LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 18
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Salt royal palace was darker than ever before.
“How dare you make such a mistake?”
The enraged shout of King Verga of Salt echoed throughout the Sapphire Hall.
Summoned by the king’s order early that morning, the administrators stood with their heads bowed in shame.
Even Lemeia, standing beside her furious father, couldn’t hide her gloomy expression.
“Are your heads just for decoration? You couldn’t even distinguish a single seal design properly!”
Rip!
The document, crumpled beyond recognition and thrown to the floor by Berga, was the trade certificate that Grand Duke Blaire had shown to April.
A man who rarely displayed such anger, preferring to criticize with dignity, now seemed unable to contain his fury.
And justifiably so—this was a textbook case of an irreparable loss caused by a fundamental yet catastrophic oversight.
The root of the problem lay with administrators who, accustomed to exchanging documents with Kleitan, had approved a seal from an unknown merchant guild without proper scrutiny.
The goods disappeared without a trace during transport to Kleitan. The missing cargo? None other than wheat, whose price had recently skyrocketed.
This detail only added to Verga’s mounting stress.
“Your Majesty, Kleitan has promised to do their utmost to track down the culprit…”
“And when will that be? A year later? Three years later?”
“Well, they are a great empire, so surely—”
“You wouldn’t be trying to tell me that this ‘great empire’ is not trying to starve me and my people, would you?”
The middle-aged administrator, who had been attempting to appease the king, fell silent, unable to retrieve even a shred of his dignity.
Sadly, the king of Salt was not wrong.
Though Kleitan had made a grand declaration to apprehend the culprit, there was no guarantee they were not complicit in this fraud.
“…Idiots.”
King Berga’s fury reached a critical point, and his voice grew eerily calm.
“We… We have committed an unpardonable crime!”
Thud!
Sensing no escape, the administrators began kneeling and begging for mercy one after another.
If they quietly accepted the blame, perhaps the king would reluctantly pardon them for Lemeia’s sake.
But there’s always one person who lacks awareness.
“But this is unfair! The document was approved by Princess Lemeia herself!”
“Gasp!”
“What?!”
The speaker was a young administrator who had previously asked Lemeia to review the document.
And so, a chilling silence filled the air.
It was clear to everyone that this tactless remark would only lead to a greater calamity.
“You fool! Do you not know when to stay silent?”
Though senior administrators quickly silenced him, it was already too late.
King Berga strode forward, his eyes blazing as he approached the young man.
“Lemeia? You dare sully the honor of my daughter, the jewel of Salt?”
His cold voice was like a sharpened blade. Watching the scene unfold, the administrators shut their eyes tightly.
Finally, Verga’s frigid command rang out.
“This is treason against the royal family. Take him away.”
“I am innocent, Your Majesty! I merely followed the wise orders of Princess Lemeia—”
Fortunately, the guards succeeded in removing him before Berga’s patience completely snapped.
Thud.
When the doors closed, an even heavier silence descended.
“If anyone else shares his opinion, come forward now.”
No one dared to speak, though everyone knew the truth.
This entire debacle had happened under Lemeia’s approval. Everyone also understood that this chaos was a consequence of their broken system.
But the administrators, who had long learned that power trumps justice, kept their silence.
Surveying the room one last time, Berga heaved a deep sigh.
“I don’t know when my administrators became so incompetent. Can you even read properly? Should I start hiring tutors for you?”
“N-No, Your Majesty. We will ensure such mistakes never happen again and will implement rigorous internal training programs.”
Though the person most in need of training was someone else entirely, that was left unsaid.
Exhausted, King Berga waved his hand dismissively.
“I don’t want to see your faces. Get out.”
Having narrowly avoided disaster, the administrators hurriedly filed out.
Lemeia, attempting to blend in with them, turned to leave as well—or tried to.
“Princess Lemeia, stay behind.”
“Y-Yes, Father…”
Caught just before stepping outside, Lemeia stood before Verga with a deflated expression.
“Lemeia Salt.”
Berga’s piercing gaze bore into her.
“Do you understand what you’ve done?”
“I’ll do better, Father.”
“This is not a problem that can be solved with mere promises!”
When Berga’s voice rose, Lemeia’s face crumpled into a tearful expression.
But Berga’s resolve remained unshaken.
“The scale of this loss is significant. Do you understand what that means?”
“I’m sorry, Father. I think I made a poor judgment because I’ve been pushing myself too hard lately.”
Tears sparkled in Lemeia’s aquamarine-like eyes.
Knowing instinctively how to elicit sympathy, she displayed an expression of utter sorrow, even though her inner thoughts were in turmoil.
‘This never happened when April was around.’
Lemeia was keenly aware that Berga’s earlier tirade at the administrators had been partly aimed at her.
She also understood that he had refrained from naming her directly to protect her “genius princess” image.
“I-I was just too overwhelmed… I wanted to do well, but…”
“Hmmph.”
Berga suppressed his rising anger once again.
Though unsatisfied, he chose to shield his daughter from taking full responsibility.
“Don’t repeat this mistake, Lemeia.”
“Of course, Father. I’ll study harder and put in more effort.”
After an extended period of appeasing him with playful antics, Lemeia finally left the audience chamber well past lunchtime.
Had it been any other day, she would have been taking her beauty nap, but that seemed like a minor issue now.
The farther she got from the royal hall, the fewer people surrounded her, and her expression grew stony.
Reaching a secluded corner of the garden, she burst into tears she had held back all day.
“Waaah!”
Transparent droplets fell onto the grass.
“Why is this happening to me?”
Lemeia believed she had done her best.
But how could she ever become April?
After all, she was too beautiful and privileged to live as diligently as April.
If she’d had freckles on her face and a mother who was a lowly maid, maybe she would have been forced to try harder without even realizing it.
But none of that applied to Lemeia. Her reality was different, and she knew it.
‘Oh, I’m so pitiful.’
Seated on the grass, she cried bitterly.
While it was the administrators who had been humiliated and dragged out, Lemeia now cast herself as the most tragic heroine in the world.
At that moment—
“…Princess?”
Someone had found the weeping Lemeia.