They say that girls at this age change a lot with each passing season, but the change was surprising.
Her already pretty face had become shockingly beautiful thanks to her good diet and good care.
The most beautiful person in society is Princess Veronica? He couldn't even dare to say that. If he hadn't had Rosetta, he might have cried at her feet, asking to be allowed to hold her hand just once.
Of course, our Rosetta had more valuable assets than her face... Her spicy personality and her savory touch... Thinking of her made him want to cry again, so he quickly changed the subject.
“What brings you here? The Duke is out of town.”
“I know it’s in the palace. The examiners have to provide each other with their every move during the competition.”
“Oh, by the way, congratulations on winning your first competition.”
She nodded and scratched the back of her head.
“But, Your Highness. Aren’t you in the middle of the second competition?”
Kid... What do you keep saying? We’re about the same age. I glanced at him furtively.
Well, he was a man who had been calling me a woman since the first time I saw him. He must have had a strong impression of me back then because he had seen me first, looking like I had not washed properly for days and had a dried-out stomach from not eating.
It wasn't that embarrassing, so there was no need for me to cringe again.
“That’s why I came. There’s something I wanted to look for at the library.”
“A library? Isn’t there one in the palace?”
“My maid said that there might be books here that aren’t in the palace library.”
“Uh... Ah, I think you are referring to His Excellency the Duke’s personal library.”
“Yes. I was going to ask Lord Enoch, but he is now a member of the Imperial Knights, so it is difficult for him to enter the Duke’s residence freely. He recommended you.”
“That’s what happened...”
He muttered in frustration and shrugged his shoulders. I don't know what shocked him, but it was fortunate that he got out of there quickly.
“The library spans four and five floors. The fourth floor is accessible to those of the third rank of the Knights, so I can enter it, but the fifth floor is off-limits to anyone except His Excellency the Duke and his immediate blood relatives. It is literally close to a preservation vault.”
I knew it. That's why I actually thought of Zachary before Jacqueline.
But since he was a collateral relative of the Duke, I was strictly forbidden from meeting him, just like the Duke himself...
Above all, he was Veronica's person. He had no reason to help me. So Jacqueline was the best for me.
“Then I’ll ask you to give me at least the fourth floor.”
“Which book should I bring?”
“Could you take a look at this? I need a dictionary that has the same words as the ones in here.”
I handed Jacqueline the letters I had copied from my pocket.
His blue eyes widened and looked back and forth between the note and me. He scratched his head and said,
“Uh... I guess I don’t even need to go to the library for this.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, that is... it’s not a written language, but more like a sign used by a few coastal villages in the east. It’s possible to communicate with it, but there’s no way to pronounce it, so it’s not really a language.”
Jacqueline continued, tapping the paper.
“Its origin is from the silverware used by pirates in the East. Once you learn who created it, it can be used in a variety of ways, so it quickly spread among the illiterate commoners... Now, even the common people in that region can easily use it.”
I opened my eyes wide in surprise. I was just trying to grab onto a last straw. And now the thread is unraveling?
“Have you ever seen this, or how do you know that?”
He made an ambiguous expression.
“Uh... Is that so because I’m from the East?”
“I know that, but even so, seeing as it’s called a coastal town, Jacqueline, it seems a little bit... um...”
At this point, I couldn't tell if I was choosing my words or if the words were choosing me. Anyway, I tried to say it in a roundabout way so as not to offend him, but he chuckled and said something nonchalant.
“Is that too simple language?”
I nodded. People often forgot because he was so casual, but no one knew that Jacqueline's father was an admiral who ruled the Eastern Sea. He had been living well in the salty seas, but he had met Laskan and moved north.
Anyway, it was surprising that he was a noble young man known in the East, but he was wearing the same marks as commoners.
“In the East, they fight every day. Of course, you have to know how to respond. Oh, you can also use abbreviations with your hands.”
He made various signs with his hands by clenching and unclenching his fists.
“If you do this, there’s the Navy over there, this is a no-nonsense, take your hands off the capstan, put up your third finger, you little bastards...”
...For some reason, they were all curse words. But that wasn’t what was important right now. It felt like I had found a spring in the desert.
I asked, trying to suppress my excitement.
