Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“What?”

“When I say hard work, I’m referring to work that I’ll have to do, of course. I don’t plan on having you do anything difficult, Mikael. As I said before, all I need from you is to maintain your position as my personal knight.”

“No, hold on. This is too much, too quickly. Give me a moment to gather my thoughts. I can’t keep up with you.”

Mikael looked as if he might actually feel dizzy. He used his hands to hold up his head and took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. Mikael was already struggling to acclimate to his newfound freedom, and then these startling revelations from Eve had all but overloaded his brain. It was a wonder he hadn’t gone into shock.

Most people would have been more delicate and prepared such a person for monumental disclosures like this, but the seventh princess knew no such mercy. Even though she was fulfilling the promise she’d made earlier, which was to tell him her secrets after the imprint ritual, Mikael couldn’t help but feel she was being a bit unfair to him.

At least she didn’t tell me in the cell.

This was a declaration to be kept from prying eyes and ears, so it was sensible for her to have avoided speaking about it in an exposed place. This had also been a good choice, considering Mikael’s attitude. He was skeptical even now. If she’d told him all of this at the beginning, Mikael would have refused her outright. If he had heard all this while still a prisoner, he would have taken her words as proof that she was an authoritative and obstinate princess who was full of nothing but hot air. To him, her notions of freeing the homunculi would have sounded like meaningless sweet talk only meant to entice him into submitting to her.

Both of them had completely forgotten there was a third person present.

“I... um... I beg your pardon...”

Sedella, who’d been tending to the flower vases in the corner while the two had tea, was looking at Eve in astonishment. She usually tried to act blind and deaf—desirable traits for any professional maid—but this she couldn’t just ignore.

“E... Evienrose, my lady...”

“Yes, Sedella?”

“I... I’m sorry to interrupt... But, do you truly mean all that?”

“Yes. I truly do.”

“My goodness...”

Sedella covered her mouth with a hand. Sedella’s reaction also mattered to Eve, and Eve watched her maid’s large green eyes with some anxiety. But Sedella soon took a deep breath and bunched both her fists with resolve.

“I... I... I’ll do my best to serve you, my lady! I know I can be lacking at times, but I’ll give this my all!” she said firmly, if not a little too loudly.

“What’s lacking about you, Sedella? The way I see it, you would even make a fine head maid.”

Eve had been right to value Sedella. She was the best personal maid any princess could want. Eve told herself that one day she would buy Sedella not just the townhouse she had always thought to give her, but also an island with a luxury villa.

While Eve and Sedella shared this affirming moment with one another, Mikael had a moment to regain his composure.

“I think I’m beginning to understand why you broke your principles and decided to appoint a personal knight. Is it to enter high society and establish a foothold as a promising imperial princess?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“But any other homunculus could have served you just as well, could they not? So why me?”

This important detail did not escape Mikael. This was a secret Eve wasn’t ready to reveal. She considered her words carefully. Luckily, there was an alternative good reason she could give.

“I imprinted you, a homunculus who rejected the emperor’s control. By doing so, I proved beyond a doubt that in terms of my level of control, I am more than qualified for consideration as a successor to the throne.”

“Ah. So the very act of imprinting me had political significance. That is such an obvious reason, I am a fool for not having thought of it already.”

“No, I don’t think so. I was always the black sheep of my family, remember? And here I am, suddenly claiming that I will become the crown princess. Not many people would credit my intentions even if I told them. And those who might actually believe me I still don’t think would realize anything without being explicitly informed.”

Eve chuckled and finished her tea.

I’m glad Mikael doesn’t seem averse to my ideas. This is more than enough progress for today.

The way Eve saw things, Mikael was a cautious man. A person’s true intentions would never became evident in the moment and needed some time to pass before developing. Mikael wouldn’t be able to trust Eve without any reservations just yet. She needed to give him time to work through his suspicions and judge for himself. Eve decided not to rush things. She would show her sincerity by putting all her efforts into reaching her goals, and slowly gain Mikael’s trust in the process.

Eve assumed a solemn expression as she looked at Mikael and Sedella.

“As you both know, what I just told you is extremely sensitive information. You must guard your words the moment you leave this room. Even if everyone in the imperial palace is capable of guessing my intentions, a direct admission from me or one of my people must be avoided at all costs.”

“I’ll take that to heart, my lady.”

“Understood.”

Their replies inspired trust. Eve smiled and filled her cup with more tea.

“Now then. Let’s talk about our upcoming schedule.”

She’d told them enough about her ambitions. It was time to get down to specifics.

“I’ll skip the unimportant details for now. Mikael must go with me to see my father tomorrow. There the emperor will conduct an allegiance ritual on him.”

“I guess I have to just hope the Emperor succeeds this time. I don’t want to be thrown back in jail.”

