The Regressed Princess - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Taking Them Into the Fold; Let’s See if Eva is the One Who Sent the Assas…

Scar-Eye must be heartbroken.

On the surface, she deals in every kind of business, but in reality, managing her legion is her foundation and her true love.

However, after doing business for so many years, she understands the concepts of opportunity and risk better than anyone.

“Yes, Your Highness. I hope you will like them, and please convey my respects to the King.”

The second after Eleanor spoke, Doni bowed her head naturally in a salute.

From her expression to her words, not a single trace of reluctance could be seen, as if she truly believed this was her supreme honor.

“Very well, I will pass the word to my mother.”

Eleanor walked to her side and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Don’t worry, there are some things where we can help each other.”

These words made Doni’s smile a bit more genuine.

Today was, after all, a literal life-saving favor. The Princess could have seized such a massive leverage and found a minister or another royal daughter to strip her of everything.

Doni was all too accustomed to the habit of lords skinning people alive.

Back when she didn’t have a massive legion and was merely an ordinary merchant, even a carriage accidentally flipping over on the road could result in the local lord charging a “Ground Contact Tax” and causing her to lose everything instantly.

The Princess’s generosity might be due to her nature, but Scar-Eye leaned toward another possibility: she needed something from her. Her Highness needed a great merchant.

It might be for a trade route, a manor, a territory, or… assisting her elder sister in ascending to That Position.

The prospect of gaining merit by supporting a future ruler greatly comforted Doni; she no longer felt wounded by the loss of the Hyena Legion.

To put it bluntly, her head was still firmly attached to her neck—how could she say she hadn’t made a massive profit?

Scar-Eye quickly adjusted her mindset.

She withdrew respectfully, almost impatient to help the Princess pack all the precious gifts.

The Hyena Legion? Give it!

Talented servants? Give them!

Her young daughter Elsa? Give her too!

While she was jumping around over there giving orders with great enthusiasm, Eleanor took her attendants and set off first.

“Phew~”

She sat back in the carriage, leaning comfortably against the cushions, and began to organize her thoughts from the day.

First, she had to seek an audience with her mother before anyone else could react, settling the entire matter completely.

What slave rebellion? There was no such thing~ The people below were just playing a joke on me to please you.

This was the content of her deal with Scar-Eye: taking someone’s money to eliminate their disasters. She had to at least prove she had such an ability to attract more people to work for her.

In this life, she and Eva had a distant relationship; she still had to use the method of equivalent exchange. Perhaps she should help her customize a tabletop game in a few days?

Tap, tap.

Someone lightly tapped on the carriage window. Eleanor interrupted her thoughts and lifted the curtain.

The platinum-colored curtain was raised into a small triangle, and from its edge emerged a handsome face.

Andra was riding a horse alongside the carriage. She veered left and right, the curve of her lips forming a slightly cheeky smile. She didn’t speak, looking very much like a kitten tapping on a food bowl.

“What is it?”

Eleanor felt a bit startled by her gaze, taking several seconds to react and break into a gentle smile. “Mm, thank you for today.”

Today’s regression went very smoothly. The thing she feared most—”a violent conflict leading to innocent casualties”—did not happen.

Andra’s unauthorized action was a major taboo in military terms, but it truly did lead the situation toward a better outcome… No, wait, how did she do it?

The smile on Eleanor’s face vanished.

She had confidence in Andra because she knew of Andra’s talents from her past life, but what about the others? How long had they known her? Yet every single one of them was willing to follow her commands.

Eleanor looked through the window at the smiling youth outside.

This time, she wasn’t enchanted by beauty; instead, she thought of the iceberg beneath the water.

Coral and Manju were guarding the front and side respectively, with Thorns bringing up the rear.

The three of them simply watched as Andra rode up to her side and tapped on the window without offering any hindrance. One must know that even other personal guards couldn’t casually make such an intimate gesture.

Swish.

Ignoring Andra’s surprised expression, Eleanor braced herself against the window frame and leaned halfway out to look around.

All the attendants were in their original positions; not a single person was wary of Andra. They actually viewed all her actions as a matter of course.

Eleanor shuddered. She gently pushed away Andra’s reaching hand and fell back onto the carriage seat.

She had never considered these details in her past life.

