- (Anna’s POV) –

This knight just told me that I’m summoned by the king?!

“May I know why?” (Anna)

“Even I don’t know, we were only told to bring you to the castle.” (knight)

I wonder what it is, did I do something illegal? Mhh, actually yes… Maybe they found out that I dropped a goddess’s poop in a temple, or that I invaded the royal jail with Victoria… No, probably not. They wouldn’t ask for ‘the one who made the potions’ in that case, it has to be something related to the potions.

Well, whatever. Let’s just follow them for now. If they try anything funny, I’m confident that I can at least escape.~

“Alright… I will follow you.” (Anna)

They leave the shop and I follow them. Well, there are knight everywhere around me: in front, behind, and besides me. I won’t escape, you know?! And even that is not enough to prevent me from escaping!

We walk in the city and everyone is looking at us; a girl walking along with a dozen of knight must be strange. We arrive in front of the castle. It’s the first time that I enter the castle using the front door, even though I already invaded the castle 2 times… We enter the castle and we stop at the first room.

“Please wait inside this room for a while.” (knight)

“Alright.” (Anna)

In the room, there is a sofa, so I sit on it. Half of the knight leave the room, but the other half are standing behind me. Once I’m on the sofa, a maid enters the room and give me a cup of tea. Mhh, I don’t think they want to arrest me, who would give tea to a prisoner? If I’m going to meet the king, I suppose they are preparing for the audience.

Half an hour later, the other knights come back.

“Please follow us.” (knight)

I leave the room and follow them. We walk in a long corridor, then the knight talks to me while walking.

“Do you know what you have to do in front of the king?” (knight)

I guess he is talking about etiquette. I already learned it thanks to Eleonora, I didn’t want at first, but she insisted. I’m glad I accepted her help!

“Yes.” (Anna)

“Really? It’s rare to see a commoner who knows about it. Well, don’t worry, the king is kind and he won’t mind if you don’t do it perfectly.” (knight)

It looks like he doesn’t trust me, but I really can do it perfectly!

We finally arrive in front of a large door. Using my mana, I can feel that there are a lot of people inside a large room, probably the throne room. The knight knocks and opens the huge door. I can recognize the same throne room that I visited last time. The king is sitting on the throne, I think his name was Richard. There are 2 girls besides him, both of them have the same silver hairs, maybe the queen and the oldest princess? There is also a middle-aged man with red hairs standing below the king, I wonder who he is? He looks familiars…

Suddenly, one of the knights besides the king announce my arrival:

“The one who created the potion, Anna, is here!” (royal knight)

It must be the signal allowing me to come closer. I walk across the hall toward the king with a dignified look by straightening my back. I try to imitate an actress before a show. I don’t look at the king in the eyes because it’s rude. Once I’m about 10 meters from the king, I get on my knee and look at the ground with a perfect angle. I need to wait for the king’s permission to raise my head.

“Raise your head!” (Richard)

I raise my head and look at him, waiting for his next words.

“Are you the one who made this potion?” (Richard)

He shows me a green potion, I can feel my mana inside, so it means it’s my potion.

“Yes, your Majesty.” (Anna)

“Are you knowledgeable in medicine?” (Richard)

Mhh, I don’t know that much about medicine, I don’t need to study it since I have my own way of curing people. But I can’t really tell him that… and if I tell him I don’t know anything about medicine, he will doubt that I’m the one who made the potion.

“Yes, but my knowledges are probably different than most doctors.” (Anna)

“Mhh, very well. I’m going to tell you why I called you, but you must swear to keep it a secret.” (Richard)

Wow, what the hell is he going to tell me?!

“I promise to keep it for myself.” (Anna)

“Alright. My daughter Stella, the youngest princess, has been sick for nearly a month. However, no doctor found out the reason, and even your potion didn’t work at all. Her condition is becoming worse each day and she might not live another week… Do you think you can cure her?” (Richard)

I see… I’m surprised that my potion didn’t work at all, it should have at least helped a bit, right? It must either be something very serious, or simply not a disease.

“I believe I can help, but I can’t promise that I can cure her without even looking at her.” (Anna)

“Alright, I will lead you to her room, but I won’t forgive you if you harm her!” (Richard)

It’s not really motivating to try to help if you say it like this! Well, whatever.

