The Regressed Princess - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Task Allocation

The palace complex of the Nolanna royalty is located in the upper-left corner of the royal capital, with approximately one-fifth of its perimeter connected to the mountain range.

It is said that in ancient times, members of the Nolanna royalty hunted, procreated, and held banquets in these mountains for long periods. Consequently, many myths and legends related to the mountains have been passed down, and they are regarded as the oldest ancestors of the Divine Era.

However, in modern times, both the royal palaces and the estates of the capital’s nobility are mostly distributed along the main thoroughfares, creating a prosperous city-state resembling a hexagon on the vast plains. Compared to the main urban area extending across the plains and the historical legacy area hidden within the “Holy Mountain,” the area where the current royal family resides is not particularly large.

A significant portion of the palace complex is allocated for the offices of subordinates, holding court assemblies, hosting banquets, and providing living quarters for favored officials and vassals.

An unfavored princess or a daughter born to a low-ranking royal consort cannot possess an independent bedchamber. They can only choose a two-story cottage on the edge of the palace grounds, living on one floor while a sister from above or below shares the other.

However, as a little Princess adorned with special honors, Eleanor not only possesses a private palace near the Sky Garden but also a Princess Guard consisting of dozens of people. The Princess Guard may seem smaller in number than the guards of other royal daughters, but every member is a noble.

Due to the possibility of a sudden rise in status, the highest-ranking members are even the daughters of great noble families; each of them can summon a small army from their respective households. The so-called “clans and landlords” are exactly this.

Thus, these noble ladies, titled as guards, possess a dedicated small building outside the Princess’s palace the Garden of Marigolds situated between the Sky Garden and the training grounds.

Ding-dang, ding-dang-dang.

The servants rang the crisp bells. They woke up by reflex, and some already moved their hands to the quilts to fold them; no matter how large the pavilion was, it was crowded with dozens of people. The servants only helped with collective cleaning; personal hygiene had to be handled by themselves.

“What are we eating today?” Batina yawned and poked her roommate next to her.

“Eat, eat, eat, all you think about is eating! Go get me some water,” the roommate said crossly, giving her a kick. She threw out several handkerchiefs and socks from a chest before finding her pants, quickly pulling them on carefully.

“Oh~” Batina walked to the ceramic water pipe at the corner and squatted down. While collecting water, she wondered: “Her Highness is usually so generous, why is she reluctant to change our pipes to lead ones? The water from the lead pipes at my house is quite sweet.”

“Mind your business. We weren’t even supposed to have water pipes here. If they changed it to well water, would you go carry the buckets?”

“Aren’t there servants for that…”

The dormitory was buzzing with conversation.

Bang!

Suddenly, a short girl bumped into the door, shouting: “Hehe—did you hear? That Andra moved into Manzhu’s room yesterday!”

“Ooh-hoo~” Everyone let out a chorus of strange cries.

One girl with a particularly fast mouth laughed loudly: “That kid wants to marry the Princess, doesn’t she Aow-aow-aow?! Who hit me?”

“I hit you! Don’t make such jokes about Her Highness!” Batina punched her again crossly, her pink hair exploding in anger like a ball of fluffy flowers.

“Tch, everyone knows you” Caroline, the fast talker, stuck out her tongue at the sight of that sandbag-sized fist, not daring to argue with Batina further.

Manzhu appeared at the door at some unknown point.

She grabbed the little brat who had just delivered the news and scanned the room. Though she only scanned the room in front of her, the entire hallway fell silent. After confirming no one was chirping anymore, she spoke slowly: “Her Highness says from now on, the rotational guard duties for members of the Princess Guard under eighteen are canceled. We are to focus on training.”

“Eh—?”

Even with Manzhu’s presence, everyone couldn’t help but voice their doubts. Joining the Princess Guard was like being a royal study companion; learning was one thing, but the purpose behind it was another. Even if there was only one position for Prince Consort, building a good relationship with Her Highness meant being a subordinate official in her territory later, or being recommended to the Crown Princess or the imperial court after the Princess married.

Focus on learning?

The Princess is kind-hearted, but then we won’t be able to make our faces familiar before the members of the royal family. Besides, they were all teenagers of thirteen or fourteen; how many of them had the patience for “hellish training” all day long? They were dying for a rotation so they could go to the Princess’s palace to rest.

Manzhu knew what they were thinking and had to comfort them softly: “Don’t worry, Her Highness promised to secure more subsidies for you, and… opportunities to accompany her.”

This was a promise that she would help them show their faces more in the future. The soft sounds of “ah” in the room finally subsided. Everyone stared blankly at Manzhu, clearly waiting for her to leave so they could whisper amongst themselves again.

“Alright, go eat first. After resting for a bit, go to the training grounds. I’ll head over there later too.” Manzhu didn’t explain much further and turned to leave with Jingji behind her.

They stopped at the hallway and waited for about five minutes. Andra came jogging down from upstairs. Today, she had her long hair tied back dashingly, and she wore a camel-colored cloak of excellent quality, walking with the wind at her heels.

“Morning.” Andra looked at them and nodded naturally. She was above while Manzhu and Jingji were below; whether it was her nonchalant attitude or her confident, handsome face in the sunlight, the composition of the moment defined a quite ambiguous distinction.

Jingji seemed not to notice, but Manzhu bit her teeth in discomfort: Forget it, this hostage is a total overmatch in terms of skill and talent.