Because the little princess of the past life had actively opened the doors of convenience for Andra, everyone felt they were an inseparable pair of butterfly and flower.

But what about now? Why was it still like this?

“Your Highness.”

Andra keenly sensed that the little princess’s expression was off. She leaned in and whispered in her ear: “I rounded up over a thousand people for you, you know?”

The handsome girl pursed her lips, her tone sounding a bit aggrieved. Her golden pupils narrowed like a cat’s, gazing at you intently.

Eleanor nodded subconsciously, then heard her say: “Their skills are quite average, but they are suitable enough to serve as toys for that sister of yours.”

This one sentence completely washed away the atmosphere that had just been brewing.

Sigh.

Eleanor helplessly supported her forehead.

If someone else had said this, she would definitely have lost her temper by now, but since the person saying it was Andra… one could only say it was a consistent performance.

She stabilized her mind for a moment, climbed back to the window ledge, and said seriously: “Don’t treat people as toys in the future.”

“Huh? But they are slaves—”

Andra stopped herself halfway. She raised a finger to brush against her lips and changed her tune: “Then~ Your Highness must thank me properly for another matter.”

“What matter?”

Eleanor’s wary look made Andra smile playfully.

The youth tilted her head, her beautiful prime making her appear somewhat innocent.

“For you my soft-hearted Princess I took a risk this time~ and only killed one person in total, you know?”

Killing?!

Eleanor asked urgently: “Who did you kill?”

Just a slave.

Andra didn’t care in her heart, yet she answered with an extremely serious tone: “Rest assured, she made the first move to kill me; I simply had to fight back.”

She stared into Eleanor’s eyes and indeed saw the little princess’s brow relax.

Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief. “So that’s how it was. By the way, how did you persuade an entire legion to retreat?”

She was very curious.

Although she had the feat of persuading three cities to surrender with a single letter in her past life, that was entirely built upon Andra’s terrifying record and her own gold-standard credibility.

Given Andra’s personality, if she were forced to communicate with people she looked down upon, she would likely just cut through them one by one with a sword.

Heh heh~

Andra, seeing the little princess’s curious gaze, wanted to brag properly, but the words took a turn at the tip of her tongue. “It was nothing. I just controlled their captain.”

She didn’t mention any details and deliberately changed the subject. “It was thanks to your quick wits just now; otherwise, Scar-Eye definitely wouldn’t have owned up to it.”

Andra didn’t mention a word about the gold she lost or the threats she made; anyway, everything had been conveniently retrieved.

Eleanor didn’t just give a perfunctory reply after hearing this. She looked into Andra’s eyes and asked: “What kind of thank-you gift do you want me to prepare?”

Clatter, clatter.

The horses were running fast. Andra used her hand to steady the reins, keeping herself in sync with the carriage.

She looked back into Eleanor’s eyes, a sentence about to burst forth.

“Your Highness, I want.”

Rustle.

The wind blew her fluttering black hair, revealing a pair of clear eyes.

Eleanor pursed her lips. The dynamic image brushed away the illusions, making Andra suddenly realize: Wait, the Princess is this young?

She was startled, causing her and her horse to retreat two steps.

Why was it like this?

Andra was lost and confused. In her memory, the little princess seemed to be a girl of her own age, or even more mature.

Love… it was far too strange to confess love to a child like this.

Even though she herself was a youth, Andra shook her head, trying to dispel the delusions in her heart.

A delusion. It must be a delusion. How could I treat her as a slender young lady? She’s clearly still a child.

Andra looked at the little princess again, trying to use the real and childish Eleanor before her to dispel her delusions, but more and more images kept surging up.

“I can make you the King of Hetuya.” The girl cupped her face.

“Rabbits are very cute, aren’t they?” The girl shed a single tear.

“I want to do something more meaningful.” The girl gazed into the distance.

The Eleanor before her was just a young girl, yet her every frown and smile was like bread coated in honey, emitting the fragrance of fermented fruit.

Andra had never experienced a similar feeling.

That is love her heart told her earnestly.

Even though she was the stronger, more mature one, she felt as if Eleanor was the fisherman winding the line around her finger, swaying ambiguously in the middle of the vast ocean.

“Andra, Andra? Andra!”

