🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 22
After returning to the detached palace, Lucy began preparing in earnest for the upcoming social party.
First, she ordered the servants to buy every fairy tale book they could find.
As a result, her study quickly filled with children’s storybooks.
After skimming through them, she realized she could read all the titles.
Which meant that, for now, fairy tales were the only books she could actually read.
With Bartholomew gone and her encounters with the male leads approaching, Lucy felt she first needed to improve her stats.
“Intelligence should be raised through reading.”
Normally, intelligence could be increased by taking lessons with a tutor.
However, the books used by her tutor were far too advanced for the current Lucy.
“If I keep reading fairy tales, my intelligence will rise. Then I can gradually move on to harder books.”
Thinking that, Lucy shut herself in the study and spent the entire day reading.
The servants of the detached palace watched her immersing herself in fairy tales and quietly came to a conclusion.
So the rumors that their princess had become an idiot were true after all.
When they heard she had caught the Emperor’s attention at the imperial banquet, they thought sunlight would finally shine upon the detached palace.
But the only thing she had actually been given was a tiny puppy.
Cute, yes, but utterly useless.
The little dog didn’t even seem big enough to serve as a hunting hound.
The servants secretly felt disappointed, but Lucy—now supposedly simple-minded—seemed overjoyed with just the puppy alone.
If she had been in her right mind, she would’ve been disappointed like the rest of them.
Thinking that, the servants secretly wiped away tears when Lucy wasn’t looking.
Meanwhile, Lucy paid no attention to what they thought and remained absorbed in her fairy tales.
Cerberus slept peacefully in the folds of her skirt.
And after some time passed—
Ding!
[Congratulations!]
[Through your long hours of reading, you have demonstrated concentration and persistence.]
[A new skill has been granted to one who loves books.]
[Bookworm Lv.1]
[Intelligence increases by 10.]
[Intelligence: -50 → Intelligence: -40]
After reading dozens of fairy tale books, her intelligence had risen by a whole 10 points.
She had even gained a new skill called Bookworm.
“What exactly is the Bookworm skill used for?”
Lucy sincerely hoped it wouldn’t be another useless skill like Aesthetician, which only made her spout unnecessary dramatic nonsense.
“I’ll just keep raising intelligence through books for now.”
As she stroked Cerberus, Lucy sank into thought.
“But how do I raise stamina?”
She had brought back the sacred dumbbells from the temple, but the efficiency was terrible.
“System!”
After agonizing over it, Lucy called out while staring into the air.
“What methods can I use to increase my stamina stat in my current condition?”
A notification window appeared with a chime.
[There are various ways to increase the stamina stat.]
[Exercise is the most basic method, but with your negative stats, such activities are too difficult.]
[Instead, we can recommend a method that raises endurance in order to improve stamina.]
“What is it?”
Lucy looked at the system window with anticipation.
[It is… fishing.]
Fishing?
In a romance simulation game, not some healing farming game… fishing?
[Since fishing is an activity done while sitting in one place, it consumes little stamina. Repeatedly pulling fish from the water can help train endurance and improve stamina.]
Reading the explanation, Lucy gave up questioning the absurdity.
At this point, what was the point of arguing with this garbage game?
If it helped increase stamina, then fishing wasn’t so bad.
* * *
The next day, Lucy left the detached palace and headed to a nearby riverside.
She had the servants bring several fairy tale books and a fishing rod.
Cerberus, who came along, looked thrilled to discover the water.
He ran around the grassy field and whenever he got thirsty, he trotted to the riverbank and lapped at the water.
Lucy settled near a large rock and held out her hand toward a servant.
The servant handed her the fishing rod and carefully asked,
“Your Highness, why are you suddenly interested in fishing? Do you perhaps wish to eat fish dishes? If you tell the chef, he can prepare fresh fish immediately.”
“Because I want to.”
The servant was momentarily speechless.
He quickly shook his head and asked again,
“Your Highness… do you know how to fish?”
“No.”
“…Would you like me to teach you?”
For the first time in a while, Lucy’s dull expression brightened.
She learned the basics of fishing from the servant.
“I understand.”
Lucy nodded.
Maybe because her intelligence had risen slightly, she could understand the servant’s explanations far better than before. Even her speech, though short, had become more coherent.
She stacked a few fairy tale books beside her and began fishing in earnest.
Sure enough, since all she had to do was cast the line and sit still, it didn’t feel particularly exhausting.
The only problem was that no fish were biting, and boredom slowly crept in.
“Good thing I brought books.”
She read fairy tales to pass the time while waiting for a bite.
There were other fishermen from the imperial palace along the riverside.
They watched Lucy—who clearly looked like a high-ranking noblewoman—with confusion.
And wasn’t she a young lady?
For them, seeing a noblewoman fishing was a completely unfamiliar sight.
They looked at Lucy with pity.
“She won’t catch anything fishing like that…”
They wanted to offer advice.
But the servants surrounding her made it difficult to approach.
And then there was the tiny puppy she brought along.
The little thing ran around excitedly, but whenever it saw the fishermen, it bared its tiny teeth and growled defensively.
As time passed without any movement from the fishing rod, Lucy grew suspicious.
“Will this really increase stamina?”
She began to wonder if the system had lied to her.
Letting out a small sigh, Lucy opened another fairy tale book.
Then suddenly, someone came to mind.
Bartholomew.
For some reason, the contents of the story reminded her strongly of him.
It was about twin brothers.
Their parents blatantly favored one child over the other.
No matter how hard the neglected child tried, he could never gain his parents’ affection.
He was constantly compared to his talented sibling and ignored.
Despite being a fairy tale, the story unfolded sadly.
The abused child was eventually kicked out of the house and wandered through the freezing winter until he died.
A god took pity on the boy and brought him to heaven.
Only there did the child finally find happiness.
It was technically a happy ending, yet it left a bitter taste.
Realistically speaking, the child died without ever receiving love from the parents he had desperately wanted affection from.
Because Lucy kept imagining Bartholomew in the boy’s place, she felt even more heartbroken.
Eventually Alexander would appear.
And what would happen to Bartholomew then?
Would he, too, be cast out from the family?
And if he ended up dying alone in misery—
Lucy felt terrible.
Especially since Bartholomew was already so frail.
“If that really happens, I’ll just keep Bartholomew by my side.”
Only after thinking that did Lucy feel somewhat relieved.
Of course, she still needed to successfully romance one of the male leads and get married, but surely she could support at least one Bartholomew.
“Why do I care about Bartholomew so much?”
The moment the question crossed her mind—
Her fishing rod suddenly jerked.
“Ah!”
Lucy cried out loudly, drawing the attention of the nearby fishermen.
She flailed in panic, unsure what to do with the rod now that something had bitten.
The fishermen could only send encouraging looks her way.
After a brief struggle—
“I caught it!”
Lucy shouted joyfully.
The servants clapped and congratulated her.
Lucy looked at the fish dangling from the end of the line.
After all that commotion, it was only a tiny minnow.
Ding!
[Congratulations!]
[Having succeeded at fishing for the first time, you have earned a new title.]
[Lv.1 “Beginner Fisher”]
[Your stamina increases by 10.]
[Stamina: -42 → Stamina: -32]
A single tiny fish raised her stamina by 10?
Thumbs up, little fishy. Thank you!
