By now, almost all the troubles in Soruce City had been resolved.
Most of the captured vagrants were sent off to the Northern Territories to plant potatoes.
Although the conditions were harsh, at least they had food and clothing and avoided execution—a fairly decent outcome for these criminals.
In fact, executing so many at once would have been excessive and likely to spark new unrest.
This decision was unquestionably the right one.
The remaining black markets and brothels had also been handed over to Angers’ men for rectification.
The large number of displaced people resulting from this still needed to be dealt with, but that was no longer Cecilia and Rita’s concern.
With that morning’s farce now over, it was late morning.
Rita linked her left arm with Cecilia’s, her right hand resting on the sword at her side, and the two walked side by side through the streets of Soruce City.
During the two days Rita had been asleep, order and the economy in Soruce City had almost completely returned to normal.
The speech given that day and the immediate involvement of citizens in productive labor had made a significant impact.
Rita understood all this, but what she didn’t understand was why she was now doing something like this.
“Lady Cecilia, you said this was a punishment, so why does it involve shopping with you?”
“You said you had no special plans today and weren’t preparing anything particular for the assessment, right?” Cecilia retorted. “Besides, traveling with me, in my capacity as your examiner, guarantees there’s nowhere you can go off-limits. Or is it that you want every move you make to be recorded and scrutinized?”
“That makes sense, but shopping is still a bit…” Rita hesitated.
“More precisely, you’re taking me along, repeating the itinerary from that day so I can understand what kind of magic kept you out all day without coming back.”
Cecilia corrected Rita’s phrasing with a serious tone, leaving Rita unsure whether she was being sarcastic or simply matter-of-fact.
“…”
“If you don’t want to do this, then would you prefer I impose a different punishment?”
“It’s not that, it’s just that I don’t understand what kind of punishment this is.”
Cecilia spoke bluntly but then further explained her reasoning: “What you did truly deserves praise, but there’s not much I can give you now. Your merits and demerits cancel out, and I don’t want to wrong you. A harsh punishment would sap your enthusiasm, so I decided on this. How about this explanation: your ‘punishment’ is working overtime on your day off?”
Aside from the strangeness of shopping as a punishment, Rita could understand the rest.
“But Lady Cecilia, you’re wasting your own time too…”
“Rita, I don’t think I need to hide my thoughts from you, and you need to get used to acting according to my plans. We’ve been through a lot lately. It’s natural that I’m tired. When you’re tired, you need rest to recover—it’s only reasonable, isn’t it?”
Indeed, Cecilia was not the type of tsundere who withheld her true feelings.
Quite the opposite—except when she had to hide her real intentions or scheme against others, she was generally very straightforward.
In fact, in front of Rita, Cecilia tended to be even more open.
After all, Rita couldn’t pick up on Cecilia’s subtle hints; if Cecilia wasn’t straightforward, it just wouldn’t work.
This made Rita realize that Cecilia was just an ordinary person after all.
Even in this magical world, she was just a normal girl without magic or combat abilities, only a bit smarter than most.
It was just that seeing her command armies, deduce enemy movements, and take initiative to help Angers clean up had given Rita a special impression of her.
But in reality, Cecilia was still a little girl—she looked to be only in her early teens.
Rita didn’t know how Incubi age, but judging by her own age before crossing over, she was definitely older than Cecilia.
Being older but still completely at Cecilia’s mercy was a little embarrassing.
After a while, Rita timidly found an excuse to object, even though she knew it wouldn’t change anything.
“Lady Cecilia, at times like this, you could just order the maid or hire a guide. They’d definitely do better than me.”
“That makes sense, but even if I hired them, you’d still have to protect my safety the whole time.”
Well, it seemed there was no escaping after all.
Cecilia added, “Though the Incubi have been dealt with, I can’t guarantee that there aren’t other enemies lurking, coveting my life. There are still many unresolved questions from before, aren’t there?”
The hints Valphise gave Rita were mostly things she couldn’t mention to Cecilia—except for the one about “something major might happen during the Second Round of Assessment.”
