Chapter 72

Cowering in the grass in the corner of the garden, Marco was crumpling his body in half.

Siervian was also uncomfortable hiding in her flimsy dress.

This place was not suitable for secret conversations whatsoever.

“I want to keep this one a secret.”

But Marco’s face looked like he was tired of secrets.

“If the Princess Your Highness is going to be taken away for being involved in the establishment of the foundation…”

“It is not like that.”

Siervian cleared up a little misunderstanding with a quick comfort.

The reason was simple as to why she led Marco to hide in the bushes: It was to escape from Lara, who had been more sticky since meeting Karmen.

“Yes, well. I did not really dare to doubt the Princess.”

[ Marco William ]

Emotions: Relieved

Thoughts: Phhheww, I was surprised to find out that I was involved in something again, perhaps being in Garambell for too long made me nervous.

Seeing Marco’s thoughts worrying about a lot of things, Siervian tried to smile kindly.

“It’s all right, to doubt.”

“I did not really…”

“All right, all right.”

Marco rolled his eyes toward the little girl.

Even if she is a young Princess, it would still be hard to have empty words for her.

She’s from the great Imperial family, so Marco would still be troubled either way.

“Anyway, if you were to have a well-established top, it would be good to run a welfare foundation for a long time.”

Siervian seemed to think this was a good idea, too.

She was currently realizing the important use of money.

Though there is only one thing to worry about.

“But, Sebi does not know how to do anything…”

It will not be easy to build the top.

Marco shook his head in complete disagreement.

“I think the opposite, Princess.”

“Really?”

“Yes, isn’t the position of the Princess Your Highness supposed to see the luxurious trends of the aristocrats?”

Clenching her fists, Siervian remembered the feathers of the Vuingpi.

As of this moment, it was a good thing Siervian invested in that item, earning her money now.

“The Princess Your Highness was the one who started the trend, right? Oh, that’s right, that ring flower of yours also started a trend.”

“Really?”

Fiddling with the ring, she remembered it wasn’t so popular in her previous life.

It seemed to have gained popularity since it was a gift from the Emperor.

“At least, it won’t cost much if dealing with aristocrats. But, if there is some kind of problem, I am afraid that the dignity of the Princess Your Highness might be affected.”

[ Marco William ]

Thoughts: Well, I thought it was a nice on-the-spot plan, but if the young Princess is to organize the top, there is a high probability that some nobles might say something.

Despite his worries, Siervian shook her head.

She was worried she couldn’t do a perfect job, but she wouldn’t really care about attention.

When she was at her worst, all the glares of the world were on her, and she endured all of it.

“It’s okay, in the end, they will soon know about Sebi’s goal.”

“Yes, I am very glad to hear that.”

After all, there were more advantages to having a top.

It was possible to create a base in the city, so if the imperial palace was endangered, it could be a safe spot.

It could be a help for her father too.

“Thank you.”

Then Marco made a sound of pain in front of the contemplating Princess.

Since it was very hard to curl up from a collapsed position.

“Right, this. Sorry to call you here at a random time.”

She quickly held out what was in her pocket.

Marco, the one who successfully signed Garambell’s contract, was in the spotlight.

No matter what secret it is, it bothered her to treat him like this, this talented person.

“This is…!”

Marco’s eyes grew bigger as he looked at the bounty on her small pocket.

Then this time, other concerns surround Siervian; She’s an Imperial, but doing this as an act of apology is a bit…

[ Marco William ]

Favorability: +100

Thoughts: Never in my life have I ever seen such a touching apology…! The Princess is still young, so she needs to learn how to apologize properly in the future.

“…”

Luckily, he accepted the apology.

Siervian smiled awkwardly as she watched Marco, who was more shocked than she thought.

“Thank you, Milady. Please call me anytime, anywhere.”

“…Yes.”

Marco smiled brightly while his posture was uncomfortable.

Seeing Siervian nodding her head, he continued his plan seriously again.

“But if you have to keep it a secret like this, the top construction may be difficult.”

“Yes, I know that.”

Many worries passed through Siervian’s thoughts, but she still nodded with a firm look.

There’s not much time left.

It was time to stop Lara’s devious schemes.

* * *

“Princess, where are you going?”

“Let’s go play in the garden!”

“Lara doesn’t like the sun because it’s so hot today. Should we play in the Palace?”

Trying to hide her impatience, Lara asked while behind the Imperial Princess.

