I was inwardly flustered, but I had to produce results somehow, so I stubbornly brought my face even closer to his. Now there was barely a sheet of paper’s space between us.

‘W-What’s going on? Why isn’t he getting angry?’

Unable to move to the next step, my eyes darted around. However, I couldn’t bring myself to kiss him.

In the end, I gave up on everything and raised the white flag.

“I-I-I’ll show you next time… Gasp.”

I hastily removed my hands from his face and tried to back away quickly.

Or at least I intended to.

Before I could take a single step, the Crown Prince pulled me by the waist, pressing me tightly against his body.

“W-Why are you doing this…?”

“If you wanted to play with fire, you should have been honest from the start. I can match you in this game anytime.”

“W-Wait a minute. That’s not what I meant…!”

The Crown Prince ignored my words.

Like a hunter cornering his prey, he leisurely pushed me against a large tree.

The atmosphere became sticky in an instant.

“What’s the matter? It’s no big deal.”

‘What the heck!’

I knew very well that he wasn’t doing this because he liked me. It was just a childish battle of egos.

But I was now on the verge of losing my first kiss, which I had carefully guarded.

Warning bells were ringing loudly in my head. At this point, there was only one option left.

The magic word that had initially ruined our relationship, and the biggest taboo in the Crown Prince’s life.

I looked him straight in the eye and provocatively spat it out.

“Do you really mean that, Pin?”

At that moment, he froze. At the same time, his grip on my waist tightened. He must have been really angry.

“Seriously…”

Sure enough, he muttered a curse under his breath.

For him, who valued dignity and noble etiquette as his life, cursing meant he was on the brink of losing his mind.

I was genuinely scared, and my body shrank back instinctively.

Even in this situation, I thought about proving the necklace’s power and fumbled to open my clutch.

But before I could take out the necklace, the Crown Prince raised his arm.

‘Is he going to hit me…?’

I didn’t know he was the kind of trash who would hit a woman!

Then again, in the original story, he had beheaded me without a shred of guilt. A slap wouldn’t be a big deal.

I braced myself for the impending pain and closed my eyes tightly.

When his large hand touched my face, I practically jumped. His hand was so big it covered my cheek and neck.

He roughly pulled my face towards him. It really seemed like he was going to hit me.

‘Yeah, I’d rather take a hit than lose my first kiss to this guy.’

I tried to comfort myself. At the same time, I was calculating how much I could demand in compensation.

‘If you’re going to hit me, get it over with quickly…’

It felt like torture.

But no matter how long I waited, he didn’t hit me. Instead, I felt his warm breath mixed with a sweet scent right in front of me. The hand that had been roughly gripping my face suddenly started to caress my cheek gently.

‘What? What’s going on?!’

I couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but I sensed that something far more significant than getting hit was about to occur. My mind went blank with inexplicable panic.

At that moment, I miraculously managed to grab the necklace.

I immediately pressed it against him.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Pinion flying through the air.

But his flight was short-lived. He crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

I was extremely surprised because the necklace hadn’t shown such a strong effect when I tested it on Iscallion.

It seemed he had been angrier than I had imagined.

The Crown Prince, who had been lying sprawled out, suddenly started to convulse.

I quickly ran over to him.

“Your Highness! Are you alright?”

“Aha.”

Then, out of nowhere, he started laughing. He laughed so hard he clutched his stomach.

‘Did he hit his head or something?’

I almost grabbed his shoulder but quickly pulled my hand back.

He didn’t seem to be in his right mind, and I didn’t want to touch him and risk getting hurt.

It took a while for him to calm down.

“Hah, I feel wide awake now.”

His voice still had a hint of laughter. For some reason, he didn’t seem inclined to get up.

“Can you get up? Should I call a doctor?”

“No, there’s no need.”

He then let out a deep sigh.

I was secretly surprised to see his emotions fluctuate so wildly.

The Crown Prince slowly lifted his head. Even after being covered in dirt, his beauty didn’t fade at all.

“You should go back now, Lou. I’ve confirmed the necklace’s power.”

***

Even after proving that I was Enril’s successor, the Emperor stubbornly refused to hand over the mountain to me.

I wasn’t surprised by the result. I quickly gave up, thinking it would be more of a hassle to manage the mountain anyway.

