Chapter 42 (1/2)
The Reincarnated Princess’s Meeting
My wish must have been heard, because the hard click of footsteps became audible, and a beautiful, slender woman appeared
She wore a chic blue dress under a blue robe, high heels on her feet, and her black hair was elegantly arranged
In one slim arm she carried heavy books
She turned to scrutinize us, one by one, eyes narrowed through her monocle Her red lips curved into a smile
“Oh, , I see”
It was the Head Wizard, Lady Irene von Artmann At her entry, Lutz and Theo visibly panicked, and a tiny groan escaped their lips
Lady Irene turned her sweet smile on them
“Youdisputes in the corridors If that is so, then I should have created a body building regiment with no breaks Shall we rectify that promptly upon our return? Well, my fool apprentices?”
“Please forgive us!” the two apologized immediately
They stood and boith a practiced agility that even those ere athletically inclined ain? In spite of myself, I watched with a sense of detachment
The un yet, but I already felt exhausted
“You too, Klaus Put away your weapon,” I ordered, looking at him He reluctantly sheathed the sword, an unhappy look on his face
To draord inside the castle when it wasn’t even an eency was clearly an issue
“Good grief! No e, men will remain children How troublesome Do you not think so?”
After a single cold glance at the group of guys, Lady Irene sently at me The difference in warmth was impressive
I’d break the boys’ hearts if I agreed with her, so I hesitated and dodged the question with a noncommittal smile
“Oh?”
Lady Irene looked down, her eyes grohen she saw the black cat in my arms
The huhtened despite being stared at, and looked up at Lady Irene with head slightly tilted When he rin
“What a dear! Princess, are you raising him?”
“Yes His name is Nero”
She reached out with the ar the books and tickled hier He didn’t hate it, and allowed the affection
It suddenly occurred to entle than usual If I was going to ask, wasn’t now the time to do it?
It felt a little aard taking advantage of Nero’s cuteness, though
“Er, Lady Irene I apologize for bringing personal baggage with ht I have permission to take him inside with me?” I asked timidly
She nodded readily
“I would not mind We are to share a table with acquaintances of yours only, and this one seems very docile and of the well-behaved sort I trust he will not make trouble
“Quite the difference from my fool apprentices,” Lady Irene added with a bit of poison to her words as she gave Lutz and Theo a sidelong glance The two of theazes fixed to the floor, their mouths shut
“I expect neither of you have a complaint?”
There was no longer a question uised as an inquiry, wasn’t it closer to an command?
The two straightened their backs, their voices overlapping as they spoke in unison, their answer united “None at all”
Their attitudes as they desperately tried to not incur her wrath was a refreshi+ng change
I could understand why Lutz, with his slight build, i
For noever, let’s give precedence to the guests who are waiting
The unexpected situation continued,us late, but we herded ourselves to the room
The roo on three of the walls, and the ceiling was decorated with fine ivy details Beneath the hanging splendor of the chandelier, Georg and Michael stood from their seats
I apologized for being late and they waved it aside with a s looked at me curiously when he saw the cat, and I explained Nero’s story
Next to him, Michael said in a small voice, “The one from before”
“Yes He’s the one you saved”
Michael watched as Nero stretched in reat interest
“He looks well, I’lad”
Michael’s voice and the look in his eyes were very gentle
I smiled “His injury has been quick to heal, and the truth is that he can already walk”
I said it to ease his mind, but, for some reason, Michael’s face beca as if he had sed so odd by accident
The hand he had stretched out to touch Nero stopped midair and withdrew
“Michael?”
His strange behavior made me concerned, so I peered up at him, but he averted his face
He kept his head down, and I felt confused
Did I do so?
“Princess, shall we begin?” asked Lady Irene
“Oh, uh, yes”
I took my seat
Since they wereself-introductions Even through that part, Michael never once looked in my direction
I’m a little…no, I’m in a lot of shock
I fought against the urge to look down, and addressed the main point “Well then Lady Irene, if you would be so kind, I would like to hear your thoughts regarding the medicine I handed over to you”
You have things you need to do first before you can even be sad, I sternly told myself
Lady Irene spread the cartridge that had been placed on top of the any table The pill had been broken and powdered
“When I tried to take a closer look at the refined e of red From the feel of the material, I believe it is bark”
Georg stared at theher words back “Bark, you say?”
“It is inated fro a binding agent to the clump of spices The smell is weak, and the taste quite bitter”
Lady Irene opened a thick book she had brought
“Bark-basedin our own kingdom is…”
She turned the book in our direction
On the page she pointed to with her pale finger, there were various illustrations of trees with comments written on the big shi+ny leaves, and then, a tree with yellow bark on the inside Lady Irene politely explained their uses one by one
“However, each characteristic is different Even if we coh the trees and shrubs one by one, e have in our hands is a pill that has already been processed, so any comparison would be difficult The current situation therefore leads e ”
Done with her general explanation, her eyebroered and she gave a sh
Once again, the sht us low again The roo silence
Theo raised his hand
“Can’t we trace it with th, so they should be proficient at finding the powers of their same attribute”
“True For example, if they are a water attribute wizard, they can locate the source of a river If they are a wind attribute, they can sense the flow of currents in the atmosphere or read the weather And if they are an earth attribute wizard, then they inal environment or its species However, as you and I both know, there is no earth attribute wizard in the palace”