“Did you hear the rumors?”

“What rumors?”

“The ones about how Her Imperial Highness, Princess Elizabeth, is on a secret mission in the Empire.”

“The Imperial Princess? No way… There’s so many people, how could someone like that take on a secret mission?”

“Who knows. But it could be part of the strict Empress’ education plan… But anyway, I heard that because of her secret mission, all the countryside lords are really vigilant and careful.”

“Is that why this month’s forced labor wasn’t enforced here?”

“It’s reasonable.”

Elizabeth traveling in secret, also aptly described as running away, had already spread throughout the Lester Empire.

The lords of the provincial territories kept a careful eye on their territory in case there were any issues while the citizens hoped to get a glimpse of the Imperial princess. In the case of young men, they were uselessly wondering whether they might have a fateful chance encounter with the beautiful princess and fall in love. But none of them knew the real reason why Imperial princess Elizabeth ran away from home.

“It’s extremely hard to find a husband.”

When Elizabeth sighed from inside the carriage, a young knight spoke up from next to it.

“If you really wanted to find a husband, why didn’t you attend the blind date party Her Imperial Majesty was hosting, Your Highness?”

“No, no way, Rick.”

Princess Elizabeth shrugged as she spoke.

“All those men came because of my beauty and power.”

“I can’t disagree.”

“Right? I know that there’s a lot of people who get married like that, but it’s not like I’m lacking something that I have to have a marriage of convenience, right?”

“I see.”

The reason behind a political marriage was to either fill a power void or because they needed a political partner. However, considering the authority and power of the current Imperial House of Lester, she didn’t need a political partner.

No, there might even be other issues if she partnered with a man who was somewhat powerful. In that sense, the most suitable to become Elizabeth’s spouse was an ordinary nobleman who had little power.

“If I return to the Imperial capital like this, I really will have to marry whichever man mom sets me up with. That’s why I can’t go back without finding a man to marry.”

“Knowing Her Imperial Majesty’s personality… Yes, I suppose so, Your Highness.”

Rick genuinely agreed with her.

From outside the carriage, another knight knocked on the window before speaking.

“Your Highness, it seems like we’ll be arriving at the next city pretty soon.”

“Alright. Tommy, what did you say the next city was?”

“It’s Liatrie, Your Highness. It’s an industrial city in the northern region that developed at a rapid pace.”

“That’s right. It’s the city that suddenly became densely populated when the coal mines were developed.”

“Yes, you know a lot, Your Highness.”

“Of course I do. Who do you think allocated the budget to push for the industrialization of that city?”

Although she had never left the Imperial capital, it had been Elizabeth who managed the Empire from behind her desk, so of course she would have some knowledge about the city she was heading towards.

“It’s different looking at the information on documents and actually looking at it with my own eyes. I’ll take this opportunity to look into it properly.

At those words, Rick spoke up.

“Wasn’t the purpose of this secret mission to find a groom, Your Highness?”

“Ah, well, I’ll do that at the same time…”

“……”

“I’m sure there’s a fateful encounter that’s waiting for me somewhere. Just like my mother and father. Don’t you think so?”

Milton and Leila’s first meeting had been as a borrower and lender, not the most beautiful of meetings. But sometimes, parents hide the truth.

“That’s true, Your Highness. Their meeting is famous for being the definition of a fateful encounter.”

“Right? It’s a romance story that would be popular in everything, from novels to comedies. Aren’t I right?”

Occasionally, the people may even find out about the distorted truth.

Just then, another knight knocked on the carriage window from outside.

“Miss, we’ll be arriving in the city soon.”

“Really? We got here faster than I thought we would. We have to hide our identity and sneak in. You know that, right Tommy?”

“Yes, I do.”

The knight outside the carriage let out a sigh.

As a side note, Rick and Tommy weren’t the knights’ real names.

After the death of Rick Storie and Tommy Croix, Milton had personally nurtured their successors in order to have their name left behind in the Forrest family for generations. He found the most talented young men and personally trained them with Jerome. And once they reached the stage of an Expert at a young age, they inherited the names Rick and Tommy.

In other words, these two were the second generation Rick and Tommy.

Milton had also commanded that as long as the Forrest family lived, Rick and Tommy’s names were to be passed down to the next generation. It was Milton’s own way of rewarding his close friends, and loyal knights, who had staked their own lives to protect Milton’s family.

And seeing how Elizabeth was escorted by the 2nd generation, there was no doubt about their skills or loyalty. It could even be said that them escorting Elizabeth as she ran away was the side effect of their loyalty to her.

Elizabeth and her guards arrived in Liatrie smoothly.

Of course, they had fake identities prepared in advance. Elizabeth’s fake identity was that of a young Viscountess Lianna Boris. She was a young Viscountess from the countryside who looked like she had a lot of money but didn’t know much about the world. No one but her knew why she picked such an identity.

“Let’s take a look at the market first.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Elizabeth, now Lianna, visited the market of Liatrie. Going to the market and looking at how abundant the products were and how much things cost was great in helping her understand the conditions of a city.

