“Huh?”

Without realizing, Elaine made a silly childish noise.

The first thing she noticed was a familiar yet unforgettable ceiling. Looking at it with puzzled eyes, she screamed.

“Where the hell am I? Ugh!”

Elaine rolled off her bed and landed on a nearby seat with a loud “Thump!”

Fall!

Elaine jumped out of her place and fell to the ground after being caught in a blanket around her feet.

The back of her head was tingling, but she had no time to care about it. check on it.

She ran towards the corner mirror and took a quick glance of herself.

A little palm was placed on the mirror.

She slowly reached towards the mirror to place her small palms onto it. Her eyes fixated on the petite figure in the mirror.

A small body, close to the size of a triceps of a grown man.

Her small mouth and cute cheeks were shaking because of her unacceptable situation.

Elanie reached out to pinch her cheeks which were wet because of tears.

“What’s happening? I can’t believe I’m back!”

-Elaine-

She shook her neatly wrapped head as she thought about her previous life which was full of thorns.

Of course, this wasn’t how it started in the beginning.

Around the age of four.

Yes Exactly at this age, Elaine’s parents Baron Astor died and she was raised by her uncle, the King of the Astor Kingdom.

Elaine, who was forcibly brought to the Kingdom of Astor without knowing why, cried day and night…

Perhaps, if the annoyed maid hadn’t shouted, “Your parents are dead!” Then, she wouldn’t have realised that her parents have truly died.

By the time she turned ten, she was finally given the opportunity to meet her uncle for the first time ever since she came to the Kingdom of Astor.

Although he’s her guardian, he has neglected her ever since she came here. He even pretended to love her by introducing her to the princess.

“My daughter, you can play with it as much as you please.”

No, it was all a lie.

He didn’t introduce her to the princess but he introduced her to a terrible group of people to enslave Elaine.

From then on, the way Elaine was treated changed compelety.

The niece, who was secretly treated like an insect, turned into a slave for the Princess of the Kingdom of Astor. And when the princess started treating her badly, the maids began to follow the princess’s path.

And the reason all of this was happening to her was because the King Astor and Queen were in on it.

Fortunately, by the time she turned 20, there have been three disasters that occured throughout the whole of Astor.

As a result, the Kingdom of Astor was destroyed and the shackles that had long held me were finally gone.

‘This situation seems very bad, I have to get out of here soon.’

If I don’t leave from here now, I will be forced to continue working as a slave.

In a blink of an eye, Elaine rose from her seat, thinking that she’ll never experience this terrible life again.

But,

“Ah, yah! Tah nouds to surry.

Elaine muttered suddenly and quickly shut her mouth…

If I’m not paying attention to my tongue, my unique four-year-old’s tongue will keep talking nonsense.

“Oh my god. I still can’t believe I’m four-years-old again.”

Elaine sighed, looking down at her short legs.

It was embarrassing having a short tongue while having an adult’s mind, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. She had to escape from the kingdom with this small and weak body.

‘After leaving Astor Kingdom. I wish I can go back to my mercenary days and roam around the

In the midst of her sorrow, Elaine tightly grasped at her messy clothes.

Had the maids finally revealed their true colours?

She slouched her shoulders as sadness filled her heart. And suddenly her surroundings were noisy.

‘So no maid came to check on me even though there was such a loud noise?’

Till now, I’ve been treated as if I were invisible rather than a normal human being.

Usually, when you hear a loud noise, you’ll look into it out of curiosity to find out what’s happening.

Elaine peered her head with strange feelings and looked out of the window. And saw that everyone was looking at the dazzling and bright carriage with their eyes wide open.

“That’s something I’ve never seen before my rebirth. Who could’ve come here?

As Elaine snooped her head towards the window out of curiosity and suddenly, she heard whispers of people outside her door.

“Sounds like they want a negotiation. But why did the kingdom of Irie come to negotiate with us?”

Hoping the door wouldn’t make a sound, she opened it very slowly, to create a space where she could peak and observe what was happening.

“I see… so it’s just a negotiation? Then why is the King of the Empire coming after us?”

“Shh! What if someone hears us? Anyways, let’s just finish our work.”

“The Lord…? He’s negotiating with the King…?”

“The King…? He’s here to negotiate…?

It was a complicated word that would usually be hard for a young child to understand. However, Elaine could only think of one person who fit the description.

Then there was the sound of urgent footsteps, and a new voice interrupted.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh! My lady! Ah, of course we were working!”

“Don’t do anything useless. When you’re done, hurry up and return to your headquarters.”

“Yes, I understand!”

After hearing the maid get yelled at and a couple receding footsteps, the Palace which had been noisy now became deafeningly quiet.

After confirming that everyone had disappeared and left, Elaine slowly closed the door and thought.

‘I’m certain that the Princess was taken hostage around this time. When the foreign minister, also known as the Lord of the Empire, was dispatched by the Empire…’

According to what the maids had said, today must be the day in which negotiations of war reparations were held.

