The Regressed Princess - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The First Step of Testing

What does the little Princess want a hoe for?

Andra was curious. However, she didn’t ask a single question, simply striding toward the gardener’s hut.

“Eh?” As she walked, she suddenly realized something and burst into an involuntary laugh. Truly, even she had moments of being this obedient.

Andra stepped into the cramped wooden hut. The slave gardener, naturally, did not dare look directly at the noble; she knelt tremblingly to the side, her head pressed against the floor, not daring to steal even a glance.

Andra had no interest in slaves. She stepped directly over a corner of the gardener’s clothing and walked forward, her eyes lighting up when she saw the Nolanna agricultural tools in the corner.

Iron. The hoes in Nolanna were actually made of iron.

She picked up a hoe and weighed it: it was heavy and had a good grip. She wondered if only the royalty was extravagant enough to use iron hoes, or if even commoners could use them? It was likely the latter.

Andra examined the patterns on the hoe. If it were merely for show, the tool would surely be covered in decorative engravings. Yet, the surface was devoid of any patterns save for a single crest, clearly intended for actual labor.

It seems Nolanna’s actual condition is slightly better than I previously observed.

Andra’s eyes grew deep. She would not waste this journey into Nolanna’s territory as a hostage; she had been carefully observing the conditions of various regions along the way.

Nolanna had many slaves. Even ordinary citizens were accustomed to saving money to buy one or two slaves to help their families bear heavy labor. This was very similar to Hetuya, but in Hetuya, slaves were usually gathered by slave owners and nobles for collective herding and labor, rather than being scattered among thousands of households as in Nolanna.

Furthermore, the Nolanna people were fond of massive construction projects. Hetuyans were used to wandering; they generally did not expend immense effort in fixed locations to build stone or wooden houses, using tents for daily living instead. The Nolanna nobles, however, took great pleasure in building towering stone structures. They would buy massive stones, chisel them into beautiful squares, and stack them one by one. Such labor, even for slaves, was a life-draining ordeal.

Finally, there was the vast difference between city-states. The Hetuya royalty functioned as the “Alpha” of the Hetuya people; they regularly organized grazing, hunting, and… “hunting” of other kinds. The King of Hetuya would distribute spoils relatively fairly and always charged at the very front during battle.

Even though tribes were scattered across the grasslands most of the time, as long as the royal family sounded the horn, others would do their best to rush toward the royal banner. After all, no one wanted to be expelled from the lush pastures and exiled to the barren lands of death.

The Nolanna people were completely different. Each of their city-states possessed considerable independence. That wasn’t just a difference of family and bloodline, but a fragmentation of thought and lifestyle.

She had entered through Enlin at the time. The environment there was extremely poor; even the “city walls” were just earth walls and hedge shells. Rather than a border town for defense, it was more like a buoy that could be abandoned at any time.

However, the neighboring city of Mihir was very different. That city not only possessed high stone walls but also many merchant caravans traveling in and out. The entrance tax for Mihir was staggering, and they would fleece you again upon leaving. She had entered with a diplomatic team, yet the local officials still made off with one of her precious horses and a large box of dried, valuable medicinal herbs.

Heh, such a country happens to possess high-quality iron ore.

In contrast, Hetuya was far behind. Forget ironware; they didn’t even have much bronze. Many citizens spent their entire lives making do with wooden swords, wooden spears, bone tools, and stone axes.

Andra’s gaze was dark and unreadable as she picked up two hoes and turned to leave.

The little Princess had already walked out of the pavilion and was standing amidst the blooming flowers. Andra couldn’t help but slow her pace: the position she had chosen was excellent. On both sides were winding trees and lush shrubs; only here, for the sake of spatial balance, was a large open space left, filled with brilliant and resilient wild flowers.

Eleanor saw her at the same time and immediately stood on her tiptoes to wave: “Over here, over here!”

So cute.

Andra quickened her pace, jogging to Eleanor’s side to hand her a hoe. She couldn’t help but take two steps back as Eleanor took it with both hands. She truly wanted to see the cute sight of the little Princess holding a hoe; surely it would be a complete mismatch.

Andra stood not far away to admire Eleanor’s movements.

At first, it was indeed a mismatch. Eleanor was truly too small. Even though the gardener’s hoe was much smaller than those used by regular farmers, it looked like a small child stubbornly hugging a giant doll when held in her hands.

My lovely little Princess, you should be wearing a beautiful dress and lying in a warm, safe room. How can you do such coarse work?

Andra stood with one hand on her hip, waiting for Eleanor to strike the ground twice and then toss the hoe aside, daintily crying out, “Come and help me~”

Whoosh.

Eleanor suddenly rotated the hoe in her hand. Her aura shifted subtly the moment she changed her grip.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

She lowered her center of gravity, creating a triangular angle with the hoe, her muscles exerting a small amount of force. The first two movements were slightly clumsy, but after a few more strikes, her movements became aesthetic.

No, rather than aesthetic… Andra squinted. The little Princess’s movements were actually… skilled? Hetuyans rarely grew crops, so she was a bit uncertain. But what was certain was that Eleanor’s movements were incredibly fluid, not at all like someone farming for the first time.

