Chapter 733 – Day 83 – The Princess Finally Escapes From the Palace.
“Mi, Minerva! Captain Minerva! We’re in big trouble! There’s been trouble in the garden again! This time, it’s Duke Diana!”
Minerva, who was trying to sit down and take a bite of the pudding as the woman shouted, unable to properly hold the hat on her head, trembled with her hands.
“D-I can’t believe Diana Redblood went on a rampage…”
“Yes, eh! That’s right! It looks like you used the rumored blood magic!”
“Why on earth?! After all, you are loved by the princess, so there is no way you would make a fuss on a day like this!”
Minerva, horrified, quickly puts down her pudding, stands up, and checks the sword at her waist.
“It looks like Deacon Archibald made a mistake…”
“Haa!! Really! That damned old lady!!!”
Minerva, shaking with her leather-gloved hand, gestures to the knights behind her.
“Let’s all move quickly. Today is an event to celebrate the Crown Princess, so if something unpleasant happens again like last time…!”
Minerva, muttering loudly, quickly ran into the garden. In the garden, just as the female knight had said, Diana was wreaking havoc by using blood magic with great force.
Archibald, the chief deacon, was spewing out foul language that he would not normally say, and as soon as Minerva saw him, he looked like he was about to faint, fanned his hand loudly, and shouted to the knights who followed him to stop the two women immediately.
Here, the female knight who informed Minerva of this fact naturally hides herself in the commotion. She skillfully hid herself in the crowd like a loach and naturally slipped her body into the hallway.
“Hmm, preparations are complete. Please leave through the front door like this.”
“Well, you are perfect at this kind of thing…?”
The female knight was, of course, Ceres. She once again transformed into the appearance of an ordinary commoner brought by numerous nobles, a servant wearing a maid outfit.
On the contrary, Venus Holympia stood in front of her. She was in perfect disguise thanks to the touch of Ceres.
“Well, is it really okay to go out like this? This is my first time wearing pants since the Academy?”
“Looking at the princess now, there is no one who will think of the princess.”
“Didn’t you disguise yourself as a man in the first place?”
The muttering princess had completely disguised herself as a man with the help of Ceres. She had to tighten her corset to its limits, which was suffocating her chest.
The princess took a deep breath and put on her large glasses as instructed by Ceres. Glancing at her Ceres standing next to her, the princess couldn’t help but arch her back as much as possible and shrug her shoulders.
Her gorgeous golden hair wasn’t cut nor did she wear a wig. Ceres simply put something on her finger and stroked it brilliantly, and he became a man with extremely curly long hair.
‘How on earth did you get a beard on your chin and under your nose? What the hell is Ceres…’
The princess was so dumbfounded. When she looked in the mirror, she was genuinely surprised to see that she had suddenly become a handsome man with an unkempt beard and a strangely shaggy look.
The princess naturally left the garden where the commotion had occurred and headed towards the large main gate guarded by the blood-red knights. Of course, there were knights wearing fancy swords in front of her door, but they only glanced at the princess and did nothing to stop her.
“Oh, there’s another victim.”
“That’s right. I think it’s still not well known that Princess Venus Holympia likes women very much.”
“Still, it is known that she has lived as an ordinary woman for over 20 years, so she must be harboring a suspicion.”
The giggling knights completely misunderstood the princess.
‘Seo, do you really think of me as someone who tried to flirt but failed like other noble men?’
The princess swallowed her saliva and continued to walk in front of her, avoiding the knights’ eyes. It was quite difficult to walk with her back bent, and her shoulders narrowed, but no one realized that she was a princess.
“You can come this way.”
The princess passed through a space where numerous carriages were placed and headed towards her carriage, which was guarded by her familiar attendant.
“Thank you for your hard work. Please go inside, and you can rest comfortably.”
“Isn’t it Vesta?”
When the princess was surprised, Vesta, who acted as her nanny, smiled brightly and opened the door of a slightly smaller carriage that was completely different from the ones the princess usually rode.
“If a suspicious-looking man and a maid ride in the princess’s carriage, it will be like letting the whole world know that she is in disguise.”
“Well, I didn’t know that Vesta would help me like this?”
“If there are people who are active inside, there are also people who are active outside.”
When Vesta nodded her head, the princess coughed and quickly got into her carriage.
“But did Vesta know that Ceres was like that?”
“No. So I was quite surprised at first, but…”
As Vesta smiled maturely, Ceres bowed to her.
