Boredom
“… You are grounded for one month.”
“I understand.”
I was surprised to wake up four days later, but I heard it was excessive use of magical power and overwork again. Well, I’m out of magical power and I can’t get rid of the fatigue, and I have muscle pain all over my body, so I can’t move from my bed. Furthermore, I’m not allowed to read, experiment, or go out, etc..
“Isn’t that too harsh? If it was at least sitting on my lap for three days a month or something… as expected, the time to exercise my royal authority has come! Today, I’m going to roar with majesty and… persuade those ministers.”
“Your Majesty!!! I will not allow you to use your royal authority for something like that! If you do, shall I extend the princess’s house arrest until her marriage?”
Whoah! The Prime Minister from behind my father… that reminds me, I don’t know this person’s name and my father doesn’t blatantly try to go against him, so all that I know about him is that he’s human, with short red hair, sharp green eyes, and a slim body, or rather he’s completely a civil official.
And I am supposed to live like this until I get married? To be honest, I’m not thinking about marriage or anything and I don’t know if I can love someone like Father loves Mother.
“Ngggh… but there’s a plea for a reduced sentence, ya know! Because there is that…”
“That’s included in the house arrest. If it were not for this, she would have had to give up her right to inherit the throne and be demoted to a duchess.”
“Don’t try to sweeten it. You forbid Alicetia each of her hobbies, that’s harassment! I don’t know what you are thinking, just what is Alicetia supposed to do in that month? She will be bored to death. She can’t just sit in her room for a month and do nothing, what if she gets sick?”
“A month will pass in no time if you give her books or grimoires to read, right? That will be giving the princess time to enjoy her hobby, rather than a punishment.”
“Nghhh… if you and the ministers didn’t join hands in secret, Alicetia could have already been sitting on my lap…”
You have made quite the plans, Father. I think the Prime Minister is right. It’s true that I will be bored for a month, but as long as I have my wand, I can at least prepare something to pass the time, and if I practice magic, it won’t feel long at all.
“Furthermore, we have confiscated your wand, Princess. It was a bit of a hassle, but His Majesty has put it in its proper place.”
“My hair was standing on its ends and everyone was laughing at me! What kind of harassment was that!”
It’s ridiculous that another person can hold my wand to begin with… my father must be another kind of species. But I still have other means to practice magic, such as chantless magic, so it’s not over yet.
“Practicing magic is also prohibited. There will be guards standing outside, so if you use magic without permission, you will be punished again.”
I wonder if the Prime Minister hates me? He didn’t seem to be that interested in me since the day we met, and his punishment is so thorough. It seems it was him who decided what my punishment was. Even though Father was in favor of reducing my sentence, he didn’t seem to have any intentions of reducing it, so this punishment must already be a compromise. Well, it’s way lighter than being deprived of my royal rank, but the boredom is the problem. I might die of boredom…
“Going out is prohibited, except for food, bath, and toilet.
“Nggghh… wait for me Alicetia, I won’t let the ministers and this fellow do as they please, I will save you in no time! Let’s go.”
Saying that, Father and the Prime Minister left. I know that my father does not dislike the Prime Minister, so I am not surprised by this exchange, but if a third party sees it, it may jeopardize the future of the country, so I will warn him about it next time.
“Things are going to get boring.”
And my premonition was right.
Day 1 of the house arrest.
Boredom torments my mind. The room was about 10 tatami mats in size according to my request, but this room only had a bed, a sofa, a table, a bookshelf, and a desk, but the bookshelf was currently empty, and the materials on the desk had been removed… What am I supposed to do with my time?
“I’m dying from having too much free time… yeah, let’s tell Father.”
“That’s impossible, Princess. I cannot meet with His Majesty as I please. Please remain here obediently for one month.”
It seems that Alicia was standing watch here. She’s surely monitoring me.
“I can’t practice etiquette or study, what am I supposed to do?”
“Who knows? I am not particularly interested.”
Alicia doesn’t seem interested in anything.
“It’s not here either…”
What do you think I’m doing? It’s very simple, I’m searching my room. I had a lot of demon materials and books hidden in my room (including my mother’s treasured grimoire), and I was checking them out, but I couldn’t find anything, so I guess they were all removed. Shiiit, I have not read the grimoire yet so I even hid it with concealment magic.
“It’s no use, Princess~ you are surely trying to find the things you have hidden, but I have reported everything, and you are going to get a special, separate lecture about the grimoire.”
What! So this is how treacherous friends look like.
“… Traitor.”
“I serve the country… besides, seeing your troubled face is my sole pastime, Princess. Haah, haahh…”
Ugh… this person is hopeless. I want to pull on her long ears, but I know she will get back at me swiftly, so I have to endure.