“Shall we go together?”

“Pardon? Where to? Don’t tell me, your domain?”

Orbis nodded.

No, that’s a bit…

“It’s too sudden.”

“Think of it as visiting a friend’s house.”

The problem was that the domain was too enormous to be called a house, and it was a place where humans couldn’t set foot.

Litania laughed and gently pulled her hand away from Orbis’s grasp.

“I’ll just gratefully accept your sentiment, friend.”

“It’s a beautiful place. You’ll like it too.”

From what she saw in her dream, it was a place where lightning struck and icy winds blew, cold enough to freeze people alive.

“I’ll go next time.”

When she answered as if saying “Let’s have a meal sometime,” Orbis smiled as if pleased.

“Alright. Next time then.”

Orbis withdrew cleanly, making her worry about his persistent requests seem unnecessary.

He bent slightly, bringing his face close to Litania’s, carefully examining her features as if to engrave them in his memory, then smiled loosely, bid farewell, and left.

A disorderly silence descended upon the garden as if a battle had just taken place. There were no bombings, bloodstains, or corpses, but for Litania, it was as good as a battlefield.

It was full of unknowns, but what of it? It’s a relief that it passed safely. Litania sighed as she stroked her chest.

“Now that Orbis has returned to his domain, it’ll be peaceful for a while.”

However, that was a very big misunderstanding.

A drought had struck.

Just as they thought the rainy season was late, a heatwave poured down without even a dry spell.

News came that crops in the fields were drying up and forests were starting to burn in places. It sounded serious even as a rumor, so the situation for those experiencing it firsthand must be even more dire.

Litania looked at the luxurious menu laid out before her. Various stews and drinks, a stark contrast to the plight of the people outside the castle suffering from the drought.

“Everyone’s struggling, is it right for me to live in such luxury?”

“Even if you economize, Lady Litania, the leftovers will just end up in the trash.”

“What if I order my portion to be distributed to the starving people outside the castle gates?”

“First of all, there aren’t any starving people gathered at the castle gates, and even if there were, the middle managers would certainly embezzle during the distribution process. It’s better not to.”

Snow said sharply with a refreshing smile.

Litania was about to say something to Snow, who was uttering irreverent words without a hint of malice, but softened at the boy’s innocent gaze.

She had forgotten because he was so friendly and affectionate, but Snow was by no means an easy-going character.

Looking like a child who hadn’t even hit puberty, he sometimes spoke like an old man who had seen it all.

Snow’s irreverent remarks to the Crown Princess seemed less like ignorance or a spirit of retaliation, and more like the ease of someone who knew such power or status could do him no harm.

‘He must have had to become strong to survive as a lady-in-waiting to the princess without a guardian.’

That was all Litania could guess, not knowing what Snow was like before her possession.

“Still, as a princess, I feel a bit guilty going about my daily life so nonchalantly while people are suffering and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Huh?”

“His Majesty the Emperor has given permission for you to attend the countermeasure meetings as a member of the imperial family now.”

“Oh, damn.”

Faced with such an unexpected situation, Litania reflexively swore and quickly shut her mouth.

Snow smiled brightly as he stacked up the empty plates Litania had finished and loaded them onto the trolley.

“I heard there was a meeting this morning too. It seems to be dragging on, so it’ll probably continue in the afternoon as well.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this until now?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to enjoy your peaceful time and not to say unnecessary things?”

“That’s that, and this is this… No, more importantly, imperial meetings aren’t unnecessary, are they?”

“If all that comes out of putting heads together is unrealistic opinions, it’s fair to call it unnecessary.”

“Snow.”

“…I’m sorry.”

When Litania called his name in a lower voice, Snow immediately lowered his eyes and apologized.

Snow was quite stubborn about other things, but he quickly yielded when Litania showed signs of disapproval.

Litania felt a bit sorry for Snow.

If they had grown up together since childhood, they would probably be closer to friends than princess and attendant, and she thought maybe she should have let him speak more comfortably.

“No, I was wrong to say that too. Instead, from now on, don’t hide things and tell me.”

