’s room, so of course, no one saw them. In fact, anyone attempting such a thing would likely lose their head. You scoundrel! Of course, Bianca, the handmaid, could enter without issue, but she had no reason to.
Why disturb Princess Muriela when she was sleeping so peacefully, without any nightmares or tears as of late?
Bianca was relishing the happiest daily life of her existence! Pure tranquility!
***
February 10th (Wednesday), 761.
After about two weeks, Solinor had fully adapted to his routine with the teachers and lessons.
Anna, the etiquette teacher, was slightly disappointed by Muriela’s unchanged attitude toward lessons and the lackluster progress in etiquette.
However, she found comfort in the student’s behavior—always greeting her politely with a bright smile after class.
“As long as the child is kind, that’s enough.”
But how would she react if she knew that the very same student transformed into an exemplary model student in the next class?
It was probably for the best that Anna never saw the history lessons.
Anton conducted history classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as he had to teach Adeline on Mondays. The so-called history class had gradually turned into a time when the two indirectly criticized King Eldric.
Solinor had his reasons. He knew quite a bit, after all!
Given how hard he studied history in his past life, there was virtually nothing he didn’t know at the level of an 8-year-old’s curriculum. He was confident he could ace any test at that level.
Once again, Muriela used her special privilege as an outstanding student to make an unreasonable request to her teacher!
“Teacher! Could my handmaid, Bianca, also join the class?”
“Your handmaid? May I ask why?”
“After every class, Bianca always asks if it was fun! I think she might want to join in too!”
During the lessons, Bianca had been asked to wait outside. It was normal for an attendant to stand by when a young royal was in class, ready to assist as needed. However, Solinor, who valued treating subordinates well, was an exemplary superior.
‘After all, I’m the one taking the lessons, so there’s no need to waste Bianca’s time.’
Wouldn’t it be better for her to enjoy herself, maybe by taking a nap or having some tea, while Muriela studied?
However, contrary to his expectations, whenever Anton left after class, Bianca would come in to tidy up and ask with a wistful expression if the lesson had been interesting. Every single time.
‘Ah! This girl must be hungry for knowledge, just like I was when I was younger.’
It was only natural for Solinor to think so.
But the truth was, Bianca merely missed the time she spent with Muriela. It felt as though the child who had always been in her embrace was suddenly growing up and leaving her side.
Of course, saying such a thing as a mere maid would be far overstepping her bounds, so she couldn’t possibly voice it.
“Princess, are you sure about this?”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
The issue was that half of the lesson content involved criticizing—no, rationally evaluating—the king. Anton assumed that the sharp-minded princess had some idea in mind. No doubt, this maid had a role to play in their “plan.”
Sigh.
“If the princess wishes it, how could I refuse? Very well.”
“Bianca! Come in!”
Goodness, the princess had quite a voice. Muriela shouted with all her might to make sure Bianca heard her, just in case.
Bianca, who had briefly gone to the bathroom, came rushing in and burst through the door.
“Huff, huff, your… highness. Are… you all right?”
“Huh? Why are you so out of breath? I called you because I want you to join our lesson! The teacher said it’s okay!”
Bianca, still trying to catch her breath, looked stunned as she answered.
“…Me? Take the lesson?”
“Why? Do you not want to?”
Muriela’s eye attack, now firing automatically without Solinor’s will, was impossible to resist. Bianca, not understanding why this was happening, could only go along with what fate had in store.
“If it is truly what the princess wishes, I would be delighted to join.”
Another member added to the coup team!
***
At the same time, somewhere in the Fey Forest.
“Sweetheart! I miss you!”
A beautiful, blonde elf with pointed ears, lounging on the grass and enjoying the sunlight, called out to the sky.
“Oh, there she goes again. Hey! Sweetheart, my foot! You know you have at least another 20 years before you can leave, right? What did I do to deserve such a troublesome daughter…?”
“Ah, mother! You just don’t understand true love! Do you know how amazing my sweetheart is?”
Her timid protest was swiftly shut down.
“Shut it! Don’t give me that nonsense about love! Reflect on your actions! Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused when you ran away with just a letter, not even old enough to have dried blood on your head?”
“Boohoo… Mother, you’re so mean…”
“Dear, she’s probably already repented enough. Let’s not be too harsh.”
“Hmph, look at you, being swayed by her again! This girl has already tried to escape 15 times and got caught, and you’re still saying that?”
The blonde elf felt wronged. All she had done was love. How was that a crime? She, who held the record for the youngest runaway (at 20 years old), the youngest bride (at 35), and the youngest mother (at 36) in elf history, was none other than Solinor’s soulmate, Aiorin.
“I feel like my sweetheart has returned to this world! I’m going out!”
“That girl, again!”
Clang!
In the end, Aiorin was silenced by a blow to the head from a Dwarven-made frying pan that her mother had bought just two years ago.
How would Aiorin have reacted if she knew that Solinor had forgotten to ask the history teacher about her for two whole weeks?
There are some things in life better left unknown.
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