“There’s no need for concern. I’ve successfully imprinted you, Mikael, which means your immunity should be in a suppressed state. I’d like you to simply focus on being polite toward him tomorrow. You can’t act like you do around me.”

“As you request.”

Mikael paused to think for a moment. He then said, in a reluctant tone, “A ritual of allegiance to the Emperor and his blood... Does this mean that starting tomorrow, I will be like an obedient dog to the other members of your family as well as you?”

The allegiance ritual also disabled the free will of a homunculus. It was understandable for Mikael to be unhappy about it. The ritual’s control over a homunculus was not as strong as an imprint, but it prevented them from harboring any sort of insubordination or defiance toward a member of the Hadelamid family. Unjust and humiliating commands would have to be followed, and even life-threatening abuse at the hands of someone of imperial blood would have to be tolerated. Only the refusal of the imprinter, who had a greater degree of control than the others, could stop such things from happening. In other words, Eve’s intervention was crucial.

“I’ll do my utmost to protect you in my capacity as an imperial princess.”

“That is a relief, Your Highness.”

A small curve of a smile flitted across Mikael’s lips. It was a smile that could quicken any woman’s heart.

“As I was saying, this week the allegiance ritual will be the most important. The second important event happens next week.”

“You mean the eighth princess’s 18th birthday?”

“Yes. Rosie’s birthday celebration. That will be the first official event I’ll be taking you to, Mikael. It sounds like you’ve had plenty of etiquette training in the training center, but it won’t hurt to refresh your memory. Sedella can help you with that.”

“All right. From the sound of it, it’ll be an important day for your reentry into high society.”

“It is.”

“Then I shall give it my all as your personal knight.”

“No need to go that far. All I ask is for you to do what is considered standard.”

Eve chuckled as she spoke, but Mikael did not respond. He clearly did not do anything halfway.

“So are we done talking about upcoming events? I’d like to hear your daily routine next.”

“Ah, I suppose you’ll need that knowledge to perform your duties as my personal knight. Sedella, will you write out my schedule on a piece of paper for me?”

“Yes, my lady.”

Eve considered this lucky timing. After traveling back eight whole years, she couldn’t really remember what her daily routines had been like now. This was the perfect opportunity to find out.

“Please include as many details as you can, including which lessons I take from whom and when, when my usual tea sessions are and who I have them with, and whether I have people I meet or places I visit with some regularity. Show it to me first when you’re done so I can check to see that nothing is missing.”

She quietly prepared a spell in order to commit the whole thing to memory.

“All done, my lady,” Sedella said after a moment.

“Let’s see... Huh? Oh dear, there’s no much here, is there? This basically looks like a bare school schedule.”

It was certainly excessive to have secretly prepared a spell to help her memorize it all. She didn’t need any magical assistance to remember this schedule. Eve turned to Sedella, slightly baffled.

“Have I really met so few people lately? And never ventured outside at all? I thought I’d been keeping quite busy.”

“Well, you have, yes. You’re always studying alchemy when you don’t have classes or private lessons.”

“But the imperial palace is always busy with various matters and events to attend to.”

“You never went to those unless your presence was explicitly called for.”

“...”

The longer this conversation went on, the more obvious it became that her social life was lacking.

I guess I really was an outsider here in the palace.

Eve decided to change the subject. She handed the schedule to Mikael.

“Tell me if you have any routines or activities I should know about, Mikael.”

“My only job as your personal knight is to accompany you at every waking moment.”

“During what hours?”

“It’s typically from when you first wake to when you fall asleep. And, unless otherwise instructed, we are to sleep and eat in the personal knights’ quarters to the north.”

“Ah.”

Personal maids like Sedella occupied adjacent rooms, acting almost like roommates to the imperial family members they served. Homunculus knights, however, were placed under meticulous management at the Imperial Guard quarters and were forced to live as a group. Personal knights were also part of the Imperial Guard, so the same applied to them. But personal knights, of course, were exempt from roll call because personal commands given by their masters took precedence. The benefit of this exemption came at the cost of being forced to service imperial family members in bed.

Eve asked, “Do you not have set times for personal training? There are training facilities near your quarters, right?”

“Ah, yes. I should have time to train. I can do that during the day if you give me permission. Otherwise, I’ll have to find time on my own in the evening or early morning. If none of those are an option, then I won’t be able to improve. Everything about me is your decision from now on.”

“Yes, I’ll try and decide well then.”

“Thank you for that.”

Mikael raised his right hand closer to his face to look at it. His eyes were on his wrist, where a mana suppressor that doubled as a handcuff had once been.

“Currently, I think I’ll need to dedicate myself to magic and sword energy training. Since I was forced to wear mana suppressors at all times in the training center, I only have theoretical knowledge of mana. I need practical training to check my newly opened mana pathways and stabilize my mana core.”