Chapter 173

You Won’t Fool Anyone So Easily (1)
While Alicetia was working as an adventurer in Ostland, Gilbert was handling government affairs at the castle.

Currently, Gilbert was the only royal involved in governance. Draconia, the king, had taken the army and marched into the monster domain, laying waste to it, and Sylvia had been exempt from duties due to her pregnancy. All the burden had thus fallen on Gilbert… but the kingdom’s nobility evaluated Gilbert's political skills as superior to any royal in history.

Using the rights and benefits brought back by Alicetia, he skillfully balanced carrots and sticks, removing corrupt nobles who couldn’t be eliminated due to political reasons and replacing them with capable ones. He silenced opposition by distributing benefits, even drawing them into his own faction.

The nobility trembled. “His Highness is already terrifying, but when he teams up with the princess, they’re completely unstoppable,” they said in resignation.

Thanks to this, corruption decreased, and his approval rating among the citizens was steadily rising. He wasn’t as impactful a presence as Alicetia, but his influence was undeniable.

Even so, Gilbert had recently developed a headache.

“Do they not understand the concept of ‘remorse’?”

The Noble Council, which constantly hindered political progress, was a recurring pain. Also known as the Detention Center.

Originally a body that temporarily gained power, it had since turned into a dumping ground for the incompetent—an obstacle that did nothing but criticize and incite against the government.

However, after they self-destructed by picking a fight with Alicetia, they were spat on by the people, and their top officials, including the chairman, were stripped of their noble status.

They quieted down… for about a month.

Now, they were in an uproar day and night over Alicetia’s contributions.

“The princess handing over donations to the government is clearly bribery!”

“This is nothing but an act to strengthen the princess’s power! It must be stopped at once!”

So they shouted shamelessly, drawing exasperated stares from those around them.

Normally, this might have sparked some demonstrations, but due to the widespread knowledge of the Council’s incompetence, even activists stopped moving. They probably didn’t want to be seen as part of the same group. While there were some Council-funded activists, most had originally been motivated by concerns for the kingdom’s future. But with Arland’s economy currently booming, complaints had decreased, and the activists had turned into workers. Thanks to that, the Noble Council’s influence had weakened even further.

“If they were capable of remorse, they wouldn’t have lost their lands and titles and been sent to the Council.”

“Sigh… What a nuisance… But this will be the end of it.”

Gilbert turned his attention to a document outlining a new bill. It was called the “New Nobility Law”.

Currently, nobles are born as nobles. Unless they commit some serious crime, they never lose their noble status.

However, that negatively impacts the kingdom’s finances and doesn’t guarantee that capable nobles will produce capable successors. On the contrary, some grow arrogant because of their birth and end up incompetent.

Gilbert put a stop to that. The new bill stipulated that any family that failed to hold a post or territory for two generations would lose their noble status. That was the new law.

The Noble Council had originally been created by nobles with positions or lands who wanted to protect the rights of their children and grandchildren.

Even if the person themselves was competent, their child or grandchild might not be. To preserve their family, they had formed a distorted organization.

From Gilbert’s perspective, that was just “Stop making excuses,” and he cut through it with a single phrase. He had been putting pressure on the nobles, saying, “If your sons are hopeless, educate your grandsons yourselves. That, I’ll permit.” The bill’s passage was already a certainty.

With this law, the Noble Council would be dissolved, and its members would become nobles with no posts.

Most of the Council’s members hadn’t held a post for generations. The few who did, like the chairman, inherited their roles—meaning they were mostly just legislators. But being a legislator wasn’t considered an official post. As it stood, they were headed for demotion to commoners. Of course, Gilbert wouldn’t immediately strip them of their noble status. He intended to observe them for a set period and elevate any who showed motivation.

However, they were far too rotten.

“Thanks to Alice, I can efficiently weed out the incompetent. The kingdom’s financial reconstruction is advancing, and public dissatisfaction is easing. I can’t stop laughing.”

Gilbert chuckled darkly.

“They’re raising cries of resentment, though.”

The Prime Minister sighed. He was the one who had to deal with them. It was unbearably troublesome.

At that moment, a knight burst into the office without even knocking.

“An emergency! There's been an intruder in the treasure vault—!”

Before they could scold him for the breach of decorum, one thought hit both Gilbert and the Prime Minister.

“No way! We’re in trouble! National secrets might have leaked. We must inspect the site immediately, find the intruder’s trail, and execute them in secret!”

