After being kicked out of the research lab, Lorabelle walked down the corridor looking rather dejected.
She hadn’t gotten the answers she was hoping for from Misha—so who else could she turn to for help?
Although the castle was filled with countless famous geniuses—be they magical scholars or royal alchemists—few could compare to Misha.
What’s more, if rumors spread that the kingdom’s Holy Knight had fallen ill or been cursed, things would become incredibly complicated.
It was only because she had a long-standing, private acquaintance with Misha—and knew she wouldn’t gossip—that she even dared to go to her in the first place.
Just as Lorabelle was deep in thought, a clear, melodious voice called out from behind her—
“Lorabelle!”
Startled, Lorabelle immediately turned around and knelt on one knee in greeting.
As she looked up, she saw a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl approaching.
The girl had fair, flawless skin and appeared to be about seventeen years old.
She wore a luxurious pink dress, adorned with a silver laurel crown on her head and ruby clip-on earrings on her ears—her earlobes unpierced, a sign of how dearly her family must cherish her, unwilling to let her suffer even the pain of a piercing.
“Your Highness, what brings you here?” Lorabelle asked.
The princess stepped forward and helped Lorabelle to her feet, pouting a little as she said, “How many times have I told you? When it’s just the two of us, there’s no need for all these formalities.”
Then she answered her own question with a playful tone, “My guards saw you enter the castle, so I came looking for you, hehe~”
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. But there’s no banquet or anything today, right? So what are you doing here?”
Lorabelle scratched her head awkwardly, her eyes dodging the princess’s gaze.
It was clear she didn’t want to let the princess know what was really going on.
“It’s nothing… I was just visiting Misha to test out a new spell,” she said.
But the princess clearly wasn’t fooled.
As a royal, she wasn’t stupid—Lorabelle was hiding something.
“Oh? A new spell, huh?”
“You know lying gets you punished by the Goddess, don’t you?”
The moment those words left her lips, the Holy Knight panicked.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness! The truth is, I think I might be sick or cursed, so I went to Misha for a diagnosis!”
Lorabelle blurted it all out in a fluster, speaking so fast it was as if she feared the Goddess’s punishment was imminent.
“Pfft—Hahahaha!”
The princess couldn’t hold it in any longer.
She loved using the Goddess to spook Lorabelle—worked every time.
Lorabelle spoke with a hint of shame, “P-Please don’t tease me, Your Highness…”
“Alright, alright, I’m done,” the princess said, wiping away tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes.
She leaned in close to Lorabelle and sniffed around her.
“Y-Your Highness, what are you doing?! You’ll be scolded by His Majesty for this!”
The princess rolled her eyes, a bit impatient.
“Ugh, if you don’t tell and I don’t tell, how would Father possibly find out?”
“Besides, I’m helping you, aren’t I?”
She sniffed again and then looked at Lorabelle with an odd expression.
“Hm… I don’t smell any curse on you.”
“And physically, you seem perfectly healthy. It’s just…”
She deliberately trailed off at the end, clearly waiting for Lorabelle to take the bait.
Sure enough, the moment Lorabelle heard that “it’s just…”, she assumed the princess had figured something out.
She asked eagerly, “What is it? Do you have a lead, Your Highness?”
The princess didn’t respond right away.
Instead, she looked at Lorabelle with a mischievous glint in her eye and said, “Wanna know?”
She held up two fingers.
“Two books.”
Lorabelle immediately understood what the princess was getting at.
She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then lowered her voice, clearly embarrassed.
“Your Highness, please stop reading those books! If His Majesty finds out, he’ll definitely—”
“Aaagh, enough already! Are you bringing them or not?” The princess cut her off, clearly annoyed.
What books?
Obviously, the latest trendy yuri (girls’ love) novels!
The First Kingdom’s princess, Leonors I.
Azalea, was an absolute yuri fanatic.
It all started when a friend brought a novel about two girls falling in love to a tea party—after that, she was completely hooked.
But as a princess, it was difficult for her to buy that kind of book herself.
So she always had to rely on others to bring them in—and who better than her bestie Lorabelle?
