The Munchkin Princess Wants to Run Away Chapter 17

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Startled, Ivanna hurriedly apologized, bowing her head over and over. Each time she did, her forehead bumped against Cedric’s chest with a soft thud.

“It’s all right, so please—calm down!”

Cedric wrapped his arms tightly around Ivanna to calm her.

Startled by his touch, Ivanna struggled in his arms and ended up sitting on his stomach.

“Gasp?”

“Your Highness?!”

Hearing Ivanna’s scream from inside the tent, Anthony hurried in, only to stop short.

His startled brown eyes wavered for a moment before Ivanna’s cheeks instantly flushed bright red.

“Pardon me!”

No! Anthony, come back!

Ivanna stretched out her arm toward Anthony, who was leaving the tent with a delighted expression, before she could stop him.

“Phew.”

“Th-this is a misunderstanding…”

At Cedric’s low sigh, Ivanna fumbled for an excuse.

“I understand that the sudden situation startled you.”

The Duke seemed to be speaking a little faster than usual. That only made her more embarrassed.

After all, he couldn’t quite look her in the eye. His gaze kept drifting away from hers.

I need to escape first.

Ivanna sprang to her feet and tried to move aside, but her leg caught on Cedric’s body.

As she pitched forward, Cedric hurriedly caught her.

“A-are you all right?”

“Hic. Y-yes.”

I should just die. Cause of death: embarrassment.

Ivanna trembled, her face bright red.

“Are you going to stay like that? Ahem.”

A hint of laughter crept into his low voice as he cleared his throat. Ivanna, who had buried her face in the blanket, cautiously turned her head.

The Duke was covering his mouth with one hand, laughing as though he were in an awkward position.

His large hand concealed his smile, but his usually cold-looking gray eyes had curved slightly, brimming with amusement.

For a moment, Ivanna forgot all about her embarrassment and couldn’t take her eyes off Cedric’s smile.

Cedric carefully helped Ivanna to her feet.

“I didn’t realize it until this morning either, so… you’re not the only one at fault, Your Highness.”

After finishing his sentence, Cedric hesitated briefly before adding,

“So please, don’t worry about it too much.”

Then he headed straight for the bathroom.

“Ugh.”

The moment Cedric disappeared into the bathroom, Ivanna let out a low groan.

I’m doomed.

Of all things, I’d slept while clinging to the Duke!

What if he thinks I’m some kind of weirdo?!

She had spent the entire journey sleeping tensely, so this was the first time she had ended up pressed against him.

She swore she hadn’t had any intentions whatsoever!

At the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, Ivanna yanked the blanket over her head.

Please, just leave already.

Just as Ivanna wished, the Duke finished getting ready and announced that he would head out first before leaving the tent.

Ivanna failed to notice that the gaze Cedric cast toward the bed before leaving still held a trace of amusement.

 

***

 

“Is it safe to come out now?”

After quite some time had passed, Ivanna got up and made some noise to signal that she was ready to see people. Anthony then entered the tent.

“As expected, when a young man and woman are pressed together, something is bound to—”

“Anthony. Stop. It’s not like that.”

Seeing Anthony’s sly face brimming with anticipation, Ivanna quickly shook her head.

“I made a mistake because I was cold.”

“Really? But…”

The Duke’s face looked rather red, too.

At Ivanna’s horrified expression, Anthony narrowed his eyes.

She must be embarrassed.

Hohoho. In that case, I should pretend I didn’t notice.

Suppressing his laughter inwardly, Anthony decided to change the subject to spare Ivanna, who was still trying to recover from her embarrassment.

“It seems there’s been a problem because of how much it rained overnight.”

“What?!”

At Anthony’s words, Ivanna’s eyes widened.

Could it have been Your Highness who did this?

Ivanna hesitated under the questioning look he gave her. How could that be? She had carefully controlled her divine power to ensure that too much rain wouldn’t fall all at once.

“That can’t be…”

“They say that because it rained so heavily all of a sudden during the drought, a landslide occurred.”

“My goodness.”

As Anthony rapidly poured out the news, Ivanna covered her mouth.

No one said it would rain this much!

After silently protesting to the gods, Ivanna immediately asked,

“Is the damage serious?”

“A mountain along the road leading to the next village partially collapsed.”

Anthony watched Ivanna’s reaction carefully.

I’m doomed.

Couldn’t you have been a little more moderate? Just a little?!

Ivanna demanded an explanation from the gods. She was sure she hadn’t released that much of her power, so why had so much rain fallen?

She knew perfectly well that if you poured water onto dry ground, the earth couldn’t absorb it fast enough, and the soil would wash away.

