CH 27.2

“Volken? What do you mean by this?”

“Your Majesty, we are not doubting the Princess. That’s just Sir Ottoman’s wild delusion. Us, the Five Lords, believe that if what the Princess has hidden is truly dangerous, it should be destroyed.”

“Wild delusion? How dare you! This is not my opinion alone…”

“The only resolution passed by the Council was to allow the search of the Princess’s room and to destroy the Princess’s inventions if they are truly dangerous. What you are saying, Sir, is a mere delusion.”

Count Ottoman then fell silent in frustration. He was doing this of his own, after all… It’s still too early, so let’s gather all the other charges and try him for everything at once.

“… I’m sorry… but you must remember that there are those who think that way.”

The next thing you know, he will be asking about a spouse for her… this smelly pig may even recommend his son. I knew something was wrong from the start. This guy is the leader of the Princess’s faction, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to tame Alicetia down, but I guess he’s getting impatient because he can’t get her to go along with him for long enough.

“It certainly seems like the parliament agrees. I’m not going to get involved, so do what you want. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway.”

“Your Majesty… we would naturally like your cooperation…”

It appears that Volken expected me to not cooperate. It’s true that I might have cooperated if Alicetia didn’t declare that I was not allowed to enter.

“I don’t want to be hated by my daughter, and I’m not obligated to help you with this search warrant!! Tough luck!! I hope you end up like the rest of the misfits, and Alicetia hates you.”

Well, the reason why I’m not obligated to cooperate is because the King can refuse the parliament’s resolution. I think they just passed it this time because it doesn’t affect me directly.

“I was expecting you to say that, but you are too doting. How much do you want to spoil the Princess?”

“Of course, I will spoil her until she calls me her Beloved Father!!”

What is he asking now?

“It’s better to give up when dealing with doting parents, Lord Volken.”

Doting parent is such a great term. Sylvia knows exactly what I’m talking about.

“Certainly… we should summon the knights and soldiers then.”

What a pity… to be calling the group Alicetia gets along with the most…

“I will send out my private troops as well!!”

Count Ottoman was the only one who seemed to underestimate the horror of that room. He’s probably thinking it’s worth it to send out his private troops and get the goods.

“Nevertheless, it is still Alicetia’s room we are talking about, so be prepared to face charges if you do anything strange.”

I will hammer the nail in… I know he’s not listening to me because he’s daydreaming about the things he will get his sleazy hands on, but one wrong step and I will kill him.

And the next day.

“…… The morale is terribly low.”

“I can’t help but think that if we fought the Empire with this kind of morale, we would lose miserably.”

The morale of the soldiers and knights is so low that I strongly agree with Albert’s opinion… or rather, they are all hanging their heads in defeat. I don’t think they will be able to participate in any activities for a while.

“The most surreal thing is their unusual resistance to obey orders.”

Volken is not a soldier, so he probably doesn’t understand. Alicetia is very popular among the knights and soldiers (with an exception to a few fools) of the Capital because of her treatment of wounds. They know that may be hated for searching Alicetia’s room while she’s away, and moreover, it’s the search of the room known as the Princess’ toy treasure box, so the knights would rather retire than obey the orders.

“I wonder… if we will make it to see the Princess again…”

“It will be fine. The Princess will understand… the bad guys are the ones who give the orders!!”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.”

“The Princess herself said that there’s no mercy to be found in this room… I want to go home.”

“At least, let me say goodbye to my wife…”

Far from just hanging down their heads, all of their eyes were empty. Indeed, after knowing the rumors about that room, no sane person would want to approach it, let alone enter inside… moreover, there’s the danger of being hated by Alicetia.

“And you call yourselves the elite soldiers of our country!? My private troops are much better.”

Then, Count Ottoman and his private troops appeared… The private troops looked like bandits to me. Count Ottoman, his eyes glistening with desire, was giving orders to his private soldiers.

The knights and soldiers frowned at him for being so unabashed. That’s how vulgar the people he brought here were.

“This is my daughter’s room!! I won’t forgive you if you do anything to damage the room.”

“Even though you say it’s her room, it’s akin to a storage, no?”

“She must have some personal items in there.”

Of course, she would leave some of her personal things in there. Damaging them would be enough of a reason to execute that fellow. No one would be troubled if this guy is gone anyway.

“I will be careful then.”

Count Ottoman thinks it’s just a storage room, but my instincts are telling me it’s too dangerous to enter… I’m pretty sure she had installed something especially against me, too. To be honest, I’d rather work alone with Volken than go through this room and have my daughter hate me!! Soldiers? Knights? They have been a little too close to Alicetia recently, so I have to admit I’m slightly hoping she comes to hate them a little bit.

And then, we caught a glimpse of Alicetia’s seriousness.