Chapter 68
Princess Muriela’s adventure in the capital continued.
Her final destination before returning to the Royal Palace was the home of her associate, Patrick Fischl—a relatively conscientious bureaucrat.
He was said to be reluctantly accepting bribes due to pressure, but still lived with integrity.
So persuading him shouldn’t be too difficult.
She had already convinced two other colleagues, so this visit would be brief—just a quick word and then off they’d go, humming along.
“Hmm… Let’s see. Why does this person live so far out? We’ll have to walk quite a bit just to get there.”
The others had all lived close by, making it easy to visit them.
Was he trying to show off his integrity? Or did he simply not want to live near his corrupt peers?
He lived far from the rest, alone.
Though still technically within Solineum, the capital of this young kingdom was quite large.
Just the thought of walking made Solinor’s legs ache.
When Muriela sighed, her stand-in father for the day, Sir Hamilton, responded.
Summoning all his acting skill, he delivered a fairly convincing line meant to soothe a daughter who didn’t want to walk.
It was already afternoon, and with people all around, acting was no longer optional—it was essential.
“My dear, are your legs hurting? Should we rent a carriage? That way, we can ride in comfort.”
“A carriage?”
Solinor hesitated at his thoughtful suggestion.
‘Hmm… Do we really need a carriage? Sure, it would be easier on the legs and save time. But renting one requires identification. And we can’t exactly provide that.’
So she turned to the spy Florina for advice. She was the most likely to know.
“Auntie, can we ride a carriage? Do we have everything we need?”
Florina understood immediately that this wasn’t just an innocent question. She paused briefly, then answered.
“Of course. We brought plenty of money.”
As she said “money,” she casually gestured toward her face.
This, too, was intentional. A face represents identity.
In other words, “Our identification is fine. We can rent one.”
Solinor, though not the most formally educated, wasn’t lacking in street smarts.
Otherwise, he never would’ve survived as an adventurer. He caught on quickly.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I know a rental stable nearby—let’s head there.”
Naturally, there was a carriage rental service in Solineum operated for use by spies.
Since they often needed to travel under false identities, such places were essential for smooth movement.
Had Florina not been considered “Disaster Betchi,” she might’ve noticed the princess was tired and suggested it sooner.
The group followed her to a rental station near the main road.
Beside the building was a large stable and boarding area, clearly advertising its purpose.
Several horses stood half-asleep in the stable, and a short man behind the counter welcomed them.
“Ah, welcome! How can I help you today?”
Florina stepped forward and whispered something in the man’s ear. His eyes shifted instantly.
Still, he didn’t change his tone or expression, smoothly continuing the conversation.
“Ah, I see. Then I’ll prepare our best family carriage. It’s our sturdiest, calmest horse. You’ll have a very comfortable ride.”
He then led the group to the boarding area.
The man initially told Muriela to wait at the counter, but she insisted.
“We’re going to see the horses and carriage, right? I want to come too!”
“Our daughter wants to see the horses. Please let her.”
Though a bit troubled, the staff member relented when Florina winked.
Disaster or not, she was still a comrade. He knew what he was doing. That level of trust existed between them.
“These are the horses who will be pulling your carriage.”
After arriving, he selected an appropriate horse and had the staff inspect it.
Then he approached a fancy-looking carriage and began prepping it.
Cleaning tools were brought out to shine the carriage, and the coachman—who’d been napping—was woken up and introduced.
“Good day, honored guests. I’m Hank, your coachman. I’ll be driving you today.”
“Hello. I look forward to riding with you.”
“Nice to meet you.”
After introductions, Solinor looked around with curious eyes.
Back in her adventuring days, she’d rarely had encounters with horses.
In the beginning, she simply couldn’t afford it. They were massive animals and required difficult maintenance.
‘Didn’t they say a good horse costs as much as several years’ living expenses for an average family?’
More than that, the initial cost alone was absurd.
Even later, when noble-born allies joined the party, they rarely rode.
Their adventure paths often made traveling on foot more effective anyway.
They had to cross forests, trek across snowfields, and climb mountains.
‘Later, I only ever saw well-maintained horses groomed by royal stablemasters.’
But after becoming king, everything changed. Whenever a monarch traveled, they always rode in a carriage.
Of course, it was the stable hands who handled the grooming of the horses and maintenance of the carriage.
Solinor, as a king, had only ever seen the fully prepared carriages brought right to him.
‘So that’s how they feed horses, huh?’
That’s why it was extremely rare for Solinor to witness horse care or carriage maintenance firsthand.
He did ride carriages often in his pre-king days when visiting various lords to gather support—
But even then, he already had a sizable following and never got to experience things this up close.
‘Ooh, fascinating. How do such thin legs support such a massive body? Oh, right—it’s a four-legged animal. Wow, look at that one flick its tail. Can they control that on command?’
While Hamilton and Florina were being briefed, Solinor was excitedly inspecting the horse.
Staring intently, he watched it swish its tail to chase away flies.
The stablehands were mostly either dozing off or busy with their tasks.
‘Huh, what solid hindquarters. No wonder it runs so fast. I wonder what it feels like… Is it similar to a dog? Should I try touching it?’
Solinor, thoughtlessly, walked right up behind the horse.
That was one of the golden rules of what not to do around horses.
Even a strong man could be crippled or killed if kicked by a horse’s hooves.
If Muriela’s small body were to be kicked, she’d be launched straight into the sky.
She may have been hosting Solinor’s soul, but Princess Muriela was still only eight years old.
Even if her demeanor seemed mature, she was still a child.
They should’ve prepared the carriage, driven it to her, and loaded her up safely—not brought her to the stable.
And once in such a dangerous location, someone should’ve kept a constant eye on her.
But Hamilton and Florina had grown too accustomed to Muriela’s precocious nature and let their guard down for just a moment.
Thanks to these negligent adults, she was now seconds away from becoming the first princess in Silbrenoa history to be killed by a horse.
To be fair, her two guardians weren’t exactly being irresponsible.
They’d looked away for maybe ten seconds. Barely.
The problem is, accidents take less time than that to cripple—or kill—someone.
“Ah! Princess!”
Hamilton, suddenly feeling something ominous, turned his head—
And saw the princess standing directly behind the horse.
His acting instantly broke down.
Perhaps peace had dulled his knightly instincts over the years.
Everyone nearby turned in shock at the word “Princess”—especially Florina.
While she’d revealed her identity as the spy Betchi to the stable staff, Muriela’s identity had remained secret.
And most of the staff here weren’t spies—just ordinary workers.
‘Oh no, this is bad! If word gets out that the Princess sneaked out of the palace, it’s over. How do we fix this mess? Ugh, this knight—he’s terrible at acting… Wait—!’
Florina’s eyes followed Hamilton’s gaze—and she, too, froze in horror.
Instinct kicked in, and she reacted like any panicked fake husband might.
Who cares about cover being blown? The Princess is about to be flattened!
In their now slow-motion vision, Princess Muriela reached out with her tiny hand—
And gave the horse’s rump a solid—
Smack.
Not a gentle pat—an audible smack.
“Hehe!”
She giggled.
All of it happened in just one second.
—
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