“I understand.” (Anna)

The king stands up and starts to walk. I follow him along with the 2 women, the red-haired middle-aged man, and 3 royal knights. We walk in a long corridor and arrive in front of a door. The king enters the room, and I can see a huge bed inside with a little girl lying on it. The girl is awake, but it looks like she is suffering. The king gets closer to the bed and opens his mouth:

“Stella, how are you?” (Richard)

“I’m… fine…, father…” (Stella)

She doesn’t look fine AT ALL, she can barely speak, and she is trembling. If I remember correctly, she should be 8 years old. The king looks at me and opens his mouth.

“Please save her… I will do anything if you can save my daughter!” (Richard)

Hey! Stop pressuring me!

“I will do my best!” (Anna)

I get closer to the Princess, then I ask her with a gentle voice:

“Hello, I’m Anna! Where does it hurt?” (Anna)

She looks at me, then she answers:

“My legs… my arms… my belly… Everywhere!” (Stella)

Everywhere?! I think I need to take a look at her body, but let’s ask for permission first. I turn toward the king, and ask:

“May I touch her?” (Anna)

To be honest, I don’t need to touch her to inspect her body, but it’s more effective and it’s also less suspicious. They wouldn’t believe me if I don’t even touch her.

“Go ahead, but you better don’t hurt her!” (Richard)

Everyone is looking at me with expectations. So much pressure!!

I put my hand on her belly and circulate my mana to inspect her body. I try to find a micro-organism, but I can’t find anything relevant… However, there is something suspicious inside her stomach, so I focus my attention on it. From what I can feel, it looks like a monster core. What the hell is a monster core doing inside her body?! The monster core is emitting mana inside her body, but the mana doesn’t go to the heart, it’s messing around in her body!

I see… It’s not a disease, that’s why a potion didn’t work! A green potion can only delete the micro-organism, nothing more! It’s pretty small, about the size of a grain of rice, so I believe that she swallowed it. I turn toward the king and ask:

“Did she eat something before she became sick?” (Anna)

“Yes, it happened right after a meal, but we inspected everything and found no poison.” (Richard)

I see… The king looks at me and opens his mouth again:

“Do you know why she is sick?” (Richard)

“Yes.” (Anna)

Everyone’s face lit up, like if they suddenly found their last hope. I can feel the sharp gaze of the two women, one of them is about my age and the other one is about 20 years older. The king asks me with a less depressed voice:

“What is it?” (Richard)

“It’s not a disease, nor a poison.” (Anna)

Everyone tilts their head.

“W-What do you mean?” (Richard)

“There is a monster core inside her stomach, and it’s emitting mana. However, the mana goes wild in her body, so it hurts.” (Anna)

Everyone’s face become depressed again.

“I see… It explains everything… But I never heard of a doctor able to take something out of a stomach…” (Richard)

“I have a safe way to remove it.” (Anna)

Everyone’s face lit up again.

“Please, do it! Save my daughter, please!” (Richard)

“Alright.” (Anna)

I put my hand on her belly again. To be honest, I have 2 ways to remove it: I can either destroy it completely, or I can put it in my inventory. I prefer to use the second one so they can inspect it. I inject some mana in her body and put the monster core inside my inventory, then I absorb all the mana going wild in her body; I also repair some organs that were damaged.

I raise my hand, and the monster core appear on it. Of course, I have gloves, it would be disgusting otherwise. I show it to the onlookers and say:

“Here you go, I’m done.” (Anna)

All of them look at me with wide open eyes.

“Already?!” (Richard)

The king and the 2 women run to the little girl on the bed with an excited face. The women are the first to speak:

“How do you feel, Stella-chan?” (??)

“Are you alright?” (??)

The little princess is a bit overwhelmed, but she is still able to answer:

“I-It doesn’t hurt anymore! I feel really light… like if I could fly!” (Stella)

The king and the 2 women look at Stella with tears in their eyes, then they turn to me. The king bow slightly and say:

“Thank you! Thank you so much for saving my daughter!” (Richard)

It looks like the knights want to criticize his action, but they don’t dare. It’s unusual for a king to bow in front of a commoner after all, but it shows me that he is sincere. Seeing his action, the 2 women follow his example. The older woman speaks first.

