“Wait a minute, I’ll write the letter right away!”

In the meantime, Sally looked into the envelope with a joyful face.

There were a total of eight letters inside.

After the lady left for Duke Vicander, Sally had been consistently looking into the mailbox on behalf of the lady. She hadn’t expected a letter to come for over half a year.

My goodness! A letter came. Eight at once!

Sally read the writing on the letters with pleased eyes.

On the envelope was written in elegant and powerful handwriting, ‘With thanks to Mr. Liv Green.’

(This is a time delimiter.)

Meanwhile, at that time.

A knight of the imperial palace visited the hectic Catangta Ducal Estate, following the princess’s visit.

The duke and duchess had astonished faces at the knight’s words, holding a letter stamped with the emperor’s favor.

‘My goodness, His Majesty sends a letter to our territory himself!’

“……You’ve worked hard, sir. Rest and then return. Duke, will you provide the knight, who came a long way by the Emperor’s order, with a place to rest for a while?”

With elegant courtesy, the duke looked at the princess with regret. It would be nice if Catangta’s story was mixed in the reply to that letter, even a little.

But the princess didn’t look back at the regretful duke. It was when the duke was about to rise from his seat with an extremely disappointed attitude.

“Do not be rude, Your Highness the Princess.”

The youthful knight knelt before the princess and spoke.

“I have received orders to serve Your Highness for five days until you return to the palace.”

“……What do you mean, sir?”

The princess thought she must have heard wrong. According to the knight’s words, her father had put a watchdog on her. But the knight’s answer was consistent.

“I don’t know anything else, Your Highness.”

“Is Your Highness returning to the palace so soon after receiving the Emperor’s command? It’s really disappointing.”

“Duke, don’t you know? The summer banquet hosted by Her Highness is about to start. We weren’t invited to such a large banquet, but the host, Her Highness, must return quickly.”

Behind the knight’s words, the duke and duchess chimed in. In the midst of the already anxious and chaotic situation, the words of the three got mixed up, and the princess inadvertently spoke sharply.

“Everyone stop!”

The princess’s room was quiet in an instant. The princess looked around, saying oh, my. The governess, Lady Ruhas, looked at the faces of the duke, duchess, and knight with an uncertain face.

Not only the duke and duchess, who had always seen the saintlike princess, but also the knight looked a bit surprised.
“……I have a headache. I would appreciate it if you could lower your voice.”

The princess smiled gently as usual. Finally, the countess and her husband awkwardly laughed and got up from their seats.

“Come to think of it, Your Highness needs to read a letter. We will leave our seats first.”

“Thank you if the knight leaves for a moment as well. I think Your Highness should take a rest after reading the letter.”

At the words of Countess Luhas, the knight hesitated for a moment and nodded. Then, before leaving, he looked at the princess.

The moment their eyes met, the knight’s face turned red. The princess instinctively realized.

Ah, I can handle that knight somehow, she thought.

.

.

.

[Dash] I will give you five days. Quickly complete the investigation of the white crystal mine and return.

The moment she read the letter, it seemed like she could hear her father, the emperor’s voice. The princess desperately suppressed her anxious heart.

It was perhaps only natural that the emperor knew I was here. Moreover, since he thinks so horribly about the abandoned mine, it was certain that he would read my report more thoroughly this time.

But.

“How can I go that damned way again?”

“Your Highness!”

At the princess’s harsh words, Countess Luhas spoke more loudly with a pale face.

What if someone hears you? The nanny was in a tight spot.

But the princess didn’t care about the nanny. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t go back on that terrible dirt road again.

But neither could she give up the abandoned mine as it was. The princess glared at the mine ‘documents’ with sharp eyes.

[Dash] …Former Duke Vicander’s property, and the last princess of the ruined Lowell, Esmeralda Lowell Vicander’s white crystal mine, was subjugated to the imperial family as the former Duke Vicander took responsibility for losing the war. …After the investigation of wizards and scholars, it was confirmed that the vein was completely cut off.

What startled the princess was the next sentence.

[Dash] Before the ruin of Lowell, the possibility that those skilled in magic hid something cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, since Duke Vicander has shown an obsession with this mine, like handing it down from generation to generation, find what they have hidden.

Something hidden.

Her spine chilled at the sentence, the princess gritted her teeth. And she glared at the absent Olivia Madeleine.

If that halfwit really discovered something special in the mine and deliberately omitted it from the report, and deceived me to take the white crystal mine?

“……It won’t be. That fool hesitated even to stamp the seal. She hasn’t found anything yet.”

The princess muttered as if suppressing her anxiety. It was me who had the authority to bargain over the mine when that halfwit pathetically asked for the entrance fee. …Frustratingly.

Seeing that she hesitated even to stamp the seal, that wretched blood won’t know anything about what is hidden in the mine.

She comforted herself, but it didn’t change the fact that she was on the verge of returning the mine Duke Vicander was obsessed with.

The princess’s anger was rising to her head when the nanny spoke cautiously.

“It’s impossible to go and come back in five days. You should have revised the princess’s report in advance.”

At that, the princess burst out in anger.

“Nanny! That’s nonsense! Everyone in this county already knows I didn’t go to Vicander!”

At the princess’s words, the nanny flinched and bowed her head. As if the nanny’s words were a trigger, the princess drove her relentlessly.

“I’m already worried about Maria preparing my banquet. Really, that wretched Olivia is no help……!”

The princess’s eyes widened as she vented her irritation. The countess’s regretful voice brushed through her mind.

“My lord, indeed. The summer banquet hosted by Your Highness will begin soon. We weren’t invited to such a grand banquet, but the host, Your Highness, must return quickly.”
The blatant looks from the viscount couple, who were hoping to attend the banquet, and from the knight directed at me!

After all, Olivia, that halfhearted one, will attend the banquet as the Duke’s fiancée, so I’ll be able to meet her in the palace.

Olivia Madellene couldn’t possibly know about the abandoned mine. So then, do I not just have to get through this moment without going to Vicander?

Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

A smile began to form on the princess’s lips.

“Nanny! Call the viscount couple and the knight, no, the knight first!”