Chapter 7

Lilyca’s voice sounded confused since she was surprised.

“Uh?”

“I’ll go.”

“However.”

“Are there any problems?”

Lilyca looked at the man standing in the doorway of the commander’s room with a blank expression. Tan, who followed Lilyca’s gaze and turned around, said sternly,

“You know that working for the Imperial Family comes first.”

The old man sighed deeply and bowed his head.

“Please go. Commander.”

“Yes.”

With a solemn nod, Tan walked out of the Knight-Guards’ room while holding the princess lightly with one arm. Lilyca said softly,

“I thought you’d say no.”

“Hahaha!”

Laughing out loud, Tan said to Lilyca,

“Princess, did you learn how many people you have to bow to?”

“Three.”

Lilyca spread three fingers. Tan nodded seriously.

“That’s right, Princess. His Majesty’s orders are called dragon words. And the dragon is absolute in this empire. Even if His Majesty put up a scarecrow and said “it’s a Takar”, all the nobles of the empire would have to bow before it.”

Lilyca widened her eyes.

For a while now, she was working hard to say confidently, ‘I am a princess. I am a princess.’ She had memorized the phrase by heart, but she never thought it would be so powerful.

Of course, His Majesty was great, and her mother was awesome too.

Yet, the little girl thought she wasn’t. But with this, Lilyca felt like her eyes were suddenly opened.

“His Majesty has officially registered you as his daughter. Which means you’re the only princess in the Takar Empire.”

Bryn nodded from behind.

All kinds of negative words were about to come out of Lilyca’s mouth.

She didn’t know about Tan, but she was a contract princess and an adopted daughter, and only for a short time.

Tan gently lifted his gaze that fixed the floor.

He winked playfully.

“You are a princess who only needs to use her chin to lead the Imperial Knight-Guards.”

“Huh?”

She was embarrassed and made a strange sound, but Tan was the one to laugh out loud. The distance, which was so long when she was the one to walk, was reduced in an instant thanks to Tan.

He said casually in a light voice,

“There are only four Takars in existence today. His Majesty, the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the Princess. In other words, you’re now second in line to the throne.”

That was beyond what Lilyca could process; it didn’t feel real.

Lilyca said,

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter because His Highness will be there anyway, right?”

Tan nodded.

“Yes. What I mean is that the Princess has a very high position.”

Arriving at the entrance to the Sun Palace, Tan asked,

“So, where were you blocked?”

“Can I lead you there?”

Bryn said with a smile on her face, and Tan nodded. Bryn added,

“How about catching him red-handed?”

Tan paused at those words and then grinned. As he put Lilyca down, he said,

“Shall we? Well, I’ll be hiding here, so go ahead.” He beckoned with both hands, so Lilyca could understand the situation. She coughed and began to walk proudly, but with a rather stiff gait in the eyes of others.

The soldier stood in her way again.

“Can’t I go in there?”

She could tell that her voice was squeaky. The soldier said with a frown,

“You cannot pass.”

She flinched, but at the thought of Bryn and Tan watching her, she couldn’t back down.

It took a lot of strength to raise her voice against such a large man with a weapon.

“Why can’t I go?”

“His Majesty’s orders.”

“Oh…”

If His Majesty had ordered so, wasn’t it be inevitable?

Lilyca looked at Bryn with shaky eyes, and Bryn’s smile grew even deeper. She opened her mouth,

“Does His Majesty’s order specifically prevent the Princess from passing through?”

The soldier pounded the floor with his spear immediately.

“In any case, this cannot be changed!”

“What’s wrong?”

A low, eerie voice came from behind the little girl.

Lilyca looked back in surprise. Bryn remained motionless, looking straight ahead.

Tan’s usual playful expression had disappeared from his face, and an expressionless look, characteristic of a carnivore, took over. The soldier gasped in surprise.

“Tell me, what’s going on?”

The pressure was felt even though Tan was approaching slowly. The soldier’s face gradually turned white.

Tan came right in front of the soldier and took the spear from his hand.

“Name.”

Tan, who was examining the spear, grabbed it and began to bend it without much difficulty.

The soldier answered quickly,

“I’m John Enders, first-class soldier of the 1st regiment.”

“Okay, Enders, so what’s wrong?”

“T-that’s…”

“I know, accessing the Sun Palace’s indoors depends on the pass level, even for nobles. However, do the royal family need a pass?”