Gilbert and the Prime Minister bolted out of the room. The knight’s report didn’t end there, but the treasure vault contained Arland’s national secrets.

Namely, Draconia’s crown.

The truth was, the gemstone in Draconia’s crown was a fake glass bead. It had been cleverly disguised and was only noticeable up close, but if word got out, Arland’s shame would spread across the continent. Especially the central nations—they’d ridicule it endlessly.

Why was the crown jewel fake? Because it had been sold due to lack of funds. During Alicetia’s birth celebration, they simply didn’t have enough money.

“You should’ve just bought a real one later and replaced it.”

The Prime Minister complained while running.

“There was no helping it. Father left it in the treasure vault outside of official events because it was a nuisance.”

Even Gilbert hadn’t expected someone to sneak into the treasure vault during the day—much less through the heavy security loaded with Alicetia-made magic tools. He rushed to capture the intruder and begin interrogation to find out how they got in, already running through several possible responses.

“There’s still a chance the intruder is inside the castle. Increase Alice’s guards.”

“W-Wait—”

“Just do it, now!”

They absolutely had to avoid the possibility of Alicetia being kidnapped. Inside the castle, Alicetia was almost entirely off guard (about the only thing she could sense was the approach of Madame or Sylvia), and could be lured away with sweets. If someone could bypass the security set up around her magic tools, they might be able to abduct her.

Servants unfamiliar with the situation gasped in surprise as they saw Gilbert and the others rush by, quickly making way.

Soon, they arrived at the treasure vault. Many knights should have already begun investigating the scene—but they were all standing at the entrance, tilting their heads.

Gilbert, puzzled, addressed them.

“Did you find any trace of the intruder?”

A knight saluted and reported.

“No, we’ve only identified a suspect.”

Gilbert was impressed that they had already narrowed it down to a suspect.

“You’ve figured that much out?”

“There’s only one person in all of Arland who would do such a thing… However, they’ve perfectly erased any evidence, so we can’t formally accuse them…”

Apparently, there was no proof. Why, then, did they think they knew who it was?

“If you’re sure they did it, just torture them and extract a confession.”

At that, the knight flinched.

“Well… the suspect is… the princess. And nothing was stolen from the treasure vault.

Rather, the treasure vault is now filled with treasure. Also, no matter how skilled, no torturer can torture the princess… they all respect her.”

“What?”

“Please look inside. Only the princess would pull off such a prank.”

The knight stepped aside, and Gilbert entered the treasure vault. It was no longer the empty room it usually was. Gold, silver, and jewels littered the floor like trash, forming piles in places.

There had never been so much treasure in Arland’s treasure vault in the kingdom’s history—that much was certain.

“… Did the guards not see anything?”

“They were momentarily distracted due to the Beast Run.”

The “Beast Run” referred to a weekly occurrence in Arland’s royal castle—a massive migration of magic beasts. Alicetia’s magic beast pets were generally allowed to roam freely in the castle. But to them, the castle was too cramped. As a result, they often ran through the halls. It was an incredibly annoying phenomenon, but it had never resulted in any damage or injuries. It was just like a big walk.

“Shouldn’t it be caught on the surveillance cameras?”

“We checked the footage, but nothing appeared.

According to the magicians, since the cameras were made by the princess, she might have tampered with them. It’s just a possibility. The camera technology is far beyond our own, so we can’t say for sure.”

“Yeah. This is definitely Alice’s doing. No one else would do something like this.”

“Exactly…”

The knights chuckled wryly while Gilbert pressed a hand to his forehead.

She was clearly telling them to use the treasure for the kingdom’s finances. Knowing the Noble Council had been annoying lately, her intentions were clear.

However, the real issue was “where” she had acquired all this treasure. It was obviously too much.

She hadn’t consulted anyone probably because she found it troublesome. Gilbert’s sister complex was strong enough to read Alicetia’s thoughts.

“Well then… I’ll go ask her directly.”

“Please do. We can’t interrogate her without evidence… and if we did, the beastfolk would get noisy.”

Without any evidence, interrogating her will only bring out beastfolk who are devout followers of Alicetia’s. Dealing with them is too troublesome. They don't make sense. Among them, Alicetia is already considered an angel. Words don't reach fanatics.

Gilbert rushed out with only a few guards.

“Ali—------ce!'"

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