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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: An Unwanted Showdown
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Chapter 53
Countess Continell grabbed both of Claude's arms as he stood before her and pleaded desperately.
“Claude. Please, don't cause any trouble, alright?”
It was a strategy of appeasement.
“You're my proud son, aren't you? Hmm?”
“Ah, yes. Yes.”
The strategy of appeasement didn't seem to be working very well.
While answering, Claude Continell salved his conscience by subtly avoiding his mother's gaze.
Having noticed this, Countess Continell assigned someone to keep a close watch on Claude.
To see if he was pulling any nasty pranks at the academy or the estate, or if he was bullying his friends.
But a week passed without incident.
*Was I worried for nothing?* Just as she was tilting her head, finding it strange...
“My… my lady!”
The butler called out to her, flustered.
*Ah, so it's finally happened.*
Feeling rather relieved, as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart after a week of worry, she asked with a gentle smile.
“Yes, what is it? Hoho.”
*This is for the best.*
She thought she could quickly sort things out and finally sleep soundly with her feet up tonight.
“W-well…”
But the butler, his face pale, couldn't bring himself to speak. Seeing him like this, Countess Continell grew a little anxious.
Her youngest causing trouble was nothing new, so why was he so flustered?
*Just how big is the scale of this mess?*
The smile on Melissa Continell's lips vanished.
“What is it? Did Claude's magic experiment set a nearby mountain on fire?”
“N-no, my lady! If that were the case, it would be a relief... The Magic Fire Brigade would have been dispatched and put it out quickly.”
The butler, Selit, shook his head vigorously and let out a deep sigh.
“Then what? Did his engineering experiment cause a building to collapse?”
“Heavens, no. If it were just that, I wouldn't have even bothered reporting it to you, my lady.”
“What is it, then! Did he conduct human experiments on his friends?”
“Sob. The students avoid the young master so much now that such a thing could never happen.”
These were all incidents Claude had caused before.
There were more, but it was tiring just to list them.
Countess Continell's hands began to tremble.
*Then what on earth...*
“The young master has gone to the Imperial Palace…”
“The Imperial Palace? Wait. How did he get into the Imperial Palace?”
“He must have acquired an access pass, no?”
Countess Continell's jaw dropped. She quickly rummaged through her drawer.
*It's gone!*
She didn't know when he'd taken it, but that mischievous youngest son of hers had stolen the access pass.
But before she could get angry, an even more horrifying report came from the butler behind her.
“...Um, my lady. They say the young master is having a showdown with the Princess from Penterin.”
“...With the Princess, what?”
“Yes. He left a very specific note in his room.”
The butler handed a note to the disbelieving Countess Continell.
[For the sake of my uncle's revenge, I will go have a showdown with the Penterin Princess and return victorious. -Claude Continell]
“Hahaha.”
The laughter was so sinister that the butler instinctively took about five steps back.
After all, the most fearsome and powerful mage in this house was his lady.
Countess Continell smiled, a terrifyingly bright smile.
*My youngest son, it's been a while since you've caused such a major incident.*
“It seems the rod of love is needed.”
For the first time in a long while, Countess Continell picked up the magic-reinforced switch she kept beside her bed.
*You are so dead today, my beloved son.*
***
Upon arriving at the Rilberg Imperial Palace, Jusie was assigned to a place called the Stella Palace.
The beautiful palace, decorated with a constellation motif, was very much to Jusie's liking.
Especially when she discovered machines of a kind she had never seen before, Jusie was so excited her jaw nearly dropped.
She excitedly ran around, exploring every corner of the Rilberg Imperial Palace—which was as large as the Penterin Imperial Castle—discovering new machines and places.
There was never a dull moment.
Magitech was fascinating.
From small magical devices to large machines powered by magic stones.
The Stella Palace alone had many interesting magitech machines, such as automatic doors, devices for moving objects, and magical communication tools.
Another thing. Thanks to these magical devices, the Stella Palace had far fewer servants assigned to it than the Penterin Imperial Castle.
If Jusie were to run away or disappear, they could quickly find her with magical devices, or use a machine installed in the Stella Palace to forcibly summon her.
There was no need to keep many servants around on a daily basis.
Jusie, who had found it bothersome to be trailed by a line of servants in the Penterin Imperial Castle, was very pleased with this.
But the sense of freedom was short-lived. Before long, she realized that this damn magitech was even more bothersome and annoying.
*Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep—.*
The alarm blared, just as it did every other day.
*Damn it!*
Jusie scowled and pulled her front paw back, fuming.
*I wish this precise, flawless magitech would just go to hell!*
Having tried to stick her front paw through the archway leading out from the Stella Palace exit again today, Jusie growled in anger.
Magitech was so irritating.
The moment the alarm sounded, an invisible barrier had snapped into place across the archway.
The day she arrived, Ekiel had explained it himself.
He'd said that if an unauthorized person tried to enter, a Class 1 defensive barrier called a Shield would immediately form.
The important part was that this Class 1 defensive barrier would also automatically form and an alarm would sound if an unauthorized person tried to *leave*.
Which meant that Jusie, the one being "protected," couldn't leave as she pleased. But because Ekiel had said it with such a gentle smile, she hadn't realized it at the time.
*Hah, how annoying.*
Jusie pouted as she stared down at the yellow magic stone bracelet on her white front paw.
The reason the alarm blared and the Shield formed to stop her from leaving.
It was all because of this yellow magic stone bracelet, her access pass.
In the Rilberg Imperial Palace, there were magic stones called access passes, and the level of access differed by tier.
The lowest tier, yellow, was restricted to a localized area.
Next was green, restricted to two or three locations.
The third was blue, which allowed access to the Rilberg Imperial Palace—excluding the Emperor's palace—and the outside.
The fourth tier was red, which granted entry to the Emperor's palace and was given to Archmages.
The final, fifth tier was crimson, which allowed entry to the secret rooms, archives, and sealed chambers of the Rilberg Imperial Palace.
Only Emperor Ekiel and the Regent, Duke Jetar, possessed crimson magic stones.
People wore these access passes processed into the form of rings or bracelets.
Jusie had received the lowest-tier yellow magic stone bracelet.
She could only move freely within the Stella Palace and couldn't go anywhere else.
In other words, she was a prisoner in the palace.
And who, you ask, dared to impose this sentence upon her?
None other than His Majesty, Emperor Ekiel, the highest authority in the Rilberg Imperial Palace!
He himself had personally ordered Princess Jusielia's confinement(?)!
Under the pretext of her safety!
*Traitor! Ekiel is an idiot!*
Remembering the Ekiel of that day, who had fastened the yellow magic stone bracelet on her while smiling sweetly, made Jusie angry all over again.
“Grrrrrr!” (So annoying!)
Jusie furiously smacked the yellow magic stone bracelet with her other front paw.
As long as she was in the Rilberg Imperial Palace, the access pass bracelet couldn't be carelessly removed.
If she somehow managed to take it off, she would immediately be recognized as an intruder, and a deafening alarm would sound throughout the entire palace.
“Grrr.” (Annoying.)
She was bursting with indignation.
“Oh my, Your Highness…”
“Graaaawr!” (Go away! I want to be alone!)
“Eek, yes. I'll go. Please come inside for snack time later.”
“Grrrrrrrumble.” (So annoyiiiiing!)
Uni, who had been standing behind Jusie, watched her, thinking how cute the princess was even when scratching the floor in anger. But when Jusie got genuinely mad, she quickly vanished.
