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Chapter : 9
“Emma, didn’t you say we were going to His Majesty?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you tying me up like this? I can walk on my own two feet.”
“It can’t be helped. Since you entered the Imperial Palace on your own, you must now learn the palace rules.”
No matter how splendid the Palace of Sophea was, it meant nothing.
“Everything is training, so walk properly.”
Because I was being dragged down the dazzling corridor by knights.
“If you fail to uphold the dignity of a princess, Her Highness Consort Mary ordered that you be educated on the spot.”
Women and knights alike kept pressing me without pause.
But with both my arms bound, it was hard to walk.
Treating someone who had just woken up after collapsing like this.
‘And who the hell is Consort Mary? This is really pissing me off.’
[Emma, D-rank, Head Maid of Consort Mary’s Palace]
A maid of Consort Mary.
If she’s a consort, then she’s one of the emperor’s wives. She’s not even the empress, so why is she sending maids around and throwing her weight around like this?
‘Did the emperor order this through Consort Mary?’
I wanted to take control of Emma immediately.
‘No. Don’t do anything reckless until I meet the emperor himself.’
But I also had to consider the possibility that the emperor was involved.
“Where are we going now? His Majesty’s knights are over there.”
Lost in thought, I realized I had reached the end of the corridor.
Those who looked like the emperor’s knights were waiting in front of the Palace of Sophea.
“What are you doing? Why haven’t you gagged her?”
“Mmgh!”
But then Emma suddenly turned in the opposite direction of the exit.
‘Damn it, these aren’t the emperor’s palace knights.’
I could tell from the way she spoke.
‘If they were imperial knights, Emma wouldn’t dare treat them so rudely.’
Their control windows all just showed [E–F Rank, Imperial Knight], so I hadn’t noticed!
“Delay them here as long as you can.”
Emma hid in a secluded spot and signaled to the ones restraining me.
“Tell His Majesty that when you went to bring the princess, she threw a tantrum and refused to come. Say you were delayed because it took so much effort to bring her.”
“Yes.”
I glared at Emma with my mouth gagged, but it was useless.
“How dare you, acting so fearlessly without knowing where you are.”
Emma shot me an even sharper look, then turned and left.
“Hoo… do we really have to do this kind of thing? Seriously.”
“What else can we do? It’s an order from Consort Mary. Still, isn’t it nice to see her in person?”
After Emma disappeared,
the knights, catching their breath, whispered among themselves while looking at me.
“She is pretty, isn’t she? Who was her mother again?”
Ugh. Even with my mouth blocked, I felt like throwing up.
‘Among the F-rank extras, there must have been faces I helped design for the video team.’
Had I ever made ones that looked like mashed potatoes like this?
“Hey, since it’s come to this, can’t we vent a little?”
“No. She’s still a princess.”
“A princess, my ass. Who would treat something like this as a princess? What kind of princess gets dragged around by a maid like this?”
The most despicable-looking potato snickered.
Since headquarters mostly revolved around the protagonists, I had always seen the world through their eyes.
Meaning, I rarely got to see the life of DL as it unfolded behind the monitor.
‘It must’ve been absolute hell.’
I never thought I’d feel this way just a few days after falling into this place.
“Think about it. If she really does heal the crown prince, the fifth prince’s chance just disappears.”
“That’s true. Damn it, do you know how much money our family poured into Consort Mary’s palace?”
As he talked, one rotten potato, growing heated, approached me.
“How long has it been since you were cast out, and now you think claiming you’re a princess is enough? If I were reborn, I’d want to be a half-decent-looking princess too, even without any ability.”
‘That’s not it.’
Even with my mouth blocked, I could answer clearly.
No, really. Even if you’re reborn, you’d still just be a rotten potato.
“But what’s with that stare? Hey, do you know who I am? Lower your eyes!”
Then the rotten potato grabbed my chin and jerked it up.
This rotten, fat potato was D-rank.
The long, skinny potato trembling nearby was E-rank at best.
‘Will the control window open?’
They were within a rank I could directly control, but…
[The extra is currently being used by ‘Consort Mary (B-rank)’.]
[Either take control of Consort Mary or try again in 20 minutes.]
The control window didn’t open.
‘So they really are Consort Mary’s knights.’
They were currently carrying out her mission.
“She’s looking down on me now? How dare you look me straight in the eyes. Hey, you guys. Grab her.”
“Tom!”
“It’s fine. We’ll just say she got hurt a bit while resisting being brought in.”
Seeing the threatening potato mob approach, the little patience I had left snapped.
It was overstepping my authority, but I had no choice. I’d have to use the administrator buff.
‘Rika. Apply the protection mode and enhancement mode that the tech support team uses to me.’
[But Agent Baek Jua is part of the control team…]
‘There’s only me here now. So doesn’t that mean I have to do the control team’s job, the tech support team’s job, the video team’s job—everything?’
[Ugh.]
Rika seemed to make a reluctant sound, but it must have been my imagination. She’s just an AI.
[Providing ‘Protection’ and ‘Enhancement’ support to Agent Baek Jua. Time limit: 10 minutes.]
There was a reason supporting characters stayed unharmed even when monsters spewed fire everywhere and the male leads went on sword-rampages.
The tech support team always had protection like this in place.
‘Huh? Is it just my imagination? My arms and legs feel kind of sturdier.’
There was no obvious signal, but my body felt lighter.
Was this how the characters I controlled used to feel?
“Princess, princess—does being called that make you think you’re something special? How dare you look straight at—ugh!”
“Get that rotten face out of my sight right now, you mashed-potato bastard!”
Snap! The moment I put a little strength into it, the ropes binding my arms burst apart.
“Ugh!”
“Tom!”
I drove my fist straight into his chest, and the potato went flying, crashing down some distance away.
‘Oh. Not bad.’
Even though it was the same uppercut, the rebound felt different—springy, even. Pretty satisfying.
“His Majesty is waiting, so this ends here. If you shove that rotten face in front of me again, you’re dead.”
“H-hngh…!”
I didn’t bother with the other terrified potatoes. They were just following orders.
‘I need to meet the emperor.’
With that, I ran straight toward where the emperor was.
