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This way, please, says a kind looking maid, guiding me. Shes wearing an embroidered blue dress that looks absolutely lovely on her. Considering its quality, I think she must be hold a pretty high ranking position within the servants here.

Speaking of which. what am I even doing here? Right now, Im walking through the kings estate the royal palace.

What could the king have called me here for I wonder? It never seems to be a good thing when His Majesty pays me a visit, and now hes actually summoning me.

He couldnt be thinking of telling me to become Liz-sans slave this time, right? ..Id definitely have to decline that sort of request.

Regardless of what he called me for though, its interesting to be able to see what sort of place the king of this nation is living in. Its almost too extravagant.

The ceilings are dizzyingly tall, the hallways are too long to be convenient, and everywhere I look there are so many high-end paintings, sculptures, and other collectors items that I cant even look at them all. Im becoming tired by the mere sensory overload of it.

Here we are, the maid announces, stopping in front of a pair of double doors that are each easily three times my size. In front them, two stern looking guards stand sentry.

Id really like to ask them why they decided to make these doors so needlessly large. And also, why are there guards here? For this room to be so tightly guarded and to have an entrance like this, could this room be.. a dragons!?

Then, if youll please excuse me, the maid continues. She executes a perfectly manicured curtsy, gracefully bowing her head to me, and then she turns on her heel and starts walking smoothly back the way we had just come.

Ah, dont leave me. Take me with you. I dont want to be here either!

I already know that the thing waiting for me behind this door isnt a dragon. I know its actually the king. I know that. But I wish it was a dragon. A dragon would be a hundred times better.

The two guards each grab one of the doors and they slowly pull them open.

Seeing how sluggishly the doors are sliding, they must be quite heavy. Just like the weight bearing down on my chest right now.

I take in a big breath to try to calm my heart, readying myself for whats to come. And then I dont think about it anymore.

Excuse me, I say, bobbing a light curtsy before stepping through the doors.

Once through, they slowly shut behind me, but I dont even notice. Im too focused on the ridiculous sight before me.

Just how big is this room? You could hold a 50 meter dash in here with plenty room for spectators on both ends. And theres a table so long you must have to shout in order to be heard on the opposite side.

At the head of that ridiculously long table sits the king. With its current orientation, he has his back to the interior of the room, so hes looking directly at me. Next to him on either side of the table sit the five heads of the top noble families as well as.. Liz-san!?

Why is Liz-san here?

And shes sitting next to Duke-Sama? As a commoner, shouldnt she normally be at the opposite end of the table?

Shes completely disregarding my brothers, Gayle-Sama, Curtis-Sama, Eric-Sama, and Finn-Sama and throwing social etiquette out the window by sitting there. As expected of the heroine. Only she would have the audacity to sit next to a prince in the royal palace as a mere peasant.

But, that aside, what exactly is going on? What sort of meeting are we having here?

Alicia, theres something that I want to ask you.

..No. Dont wanna. Judging by the current atmosphere, Im sure nothing good will come out of this for me.

If only Gilles was here. At least then Id feel much more at ease. But I was clearly told to come alone.

Durans economy collapsed, the kings says in a low, dignified tone. Although he didnt speak loudly, his words still feel like they resound throughout the room.

Durans economy collapsed? Thats not really what I was expecting to hear, but thats great. Just as I had predicted.

How did you know this was going to happen? Johan-Sama asks, his gaze fixated on me.

..I dont believe Ive mentioned thinking that their economy would collapse before. So how did he know? Can he read my mind?

Isnt that what you wrote on the blackboard three years ago? You know. The blackboard in the academys old library? That day, you wrote down a method for us to subjugate Ravaal, and one of the steps was to buy out Duran. Thats why we figured that Ali-chan must have already predicted that Durans economy would collapse, Curtis-Sama kindly explains to me.

Oh, so thats how he knew. Phew. Just knowing that Johan-Sama isnt someone that can read peoples minds makes me feel a lot better.

This seems like a golden opportunity to freely show off my villainess skills in front of all these bigshots.

Well? How did you know?

Oh Johan-Sama, must you always be so demanding when you ask me things? Its quite scary. Im just a thirteen-year-old girl, you know?

Instead of further trying to intimidate me, I wish youd recognize just how much bravery I had to muster to come here on my own.

I take in a quick, deep breath before answering.

Thats because there was a discrepancy between their productivity and their purchasing power.

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T/N: Well guys, its finally here. This was the last chapter for my month of updates. I hope you dont mind this cliffhanger too, too much! I was thinking of trying to do one more to get away from the cliffhanger entirely, but the next chapter is twice as long as usual and I just dont think I can do it lol. Ive already been struggling a bit to keep up these last few days, so I think Im just going to leave it here. But that means when I come back in two or three weeks, Ill be able to welcome you all back with an extra long chapter So thats good, right? XD

Thanks for all the comments and likes this month! They made all my efforts worth it!! Hopefully Ill see yall when Im back from break ^^