Chapter 47

Rebecca was in a very good mood right now.

And for good reason, she had easily caught her fiancé, who always teased her like a slippery eel and slipped away.

Thinking about it, it was really a sudden turn of events.

Albert, who came as usual, showed interest in her letter.

Even though her fiancé genuinely worried about what might happen to her and tried hard to dissuade her, he stubbornly insisted on reading her letter.

It was so sudden and so unusual that she even doubted if she was understanding the situation correctly.

“Hey.”

“…Why are you calling me?”

“You’re alive, right?”

“…”

“Even if you die, grant my wish before you do.”

However, not understanding the current situation and her fiancé having to grant her wish were two separate issues.

How long had it been since something like this happened?

Perhaps it was the first time in her life.

It was rare for her to have the upper hand in her relationship with Albert.

It wasn’t unreasonable for her heart to start racing with anticipation.

“…”

Her fiancé’s face twisted at her firm, pumpkin-like demand to grant her wish even if he died.

It was fun.

Had she ever been this happy recently?

Probably not. Lately, she had been miserably defeated in her battles with Albert.

Whether it was in quizzes about the Empire or in the waltz she was so confident about.

She always lost, her face turning red from Albert’s embarrassing remarks.

“What should I have you do?”

“…”

That’s why the opportunity that had come now was even more important.

She couldn’t let this chance for a counterattack slip away.

Countless thoughts crossed her mind.

What should she have him do? What would make her fiancé feel the most ashamed?

For all the shame she had felt while being with Albert, she had to make him do something as embarrassing as possible.

Otherwise, the past version of herself, who had always been losing, would never forgive the current her.

Perhaps it was because she looked anxious, lost in thought with her chin resting on her hand.

“…Princess?”

“…Why are you calling me?”

Her fiancé called her in a pitiful voice.

“…Couldn’t you wish for something that doesn’t strip away human dignity?”

“…”

“Honestly, haven’t I only wished for things that are easy for you to grant?”

Albert was pleading to preserve his human dignity.

It felt a bit ugly, but Albert’s plea wasn’t wrong.

The wishes her fiancé had made were actually quite simple from her perspective.

Listening to her until the end, hugging her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Except for the first wish, they were all embarrassing, but none were difficult to grant.

“…No.”

“…”

But there was no way she would grant her fiancé’s request.

This was a golden opportunity she hadn’t had in a long time. She couldn’t waste it on simple wishes like her fiancé’s.

“Why should I?”

“…But.”

“I’ve decided on my wish. Get ready to grant it.”

“…”

Thanks to Albert’s plea to preserve his dignity, she had come up with a good wish.

“My wish is…”

Albert, who always emphasized human dignity.

“…I want you to be my faithful servant for the day.”

“…”

Taking away that dignity would be the most shameful thing for her fiancé.

At least, Rebecca thought so.

***

In the setting of [The Crown Prince Wields a Sword], ‘slaves’ do not exist.

Of course, it wasn’t that they never existed, but there was a mention in the story that ‘unofficially, they existed until one day the Emperor officially banned slavery.’

And the reason I’m suddenly mentioning ‘slaves’ is because.

“Hold the parasol properly.”

“…Understood.”

My current treatment was practically no different from a slave.

When I first heard Rebecca’s wish for me to be her faithful servant for the day.

I thought my earnest plea to at least preserve human dignity had reached the Princess.

Not for several days, but just for one day to be her servant.

I thought there couldn’t be a more considerate wish than this.

Because a wish to be a servant for a day seemed like an easy one.

However.

– Now you are my servant who must follow my orders, right?

– Since the Princess made that wish, I suppose so.

– Then let’s go outside.

– …Huh?

– Let’s go outside. I feel like taking a walk after a long time.

After witnessing the evil smile on Rebecca’s face, I realized I had completely misjudged the situation.

“I told you to hold it properly. Are you, a mere servant, ignoring your master’s words?”

“…I’m sorry.”

