“Natalia doesn’t seem like she’s going to just let it go.”
“No, as long as the Imperial Army is helping, that’s enough. The Demon King is taken care of, Pector won’t come, and Berna is gone, so all that’s left are Clanis and Seto. But those two aren’t an immediate problem, are they? They’re strong enough to be dealt with by the Seven Stars.”
“Why are you bringing them up when we’re talking about anti-imperialists?”
‘Why else?’
“What I’m saying is, if they can handle those two, then they can wipe out all the anti-imperialists.”
Even if it’s difficult, if they gather together and strategize, the Seven Stars can take down the Four Heavenly Kings one by one.
If they’re fighting alone, they’re strong enough to take down thousands of the Demon King’s army.
There’s no way people like that would lose to some anti-imperialists.
“The Emperor has high expectations.”
“Oh, for f—!”
She keeps bringing up the Emperor.
“If it were war, maybe. But right now, you’re the princess of Ashtar and a subject of His Majesty the Emperor. That’s what I’m saying. You get it now?”
“You imperial bastards are so cruel and conniving!”
“This is exactly why I hate the Empire.”
“I’d rather be a princess of a kingdom.”
“Or even a princess without any claim to succession would be fine.”
“It’s unfortunate that I ended up in this mess because of the Empire.”
“Oh, that sounded pretty anti-imperialist. But at the end of the day, you’re still an imperial citizen.”
“So what? I’m a Grand Scholar. What more do you want me to do?”
A Grand Scholar is the Emperor’s mentor.
“What could be more than that?”
“What, you got something else to do?”
“I’m joining the Mage Division. I can’t catch anti-imperialists under the Seven Stars.”
More importantly, it’s just way too much trouble.
“What did you just say? Where?”
‘Why is she so shocked?’
“The Mage Division.”
“Ashtar?”
“Yes, Lord of the Light Sword.”
Look at her smirking.
It’s pissing me off.
‘Should I punch her?’
‘No, if I get into a fight with Natalia, I might lose to her brute-force swordsmanship.’
‘A mage should use magic, after all.’
“And what are you gonna do in the Mage Division with your skills? Show off?”
She knows what my dream is and still says this.
“Ma’am, even back in Noah, I barely got called a mage.”
Well, I did hear it a few times, but not officially.
The madness I showed back then was overwhelming.
At this point, I plan to use bows and swords only moderately.
“When did you start caring so much about being a mage?”
“Ever since I left the Land of Ruin!”
I want to become a Grand Mage!
“You’ve already died and become a princess. Is this really necessary?”
I couldn’t do anything right before I died.
“Because I’m a princess, it’s even more necessary.”
“Hmm. I guess that makes sense. If you’re not in a special situation like me, noblewomen have no choice but to marry.”
“That’s not an issue for me since I also have the position of Saintess.”
‘If anyone dares to propose marriage to me, they’ll disappear without a trace.’
“A Grand Scholar, a Saintess… and now you want to add Mage on top of that?”
Honestly, I’d rather get rid of the first two.
I frowned deeply, and Natalia burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.
“If I give up those two, can I have ‘Mage’ instead?”
“You’ve gotten greedy since becoming a princess.”
‘Greedy? If I were greedy, I would’ve just bribed my way into getting an official mage license.’
‘There are plenty of people in the slums who can forge identities.’
‘Even the ones under my control could easily create a fake ID.’
“No, I can’t make excuses about being a Saintess since I actually have a purpose for that, but I never wanted to be a Grand Scholar.”
It’s still ridiculous when I think about it.
“It’s a legendary position.”
“Yeah, but why give it to me?”
An ancient imperial title that supposedly existed long ago—one so rare that no one even knows where it is now.
Legends should stay legends.
That’s what makes them meaningful.
“It just shows how much His Majesty cherishes the Princess of Ashtar.”
‘She’s mocking me, isn’t she?’
“Sigh. So what do I need to do? I don’t like anything troublesome.”
“You’ve become quite the whiner since becoming a princess.”
That’s unavoidable.
After all, I’m influenced by the original Olivia’s soul.
This time, I’m going to accomplish what I couldn’t as Noah.
“I can’t help it. I still carry Olivia’s past personality.”
“Fine. You can go to the Mage Division. But how about making your main duty the elimination of anti-imperialists and dark mages?”
That wouldn’t be a problem.
The Ashtar Mage Division is in charge of maintaining order anyway, and anti-imperialists, along with dark mages who dream of reviving their god, are a constant issue.
“Hmm.”
“I was already planning to negotiate with Ashtar. I’ve already discussed it with the Duke, too.”
“This time? What exactly are you thinking?”
“You’re planning to work with Ashtar now?”
“Ashtar just pulled off a successful campaign, didn’t they?”
“That’s true.”
This one was even more significant than the previous generation’s.
“Because of that, other nobles can’t easily challenge them anymore.”
‘Maybe that’s why noble brats don’t dare to treat me recklessly anymore.’
“So you’re saying you trust that power and will leave it to Ashtar?”
There’s some logic to it.
Other nobles have their own private armies, but the only one that’s recently proven itself in battle is Ashtar’s.
Ashtar has restored its reputation, so when it comes to dealing with anti-imperialists, applying pressure will be an effective tactic.
