The Princess is Busy Too
When I woke up, I was told to take a break.
"I still have so much to do."
There are so many things I want to work on—so much that I don’t even have time to sleep. Besides, watching things come to fruition is incredibly fun.
I want to earn more money and expand the royal capital, as well as build refining facilities for petroleum. I don’t even have time to rest.
"You’re working too much. Even Madame noticed immediately."
And so, I was suddenly challenged to a duel. Classic Arland-style, indeed. I fought seriously! So, knocking me unconscious to force me to rest—was that the plan?
For now, most of my governmental duties have been suspended, and my research and development activities are restricted to just a hobby level. However, I’m still allowed to handle political work that only I can do. After all, the rapid-fire cannons and 20-inch guns I developed need a demonstration event, and the first armed airship is about to be completed, so a full exemption from duties is impossible. No matter how competent the Prime Minister is, there are things he simply wouldn’t understand.
Then there’s Madame’s re-education sessions. But honestly, dance and embroidery are more like playtime for me. It’s not as if I need any serious retraining. And I have no intention of quitting my adventurer activities either. I only came back now because I plan to make a birthday present for Father.
The project I’ve been working on is a car—specifically, a replica of the Toyota 2000GT, a legendary car from my previous life. In my past life, my father mentioned that it was a great car and that he wanted one, so it must be cool. Since I don’t really understand cars, I chose this one to make. I had even considered restoring one back in my previous life.
However, I lacked the necessary petroleum-based materials, so I’ve kept the parts—including the engine—stored in my old room until now. Since they’re sealed in a card, they don’t take up space.
"Well then, I guess I’ll hole up in the underground lab."
"Not today! Do you even realize what you’re doing? I’m telling you to take it easy! Why do you immediately try to lock yourself away in the underground lab?!"
"But I’m allowed to do personal hobbies, right? I need to improve the combs and finally finish Father’s gift this year."
There was also an interesting spell structure used in necromancy that I wanted to research! Ancient magic is always full of new discoveries. And this was a high-level forbidden spell—something rarely seen. Analyzing it is crucial. And of course, I want to tinker with it and see if I can improve it, even if I don’t have a use for it.
For now, I spent the day lounging around and resting. Alicia was watching over me, and whenever I tried to step outside, I could sense Madame’s presence. She had become an unstoppable force dedicated to making me rest.
The next day—
"Oh, right. Mr. Coote, you fought Madame, didn’t you?"
"She… she is a terrifying opponent. My entire pack was decimated by her."
Mr. Coote originally led a much stronger and larger pack of over a hundred monsters. Many of them were even stronger than when I first met him. However, his arrogance led him to believe they were invincible. When he attempted to attack a human settlement, Madame nearly wiped them out. Barely escaping with his life, he fled to Ostland. Because of this, the new pack he gathered consisted mostly of weaklings.
Apparently, he never wants to cross paths with her again. Madame fought using a sword during the monster hunt, though I’ve only ever seen her wielding a whip. Our duel was the first time I saw her use it—it must be her preferred tool for punishments.
"Dance is perfect. Now, next—"
"It’s not like I’ve gotten rusty."
I obediently went through my morning re-education session with Madame. But honestly, there wasn’t much left for her to teach me.
"Your speech!"
I dodged the incoming whip. Somehow, I’ve become able to evade it. I wasn’t able to before.
"I refuse to change. I will remain true to myself, no matter what."
"Unacceptable!"
And so, every morning consists of a life-or-death battle with Madame. But it’s not really a problem. It’s terrifying, sure, but I’ve grown used to it thanks to Mother. The sessions always end by noon.
"You should start attending tea parties already!"
"I’m busy. Maybe in a hundred years."
Before she could get a dress ready for me, I quickly teleported away. I’m keeping my end of the deal—I’m attending my re-education, so they should stop trying to force me into high society. I’ve been pressuring the nobles into accepting this arrangement without explicitly saying anything. They know that my involvement in politics is more beneficial to them than me sitting around drinking tea. Lately, I haven’t even been receiving invitations anymore.
"Honestly, Madame is quite a handful."
"You’re so full of yourself. Maybe someone needs to put you in your place."
"I *am* important! Besides, I’ll surpass you and become the youngest Grand Mage in history."
