TPVW 08

 Chapter 8

4. The Princess Is Studying

“Oh, so you set the alarm because you wanted to wake up before the maids arrived. Then Richt heard it first, reached out his hand, and punished the alarm clock for daring to disturb the Princess’s peaceful sleep. Is that what happened?”

“I’m sorry! It happened in an instant!”

The Hero caused trouble first thing in the morning.

He smashed the clock sitting on the bedside table!

According to him, he reflexively swung his hand when I made a slight frown because the noise was bothering me.

The problem was that the broken clock was actually a work of art protected by a defensive spell.

Apparently, it was so sturdy that ordinary impacts wouldn’t even leave a scratch on it.

I nearly broke into a sweat trying to come up with an excuse to give the maids.

“Well, a restoration spell should return it to its original condition. I’ll have Richt pay the mage’s labor costs. Anyway, from midnight until morning… You certainly went through one disaster after another.”

Emperor Payton promised to help me.

Until I moved to the Grand Ducal residence, he would reduce the number of guards and attendants around me as much as possible.

“Richt has exceptionally sensitive senses, so he normally doesn’t keep many people around him. A few days should be fine.”

The Hero had also urgently contacted the Grand Ducal residence and ordered them to have the annex where I would stay ready within a week.

Since our luggage could be transported inside artifacts and people could use short-distance teleportation, the entire move could be completed in a single day.

After our discussion ended, the Emperor, who had been thinking about something, suddenly told me something terrifying.

“Princess, this is only my speculation, but I believe Richt has begun experiencing another side effect besides the required four hours of contact.”

“What? Another side effect?”

“Yes. That boy is exceptionally good at controlling his strength. He almost never breaks things.”

But today, he’d punched the clock so hard that he’d even shattered its protective magic.

All because I was uncomfortable while sleeping.

“Oh, so when something involves me, the Hero’s patience becomes smaller than a chestnut?”

“I believe it’s smaller than a chestnut. I’m simply relieved that the victim was an inanimate clock.”

“Your Majesty, please contact the temple and have them prepare the contract termination ritual as quickly as possible. As soon as possible! Right away!”

“Understood. Princess, please keep a tight rein on that boy so he doesn’t go berserk.”

“Yes!”

I firmly shook Emperor Payton’s hand in a solemn promise.

After finishing a simple breakfast, I headed toward the Crown Prince’s palace.

The dress I was wearing today was Dress No. 122, one of five candidates the maids had selected—and personally chosen by the Hero!

Its hem reached my ankles, making it easy to move around in, while its design was formal enough to be worn when meeting members of the imperial family.

“Shall we go, Princess?”

I took the arm he politely offered and walked a little faster.

The Crown Prince’s palace was somewhat far from here, so we had to hurry if I didn’t want to be late for class.

Fortunately, all that diligent walking paid off, and we arrived on time.

When we entered the palace, I saw several people standing at the entrance.

Several maids and servants, and a tiny child in the center.

A boy as adorable as a doll came running toward us with a bright smile.

“Uncle! Uncle Richt!”

Wow.

How could he look so much like him?

The Crown Prince running toward us was the spitting image of his father, Emperor Payton.

Even the color of his eyes and hair was exactly the same.

He looked so much like a miniature version of the Emperor that it was almost unbelievable.

Naturally, I assumed Richt would pick up his nephew and hug him.

But he remained standing exactly where he was, completely composed.

“Your Highness.”

Just one sentence.

That was all.

Yet the Crown Prince immediately understood what his uncle wanted him to do and turned toward me.

“Princess of Total Victory, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Crown Prince Wailen Groxdel.”

So well-mannered!

His posture was perfect, and his pronunciation was clear!

His chubby cheeks and tiny fidgeting fingers were adorable too!

I wanted nothing more than to scoop him up and spin him around in the air, but even though he was only five years old, he was still His Highness, the Crown Prince of the Empire.

Touching him without permission would be a serious offense.

“I am Flur Madel Eterna. It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness Crown Prince Wailen.”

I held one side of my dress with my left hand and placed my right hand over my heart.

Then I slightly bent my knees and lowered my body.

That was the Eterna-style greeting.

After straightening myself, I met Crown Prince Wailen’s eyes and smiled.

As a reward for properly greeting the Princess of Total Victory, the Hero thoroughly ruffled his young nephew’s hair.

That’s right.

Even if you’re strict when necessary, you should praise a child when they do something well.

That’s how you help a child grow up properly.

Apparently, Crown Prince Wailen adored his uncle, the Hero.

Whenever he met Richt, he would cling to him so tightly that it was nearly impossible to separate them.

Obviously, if Richt stayed with us, studying would be impossible!

So he escorted us to the study room and then left the Crown Prince’s palace.

“Please sit here, Princess.”

“Thank you.”

Normally, he would have pulled the chair out for me so that I could sit comfortably.

But the large, luxurious chair was too heavy for a five-year-old child.

Therefore, the Crown Prince’s task was simply to take my hand and guide me to the desk.

One of the knights standing guard quietly pulled the chair out for me.

Now that I thought about it, I understood why the Hero, who was so sensitive about my safety, was willing to leave the palace.

There were guards and maids stationed everywhere.

At the entrance to the room.

By the windows.

Even directly beside the Crown Prince.

