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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 16: The Princess’ Gift
The capital of the Novarens Empire—
The Imperial Capital, Novaresia.
The most splendid city in the empire, filled with golden decorations symbolizing the emperor’s authority, was still brightly lit even tonight.
At the heart of the city stood the imperial palace, and within it, the most secretive and restricted area—the Princess’s Quarters.
Inside a large, golden bathtub glowing like treasure, she was there.
Her black hair shone brighter than obsidian, and her calm, warm brown skin was like the desert dawn. Alone in the tub, she laughed pleasantly as her maid delivered news.
“Did Hadem really run away!?”
“Yes, Lady Selenia. News has spread across the continent that Lord Hadem of the Raion family fled in fear of the Cron family’s mage, Sharon.”
“Hahaha! The axe he boasted about ended up looking so pitiful. Big brother must be furious.”
“Yes, exactly as you say, Lady Selenia.”
When her maid bowed her head, everyone present echoed her sentiment.
Her name was『Selenia Lily Novarens』—
The second princess of the Novarens Empire and one of the highest nobles with the strongest imperial succession rights alongside the prince.
From her position, playing a grand game of chess against her older brother across the empire’s board, the events unfolding in the south were incredibly entertaining.
At first, she was taken aback when she heard of the Cron family—a name never heard before.
The various reforms starting in Cron had even affected the lands she supported.
At first, she worried that her older brother, the prince, might be reaching into Cron. But this recent incident washed away that worry.
If the prince had his hand in it, there was no way the Raion family would be so humiliated.
“What was the name of the lord of the Cron family again?”
“Calyx Cron, my lady. People call him the『Silver Dragon of Cron』.”
“The Silver Dragon of Cron… That’s definitely the nickname of the great general who helped make our ancestor emperor, right?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Selenia recalled her history lessons from childhood.
The first emperor,『Belserion Ark Novarens』, had risen to the throne largely thanks to the Grand General, the Silver Dragon of Cron—Draegen Cron.
As the looming war for the throne approached, Selenia felt the appearance of the Silver Dragon of Cron was like fate itself.
“I like him! Let’s bring him to our side too!”
“Yes, the lord of Cron will surely be pleased by your proposal, Lady Selenia.”
Splash!
Selenia stepped out of the golden bathtub.
As her beautiful, jewel-like bare skin emerged, the maids on either side immediately began drying her with large towels.
“Then we should send a gift first… Lumiel, who do you think we should send?”
To Selenia’s question,『Lumiel』, the princess’s right-hand maid with light green hair and large horn-rimmed glasses, answered with a gentle smile.
“I think the ‘child’ who recently arrived would be best. ‘They’ graduated top of their class at the academy—surely the lord of Cron will be pleased.”
“Oh! That child!… Hmm, yes! That sounds good. Please proceed, Lumiel.”
“I will follow your command, Princess Selenia.”
Saying this, Selenia walked back to her room.
Watching the two maids struggling to dry the still-wet floor without disturbing her graceful footsteps, Lumiel quietly sighed to herself, unseen by anyone.
＊ ＊ ＊
After the Deeproc Incident, the Cron Territory finally enjoyed a rare stretch of peace.
And the credit for that peace? Largely owed to Sharon.
She was so absurdly powerful, people half-joked she was a meta-defining character—borderline mandatory to even be competitive.
Because of her title as the ‘Lawful Mage of Fire’, most assumed Sharon only wielded fire magic. But in truth, she was a Sage Candidate—one of the rare few chosen to walk the path toward becoming a true Sage.
And to even qualify for that path? You had to master every known school of magic.
So no, Sharon wasn't just burning things. She could heal wounds as effortlessly as she scorched battlefields. She could shape the earth, mend the broken, purify poisoned land—all with skill that put ordinary mages to shame.
In a territory like Cron, which practically had ‘no’ mages before her, she was nothing short of a game-changer.
She healed the sick, restored the weak, and even purged the salinity from newly cultivated land so crops could take root.
In raw numbers? The efficiency of the territory’s administration had basically ‘doubled’ since her arrival.
“This month’s revenue is up by 114% compared to last month, my Lord!”
“All thanks to your wisdom in recruiting Lady Sharon, my Lord!”
Nova and Hart, who had been stressing over the massive spending on military campaigns and settler support, finally returned to me with ‘relieved’ smiles on their faces.
And honestly? That report made me feel good too.
“Yes! Wonderful news! Ha ha ha! ...Huh?”
Wait a second!
This isn’t something to celebrate!
I looked at the stack of gold in front of me and realized the blunder.
I had funneled so much money back into reinvestment that we were running tight on funds… so I started squeezing the territory for more returns… and now we’d made even more money!