Azalea, Misha, and Lorabelle all knew each other.
Misha was the princess’s magic tutor, and Lorabelle was her swordsmanship instructor.
But thanks to the princess’s cheerful and carefree personality, the three of them had long since moved past teacher-student formalities and become good friends instead.
That’s why Azalea often asked Lorabelle to pick up yuri novels for her whenever she returned from missions.
And at the moment, faced with the princess’s unrelenting demands, Lorabelle had no choice but to give in.
“Yay! I want the latest volumes of ‘The Delicate Head Maid and the Domineering Young Lady’, Volumes 2 and 3!”
Lorabelle reluctantly agreed, “I… I understand.”
In her heart, she silently prayed that she wouldn’t be the reason the princess’s worldview got skewed.
If that happened, she’d feel way too guilty toward His Majesty.
“Your Highness, now can you please tell me what exactly is wrong with me?”
“Of course.”
Azalea had already noticed earlier that there was a scent of another girl on Lorabelle.
But that alone wasn’t enough for a “diagnosis.”
Having inherited divine power, Azalea possessed the ability to sense the emotional fluctuations of others.
She could instantly discern whether someone was good or evil—and also feel the subtle shifts in their emotions.
And right now, Azalea could sense that this holy knight standing before her was… flustered.
Anxious.
And ever so slightly unwilling to let go.
A certain experienced yuri connoisseur had detected something.
“That’s the stench of budding love!”
“I’ll take you to see something.”
Before Lorabelle could react, Azalea grabbed her hand and bolted toward the end of the corridor.
They arrived at a garden, and Azalea dragged her behind a cluster of blooming flowers.
“Your Highness, what are you—”
“Shh! Quiet. Just watch.”
Azalea covered her mouth with one hand and pointed to a corner of the garden.
Lorabelle followed her gaze and spotted a maid, dressed in classic uniform, pinning someone down on the grass.
She couldn’t see the face of the girl underneath, but based on her attire, it was clearly a noble’s daughter.
At that moment, the maid leaned forward, practically pressing her entire body against the girl beneath her.
Lorabelle couldn’t tell exactly what the two were doing—but the noble girl’s fair, exposed legs were fidgeting restlessly, and her hands tightly clutched the maid’s clothing, wrinkling the previously pristine uniform.
Gulp.
The person next to her suddenly swallowed audibly.
Lorabelle looked at the princess with confusion.
Azalea, however, was staring intently at the scene, her eyes glued to it—and drool almost dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Lorabelle had seen the princess let loose before, but this was the first time she’d seen her look so… pervy.
“Your Highness… what exactly are they doing over there?”
Hearing Lorabelle’s question, the princess snapped back to her senses.
She cleared her throat softly, then whispered to Lorabelle, “They’re kissing, you know.”
“Kiss—mmph!”
Predicting Lorabelle’s inevitable outburst, the princess had already prepared and promptly clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Now, I want you to do a little role-play.”
Azalea gently turned Lorabelle’s face forward, positioning her gaze right on the pair entangled in the grass.
She leaned close to Lorabelle’s ear and began to whisper seductively:
“Now imagine—imagine that the one pinned beneath is the woman you met today… and the one on top, is you.”
“You’re gazing deeply into her eyes… slowly, your gaze drops lower. Your lips graze her skin, just barely.”
“Your hands slide along her slender waist, and she responds by wrapping her arms tightly around you.”
“Your lips draw closer and closer—until they finally meet, soft and warm.”
“Then, your hands begin to wander, slipping to the softness on her chest. You start to unfasten her clothes, and her kisses grow more fervent in return.”
“Just then, a moist little tongue slips into your mouth… Your hands can’t resist, and they move lower and lower, until they—”
Azalea was completely engrossed in her steamy scenario—until she finally noticed Lorabelle.
Her face was bright red from ear to ear, and judging from her expression, if Azalea said even one more word, steam might literally burst out the top of her head.
“Seriously now… what an adorably pure 200-year-old maiden,” the princess thought with a mischievous grin.