The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System-Chapter 108 - The princess of Castro

In front of me there is a ginger-haired girl, seemingly one year older than me. Her skin tone is whiter than any person I’ve met from Wesgoth, and she speaks with a weird accent.

But, most importantly, her uniform is the same as mine. Which means that she is royalty.

"So, you’re the princess slave everyone has been talking about lately. I’m Urraca Sahagun, legitimate crown princess of the kingdom of Castro, and I have a real father."

And I hate her already.

Well, at least she was very open about her prejudices and isn’t trying to sugarcoat insults to appear friendly. That makes things a lot easier for me.

But I have to play my part of a well-educated little princess, so I smile as if nothing bad has been said.

"I’m pleased to meet you, Lady Urraca. I’m Aurea Annes, princess of the kingdom of Wesgoth."

Smile and wave is my motto right now. Just smile and wave.

"Humpf. Don’t go thinking too much of yourself just because of your scores on the entrance exam. Inside this place, they don’t mean anything."

"Of course, Lady Urraca. You are very wise."

I’m doing my best to hold back the venom that is coming to my tongue. I swear I am.

"It’s good that you acknowledge it. I am your senior now, so I’m above you."

"Yes, Lady Urraca. I’ll be sure to respect the elders."

"Humpf. It seems that you know your place, after all, little slave."

"So, what matter would an old woman like you want to talk about with me?"

"Hey, I’m not an old woman."

"You are older than me, after all. An elder."

"That’s not what I meant! I’m your senior, but I’m only one year older than you."

"Still an older woman."

"We are practically the same age!"

I’m laughing inside. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?

But I maintain the same facade of calm and respect.

"Very well, practically-the-same-age-as-me princess. Did you have something to discuss with me?"

"Oh. Right. I came to invite you to a soirée in my quarters this evening. You are a princess, after all, even if you are still a runaway slave."

You could easily cut the ’slave’ part of the phrase out, you know? There’s no need or reason to bring it up every time.

"I’m sorry, but I have my study routine in the evening."

"Study routine? In the evening? Why would anyone want to study during evenings?"

Not everyone is a good-for-nothing that spends their life resting over the result of the gacha pull of birthright.

"To learn, maybe? I think that it’s a good reason for anyone to study, no matter the time."

"But we already study during classes. There’s no need to study more than that."

"For you, maybe. I fear I might not be as talented as you, so I need to put in the extra effort."

"Oh, so you are a bit dumb, then. It makes sense; you were a slave, after all. You have a lot to catch up to. But it’s better for you to not get too much into it. Come to my next soirée, then."

She then just turns around and leaves, without waiting for my answer.

Ugh, what a nuisance she is. I’ll make sure to stay as far away from her as possible.

:::

The following day, I’m having lunch at the cafeteria when she appears again.

"Hello, Lady Aurea. I will be having another soirée this evening. I’m waiting for you at my quarters."

Again??

Why are you hunting me down like this? You don’t even like me.

"If I refuse again, will you keep pestering me every day until I give up?"

"Exactly."

"Why are you so keen on having me in your soirée?"

"Because we are in Wesgoth right now, and you are the only royalty of this kingdom that is present in this school. We royals should stick together and create networks; that’s what my mother always taught me."

Oh, networking.

It makes sense, considering that the children of all prominent families are sent to study in this school. Those same children would then be told to use the time to form ties to other important families.

My own mothers weren’t so invested in that, though Mother Lillian’s ’learn more about the world’ thing might include this kind of stuff.

"Who else is participating?"

"Why, all my friends, of course. The girls are all from my class, so you probably don’t know them yet, but I will do the proper introductions. Are you coming, then?"

"I will go."

"Perfect. I’ll wait for you at my quarters right after dinner."

I think that what we’ll have is akin to what would be called a ’tea party’ on Earth, with the biggest difference being that we don’t have tea.

Without tea or coffee, the drink for these evening parties is cider with honey, diluted in water. Yes, alcoholic, exactly like the middle ages of our world.

Urraca simply went her way without saying goodbye, exactly like yesterday. She’s not one with good manners, is she?

Well, actually, I just remembered something from my etiquette classes.

When talking to someone of the same social standing, you say farewell. When talking to someone of lower social standing, you are expected to end the conversation whenever you feel like it, without notice.

So, she’s treating me as someone with a lower social standing than herself, even though we are both royals. Could it be because of the ’slave’ part of my past that she loves so much to bring up?

That’s a quite subtle way of throwing some shade. I like it.

Princess Urraca Sahagun, you might be a worthy opponent, after all. Tonight’s soirée suddenly became a lot more interesting.

I get back to my food with a smile that is a bit bigger than it was before I got interrupted.

Another good thing is that there don’t seem to be any male students in the soirée. Only girls.

Some of those noble children are on the lookout for marriage prospects, after all. And boys tend to be a bit too pushy in those moments.