The Materialistic Princess, Chapter 5
The situation had taken a strange turn. They had arrested someone who had trespassed onto the Enes family’s private land, only for the Princess of Kaneff to pop out of nowhere.
“Er, Princess, may I ask why you trespassed onto the Enes family’s private property……?”
The knight asked me cautiously.
“There was something I needed to find there.”
“Pardon?”
I wanted to get out of this interrogation room and run to the beach as soon as possible. Just thinking about my business capital lying somewhere on that sandy shore made my chest feel tight.
The stress made me hungry, so I took a carrot out of my bag.
“Would you like one too?”
I took another carrot from my bag and placed it in the knight’s hand.
“……
Is this a carrot?”
“A Denbridge carrot.”
As I crunched away on the carrot, I heard a commotion outside.
Soon, the door opened, and an elegantly dressed woman came in and greeted me.
“Good day, Princess Kaneff. I am Jane Enes.”
She was Lady Jane Enes, the count’s daughter and Serena’s longtime childhood friend. I stopped chewing my carrot and stood up as well.
“Good day. I’m Roselia Kaneff.”
Jane’s gaze flicked briefly to the carrot in my hand. Then she spoke to me in a calm manner.
“First, I will escort you to the main residence.”
She led me into the main building of the Enes mansion. The moment Jane stepped into the center of the hall, quick-witted servants poured out.
“This is Princess Kaneff. See to it that she lacks for nothing.”
Several maids in fine attire led me toward the bathroom. ‘Still, it’s smaller than our house.’ Of course, the contents inside the mansion were in a league of their own. Their tremendous wealth could be felt at a glance. ‘I should’ve possessed Jane Enes instead. Why did I have to possess such a poor princess…….’ My stomach burned with bitterness.
After finishing a fragrant bath, I came out to find a pale green dress made of thin fabric prepared for me.
The maids dried my hair and even massaged me with great care. ‘So this is the real life of a noble.’ The guest room they guided me to looked like a luxury hotel I had only ever seen in photos. The tea table the servant set out was movingly splendid.
“Wow, this world has chocolate too?”
I hadn’t known chocolate existed in this world. There were even macarons and cake. The tea gave off a fragrant floral scent. When would I ever get to eat something like this again? I stuffed two macarons into my mouth at once. ‘Mm, I knew these were expensive sweets, so I ate them without worry, but……’ I quickly swallowed what was in my mouth, scooped up a generous bite of cake, and shoved it in. The maid beside me seemed slightly horrified.
“Everything is ready, Princess.”
With all the adornment finished, my appearance was truly that of a noble young lady born of a distinguished bloodline.
“The beauty of elves really is astonishing!”
“Hair of such a beautiful color…”
I could hear the maids exclaiming in admiration over and over, but I was the one admiring the desserts prepared here. How could the sweetness of chocolate possibly compare to the sweetness of carrots?
“I will escort you to the drawing room.”
Following their guidance, I went to the drawing room.
“Please sit here. I’m not sure whether what we prepared will suit your taste.”
Since the formal dinner hour had already passed, she had prepared refreshments for me.
“It’s delicious.”
The Enes family was quite the gourmet household. Jane quietly watched me eat with hearty enjoyment as she sipped her tea.
“I heard you secretly entered our family’s beach.”
“Ah, yes……”
I quietly put down what I had been eating and corrected my relaxed posture. Jane looked at me and gave a small laugh.
“If you had wished, Princess, I would have invited you to the beach as many times as you liked.”
Jane seemed to be a good person. Was it because she had so much money that she could afford to be generous? I asked with my face blooming brightly.
“Then may I go in for just a little while?”
“Opening the beach to you is not difficult, my lady. However, someone is scheduled to visit there, so it will be difficult until tomorrow. After that, you may enter the beach as much as you like.”
The person scheduled to visit the beach was probably the emperor and his mistress. ‘It lines up exactly with the time when Serena picks up the soul fragment.’ I secretly furrowed my brow. I had to find the soul fragment before Serena did.
“I won’t get caught, so is there no way?”
“That would be difficult, my lady.”
There was nothing to be done. I obediently nodded and diligently ate the food that had been prepared.
“By the way, how did you come all the way here? For a princess to travel alone without even a single attendant…”
“I came loaded on a peddler’s cargo wagon.”
“……
Pardon?”
Jane thought she had heard wrong. I kindly informed her once more.
“I came from Bimyuem to Rockingham loaded on a peddler’s cargo wagon.”
“.............”
Shamelessly, I asked her for a favor.
“I didn’t know it would take three days to get here. I’m sorry, but could you contact my home…”
“……
Prepare what is needed so Princess Kaneff can write a letter. And a messenger as well.”
Perhaps because she was the daughter of a wealthy family, she spent money without hesitation. I felt as though I was finally being compensated for all the hardship I had endured since possessing this body.
“The chef here is very good.”
“If you wish, shall I have more prepared?”
I spoke as politely as I could.
“Lady Enes, you must surely be an angel. I will pray to Asna and Zen that you work little and earn much throughout your life.”