Just then, a thought flashed through Elaine’s mind.

This was an insane plan. Elaine almost thought of herself as crazy.

‘Yes! What if I were the one to be taken hostage instead of the princess?’

Some might be confused by what that would mean, but Elaine had reached a different conclusion. Being taken hostage meant being used as a hideous pawn of the empire. Nonetheless, by doing so, she would now be able to escape from the Kingdom of Astor.

‘If I were to go there, he wouldn’t have the opportunity to kill…’

It’s true.

Before Elaine returned, she had been brutally beaten to death by the King.

But, will this time be any different? There’s no guarantee that she will be able to live this time around.

A hostage is still a hostage. There’s no kidnapper that is stupid enough who would kill hostages. For now, it is still much safer to go to the empire.

‘The real princess was there before I returned, but…’

The King will be more pleased to have someone else go as compared to his own blood anyways.

Besides, there are no portraits of the princess except from when she was a baby, so there is no fear of being caught because of our different faces.

But, I’m wearing ragged clothes

And a head of tangled hair.

Paired with a face full of soup.

“You wouldn’t think that I’m a princess when I look like this.”

Thinking of herself as appearing to look more like a beggar than a princess.

Inhaling sharply, she splashed water onto her face.

***

Arnold, the foreign minister that has been dispatched from the empire, looked around.

Perhaps he was afraid of someone making a mistake considering how there was little to no servants or maids in the hallway.

Arnold said casually as he strolled down the colourful hallways.

“Should I let them know that there is money left in the kingdom? Considering how expensive items are still being placed out in the open instead of being kept and stored away.”

Su-ha, who was following him with a smile, nodded quickly.

I can’t believe how you’re still showing off your wealth in front of someone from the Empire. We’re not ones who let go once we’ve set our sights on something.

Regardless of the fact that it is the enemy country that fights in a war, I still feel a little sorry for them.

I mean, look at that face. Mr. Lee must be very excited to come here, after all he seems to be enjoying himself.

Arnold thought with a large smile as he glanced at Su-ha, who was shivering due to the cold.

Suddenly, as we both turned the corner…

“Huh?”

“Oh no!”

With a shriek, a child dressed in dirty clothes fell as she walked right into Arnold.

“My god…!”

Surprised, Arnold quickly lifted the child up.

He snorted as he tried to dust the child’s clothes.

“A little kid running around in the palace. A place where apparently, even servants and maids weren’t allowed to be right now.”

Arnold said, smirking as he continued dusting the child’s clothes.

“Are you alright?”

“Uh-huh. I am.”

“Oh, my. Are you injured? I’ll get you treated right away. Who’s your dad?”

“Daddy? My daddy is the King!”

“King? So you’re the princess of this kingdom?”

“Yes!”

Just in case, he had to make sure this was indeed the blood of the Astor family.

Arnold examined his future hostage and frowned slightly.

One thing.

There was one thing that was strange.

“But why are your clothes so dirty?”

“…Yes?”

Upon noticing Elaine panicking, Arnold narrowed his eyes.

“Are the maids not taking care of your clothes and how you dress? How odd…”

How annoying…

‘I knew he’d be suspicious.’

Elaine paused for a moment and stared at the Empire’s envoy who has been intensely observing her behaviour.

What else could I have done? Asides from washing away as much of the soup and combing through my hair with my small fingers?

What would my parents have done? If only they hadn’t passed away.

“Are you alright? Princess?”

“Uh, so…”

My answer was delayed…

The lack of trust in Arnold’s eyes were amplified as it slowly changes to certainty.

This was a situation that Elaine cannot be delayed any further. It was then that she came up with an excuse.

“I played a little…”

Arnold’s brows furrowed as he tried to decipher what the child had just said.

Was it because she was watching under the disguise of being the despicable daughter of King Astor?

She mimicked the princess’s actions. The wiggling of fingers and the shaking of her head. Hoping that by doing so, would make the foreign minister’s heart tremble, even by a little.

“Sorry but… what did you just say?”

It is hard to understand what a child with a short tongue is saying unless he or she concentrates properly.

Once Elaine noticed that, she sighed deeply and exclaimed,

“Really! I’m just playing a little.”

“A little…? Oh! I see. Your clothes got dirty while playing outside!”

“Yes.”

Elaine nodded quickly.

She was still worried about being scolded, but she continued nodding her head vigorously. Warmth started to gather in his heart as Arnold swore at himself for questioning that child even for just a moment.

Then, Su-ha sneaked up on Arnold to ask,

“What should I do? Should I prepare the bath?”

“Oh? Oh, yes, please.”

“A princess shouldn’t be this dirty. What if she falls sick?”

Arnold agreed, as he leaned his head onto his hand.

***

After a while.

Elaine’s face was dyed red with shame.

Elaine had thought that, ‘In order to escape from this hellish place, I’d be willing to take a bit of shame!’. However, she severely underestimated how embarrassed she would be feeling.