“No, they do not.”

Don’t you recognise the maid here?

“No, Sir.”

“Don’t you know the basics? That the Imperial Family always has a servant close to them?”

“No, Sir.”

The soldier replied quickly, sweating profusely. Tan twisted with force the spear between them.

“Then go and get your superior.”

Tan said, returning the bent spear to him.

The soldier grabbed the now pretzel spear with trembling hands and began to walk.

It was a walk that made Lilyca wonder what would happen if he fell. Tan looked at the soldier with an air of indifference.

It was already shocking to him that the soldier dared to block the path of the princess, but he also looked down on her and threatened her by hitting the floor with a spear?

It was impossible to imagine for someone from the Wolf family, who valued children above all else.

Tan felt disillusioned.

Besides, it didn’t matter she was adopted; Lilyca was a legitimate princess.

A soldier was not supposed to stand in her way.

‘I expected backlash, but not to a little girl in a place like this. And it’s only a first-class soldier.’

Tan smiled and said to Lilyca,

“You can go comfortably now, Princess. I will take care of it from here.”

He didn’t need to show her how he was going to handle it.

Lilyca was secretly worried about what he had just said.

If it was a fight, wouldn’t it be more reassuring to have more people than to be alone?

“Will you be okay by yourself? I can stay with you.”

Tan blinked at those words. They were words he hasn’t heard in a long time. The consideration that was put into it was quite enjoyable. Just in case, Lilyca added,

“Of course, I know that Tan can do well on his own, but still…”

Tan wrinkled his eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll run to the Princess if she ever feels scared.”

“You don’t have to go to her.”

Lilyca looked back in surprise. His Majesty was standing from where they came.

He was with Lat, and the prime minister gave Lilyca a gentle glance.

“I greet His Majesty.”

Lilyca greeted him quickly first; before Tan and Bryn. After replying, His Majesty sighed,

“I was going to scold the soldier, but now, I will not even pray for his repose.”

“Isn’t it funny? What kind of guts would a single soldier have to do such a thing? Maybe he has a pretty big stomach?”

Alteos looked at Lilyca as he said so, and pressed his hand against her forehead.

“!!”

She stumbled a bit this time too, but she didn’t fall. Alteos grinned as Lilyca stood triumphantly.

“You are Takar. It has nothing to do with what kind of person you are, what you have, what you don’t have, or whether you’re worthy or not. I took you in as my daughter. Then everyone should kneel in front of you. Otherwise, it would be disobeying my words.”

Lat asked Tan,

“Who was it?”

“1st regiment of the guards, a first-class soldier. John Enders.”

Lat smiled pleasantly at Tan’s answer, “ho ho”.

“It’s quite pleasant to foresee what’s going to happen, Your Majesty. Then, Princess, please enjoy the Sun Palace to your heart’s content. You can leave this to us.”

Lilyca stared at Lat. As expected, the prime minister’s smile didn’t seem to announce anything good.

“Yes. I understand. Then, I will take my leave.”

Lilyca greeted them and went inside with Bryn. There was no blockage after that.

When they went to the place where other soldiers had blocked them, Bryn and Lilyca saw a different soldier standing there and he treated Lilyca with a keen attitude.

‘I accept your bow.’

Passing in front of the soldier, Lilyca spoke softly to Bryn,

“I guess the news broke out very quickly.”

Bryn chuckled.

“Absolutely. It’s the Princess’ power. No one is insensitive to the affairs of the Imperial Family.”

Bryn added playfully,

“So, what does power taste like, Princess?”

‘The taste of power.’

Lilyca’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. They had lingered in her head the whole time she had looked around the Sun Palace with Bryn.

‘The taste of power.’

Lilyca stared half-heartedly at the apple pie as she ate her snack. If she hadn’t become a princess, she wouldn’t have been able to eat this, right?

‘The taste of power.’

She thought of it as she fell asleep in her soft bed at night. She wouldn’t have slept on this fluffy bed if she wasn’t the princess, right?

“Is this the taste of power?”

Later in His Majesty’s office, Lilyca spoke her mind to Lat. Lat, who was looking at the documents happily, smiled.

“Princess, I think it’s more about money than power.”

Lilyca tilted her head. Listening to Lat’s words, it seemed plausible.

