The Materialistic Princess, Episode 3
“To think you’ve already turned twenty…”
While we were eating, Reiji suddenly teared up out of nowhere.
“Shedding tears during a meal is contrary to noble etiquette, Master.”
Butler Bart was practically an answering machine. I paid him no mind and gulped down my stew.
“Now that you’ve become a proper lady, you may soon meet your destined partner and leave your brother’s side.”
Overcome with emotion, Reiji dabbed at his tears with his sleeve. Butler Bart naturally took a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to him, and Reiji wiped his eyes with the handkerchief again.
‘I’m full, but I feel empty.’
Looking at this healthy dining table, I thought things couldn’t go on like this. I needed food that would more actively ruin my health. But there didn’t seem to be any way to get money.
‘I wonder if there’s anything in this house worth selling.’
The House of Duke Kaneff had nothing left because Reiji had been swindled every which way by relatives when he was young.
The servants had left, and the only ones remaining in this huge mansion were Reiji, me, Verdi, and Bart.
‘Still, that guy is a spirit master.’
Reiji was a spirit master, rarer even than a mage. He hid the fact that he was Duke Kaneff and a spirit master while working as a mercenary.
As a rare and powerful spirit master, Reiji concealed his power thoroughly out of concern that his family might get dragged into politics.
‘We should have the same elven blood flowing through us, so why don’t I have any abilities like that?’
Aside from being the crown prince’s fiancée, Roselia Kaneff was a character with no special devices attached to her.
“Even if you marry, you will forever be my little sister and the princess of Kaneff.”
Perhaps he had squeezed out all his tears, because Reiji said this to me with a bright smile, the tip of his nose red.
‘Marriage, huh.’
If things flowed according to the original story, a marriage proposal would soon come from the imperial family to the Kaneff family.
Though they had no political influence, the Kaneffs had a glorious past. A crown prince falling in love with a daughter of such a family would certainly become a hot topic.
‘I wonder what it’s like not to feel emotions.’
“Um, Brother.”
“Hm? What is it?”
At my call, Reiji, who had been happily munching on boiled or steamed greens without even a hint of seasoning, looked at me with sparkling eyes.
“What kind of person do you think His Highness the Crown Prince is?”
To be precise, I was asking, “How much can I fleece him for?”
“He’s a very, very strong and frightening person! He won every battle against those dreadful monsters, didn’t he? Since he was only thirteen, no less.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s no wonder the Holy See is so wary of him. Is there anyone else that strong? If there is, it would probably only be that priest who swings an iron mace!”
It didn’t seem like he would be easy to exploit.
‘Neither Reiji nor I are the protagonists of this world anyway. If we’re going to survive here, we need some kind of safety net.’
It was miserable enough to have possessed the body of a poor duke’s daughter, but now I had to become a young breadwinner and take care of seemingly useless extra mouths too.
This possession simply did not add up. If I had just possessed the daughter of a rich family and lived like that, I would have been satisfied.
I only sat there lamenting reality for a brief moment. Once the meal was completely over, we left the dining room together.
“Shall we go play in the Dwarven Forest again today?”
Right beside the mansion was the Dwarven Forest. It had been named that because if you went deep inside, a dwarf village appeared. Unless I went with Reiji, I could not enter the Dwarven Forest alone. The reason was simple: I would get lost.
‘Was the original Roselia bad with directions?’
I was someone who could find my way with uncanny accuracy. As long as I set clear rules, I was confident I wouldn’t get lost in the Dwarven Forest. But I decided not to do anything reckless.
‘If you act up, you die early. That’s the law of every scenario.’
“The young lady has only just recovered her health, so it would be best not to move about too much, Master.”
“Oops! It’s just that Roze looks strangely much healthier than usual.”
‘……
Is that supposed to be a compliment?’
For some reason, I felt uneasy.
“Then, Roze. I’ll read to you in the drawing room for the first time in a while. How does that sound?”
Reiji looked at me with excited anticipation. If I said no here, it felt like things would become bothersome.
“Sure.”
At my permission, Reiji was so delighted he even clapped his hands.
‘I know Reiji is twenty-three, but how can he be this pure?’
At his shining innocence, my expression naturally soured. I was practically dragged by Reiji all the way to the drawing room.
“What shall I read today? Should I read one with a hero? Or one with a witch?”
‘I feel like a preschooler.’
After thinking for a moment, I chose the witch. In this novel, witches were more familiar beings than heroes. After all, it was a witch who had blown away part of the crown prince’s soul.
“Bart, could you bring us something to drink? Reading makes one thirsty.”
Butler Bart left, then returned carrying two wooden cups and placed them on the table.
I hoped it would be something even slightly sweet. Dealing with Reiji had made my blood sugar drop.
‘……
Can tea normally be this clear?’