Elaine softened her expression as much as she could whilst she looked at the adults who were talking with serious expressions.

It seems as if a war would break out soon.

“Isn’t the dress a little small?”

“Isn’t the child growing so fast?”

“That’s true.”

As you can see, their conversation was nothing of importance.

“Hmm.”

On the other hand, Arnold had been observing Elaine’s clothing with a serious expression, clearly uncomfortable with how small the dress looked.

‘At times like this, Arnold looks very cute’, Elaine couldn’t help but think.

But what can we do? According to the maids, all the clothes that I had been given to wear are now too small for me.

Arnold walked towards her and carefully stroked the child’s head.

Elaine, who had originally approached Arnold with the impression that she wouldn’t fall, opened her eyes wide as she felt the warmth radiating from Arnold.

“Sorry for the late treatment. How is it? Doesn’t it hurt now?”

“No! The pain is going away! Thank you, Mr. Arno!”

“Hoo-hoo, that’s a relief.”

Arnold, who’s well-known for being a cool-headed negotiator, smiled softly at the child as the maids quickly swallowed their breath. Luckily, Arnold hadn’t noticed that and continued speaking amiably with warmth rivalling the sun.

“I’m going to see King Astor now, would you like to come with me?”

“Yes!”

Fortunately, Arnold seems to believe that Elaine is the princess of the Astor Kingdom.

Since he hadn’t specifically said “Princess”, the maids also weren’t able to correct him since they didn’t understand the situation.

‘With this, Phase 1 is a success!’

Did you know how surprised I was when he tried to wash me in the bathtub? I thought the plan had gone wrong then, luckily it didn’t.

Of course, she wasn’t completely successful unless the negotiations were over. Smiling widely, Elaine trailed behind them as they headed towards the throne room.

They finally arrived outside the throne room.

Unlike Elaine’s room, the gilt-edged, jeweled door was so splendid that it would’ve made ordinary people lose their nerve upon seeing it.

But Arnold didn’t seem very excited.

After the guard who was guarding the door shouted Arnold’s appearance, the door slowly opened to let them in.

In comparison, the exterior paled in comparison to the more colourful interior.

Upon entering the throne room, the King asked Arnold with an extremely annoyed tone,

“Why are you so late? I’m tired of waiting for… Huh?”

As his eyes took sight of a small being who had entered the throne room, he quickly stopped talking. That small being was Elaine.

“How’d you…why is she here?”

“I met her on the way here. I was surprised to find out that she was the princess.”

“What…?”

King Astor looked towards Elaine, a mixture of embarrassment and shock filled his expression.

Recognizing how this could all go wrong, Elaine quickly jumped in.

“Daddy? What’s wrong?”

“You…”

Fortunately, King Astor finally understood the situation and shut his mouth without saying another word.

He probably thinks I accidentally mistaken him for someone who looked similar to my dad.

‘Look at him rolling his eyes. I can practically hear you insulting my intelligence from down here.’

As soon as Arnold took notice of the King’s expression, something rose inside him. Elaine tried to calm him as she continued smiling as brightly as possible.

Had Mr. Lee gave the ok for all the calculation?

King Astor finally gathered up his thoughts and said with a mean smile.

“Hoo-hoo. I guess it can’t be helped that you met my daughter first. All right. Take the ‘princess’ as the hostage”

The Lord of the Empire, Arnold, momentarily hardened his expression. I’m guessing he had originally expected resistance, but King Astor had given up too easily.

What is with that mean smile? Arnold has been giving off an ominous presence, yet he was going to just give me up as a hostage? I almost wanted to ask him whether this was all a dream.

“All right, let’s do that. But we’ll have to discuss in more detail first.”

‘Maybe King Astor does not hold much affection for his children.’ Arnold looked pitifully at the child standing beside him.

Contrary to Arnold’s belief, Elaine was smiling internally

“Yes, Lord of the Empire! Come and take me out of this hellhole!”

But at that moment.

“Stop!”

A man rushing from afar, started shouting.

Elaine stiffened as she recognised the man dressed in white as an old priest.

‘Isn’t that a priest from the Holy Empire?’

Wait, why is he running towards here for?

A sacred empire.

A country with considerable force and was now a country with a temporary alliance with the Benedictine Empire. Similarly, The Benedictine Empire is strong and is now seeking to take Elaine hostage.

‘However, why would a priest like that be here?’

When Elaine was looking at him with questioning eyes.

The old priest, who came up with a flushed face, pointed his finger at Arnold and shouted,

“Lord of the Venetian Empire! How dare you say that you’re taking the princess of the neighbouring kingdom as a hostage?”

“Of course it’s all for the sake of peace.”

Arnold snorted as he folded his arms, shaking his head as if he was in trouble.

Then he handed out the agreement to King Astor and urged him to sign it quickly.

“And as King Astor had just said, this is what he has already accepted. It’s not a matter for a foreign priest to intervene.”