“Understood, Lady Litania.”

When she patted Snow’s head, the boy smiled brightly as he tidied up and wheeled away the trolley.

Litania watched Snow’s retreating figure fondly before rising from her seat.

As Snow said, nothing would change even if she attended the imperial meeting, but she wasn’t shameless enough to sit and enjoy peace while people were suffering from the drought.

‘We live in this world together, so I should lend a hand, even if it’s small. Maybe the modern knowledge I have could be useful.’

Drought is a challenge that even 21st-century science can’t solve, but she thought she might at least be able to suggest ideas for waterway construction. With that in mind, Litania headed towards the central palace.

“What are you here for, you fake?”

As soon as she entered, Princess Herna’s sneering words poured out refreshingly. Thinking that if something had to pour, it would have been better for the world if rain had poured instead, Litania surveyed the faces of those seated.

Befitting a meeting of imperial descendants, the Crown Prince sat at the head seat. Next to him, quickly averting his gaze as soon as their eyes met, was a somewhat familiar face.

Was it Prince Vapor? Those next to him were probably his younger siblings. The Emperor was absent.

Litania silently bowed her head in greeting and looked for an empty seat for herself.

Quite coincidentally, the only empty seat was next to Herna.

‘Did they leave it empty by age order? They should have left a corner seat empty as they usually ignored me.’

As Litania headed for the empty seat, Herna was terrified.

“Where do you think you’re going? You fake, go to another seat!”

“This is the only seat available.”

“Don’t talk back, you fake!”

Colorful insults poured out. Even Litania, who usually let most things slide, couldn’t simply ignore the constant provocation from beside her.

It hadn’t even been a minute since she sat down, but already her shoulders felt stiff and the back of her neck was tightening.

‘Why is she so hostile?’

In the original story, Litania was also in a position of being ignored by her siblings.

She could understand Herna’s criticism and sharp attitude towards her because of that.

That meant she could comprehend, separate from accepting it, why such a relationship had formed.

But compared to the other siblings, Herna’s hostility seemed excessively intense, which bothered her.

‘Until now, I just thought it was because she’s the villain, that disliking me was her default setting, but…’

It wasn’t even subtly mixed with sarcasm, but to suddenly pour out criticism without reason like this, could it be explained just because she’s the villain?

‘The novel wasn’t that childish, this is strange.’

To begin with, it was a depressing story centered on the relationship with Orbis, so conflict with another princess wouldn’t have been the main focus.

“That’s enough, Herna.”

It was the Crown Prince who cut off Herna’s words instead of Litania, who was increasingly frowning.

“She came by His Majesty’s order allowing her to attend the meeting.”

“But this is a fake.”

“It’s His Majesty’s decision.”

The Crown Prince finished speaking with an expression that showed he wasn’t pleased either.

Judging by the fact that he still wouldn’t make eye contact with Litania, it seemed he was just as uncomfortable.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come.’

Litania regretted it for a moment, but thinking she should do something since she was already here, she looked at the map on the desk.

‘…This will be difficult.’

When she first heard from Snow that the drought was severe, she thought about conducting waterway construction to draw water from lakes to farmlands.

She didn’t know the level of civil engineering technology in this world, but even the ancient Inca civilization built canals, so how could it be impossible in such an advanced world?

The problem was that while there were many lakes near the capital, they seemed to have shrunk considerably, perhaps dried up from the drought.

Moreover, they seemed far from the farmlands, making it difficult to connect waterways.

If the waterways are short, the problem can be solved simply by digging trenches, but the wider the construction area, the more the difficulty of forming an irrigation system increases proportionally.

The officials aren’t fools either, so the reason they couldn’t proceed with waterway construction wasn’t simply because they couldn’t come up with the idea, but because they hit technical limitations.

Not only that, but the cost and labor input increases, and it’s difficult to deploy manpower elsewhere during construction, which is also a problem.

If it doesn’t rain within a month or two, this year’s crops will be ruined, but waterway construction would take at least three months.

“Can’t magic do anything about this?”

“What?”

The Crown Prince frowned at Litania’s question.