Surprisingly, the Crown Prince was more proactive than I was in persuading the Emperor.

When he showed the hydra’s mana stone and argued that the mountain needed a nominal master, the Emperor reluctantly agreed.

However, he didn’t transfer the rights to the wealth from the mountain. I would receive a small portion of the annual revenue, essentially making me a puppet master.

When my parents found out, they were practically dumbfounded.

“Pfft!”

My father spat out the whiskey he was drinking.

But no one paid attention to it, not even him.

He shouted in anger.

“What do you mean you’ve been put in charge of Mount Acheron!”

“It just happened that way. Another oracle was given.”

I smiled awkwardly.

But my parents still looked grim.

“What was the Emperor thinking, assigning such a dangerous task to a young noblewoman without even consulting her father? He must be out of his mind!”

My mother also tried to dissuade me.

“Lou, if you’re doing this for rewards or honor, you should stop. Our family’s wealth is already sufficient. Besides, the contract terms are extremely unfair. If you want to quit, just say so. Don’t worry about any penalties. Your safety is what matters most to us.”

Seeing my parents worry about my safety made my nose tingle. I wanted to protect Arcadia safely for their sake.

“It’s not like that. I can’t just stand by and watch my beloved hometown fall into danger. I heard even a hydra appeared.”

In hindsight, I shouldn’t have mentioned the hydra.

My parents turned pale as corpses at the word hydra.

“What? A hydra? Then you absolutely can’t do this! I need to go to the palace right now.”

“I’m coming too!”

“Wait a minute!”

I tried to reassure my parents with a bright voice.

“His Highness the Crown Prince promised to protect me, so it won’t be dangerous. Besides, the oracle pointed to me, which means I have the necessary abilities, right?”

“But you’re just an ordinary girl. Why do you keep getting involved in these things? As your parents, we can’t just sit back and watch.”

“Please allow me to do this. As a noble of the Empire, I have a duty to protect the country. I want your support, not your worry. You are the ones I want to protect the most.”

At my final words, my parents paused.

Then, a deep sigh that seemed to come from the depths of the earth was heard.

“It’s not always a good thing for a child to grow up.”

My father muttered bitterly.

***

“Am I the only capable person in the world~.”

I hummed a silly song as I hung a large sign at the entrance of the mountain.

With the help of Shahar and the palace mages, a barrier had been set up around the entire mountain, but it still didn’t put my mind at ease.

The barrier was only meant to keep out external threats. If the monsters still within the mountain took over, it would be problematic.

Notice of New Ownership
Enril → Lou Dronay

It didn’t seem very effective, but it could serve as evidence in my favor if it ever came to a legal battle with the transcendent beings. That is, if they were willing to go to court.

Word must have spread quickly because quite a few transcendent beings challenged me within a few days.

Due to my parents’ strong insistence, the Crown Prince’s guards and the Duke’s knights were stationed on the mountain.

Still, there were times when I had to step in personally.

Today was one of those days.

As soon as I hung the sign, an intruder hiding deep in the forest jumped out. With an appearance completely different from humans, his presence was formidable.

“I will take this mountain!”

I was at a loss for words as I watched the transcendent being bounce up and down at my feet.

Today’s opponent was the Slime King.

“I will take this mountain! Give it to me, human!”

“No, go back. This is my mountain. Can’t you read?”

I kindly pointed to the sign, and the Slime King squirmed his way over to it.

Unfortunately, he was illiterate.

“Read…? What’s that?”

“Wow, I didn’t think there was a ruler more ignorant than Leon.”

I took a moment to mourn the future of the slime clan.

“I’m not ignorant, you are the ignorant one!”

‘This bastard…?’

“Leave politely before you get hit.”

“No! I’m taking this mountain!”

“Who says so.”

“I’m taking it!”

The Slime King was ignorant, but he had grit. I’m not sure if that’s a good quality or not.

I clenched my fist and forcefully struck the squishy body of the slime.

“Ouch! You evil human…”

“Leave quickly. Shall I hit you one more time?”

“You evil human, you evil human…!”

The Slime King cried out with tears streaming down his face.

However, when I raised my hand once more, he panicked and quickly scurried away.