“But this is against reason! Stealing the princess’ freedom and using it politically is no different from human trafficking!”

“Human trafficking! You’re going too far!”

“If so, then cancel your plans of taking the princess!”

“You’ve already given me the mercy of not taking the prince, and now you’re telling me to give up the princess? Are you trying to start a fight with the Benedictine Empire?”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say right now!”

“Silence!”

Just when he felt like the two men were about to have a fistfight, the King, who had been silent until now, stopped the two men as things were just about to escalate.

The priest straightened up with a still stiffened neck. Arnold, who was about to throw a sharp attack, also briefly entered a state of a lull.

King Astor, who the priest had stopped, frowned and said, “Your honour, I still do not like this plan…”

“What’s wrong with it? We were in the middle of a discussion.”

Upon hearing that, the priest questioned if it truly was a discussion that was being had.

‘I’m doing this for you. So why are you stopping me?’

King Astor shook his head as if he was in trouble because of the priest’s blatant discomfort shown on his face.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your discussion. It’s just that the conversation was getting too heated…”

“Hmm.”

Was it too passionate even for someone like him?

When the priest stepped back one step, King Astor looked at Arnold and continued his words.

“I believe the priest’s words hold some value. No matter how much I agree with you, it isn’t my position to sell away my daughter for a couple of good words. I’d like you to offer me a consolation prize for her.”

“What?”

Arnold gave a chilling grin.

He didn’t expect him to act so shamelessly.

‘You’re already in a dangerous position yet you dare to ask for something else in return?

What kind of dog is this really?’

When Arnold is dumbfounded, so is Elaine. Elaine was at a loss for words due to King Astor’s shameless behaviour.

‘Is his death going to be the consolation prize?’

I’m the one up for sale anyways. So might as well try to sell me off for a higher price.

Besides, why is that priest quiet again?

Does he think it’s fair to get a consolation prize when you’re looking to sell your daughter for money?

In the middle of the uncomfortable silence, Arnold looked downwards as he suddenly felt a tug on his shirt as it was being pulled.

The person who pulled on the hem of the shirt was Elaine, who asked with a worldly innocent face.

“Mr Arno, but what’s a hostage?”

“Huh?”

“Oh…”

Only then did the priest and Arnold look bitter, after realizing that they were saying mean things to the child in front of them.

Arnold was half anxious, half curious, about Elaine as she continued to look at him.

I dropped as I watched.

And he said with a sad expression.

“Uh, that’s why I wanted to take the princess to the Imperial palace…”

“The Imperial palace?”

Hearing Arnold’s amiable and careful words, Elaine opened her eyes wide.

“Yes. There are so many good things about going to the Imperial palace.”

“Good things?”

“You can wear a lot of good clothes and eat a lot of delicious food, not just small clothes like what you’re wearing now. Also, do you like cookies?”

“Cookies!”

Elaine’s voice grew especially loud when cookies were mentioned. Then, the priest retorted.

“But if you go there, you may never come back to the Kingdom of Astor! Your Majesty, of course, may separate you from your other family members and you will never see them again…”

“I want to go with him!”

“Huh?”

“Why?”

Never to see King Astor again? That’s exactly what Elaine wanted.

But the face of King Astor, who didn’t know what was going on and was just trying to extort money from Arnold, frowned.

Arnold, on the other hand, replied happily.

“Now that the princess has made her decision, shall we move on and continue our discuss regarding reparations?”

Arnold tightly grips Elaine’s little hand.

Elaine grabbed the back of her head and looked at King Astor, as she felt her decade-old burden finally lifting off her shoulders.

***

Both parties had come to a consensus, 10,000 gold was able to be reduced by 2,000 gold off of the huge amount of compensation.

‘Considering that the monthly cost of living for commoners is 1 to 3 gold, this is considered an extremely huge sum of money.’

That was agreed upon in the agreement anyways, but considering that Arnold’s words almost kept me from getting out, I’m glad to have heard that the discussion has finally ended.

Elaine had a cheerful look on her face, thinking of the priest and King Astor, who were fighting with each other.

‘I can finally bid this hell of a place goodbye.’

Elaine clenched her fist as she finally saw the kingdom that had plagued her for 20 years.

How frustrated were you to know that it’s only been a short while since you came back before having to return to the kingdom?

But even if the sky collapsed and there was a hole to spring up, I couldn’t imagine that the empire, who had nothing to do with me before my return, was to be the lifeline to the sky that I was desperately looking for.

‘This is just the beginning. I need to stay alert.’

But even in the Empire, Elaine’s days of hardship were not over yet.

The emperor is notorious in the Empire.

Before her return, Princess Astor was sent back to the kingdom after six years due to its filthy nature.

Therefore, I must never lose focus in the slightest.

‘But it’s still better than that hellish place.’

If you go to the Empire, you’ll at least have no stomach for it, and you won’t blow your fist because you’re bored.

