MTLNOVEL Chapter 8 - Even a Princess Can't Abuse Her Power
Isabel.
Isabel de Aurelia—
What more explanation is needed?
As the name suggests, she’s a princess who inherited the blood of the Kingdom of Aurelia.
When she was 4 years old, her mother, the queen, died of illness, and the king did not take another wife.
With no male siblings, Isabel was naturally marked as the successor.
In the Kingdom of Aurelia, males basically have priority in succession, but there’s a special clause that allows women to ascend to the throne in exceptional cases.
Applying that, Isabel could ascend without issue. The birth of Queen Isabel was inevitable.
Moreover, because her mother had died, Isabel naturally took on the role of the queen consort who assists the king.
In other words, Isabel is the king’s daughter, the first in line for succession, and the queen consort.
Her actual power is unparalleled in the kingdom. Even the prime minister, the political number one, can have not only his neck but also his entire clan threatened with just one word from Isabel.
In fact, the former prime minister, who was evaluated as quite competent both domestically and internationally, was stripped of all his property and titles and exiled from the country after he offered advice to Isabel saying, “A mere princess should not abuse power as if she’s already the king.” This happened just 2 hours after he offered direct advice to the princess.
Even in this situation, the king, blinded by love for his beloved daughter, did not discipline her as a father should. Whenever Isabel said “Father, I hate you!”, the king would always surrender and the fight would end.
Given that even the king, the only power holder who could keep her in check, was wrapped around her finger, it’s not strange that Isabel, who has walked the royal road since birth, has her nose in the air.
In the eyes of the princess, who flaunts her rank even to other royalty, a commoner who defied the royal command could not be seen favorably.
——Faust.
The more arrogant of the two men summoned from Earth.
He didn’t appeal to Isabel from the moment he arrived.
“Oh my, Your Majesty! Lady Isabel! Hello~ hello~ I’m Kwak Dong-su. I may not protect the world, but I will definitely protect the royal family~”
“What’s the purpose of summoning us? We’re just ordinary students. Well, Kwak Dong-su is a phone seller. I’m curious about what criteria were used to select us.”
Unlike Lucy von Letlerea, who recognized noble blood and prostrated himself to show respect, this Faust kept his head stiffly up and dared to converse as if equal to royalty. That was the reason why Kwak Dong-su was chosen as the hero.
They chose the one who seemed more likely to listen well and be more obedient.
“Oh my, Your Majesty. Just trust this guy. I’ll slash~ that Demon King or whatever with the holy sword. But, um… are there any bars here? I prefer places where cute girls come.”
“Kwak Dong-su as the hero, huh. Then I’ll wander the world like a minstrel and explore this place in my own way. That will be a meaningful time too. I rather like the freedom.”
Even after being passed over in the hero selection, he didn’t seem particularly discouraged.
That confident attitude didn’t sit well with her.
She thought he would beg, ‘I’m sorry for not recognizing the princess! Please appoint me as the hero even now!’
Such an arrogant guy.
Now he’s even openly defying Father’s orders?
“Faust… I’ve been waiting for this. That disrespectful commoner seems to need the sharp whip of royalty.”
“Um, Princess. As I said before, Faust is in a very heartbroken state right now and might be sensitive to stimulation. Wouldn’t it be better to persuade him gently?”
“Shut up, Serena! You just need to guide us properly. Why should I, a princess, consider the feelings of a commoner? I really don’t understand!”
Consideration is not something to give, but to receive.
That was Isabel’s natural common sense.
“But, but the other person is about to become the hero, so shouldn’t we be a bit considerate? I think it would be better not to anger him…”
“Serena. What did your father do?”
“Huh? Wh-Why suddenly about my father…”
“I’m curious about where you inherited that cowardly way of thinking! People of low status are really pathetic in every single action!”
That father was once a duke who ruled the country… Well, now the family has become hated by the whole country. All because of that damn brother.
The fact that her father is being insulted by the princess now is all because of her brother who defected to the Demon King’s army. Serena’s eyes welled up with tears as she recalled her father, who was once a proud nobleman.
She stopped giving any more advice to Isabel and just robotically guided the way.
Faust, who was shunned by people, gathered mud from a swamp a bit away from the village and built a house. As it was a house built by someone who wasn’t an expert, following instructions from a book, it was unsurprisingly not pretty and looked amateurish.
In Isabel’s eyes, it was a haunted house not even fit for a dog house. She couldn’t believe that a person lived here.
“Do commoners live in houses like this… I really don’t understand.”
“I-I’ll knock first, Princess.”
Serena, with dark circles reaching down to her cheekbones, knocked on the door with a face that had half given up on life. The holy sword was still being swung around by Isabel like a toy sword.
The holy sword is a sacred treasure.
There’s an unwritten rule that no one but the hero should wield it, but Serena didn’t have the courage to offer advice. The accompanying guards were the same.
“Yes~~~ Who is it?”