“How much power can be arbitrary?”

As Alteos said so, he threw documents on the floor casually. Lilyca rushed over and picked them up, but Alteos threw other papers from his desk.

Lilyca ran to them as well. Alteos hurriedly threw more documents, and Lilyca diligently picked them up like a squirrel gathering fallen acorns.

“Your Majesty.”

Lat frowned and called for Alteos, who held his chin and slipped the last document down.

Before the documents fell on the floor, Lilyca snatched them and said, “hey.”

Then, with a satisfied face, she arranged the papers neatly and placed them on Lat’s desk.

Lat was impressed by the Princess’ diligence, who picked up the fallen documents and organized them by type.

“Then I think I have enough power.”

It was the first time she felt as comfortable as she was today. She felt uncomfortable because she didn’t work. So, she was glad to have something to do in the office.

Lilyca said with a smile and a curtsy,

“Then, I’ll be on my way. Bryn said she would introduce the kitchen staff today.”

“I see. Have a good time.”

Lat got up and saw Lilyca off. Closing the office door, he took off his monocle, the symbol of the prime minister, and wiped it lightly with the hem of his clothes.

“Thanks to you, the soldiers were replaced, and those inside the Sun Palace were completely changed to those in the Knight-Guards. The outside world will still use the soldiers to save face, but they will slowly be absorbed by the Knight-Guards. Furthermore, I heard the Empress recently changed the head maid and her servants as well.”

“Lydia asked if I could change the head maid, so I told her it was the Empress’ responsibility.”

After that, she seized evidence of embezzlement and replaced the head maid and other maids. She had wiped out the nobles’ spies who had entered the inner palace. Lat looked pleased. The newly-selected personnel also seemed appropriate.

He wondered if she had seen the data he had been investigating.

Alteos didn’t expect Lydia to make such a bold move. It didn’t seem like an empress’s move without the support of a single family.

She wasn’t a pawn on a chessboard, she was the one playing chess.

Going beyond what he had expected, Alteos was admiring her a lot.

Lat said,

“When there is a change, fishes under the water jump out. It’s convenient now that I just have to fish.”

The prime minister asked while staring at the emperor,

“Isn’t it necessary to attach an escort knight?”

“You still haven’t done it yet?”

“My apologies.”

Lat bowed his head. If Tan had heard it, he would have said that it was a conversation between cold-blooded animals, and that they would always stay cold-blooded even if they were shot down. The snake thought to himself and smiled faintly.

***

Lilyca was having fun in the library these days. One of them was the joy of finding difficult words that she had seen in official documents.

The encyclopedias in the Takar Library were famous for being of the highest quality in the empire. All of them were wrapped in chains, but Lilyca was free to take out the dictionary without any procedures.

“Waterwheel, waterwheel…, ah here! There is the waterwheel.”

Lilyca admired the painting. She was a slum child, and slum life was her whole life.

She had never even thought about how rural or fishing villages lived.

Of course, the same went for how aristocrats lived.

So, it was fun to know that there was a new world and a completely different way of living.

“Don’t read anymore, Princess. It’s time to go to the kitchen.”

“Right.”

Lilyca jumped from her seat. Bryn shoved the heavy encyclopedia into the back seat.

Apparently, the palace was so large that food cooled down while being brought by the servants.

But today, Bryn suggested that they should go eat freshly baked bread from the kitchen.

Lilyca had no reason to refuse.

The size of the kitchen, which was built northward to avoid the heat, was enormous.

The kitchen, large enough to hold a party for the imperial family, seemed quiet despite the considerable number of people.

Since Alteos became emperor, balls had only been held in the Sky Palace and never in the Sun Palace, so this kitchen has long been preparing meals only for His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince.

However, when the new Empress came in, a new cook was hired and the kitchen became lively.

Rumours also circulated that the Empress will soon hold a small party.

In the midst of this, the Princess, whom the Empress cherishes, appeared.

No one was bothered. Rather, it was nice to think that a high-ranking person would come down directly.

If the Emperor or the Empress herself came directly, the reaction would be; “Even though… it’s the kitchen…”. But if it was a young princess, it was a different story.

Thanks to this, Lilyca was able to taste fresh white and fluffy bread amid this warm hospitality and kindness.

Of course, to appeal secretly to the Empress, new cookies and buttercream cakes were also offered in front of the Princess.