After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

This system is still in operation even now when the royal family is in extreme decline.

Although the effect is not as good as before, it is still unfair to accuse the royal family of doing nothing.

However, the old man shook his head again:

"No, the last time I saw a Law Explainer was over twenty years ago. Over the past five years, taxes have been increasing, but the Law Explainer has never appeared."

"How is this possible? I've been here for... five years?"

Heidi's body shuddered.

Five years, she is very familiar with this time.

That was the time when the royal family suffered a heavy blow and he was pushed to the forefront.

Why did the nobles' behavior start to spiral out of control at this particular point in time?

Is it just because of the fall of the royal family?

No.

The system of law-tellers is ostensibly intended to protect the people and demonstrate the so-called royal responsibility.

In reality, it acts more like a whip.

A whip held by the royal family and used to beat disobedient nobles.

As long as any noble disobeyed, the law enforcer would find fault and give the royal family a reason to deal with them.

As for whether the nobles really abide by the law, it doesn’t really matter.

And what about Heidi?

For Heidi, who was pushed to the forefront in a desperate situation and was so alone that she felt like a lonely person, the law-teller system was a very useful tool.

For those nobles who had clear hostile actions, the law enforcers she sent out had sharp eyes and would not miss even the slightest flaw.

For those nobles who are still willing to support the royal family, the system of legislators is basically just a formality.

Unfortunately, the local lord, Earl Stevenson, had once been on Brian's side.

Until the events of a month ago, they were openly supporters of the royal family.

Nature is also the focus of the law-stating system.

To put it simply, the royal family represented by Heidi not only failed to help the current miserable situation of the people in the nearby kingdoms, but can even be regarded as accomplices.

After realizing this, Heidi was overwhelmed by a strong feeling of dizziness.

The princess' body swayed, and she fell backwards, hitting the wall directly and barely holding on, finally avoiding falling to the ground.

The reaction was so huge that the old man was finally able to notice something unusual.

He quickly asked:

"Little girl, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"

"……fine."

Heidi covered her face with her hands and waved them away.

Afraid that the other party would see his expression, he simply lay down in a corner of the cell, curled up facing the wall, and whispered:

"I'm... tired and want to sleep for a while."

"Oh, um, okay."

The old man didn't understand what was going on, so he nodded and said nothing more.

The cell fell into silence again.

Heidi, who was curled up in a ball, had completely lost control of her thoughts.

Royal responsibility and royal honor, these two things are always on Heidi's lips, and she really takes them very seriously.

Otherwise, they would not use any means to maintain it.

Nor would he have refused to surrender to Brian despite enduring immense pain in the previous incident.

He would not take such risks alone to solve the problem of this blood epidemic.

Responsibility and honor are one and the same.

Previously, in Heidi's own opinion, she had undoubtedly fulfilled her responsibilities as a royal family member, so she should naturally enjoy the glory of being a royal family member.

Therefore, she had great contempt for those nobles who intended to usurp the throne and had no honor or sense of responsibility.

But, if, that is, if, what I heard here today, what I saw before, and what I guessed, are all true...

So, how different is Heidi from those nobles whose social order has collapsed?

The royal family's responsibility to check and balance the nobility and protect the common people was completely forgotten, leaving only ugly power struggles and desperate struggles.

How different is this from those nobles whose minds are filled with only pursuit of higher status?

The royal family's responsibilities were completely abandoned.

The glory of the royal family was therefore regarded as a joke by both nobles and commoners.

That's why the common people don't even know the princess's name.

Because to them, the existence of this so-called royal family is really meaningless.

There is no need to know something that is meaningless and even worth less than a piece of straw.

So what is left of the so-called royal family that he struggled so hard to protect, except for the empty title?

What do the royal responsibilities and glory that he talked about actually represent?

"Heh, Aize, you got it right again..."

Recalling someone's previous remarks, the princess muttered to herself with a wry smile.

Aize had noticed the embarrassing situation of the royal family of the Kingdom of Art more than a year ago.

"If the royal family becomes overly focused on the power struggle against the nobility and loses touch with the common people, it will only lead to the abandonment of the royal family and its slow death."

He had warned Heidi this very seriously.

Of course, Heidi at that time had no way of understanding this statement.

I even thought that the ideas of this guy who came from a commoner background in another world were a little funny.

