Chapter 32
“Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess I should. Wow, what are you, really? Are you actually eight years old? How can you talk so well?”
“Wow, you even know that Muriela’s eight? I thought you didn’t care about kids at all and wouldn’t have a clue.”
Kaelen genuinely admired Alfred. But come on, what does he think of his brother? Surely Alfred knew that much.
The truth was, Alfred had only learned Muriela’s age recently after looking into her following a random remark she made to him.
“Hey, shut up for a second. Didn’t you hear what she just said? Hurry up and wake that crazy woman—”
“Brother! What’s with calling your sister a crazy woman? Did your parents teach you that?”
Muriela’s scathing remark pierced Alfred’s undefended chest like a dagger.
“What? Parents?”
Crown Prince Alfred was left speechless in disbelief. Hey, aren’t you and I from the same father? And your mother… uh… Wait, if I hit back, I’ll end up crossing a line, won’t I?
While he stood there stunned, the next blow came.
“Brother, listen carefully. A leader should never demean others without a valid reason. Sure, Sister Katrina is your sister now, but when you become king, she’ll be one of your subjects. What kind of subject would—”
By now, there wasn’t a single person still listening to Muriela’s speech. It was truly a shame, considering how hard she was trying.
Everyone, whether royalty or servants, stood frozen with their mouths agape, as if catching flies in a surprise eating contest.
“Hey, hold on. Where did you even learn to say stuff like that? Was it… not Mom, but some teacher or something?”
“Wow, I’m genuinely shocked. That’s something you’d hear in one of Grand General Hadwin’s tales about Grandpa, but for Muriela to say it? Did Grandpa’s ghost possess her or something?”
The red-haired brothers, so astonished, naturally started spouting nonsense.
“Sister Muriela? Sister-sama?”
“Wow. I feel like I should start calling Muriela ‘teacher’ from now on.”
Now the blonde siblings were debating what to call her.
Meanwhile, Muriela, now a runaway train, continued to unleash a storm of words.
“…And, Brother, didn’t you hear that indulging in women at your age makes your bones decay? If you look at history, kings who were given to debauchery—”
“Alright, alright! I get it. I was wrong. I know I was wrong, and I’ll do better, so please stop! You’ve made me forget what we were even talking about!”
“There you go, blaming others again. As I said earlier, a king—”
At every word Alfred uttered, Muriela picked it apart and revved up her motor mouth.
Solinor mentally unleashed every negative judgment he’d ever had about Alfred.
“Ugh! Somebody shut her up!”
“Wow, I’ve never seen Muriela like this before. She’s beating our infamous troublemaker Brother Alfred with words. This is incredible.”
“What? Trouble-maker? Beating? You little punk, is there anything you won’t say to me? You don’t even know how I feel, and you call me a troublemaker? I have my reasons for living this way!”
At that moment, a cough came from the direction where everyone had been ignoring Katrina.
“Ke-hek! Cough, cough!”
Katrina, who had been gasping and coughing for air, opened her eyes. When she realized a dozen people were all staring at her, her eyes widened like saucers.
“You, you all! You’re here to hurt me, aren’t you?”
Princess Katrina, now sitting upright and hastily retreating backward, seemed to have serious mental issues even to Solinor.
At this point, Florina, who had been wondering if Muriela was mentally unstable, thought, “Two princesses going mad?
Could it be a hereditary issue in King Eldric’s family?
But then, Muriela’s earlier demeanor seemed too mature to be considered insane.”
Blocked by the bushes behind her, Katrina had no room to flee.
Standing firmly before her was Crown Prince Alfred, whose swift movements even Solinor found impressive.
Wow, so he can block an escape route despite not learning swordsmanship. That’s good footwork.
“Hey, Craz—Katrina. Do you have some kind of grudge against me? Why did you try to stab me earlier?”
“You, you all tried to kill me first! If I don’t act, I’ll—”
Katrina, trembling like a leaf and speaking in a quivering voice, was clearly unhinged.
“Hey, let’s get the facts straight. When did I ever try to kill you? And what’s this about you lumping me and Kaelen together?”
Alfred’s rebuttal was surprisingly coherent.
“Yeah, you cursed redheads ruined my dreams! Every time I close my eyes, you come at me to kill me. Because of you, I’m too scared to sleep!”