If I were to go to the empire, at least I’ll likely be well-fed and treated decently as compared to the suffering I had experienced in the Kingdom of Astor. I will no longer have to resort to blowing my fist to entertain myself.

Elaine could smile slightly as she thought about how much better it would be there than here.

“Help me up.”

Elaine, who was assuming a fighting pose, as if to shake off her last nightmare, boarded the carriage with the help of a horseman.

The cushion felt extremely soft and comfortable as she sat, looking outside the window. There was a lot of activity outside, with people loading Elaine’s clothes and items into the back of the carriage.

She knew it was all a show, but it felt strange to see such a sight.

After watching for a long time, Arnold finally opened the other door and entered the carriage.

Elaine glanced around.

As he sat down, he looked at Elaine and asked,

“Princess, you’re going to be leaving the kingdom and travelling for a long time, are you going to be alright?”

“Oh! Yes, I will be! I left for the bathroom just now. I made sure the horses went too!”

“I see. Thank you for thinking that.”

Arnold looked at Elaine with a bitter look.

Originally, Astor was annoyed with the fact that the priest of the Holy Empire and King Astor were trying to sell Elaine away and toy with the Benedictine Empire at the same time.

But after he saw King Astor, he changed my mind.

I felt that I couldn’t leave such a pure Elaine under a man who only saw a child as money and trying to profit and earn money off of his own child.

But Arnold couldn’t easily answer when asked if he had made a wise decision.

That’s why it doesn’t change when a child is taken way as a political “hostage”.

He hoped that he had made the right choice.

Arnold sighed as he looked out the window with a curious expression.

I hope she doesn’t get hurt.

***

Contrary to Arnold’s words relating to distance traveled and time, the carriage arrived at the Empire in half a day.

That’s partially due to the fact that there were so many wizards waiting outside the kingdom for them to arrive for the teleportation team to help with speeding up the travel time.

With a little tremble, Elaine’s eyes were wide open in a completely different environment compared to the Kingdom of Astor.

“Is this the Benedictine Empire?”

I’ve seen the Benedictine Empire’s jurisdiction before I returned, but I’ve never seen the capital of the Empire before.

In addition, the environment is now 20 years behind Elaine’s memory.

Elaine was looking out towards the market from the windows when Arnold suddenly carried her and placed her at a safer spot in the carriage.

“We’ll be there soon, so please wait a little longer.”

“Okay.”

She wanted to continue hanging on to the window, but from now on, Elaine needed to be a good kid.

‘My identity and title as a hostage can always be dropped.’

You may be held hostage by a treaty, however, depending on how Elaine behaves, she may even be kicked out before that.

That’s why the princess of the Astor Kingdom was kicked out in six years before my return.

Elaine sat quietly on the sofa and glanced out of the window, always vowing to keep that in mind.

After ten more minutes in the carriage, they finally arrived at the palace.

Arnold commented as he got off the carriage first and lifted Elaine out.

“Let’s laugh. I know it’s hard at first but you’ll just have to say hello to the big man in the future.”

“Big man?”

“Hahaha, that’s right. The big man.”

Elaine nodded slowly.

‘Finally, the biggest hurdle has arrived.

When I first met King Astor, I still felt the tension form the trauma. And this would be the first time I would meet the Emperor and I am terrified due to the fear of the unknown of what would happen during the meeting.’

Elaine was still in a dress that was now sweaty due to her hands. Upon noticing that, Arnold quickly added.

“But you don’t have to be too nervous. He’s a little scary, of course, but he’s very nice.”

“Okay.”

That’s his own opinion, however, Elaine did not believe Arnold one bit.

She didn’t agree with him at all. After all, she had heard countless rumors about the emperor of the Empire.

‘Anyways, if I want to stay safe within the Empire, I’ll have to look good to the emperor, by being as harmless and nice as I can to be and gain my independence later on. I’ll need to be as good as possible!’

Elaine, who was now more determined than ever, made up her mind and headed into the palace with Arnold.

***

However, once they arrived at the throne room, Elaine froze up.

This is because the emperor himself was staring at her with his own eyes rather than his guard or assistant.

“What’s this little thing?”

“It’s a hostage from the Kingdom of Astor.”

“Is this of King Astor’s blood?”

“Yes.”

The emperor looked at Elaine with a look of absurdity.

This is because King Astor’s behavior and actions were abnormal. Considering how he just sent a pawn of blood, who was only four years old.

On the other hand, Elaine, who was witnessing the biggest hurdle in person, the emperor. She gulped, swallowing the dryness in her throat.

‘That’s the Emperor of the Benedictine Empire.’

As is rumored, he is a man who was not only so handsome as if he had a face carved of ice, he was just as level-headed.

‘Haa, let’s calm down. If you don’t show a good first impression right now, you may never get another chance again.

As a hostage, I need to buy over the emperor’s heart in order to survive for a long time in the Imperial Palace.’

It is necessary to instill a positive image in order to prevent people from losing their appetite when they hear about the hostage while eating. It is to ensure they won’t get irritated even if they were to encounter each other on the way.