“Then can you tell me what this sign written here means?”
“Well, it’s not a word that’s used very often. If we translate it, it would mean blue jewel.”
“Is this long pattern all there is?”
“It seems like the name of a region is in front.”
He tilted his head, seemingly confused.
“In fact, place names are often decided implicitly among the villagers, so the distinction is not clear. If the village chief likes whales, he adds a whale sign, and if coral is famous, he adds a coral sign.”
“Can we do that?”
“Anyway, it’s not a language.”
It was a strange but understandable statement. Everyone could continue to use the common language, but if they could decide in their own words to refer to their villages, there wouldn't be any major problems with communication. In fact, it would be better to hide the source or region.
Pirates make this? It was amazing to think where they came from.
And the best part was that I had found someone who not only could decipher the text but also knew the East inside and out.
I looked up at Jacqueline with shining eyes. He was leisurely shoving his hands into his pockets, but when he saw my expression, he seemed to sense something ominous.
“Thank you for letting me know. It was a great help.”
“...Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad it was helpful.”
Even after exchanging greetings, when I showed no sign of turning around, he took a slight step back. For some reason, his spine felt chilled and he shivered.
I made a very blank expression.
“Sir, are you busy lately?”
“No, not at all. I’ve been really busy lately.”
“I'm planning to go east from now on.”
Jacqueline covered both of his ears with his large hands.
“I didn’t hear it.”
“You heard me.”
“Actually, I have difficulty hearing.”
Just a moment ago, he had been speaking so well. His attitude was shameless, almost arrogant.
It really came to this... I bit my lip hard and then opened my eyes wide in surprise. I pointed to the back of his neck with my trembling hands.
“Hey! Sir! There, there, there’s a spider on your neck...”
“Eww, eww, eww, eww, where!”
He forgot to cover his ears and started to roll his feet in place, shaking his whole body. His face, which had turned pale in an instant, looked as if his soul had been sucked out of him.
I watched the series of commotion without stopping, then shrugged my shoulders calmly.
“It was a lie.”
“...”
“Thanks to that, I also learned that there is nothing wrong with your ears.”
He opened his mouth as if he was astonished.
“Surely a knight as great as you would not have planned to send the Princess away alone if he ‘coincidentally’ ran into her while she was leaving for his hometown.”
“...”
“You are not a worthless knight who neglects your duties to the royal family.”
"...No way."
“I guess I’ll have to be escorted all the way to the east.”
His expression became somewhat desperate. I added with a grin.
“If you don’t have anything else to pack, we can go right away. Since the admiral’s luggage will be there anyway, you can pack it there...”
Before I could finish speaking, Jacqueline fled into the mansion.
Jacqueline's escape was short-lived. The knights huddled together inside the mansion pushed him towards me to keep him out.
They probably couldn't hear what we were talking about, but they seemed to see Jacqueline running away. They even cheered me on.
“Miss, please take that little bastard and make him a human!”
“It suits you well!”
“Hey, tie that dog’s leash tighter so he doesn’t bark!”
“He has a strong lower body, so he’ll do well!”
As if they had been quickly packed, the suitcases bounced off the knights and rolled to Jacqueline's feet. The knights looked extremely relieved.
From the noise they were making, it seemed like Jacqueline had been quite bored and had been harassing them.
I waved at them leisurely and got on the carriage.
Jacqueline sat across from me with a complicated expression on his face.
“No matter what, you are the Princess...”
“And you’re just going to stay quiet after hearing those words?”
He nodded with an expression that said he couldn't understand at all. He knew that under normal circumstances, it would be a situation where he could be punished for insulting the royal family without saying anything.
But they didn't know I was a Princess, and they treated me with respect, even though they were not formal. Above all, I didn't feel like such words were a serious insult.
“I’ve lived my whole life outside the palace, and I’ve never heard anything like that.”
"But..."
“Don’t worry about it, it’s okay.”
He looked a little troubled. At best, he looked like he was about the same age as me, or maybe a year or two older, but he had such a serious expression on his face.
When I let out an unintentional laugh, he furrowed the few wrinkles between his eyebrows a little more. I shrugged and got back to the main point.
“First of all, I’m sorry for taking you away without permission.”