Rita had been suspicious recently, worried the matter wasn’t truly over but lacking concrete evidence.
Rita’s recollection of the day with Kros was vague but straightforward enough: buy food, watch a play, have dinner together, drink a little.
She didn’t remember what they ate exactly, but since Cecilia had enjoyed crepes so much last time, Rita had bought some for her again.
The play was the same one as before.
This wasn’t a cinema where they could just stream anything—they had limited actors and could only put on one show at a time, so there wasn’t much choice.
Though Cecilia wanted to keep a low profile, her face was now known by everyone in Soruce City.
Even if no one knew what she had done, her status as a princess entitled her to all privileges.
So, even though Rita hadn’t bought tickets in advance, they still got the best box seats.
Since Rita had already seen the play, if she had been with someone else, she would have been quietly critiquing by now.
But Cecilia watched with utmost seriousness, making Rita swallow many comments she wanted to make.
“Interesting development.”
During the intermission, Cecilia took the initiative to comment.
“Did you like the play?” Rita, who had thought highly of it, was curious about Cecilia’s opinion.
“Not bad. Though plays come in many forms, most I’ve seen are rather obscure and require a lot of background knowledge. This is the first time I’ve seen one so straightforward and easy to understand. And the plot is a bit… unconventional.”
Rita knew Cecilia meant “blasphemous.” While this type of story was quite popular, setting the enemy as the demon race—which was hostile to humans—was indeed rather sacrilegious.
Rita herself felt the same.
A story about a spicy fried chicken leg burger falling in love with a human was a bit too wild even for unofficial history.
At the next curtain call, Cecilia began sharing more of her thoughts on the plot.
“Interesting, but a knight shouldn’t be like that—only solving problems with his fists is foolish. In this world, it’s not about who’s stronger. The protagonist, as a knight, being so reckless would lead to a diplomatic crisis. Rita, don’t become like that.”
This felt like a parent desperately trying to find a moral lesson in every work, making Rita stick out her tongue and reluctantly agree.
Another curtain call, and Cecilia continued her critique.
“The princess being kidnapped like that was too forced. Knowing someone intended harm, why weren’t preparations made in advance… Oh, and the troop deployment here was flawed too.”
These remarks continued until the play ended.
Rita had seen it as a straightforward romance and action story.
When with Kros, they discussed relationship matters—though now Rita knew it was a beauty trap, those discussions had made sense.
With Cecilia, the conversation took a completely different direction.
It was like someone reading Dream of the Red Chamber not to talk about love but about the political system and bureaucracy of the time.
There was nothing inherently wrong with that, but the strange angle gave it an odd flavor.
Rita didn’t dislike Cecilia’s comments; she found them quite novel.
But if this was a date, Cecilia’s remarks might have spoiled the mood.
So after the show, Rita couldn’t help but complain to Cecilia, “Lady Cecilia, it’s just a play. Many plot elements are designed to serve the story and stage, you know!”
As a lady-in-waiting, this was somewhat inappropriate. But Cecilia didn’t mind at all; she openly admitted, “Indeed, I suppose I’m a bit too lacking in romantic sensibility.”
“But when you’re out to relax, as long as it doesn’t bother others, you should just enjoy yourself,” Cecilia said, then asked, “Rita, did I spoil it for you?”
There was still some of that princess arrogance, but if she couldn’t indulge that a little, Cecilia wouldn’t be much of a princess.
The spoiled nobles who participated in the assessment weren’t as high-ranking as Cecilia but had far worse tempers.
Yet Rita couldn’t say a word about that.
“No, it’s just that Lady Cecilia’s thoughts are a bit unusual. Most people focus on love and battle, but you pay attention to the little details, which might…”
Cecilia answered for her, “Might indeed ruin the atmosphere.”
Rita didn’t dare respond.
“Alright, Rita.” Reading Rita’s awkwardness, Cecilia changed the subject. “Since this is a love story, then what is a ‘heartbeat’ to you? And what does love mean?”