It was an impenetrable fortress.

As soon as I finished looking around the room, an elderly scholar entered.

He had a magnificent long white beard.

“Congratulations on your return, Princess of Total Victory. My name is Giorgio Fiole.”

“My teacher is a Sage!”

Richt had given me some basic information about him on the way here.

Apparently, Giorgio was a Sage who had taught students at the Imperial Academy for many years before retiring.

The Emperor and Empress, who had once been his students, had personally invited him to teach the Crown Prince.

Normally, the education of a young member of the imperial family would be entrusted to a close relative.

But the current imperial family had so few members that they had no choice but to bring in a renowned scholar.

“I look forward to learning from you, Sage Giorgio.”

“You must have many questions, Princess. This old man shall do his best today.”

The Sage clenched his fist enthusiastically.

And so, my intense lesson began.

“All right. At present, every country on the continent uses the same currency. There are three types of coins: bronze, silver, and gold.”

Ten bronze coins made one silver.

Ten silver coins made one gold.

That was the basic currency.

For larger transactions, people apparently used gemstones or checks, or conducted transactions through banks or guilds.

“You can’t do much with one bronze. With five bronze, however, you can buy a doughnut from one of the food stalls near the city gates.”

The wise teacher used snacks as examples so that the five-year-old could easily understand.

“Teacher, then how much does my favorite strawberry cake cost?”

“Hmm. At an ordinary café, perhaps five to six silver. At an upscale café, a single slice would cost more than one gold.”

Crown Prince Wailen’s eyes widened as the coins were neatly stacked in front of him.

He carefully touched them with his tiny hands.

“Princess, was the currency different in each country during the era you lived in?”

“Yes. In my homeland, Eterna, we used Ter gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins.”

One copper coin was worth one Ter.

One silver coin was worth ten Ter.

One gold coin was worth one hundred Ter.

But even in the village where I’d lived, most transactions were conducted through bartering.

I’d only seen a 100-Ter gold coin a handful of times myself.

The Sage taught us that the currency had been unified 350 years ago.

Apparently, the leaders of the various countries across the continent had agreed to standardize the currency because they had been struggling with paying the soldiers of the Demon King Subjugation Army, who had gathered from all over the continent.

“All right. Let’s move on to the next stage.”

Now that we’d learned about the value of money, it was time to learn how to earn and spend it.

Since this was a lesson for the Crown Prince, I assumed we’d be discussing topics related to the education of a future ruler, such as how to manage a national budget.

But instead, the Sage pulled a piggy bank out of the bag he’d brought with him and gave it to his student.

“One must learn how to handle small amounts of money before one can easily learn how to handle large amounts! Hohoho!”

The Sage’s approach to economic education was entirely practical.

And the Crown Prince’s elderly teacher also assigned me, the Princess of Total Victory, a mountain of homework.

“Princess, first of all, you need to go to the Adventurer’s Guild and register. You also need to open an account. If your homeland no longer exists, you become stateless until you obtain citizenship from another country…”

“Ahh! I’ll write it down, so please slow down a little!”

The Sage’s explanation came pouring down like a sudden rainstorm, leaving me dizzy.

The lesson continued for more than twenty minutes without a break.

It was incredibly useful.

But it was also brutally difficult.

The classes I’d taken back when I attended an all-girls’ school seemed like child’s play compared to this.

“Princess? You don’t look well.”

“I-I’m fine. Hahaha.”

“I heard that lunch is also part of today’s lesson. Perhaps the food wasn’t to your liking…”

“The food was delicious.”

A hearty beef stew packed with meat, chewy white bread, and a salad topped with strawberries and oranges.

I ate everything without leaving even a single piece of lettuce behind.

Apparently, the meal was intended to give the Crown Prince an experience with common people’s food.

But honestly, the meat was so flavorful and the food tasted so refined that I couldn’t help thinking it was somewhat of a scam.

The young Crown Prince’s study sessions weren’t very long.

Once lunch was over, his lessons were finished!

After that, he was free to take a nap, play in the playroom, and do whatever else he wanted.

His nanny and childcare maids took the Crown Prince away, while I drank tea and chatted with Sage Giorgio.

Then I returned to my quarters with the Hero, who had come to pick me up.

“How was the lesson?”

“It was extremely informative.”

The sharp-minded Sage had accurately identified a problem that most people hadn’t even noticed.

The Princess of Total Victory was currently in a strange position on paper.

I belonged nowhere.

And having no affiliation meant I had no legal or political shelter to protect me.

He also told me the fastest way to escape my current situation as a stateless person with no legally recognized identity.

Register with the Adventurer’s Guild as soon as possible!

And at the same time, open an account for paying taxes.

If I was registered with the guild—even at the lowest rank—and consistently paid the taxes levied on the money I earned from quests, I would be subject to the same laws as the people of whatever country I lived in.

Of course, there were other options.

I could find at least three people willing to serve as guarantors of my identity and apply for citizenship.

I could receive the patronage of a noble.

I could get married.

Or I could be adopted as someone’s daughter.

But all of those options were completely unavailable to me right now.

They were nothing more than things I could look at from afar.

The Sage understood this perfectly as well.

So he simply told me that whenever I got the chance to go outside, I should head straight to the Adventurer’s Guild first.