The results of it?

Just like the wilderness survival knowledge that she laughed off, Aize was a warning that Heidi would always recall at the right time.

Then he slapped her hard in the face.

This was both infuriating and funny for Heidi, who valued face above all else.

Of course, I can’t help but think:

If I had taken Aize's words more seriously before, would the current situation be different?

If I had taken him more seriously, would my current situation be different?

do not know.

This kind of question cannot be pondered over.

Otherwise, even someone with a strong mental strength like Heidi would be in danger of going crazy.

And, after calming down, she couldn't help but think about it again - was the old man's words true? Was it reliable?

Could it be that these were some unruly people who were persecuted by the nobles and are now resentful and fabricating stories here?

No... there is no such possibility.

After all, it's just one side of the story, how can we just believe it?

Such self-hypnosis will only make the already outrageous self appear even more ridiculous - even Heidi herself is aware of this.

But, at least for now, she had to think so.

Because she would not allow her three views to collapse in the current situation.

Moreover, whether it is true or false can only be determined after you witness it yourself.

Turning around and glancing at the old man, Heidi quietly stood up after confirming that he had fallen asleep again.

It's time to go.

Chapter 26 Disillusionment (1)

Without much effort, Heidi broke the lock of the cell door with her bare hands, walked out carefully, and after closing the door, she stood in the corridor of the gloomy dungeon.

In the distance, the guards continued to make noises mixed with laughter, and they were completely oblivious to the situation here.

Heidi also took the opportunity to slip around the corner unhindered and stuck her head out to peek at what was happening outside.

At the entrance of the dungeon, more than a dozen guards were gathered around a table, talking and laughing while playing dice. The ground around them was littered with wine bottles.

They are so negligent in their duty of guarding the prison, let alone in daily military discipline.

Even if it wasn't the border, and there was no pressure from the demon invasion, this was still too outrageous.

Heidi suppressed her anger, took advantage of the dim light and the other party's carelessness, and successfully slipped out from the dark shadows on the side.

The other party didn't notice anything unusual at all.

The jailbreak was a joke, and it was successful so simply, crudely and directly.

Coming to the ground, I found myself in the city’s guardhouse.

However, the defenses here are as lax as those underground. A large number of sentries who should be on duty are missing, making the defensive measures that should be effective useless.

Heidi ran out into the street easily.

Several hours had passed since he was taken to the dungeon.

At this time, the sky had completely darkened.

The city is not as prosperous as Tafia at night. The streets are completely dark and there are almost no pedestrians on the road.

The only exception is a mansion in the distance.

An unusually tall, gorgeous, and brightly lit mansion seemed completely out of place compared to the deserted streets.

Needless to say, that was the residence of the local lord, Earl Stevenson.

Theoretically, Heidi could now go to him for help as originally planned.

Even if there is a possibility that the latter is colluding with the Duke's Alliance, as long as some previous communication basis is still there, Heidi is confident that she can convince the other party to help her.

But, do you really want to do this?

Heidi, who grew up in the palace, is familiar with the power struggles among the nobles due to her extraordinary talent.

But that's it.

Her lack of experience led her to have overly beautiful expectations and imaginations about things like nobility and the royal family.

Therefore, Her Royal Highness felt extremely uncomfortable on a physical level for everything that had happened since this afternoon.

And now, she couldn't help but feel sick at the thought of having to ask such a person for help.

But if I don't find him, how can I get past the Duke Alliance's tightrope and reach Tafia?

...Besides, those things may not be true, right?

After a while of hesitation, whether it was self-deception or something else, Heidi finally decided to go to the lord's mansion first.

The city has fallen silent, but the lord's mansion is unusually lively at this moment.

It seemed as if a dinner party was being held, with guests coming and going, clinking glasses between the courtyard and the hall, and the sounds of laughter, clinking glasses, and elegant music could be heard everywhere.

This is good news for Heidi.

The already lax security became even more chaotic due to the banquet, making it easy to sneak in.

In this way, even if there were members of the Duke's Alliance among the guests, Heidi could bypass them unnoticed and contact the local lords.

Taking advantage of a gap in the guards' patrol, Heidi sneaked into the deserted mansion from the other side.

He seized the opportunity, knocked a maid unconscious, and changed into her clothes. Finally, he was able to move freely to a certain extent.