As I sat next to Mother, who was calmly knitting on the sofa, I declared my ambition. “Grand Mage Alicetia”—it has a nice ring to it. It suits me perfectly. Even Eibon acknowledges that I have a high chance of achieving it.
"Oh my, you’re going to surpass me?"
"My new magic furnace is almost finished, and I’ve already completed the designs for the magic battleship. The only issue is the specialized furnace it requires."
Honestly, the magic furnace is already practical—it just has a capped output limit. The basic design is complete, and a prototype is running. The only issue is controlling it at 100% output. This isn’t a problem of lacking special equipment—it’s purely a matter of control magic. At 50% output, it’s stable, and even at that level, it generates more mana than the initial models. It’s perfectly usable as is.
However, if I want to expand the capital and provide magic energy throughout the city, this isn’t enough. My plan, along with the Minister of Land Development, is to distribute magic tools widely among the citizens to improve their standard of living. A higher standard of living will lead to economic growth, which will strengthen the kKngdom’s finances. Then, by channeling the resulting profits to the nobles through Big brother, I can further reduce the pressure to join high society.
"You have such a scheming mind. As a royal, you’re a complete failure. You’re just dumping everything onto Gil."
"If I don’t, some people might start pushing me up instead. By clearly positioning myself below Big brother, I’m ensuring that his position remains secure."
I might have gone too far, though. For some reason, in Ostland, I’ve been treated like a saint. If left unchecked, some nobles might seriously try to make me queen.
"I have no intention of recommending you for the throne. It would just lead to nobles becoming even more arrogant."
"Exactly. Politics isn’t my forte. I prefer assigning roles based on ability, which means nobles will naturally gain more power. And trying to rule while doing research? That’s just absurd."
"But being an adventurer while researching is fine?"
"As long as I’m fighting weaker monsters, sure. I could never handle the kind of deadly battles Father gets into."
I’m at the level where I can easily take down small fry—capable of hunting flying dragons with ease. My high mobility allows me to take on large numbers. Essentially, adventuring is just a side job. Steady monster hunting is what the guild values most. The most profitable adventurers aren’t the ones who hunt big game but those who consistently bring in results. That’s the type the guild prefers.
So there’s no problem. But being queen? Impossible.
For a while, I stayed with Mother, but she eventually went for a walk in the castle. Pregnant women need light exercise. Maybe I should make a recording device so she can enjoy music.
"Today, we stabilized it at 53%."
"The spell formations are stable. At this rate, we’ll finish soon."
Eibon and my many clones stood before the magic furnace, casting spells to control it. We were testing different control magic methods and refining them into devices.
After checking on the progress, I headed to my personal lab, retrieved the necessary materials from my storage card, and resumed assembling the car.
"If we attach a lot of control-type magic tools, it will stabilize for the time being."
"But that makes it too large, which is a drawback, isn't it?"
While a magic furnace can be stabilized by making it super large, miniaturization is difficult. Without downsizing, it would reach the size of a nuclear power plant. Constructing a facility of that scale would be an extreme hassle, so efforts are focused on miniaturization.
"Well, keep going as is. If the worst comes to worst and we can't make it in time, we'll just limit the output and install it. Also, how's the fusion of magic gems? That includes magic crystal refining as well."
"The fusion of magic gems... an interesting experiment indeed. If successful, even trash-tier goblin magic gems could be put to good use. However, we're still at the stage of foundational theory. The clones perform it instinctively, so it will take some time to systematize it.
As for magic crystal refining, that was already a completed theory, so I made it myself."
It seems it will take a little more time to fuse small magic gems into a single large one.
On the other hand, the technology to create magic crystals from magic gems is already in practical use, and it appears that Eibon is setting up the necessary facilities in his spare time. Excellent.
Magic gems continue to be sent daily from the military to the Viceroy Merchant Union and the Technology Development Bureau, ensuring a plentiful supply of materials. However, I haven't entrusted this particular experiment to the Technology Development Bureau. They're simply not at that level yet. If they were to mishandle it and cause a runaway reaction, it would be a hassle to deal with.
After that, in my personal laboratory, I took out a card and extracted materials for a car, then began assembling the vehicle.
What do you think about this chapter?
