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A villainess locked away in a desolate tower—I had possessed her body.
Chapter 6
The incident of 'unidentified' intruders breaching the heart of the Salt Kingdom spread across the entire nation ‌in an instant.
The King of Salt regarded the ‌‌‌incident as the work of those harboring ‌‌treasonous intent ‌‌‌‌and ordered a pursuit, but did not disclose the detailed circumstances.
For instance, not even the identity of the abducted person.
Crash!
A masterpiece of ‌porcelain that an artisan had painstakingly crafted toppled and shattered into fragments with a single gesture.
It was clearly intentional, yet no ‌‌‌‌one noticed.
The maidservant, startled, raised her head and asked with concern.
"...Your Highness, are you alright?" ‌‌‌‌
Lemeia, whose rich chestnut hair flowed as ‌‌‌‌abundantly as a wheat field before harvest, lifted her head a moment later.
"Ah, I think I'm just a bit tired. I felt dizzy for a moment."
"You'll ‌‌‌collapse at this rate. The atmosphere in the Royal Palace is already so ominous, and if something were to happen to you, Your Highness..."
"Amber."
"...Yes?"
"I'm fine. So won't you clean up the floor?"
"Oh, yes, yes. I apologize, ‌Your Highness. I was simply worried..."
"I know. Thank you."
Lemeia, with her pale complexion and refined smile, remained consistently gracious and kind even amid the sharp tensions.
'She truly ‌‌is a wonderful person.'
The maidservant, gathering the glass shards from the office floor, could not hide her sorrowful feelings.
How shocked everyone had been when news arrived that intruders had breached the Royal Palace.
Though everyone spoke in hushed tones, rumors circulated openly that the Crown Prince of ‌‌Cletan had sent people to ‌abduct Lemeia.
If the kind-hearted princess were to be captured by that shameless Crown Prince of the Empire, the Salt Kingdom would be plunged into profound sorrow.
The maidservant Amber desperately hoped such a thing would never come to pass.
"Then, please ‌‌‌‌call for me when you ‌‌‌need anything."
The maidservant withdrew silently and closed the door.
Once the observer had vanished, Lemeia's soft expression hardened into something rigid.
Truly, lately she felt as though stress would drive her mad.
'This is all April's fault.'
It was customary for the heir to ‌‌the throne, regardless of gender, ‌‌‌to actively participate in state affairs.
In the Salt Kingdom, which had grown through commerce and trade, the competence of the royal family was also an important quality.
But unfortunately, Lemeia's abilities were distributed far too extremely.
For instance, in matters of appearance management, eloquence, dancing, and image cultivation—things visible on the surface—she possessed an unparalleled level of meticulous control, but her 'academic aptitude' was inherently poor.
The severity was such that reading text for more than ten minutes a day brought on a headache so intense it felt as ‌‌though her skull would split.
Her comprehension was also below average, so whenever someone presented a report related to state affairs, it took considerable time for her ‌‌‌to absorb it and reach a conclusion.
Had her brothers not suddenly died one after another ‌from a plague of debt ravaging the nation, Lemeia—who would have merely received lessons ‌‌‌as ‌‌a bride—would never have needed to masquerade in this manner.
"Sigh..."
Moreover, the late king had been extremely cautious about her secret being revealed, so very few people knew of it—they could be counted on one hand.
The head maidservant, the Administrator, and April, the illegitimate princess.
But since it was a secret guarded by only a handful of people, even a single absence left an enormous void. ‌‌
Lemeia despised this ‌situation—one that didn't suit her aptitudes and burdened her with responsibility if anything went wrong—yet... ‌‌‌
"Now it's time for you to fulfill your role. You've had ample time, so it shouldn't be terribly difficult, should it?"
"Yes, Father. I'll do my very best."
She couldn't bring herself to refuse such a stern command.
But then again.
Lemeia was incompetent, and all her problems stemmed from that single fact.
So it was only natural that Lemeia redirected all her resentment toward April Salt.
No matter how hard she tried, Lemeia simply couldn't fill the void that April Salt had left behind.
Even after spending sleepless nights poring over documents and organizing ‌‌‌‌her thoughts, ‌‌‌by ‌the next day they became worthless scraps of paper.
The King of Salt's contemptuous gaze was merely the cherry on top.
Had she merely fallen behind due to lack of effort or taking the work lightly, she wouldn't have been so furious.
Click. ‌‌‌‌
Lemeia opened a drawer and retrieved a single letter.
On the thin paper gilded with gold leaf, the symbol of the Kletan Imperial Family—a ‌‌soaring dragon—was ‌‌stamped with pristine clarity.
"Lyden...."
As she read the letter again, one she'd perused countless times before, her indignant expression softened into something tender.