Come on, Katrina. No one asked to be born with red hair. Isn’t this too much?
Even Solinor, who didn’t have a great impression of Alfred, found Katrina’s claims unfounded.
She said Alfred and Kaelen come after her when she closes her eyes.
There’s no way she’s sleeping in the garden or anywhere unsafe. With her guards and secure chambers, such a thing couldn’t happen.
This was 100% a delusion.
It was a severe mental illness. She needed isolation and treatment.
On this matter, both Florina and Muriela agreed about Katrina’s condition.
But how do we isolate her?
And if she’s not like Muriela, whose mother has already passed away, surely she must have a mother living with her, like Queen Elodia. Why hasn’t she taken any action?
A perfectly reasonable question from Solinor.
Meanwhile, Florina was thinking about something else.
Corbin was also a tax thief. Even after reporting Princess Muriela’s mental illness, nothing was done about it. Surely they’ll ignore a report about Princess Katrina as well.
What can I even do? A lifetime as a spy, and here I am, filled with self-doubt!
Amidst this, Katrina revealed her madness further by holding a sharp gemstone to her neck.
“D-Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll kill myself!”
“You said I’m trying to kill you, right? Then why wouldn’t I come closer if you’re saying you’ll kill yourself for me?”
Crown Prince Alfred’s logical retort hit the mark, leaving Katrina momentarily speechless.
Even if she’s mad, it seems she’s still capable of some thought.
“Wow, Brother, you’re amazing. Even crazy Sister Katrina can’t talk back to you.”
“Brother Kaelen! Didn’t you hear what I said earlier to Brother Alfred? You can’t call sister crazy—”
“Ah! Okay, okay, I was wrong.”
Kaelen quickly raised both hands in surrender. To be fair, Solinor also thought Katrina was crazy, but he knew better than to say it outright.
Adeline and Kasper were busy marveling at how Muriela was handling her older brothers with words.
At this rate, Muriela might as well be made the leader of the expedition team.
Yeah, she’s totally reliable. Sister Muriela.
Through a mere exchange of glances, the two children unknowingly made a major personnel decision.
Not that being an expedition leader came with any actual responsibilities.
For reference, Adeline had always been the leader up until now.
Meanwhile, Alfred had stepped back, keeping his distance from Katrina, who was holding a gemstone knife to her neck.
Despite his earlier words, he had no intention of letting his sister get hurt.
Taking advantage of the momentary pause, Muriela suddenly darted toward Katrina.
“W-Who are you? Are you another monster trying to kill me?”
“I’m your sister, Muriela. I have no intention of hurting you.”
“D-Don’t make me laugh. Everyone says that and then tries to hurt me… If you come any closer, I’ll stab you.”
This time, Katrina pointed the gemstone at Muriela’s face.
“Muriela! It’s dangerous!”
“Your Highness!”
The other royals and servants screamed in panic, but Muriela didn’t even flinch.
I didn’t back down when facing the Ice Dragon’s breath.
Granddaughter, if you want to make me retreat, you’ll need the fury of your grandmother, Aiorin.
And if you’re going to threaten someone, you need to hold it closer.
Better yet, be ready to draw blood if you so much as nick them. You’re too young to know.
Solinor had shifted to evaluating Katrina’s threatening skills. Despite her madness, Katrina was still just a cute granddaughter to him, not even worthy of a full ten points for her clumsy attempt.
“Sister, tell me. You said you see Brother Alfred and Brother Kaelen when you close your eyes, right? Why those two?”
Solinor had been curious about this for a while. According to the red-haired brothers, they didn’t seem to have any notable connections to her.
“T-That’s because Mother said so. She said she saw them plotting to harm me. And every night, she said they would come to kill me.”
What?
Most of the people present, including Solinor, felt like they’d finally stumbled upon a critical clue.
Except for Kasper and Adeline.
And no sooner had Katrina spoken than the fool of a servant assigned to watch her committed a fool’s mistake.
“That bastard! Arrest him now!”
As the saying goes, a guilty conscience needs no accuser. He effectively confessed his involvement in Queen Irina’s scheme by revealing himself.
And he failed to escape, too.
The green-haired spy trained by Corbin swiftly tripped the fleeing servant, sending him tumbling to the ground.
She whistled internally, knowing this incident would make for a stellar report.
—
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