That was why she had thought she’d controlled her power to make it rain just enough for the water to soak into the ground and for the villagers to have enough to use.

And yet, she had misused her divine power.

Ivanna’s face turned pale.

“Still, they say enough water has collected to last a month.”

Seeing how distressed Ivanna looked, Anthony added that it wasn’t all bad news, after all.

“A whole month?!”

“Yes. It rained enough to cause a landslide, after all. The reservoir the Duke hurriedly built yesterday is completely full.”

Ivanna, who had been blaming herself at the thought that people might have been injured, widened her eyes.

“The Duke built a reservoir yesterday?”

“Everyone is marveling at him, saying he must have the power of foresight.”

Anthony, the only one who knew the truth, pouted, thinking that everyone else was completely clueless.

It happened because Her Highness used her divine power. And now some innocent human is getting all the praise.

He grumbled that it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I feel like throwing open the tent flap and shouting the truth to everyone outside.”

“Please hold back for my sake.”

Horrified, Ivanna shook her head. She had no desire to have her divine power exposed and be dragged back into the imperial palace.

The imperial family would never leave someone with the power to end the drought alone.

And it wasn’t as though the Duke would protect her, either.

He might even use her return to the imperial palace as a bargaining chip to secure greater benefits for himself.

Anthony gazed at Ivanna sympathetically.

“Phew. Still, that’s a relief. What should we do about the landslide, though?”

Should she secretly use water to wash away the soil blocking the path from underneath? Ivanna began thinking about how to resolve the landslide.

To think her divine power could cause such trouble.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Ivanna rested her chin on her hand and fell into thought.

She worried briefly that stepping in might only earn her more criticism, but her guilt still wouldn’t go away.

“Get washed up first, then we’ll go outside.”

With Anthony ushering her into the bathroom, Ivanna slowly made her way inside.

 

***

 

“Hey! Watch out over there!”

“Hahaha! We can clear this much dirt in half a day!”

Even as they carried away piles of soil and tangled tree debris, none of the villagers seemed particularly unhappy about the work.

The rain that had fallen overnight had cut off the road connecting their village to the neighboring one. Fortunately, no one had been injured, and they were pleased that their drinking water and irrigation supplies had been replenished.

The reservoir the Duke had built was completely full.

With both preservation and purification magic cast on it, they wouldn’t have to worry about water shortages for at least a month.

“As expected, our Duke is the best. Problems get solved just because he shows up!”

“It feels like I can finally breathe now that it’s raining.”

The knights nearby listened to the villagers and chuckled.

Truthfully, they hadn’t been particularly enthusiastic about building a reservoir in the village at first.

But the situation had turned out to be far worse than the lord had reported, so they had no choice but to get to work.

And yet, who would have thought it would actually rain as soon as they finished building the reservoir?

“G-good morning, Your Highness! Please be careful!”

Just as everyone was cheerfully working, a sudden commotion broke out behind them.

When the knights turned around, they saw the princess holding a white parasol embroidered with floral patterns. She had arrived at the recovery site.

The villagers who had been shoveling dirt also straightened up and watched her approach.

It was the first time any of them had seen a member of the imperial family from such a close distance.

“I heard there was a landslide. Has anyone been injured?”

“They say no one was out and about during the night because of the heavy rain yesterday.”

“That’s a relief.”

Ivanna stopped walking at the knight’s flustered response and looked around.

Beside her, Ethan was greeting the knights with a friendly look.

“You’ve all worked hard because of what happened last night.”

After commending the workers, Ivanna let her gaze travel across the people at work before it settled on one particular spot.

“It looks like you’ve injured your hands. Are you all right?”

One of the villagers had been carrying piles of dirt without gloves, leaving his hands covered in cuts and scratches.

“T-these are just minor scrapes. They’ll heal in no time!”

The man who had caught her attention hurriedly bowed his head as he answered.

“Were there no gloves among the supplies?”

Ivanna asked the knight in charge of the work.

“This was unexpected, so we didn’t prepare any.”

“If people get injured, it will take longer to finish the repairs.”

“We’ll be done by tomorrow.”

The knight answered with a gentle smile in response to Ivanna’s concern.

“It can’t be helped, then. If anyone has been injured, make sure they receive treatment. And that tree looks dangerous, so it would be best to remove it in advance.”

She gestured toward a tree whose roots had been torn out, leaving it standing precariously. The knight acknowledged her request and instructed the workers accordingly.

“Then keep up the good work.”

Ivanna continued walking, doing her best to appear composed. She felt as though everyone’s eyes were following her back, but she never once turned around.