The Munchkin Princess Wants to Run Away – Chapter 13

Author: isuzuuy

“So I have another person watching me now?”

Anthony said, his face crumpling in dismay.

“It can’t be helped. I suppose it was inevitable.”

If she told the two of them that her outings, overnight stays, and even the trading company had been discovered, they would undoubtedly tell her to run away immediately.

Anthony could be a little too impulsive and rash.

He couldn’t stand uncertain or unreasonable situations. That was why Anthony had gotten into more arguments with the administrators than anyone else.

It had gotten so bad that whenever the budget execution date approached, the administrators would take time off just to keep their hair from being pulled out.

I can’t exactly pull the duke’s hair out.

It was impossible, of course, but she briefly imagined the duke with a bald head.

Somehow, she thought he would still look good that way. The sight of the duke looking so composed the previous day refused to leave her mind.

Looks aren’t everything.

Ivanna shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts away.

“Now that I have an escort, I really should refrain from going out for a while.”

“I’ll continue coming and going as frequently as before.”

Solar nodded as though she understood.

“Ahhh. The good old days are over.”

“Just be patient for a little while. Even if I can’t visit the trading company, I should still be able to go outside.”

Now that someone was keeping an eye on her, she would also have to be more careful about using her divine power.

It couldn’t be helped. Ivanna signaled toward the door, then withdrew her divine power.

If there were no sounds coming from inside for too long, someone might find it strange.

“Isn’t it too much to suddenly announce that we’re visiting the territory in fifteen days?”

Anthony grumbled loudly enough for the escort standing outside to hear, complaining that it was unreasonable to announce the escort appointment and travel schedule so abruptly.

The butler hadn’t just brought Ethan. He had also delivered the schedule for their visit to the ducal territory.

“After our marriage, we agreed to visit his territory when he had some free time, so it can’t be helped.”

Without realizing it, Ivanna defended the duke and smiled awkwardly.

He must have brought up the schedule when he happened to run into her yesterday.

He’s a busy man, after all.

He barely had time to pay attention to the person in the next room, did he? Ivanna pouted.

“Would you care for some more tea?”

Anthony held a teapot in one hand and adopted a languid posture while speaking in an elegant voice. Everyone struggled to hold back their laughter.

“Yes, please.”

Ivanna answered primly, suppressing her laughter, and wrote in the air with water.

[Inform Elisa of the schedule for our departure to the territory.]

After confirming the instruction, Solar rose from her seat.

“It will be a long journey, so we should prepare the things we’ll need.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Having naturally found an excuse to go out, Solar left the room. They wouldn’t assign someone to watch her own servants, too.

If the duke, who already knew about her movements, had planted someone in the trading company, there was nothing she could do about it.

Ivanna exhaled softly and straightened her posture. If Ethan, a high-ranking knight, was a Sword Master, his senses would be sharp enough to pick up even the slightest sound.

A Sword Master’s senses were keen.

Since she had no idea how much he could detect, Ivanna had no choice but to behave herself.

***

He talks way too much!!

A few days later, Ivanna sat on the reception room sofa, forcing herself to keep her back straight as she felt it about to collapse.

“And that’s how I defeated everyone and was selected as the escort for Her Highness the Princess—no, I mean, the Duchess.”

“You must be the most skilled knight in the order, then.”

“Of course! Hahaha. I’m probably the strongest knight in the order after His Grace the Duke.”

Ivanna forced the corners of her mouth upward at his proud declaration.

She had already heard seven variations of more or less the same story.

Anthony, standing behind the knight, looked as though he was dying of boredom.

The whole thing had started simply enough.

A few days after Ethan had been appointed as her escort, two more escorts had been assigned to her. One of them was Stevan, Solar’s older brother.

Ethan guarded her while she was awake, while the other escorts took turns watching over her at night.

The mistake had been inviting Ethan, who stood guard outside the reception room and her bedroom, to come inside because she felt bad leaving him at the door when she was only moving between those two rooms.

She should have just stayed comfortably inside her room.

Her decision had been influenced by the fact that Ethan and the others would be protecting her during the journey to the ducal territory as well.

