If I were a genuine student, I would have been thrilled about the vacation period.

Going to school is akin to going to work. It's a reason to get up when you’d rather stay in bed, forcing down breakfast you don’t want to eat and taking reluctant steps into a place where you must endure the entire day until classes are over.

Of course, school was still better than a job. It ended a bit earlier and included two long vacations each year.

However, I was not an ordinary student. Neither was Alice. Both of us were princesses, and we had a great deal to do during the vacation.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, I had yet to be tasked with anything by the Emperor. It seemed he didn’t even know that I had entered the forbidden library.

Based on that fact, I was able to relax a little. The Emperor's ability to deduce my powers was likely due to his own analytical skills, rather than some kind of supernatural ability to see through me.

At least, that was a relief.

*

“There’s really no need to follow me like this.”

Alice spoke to me from within the rattling carriage. Her face, genuinely apologetic, nearly made me smile without realizing it.

“There’s nothing to do inside the palace anyway.”

“Yet at the beginning of vacation, you were holed up in your room.”

In the end, that was true.

While I had been wandering through the palace, infiltrating the docked airship Dreadnought for inspections due to its regular maintenance, observing the internal structures, throwing bombs at various equipment, and timing how long it took for the soldiers to respond, I hadn’t done much in terms of official business.

After repeating this ten or twenty times, calculating the average time and recording everything in my notes—of course, all in Korean—I had never let anyone see them. I wrote in artillery notation, not Arabic numerals.

After the Emperor learned of my abilities, I had carried that small notebook with me wherever I went, so no one could read it.

And all of this had transpired during Alice's absence. Although I had never actually shot anyone, from the empire's perspective, it was clearly treasonous, and I didn’t want Alice looking at me with a sense of betrayal.

I had seen the Emperor’s reactions a few times, and they all bore expressions of complete calmness, which annoyed me.

It was as if he were saying, “After all, you’ll just turn this back, right?” Of course, the Emperor would likely phrase it in a more serious manner.

“...But the place you’re going now is much more dangerous than anywhere you’ve been during vacation.”

“No matter what, they can’t just kill a princess openly. Well, even if they did, the entire territory would be at stake if there were an accident.”

“But the opponent is Crowfield.”

“Then it’s you who should be more cautious, right?”

While I had been making various excuses to lurk in my room during vacation, Alice had been publicly displaying her official duties, seemingly eager to announce her status as the next Empress.

Up until now, her face hadn’t been well known even among commoners, but now her name and face were recognizable to many. She was moving so earnestly that even the press raised questions.

“I’ve already faced Crowfield before.”

“That was years ago, though. The guards and the defenses are much more formidable now.”

Hearing her assert confidently that she “would have lost” rather than “might lose,” I shifted my gaze from the window back to Alice.

“Do you think I wouldn’t have investigated at all after hearing you? I’m genuinely trying to act as your sister.”

Alice spoke in a somewhat firm tone.

“And it’s my duty as your sister to protect you.”

“In that sense, protecting the future Empress—”

“No.”

Alice interrupted my rebuttal sharply.

“The Emperor is the one who protects his loyal subjects under his name. If you were to follow me, then I must ensure your safety. I….”

Alice paused for a moment, looking straight at me as she continued.

“Unlike my father, I won’t just use you.”

“......”

I didn’t know how to respond.

I felt happy that she cared about me. Especially since she was one of the characters I had admired.

But at the same time, I was worried.

In the original story, Alice hadn’t been this determined at this point. She had had some twisted aspects, feeling inferior and clashing with the protagonist, showing vulnerable sides.

The Alice in front of me was a different person.

Thus, I couldn’t quite grasp what path this version of Alice would take. If I were attempting to control things to pull the future toward my desired outcome, I could say I had already failed.

“...But you really don’t have to visit Crowfield.”

When I tried to protest even slightly, Alice scoffed and looked out the window.

What lay beyond was a breathtaking sight of endless green pastures, contrasting starkly with the name Crowfield. It was hard to believe that there were several factories belching black smoke at the heart of that territory.

And it seemed unimaginable that this place had once been known for selling drug-addicted children.

“You have things you don’t know about, don’t you?”

Alice muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“Or perhaps you still don’t know ‘yet’?”

“......”

As Alice gazed out the window, she glanced at me.

Her eyes—

—Well, I didn’t know if Alice would find it amusing, but they resembled the Emperor’s in some way.

*

“Your Highness.”

Saying that, Lady Crowfield greeted Alice with a dignified bow. She had mentioned before that she grew up in a different count family during her childhood. Apparently, she was a distant relative of Count Crowfield. Though that hardly mattered now.

With pale skin and black hair, Count Crowfield bore a somewhat similar vibe, making it difficult to say whether Mia Crowfield particularly resembled anyone. Perhaps it was because I knew they were mother and daughter that I assumed they simply looked alike.

When Alice graciously accepted the greeting, Lady Crowfield turned to me.

Her gaze held no hint of negativity whatsoever.

At least, she was much better at controlling her emotions than her daughter.

That had been true even in the original story.

“......”

For a moment, Lady Crowfield’s gaze fell on my face. As she kneeled slightly to greet me, I returned the gesture respectfully.

It was my first time being looked at by Lady Crowfield, but I had seen her several times before. Of course, this was years ago.

It was the one time I had successfully infiltrated as a maid.

Count Crowfield, who had brazenly attacked someone much younger than himself, didn’t show such behavior openly in his mansion. Instead, he acted like a normal, caring father. I didn’t think that was all an act. The Count had genuinely loved his wife and would have been a doting father to his daughter.

He simply hadn’t treated the children from the orphanage as people.

And that attitude had been somewhat evident in his daily life.

Among the servants of the Count’s household were children of low-ranking noble families and commoners. The Count had always been kind to the noble children, speaking to them in a soft tone, treating them like nephews, and when a young girl began to realize the signs of womanhood, he would kindly excuse her from work.

Basic courtesy extended to the common servants as well.

…Basically.

However, I had felt the Count’s predatory gaze upon me several times. The reason I had been able to get so close to him so quickly as a newly appointed maid was precisely because of that.

Ironically, I had only succeeded once for that reason. In other words… it had been extremely difficult to secure an opportunity to poison the Count’s food without losing my virginity.

It made sense that the Count had died several years after the main storyline began. A child like Claire, with such a background, would surely have found it harder to endure that situation than I had.

I turned my gaze to find Mia Crowfield nearby.

As expected of the girl who had cast such a complicated glance at me before the vacation began, she now wore a thoroughly bewildered expression. She could barely manage to uphold the formalities between a princess and a noble.

Lady Crowfield glanced briefly at the confused Mia.

…Isn’t it a bit cruel to treat your own daughter like that?