Whether it was her peers or the slightly older so-called “geniuses,” no one could last three moves against her. Yesterday in class, someone tried to mock her with the title “Hetuya Crown Princess,” but she accepted it without any qualms, completely unaffected…

“Manzhu and Jingji, right?” Andra walked down the stairs and patted Jingji’s shoulder as if she were the big sister in control of everything. Jingji missed the dodge in her carelessness and immediately bared her teeth and clenched her fist, but was blocked by Manzhu.

“Her Highness will be here soon.” Manzhu’s words seemed to be convincing no one in particular. “She said she has a very important task for the three of us. This task is highly difficult, and we must cooperate fully.”

She kept her voice very low, leading the two out of the dormitory as she spoke. Manzhu kept observing Andra’s reaction, trying to see how much this person knew about the Princess’s plan or if she was as ignorant as they were. However, Andra only wore a faint smile, showing no flaws at all.

What exactly is she here for? Does she really want to enter into a marriage contract with Her Highness?! Manzhu felt indignant in her heart but didn’t show it on her face, only quickening her pace.

The three walked faster and faster on the road, starting as a brisk walk and then turning into a jog and then a run. They charged toward the Sky Garden as if in a fit of pique.

Da-da, da-da-da.

Manzhu led the run at the front. Her long legs took two steps as one, leaping onto the stone bridge with extreme agility. Opposite the long bridge stood an exquisite pavilion. The Princess was sitting sideways inside, her ethereal silhouette visible through the thin curtains.

A smile appeared on Manzhu’s face. “Your High” Just as she opened her mouth, a gust of wind suddenly brushed past her cheek.

Golden-red hair whipped in the wind. Jingji urgently tried to bump into the middle, but Andra didn’t choose that path.

What was that sound?

Eleanor instinctively raised her head just as the wind blew up one side of the gauze curtain. The vigorous girl leaped high like a gazelle, kicking off the pure white railing to fly into the pavilion.

Whoosh— Andra brushed aside the fluttering fabric with one hand, her eyes full of smiles: “Princess Eleanor, good morning.”

Eleanor couldn’t help but smile, then quickly composed herself and said with a forced stern face: “Alright, be normal next time.”

“Yes, as you command.” Andra bowed respectfully, but winked mischievously as she stood up.

This time, Eleanor stopped looking at her entirely. The little Princess sat upright with a red face and greeted the arriving Manzhu and Jingji. “Good morning. Come, sit, sit quickly.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The three sat down. Andra, who stretched her legs forward, was tightly blocked in the middle by Manzhu and Jingji.

Once they were all sitting formally, Eleanor put down her teacup and said softly: “Someone wants to kill me.”

“Who?!”

Manzhu and Jingji’s expressions changed drastically, not even pausing to observe Andra’s reaction. Both leaned forward almost simultaneously, nearly standing up.

Eleanor patted her palms soothingly, showing no fear on her face. “Don’t worry. Since I know this, I can make preparations in advance.”

As long as she can accurately control the variables, the enemy will eventually show a flaw after several rollbacks. Since there is strength in numbers, Eleanor first threw out the information she knew.

“Two people are suspicious: Heidi, who is by my side, and the scribe Manhani.” Because she couldn’t reveal her rollback ability, she didn’t mention further suspects like the Prince. That would be difficult to explain and would interfere with everyone’s thinking.

“Heidi? Then I can.” Manzhu had some impression of her. She was about to volunteer to investigate when she saw the Princess wave her hand.

“No. Whether you and Jingji question or threaten her, it will easily alert the enemy. She should only be a small pawn. I’ve asked Shanhu to observe her first.”

Eleanor indicated they should stay calm. Regarding the fact that “Heidi has a problem,” she was eighty percent certain. After all, according to Shanhu’s personality, no matter whose turn it was to watch the night, the person bringing the water would be Shanhu. Switching to Heidi was either a low-probability event like Shanhu having a stomachache, or… the person behind Heidi had harmed Shanhu.

Shanhu, Manzhu, Jingji, and… Andra. These four were constant values she absolutely did not need to test when controlling variables.

Eleanor looked into Manzhu’s eyes and said sincerely: “I’m actually more concerned about the tutor Manhani, but she lives in a more peripheral location. I might need your family’s manpower to keep an eye on her.”

“Alright. Now?” Manzhu nodded solemnly.

“Yes, the sooner the better.”

As long as she can catch the person behind the scenes, even if she doesn’t have time to become a Royal Daughter in this life, the knowledge can be put to good use in the next. Receiving the Princess’s affirmation, Manzhu immediately stood up with her sister.

She walked out a few steps and found Andra hadn’t followed. She asked as if casually: “Your Highness, then what can Andra help you with?”

“Andra—”

Eleanor was about to speak, but Andra put a finger to her lips first and said softly: “It’s a secret~”

Manzhu pursed her lips and left sullenly under Eleanor’s apologetic gaze.

Now only the two of them remained in the pavilion. Andra’s playful demeanor vanished instantly. She straightened her body and asked curiously: “Oh right, I want to know what I can help with, too. Does becoming King start with being your personal guard.”

When she mentioned “personal guard,” her body, which had just stood up straight, leaned in toward the little Princess again, only to be slapped back by Eleanor.

Eleanor pointed to the Sky Garden, then to the gardener’s warehouse not far away: “Quick, help me go get two hoes first.”

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