Revolutionary Princess Eve

CHAPTER 6

Eve finished her morning tea and cleansed her mouth with plain water. Sedella began to speak with wary look.

"You know, my lady... There are many homunculi who would wish to serve the seventh princess, Evienrose."

"They would become a personal knight for a princess like me, who has no backing to speak of? Nonsense. Maybe you really shouldn't trust everything you read in the Hadellum Times."

"No, no, I am not talking about stuff from the Hadellum Times. This is from what I have observed and overheard. My lady is well-reputed and amongst the homunculi."

"Ah, you are such a loyal personal maid, Sedella. I worry that you think highly of me."

"But it's all true..."

"I may not have the best resources, but I'll do my best to take care of you, Sedella. If I become successful, I promise I'll buy you a nice town house, secure you a high position in the palace, and find you a good husband. You trust me right? Just be a little patient."

"My lady, please, I'm being quite serious. I'm not joking about what I've said."

"I'm being serious, too."

Their conversation had suddenly turned to being at odds with each other. Sedella was frustrated and decided to speak her mind more directly.

"What I mean to say is, it would be great if you'd take on a personal knight yourself, my lady."

"..."

"Oh! I...I apologize, my lady, I shouldn't have said that..."

"It's alright." Eve shook her head reassuringly. She didn't mean to get angry with Sedella, and not just because she'd resolved to be more flexible in her second life. Even in her first timeline, Eve would not gotten angry with Sedella.

"I know that you truly care for me, Sedella. I'm sorry that I'm obstinate at times."

"My lady..."

Truthfully, Sedella was very precious to Eve. She was the only one person in the palace who'd refused to leave Eve's side despite all the ordeals—mental and physical—that she'd been forced to suffer on Eve's account.

Eve's standing in the imperial family was profoundly low. The primary reason stemmed from her background. Eve's mother had been common alchemist who lived in quite seclusion in the forest, training in the alchemic arts alone. She wasn't even officially registered with the Imperial Alchemy Association, yet she made impressive progress studying by herself in the woods. She would have likely achieved the level of sage if the Emperor hadn't notice her while on an inspection tour and brought her in as his sixth empress consort.

The general aristocracy didn't take kindly to an empress consort who came from a rustic background, was a commoner, and wasn't even registered with the Imperial Alchemy Association. In the end, Eve's mother failed to cope with the stifling life the imperial palace imposed on her, and passed away before Eve turned seven. In losing her only form of support at such a young age, Eve had to fend for herself ever since.

But my lineage was the only issue, it ultimately could have been surmounted. That can't have been the only problem going on.

Eve's mother had been an alchemist who created golems, soulless creatures made from clay that had no thought or will. She had regarded all sentient beings as precious and thought they should be respected equally. Having grown up under her mother's influence , Eve also believed that homunculi were in no way different from humans.

However. Eve's morally correct reasoning didn't do her any favors in the imperial family. Eve was not an especially gifted speaker or politician, but she argued for better treatment of the homunculi whenever the topic came up. She also refused to follow the notable imperial tradition of selecting a personal knight. All this this antagonism made her a black sheep in the imperial palace.