‘Sigh… What the hell am I supposed to do with all this? Build an ‘academy’ or something?’
I found myself thinking of Cron’s laughably thin education infrastructure… and remembered the special educational buildings from World Archive, like the『Academy』.
Just as I started spiraling into another ‘how do I spend all this cash’ dilemma—
Knock-Knock.
“Enter.”
At my command, a messenger stepped into the room, visibly tense.
“What is it?”
“Y-Yes, my Lord! A letter has arrived for you—from the Imperial Family.”
“From the Imperial Family!?”
Damn it! It’s happening!!
In『World Archive』, when your reputation as a Lord got high enough, it would trigger letters like this from the Imperial Family—usually the start of ‘major’ story events.
What the hell’s about to hit me now!?
Please don’t let it be that『Capital City Invitation Event』. Anything but ‘that’.
A quiet dread settled over me as I took the letter from the messenger.
It was sealed with the official crest of the Imperial House—not the personal seal of the Emperor himself, which meant this wasn’t from the Emperor directly, but from one of the Imperial children.
So… which one was it?
Please, not the Crown Prince…
I broke the seal, and found a message inside. Extremely simple. Almost absurdly so.
——————————
Let’s get along from now on.
As a token of goodwill, I’m sending you a little gift!
—Second Princess / Selenia Lily Novarens
——————————
“......”
What the hell? Did I read that right?
The letter was ridiculously simple—so much so it felt like a prank. I just stared, unable to say a word.
Even digging through Calyx’s memories, there wasn’t a single instance of getting a letter from the Imperial Family. So yeah—I was caught completely off guard.
Was this really how the Imperial Family handled things?
Or… did the princess just do whatever she wanted?
Either way, this letter was just plain weird—didn’t see that coming at all.
“Lord Calyx! What does it say?”
“…The Second Princess says she’s sending me a gift, as a gesture of friendship.”
“The princess!?
Nova’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Even here in the southern provinces, tales of the princess battling the Crown Prince for the throne were well-known. And considering Nova had traded with countless lords, he surely knew all about her.
“This is bad. If it’s a gift from the princess, we can’t just reject it.”
“Right. That could be taken as an insult to the Imperial Family.”
Even if it was sent without my consent, even if it was just her acting on her own whims, the seal on the letter still bore the Imperial Crest.
Refusing it without a reason—or even accepting it carelessly—could both influence my future in ways I couldn’t control.
“Did she say what the gift is?”
“No. She didn’t mention it at all.”
“…I see.”
Hart’s face darkened, like he was holding back a secret. Nova’s expression grew serious too, her eyes heavy with unspoken worry as she shared her thoughts.
“Rumor has it the princess enjoys ‘raising’ things. So the gift… might be something along those lines.”
“Raising…?”
His words triggered a memory from my past life. When playing as the Second Princess, the ‘nurturing system’ was a huge part of her gameplay.
…Problem is, I never actually played her route, so I didn’t know the details.
“Let’s wait and see for now. There’s no need to respond until the gift arrives.”
“Agreed, Lord Calyx.”
“Alright, we’ll do that.”
So we decided to hold off on making any moves until we saw what exactly the ‘gift’ was.
And a few days later—it arrived.
A luxurious carriage bearing the Imperial Crest rolled up to the modest palace of House Cron. The door opened.
And then—’she’ stepped out.
“…Don’t tell me ‘this’ is the gift.”
“It… kind of looks like it, Lord Calyx.”
A single maid emerged from the carriage.
Her golden-blonde hair brushed just past her neck, framing a face so breathtakingly elegant it felt almost unreal. Sapphire-blue eyes shone with poise and clarity, cool as ice.
Dressed in a flawlessly tailored maid’s uniform and carrying a large bag that was clearly her own, she approached with the grace of someone who belonged in a portrait, not reality.
“Greetings, Lord Calyx. I am Lana Ansus, maid sent by Her Highness, Second Princess Selenia Lily Novarens, to serve by your side.”
Her gaze never wavered, her voice steady as steel.
“From this day forward, I shall devote myself to your service with perfect loyalty. Please, command me as you will.”
I knew exactly who she was.
Her name was Lana Ansus.
Among all the servant-type characters in the game, she was one of the rarest SSRs—an elite-tier unit nicknamed the『Super Maid』. One of the few SSRs I had actually managed to obtain.
She was flawless.
But she came with a major problem.
Her ‘job.’
In the game, she had two classes.
The first was obvious—『Maid』.
But the second…
『Assassin』
In other words, the imperial family just delivered a Trojan horse straight to my doorstep.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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