“……
Ah, yes.”
The Enes count’s household was truly wonderful. It was so wonderful that I wanted to keep living here just like this. ‘Still, I need to go find my business capital.’ It was when Jane briefly left the drawing room, leaving me practically in the middle of a meal.
“Jane! Do you have a guest?”
I heard the voice of a woman who was not Jane Enes. Naturally, my gaze turned toward the direction of the voice.
A woman with loosely tied red hair and sweet amber eyes was entering the drawing room in a rather simple dress. I recognized who she was. ‘Serena.’
“Wow……!”
When Serena discovered me, her mouth fell open, and she couldn’t hide her astonishment.
“A fairy……?”
“I’m human.”
I corrected her while holding sandwiches in both hands. I had never imagined I would suddenly run into the heroine of this novel like this, so I was quite surprised myself.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful before.”
“Well, that’s understandable.”
I answered as if it were nothing, but inside, I was burning black with anxiety. The soul fragment had to be picked up by me.
“Haa……. I need to go to the sea.”
“Do you mean the Enes family’s beach?”
“Yes. There’s something I lost there.”
“I heard the beach is restricted until tomorrow. You lost something there?”
“It just turned out that way. It’s important, so I absolutely have to find it.”
Serena glanced around, then approached me and spoke cautiously.
“Um, I know a way to sneak in. Would you like to go together? I was planning to go there tomorrow morning anyway.” ‘So that’s when she picks up the soul fragment!’ I said the thought that had flashed through my mind.
“I dropped a blue gem while looking around the beach today. If it’s all right, could you help me look for it?”
“Of course!” ‘Good. That’s one worry off my mind.’ My heart grew warm with relief.
“Then I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
Before we parted, Serena whispered to me in secret.
***
In this world without alarm clocks, waking up early in the morning was a far-off dream unless a maid woke you. However, Serena was such a lively young lady that she opened the guest room window, suddenly climbed in, and woke me up.
“We have to leave now if we don’t want to get caught.”
I got up groggily, put on the dress and robe I had arrived in, and slung my bag over my shoulder. Following her, I went to the spot where I had secretly entered the beach yesterday. ‘Is Serena not going to get caught because she’s the novel’s heroine? That’s pretty unfair.’ The beach in the morning was very peaceful. However, the weather was cloudy, and the wind was blowing rather hard. ‘Of course the boat capsizes when they go boating on a day like this.’ The emperor must surely be an idiot.
“You said it was a blue gem, right?”
Serena asked me.
“Yes. Ah, if you find it, don’t pick it up. Please call me instead.” ‘What if the soul fragment recognizes the heroine or something? I have to pick it up quickly.’ I worried needlessly and looked at Serena with anxious eyes. In any case, I had put a safeguard in place, but it would still be better for me to find it before Serena did. Where on earth are you? Crown Prince’s soul!
“I found it!”
I had been searching near the same place as yesterday when, as if by magic, a blue gem clearly entered my sight.
I carefully placed the blue bead, which was about the size of the nail on my pinky finger, into my bag. Inside the bag, there was only one carrot left before I knew it. ‘This is my last carrot.’ Perfect. Now all I had to do was walk the guaranteed path of money. As I crunched away happily on my last carrot, Serena approached me.
“Did you find the thing you lost?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief. ……
Huh?”
She looked out at the sea, and her eyes widened. I followed her gaze and looked at the sea as well. A small boat was rocking violently in the stormy waves.
“My goodness, to launch a small boat into the sea on a day like this!”
“I know. Are they stupid?”
“At this rate, the boat will capsize!”
“It probably will.”
I replied calmly while crunching on my carrot. At last, the boat capsized.
“Someone fell in!”
“Oho, finally.”
I could clearly see two people floundering in the sea. While chewing my carrot, I spoke to Serena, who was beside me and didn’t know what to do.
“What are you doing?”
“Pardon?”
Having already read the novel, I knew what had to be done in this situation.
“You have to save His Majesty.”
“His Majesty?”
“The person who fell into the sea over there is His Majesty the Emperor.”
Crunch, crunch.
“.............”
Serena was briefly speechless with confusion, but soon she ran toward the sea.
“As expected, Denbridge carrots taste good.”
Because I had woken up early in the morning, I opened my mouth wide and yawned.
“I made sure Serena could receive her knighthood, so I’ve done my duty, more or less.”
Having obtained the most important thing, I felt very generous. The emperor was being hauled out of the sea by Serena’s hands.
“Should I lend a hand?”
I helped Serena drag the person she had rescued up onto the beach.
“Your Majesty! Good heavens, hurry and save His Majesty!”
The emperor’s guards came rushing out belatedly.
“The boat capsized. That young lady saved everyone.”
Serena, who had even saved the emperor’s mistress, approached, drenched from head to toe and panting for breath.
“Serena!”
Perhaps having heard the news, Jane also came running to the beach with her guards. ‘Mm, what lovely weather.’ The waves were swallowing the boat.