“My goodness. What’s this dirty elf doing here? Don’t tell me… that Faust guy, unable to control his carnal desires, laid hands on an elf? Di-Disgusting!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Master is sleeping now, so please be quiet~”
Misha Greenwood put her index finger to her lips and made a shushing sound.
Isabel kept letting out incredulous laughs. An elf daring to give me orders?!
A lowly creature like an elf, with a status even lower than a commoner, telling the princess to be quiet?
“Go wake Faust up right now!! If not, I’ll have you experience being buried alive in the slaves’ graveyard!”
“Shh! Shh! Be quiet. I said Master is sleeping!”
“You…!!!”
When Misha made a hissing sound between her teeth as if handling a child, the princess’s patience snapped. She raised her fan and gave orders to the royal guards, who were selected elites among elites.
“Gouge out this insolent elf’s eyes, cut off her tongue, and lock her in the palace dungeon. I will personally hold a trial to decide her sentence. After all, the judicial power of Aurelia belongs to me.”
“Yes! Princess!”
“We will obey your command~”
“Ah~ Master said he was tired. If you keep making noise like this, Misha will get angry, you know?”
“I can’t stand this anymore! Quickly shut that impudent mouth—”
“Green Wood!!”
—I don’t know what happened.
The princess’s eyes barely caught the moment when the elf, frowning her eyebrows, stretched out both hands. The next moment, a giant tree that shouldn’t exist appeared and stretched its branches to wrap around the soldiers. The trained soldiers were helplessly kidnapped and pitifully hung like fruit.
It took only 0.3 seconds for over 50 soldiers to all be subdued.
No, they weren’t simply subdued.
“Ugh…!”
“Sa-Save me…”
“Mom…”
“I’m… thirsty…”
The soldiers with robust physiques rapidly dried up and became skinny. As if… they were having their nutrients stolen by the tree.
“What are you all doing! I clearly ordered you to capture the elf! Not following my orders means you must be punished!!”
“Pri-Princess… please save us…”
“Scary… what is this…”
“I don’t want to die… Your Highness… please!”
“You fools! Mere soldiers daring to ask me, the princess, to save you! There’s a limit to how useless you can be!”
Unlike Isabel, who was just blindly angry, Serena, who had completed two years at the academy and hadn’t neglected her studies since then, understood very well how dangerous and high-level the magic Misha had cast, breaking through even incantations, was.
“That’s… the devil’s tree that grows by sucking the life force of nearby humans. When it’s fully grown, it’s said that humans can’t live within a 10-kilometer radius…”
“10 kilometers? That includes the palace! Get rid of that tree right now, Serena!”
“It-It’s impossible… That’s an S-rank skill. With just two years of academy training, it’s not even close. Even if I use magic, it would be like watering a flower. My magic power would be absorbed instead. We, we need a vengeful archmage. Even then, once it’s fully grown, not even the Great Sage could destroy it.”
“Really! Why is everyone so incompetent!”
Isabel, who was completely ignorant about magic, got annoyed first rather than recognizing the seriousness of the situation. On the other hand, Serena had been trembling since earlier due to the unimaginable magical power emitted by the elf named Misha.
‘The difference in dimension is too great… Moreover, even the devil’s tree is probably just one of the many skills that elf possesses. Even the guards we brought today, who are actually not weak at all… For the kingdom’s top swordsmen to be subdued like children. What on earth is that elf?’
“Princess… Cough! Ple-Please save us.”
“At this rate, we’ll turn into mummies and die…”
“Family… my family waiting at home…”
“Please spare our lives, Your Highness…”
The soldiers, with their lips parched from having their moisture absorbed, were desperately begging for their lives. The princess, without even glancing at them, tried to break through the door that Misha was blocking.
“Don’t exaggerate just because your body is caught in some branches! Such weak mentality! Move aside, you insignificant elf! I need to have a word with that Faust!”
“Master is sleeping.”
“Wake him up because I’m here! Are you telling me to wait?!”
“What’s the reason you can’t wait?”
“Because I’m the princess! I’ve never waited for anyone in my life! Moreover! It’s absurd to make royalty wait for such a ridiculous reason as someone sleeping!”
“Then you can sleep too. Instead of making noise.”
“What am I supposed to do if I’m not sleepy! Besides, why should I follow the instructions of an elf like you…”
The princess’s sharp voice trails off weakly. Her vision spins and she feels like her body is floating.
No, she was actually floating.
“What… is this. My strength is… draining… Why is the ground getting farther away…”
The devil’s tree stretched out branches like tentacles and wrapped around the princess’s body. Isabel’s head drooped lifelessly, and she was moved between the leaves to become a fruit.
“……………..”
No words.
She just seems like a corpse.
“Hang there until Master wakes up.”
“…………….”
Isabel waited quietly there for over 10 hours. They say Faust slept to his heart’s content and only came out yawning at dawn the next day, rubbed his eyes when he saw the tree bearing human fruit, and went back in to sleep some more.