Chapter 39
On her way back from the training grounds, Anes walked slowly, step by step.
Though she had parted ways in a cheerful mood, the worry she carried about Marquis Rizern had not lessened at all.
If anything, seeing his face in person only seemed to amplify her anxiety.
The idea of “Be careful of me, I’ll prevent the fall of the Empire” felt too grand and sudden, almost absurd and unrealistic.
It was like being told that the Avengers were defending Earth from some cosmic villain—and that she might end up being one of them.
But Rizern was different. He was her family in this life. In her previous life, Anes had nothing—no family, no one. He was the first to become her perfect ally.
And not only that. He was respected by others, even loved. Precisely because of that, she did not want him to meet such a miserable end.
“Ah, but… how far is the Crown Prince’s palace?”
She remembered walking to the training grounds earlier, but now the road felt strangely longer. Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked around.
“I thought I knew the way, but as expected…”
Before she could finish looking around, a voice suddenly came from behind. With a startled yelp, she turned toward the sound—only to see, unsurprisingly, Theowin standing there.
He was watching her, as though observing what she would do next.
“Ah… you followed me?”
Theowin nodded casually.
“Even though I was going the wrong way?”
“Didn’t you just say it yourself—you thought you knew the way.”
His tone was brusque, but instead of getting upset, Anes gazed at him thoughtfully.
Even if he spoke so curtly, as though bothered, in the end he had still followed after her. Even when she walked the wrong path, he had walked it with her.
“Well then, since I don’t know the way, guide me properly.”
Anes demanded it boldly, asking him to lead her to the right road. At her words, Theowin immediately turned to the right and started walking.
Would it have been too much to hope he’d extend a hand, or at least say, “This way, follow me”? …Maybe that was too luxurious a wish. With a soft laugh, she followed after him.
Just a moment ago, she had been leading the way—but now the roles had reversed.
His back looked reassuring, his broad shoulders and wide frame almost incredible.
So this is what it means for a man to feel dependable.
She wouldn’t dare say she wanted to protect him, but still—if someday she could, she wanted to. Just as she had with Rizern, because he too was now her family.
“Your Highness, where are you going now?”
As they walked, and the spire of the Crown Prince’s palace finally came into view, Anes asked.
Without turning around, Theowin replied, his voice carrying back to her.
“I’ll be handling paperwork in my office.”
His answer was as concise as ever. She shook her head lightly, then asked again, facing his back.
“Then… can I come with you?”
Though he hadn’t walked particularly fast, the palace was already close. At that moment, Theowin stopped, turned slightly, and looked at her.
“Why?”
Even his questions were so blunt that it was almost hard to answer.
“Since becoming Crown Princess, I haven’t had much to do. I thought… maybe there’s something I could help with.”
At the mention of “work,” a faint crack appeared in his expression. Why? Did he think she was trying to meddle in his duties?
“I don’t mean to interfere. I just thought… if I could help, it would be nice. And… I like being with you.”
The last part slipped out without much thought, just words straight from her heart. When she considered it more carefully, being with him seemed far better than wandering around aimlessly on her own.
Perhaps her sincerity reached him, for the tension in his brows and eyes eased slightly. Was he worried she’d really get in his way? Hmph. She had studied hard, after all.
With a confidence she couldn’t quite explain, Anes followed behind him.
His office was stacked with papers. Though it wasn’t all required to be finished in a single day, the sight alone was overwhelming.
“You have an incredible amount of work.”
He didn’t seem to like her prying eyes, but even so—surely sharing the burden would help.
“Most state affairs are handled by His Majesty. But significant matters related to the inner palace also pass through him, so a fair share comes down to me. That’s why I’m busy.”
The moment he entered, he seated himself at his desk, picked up his quill, and began examining the piles. It made her wonder how he had even found time to drop by the training grounds earlier.
Without a moment’s hesitation, without a hint of distraction, Theowin began working through the documents. Anes stepped back quietly, not wanting to disturb him.
“Eh…?”
But then, her foot bumped into a chair leg. She glanced between the chair and Theowin, then carefully dragged the chair to the desk and sat down.
“Why are you sitting there?”
As expected, he objected.
“I’ll stay quiet. You do your work.”
He gave her a suspicious look, but she only smiled faintly.
Keeping his doubt, he returned to work. Anes leaned in, watching the documents closely. They were official papers, and though she couldn’t fully understand, the formatting and opening phrases looked similar across many of them.
“Um, should this one be handled first?”
Picking one from the unorganized pile nearby, she handed it to him.
Just as he finished signing a paper and was about to move to the next, Anes slipped hers into his hands.
Without a word, he accepted it. What was he thinking? Did he find her “help” bothersome? His face was unreadable, so she simply waited.
“…I see. This one was urgent.”
His words were surprisingly positive. He examined the document carefully, signed it, and set it aside separately, apart from the general pile.
“There’s a fairly large plain in the north. The rice harvest there has failed completely. This is the first harvest season, so the report was sent in advance to prepare for the coming months.”
Anes was pleased she had managed to pick out something important, but more than that, she was moved by how he prioritized the welfare of the people, worrying about famine before anything else.
To think she had once assumed this man would kill her, dismissing him as a tyrant… she almost felt guilty for misjudging him.
“You recognized the emergency marking.”
Theowin paused, another paper in hand.
Wondering if there were more like that buried in the stacks, Anes looked at the piles around the desk with wide eyes.
“They all start with similar formats, and the dates are listed too. I just glanced through a few, and this one stood out.”
She explained what she had noticed, carefully, so as not to sound overconfident. A single lucky guess could lead to dangerous mistakes later.
He listened intently, then glanced between the mess of papers stacked high and those scattered around the room.
“Do you truly… want to work?”
His tone was serious.
“…Pardon?”
“I’m not speaking lightly. I’m asking if you genuinely want to learn how to handle these duties.”
Yes, she had said as much. And yes, she truly thought so. She hated doing nothing. If there was work to be done, she wanted to shoulder it, as her duty.
Back at the Marquis’ estate, she’d been too busy adjusting to think about it. But now, it felt as though she had developed—by choice or by nature—a need to keep herself busy, to be useful.
“Yes. I don’t want to just sit in this seat for the title’s sake. I want to help. These are my responsibilities too, aren’t they? I know I’m not fully reliable yet, so give me small tasks first. Teach me.”
Simply occupying the position of Crown Princess wouldn’t solve everything.
Power was important, but at decisive moments, the more one knew and could do, the more advantageous it would be.
And somewhere along the way, her sense of duty expanded beyond simply protecting her “family.”
She had been slow to realize it—never having had this in her past life—but it was true: the Crown Princess would one day become the mother of the Empire. Especially here, where there was no Empress.
If the past world needed heroes to protect it, then this one needed a strong sovereign—not just in military strength, but in knowledge as well.