‘Okay, now behold my lethal charm that I’ve been honing constantly throughout the whole journey in the carriage!’

“You’re very pretty, Mr Arno!”

“?”

The emperor silently observed her actions, the actions of Elaine who was still smiling with her arms spread out wide.

Then he turned his head coldly and said,

“You’ve got the eyes of Astor blood.”

“Your Majesty!”

Arnold looked at the child’s face in cold sweat, but it was too late.

Elaine blinked with her mouth wide open in stunned silence.

‘I can’t believe my lethal cuteness didn’t work on them!’

She had endured the shriveling of her fingers and shouting with a feeling of vomiting blood, but the Emperor is out of his mind and in a completely different league.

As Elaine was floundering about with great shame and frustration, when Arnold, who had finished his report, asked.

“So what should we do?”

“Place it anywhere in the public.”

“Will King Astor be able to do anything?”

“How much did you cut?”

“2,000 gold.”

“Tell him to spend it on the repair of the roads.”

“Okay”

Arnold nodded with a look of agreement upon healing the emperor’s decisive orders.

“By the way, do you really think this is the best we can do…?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Regarding the war reparations.”

The emperor paused.

Elaine, who was still bruised by the Emperor’s words, and Arnold, who was listening to him, took a deep breath.

Arnold said to the Emperor, who seemed to smile like a villain.

“Are they short on paying the reparations?”

“More like you aren’t able to fully trust King Astor.”

The Emperor gestured towards Elaine.

“Do you think that the man who had bargained with his daughter would be quiet enough to agree to pay the reparations?”

“I don’t think so…”

In the first place, the Kingdom of Astor had asked for compensation so that he could avoid unnecessary thoughts later.

Of course, from the Benedictine Empire’s point of view, this was still a large sum of money.

Would he really be quiet since he sent his daughter and brought out all his money for consolation and annual reparations?

“10 percent of the nation’s total tax.”

“Yes…? You mean 10 percent? Not 5 percent?”

Arnold’s eyes opened wide at the Emperor’s words.

What does this mean? It means that they’re not only cutting back on military spending, they’re instead going to just completely shut it down.

“This is the right amount to make sure they don’t even think about climbing.”

“I don’t think they’ll listen to me if I simply ask them to just cut back on military spending, however, wouldn’t that lead to another internal backlash?”

Such a huge tax would naturally cost King Astor and his aristocrats to rebel.

It’ll be a pain in the neck if we were to implement a bunch of ridiculous tax rates and start a war again.

The outcome has already been decided, but I want you to look at the empire’s position to fight another money-eating hippo-like war.

“Well, it would be nice to have at least someone on the inside…”

Someone who is rather well-known in the Kingdom of Astor,

wouldn’t it be easier for someone like such to hold onto King Astor’s leash?

‘Of course, there can’t be anyone like that.’

Arnold heaved a sigh.

If there were such a man, the Kingdom of Astor wouldn’t have started such a foolish war in the first place.

Is there any other way to reduce military spending? In the middle of his contemplation, he suddenly felt another tug on his sleeve.

“Princess? What’s the matter?”

“My grandfather…”

“?”

“Elaine’s grandfather said no wars!”

“Huh?”

The Emperor’s, as well as Arnold’s, interest is piqued as they listen to Elaine’s words.

Leaning forward, the Emperor asking interestingly,

“Ho? Who is that? Was there such a wise man in the Kingdom of Astor?”

The nobles in the Kingdom of Astor were all greedy pigs blinded by power.

This war has been fought by the Kingdom of Astor as the Emperor watched from the sidelines.

She didn’t just avoid the war for nothing.

Elaine looked at the Emperor and told him everything that she knew.

“Mobi, my grandfather, who has a long beard, didn’t like my father, Gatten, who was always fixated on starting a war.”

“Mobi… Ah! Are you talking about the Duke of Mobi Grande?”

“Mobi Grande? The Chancellor of the Kingdom of Astor?”

“Yes! That’s the name!”

Elaine’s confident smile shocked the Emperor.

He didn’t know why, but her eyes seemed like they’re shining.

Chapter 3

………………………………

“Come here.”

The Emperor, who asked her to come, sat Elaine on his lap.

Elaine began to hiccup as she sat on the Emperor’s lap.

“Hiccup!”

“Hmm? What’s wrong with you?”

“She must be surprised by the sudden change in height.”

“It seems it was for trivial reasons.”

‘No! These people! Why would one hiccup just for that reason!’

I wonder how little he thinks of himself.

When Elaine, who relaxed a little thanks to him, stopped her hiccups, the Emperor said, “It’s a big deal too.”

“You seem to have adapted.”

“Yes! Adapted!”

This posture was still uncomfortable, but what could she do?

Elaine exclaimed, as lively as possible, without showing discomfort.

But there was still a bigger challenge left to tackle.

‘Uh, he’s even more jaw-dropping up close.’

