Chapter 8
It took one month until I left for the Riston Empire.
I was very busy preparing funds by gathering all the donations from my personal wealth, and also choosing people to escort me.
On the desk in the study, piles of documents recording income and expenses were stacked like a mountain, and next to the ink bottle were used pen nibs scattered around.
I barely slept more than four hours a day, and I often ate while standing. I couldn’t even tell if I was chewing bread or paper in my mouth.
When the news spread that I suddenly said I was going on a trip to the Riston Empire, the nobles whispered that the princess had lost her mind after drinking poison.
I could clearly imagine noble ladies laughing behind lace fans in the palace corridors.
“Honestly. Saying the princess went crazy… they really have no manners.”
Anyway, Phetra suspected me carefully like a poisonous snake, and Duke Jeyan…
“What on earth are you thinking?!”
Finally, the day came when I was leaving the palace for the Riston Empire. It was just as I was about to exit the main gate of the palace.
A carriage rushed along the palace road, stopped suddenly, and Duke Jeyan almost jumped out of it.
His face looked more heated in the sunset light, and his breathing was rough.
His silver hair, which was always perfectly combed, was now stuck to his forehead.
One button of his neatly pressed uniform was undone, showing he had rushed here in a hurry.
“Even at that age, he is that fast. He really is healthy. So that story about hurting his leg last time was probably a lie.”
While I was thinking useless things, I met his sharp gaze directly.
Duke Jeyan’s gray eyes pierced me like a blade.
“What do you mean what am I thinking? I am going to the Riston Empire.”
I answered lazily, and Duke Jeyan frowned even more. His eyebrows rose dangerously.
The wind coming through the carriage window blew my hair.
I pushed my hair behind my ear and waved my hand.
“If you are going to lecture me, then leave. I am an adult and I have plans. If you calculate human lifespan objectively, there is a higher chance that grandfather will die before me.”
The meaning that Duke Jeyan might die earlier was not cruelty, it was a fact.
If my grandfather also died, then what would happen to Blanche?
His jaw tightened.
“Right? Then how long am I supposed to stay protected by grandfather? So I also need to find a way to survive.”
“Princess…”
His voice cracked.
“I don’t want to die slowly in a cage without hope. I have wings, so I will fly into the sky. I will never fall.”
When I spoke firmly, Duke Jeyan let out a long sigh.
His shoulders dropped.
Those shoulders, which had always been straight all his life, looked like they could not handle the weight for the first time.
“Haa… I understand. Then please take this at least.”
What he handed me was a necklace.
Inside a finely crafted frame was a pendant filled with liquid, which looked strange.
When sunlight hit it, the golden liquid shimmered like waves.
I looked closely and asked what it was, and Duke Jeyan said,
“It is an antidote.”
“Antidote?”
I widened my eyes in surprise, and Duke Jeyan spoke calmly.
But his fingertips were slightly shaking.
“I could not give it to you last time. Use it when you are in danger again. It is an antidote prepared only for you, Princess.”
An antidote just for me.
I wore the necklace with the golden liquid gently swaying inside.
The cold chain touched my neck, and a warm feeling spread through my chest.
The heavy pendant rested right over my heart.
“…Thank you, Grandfather. And please believe in me.”
“I understand. I will always be here, so come back anytime. I will live long and take care of my health.”
Haa.
I think I am getting emotional right now.
Something hot rose in my throat.
I thought he was just a strict grandfather who only cared about duty, but it was sincere.
Small wrinkles formed around his usually cold eyes, filled with worry.
After all, punishment without love is impossible. If someone truly hates you, they just ignore you.
“I will be back.”
I bowed deeply and got into the carriage.
The carriage steps creaked under my feet, and the smell of leather seats reached my nose.
And I shouted confidently.
“Let’s go~”
“What do you mean ‘let’s go’.”
Andy sighed deeply as she got off the carriage, carrying my backpack on her shoulder.
Sweat drops formed on her forehead.
All the way here, I felt like I brought a parrot with me. Andy had repeated that sentence at least a thousand times.
She wore a sword at her waist and gave me a sideways glare. Her brown eyes were full of annoyance.
“Princess! Why did you make such an impulsive decision?”
“Impulsive? I really do have plans.”
“I have served you for ten years, and you have never once made a plan.”
Andy kept nagging the same way again, and I narrowed my eyes.
We stood on the dusty road, staring at each other.
“Stop it already. Can you see my ears? They are going deaf because of you.”
“Your ears are fine, Princess. You can still hear more.”
Honestly.
Andy was really disrespectful.
She was smiling slightly, clearly teasing me on purpose.
“So who told you to follow me?”
I complained, and Andy laughed helplessly.
She shook her shoulders as she laughed, looking like a playful puppy.
“You are reckless, your personality is wild, and you run around like a wild horse, but how can I send away our pretty, cute, lovely Princess Blanche Snow alone?”
“…What are you even saying.”
Say either an insult or a compliment. Pick one.
I could not tell if Andy was insulting me or praising me.
I let out a small laugh because Andy’s tsundere attitude was funny.
She was right, though. Blanche was only twenty and had mostly lived inside the palace.
But in my previous life, I was not a young twenty-year-old girl.
I had gone through the Korean college entrance exam, which felt like a battlefield, graduated from a top university, and survived working under a terrible manager in hell-like office life.
I stayed up all night in front of Excel sheets, ate meals with coffee, and always had wrist pain from mouse clicking.
Actually, my goal in my past life was not just to become rich.
It was the process of earning money, and the dopamine when I saw the result—money.
Just thinking about it made me excited. My fingers tingled and my heart beat faster.
Right now, I only had about 350 million marks, but I would turn it into over 300 billion marks.
‘I will show them how crazy I am about money.’
I looked toward the Riston Empire with shining eyes.
Beyond the distant border of the empire, it looked like imaginary gold coins were sparkling.
Just wait. I will take everything.
“Let’s go, Princess.”
While I was full of determination, Andy’s voice broke my thoughts. I came back to reality and looked up.
Unlike Andy, who was carrying a huge backpack, cross bag, and even a heavy sword, I looked lightly dressed and felt a bit embarrassed.
She was slightly bent from the weight and wiped sweat from her forehead.
Even though I was a princess and she was a maid…
“Andy, at least give me the cross bag. It’s heavy.”
“I’m fine.”
Andy really looked like it was nothing.
She even snorted.
Her shoulders shrugged as if to say, “This is nothing.”
“Then give me the sword. I’ll carry it.”
Andy suddenly laughed.
A crooked smile appeared on her face.
“Ha. Then try holding it.”
I muttered that I wasn’t that weak and took the sword.
But—
Thud.
It was too heavy, and I dropped it on the ground.
Dust rose up and dirtied my clothes.
My wrist hurt, and my palm turned red from the grip.
Andy crossed her arms and smiled confidently.
She looked completely amused, with a mocking smile.
…Right. She was the youngest daughter of a famous sword family.
She had trained since she was eight years old… swinging a sword before sunrise and doing strength training at night.
Actually, I had a very strong escort right next to me from the beginning.
“Haa… I didn’t know my body was this weak. Blanche, did you only do breathing exercises all your life?”
While I struggled, Andy clicked her tongue and bent down. She picked up the sword, put it back in its place, and said seriously,
“Princess, just breathe and stay alive.”
“…Okay.”
She was right, so I couldn’t even argue back.
Damn it.
I guess I should just focus on breathing exercises.