“Do you know that it was reckless...”
Previous Next
Her already pretty face had become shockingly beautiful thanks to her good diet and good care.
The most beautiful person in society is Princess Veronica? He couldn't even dare to say that. If he hadn't had Rosetta, he might have cried at her feet, asking to be allowed to hold her hand just once.
Of course, our Rosetta had more valuable assets than her face... Her spicy personality and her savory touch... Thinking of her made him want to cry again, so he quickly changed the subject.
“What brings you here? The Duke is out of town.”
“I know it’s in the palace. The examiners have to provide each other with their every move during the competition.”
“Oh, by the way, congratulations on winning your first competition.”
She nodded and scratched the back of her head.
“But, Your Highness. Aren’t you in the middle of the second competition?”
***
Kid... What do you keep saying? We’re about the same age. I glanced at him furtively.
Well, he was a man who had been calling me a woman since the first time I saw him. He must have had a strong impression of me back then because he had seen me first, looking like I had not washed properly for days and had a dried-out stomach from not eating.
It wasn't that embarrassing, so there was no need for me to cringe again.
“That’s why I came. There’s something I wanted to look for at the library.”
“A library? Isn’t there one in the palace?”
“My maid said that there might be books here that aren’t in the palace library.”
“Uh... Ah, I think you are referring to His Excellency the Duke’s personal library.”
“Yes. I was going to ask Lord Enoch, but he is now a member of the Imperial Knights, so it is difficult for him to enter the Duke’s residence freely. He recommended you.”
“That’s what happened...”
He muttered in frustration and shrugged his shoulders. I don't know what shocked him, but it was fortunate that he got out of there quickly.
“The library spans four and five floors. The fourth floor is accessible to those of the third rank of the Knights, so I can enter it, but the fifth floor is off-limits to anyone except His Excellency the Duke and his immediate blood relatives. It is literally close to a preservation vault.”
I knew it. That's why I actually thought of Zachary before Jacqueline.
But since he was a collateral relative of the Duke, I was strictly forbidden from meeting him, just like the Duke himself...
Above all, he was Veronica's person. He had no reason to help me. So Jacqueline was the best for me.
“Then I’ll ask you to give me at least the fourth floor.”
“Which book should I bring?”
“Could you take a look at this? I need a dictionary that has the same words as the ones in here.”
I handed Jacqueline the letters I had copied from my pocket.
His blue eyes widened and looked back and forth between the note and me. He scratched his head and said,
“Uh... I guess I don’t even need to go to the library for this.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, that is... it’s not a written language, but more like a sign used by a few coastal villages in the east. It’s possible to communicate with it, but there’s no way to pronounce it, so it’s not really a language.”
Jacqueline continued, tapping the paper.
“Its origin is from the silverware used by pirates in the East. Once you learn who created it, it can be used in a variety of ways, so it quickly spread among the illiterate commoners... Now, even the common people in that region can easily use it.”
I opened my eyes wide in surprise. I was just trying to grab onto a last straw. And now the thread is unraveling?
“Have you ever seen this, or how do you know that?”
He made an ambiguous expression.
“Uh... Is that so because I’m from the East?”
“I know that, but even so, seeing as it’s called a coastal town, Jacqueline, it seems a little bit... um...”
At this point, I couldn't tell if I was choosing my words or if the words were choosing me. Anyway, I tried to say it in a roundabout way so as not to offend him, but he chuckled and said something nonchalant.
“Is that too simple language?”
I nodded. People often forgot because he was so casual, but no one knew that Jacqueline's father was an admiral who ruled the Eastern Sea. He had been living well in the salty seas, but he had met Laskan and moved north.
Anyway, it was surprising that he was a noble young man known in the East, but he was wearing the same marks as commoners.
“In the East, they fight every day. Of course, you have to know how to respond. Oh, you can also use abbreviations with your hands.”
He made various signs with his hands by clenching and unclenching his fists.
“If you do this, there’s the Navy over there, this is a no-nonsense, take your hands off the capstan, put up your third finger, you little bastards...”
...For some reason, they were all curse words. But that wasn’t what was important right now. It felt like I had found a spring in the desert.
I asked, trying to suppress my excitement.
“Then can you tell me what this sign written here means?”