There, sat a handsome man who looked like an ice sculpture, who said,”Oh! You might think I’m handsome but in reality, I’m different.”

His eyes were so cold that it could cause anyone to freeze if they looked into them.

He had a breathtaking atmosphere and energy surrounding him.

Paired with a violent charisma that overwhelms everything.

That’s Douglas Benedict, who’s all that.

The ice sculpture said with a cold stare.

“The thing you mentioned earlier, tell it in detail.”

“Moby’s grandfather?”

“Yes, if he were the king, he would’ve wanted to hide it.”

“Um…”

Elaine, stroking her chin with her hand, was lost in thought.

If she satisfied his curiosity now, she might be able to deem herself as a ‘little, useful child’.

‘But the weakness of the Duke of Moby Grande! There’s no way I know that…!’

“Ah! I remember!”

The Emperor and Arnold flinched with Elaine’s loud cry.

Elaine pointed to his head, ignoring the two men staring at her.

“Moby’s grandfather is actually bald!”

Political enemies.

Their expectations dropped a little after hearing Elaine’s lively voice.

“Ahahaha, bald. That would certainly make me want to hide it,” Arnold said with a smile.

“As expected, she’s a kid. I shouldn’t have expected anything more.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue, thinking pitifully of himself for having listened seriously to the child.

But the child’s words were not finished yet.

“And he said that in his room, there’s a book with a flower picture on it in his bookshelf that is actually a ledger for the secrets.”

“!”

Surprise was written all over the Emperor’s face.

Looking at Arnold, he also didn’t know such confidential information would come out of the child’s mouth.

Too much systematic information for a child to lie. Elaine smiled and waved the Emperor’s sleeve.

This information was too detailed for a child to just make up. Elaine smiled and touched the Emperor’s sleeve.

“Hehe, am I good?”

“Yes, you are.”

“Hehe, Mr Arno is good too!”

(This turned into a complicated situation.)

Did the surprise attack work?

While he was thinking about something while touching his chin, he handed the child over to Arnold and said,

“Send her to the right room.”

“Then I’ll take her to the palace…”

“Arnold, do you intend to make me say it twice?”

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll send her to a suitable location in the main palace.”

Only then did the unimpressed emperor nod.

Elaine, who was roughly promoted to a new room, cried out “Nice!” on the inside.

***

The emperor sent two maids to Elaine.

These maids only choose to serve aristocratic children. Not only was it very unusual, this decision didn’t make sense since she was just a hostage there.

Elaine, who was moved to the guest room whilst being carried by the maid, blinked her eyes quickly.

All of them seemed to be professionals, like cogs in a machine, they were moving naturally and speedily. Holding up the curtains, straightening the bedding and all.

Although there was a reemployment, he still has employed a considerably large number of talented people.

‘Although I’ve given him a weakness, he’s assigned a lot of capable people to me.’

“Well, the Chancellor’s not just one weakness, he’s as much as a weakness I can take at a time”

“Well, it would be correct to say that it’s not just one weakness, but his biggest weakness.”

A giant kingdom, with a ledger.

In other words, it is clear that it has many bad things surrounding it.

At that moment, the maid that was busy taking off Elaine’s shoes with an expressionless face said,

“I’ll help you take a bath before dinner.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be using a bath bomb. Is there a specific scent you’d like?”

“Um, anything is fine.”

“…”

Hesitated.

The hand that was taking off her socks paused.

The corners of the maid’s mouth moved slightly up and down.

Shaking her head at the reaction, Elaine clenched her fists, pushing everything she felt down.

‘You need to be a good girl in order to stay in the Empire.’

Before Elaine’s reincarnation, the real princess of Astor was forced out of the Empire.

If Elaine goes through such an experience as well, she would die.

‘I escaped that hell for a reason, I can’t go back there.’

Elaine sat down at the table, her mouth already salivating over the food.

By the age of four, she was not physically abused but she had had a poor diet ever since then.

‘People would usually guess my eating habit, considering how I was older yet I was still small. I would say it was after I turned 20 and had eaten terrible food did I start developing a poor diet.’

It was sad to learn how her meals were even worse than the servant’s meal at the palace.

Elaine gazed at the maids that the emperor had assigned, with a determined expression.

The most powerful weapon a four-year-old has.

Her fingers were close to shriveling up and dying as she yearned for the delicious meal…!

“Omni! Omni, come with me.”

The maid, who was gently wiping Elaine’s shivering body with a large towel, froze.

At this point, Elaine was drooling over the food in front of her.

Would it not melt everyone’s heart if they see a child tightly holding onto their hand with bright shining eyes?

“… Ah.”

Eventually, the maid’s face, as stern as an iron fortress, collapsed.

The maid sighed, annoyed and said,

“I can’t stand it anymore.”

“Bailey!”

“Stop her!”

“What?!”

A maid called Bailey quickly rushed in with a towel soaked in warm water, in which she used to lightly hug Elaine as she rubbed her soft cheeks.

