TIRS 25

CHAPTER 25.

 It’s Almost Like You’re Worried About Me

It was around the time I began to grow suspicious of Orent’s actions.

“If you don’t want to go, I won’t force you.”

When none of us answered hastily, Mother spoke in a calm voice.

“But Your Majesty, the news has probably already reached the Grand Temple,” Gloria said cautiously.

The Grand Temple was the central temple overseeing all other temples dedicated to Baldur, the main deity, across the continent.

In every country, countless local temples were under the Grand Temple’s influence, and in small kingdoms, high priests and saintesses were often as powerful as royalty.

Only in the Azester Empire did the emperor’s authority exceed that of the clergy—solely because Mother’s faith was as thin as paper.

“I am the emperor of Azester.”

Mother sharply raised one eyebrow.

“A mere mutt from the Grand Temple can’t lay a finger on me.”

Her tone when referring to the Grand Temple was full of irritation. If anyone else had heard it, they would’ve screamed blasphemy.

‘Well, Mother and the Pope don’t get along.’

More accurately, it was one-sided—Mother simply hated the Pope.

I had never seen the Pope in person.

But it was widely known across the continent how much the Azester Emperor despised him.

Their bad blood apparently started even before I was born.

The Grand Temple sent annual gifts, but Mother wouldn’t even say thank you. She tossed them into storage like trash, saying she couldn’t stand the sight of them.

And yet, they still sent flowers and presents this year. The Pope must have the patience of a saint.

‘Clergy really are built different.’

Still, Gloria’s concern was valid.

The high priests of the Grand Temple, who were already grinding their teeth over Mother’s disregard, would definitely seize this divine revelation as an opportunity to strike back.

“I have an afternoon appointment. I’ll be leaving first.”

Mother rose before even finishing her meal.

[SYSTEM] has entered a state of concern.

Despite her confident stride, the system notification revealed her uneasy heart.

Normally, direct members of the imperial family weren’t allowed to go out alone due to safety protocols. They had to be accompanied by attendants and knights.

I didn’t have a personal knight until recently, so I’d relied on members of the palace guard.

But now, I had just awakened as a Swordmaster.

“Even if I bring a knight along, I’d be the one protecting them.”

“W-Well, that’s true, but…”

“I have a place I need to go alone today. No one follow me.”

The maids, unable to stop me, simply saw me off as I headed toward the carriage.

As I passed through the corridor outside the Princess’ Palace, I noticed the atmosphere was more chaotic than usual.

“What’s going on?”

“Duke Hamilton is bald now.”

“What?”

“So today’s audience with him was canceled. His Majesty, already in a bad mood, got even angrier because the duke postponed the meeting without notice.”

“…”

“And now the maids are gossiping. Some even say Prince Orent, the duke’s son, might go bald too!”

“…”

I swallowed hard.

Something suddenly came to mind.

Item: <Appearance Change Potion (Bald)>

A potion the Bald Kraken treasured to keep its shiny head. Drinking it causes baldness.

It was part of the loot I received after defeating <Lv.49 Bald Kraken>. I opened my inbox to find ten of those useless potions sitting there.

‘No way…’

I knew it instinctively.

This was Ancelot’s doing.

Even doing a handstand on a horse, I’d bet my life it was Ancelot’s doing.

‘Did he spike the duke’s drink with it or something?’

Thanks to him, Mother’s mood had worsened, and the palace atmosphere was going downhill fast.

“Princess, do you know anything about this?”

“No, of course not. Poor Duke Hamilton. He already looked old—now he’s losing hair too.”

The maids tilted their heads at my odd expression, but I quickly shook my head to distance myself.

There was no benefit in being associated with this.

“Well, I’ll be off.”

I waved lightly to the maids and boarded the carriage.

[Wow~!!! It’s been so long since we’ve gone out ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪]

The system window chirped in an overly excited tone.

“Hmph, what are you talking about? We’ve gone out plenty.”

[Nope, this is my first time! I always have to stay glued to the player. I can only go where the player goes ❤.(๓´͈ ˘ `͈๓).❤]

Huh? But Hezen roamed all over the place.

[We met for the first time by the lake last time, remember? Since then, you haven’t gone outside ｡°(っ°´o`°ｃ)°｡]

I blinked in confusion, and the system window popped up another message with a shocked emoji.

[Wait… Did you just confuse me with the previous system windows? Σ(‘◉⌓◉’)]

‘Previous windows? Like… predecessors?’