“Thank you very much for saving my daughter, Anna-chan, my name is Theresa Morton Paluna. I’m the Queen of this kingdom, but you can call me Theresa!” (Theresa)

I already suspected it, but it still feels strange to be in front of the king and the queen. The second woman, whose age is closer to mine, speaks aswell:

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I don’t know what I would do without Stella-chan… I’m Freya Morton Paluna, the First Princess of the kingdom, but you can also call me Freya!” (Freya)

I-I’m a bit overwhelmed… It’s not everyday that there are 4 members of the royal family thanking me at the same time!! However, I keep my back straight and I make sure to not show it on my face. As a commoner, I shouldn’t call them with their first name, but I believe everyone is calling them ‘Your majesty’ or ‘Your highness’, so they might be bored of that. I think they will be happier if I call them by their name, they can’t blame me anyway, they asked me to call them like this themselves!

“I’m happy to meet you, Theresa and Freya! Don’t worry, it didn’t cost anything for me to save her. Besides, it would be a shame if such a cute girl die!~” (Anna)

Their face lit up and the Princess speak first:

“Yes, exactly! We all agree that Stella-chan is the cutest thing ever!~” (Freya)

“I agree! My daughter is the cutest!~ I think we will get along very well!” (Theresa)

I… didn’t expect the conversation to turn like this… But I agree! The little princess still has a baby face but even the way she sits on the bed is elegant! It’s very rare to see an 8-years-old girl being elegant, but it’s CUTE!!~

It doesn’t hurt to be closer to the royal family, there are only advantages. However, who knew that the ‘key’ to get closer to them is to call Stella ‘cute’… The king sighs while looking at the scene and opens his mouth:

“Alright! Let’s go somewhere else to talk! I believe that Stella need to sleep to properly recover.” (Richard)

He says so. However, Stella stand up and retort:

“No! I already stayed in my room for weeks! I want to stay with Anna-sama!” (Stella)

WHAT?! Why are all the little girl that I save calling me with ‘sama’?! It feels… very strange to hear a princess calling me with ‘sama’…

The Queen and the First Princess look at Stella with a shocked expression.

“W-Why do you want to stay with Anna-chan?!” (Theresa)

“D-Don’t you want to stay with us aswell?!” (Freya)

Wait, are they actually jealous?! Who knew that the Royal Family was like this…?

“I want to be with you aswell, but when Anna-sama touched me, it was warm, and I felt…comfortable!” (Stella)

Mhh, I think it was when I circulate my mana inside her body. The king sighs again and speaks:

“She can come with us, it’s fine. All of us are going together, so she won’t leave your side…” (Richard)

We all leave the room and follow the king to another room with 3 sofas and a low table at its center. We all sit down while a maid is pouring tea. There is the Queen, the 2 Princesses, the King, the red-haired middle-aged man, and me. However, Stella didn’t sit on the sofa, she is… on my laps! Of course, I won’t refuse her!~

Suddenly, the red-haired middle-aged man opens his mouth with a serious face. Somehow, he feels familiar…

“Your Majesty, I believe that it was a scheme. There is no way that a monster core could arrive on the princess’s plate.” (??)

The king’s face become serious aswell, and he answers:

“I also think that it’s not an accident. Besides, I remember that I gave my dessert to Stella during this meal, so the target might be me.” (Richard)

I also think that it’s important to investigate, but I don’t think I can really help; I can do a lot of things, but not everything. The king turns to the knights standing behind him and says:

“Please investigate this matter. Try to find out from where this monster core come.” (Richard)

“As you wish.” (knight)

One of the knights takes the monster core, bows, and leaves the room. The red-haired middle-aged man turns to me and speaks:

“I guess I’m the only one who didn’t present myself. My name is Fabian de Florus, I’m a Duke and also the Prime Minister of the country. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” (Fabian)

Wait, this name, the red hairs, and also the fact that he is the Prime Minister! I think I know why he feels so familiar!