“Thanks to you, she was able to maintain her beauty and serve her princess without a single scar for nearly 20 years. She is just happy to know the secret.”
“Wow, Ceres was definitely a demon, so he must have been able to endure my young rampage…”
As soon as the princess nodded and sat down in her narrow carriage, she quickly pulled the beard from her chin and philtrum.
“Ah, ahhh!! Kwaaak!?!”
“Wow, princess, if you pull with that much force…”
“Shouldn’t you have told me in advance?!”
While grumbling, the princess waved her hand to Vesta who greeted her outside her carriage, and she took the clothes Ceres gave her and changed them.
Of course, she couldn’t wear a very fancy princess dress. She was a princess, and she was sure that if she went out of the hall, many people would not recognize her unless she dressed up extravagantly.
After changing all of her clothes, the princess naturally took out her pocket watch hidden in her cleavage and held it tightly in her hand.
“Ceres, this pocket watch. Isn’t he such a funny guy?”
Ceres knew very well what the princess would say, so she gave no answer and smiled bitterly.
“Look. Don’t the seven lights still shine beautifully? I, I. Until I collected them all, I thought that if I collected them, my future would just be bright.”
“The princess…”
“But look, even though Minos was captured, and you showed him such a terrible future! Doesn’t this pocket watch shine brightly?”
The princess clenched her pocket watch and shook her fists. Even at this moment, when she had gone through a very small hardship to save Minos, her pocket watch was shining, as if it didn’t really matter.
“It seems like this pocket watch is saying that I can live a happy future regardless of whether Minos becomes a vessel or not.”
“… That will happen.”
Ceres speaks very calmly.
“Perhaps, the more the princess leaves this imperial palace and receives help from people other than Arisa, the more the princess’s stars may decrease.”
“Is it confirmed?”
The princess lowers her head and touches her pocket watch. Her own brightly shining future and the fate of her daughter, who returned as she pleases from a more distant future.
Which of the two should you choose?
It was such a difficult problem.
“No, princess.”
But Ceres knew.
“The princess I know is the one who can put everything in her hands: her beloved daughter’s future and her own future.”
The princess smiled slightly.
‘If you think about it… I haven’t followed the light that this pocket watch gives me until now.’
Solving the affairs of the Church of Saints, saving Diana, saving Princess Hailey and Hestia, and wandering through the forest with Uriel, all the countless things she had done so far were all at the princess’s discretion.
The pocket watch simply stamped that I had done well, but did not move in anticipation of that stamp. Therefore, the princess gathered her thoughts and slowly touched the crystal ball that Ceres naturally handed her.
The crystal ball that was slowly stroked gave off magical light just like always.
“Arisa, the person who learned something new about Minos…”
The princess, who had been speaking calmly, realized that the person beyond the crystal ball was not Arisa and cleared her throat.
“Ah, Princess Venus. You contacted me as Arisa said.”
The princess saw not Arisa, but Zinaida Gregorio.
“Jinaida, where has Arisa gone?”
“Arisa is currently away from the palace for a while to prevent the witches’ disturbance. More than that, she has something to tell you about Minos.”
“Did you hear from Arisa about Minos?”
The princess was a little embarrassed, but Zinaida nodded.
“Princess, we have tried our best to collect information about Master Minos, but unfortunately, there is nothing new.”
“Uh, hmm. That’s quite a shame. Actually, there’s a possibility that Abama sent it somewhere herself…”
“But we were able to pinpoint a place where Minos-sama was most likely to be.”
Zinaida skillfully moved her hands to create a small castle out of sparkling ice. Behind the castle, there was a mountain range that felt a little familiar.
“Where is this place? I think the mountain range is the Holympus Mountains…”
“This is the place where the princess rescued Hedone’s sisters.”
“Eh, eh? You didn’t understand it wrong, did you? It wasn’t such a nice castle. It was abandoned in the first place…”
As she spoke, the princess swallowed her saliva.
“By any chance, did this castle suddenly appear in the past few days?!”
“That is very likely. I felt a similar wave of magic as when Minos used his power.”
Zinaida touches the castle made of ice and looks at the princess.
“There is a high probability that this is where Minos is being held. Princess, no matter what decision you make, I will do my best to help you.”
Seeing Zinaida’s eyes shining, the princess swallowed her saliva and touched her crystal ball with her finger.
“First, let’s find out who is guarding this wonderful castle.”