“Let’s be honest, most of the military is already on Ashtar’s side. Am I wrong?”
“That’s true.”
“Hmm. There’s no argument against that.”
“And thinking about it, it’s not even a bad plan.”
“This may be a personal request from me to you, but on a larger scale, it’s about cooperating with Ashtar.”
“Alright. I’ll think about it.”
Once the Emperor’s decree is given, it’s not like I have the right to refuse anyway.
If he says jump, I jump.
For someone who calls me his mentor, he sure knows how to order me around.
That Emperor is definitely a tyrant.
Not that I ever actually taught him anything.
***
“And also… I debated whether I should mention this or not.”
“Why? Is there something else?”
“There might be anti-imperialists in Atlerina.”
Natalia shrugged.
“Seriously?”
“In the Commoners’ Division.”
“The Commoners’ Division, huh. Well, I guess that makes sense. Atlerina’s Commoners’ Division is a convenient entry point into the Imperial Core.”
If there are anti-imperialists in the Commoners’ Division, even those of lower status could find a way in.
With the right skills, they could attempt to infiltrate and influence the Imperial Core.
“Exactly. There might be more than we think.”
“Ugh.”
“So—”
I have a bad feeling about whatever she’s about to say next.
“As the Saintess, you need to help out.”
“Fine. I guess I don’t have a choice.”
This is going to get complicated.
For now, I should gather some information on Atlerina.
At Atlerina, the cultural education classes for noble ladies mostly consisted of etiquette, lessons on how to conduct oneself in society, and bridal training.
Of course, I skipped all the bridal training.
There was no reason for me to take it, and I could just attend other classes instead.
But then—
“Excuse me, would you be interested in visiting our territory during the break?”
Some idiot spoke to me without even introducing themselves first.
It turned out to be a girl with croissant-like curls on both sides of her head.
“Croissant?”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those.
“Yes. Yep. A croissant.”
‘What brings a croissant here?’
Ah, I think I get it.
‘Right now, Ashtar’s victory in the campaign has just been announced across the Empire. This croissant is just like the other nobles—coming to butter me up. What a scheming woman.’
“Wow, so now I finally seem important enough for you to come wagging your tail at me?”
“That’s—”
“Let’s be honest, isn’t that the case?”
Might as well say it outright.
She’s as shameless as they come.
“It’s not exactly like that. My father simply wanted to express his apologies to the Saintess.”
‘Apologies? At this point?’
‘That issue was already settled. ‘
‘Why bring it up again now?’
‘Should I just play along?’
“Took him long enough. How ridiculous. You don’t seriously think of me as just a Saintess, do you?”
I am the Grand Scholar.
And I intend to maintain this position.
She should know her place.
“I’m aware.”
“I already accepted an apology before, so I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. But what’s your real motive?”
There’s no way a proud croissant like her would bow to me just like that.
She must have been forced to apologize last time.
“The Empire didn’t have a Saintess before, did it?”
“And?”
“That means, unlike in the Kingdom or the Holy State, this is a different kind of Saintess.”
She sure talks a lot.
I prefer things to be straight to the point.
“Should I burn that hair of yours, or are you going to get to the point?”
“Actually, our family has been considering a marriage alliance with the Ashtar family.”
A marriage alliance with Ashtar, huh.
And since she’s bringing it up to me, that must mean she wants me as their daughter-in-law.
Wow. She really has no shame.
I gave her a sweet smile and asked, “Oh? And why is that?”
“For the connection between our families—”
Yeah, right.
She means they just want to benefit from it.
I stared at her, and she frowned, as if realizing how absurd her own words sounded.
“You think it doesn’t make sense, don’t you?”
“Well, um…”
“Let’s be real here. This isn’t about strengthening ties between our families. This is about trying to restore even a fraction of your family’s honor after it hit rock bottom.”
I mean, it’s obvious.
They call themselves a magical family, but their magic isn’t even noteworthy.
It’s laughable.
“That may be true, but still, a noble lady should—”
“Should what? Act ladylike?”
“Saintess, no matter what, we are noble ladies, and you are the Princess of Ashtar. It wouldn’t be appropriate for someone of your status to speak so carelessly—”
‘So what is she trying to say? If she doesn’t like it, she should try outranking me.’
“Do I even have a position where I need to care about that?”
“What?”
“Croissant, you have no shame. After arrogantly picking a fight with me and getting utterly humiliated, you still have the nerve to invite me for a marriage proposal? You expect me to travel all the way there just for that? If anything, you should be crawling to me, begging, ‘Please, please, marry my son!’ and even that wouldn’t be enough.”
“Ugh…”
She wants me to sit at home like some noble wife, giggling over tea?
What a joke.
Not happening.
Even if they offered me a fortune, I wouldn’t marry into their family.
“I don’t intend to get married. I’ll just grow old and die single.”
“Then at least—”
“At least what?”
“At least could you acknowledge some kind of friendship between us?”
‘Friendship? With Croissant?’
“Friendship?”
“Yes. My father scolded me for damaging our relationship with you…”
Ah, because I’m both the Saintess and the Grand Scholar.
‘If I were just an ordinary princess, they’d have too much pride as a ‘magical family’ to bow down to me.’