Chapter 18

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 18

Chapter Title: Fury in Sapphire Hall

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Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Salt Kingdom's royal castle was darker than ever before.

"How dare you commit such a blunder?"

The furious roar of Salt's monarch, King Berga, echoed throughout the entire Sapphire Hall.

The administrative officials, summoned to Sapphire Hall at dawn by the king's command, hung their heads in shame.

Remeia, standing beside her enraged father, couldn't hide her sullen expression.

"Are your heads just for show? You couldn't even distinguish a single seal properly!"

Rip!

The document, crumpled beyond recognition in Berga's hand before falling to the floor, was the very trade certificate that Duke Brail had shown to April.

He rarely ever raised his voice in dignified rebuke, but this time, he seemed utterly unable to contain his surging rage.

And who could blame him? This incident was a textbook case of a basic yet catastrophic error leading to irreparable losses.

The root of it all lay with the officials who had routinely exchanged documents with Kletan like clockwork—they had let a merchant guild's seal pass unquestioned, with no idea where it had even come from.

The goods had vanished without a trace en route to Kletan, and of all things, it had to be wheat, whose prices had skyrocketed recently.

And that fact only amplified Berga's stress.

"H-HOWEVER, Your Majesty. Kletan has promised to do their utmost to track down the culprits."

"And when exactly? A year from now? Three years?"

"Even so, they are a great empire..."

"You don't mean to say that this great empire isn't aware they're trying to starve me and my people to death."

The middle-aged official who had dared to speak up while clutching his cane fell silent, unable to even save face.

Regrettably, the king of Salt was spot on.

Kletan had made grand promises to catch the perpetrators out of courtesy... but who knew? They couldn't rule out the possibility of the empire's involvement in the scam itself.

"...You idiots."

His rage, having crossed the tipping point, instead calmed Berga's voice to a chilling low.

"W-We deserve death!"

Thud!

Judging they had nowhere left to retreat, the officials dropped to their knees one after another, begging for mercy.

Above all, if the officials meekly took the blame, the king would have no choice but to glance at Remeia's face and let it slide.

But there was always one fool without a shred of tact.

"But this is unfair! It was a document approved by Princess Remeia herself!"

"Gasp!"

"Hic!"

The voice belonged to the young official who had previously asked Remeia to review the papers.

And just like that, a frigid silence settled over the hall.

It was obvious this tactless mouth would invite an even greater disaster if left unchecked.

"Y-You fool! Shut your mouth!"

The senior officials snapped back to their senses and hurriedly clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late.

Berga strode toward the young official, his eyes gleaming with fury.

"Remeia? Are you insane enough to drag the honor of Salt's treasure—my daughter—through the mud?"

His voice was laced with lethal menace. The watching officials squeezed their eyes shut.

At last, the cold command fell.

"This is a criminal who has insulted royalty. Drag him away."

"I'm innocent, Your Highness! I merely followed the wise Princess Remeia's orders...!"

Fortunately, the guards managed to haul him out before Berga's patience snapped completely.

Bang.

As the door closed, an even heavier silence descended.

"If anyone else shares that opinion, step forward now."

No one spoke up, though everyone knew the truth.

They knew everything had happened under Remeia's approval, and that this mess stemmed from that damned company's schemes.

But the officials, who had long learned through bitter experience that power trumped law, kept their silence.

Only after scanning the room did Berga finally let out a deep sigh.

"I don't know when my officials turned this stupid. Can you lot even read properly? Do I need to assign you literacy tutors now?"

"N-No, Your Majesty. We'll be more diligent to prevent any repeat mistakes... and conduct internal training as well."

Though the one who needed education most wasn't among them, anyway.

The king of Salt, his face suddenly etched with exhaustion, waved them off dismissively.

"I can't even stand the sight of you. Get out, all of you."

The officials, having barely survived the ordeal, scurried out en masse.

Remeia subtly tried to blend in with them and turn to leave. Or at least, she tried.

"Princess Remeia, stay behind."

"Ah, y-yes! Understood, Father King..."

Caught just as she was about to slip out, Remeia stood before Berga with a crestfallen face.

"Remeia Salt."

Berga's piercing gaze bored into her.

"Do you know what you've done?"

"I-I'll do better, Father King."

"This isn't something you can brush off with mere words!"

Boom! As his voice rose, Remeia pulled a pitiful pout.

But Berga's momentum didn't waver in the slightest.

"The damages this time are severe. Do you understand what that means?"

"I'm sorry, Father King. I've been pushing myself too hard with work lately, so I must not have judged properly."

Tears welled up in Remeia's eyes, sparkling like the finest aquamarine jewels.

She instinctively knew exactly how to evoke sympathy and affection, pulling off the most heartrending expression she could muster.

Though inside, she was burning up with anxiety.

'Not once did this happen when April was around.'

In truth, she knew the tirade Berga had unleashed on the officials included her as well. The quick-witted Remeia didn't need to ask.

She knew he had deliberately avoided naming her directly, all to desperately protect the image of the 'genius' Princess Remeia.

"I-I've been so scattered too...! I wanted to do well... I really did..."

"Urgh."

Berga swallowed down his rising anger once more.

She might not be his favorite, but blood was blood. Perhaps he had grown too sentimental in his old age.

Thus, instead of pinning all the blame on his daughter now, Berga chose to cover it up.

"Don't ever repeat the same mistake, Remeia."

"Y-Yes! Of course, Father King. I'll study harder and put in even more effort from now on."

After that, Remeia fawned over him with every coquettish trick in the book, finally slipping out only after lunchtime had long passed.

Normally, she'd be tucked away napping for her beauty sleep, but even that didn't register as a problem now.

The farther she got from the king's audience chamber, the fewer people around, the harder Remeia's lovely features grew.

Finally bursting into a deserted corner of the garden, she unleashed the sobs she'd been holding back.

"Waaah!"

Transparent tears plopped onto the ground one by one.

'Why is this happening to me?'

Remeia had tried her best.

But it was only natural she could never become April, even in death and rebirth.

Besides, she was far too beautiful—and of too high a station—to live as diligently as April.

Had Remeia been born with freckles and a lowly maid for a mother, she might have been forced to give her all unwittingly!

But that simply didn't apply to her. Her reality, therefore, had to be different.

'Sob, I'm just so pitiful.'

Slumping onto the grass, Remeia wept bitterly.

Though it was the officials who had been humiliated and dragged out before the king, somehow Remeia had become the world's most tragic heroine.

And then.

"...Princess?"

Someone had found the pitiable Remeia.