Anthony had opposed the idea, but Solar had agreed.

They would be traveling through the duke’s territory to inspect his lands rather than using a teleportation magic circle.

Given that, she had decided it would be best to make a good impression on her escorts, even if she didn’t go so far as to show them special favor.

“How much longer do I have to listen to this?”

When Ethan’s tales of his own exploits showed no sign of ending, Anthony asked in a small, despairing voice from behind them.

Ivanna simply couldn’t bring herself to stop Ethan from talking.

To be honest, she found it interesting.

Until now, her only conversation partners had been Anthony, Solar, and Elisa.

Before meeting Elisa, she had spoken with other people while arranging contracts for the trading company.

But those conversations had been strictly business. After entrusting Elisa with the trading company, Ivanna had taken charge of handling the paperwork.

The idea had been to be careful not to reveal her identity as a princess.

If I’d known this was what it would be like, I never would have wanted to be a princess.

“So, does that mean you’re the captain of the knights?”

“Huh?”

For the first time, Ivanna asked a question while listening to Ethan enthusiastically ramble on.

“Oh, no. I’m not the captain.”

“You said you were the most skilled knight in the order, didn’t you?”

Wasn’t the most skilled person supposed to become the captain? Ethan didn’t look much older than she was.

“Well, that’s true, but I’m a little too young for the position. Hahaha.”

Seeing no sign that the princess intended to mock him, Ethan scratched his head and laughed.

She really likes hearing about me more than I expected.

He swallowed a groan inwardly.

He had deliberately been recycling variations of the same stories for several days, but the princess showed no sign of being bored.

Unless members of the royal family were trained to listen happily even to tedious stories, there was no way her eyes could sparkle like that throughout the entire conversation.

Ethan decided to acknowledge the little twinge in his chest.

The princess was nothing like the rumors circulating in high society.

Perhaps all the stories told by people who claimed to have served the princess when she was young, as well as the gossip spread by busybodies, were nothing but lies.

He knew that a person couldn’t be judged solely by the way they listened to a story, but at the very least, he could tell that the princess wasn’t someone who looked down on others.

“You must be tired of hearing the same stories over and over. Would you like me to tell you about the time I was dispatched to the Tritan border instead?”

At his words, Ivanna’s eyes widened.

“The ducal knights are dispatched to the border as well? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Not often, but the knights’ orders of various noble houses are sent out on assignments.”

Ivanna perked up her ears at this new information.

Ethan scratched his cheek when he saw the princess lean forward slightly.

It was something everyone knew, yet she showed interest even in such an ordinary story, as though it were something entirely new.

“When did you go to the border?”

“Oh, I returned yesterday. I was able to finish my previous assignment and return after being appointed as your escort.”

Yesterday? So Cedric had been telling the truth when he said Ethan had already been selected as her escort.

“I’m sorry I returned a little late. I was stationed in another region.”

Ethan shrugged and acted rather flippantly. Anthony grimaced at the sight.

Ivanna struggled to suppress a laugh at the contrast between the two. Ethan had only just returned from the border. There was something she absolutely needed to hear from him.

“You must be exceptionally skilled to have been entrusted with such a mission.”

“That’s right!”

“But the border should be quiet these days. It must be terribly boring for knights to be stationed there when there’s nothing to do.”

Ivanna deliberately asked as though she were an uninformed young lady, casually inquiring whether anything was happening along the peaceful borders of the empire.

“Not at all. Things have been rather unusual at the border lately.”

“Are you saying a war might break out?”

“That remains to be seen.”

When Ethan winked at her, Ivanna covered her mouth.

The information about a possible war was actually true.

She had suspected as much, but the situation was more serious than she had expected.

“Is that true? I don’t think you should be telling me something so important. Don’t joke about things like that.”

Ivanna deliberately put on a serious expression as she spoke.

“What reason would I have to lie to Your Grace?”

At Ethan’s nonchalant response, Ivanna narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

“You must be making fun of me because I don’t know anything.”

She deliberately pressed her lips together. Then she subtly mixed in a little truth.