“But she’s so cute!”

“Stop it! She is the princess of Astor Kingdom.”

“But she’s only four!”

“…I think doing that is dangerous.”

“Get that pervert out of here right now!”

“No, I just like looking at cute stuff!”

“Shut up!”

So noisy.

The little disturbance passed as a dwarf sized maid came and dragged the maid in question away.

Sighing at the sight of the maid being dragged away, the maid that was attending to her shook her head before approaching Elaine.

She then proceeded to carefully and gently dress her in comfortable clothes that were easy to move in.

“You were very surprised, weren’t you? I hope you won’t be too afraid of me. I’m a kind-hearted person, after all.”

“Oh, uh yeah, she was acting pretty gangster-like.”

“Oh my, you’re so mature. I thought you were so brave as well! My name is Alice, I look forward to working with you.”

“I look forward to your kind cooperation as well.”

Elaine lowered her head, trying to relax her frozen body as much as possible.

“I thought you were being hard on me for being a hostage…”

Looking at Alice’s face which seemed more comfortable now, it seemed that she was simply nervous over Bailey’s sudden and unexpected actions.

***

Throughout her whole life before the regression, she had never experienced such a luxurious meal.

Alice wiped Elaine’s mouth before asking softly.

“Is it good?”

“Yes! Drink!”

Elaine shouted with sincerity, not knowing that she had more strength in her neck than usual.

That’s because, even until now, she couldn’t come to her senses after trying such exciting food that easily melted in her mouth.

After she finished eating a lot of custard pudding for a long time, Bailey returned with a gloomy face.

Somehow, now she was no longer allowed to be closer than one metre to Elaine. She had stomped her feet, sighed and cried as if she just got dumped.

As she looked up in astonishment, Bailey clutched her chest and slumped to the ground.

“It’s annoying!”

“Ugh!”

The maid who had dragged Bailey away appeared next to Elaine.

“Princess, that’s Cathy.”

“Yes! Cathy, welcome!”

“…”

Elaine had no idea what Cathy’s eyes looked like since her bangs were covering her eyes, she thought that Cathy must be the taciturn type.

Her voice drawled, “The Emperor would like to see you.”

Elaine nodded as she put down her remaining custard pudding and the teaspoon with a grim face.

‘I guess they’ve figured out what I said was true, unless the location of the ledger had changed, right? If so, then that won’t be good.’

After all, this information was from 10 years ago.

Originally, 10 years from now, all the ledgers would suddenly be burnt by a fire.

Not only was it known where all the ledgers were, it was also a famous anecdote at that time that King Astor had an insider among aristocrats.

As Elaine’s face hardened with worry, Alice said, hugging her.

“Don’t worry too much. His Majesty is a little scary but he’s very gentle as long as you don’t do anything wrong.”

‘That’s the problem. Maybe I did do something wrong.’

Alice’s sweet face tried to comfort her but Elaine’s face continued to harden.

This is because she suddenly remembered the rumours of the Emperor having wandered around the world before her return.

‘If a gentle man blows off someone’s head because they destroyed the palace flowers, then everyone would be considered as an angel.’

Elaine repressed her sigh and tried to smile.

Anyway, the Emperor had called for her, so she would have to go.

If she were to go, she would be able to find out if the ledgers were truly at the same location as she remembers or if they were stored somewhere else.

“Everyone! I’ll be right back!”

Despite all the confusion, Elaine did not forget to greet the two maids.

‘I will need to strengthen my relationship with them, eat quietly, and grow up.

And when time comes, I will escape the Empire.’

This really sounds like the perfect scenario, right?

Elaine, who’s mood was once again bright, laughed inwardly before hugging Alice. Alice gave Elaine a gentle hug as well before Elaine headed towards the office.

In the office was Arnold, who was speaking in a serious tone to a couple of officials nearby.

“What? You have yet to keep the ledgers in that place?”

Elaine’s wide smile immediately evaporated.

The Emperor’s gaze, who stopped the conversation, landed on the child as he walked up to stand in front of her.

“Elaine!”

“Ah, Your Majesty!”

Surprised by Arnold’s sudden outburst when he shouted, Alice’s body, which was holding Elaine, trembled.

Likewise, the Emperor, who was so shocked that he started hiccuping, raised his large hand.

Likewise, Elaine, who was also shocked by the Emperor’s behavior, started hiccuping as the Emperor raised his large hand.

“Are you sure it’s accurate?!”

It was as if Elaine was brought back to her past life.

Elaine unconsciously closed her eyes as she recalled memories of the constant abuse she had experienced.

But why?

Over time, she could not feel the pain.

Rather…

“Astor’s blood.”

Pat.

“?!”

“Good job.”

The Emperor’s sudden and unexpected compliment and patting of her head surprised not only Elaine but all the officials around them.

Elaine opened her mouth, feeling that it was much heavier than anything. She felt as if it were heavier than raindrops.