Aren’t Royals Supposed to Be Approachable?

This afternoon, the vice commander of the Royal Knights — Firth — would be coming to the church for a routine inspection.

Ellie was very familiar with this matter.

In the past, when the two powers stood in opposition, Solor controlled the Royal Knights, who protected the royal family and the nobles.

Eric, on the other hand, held the Royal Church, which served as the people’s spiritual faith.

The two of them walked completely different paths, each using their own way to obtain more power.

Popular support or military loyalty — they each had to possess their own forces.

Eric had even used this civilian influence to package the Nightingale House as a mysterious organization of chivalrous heroes.

Scarlet Crow, in particular, was frequently written into various fantasy novels.

Back then, almost only the crown prince and Agmad knew the true nature of the Nightingale House.

After all, one was the elder brother who knew Eric’s true face, and the other was an assassin who had truly come out of the Nightingale House.

Of course they knew.

But—those were all things of the past.

No matter how much she reminisced, that was still only Eric’s past.

The one now standing at the church entrance was a girl named Ellie.

Firth would arrive at the church in the afternoon.

When that time came, she could simply invite him to chat.

He was now a member of the Royal Knights.

As the second princess, Ellie believed he would not refuse her invitation.

And since he was also the superior of the guards accompanying her, he would not interfere with their conversation inside the carriage.

Timing, location, and people — everything aligned perfectly.

It was the ideal moment to talk.

“Heavens… Your Highness the Second Princess, what brings you here? This is so sudden. You should have at least sent word ahead so we could properly welcome you.”

The priest guarding the entrance had originally been preparing to receive Firth’s group.

So when he saw the royal carriage, he did not react much at first.

But when he realized that the one stepping down was not Firth, but a golden-haired girl, the man froze for a moment.

Then his eyes widened as understanding dawned on him, and he hurried over, bowing deeply before Ellie.

Outside of royal grounds, Ellie rarely showed herself.

She was somewhat introverted, always feeling that her social skills were lacking.

She was also physically weak and disliked traveling far, so she rarely appeared in public view.

The priest only reacted because he saw the iconic golden hair, the royal insignia on the carriage, and the Royal Knights guarding her.

Only then did he realize that the person before him was the second princess, and hurried over in fear of neglecting her.

Ellie’s injury from her fall had been kept strictly within the royal estate.

Aside from her family, her personal attendants, and the physicians, no one outside knew she had been injured during this time.

So there had been no rumors or commotion.

And since she was not a princess known for making grand moves, few people paid attention to her situation anyway.

Although her presence was somewhat transparent, she was still of royal blood.

The emperor had never spoken ill of his daughter.

When speaking to outsiders, although the topic usually revolved around the future heir Solor, if someone mentioned Ellie, he would always smile and offer a few words of praise.

At the very least, her father treated her fairly well — like a father should.

He was not favoring the crown prince out of bias.

It was simply that, in every aspect, Solor was more important.

“I just felt like coming, so I came. It’s been a long time since I left the palace, and I wanted to get some fresh air.

Since I don’t go out much, aside from the royal gardens, the only place I’m familiar with is the church.”

“Ah… yes, yes, Your Highness. Since you’ve come all this way, if there’s anything you need, please feel free to command us.”

“It’s fine. I’d like to go inside and take a look first.”

The priest’s nervous appearance made Ellie smile involuntarily.

She was not someone who kept a cold face.

She smiled when it was appropriate to smile.

Doing so also helped her appear more approachable in the eyes of the people.

This could be considered an occupational habit.

After all, in her previous life, she had been constantly working on building grassroots support.

After stepping down from the carriage, Ellie waved her hand, signaling her guards to wait at the entrance.

This was royal ground.

No one would dare do anything to a princess here.

There was no need for them to follow closely behind her.

There were knights patrolling inside as well.

And if too many guards followed her in, it might cause panic among the civilians.

It was better for them to stay at the entrance and stand watch with the other knights.

“Your Highness, we were sent by the crown prince to protect you. You can’t enter the church alone like this…”

Ellie hadn’t expected that there would really be a stubborn knight who chased after her.

It looked like the captain of the small squad.

His concern made Ellie glance at him from the side, though she didn’t seem angry at all.

What was there to blame in a knight who listened to her brother’s orders?

A loyal knight — wasn’t that exactly what she wanted?

“If you do that, it may disturb the people praying inside.

The church is a quiet place; there’s no need to make it look so heavily armed.

There are knights standing guard inside as well, so you don’t need to worry.

Just wait for me here.”

Faced with the knight’s concern, Ellie patiently explained.

When it came to being approachable, Ellie was quite skilled.

Toward people who weren’t masochists and had no deep grudges against her, goodwill was the foundation of loyalty.

“It’s hot today, too. You can park the carriage in the shade.

I allow you to rest using my carriage.

Don’t exhaust yourselves so much that you don’t even have the strength to escort me back to the palace later.”

Not just loyalty — to gain trust, kindness was also essential.

She put on the appearance of being gentle, kind, and magnanimous.

That way, the knights would feel she was an easygoing and approachable person.

When the time came for her to speak with Firth, they would likely not interfere.

Moreover, since she had come out so rarely, and these knights were Solor’s people, they would definitely report the day’s events to Solor once they returned to the palace.

So she might as well show this side of herself now, reassuring Solor.

Perhaps in the future, she would gain more freedom to leave the palace.

The knights by her side right now were more like watchers than protectors…

Though it was indeed out of goodwill.

The Solor of this world likely never wanted to see his sister fall from a height again.

“Alright, go on. Rest a bit.

I’m just going inside for a quick look.

Praying should be done in peace and quiet, right?”

At the end of her words, Ellie gave the squad captain a gentle smile.

Ellie was naturally pretty and well-behaved.

When she smiled, she looked even more adorable.

Her words were gentle, her smile pleasant, and she was a princess.

No matter how bold the knights were, they wouldn’t dare force her.

In the end, the knight saluted and retreated, even thanking Ellie respectfully for allowing them to rest in the shade.

“……”

Watching the squad captain leave, Ellie turned around.

In a place where even the priest couldn’t see her, she let out a long sigh.

Haaah…

So troublesome…