[Yeah, the old ones retired. They got wrecked by a nasty bug and were completely shattered ‧₊˚(✘﹏✘)]

I remembered the buggy, glitchy system pop-ups whenever Ancelot did something weird—and how one of them had even urged Hezen to kill me.

Apparently, those earlier system windows and this current, chatty one had different personalities.

“Hmmm…”

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the system window.

“Why do you think I’m the player?”

[Of course you’re the player! What else would I call someone radiating this much dimensional energy? Acting clueless doesn’t change who you are (˘̀^˘́҂)]

Dimensional energy? That almost sounded like it knew I had transmigrated from another world.

[I may be inexperienced, but I’ve got a nose for this sort of thing! (˘̀^˘́҂҂҂)]

‘Why does it look so smug…?’

I turned to look out the window, thinking over the system’s words.

[I just want you to start the scenario soon (◞ ‸ ◟ㆀ)]

A droopy-eyed emoji popped up in front of me.

Just as I was about to sigh at its whining—

[Otherwise, the system administrator might come after you. The local admin here has a really bad rep, you know.]

I froze.

‘That… almost sounds like concern.’

I wasn’t used to being worried about, and oddly, it made me feel a little weak.

“Well, I became a target the moment they used the saintess of Taal Kingdom to declare a fake prophecy. And honestly, not progressing the scenario is more dangerous now.”

I coughed awkwardly and replied bluntly.

The system window went quiet.

Soon, the carriage dropped me off at the capital plaza.

Because this was an unofficial outing, I wore the .

The item, which Hezen used to fight the <Lv.49 Bald Kraken>, not only masked my presence from monsters but made it hard for ordinary people to notice me as well.

Unless someone already knew me well, they wouldn’t immediately recognize me as Luyvel Azester.

[SYSTEM] You are now in Stealth Mode.

However, my stealth was quickly rendered useless.

No one called my name or grabbed me—but I knew.

[SYSTEM] ‘s favorability has dropped by 10. (Current Favorability: -140)

The system alert confirmed I’d been caught.

“Princess Luyvel Azester, Third Imperial Princess.”

He addressed me in a stiff tone.

“Hello, Sir Klaus. Funny running into you here.”

[SYSTEM] ‘s favorability has dropped by 10. (Current Favorability: -150)

As soon as our eyes met, it dropped again. A satisfyingly clean number.

“Direct royals aren’t supposed to go out unaccompanied.”

“I’m fine. As you know, I recently—”

[SYSTEM] ‘s favorability has dropped by 30. (Current Favorability: -180)

“I’ll escort you.”

“…”

I was about to convince him like I did the maids, but seeing the favorability nosedive, I gave up.

‘At this rate, his favorability will burrow into the earth’s core.’

It wasn’t like I wanted him to like me.

But when favorability got too low, penalties could trigger—and that was dangerous.

Just like how I hit -999 with Hezen and started feeling murderous intent, Klaus might do the same.

“Then I’ll leave my safety in your hands, Sir Klaus.”

[SYSTEM] ‘s favorability has dropped by 10. (Current Favorability: -190)

“…”

What the hell? Even agreeing with him makes it drop?

I had a lot to say, but I swallowed it.

First, I needed to find the Black Market Guild Merchant.

That was the real reason I came out today—to find clues about the system administrator.

‘The one who gave Hezen the horn is definitely the system admin.’

But I couldn’t find the horn in any regular or player-exclusive shop.

So now I was heading to the black market in hopes of a lead.

‘If I find where the horn is traded, maybe I’ll find some clues.’

I’d never been to the black market before, but finding it wasn’t difficult.

All I had to do was use the Mini-Map feature in the interface.

The mini-map showed all major locations to help players progress through the game.

However, it only activated after you’d visited a place once.

‘Guess it’s time to thank Hezen for once.’

Because he’d ignored the main story and run around charming every female character, the entire capital—down to its hidden nooks—was mapped out.

“Wait outside.”

I stopped at the black market entrance and addressed Klaus.

“It’s dangerous. I’ll go in with you.”

“This would be overstepping your authority, Sir Klaus.”

“…Understood.”

I insisted on going alone, and Klaus answered with a displeased face.

Considering his favorability dropped every time he spoke politely, I was worried what this irritated response would cost me.

But then—

[SYSTEM] ‘s favorability has increased by 10. (Current Favorability: -180)

‘Huh?’

Just like his sister Sylvia, he expressed emotions backward. What a pair.