As she said, today was an exceptionally warm day with the sunlight passing through the magic dome.

However, the Princess disagreed for some reason and acted stubbornly.

“Sebi will play in the garden today!”

“Eeh..”

It was a pattern that had been going on for several days already.

The wind was blowing really hard, the Princess got anxious she might not go outside the palace just yet.

Sometimes she stayed all day in the Emperor’s garden so that Lara couldn’t follow.

‘Damn it, it can’t be like this. The Count is making a fuss about why we’re not moving as fast as possible. What should I do about that?’

At that moment, Lara got so irritated that she almost cussed at the Princess.

But instantly smiled at the Maid who was giving the Princess a small umbrella.

“Miss Lara, are you going with the Princess?”

“…Yes. The Princess says she wants to go alone but is it okay?”

“Yes…”

Lara uttered things Siervian had never heard before, but she didn’t respond.

It was clear that Lara was overwhelmed.

And yet, she stubbornly asked the Princess to go play inside the palace.

‘What an annoying Princess.’

It was easy to put on a smiling face, she deliberately looked at the Chief Maid with a warmer smile.

But Chief Maid Ellie seemed troubled for a long time.

“Hmm, will you two be okay?”

The escort will follow anyway, but the maids were concerned.

Even so, Lara had been patient and obedient.

As an expert in deceiving, she planned this quite nicely.

“We will be fine.”

“Hmmm, please play without getting hurt this time, both of you.”

“Yes!”

The Imperial Princess who was by her side somehow willingly said she would.

Lara wondered, but she couldn’t express her doubts right there.

Since she had just lied with the price of going together with the Princess.

“Okay then, go ahead.”

“Yes, Lara is going to have a lot of fun with the Princess.”

Lara smiled brightly, but she couldn’t get rid of some of her strange nervousness.

Lara bothered Siervian as much as she was offended throughout the outing together, but Siervian did not care whatsoever, which made Lara even more upset.

* * *

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

After going out, she caught up with the Princess but failed to persuade her in the end. Lara recalled the secluded room where the ‘thing’ she received from the Empress was hidden.

Lara soon bit her thumbnail in nervousness. She found that habit after being despised by the Count from time to time for the reason of not being an aristocrat.

‘Was the room too secluded? Since it’s from Princess Your Highness’s Palace it would be easy to put the blame on you. But why do you want me to take you around there, damn it.’

Lara didn’t even know the exact name of the room because she wasn’t familiar with the whole palace yet.

She just vaguely thinks of it as ‘the room’.

As soon as she received it from the attendant, there was no one around, so she quickly hid it.

‘What do I do, at this rate I won’t be able to stay by the Count’s side.’

She was chosen as an adoptee on the condition of being what she is. She was the prettiest and most vicious in the orphanage.

Doing a bad job, and she’s back at that terrible place again.

‘How long is the escort going to be here?’

Unable to overcome her nervousness, she eventually hid in the corner of the Princess’s Palace, pretending to have gone back to the Count’s residence.

The Princess went to another garden to play around a bit more, so even the escort would not have found her.

‘I need to get the thing back, and next time I’ll be putting it in the Princess’s room.’

She was now stumped.

The young girl couldn’t even guess what on earth that ‘thing’ was.

Even if it was something that could harm the Princess, Lara couldn’t care less about it.

‘It’s just a matter of being lucky enough to be born as a Princess, to act shamelessly.’

Finally, on a dark night, Lara, who had run out of patience, crawled out of hiding.

Lara was already inside the Princess’s Palace, she could easily get to the room where she hid the ‘thing’.

‘On a night like this, will there be no one?’

She picked up the thing and this time, she moved to the Princess’s room in secret.

She went through the hallways easily, and strangely, there were no people there.

The strangeness sent shivers down her spine, making her aim for a moderately close room.

‘I can’t go to the Princess’s room right away.’

It was worthwhile to learn about the palace she could go in and out of, also hating it.

Without a single maid she encountered, Lara was able to reach a room near Siervian’s.

“Now is the time.”

She had just roughly shoved the thing under a bed in the nearby room, but Lara became desperate.

This was because not much time left until the Count sends another secret carriage again.

It was time to open the door to go out into the hallway.

“Who are you, brat?”

“Gasp-!”

Even in the dark hallway, the light reflected by the sword was visible.

Lara laid down on her knees without realizing it.

“I-I’m Lara, the Pri-Princess’s Playmate!”