Are you that absent-minded when talking to me?

Snap!

Eleanor suddenly felt a spark of anger. She slapped the curtain aside, reached out, caught Andra’s ear, and shouted: “Pay attention!”

Both of them froze at the same time. Andra’s cheeks turned as red as fire.

Someone must have seen this scene, but not a single person made a sound. Thorns, who was closest, was so still one couldn’t even hear her breathing.

Oh no, the muscle memory came back too.

Eleanor quickly released her fingers and asked, pretending nothing happened, “Can you say it now? What thank-you gift do you want?”

The blush on Andra’s face hadn’t faded, but her expression became serious.

She set her face and said, somewhat through gritted teeth: “Your Highness’s gratitude… is extremely precious. Please allow me to spend a few years thinking about it carefully.”

“Fine, I promise you,” Eleanor said, dropping the carriage curtain without hesitation.

Seeing the little princess’s crude action of slamming the curtain shut with a clack, Andra didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She rode her horse to the front of the carriage, a secret thought gradually brewing in her heart.

I want to marry Eleanor.

Not just because of her noble status; perhaps… she is more valuable than the entirety of Nolanna.

“Heh.”

What am I thinking?

The expression of Andra being caught between laughter and tears became even more distorted: Besides me, who else could be more valuable than an entire country?

“Oh dear, people who fall in love are irrational.”

“Grandmother, you’re lying. I certainly won’t be.”

“Eh? You will be too. Everyone will be.”

Grandmother, perhaps you were right.

Andra shook her head helplessly: The reason I’m having so many delusions is entirely because of this sudden burst of love, right? Once the emotions subside, everything will return to normal.

No, it’s not like that.

An irrational voice argued in her heart, but Andra couldn’t hear it. She had already reached her sole conclusion and straightened her back as she moved to the very front of the convoy.

She liked being at the front; moving straight forward without needing to look back.

I want to marry Eleanor just because I want to. That’s all.

The carriage curtain separated her from the daydreaming Andra. Eleanor leaned against the backrest and continued to think about the “army” issue.

Andra’s words just now were quite unpleasant, but half of them made sense—and that was giving the legion to Miscella.

Since she intended to go to Enlin and was even considering going to sea, she would very likely miss, or even deliberately avoid, the war between Nolanna and Hetuya.

I don’t want Nolanna to fall.

Eleanor touched the pendant on her chest. This feeling was likely a simple love for her home country; she had belonged to this nation since the first time she opened her eyes in this world.

If the geography lacking natural barriers was destined to make the fragmented countries unify, then she hoped Nolanna wouldn’t be the one being consumed.

Under comprehensive consideration, Miscella was the most suitable candidate to receive the Hyena Legion.

As the crown princess, she possessed many privileges. As long as she didn’t deploy the legion inside the city, basically no one would care.

In comparison, the Eldest Sister suffered from diabetes and wouldn’t live long; even if she survived, she couldn’t ride a horse to war.

The Second Sister, Ophelia, was a literal fence-sitter; she might be the first to surrender if Hetuya attacked.

Among the three sisters, only Miscella, her biological sister, was capable of exchanging a few moves with An… with Atilla on the battlefield.

As her thoughts drifted over her three sisters, Eleanor once again remembered Ophelia.

Thump, thump.

She raised her finger and lightly tapped the carriage window on the other side. Soon, Coral walked over and whispered through the curtain: “Your Highness, please speak.”

“How is that assassin? Did you get anything out of her?”

Inside the carriage, Eleanor’s face was as dark as water. Even if it seemed inconceivable, the assassin’s employer only had two options: Eva or Ophelia.

“Your Highness, she bit the poison capsule in her mouth and committed suicide.”

Coral’s tone was full of regret.

Eleanor wasn’t surprised. It was only normal for assassins raised by the royal family to have poison capsules. No wonder she had screamed so miserably earlier; that was the intense pain of the poison taking effect.

Thinking of this, Eleanor couldn’t help but shake her head helplessly: she could empathize quite well.

“Coral, you and Manju investigate the name ‘Torna.’ I have some impression of that assassin.”

“Yes.” Coral quietly withdrew.

Eleanor took a deep breath.

Next would be another tough battle. Let’s see if Eva is the one who sent the assassin!

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