A Story That Cannot Be Told Outside

I had thought that noble society must be somehow different from that of commoners.

But when you opened the lid, what you found inside was pure human emotion.

I had recently come to think that it was nothing more than money and power added to the mix.

Noble blue blood was nothing but a fantasy.

They were living human beings just the same.

They worried and they felt jealousy. Being close to vested interests made it harder for them to work together than it was for commoners.

Since they didn't have to struggle purely to survive, their perspectives tended to be narrow.

In a sense, commoners might have it much easier.

If everything became too much, they could just till a field and never lack for food.

The next day, the princess summoned me to her room.

She must have organized her thoughts.

I knocked and waited for a response before entering.

"There you are. Use some magic to make sure our conversation doesn't leak out."

I nodded and asked Alexia to cast the spell.

With the silencing magic in effect, the conversation in the room wouldn't be heard outside.

Princess Tianis always had a spirited look about her, but today she seemed somewhat melancholic.

She wore outdoor clothes that were easy to move in.

"This should be fine now."

"Good. Thank you. What I'm about to tell you must not be repeated to anyone. Even Anatia-neesan. Will you promise to never speak of it until the day you die?"

"Understood. I promise."

"Good, good. It's reassuring that you answer so readily. Even though you haven't heard the contents yet."

"In my position, there are very few things I can talk about anyway. It's nothing new at this point. Though it is unusual to keep it secret even from Lady Anatia."

"True…"

Lady Anatia's position was Duke Baroba's proxy, and the greatest supporter of Princess Tianis in the Royal Capital.

Her position within the factions was critical.

With the king absent now, it could even be said she held more authority than Princess Tianis.

If something couldn't be told even to someone like her… it was probably related to the royal family.

"This is what you found yesterday. The destination is the city of Tazula."

"The destination of the embezzled funds. The person who gave orders to those people is there."

"I'm just saying it's likely. Nothing is confirmed yet. The funds may have been moved further from there."

"Would they go that far? Twenty gold coins isn't small, but it's not a huge sum either."

"Perhaps. I was just speaking of possibilities. The city of Tazula is a land rich in nature that has long been popular as a retreat. It's currently under direct royal administration."

"I believe First Princess Yupe moved there to recuperate from her injuries… Don't tell me."

"I don't know. It might be her, or it might not. But I do know that having this become known while the royal family is unstable would be very bad. I need to go confirm it directly."

"Indeed, this is… not something you can tell anyone."

If it became known that a princess had been orchestrating the embezzlement of soup kitchen funds meant for the people, there would definitely be riots.

In the worst case, people might even claim that the meteor incident was all a staged act to enable something like this.

If that happened, conflict would certainly erupt and the rift wouldn't be easily mended.

Nobles not close to Princess Tianis would exploit that situation.

And what lay beyond that… was a future where not just the capital but the entire country fell into ruin.

A war against the Church of the Sun God couldn't possibly continue while harboring enemies within.

The Empire was only watching and waiting because the Kingdom was barely stable for now.

Treaties or not, there was no telling how they'd move if the Kingdom showed weakness.

"How should I put it… all at once, I can see a terrible future ahead."

"I had the exact same thought yesterday. The Kingdom is moving toward recovery right now, but both the nobles and the people must harbor strong anxieties in their hearts. I want to avoid any major bad news spreading. Tazula is close to the capital, so even though there's no portal, we should arrive by evening if we leave now."

"I hope we can resolve this quickly."

"We can use horses from the castle… You can ride, can't you?"

"I can. What about the rest of you?"

When I asked, everyone except Azu and Orleans could ride.

Azu could ride behind Elza, and Orleans behind Alexia, so that would work.

I didn't know what we'd encounter, so I wanted to bring all of our members.

When we arrived at the stables, splendid horses of the Kingdom military were lined up.

They were all fine military horses with magnificent coats and builds.

Princess Tianis seemed to have a horse that was fond of her, and she mounted its back with practiced ease.

When I tried to mount as well, the horse turned its head away and refused.

This was bad. Being such a fine horse, it was apparently quite proud.

Elza and Finn had mounted without any problems.

"Can't be helped."

Alexia came over and patted the horse's back, making it look at her.

After staring at each other for a while, the horse lowered its head.

"It says it'll let you ride. Good for you."

"You're used to this. That was a big help."

"I was a knight, after all, so this much is expected. Good horses only want to carry riders they acknowledge. This one was obedient, which I'm grateful for. I didn't want to have to discipline someone else's horse."

Alexia mounted her horse as well.

She grabbed Orleans, who was looking a bit scared, by the scruff of the neck and forcibly seated her behind.

"Word will spread quickly that we borrowed horses. They won't know our destination, but let's hurry."

At Princess Tianis's signal, the horses broke into a gallop all at once.

The acceleration was tremendous.

The vibrations were so intense that I had to cling on to avoid being thrown off.