“Nice to meet you! Are you perhaps Elise’s father?” (Anna)

“Oh? Do you know my daughter?” (Fabian)

“Yes! In fact, we are friend! We met yesterday during Victoria’s party.” (Anna)

“Ohh!! So it was you! Elise told me happily that she made a new friend, but she didn’t tell me your identity. She only said that this friend kicked Frederic, this Marquis’s son, and he flew across the hall!” (Fabian)

Oops…? Now, even the king knows what I did… I look at him to see his reaction, but I didn’t expect that:

“Hahaha! Is it true?! Good job! He must have learnt his lesson!” (Richard)

Aren’t you supposed to be a bit angry or something?!

“Am I not in trouble?” (Anna)

“Oh, no, don’t worry! His behavior is quite famous, so it’s fine. Besides, his father is a reasonable man, he won’t just attack someone because they had a fight with his son. Well, I will still tell him to not attack you just in case.” (Richard)

“I see… Thank you.” (Anna)

He claps his hand and talk again:

“Alright! I make you come her to discuss about your reward for saving my daughter. Is there anything you want?” (Richard)

Uhh… I have no idea; I didn’t expect a reward… I should have thought ahead. I already had trouble to find something to ask in case I win the tournament, because the winner get the right to ask anything to the king.

“It’s fine, having Stella-chan on my laps is already the biggest reward!” (Anna)

“I agree!” (Theresa)

“I’m so jealous!” (Freya)

Somehow, the Queen and the First Princess reacted strangely to my words… However, the king doesn’t look satisfied.

“Is there nothing else that you want? Don’t think that you can leave this castle without a suitable reward!” (Richard)

Why does it sound like a threat?! Well, let’s see what I need… Money? No, it’s easy to get money by myself… What I need the most is information and influence. Oh! I have an idea!

“If it’s possible, I would like to have access to the Royal Library whenever I want.” (Anna)

I heard that there are thousands of books in the Royal Library. It doesn’t sound impressive, but books are extremely expensive in this world! Even Roland doesn’t have a library, he only has a shelf in his office with dozens of books. There are many things that I want to know about this world without sounding weird, for example what race there are or about the other kingdoms…

“Alright! I will inform everyone to lead you to the library if you ask them. You can come to the castle anytime and ask a knight to guide you! You can also come to me if you have trouble, I will try to help you!” (Richard)

“Alright, thank you very much!” (Anna)

It’s reassuring to have the king by my side, but I’m not the kind of person who want to rely on someone; I prefer to deal with my troubles by myself.

I lower my head, and I see the young Princess with her face pressed against my breasts. Can she even breath?! I circulate my mana and bring it inside her body because she said that she liked the sensation earlier.

“Ohh, it feels warm again!” (Stella)

“Do you like it?” (Anna)

“Yes! It feels comfortable!” (Stella)

I keep circulating my mana in her body and she press her face more and more against my chest. So cute!~

Everyone in the room look at her with a smile and red cheeks, it’s a face that says ‘so adorable!’.

However, the King interrupts us:

“Uhm uhm. I guess we are done here, right?” (Richard)

“Yes! Maybe we will see each other again if I win the tournament!” (Anna)

All of them look at me with a surprised face. What? Was I a bit too arrogant?

“Y-You will participate in the tournament?” (Richard)

“Yes.” (Anna)

“Oh oh, we will be there to watch! I’m curious to see what else you can do!” (Richard)

The King says so, then the Queen speaks:

“I’m also curious, but don’t get hurt! Alright?” (Theresa)

“I will be careful, don’t worry!” (Anna)

I’m not really afraid to get hurt but I’m still happy that they are worried about me. Since we are done, I try to stand up, but I forgot that there is a Princess on my laps… I lift her and put her on the ground, but she doesn’t look happy about it.

“Stay, please!” (Stella)

She pouts cutely, but I can’t stay here forever… I pat her head and say with a smile:

“I will visit you sometimes, don’t worry!” (Anna)

“You promise?” (Stella)

“Yes, I promise!” (Anna)

After my words, I walk away and leave the castle. I really didn’t expect the Royal Family to be like this…

It’s pretty late so I guess I will go back home. The tournament is finally tomorrow morning, I can’t wait to fight strong people!