saiki

40

Chapter 40 - Will It Work?

The First Princess’s direct escort knight, Roydern.

He remembered exactly the order the princess had given him.

“Go and provoke the youngest in the name of teaching swordsmanship.”

“Pardon? Provoke??”

Even after hearing the commands that followed, Roydern still doubted his ears.

He had no choice but to do so.

“Ho-however, if we do that, the princess’s reputation will take a blow…!”

“No, it doesn’t matter.”

Whatever she was thinking, the First Princess smiled leisurely, looking unperturbed.

“On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with the child picked up by Garcia. It would not be a big deal to isolate a child with a shallow support base.”

“However…”

Roydern looked anxiously at the princess.

The legitimation ceremony changed the nobles’ view on the evaluation of the Seventh Prince.

But the First Princess didn’t care.

“Do not misunderstand. Even if I admit it, I only recognized him as a prince now. The serf boy showed an unexpected side, so it’s bound to be more shocking. The lower the expectation, the greater the effect. That’s all there is to it.”

Due to such stuff, rumors were spreading among the knights.

The king had possibly begun to show affection to the Seventh Prince.

Of course, that meant that even the First Princess would not stay still.

“Your safety is guaranteed. And anyway, it’s between successors. It can’t be helped in this kind of war of nerves. So, if you provoke him at the right amount, things will take care of themselves. I’m sure he will get agitated at the slightest provocation.”

The drug certainly had that kind of effect. The knight with sharp ears seemed to hear the princess muttering such words.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah. No. I’ll follow your orders, Your Highness.”

Thus, Roydern had no choice but to come to Ian, leaving the First Princess’s cold smile behind.

In terms of rank, the First Princess was definitely superior to Ian. In the Battle of Ranking, unless the rankings were reversed, even the Seventh Prince would not be able to touch the princess’s knights.

So, he picked a fight while being as polite as he could so that he could get on the other party’s nerves.

“The princess is concerned about you. Rather than relying on a knight with an empty name, she wants to make sure you grow properly.”