The Max-Leveled Princess is Bored Today As Well - Chapter 52

Summer passed quickly.

The day has come when the back of one’s neck feels cold even when hiding under the shade in the middle of the day.

When I heard the news that tea leaves picked this year were in stock at my regular tea shop, I went out on a city trip with Agoth after a long time.

As I sampled the tea leaves for incense in turn, I realized it with a chill in my spine.

“How… peaceful!”

Oh my gosh. I’m leisurely smelling tea leaves now.

Agoth, who was explaining the order to the store owner, came up to me and asked.

“What is it, my lady?”

“Agoth, don’t you think it’s too peaceful these days?”

I asked in a serious voice, but Agoth only tilted her head as if questioning me.

“It’s nice to be at peace, isn’t it?”

“It’s not that we can’t be at peace, but it’s kind of strange to be at peace.”

“What do you mean by strange?”

“Think about it. Aren’t there quite a few elements of anxiety?”

After subjugating monsters, there were a lot of factors that make me uneasy.

First of all, the empress and the Brande family who kept me in check.

The strange pattern found on the hide of the monsters during the subjugation mission. My heart that complained of pain as if responding to the pattern. The rapid increase in the number of monsters and the relationship with the Draco religion.

And.

‘Noe.’

The back of a blond man, as seen at the Dracoism believers’ gathering.

‘No, is it too far-fetched to think it’s Noe?’

I shook my head and straightened one of my folded fingers.

I couldn’t be sure that it was him just by looking at his back, and even if he was at the scene, there was no way to question him.

It was just that the words he had said to me lingered in my head and bothered me.

“In any case, there’s more than one suspicious thing.”

I looked at Agoth and said.

“The problem is that they’re only suspicious, and none of them is a sure thing.”

“Mmm… I see.”

Agoth nodded slowly as if being forced to agree.

This peace is not good.

It’s almost like the eve before the storm. In other words, it is proof that there may be an unbearable storm soon.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do.”

I stretched out all my folded fingers and sighed.

The pattern found on the monsters’ bodies was a problem that even experts could not answer. Now that I had left it to Yulika, there was nothing I could do other than wait for an answer.

‘As for the matter with the empress, as long as that side doesn’t make a move, this side can’t make a move as well.’

The relationship with the empress is a close confrontation, in which if either side moves quickly, both sides will stumble.

As careful as this side is, so is that side.

Now, with anxiety and vigilance, we may have no choice but to accept this strange peace.

“My lady. This is lavender tea. It relieves anxiety.”

Perhaps trying to do her best, Agoth offered me an incense burner containing lavender petals.

I took it gently, put it under my nose, and took a deep breath. Although I was not sure if it worked.

“… I might as well probe about Dracoism first.”

After taking a few deep breaths, I muttered in a low voice.

Agoth, who was standing next to me, responded quickly to my murmur.

“That’s the religion that worships dragons, isn’t it?”

“Yes. When we went to subjugate monsters before, the marquis said that the surge in the number of monsters seems to have something to do with Dracoism.”

“He did. But it was just a hunch.”

“That’s true.”

Because of that, Marquis Ben did not report that fact to the imperial family.

Agoth grabbed her chin with a Hmm.

“I’ve heard some things about Dracoism.”

“Mm?”

“These days, the order is not as good as it used to be. Some of the followers are starting to disappear.”

… Disappear?

My brows furrowed.

“Where did you hear that?”

“From Miss Everett, who supplies the mansion with groceries.”

Dracoism was a popular religion. Information circulated fairly quickly among the common people, but it was a different story with the nobles.

“There are rumors that the Holy Church is moving in a hurry to dismantle the order of Dracoism.”

“I see. Have you ever been to their religious gathering?”

“No, not at all.”

Agoth, shaking her head, clapped her hands as if she had just remembered.

“Oh, Miss. Everett said she’s been there a few times.”

The person who supplies the mansion with groceries?

Well, she must have known such detailed information because she had even participated in it herself.

“If you are curious, may I introduce you to Miss Everett? She comes every Thursday for delivery.”

“That’d be great. Please, Agoth.”

“Leave it to me.”

Agoth smiled broadly and clenched her fist. She seemed proud to have had the task.

I put the incense burner back in place and smiled inwardly.

‘By the way, it looks like that religion is really public-friendly.’

To the extent that people who live normally doing their jobs well are invited to the meetings.

‘How can you gather that many people with such an absurd story of worshiping dragons?’

Is the religious leader an incredibly charismatic person?

Even if the religion is not related to the monsters, I’d like to meet the leader at least once.

“Well, then that’s a job done. Now, I want to hear the answer to what I asked Yulika…”

Thinking of Yulika, I sighed deeply.

Our relationship wasn’t good, and it wasn’t even possible to ask for a meeting with a Brande.

Moreover, on the day I’d asked for the interpretation of the pattern, I had unintentionally offended Yulika.

‘Should I bribe her again and call her?’

Shall I buy some high-quality tea leaves for her? In any case, coaxing her is more tricky than coaxing a lover.

… As I was grumbling.

The door to the store opened with a clink of bells. I unconsciously turned my head towards the entrance of the store.

And, I was surprised.

“Y-Young Lady Brande?!”

What an amazing coincidence.

It was Yulika and her maid who had entered the store.

“Huh, Princess…!”

Yulika, who found me belatedly, frowned.

That blatant disgust, how cute.

I strode over to Yulika and quickly grabbed her hands before she ran away.