I didn’t know much about tea. Thinking it must be a kind of tea I didn’t know, I tried my best to savor its aroma and taste.
“As expected, the well water of Denbridge tastes wonderful!”
“It was drawn today.”
“……
So it was water.”
In novels, tea or dessert usually came out at times like this, didn’t it? But water? Reiji laughed heartily and praised Bart for how good the water tasted. Then he cleared his throat, opened the book, and began to read.
“Ordinarily, witches possess power far greater than male mages. Because they can bestow blessings and curses at will, they are always kept in check by the Holy See.”
After the incident in which the witch, Imperial Consort Sabrina, took a wand from her sleeve and cast a curse, the fashion of the Eradam Empire underwent an enormous change.
Chemise dresses with narrower bodices became popular so that nothing could be hidden inside one’s clothes.
‘The setting was that arcane studies developed instead of science. Their functions are similar, though.’
There were far more arcane scholars here than scientists. It seemed to be because magic existed. Just from the book Reiji was holding now, I could guess that printing technology had developed considerably.
On top of that, astonishingly, this was even a world with cameras. The difference from Earth was that those technologies were based on arcane studies rather than science.
“Here, please try some of this.”
Just as I was getting bored listening to Reiji read and nodding off, Verdi entered the drawing room. I looked at the plate she had brought.
“You should have dessert after a meal.”
“The crops from Verdi’s vegetable garden always taste excellent!”
“……
Carrots.”
I remembered carrots taking up a considerable portion of the side dishes earlier, and now carrots again? What’s more, they were raw carrots.
I never thought that I, whose only experience with raw carrots was eating them as side dishes at barbecue restaurants, would end up eating them for dessert.
Reiji was already smiling brightly as he munched on a carrot. Kind-hearted Reiji shared them with Verdi and Bart as well. I also took a bite of a carrot.
“Oh.”
The carrot was much sweeter than I expected. I chewed and ate it rather enjoyably. Verdi, who was watching us eat with satisfaction, habitually tapped her waist with her fist.
“Verdi, you should rest a little.”
Reiji looked at her with concern.
“This is my work, Master. I am always happy to do it.”
Cooking and cleaning up afterward were all Verdi’s responsibility. Poverty gnaws away at people and wears down their bodies. That is why poverty is frightening.
‘Being sick is the most miserable and difficult thing. You have nowhere to rely on and no money to go to the hospital. Come to think of it, I wonder if my body is still on Earth.’
I remembered that before coming to this world, I had been hit by a car on my way to work. The screams I heard by my ear, the black car, and the blinding white light flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern. Suddenly, goosebumps rose all over my body and cold sweat broke out.
“My lady!”
When my complexion suddenly turned pale, Verdi rushed to me in alarm.
‘I shouldn’t have remembered that.’
I clutched my throbbing head and regretted it inwardly.
“You must still be unwell. We have to return to your bedroom at once!”
“Roze!”
With an expression that looked as though he was about to cry, Reiji cupped my cheeks, then swept me up into his arms.
With that frail-looking body, he ran all the way to my room. Even though climbing the stairs must have been difficult, he kept asking me if I was all right.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Roze.”
After asking if I was all right, the words he said most were apologies.
‘How much must he have suffered alone since he was young? It’s almost strange that he grew up this kind.’
I felt like sighing, but he was so kind—too kind—that my heart ached for no reason.
Even as my vision blurred, I reached out and gently stroked his head.
“You’re doing well, Brother.”
“……”
‘Although you did ruin the house……’
I swallowed the rest of my words and fainted.
“A doctor……”
It was truly fortunate that the only memory I had was of being in a traffic accident. The fact that I had no memory of how I was hit, how my body slammed into the cold asphalt, or what kind of pain I felt might have been a sort of possession reward I had wished for.
“But our finances……”
While my consciousness was hazy, I faintly heard Reiji’s voice. Their grave conversation buzzed in my ears.
I couldn’t hear the conversation clearly, but I could roughly guess what they were talking about.
‘As if there would be money in this house to call a doctor.’
I tried to reach out and stop Reiji.
“I’ll do something somehow.”
I couldn’t hear anything else, yet strangely, Reiji’s voice alone was clear.
And that was my last memory before losing consciousness again.
***
“My lady!”
Verdi, who found me trying to sit up unsteadily, quickly came over to me. She touched my forehead and checked my complexion.
“I’m fine now.”
My mind felt a little hazy, but my body was definitely light. Verdi told me I had been unconscious for two whole days.
“The doctor said it was because your strength had declined. My poor young lady.”
She examined me tenderly with her thin hands, making me feel needlessly embarrassed.
“Master has left urgently for Bimuem at Her Majesty the Empress’s summons. He was someone who would celebrate your birthday for at least three days, so he was very sorry to leave his seat.”
‘So the marriage talks are finally beginning.’
The start of the original story was not far off.