“Well, it’s not a word that’s used very often. If we translate it, it would mean blue jewel.”
“Is this long pattern all there is?”
“It seems like the name of a region is in front.”
He tilted his head, seemingly confused.
“In fact, place names are often decided implicitly among the villagers, so the distinction is not clear. If the village chief likes whales, he adds a whale sign, and if coral is famous, he adds a coral sign.”
“Can we do that?”
“Anyway, it’s not a language.”
It was a strange but understandable statement. Everyone could continue to use the common language, but if they could decide in their own words to refer to their villages, there wouldn't be any major problems with communication. In fact, it would be better to hide the source or region.
Pirates make this? It was amazing to think where they came from.
And the best part was that I had found someone who not only could decipher the text but also knew the East inside and out.
I looked up at Jacqueline with shining eyes. He was leisurely shoving his hands into his pockets, but when he saw my expression, he seemed to sense something ominous.
“Thank you for letting me know. It was a great help.”
“...Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad it was helpful.”
Even after exchanging greetings, when I showed no sign of turning around, he took a slight step back. For some reason, his spine felt chilled and he shivered.
I made a very blank expression.
“Sir, are you busy lately?”
“No, not at all. I’ve been really busy lately.”
“I'm planning to go east from now on.”
Jacqueline covered both of his ears with his large hands.
“I didn’t hear it.”
“You heard me.”
“Actually, I have difficulty hearing.”
Just a moment ago, he had been speaking so well. His attitude was shameless, almost arrogant.
It really came to this... I bit my lip hard and then opened my eyes wide in surprise. I pointed to the back of his neck with my trembling hands.
“Hey! Sir! There, there, there’s a spider on your neck...”
“Eww, eww, eww, eww, where!”
He forgot to cover his ears and started to roll his feet in place, shaking his whole body. His face, which had turned pale in an instant, looked as if his soul had been sucked out of him.
I watched the series of commotion without stopping, then shrugged my shoulders calmly.
“It was a lie.”
“...”
“Thanks to that, I also learned that there is nothing wrong with your ears.”
He opened his mouth as if he was astonished.
“Surely a knight as great as you would not have planned to send the Princess away alone if he ‘coincidentally’ ran into her while she was leaving for his hometown.”
“...”
“You are not a worthless knight who neglects your duties to the royal family.”
"...No way."
“I guess I’ll have to be escorted all the way to the east.”
His expression became somewhat desperate. I added with a grin.
“If you don’t have anything else to pack, we can go right away. Since the admiral’s luggage will be there anyway, you can pack it there...”
Before I could finish speaking, Jacqueline fled into the mansion.
***
Jacqueline's escape was short-lived. The knights huddled together inside the mansion pushed him towards me to keep him out.
They probably couldn't hear what we were talking about, but they seemed to see Jacqueline running away. They even cheered me on.
“Miss, please take that little bastard and make him a human!”
“It suits you well!”
“Hey, tie that dog’s leash tighter so he doesn’t bark!”
“He has a strong lower body, so he’ll do well!”
As if they had been quickly packed, the suitcases bounced off the knights and rolled to Jacqueline's feet. The knights looked extremely relieved.
From the noise they were making, it seemed like Jacqueline had been quite bored and had been harassing them.
I waved at them leisurely and got on the carriage.
Jacqueline sat across from me with a complicated expression on his face.
“No matter what, you are the Princess...”
“And you’re just going to stay quiet after hearing those words?”
He nodded with an expression that said he couldn't understand at all. He knew that under normal circumstances, it would be a situation where he could be punished for insulting the royal family without saying anything.
But they didn't know I was a Princess, and they treated me with respect, even though they were not formal. Above all, I didn't feel like such words were a serious insult.
“I’ve lived my whole life outside the palace, and I’ve never heard anything like that.”
"But..."
“Don’t worry about it, it’s okay.”
He looked a little troubled. At best, he looked like he was about the same age as me, or maybe a year or two older, but he had such a serious expression on his face.
When I let out an unintentional laugh, he furrowed the few wrinkles between his eyebrows a little more. I shrugged and got back to the main point.
“First of all, I’m sorry for taking you away without permission.”
“Do you know that it was reckless...”
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