“Hm… It’s better than I expected?”

Fortunately, from what Elizabeth could see, the city of Liatrie was in good shape. There were plenty of supplies and products and the prices were reasonable. The people walking around the streets looked healthy and the conditions of their clothes weren’t bad. It was proof that the city was functioning properly.

“Considering how rapidly it developed, this isn’t bad at all. The city’s security also looks pretty good.”

The moment Elizabeth said this…

“Ooh… this… this… is this what people mean by being blinded?”

“This is amazing. Just where did this beauty come from?”

A group of thugs appeared in front of Elizabeth.

“Guess I need to reevaluate their security.”

Elizabeth sighed as she muttered to herself.

Truthfully, no matter how well you try to maintain security, it is impossible to completely eradicate thugs like these. They were like cockroaches and even if you thought they were completely gone, they’re bound to reappear from somewhere and wander around again.

However, it was a problem that these thugs were harassing a woman in the middle of the market in broad daylight.

And…

“She’s pretty impressive. I’d have no other wish if I could sleep with a girl like this.”

Their lines were an even bigger problem. If it got into Milton’s ear, the city’s leaders would be beheaded, one after the other.

“These bastards…”

“Who do you think she is? How dare you talk to her like that?”

Naturally, Elizabeth’s knights Rick and Tommy stepped forward. They had been commanded to not step up without an order as much as possible, but if they continued to stay still, they might be killed by Milton later.

“She looks like a lady from a noble house… But if you act like that around here, you’ll get hurt.”

“Do you know who’s behind us? Huh?”

Even though it was clear that Rick and Tommy were knights at a glance, the thugs weren’t afraid. But then again, they were thugs who were harassing Elizabeth, who had dressed up like a noble, and her two knights. That meant they knew this and did it anyway.

“Don’t you know that a noble’s authority doesn’t mean anything in the northern part of the country?”

“That’s right. This is a place where it’s ruled by laws.”

“Hahahahaha…”

It’s a bit funny, but a characteristic of these particular thugs was that they unexpectedly knew a bit about laws.

“The Parliament’s Laws? Does local law say it’s okay to harass a lady?”

When Elizabeth spoke as if she found them all pathetic, one of the thugs responded.

“A fist is better than laws.”

“You’re right. Hahaha…”

It’s always a problem when someone only knows what is beneficial for them.

“There’s no need to listen to them any further.”

Elizabeth signalled Rick and Tommy. Now that they didn’t have to endure it anymore, the two of them moved immediately in response.

“You’re all dead, you piece of **s.”

“Ha, you’re joking. Who do you think… keugh…”

Smack!

They didn’t need to hear anything else.

Starting with Rick’s first punch, Rick and Tommy steadily dealt with the thugs.

“Ke… these bastards are… gah!”

“Pretty good. But we’re also… keugh!”

“I’m not going to go easy on you anymore… ack! Ugh.. gu.. Wait… wait…”

Even as they were being beaten like this, they continued to speak like thugs.

Elizabeth smirked.

“They’re like prime examples of a terrible villain.”

The problem was, even though they were like second rate villains, the reaction of the people around them were not very good.

“Ah… if they…”

“They shouldn’t do… what’re they going to do…”

Considering the fact that they were second rate villains, the people around them seemed nervous.

‘I don’t think they’re that scary… I guess they really do have someone backing them.’

Elizabeth immediately understood the situation. And then…

“Rick.”

“Yes? Did you call for me, Miss?”

Rick had grabbed a man by the collar and was beating him up, but he responded quickly to Elizabeth’s call.

“Bring him over.”

“Yes, Miss.”

With his grip on the thug’s collar, Rick dragged him over to Elizabeth.

She spoke to the thug whose face was beginning to swell.

“Who’s behind you guys?”

“Keu… if you know… you’ll be greatly surprised…”

“Rick.”

Elizabeth signaled him

Then…

Smack! Pow! Crack!

“Keughhh!”

After kicking him in the head once, Rick broke one ankle and kicked in a kneecap.

Elizabeth spoke again with a cold smile.

“As you can see, my guards are hot-tempered. So it’ll be better for you to answer my questions carefully.”

The thug screamed in agony silently as he nodded. He had finally realized that this person wasn’t to be underestimated.

“You’ve been messing around because you have someone backing you. Who is it? You have an influential man in this city backing you?”

The thug looked around before speaking.

“If my… Big Brother knows… guh… he won’t leave you alone…girl”

Smack!

“Miss.”

He had tried to be informal, but it was in vain; he got hit again.

“Stop spouting useless lines… So you’re saying that your backing is a gutter rat boss?”

Elizabeth smiled when she found out that the city’s parliament wasn’t connected to these thugs.

But she couldn’t ignore what he said next.

“My Big Brother was a member of the Ghosts in the past. He’ll never let you go when he finds out about this!”

“…Ghost?”

This made things a bit different.