And I gathered all the pretense I had and smiled broadly.

“Wow, nice to meet you! I can’t believe I’m seeing you here! I’m so happy, my lady!”

Ahahahaha. The sound of Yulika’s laughter was cut off. She seemed to have failed to gather her pretense.

***

On the second floor of the store, there was a salon where you could taste tea, so we moved to the second floor without going far.

“Agoth. Prepare the best tea leaves in the store for the young lady to take with her when she leaves.”

As soon as I sat down, I ordered Agoth. Yulika, who was sitting opposite me, frowned at those words.

“You don’t have to, Princess.”

“No, take it, please. I didn’t pay a fair price for what I asked you to do, and I should do this.”

With that said, Yulika made an uncomfortable expression but did not refute it twice.

“… Haa. You don’t have to follow me.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I have something to talk about with the princess, so wait on the first floor.”

“Alright.”

After Yulika’s maid nodded, she followed Agoth down to the ground floor.

There weren’t many customers in the store, and there probably wouldn’t be any other customers coming up to the second floor.

As the two of us were left alone, I started a conversation on a light topic.

“You’re also a regular at this store.”

“My father likes this store’s flavored tea more than I do.”

“Ah, the count.”

Suddenly, I remembered the face of Margrave Brande whom I had met at the last party held at the imperial palace.

I thought that maybe he would not be an easier opponent than the empress…

“By the way, it’s our first time meeting since spring, right?”

“I saw you once in early summer.”

“In early summer?”

“That… the palace corridor.”

Ah, the day I was summoned to the imperial palace for the knights’ camp?

I had forgotten for a moment about Yulika’s, who had been standing nearby, presence because of my war of nerves with the empress. I felt bad.

“… Princess.”

Yulika murmured with a flushed face. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Yulika, but she kept her eyes fixed on her teacup in front of her instead of me.

As if conversing with the teacup, she asked in a subdued voice.

“Are you and His Highness… in a relationship?”

Ngggh.

Such a straightforward question like this? Out of nowhere? By in a relationship, do you mean if we’re in a romantic relationship?

“Do I have to answer?”

It was Yulika herself who said that there was no need for feelings for the marriage of the imperial family.

I had never even dreamed that she would ask me about “relationship”.

“Then let’s change the question. Do you believe in your love?”

Yulika raised her head and looked at me. Contrary to her trembling voice, her eyes were surprisingly firm.

I tried to guess what she wanted to know, but I had no idea.

“I believe in it.”

I said.

I didn’t know if Yulika wanted that answer.

Yulika lowered her gaze down again with an Ahh.

What does that Ahh mean? Disappointment? Contempt? Resignation?

‘It’s hard because women’s hearts are so delicate.’

Still, I’m proud of myself.

I know how to try to understand other people’s feelings.

“Princess is really greedy.”

I heard criticism out of the blue.

The last time we met, she said that it was disgusting. If you just look at it, it seems that I’ve been secretly taking a one-sided curse from Yulika.

“Shall I tell you about the pattern you asked me last time?”

Before I brought up the topic, Yulika first brought up the topic I wanted.

She must have intentionally raised her voice up a tone. I pretended not to notice the change in Yulika, who struggled to make a bright voice.

“Did you find out anything?”

“Before that, I want to ask. Where did that pattern come from?”

“It was like a brand engraved on the body of a monster on the last subjugation mission.”

I told her frankly.

After nodding, Yulika gave the answer surprisingly accommodatingly.

“I’ve told you before, haven’t I? That the first language was a language other than Rune.”

“Yes, I remember. But didn’t you say there are no records?”

“That’s right. However, the first language has the same language family as the language of the demons. In the first place, the source of magic came from demons.”

Uuugh, what are you talking about?

My mind became complicated. What language family, what source of magic?

However, as if it was not difficult at all, Yulika continued to explain the unknown with her eyes shining.

“The language of the demons is not even clear, but there are some characters left on the spoils. So I scraped all the remaining related characters, arranged them, and compared them.”

“The spoils of the demons? Where do you get that?”

“We have quite a few left in our family.”

Ah. Their family was a frontier aristocrat, indeed.

It was a family that had been fighting against barbarians and demons on the frontier for a long time. It was only natural that the demons’ spoils remained.

“… You must have been busy.”

“It was hard.”

Yulika nodded. Like a child asking me to understand her troubles, I managed to hold back a squeeze of laughter.

“So did you find anything?”

“I’m not sure it’s a perfect translation, but there’s an 80% chance that it’s the correct answer.”

After saying that, Yulika took a few sips of tea as if to take a break. In the meantime, I tapped my fingers on the table in agony.

Eventually, Yulika put down the teacup again and opened her mouth with a calm and serious voice, as if reciting an old handed-down proverb.

“Welcome to the king who will come again.”

“… What?”

“The inscription on the pattern.”

King?

“What kind of magic is that?”

“There is no magical effect. It’s just an ordinary sentence… I guess.”

In the end, Yulika said with ambiguous words.

‘But those monsters definitely rushed at me.’

I had thought there was something magical about it. The reason my heart had raced.

But that’s not it?

“Oh, right.”

“Is there anything else?”

“The pronunciation of the language of the demons is unknown, but the word ‘king’ can still be pronounced, so it has to be so famous.”

“And what’s that?”

I asked, with some ominous foreboding, swirling anxiety.

Yulika answered my question with an innocent and calm face.

“Krusech.”