Could it be that the Nolanna royalty places an extraordinary emphasis on agriculture, such that even a ten-year-old Princess must learn it seriously? Surely one can’t say the little Princess has a farming talent in her bloodline?

She quietly approached Eleanor, lowering her head to ask probingley: “Highness, your movements are quite beautiful. Did you learn this specifically before?”

“Mhm.” Eleanor nodded reflexively.

As soon as she nodded, she realized the flaw: No, I can’t say that. Don’t be fooled by Andra’s carefree appearance; her mind was very deep. Even if she could manage to leave no flaws in her words, the smooth, soft state of her palms and soles could not lie.

“Mhm~ well, not really.” She wiped her sweat bashfully and said: “I like watching others farm. It’s magical how seeds grow into flowers and fruit.”

After saying this, the little Princess leaned on her hoe and pointed to the nearby empty ground, chiding: “How long are you going to just watch? Come, come, together!”

“Alright.” Andra immediately picked up her hoe and began to dig.

Even though she had just been doubting Eleanor, her speed of picking it up was even faster than Eleanor’s. After just two glances, the muscle exertion and posture were entirely correct. Her strength was also staggering. By the time Eleanor had finished a tiny patch in front of her, Andra had already turned over the remaining part like an old ox. Any further and she would be digging up the precious ornamental trees nearby.

“Alright, alright, stop right there!” Eleanor hastily called for a halt. If she accidentally ruined those flowers, the gardeners would cry.

Shasha. Andra stopped the hoe with ease and asked curiously: “Why did you want to hoe the grass here? To plant some fresh flowers?”

Ha, even the form of address has changed.

Eleanor chuckled inwardly: You, as soon as you become curious about someone, you can’t help but become respectful. She wanted to keep her in suspense, but the smile vanished as soon as it appeared.

What am I doing? Flirting just like in my previous life? As soon as I talk with Andra, I become very happy, and then naturally relax and joke around… If this continues, I will still repeat the same mistakes.

Eleanor felt a faint pain in her wrist, as if an invisible hand were gripping her and pulling hard. Andra… whenever there was something she truly wanted, she never let go.

Eleanor sighed in her heart. She handed the hoe over and said with feigned coldness: “Alright, don’t say so much. Decorate the nearby flowers and plants a bit more later, and then just watch my performance.”

Andra blinked sensitively: the little Princess seemed a bit different than she was a moment ago. However—this expression was also quite cute. She leaned over to take the hoe, singing melodiously: “As you command.”

The sun was high in the sky. The ministers were waiting respectfully in the court assembly hall, yet the central seat remained empty. They were not surprised; they knew their King Her Majesty Eva must have overdrank again last night.

Starting from about ten years ago, as long as it didn’t rain too hard at night or anything disappointing happened, Eva would always host boisterous banquets in the palace or the hall. However, her “character” was relatively decent; although she was extravagant and loved to play, she wouldn’t go as far as forcibly seizing the ministers’ wives, nor did she have a hobby of turning anyone into a main course for the banquet.

Since the King was at least passably human, the ministers preferred to be patient. At worst, they would wait until she sobered up in the afternoon to pay their respects at her bedchamber.

Pata, pata.

Luck was good today; they didn’t have to wait until the afternoon. After only about half an hour, Eva shuffled over in her gold slippers and sat down loosely on the throne.

“Yo, good morning and afternoon to you all.” She greeted them casually, the incense in the room unable to mask the scent of wine.

The King had arrived. The ministers hurriedly pulled out rolls of parchment scrolls from their robes and held them up with both hands.

However, the King merely waved her hand and leaned her head back: “No rush. We’ll talk about that stuff in the afternoon. Yawn. Do you have anything interesting to tell?”

If the King wanted something, there naturally was something. Everyone squeezed out smiles and told stories to the King in soothing tones; among them, a joke from the Finance Minister made the King laugh heartily.

“Ha, hahahaha, hm.” After Eva finished laughing, everyone stopped talking, quietly waiting for the King to speak of serious business, or even less serious business.

“Heh~” The King was, of course, a Noble-blooded, and she was not yet 50 years old. However, for someone so young, her eyes were a bit cloudy, shifting slowly as she thought.

“I see the weather is good today…” Her tone was in a dream one moment, and became very firm the next: “We are going hunting in the back mountain!”

“Good.” “A great idea, Your Majesty.” “We must go, we must go.”

Everyone chimed in with tacit agreement. Regardless, the King wouldn’t care if a few people missed out in the end, as long as there were enough people to play with her.

As for hunting in the back mountain? The King could not easily enter or leave the royal capital; most hunting activities involved running to the back mountain with guards. It had reached the point where the nearby animals had been hunted to extinction, forcing the steward to transport rabbits and goats from other city-states to release there.

After a set of practiced preparations, the general and the imperial guards led the way in front, while favored officials and servants mixed in at the back. The King, meanwhile, sat on her horse yawning it was a good thing many trees on the back mountain had been cut down, otherwise someone would have had to carry her. No one knew how long it had been since the King had practiced a forced march…

The back mountain was large, but the section connecting the palace complex to the mountain had to pass through the Sky Garden first. Eva raised her eyes listlessly and suddenly noticed a “small matter”: the garden was bald, and it was a patchy baldness.

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