As always, the contents ‌‌‌were filled with praise for the wise ‌‌and beautiful Lemeia.
Though she spent considerable time rereading the letter despite its repetitive nature, surely the affectionate Lyden would understand and forgive Lemeia's true self, wouldn't he?
Lost in fantasy, Lemeia retrieved the letter she'd left unfinished yesterday.
It was the letter she'd been working on for the fourth day now.
Whenever she wrote more than two sentences, her brain throbbed with pain, so despite her effort, she ‌hadn't even filled a single page.
Though the sun blazed brightly now rather than rain falling, Lyden in the Empire wouldn't know the difference anyway.
Knock, ‌knock.
At the sound of knocking, Lemeia, who had been pouting, hastily hid the letter.
"Come in."
"Your Highness... I apologize for the intrusion while you're busy."
A young Administrator entered the neat office cautiously and spoke while bowing respectfully.
"The documents I submitted several days ago still haven't received your approval, so I've come to inquire about them."
"Documents submitted several days ago?"
"Yes, those documents there."
As she examined the documents on the desk the Administrator indicated, a headache already seemed to be forming, so she set them down before long.
Yet by exerting superhuman concentration, she ‌‌managed to discern just one thing from this complex document.
"The Cletan ‌Empire is requesting a wheat transaction."
"Ah, yes. That's correct. However..."
The Administrator, scratching the back of his head with an awkward expression, continued.
"It's wheat we ‌‌‌purchased from the Empire, but now the Empire wants to buy it back from us, which seemed a bit strange. I came to ask for confirmation."
Huh?
What's strange about that?
Lemeia tilted her head in confusion internally.
'Surely ‌‌‌the people of Cletan need wheat as well? They can't survive on bread alone.'
Having reached her conclusion, she answered lightly. ‌‌
"I'll provide as much wheat as needed."
"Pardon?"
"In exchange, we simply charge a higher price, wouldn't you say?"
"How much should we ‌‌charge, Your Highness?"
"Hmm. Double? Or perhaps triple would be better?"
"Ah...."
The Administrator sensed something peculiar but said nothing.
'The Princess must have her reasons. She's ‌‌‌handled everything brilliantly so far, after ‌‌all.'
Having settled on this conclusion, he swallowed the lingering doubt like dregs and bowed.
"Then I shall set the price at triple, Your Highness."
"No, wait ‌‌‌a moment."
Lemeia, still deliberating, lowered her voice slightly.
"Something ‌‌between double and triple...?"
"Do you mean 2.5 times, Your Highness?"
Wasn't something between double and triple actually quadruple?
Lemeia tilted her head in confusion, but something told ‌‌‌‌her not to voice this thought aloud, so she simply nodded in agreement.
"Very well, we shall proceed accordingly."
The documents in the Administrator's hands as he left the office bore the Princess's seal.
Soon after, alone once more, Lemeia retrieved the letter again.
Unable to remember ‌‌‌where she'd left ‌‌off, rereading her own ‌‌‌‌reply caused her head to throb with a dull ache.
'Hang in there! Just four more lines by tomorrow and send it off.'
She needed to contact Lyden quickly.
The pen nib in her pale hand was saturated with black ink.
Thus began Lemeia's letter-writing, which concluded an hour later after adding precisely two more lines to the original length.
* * *
"...Honestly, I thought it was a lie."
"What was?" ‌‌‌
After April Salt had been dragged away, Liam, ‌‌who had maintained silence for some time, finally spoke, gauging the Grand Duke's reaction.
"That April Salt was acting as Princess Lemeia's proxy."
"I can't be entirely certain yet."
"If she truly is the Princess's proxy, will you keep her alive?"
Kaian ‌‌placed little value on human life. When useful, he took; when not, he discarded without hesitation. Liam, who had witnessed countless criminals perish ‌‌in the Grand Duke's Underground Prison, was living proof of this.
Yet if April truly was Lemeia's ‌‌‌‌proxy, she would at least gain value enough to survive within the Grand Duke's household.
"That's my intention. She'll prove useful in various ways."
If she would work like a slave merely by being allowed to live, there was no reason to discard such a slave.
Moreover, April had systematically foiled ‌‌‌Lyden's plans as if ‌‌‌she'd known them beforehand. He needed to keep her close and determine the source ‌‌‌‌of her information.
"As for the ‌‌‌Crown Prince... Yes, it would be better to contact him with news of failure."
The deal he'd intended to make with Lyden through Princess Lemeia had fallen through—a regrettable development, but not ‌‌‌an urgent one.
It would be far wiser to keep watch over the Crown Prince's next move instead.
"I shall send word to the Imperial Palace."
Liam, bowing deeply at the waist, turned and quickened his pace.

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! ‌To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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