A master who scolds her servant just because a bit of sunlight touched her.

This wasn’t a servant; it was practically a slave.

At least servants are treated as humans. No matter how I thought about it, my current treatment was subhuman.

“…What can I do? You were always like this.”

“…”

“I’ll endure it, being the kind person I am.”

Watching the Princess, who was making the most infuriating expression while insulting me right beside me, was very frustrating.

But being frustrated didn’t mean I could do anything.

Instead of reading Isabella’s letter, I had agreed to grant one of the Princess’s wishes, and Rebecca had simply stated her wish.

Even countering with the usual embarrassing remarks that would make Rebecca blush was impossible.

– Ah, and don’t compliment me by saying I’m pretty or beautiful today.

– …

The clever Rebecca had preemptively blocked any embarrassing remarks I might use to counterattack.

Without the weapon of ‘words’ that always shook the Princess’s heart, I had no means to counterattack.

They say there’s no weapon more fearsome than words. That was exactly my situation now.

“Hurry up and follow me. What kind of servant is slower than their master?”

“…I’m sorry.”

I could only keep apologizing as I followed Rebecca to wherever she led.

***

How long had we walked?

“Let’s go in.”

As if she had arrived at the place she intended to visit, Rebecca’s seemingly endless steps finally stopped.

Before us was a shop adorned with quite antique decorations.

It was a building that gave off a peculiar feeling.

The signboard had a few oddly shaped glass bottles drawn on it.

“…May I ask what kind of shop this is?”

Naturally, I had no idea what this place was, so I asked Rebecca in a pitiful voice.

“Since when does a servant have the right to be curious about where their master is going?”

“…”

“Just hurry up and come in.”

It didn’t work on Rebecca, who had completely started treating me as a servant.

Ding-dong-

As we opened the door and entered, the sound of a bell announcing customers rang out.

“…Welcome.”

The man who seemed to be the shopkeeper greeted us with a very tired expression.

“Well, if it isn’t the troublemaker young lady.”

In fact, the tired-looking man seemed to know Rebecca well.

“…Who are you calling a troublemaker?”

“Has it been so long since you last came that you don’t remember breaking all the glass bottles when you came with the Duke last time?”

“…”

Seeing how well he knew how to handle the Princess.

I felt like I wanted to learn from him, as he was quite skilled at making Rebecca speechless.

Moreover, since he didn’t use honorifics with Rebecca or Duke Valencia, it was clear he had something special about him.

“Anyway, who’s this beside you? Your fiancé?”

The man who had silenced the Princess now turned his attention to me.

Although I had no idea who the man in front of me was, as a noble, I had to maintain proper etiquette.

“I am Albert Zernias, the fiancé of Princess Rebecca, from the Count Zernias family.”

I greeted him with the utmost courtesy.

“Our troublemaker young lady’s fiancé, huh? You must be having a tough time.”

“…”

The man started looking at me with pitying eyes.

It was like the gaze of someone already married telling someone unmarried, ‘You should never get married.’

Was it just my imagination, or did I sense genuine sincerity in that pitiful gaze?

“So. What brings our troublemaker young lady here today?”

After briefly looking at me with pity, the man turned his head back to Rebecca.

“…I want to buy something.”

Rebecca, still displeased with being called a ‘troublemaker young lady,’ replied in a sulky tone.

“Just the usual nutritional supplements and mana potions?”

The man rummaged through the cabinet behind him after hearing the Princess’s half-hearted reply.

Only then did I realize what kind of shop this was.

A typical potion shop in a fantasy world.

A place that sold various recovery potions and potions helpful in daily life, akin to a pharmacy in the modern world.

In fact, in the original story, Mikhail occasionally bought mana recovery potions and wound-healing potions from shops.

So, it wasn’t surprising that this was a potion shop.

However.

“…Truth potion and sleep potion too.”

“…”

It was surprising that, typical of a fantasy novel’s potion shop, they also sold unusual items.

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