15 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 15
Neril widened her eyes, then nodded resolutely.
“Let’s see if my trick backfires on me. No matter how they try to drag this out, they won’t be able to target Your Highness.”
\ \ *
“Here it is, Your Highness.”
There was a small side door in the wall of the western training ground warehouse of Baldina Royal Palace.
“It’s a tunnel the members used when they went on excursions. It connects directly to the city.”
It was said that the Royal Guard members, exhausted from being confined in the palace and undergoing strenuous training, dug the tunnel themselves, so the royal family didn’t even know it existed.
Considering it was a tunnel dug without proper equipment, it was quite well-maintained, and Medeia felt the madness of the former members.
At the end of the tunnel, an ordinary Quadruple Carriage was waiting for them.
“Neril, you finally came. I thought you were digging a new tunnel,”
A young coachman, idly flicking his whip, joked to Neril.
His round eyes quickly took in Medeia, who was standing behind Neril.
“Hello, Princess.”
“Tom, show some respect to Her Highness.”
“Heung, cut me some slack. A lowly guy like me can’t be taught any better.”
As the freckled young man greeted her cheerfully, Neril warned him coldly.
“I apologize, Your Highness. I warned him in advance, but…”
“It’s okay. Hello.”
When Medeia casually accepted the greeting, the young man named Tom paused for a moment before nodding.
‘A palace soldier.’
She could tell from his sitting posture and the way he held the whip.
He must be a disciple of the former Royal Guard commander.
‘He dislikes me.’
Medeia read the clear animosity hidden in the coachman’s eyes.
He probably thought he was hiding it well behind a smiling face, but the fleeting emotion had already been read by Medeia.
Since the rumors of her being a foolish Princess were widespread, the coachman probably saw her that way too.
‘Still, this is mild.’
Compared to the colorless and odorless criticism and contempt she had experienced in her previous life, this was nothing more than a childish tantrum.
“Giddy up! Giddy up!”
With a rattling sound and a cloud of dusty sand, the carriage set off.
Her prediction about the coachman was correct.
“Your Highness, hold on to me here.”
The carriage, which seemed to be running smoothly, became rougher as it moved away from the city center.
The carriage, which had entered an unpaved road, was constantly bumping, whether it couldn’t or ‘wouldn’t’ go smoothly.
“Giddy up! Giddy up!”
The sound of excitedly urging the horses could be heard. The carriage wheels looked like they were about to bounce off.
“That bastard…”
Neril, biting her lip, straightened Medeia and clenched her fist tightly.
“I’ll go say something.”
“Are you sure we’re going to your teacher?”
“Yes. But…”
“Then it’s fine.”
Medeia leaned back with a bored expression.
She didn’t care about the coachman’s silent spite or the rumbling of the ground.
‘They must think I’m a Princess who has never stepped in the mud in my life.’
However, in her previous life, she had rarely been comfortable while going on expeditions with Iason.
It was common for Demon Beast to pop out from collapsed ground, so she could easily take a comfortable nap on rough terrain.
Medeia pulled back the curtain.
“It must be dirty with all the dust coming in.”
“It’s okay.”
Medeia didn’t take her eyes off the scenery outside the window.
The carriage left the royal castle.
‘There’s no smoke from cooking.’
A desolate, barren field. Shabby houses that looked like they would collapse at any moment could be seen everywhere.
‘This is reality. This is the real Baldina.’
This was the truth that Regent Duke wanted to hide from Medeia’s eyes.
It was different from the clean and splendid royal castle. This was the current reality of Baldina, which had sustained the ten-year war.
‘It wasn’t easy even after winning the war.’
While Peleus was away, the Regent Duke’s power within the kingdom had grown too large. Rebellions even broke out one after another.
Moreover, the King’s only sister indulged in luxury and pleasure, and in the end, she was captured by the rebels, which only exposed the royal family’s flaws.
Nevertheless, her brother never blamed her.
‘Peleus, I won’t let that happen this time.’
Around that time, Tom shouted from outside the carriage.
“Giddy up! We’re almost there. Do you see that over there? That’s Marquis Gillifos’s mansion.”
Beyond the carriage window, a red brick mansion could be seen.
However, small ant-sized dots were huddled around the mansion.
‘What are those?’
Only after the carriage crossed the hill and entered the road did the identity of the gathered group become clear.
“They are retired soldiers and their families. They continue to increase as the war drags on.”
Tom explained loudly enough for Medeia to hear.
Most of them had their hometowns burned down or were crippled and didn’t have the means to go back, so they wandered around near the royal castle.
“They fought for the country and ended up like that, but, hehe, far from being treated well, they were kicked out without even being able to set foot in the royal castle.”
The end of his giggling laughter was sharp.
“My teacher, unable to ignore their plight, took them in, but now the mansion is at full capacity, so he can’t kick them out and is just providing them with meals outside like that.”
“……”
“Giddy up~”
He had been driving like crazy until now, but suddenly he drove the horses leisurely.
It was when the carriage was passing by the group of retired soldiers.
With a clunk, the carriage tilted.
“Oh, dear. The wheel came off! Oh my, is it broken again?”
Just as his cheerful voice was heard, Tom’s grinning face appeared outside the window.
“What should we do? I’ll have to repair the wheel here. It won’t take long!”
“You…”
Neril stood up with a stiff face. She was about to go outside the carriage.
“Are you going to hit me? Even so, I can’t fix the wheel right away. I’m not a magician.”
His glib face disappeared.
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
“It’s okay.”
Medeia’s face was calm.
Meanwhile, the carriage that suddenly stopped on the road attracted people’s attention.
“Who is it? Who’s inside?”
“Are they visiting the Marquis? I thought the visits from the royal castle had stopped for a while.”
Someone retorted bluntly.
“Who cares who it is? Don’t drop the food you’re holding. Do you think the King cares if we go hungry?”
The cold and hunger made them sensitive.
As the war dragged on, the national treasury was empty.
Conversely, forced labor and taxes increased day by day, weighing down on their shoulders.
Baldina, located in the barren north, was not a country with abundant resources in the first place.
“We’re like this, but they say there’s a banquet every day in that royal palace? At the royal banquets, they drink wine like water and the tables are full of meat.”
“Wow. I think I could live for a week just by looking at a piece of meat.”
“It’s not just meat, is it? They say that cursed Princess wears all sorts of jewels all over her body.”
They didn’t know the detailed royal family tree, but they certainly knew about the Princess.
“Aren’t those jewels bought with our blood? A greedy bedbug! A parasite of the royal family!”
People raised their voices one after another.
They criticized the King, who was obsessed with war, and his sister, who ignored the people and indulged in luxury and pleasure.
The retired soldiers had set up makeshift tents along the road, so the distance to the carriage was not far.
Their angry voices could be heard very well.
Medeia listened to the raw criticism directed at her from outside the window.
‘Are they telling me to listen?’
She could read the intentions of Tom or Marquis Gillifos.
“Your Highness…”
Neril was restless, not knowing what to do.
Then, someone retorted.
“Hey, you people, don’t say things if you don’t know. What do you mean the Princess wears jewels all over her body?”
“Huh?”
“Haven’t you heard? What kind of treatment the Princess has been receiving in the palace? You people are late with the news!”
