Surviving as an Illegitimate Princess

ldn’t keep up in front of a little girl.
There were even speculations that Sir Parciel was the king’s illegitimate son, all because of the princess …

“No, didn’t he go too far for something like that?”

Stella cheered: “To be honest, it’s disrespectful.
Sending her completely to the temple even though she didn’t possess the dignity or anything else that a princess should have.
God, what was father thinking?!”

“It sounds like a pretty good strategy”, spoke Aquila softly after taking a sip of the tea.

“A strategy? Whose strategy is that?”

“Who is there but the high priest.”

“Be… Belus-nim?” Stella leaned close to Aquila and whispered carefully: “After all, you don’t believe in her oracle, do you?”

“So.
Rather than believing in that, I believe in the gods of some distant eastern continent.”

“Ha… But what if that kid is really a ‘child of God’? To be honest, she is a child and it looks like she isn’t that religious.”

“That’s about the extent of what education can provide.
But…”, Aquila’s deep green eyes gleamed sharply, “I heard a very strange story from Judithium.”

“Juditium? The dungeon on the outskirts of the capital?”

“Yeah.
The kid’s adoptive parents and their son were brought there.
They said she knew how to use magic!”

“What? She’s only four years old?! Even Triss, who used to be the genius of the century, only developed mana sensitivity at the age of seven…”

“Yeah, she used the image stone to prove that she was abused.
However, before the image stone can record by infusing it with mana, the stone must first be turned into a magic tool.
That’s something that no great genius of any century would be able to do at this age.
“

“…Then what is it?”

“Is it the work of the high priest? First, he obtained a sympathy vote to win father’s favor, and then pushed him out with fake oracles and pietism to put him under the full control of the temple.
Now that he knows how to use magic, he spreads it.
He’s going to solidify his position!”

“Then you mean he’s working together with Sir Parciel? After all, he too belongs to the temple…”

Aquila said firmly: “Anyway, I can’t wait to see their attempts to make the royal family their puppet.
Their power has already grown so much because of our father… Once the balance is broken, it takes only a moment for them to gain full control.”

Stella’s expression became serious.
In the last few days, her stress has reached its peak.
She admires her clever older sister, who has the same hair color and eye color as herself.
Finally, she got close to the place she deserves, but a stone rolled in and is now trying to get in her way.
Not only that, but now Stella realized that the stone was the seed of a great disaster that could even overthrow the Santra dynasty.

“It can’t be.
Older sister often says she’s not interested in succession, but no one can deny that she’s the best fit for the position! There will be no one in this kingdom, who can beat my beloved sister’s right for the thrown of the country, she cares so deeply about!”

“Thank you for saying that, Stella.
But I’m not really greedy for it”, said Aquila while grinning.

“Still, it’s hard for this aunt to see her poor niece playing in their hands.”

What’s this about that bastard sissy? As Aquila heard Stella’s disgruntled murmurs, she puts down her teacup: “First of all, we should put to rest the nonsense about her being a child of God.”

༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

After that morning, as expected, Phaeon stopped going to the dining room.

‘H would rather starve than meet me!’

Sierra comforted me as I repeated that every day when I looked for him in the dining room and was depressed to find out he wasn’t there: “Princess, don’t be so upset.
Sir Parciel … um he… he’s busy and can’t come.”

“No.
Papa … doesn’t like Asha.”

thud!

The three priests’ faces turned pale at the bombshell1 remark.

“Oh, Princess! Hating you…? Is there anyone who doesn’t like the Princess?”

“You’re implying that Asha is a sinner.”

“She’s not a sinner!”

“Papa knows that Asha is in the temple, so he’s avoiding Asha because he doesn’t like me.”

As I mumbled sadly, the three priests left the room and discussed quietly: “Sierra unnie, please.
You are the closest to him…”

“What are you talking about? I only spoke a word or two with him during the war…!”, Sierra was upset and protested.
But after a few more words, Sierra eventually turned her back on them.

‘Can Sierra do it?’

༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

“Lord Parciel, it’s not difficult.”

“Again, no”, despite Sierra’s earnest request, Phaeon remained stubborn, “It’s so difficult to eat together at least one meal a day…”

Sierra sighed and added: “What is it about the princess? It’s clear that she has imprinted on Sir Parciel.
It’s like a duckling thinking that the first person they see is their parent.
You were the one who saved the princess from that terrible situation, Sir Parciel.
You are serving Lord Lux so eagerly, so, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable, can’t you just be a little more careful?”

“Then we have to keep away from each other even more.
If that condition lasts for a long time, it’s not good for either of us.”

At his brick-and-mortar-like persistence, Sierra heated up and uttered words she would have never said normally: “… In fact, are you ashamed of getting mad at the princess?”

“!”

Phaeon’s face turned a little red, but he quickly regained his composure.

“If there is nothing more to say, I will leave.”

At that moment, a young knight in a white knight uniform hurried towards them: “I… Commander, did you hear about the rumors?”