Chapter 58

Thanks to everyone, the second volume of "The Unaware Genius Girl Doesn't Notice" will be released on June 1st!!

I worked hard on the new story, which is a full 15,000 words! The story that Riana told to Kohaku has become a bestseller, and its reputation reached her brother, the novelist, without him knowing it was Riana's story...

The second volume will be published by the new imprint "Earth Star Luna" from Earth Star Novels.

I'll announce the details of the bonuses and other information, so please stay tuned.

From the afternoon of May 30th to June 5th, the launch lineup advertisements will be posted in the station corridors leading from the Marunouchi Line ticket gates to Otome Road at Ikebukuro Station. If you live nearby or happen to be at Ikebukuro Station, please go and see them!

If I had stayed at home, I would have continued to seek praise from my family, which I would never receive, while envying Nina. I was a bit surprised to realize that I could predict such things as if they were someone else's affairs.

I don't regret leaving home at all. At first, I was worried about the terrible things I had done, but now I feel deep down that it was good to run away.

Of course, I was angry with Nina, but the painful, heated emotions of "Why did you try to ruin me?" gradually disappeared from me. All the words I told the prince were my true feelings. I hope no more victims will be hurt by her lies, but I don't want to be involved anymore, just that.

Both the girl who lied and the teacher Amado should receive appropriate punishment, but I hope the teacher, who is an adult, will be punished appropriately, and I hope Nina won't be punished too severely. What she did was, as an adopted magic user, she was eager to excel, ignored warnings, and caused injuries by doing dangerous things, and then lied to avoid being scolded. It was wrong, but if she can properly reflect and reform, that would be enough.

When I heard through the communication magic device that my family never praised me because they thought it would make me arrogant, I felt only sadness, emptiness, and a desire to scream. I was such a fool for crying every night, wanting to be recognized by my family. If they never intended to praise me no matter what I did, I shouldn't have tried so hard.

When I woke up from the hunting party injury, my words were not believed, and I was overwhelmed by anger and deep disappointment. I still clearly remember those feelings, but they have faded over time as I lived as Riana.

From what the prince told me today, it seems the Aigrette family is putting a lot of effort into searching for me. Many people are working on it, and I feel very sorry for causing them trouble. I can't contact them by letter or any method that could be traced, but I don't want to cause more trouble for unrelated people because of my rash actions. The prince even had to travel to a foreign country.

But to be so worried about me, someone they've known since childhood, is very kind of him.

... It seems I will have to achieve great success in the magic stone business, to the point where the Betametal Marquis family will protect me, before I can formally declare my separation from the Aigrette family.

But to be honest, I didn't expect the Aigrette family to react so strongly to my running away. Even if they thought I would become arrogant if praised once, as a ducal family, they couldn't just let me go. My expectations were too optimistic.

From the prince's unexpected comment about "filling in the outer moat," I formed a hypothesis.

The Aigrette family probably wanted to marry me to Prince Reinhold. Therefore, they might have given me stricter education and harsher evaluations to make me a suitable princess. Since there are many families of equal status, they might have thought that giving me added value would make me a candidate for princess. It makes sense that they would be in a hurry to find me, considering the time and effort they invested in me.

However, with Angelica marrying the Crown Prince and Germain being a key aide to the Crown Prince, I don't understand the benefit of tying me to the royal family. There must be some situation I can't imagine. Perhaps Germain, as a politician, has some plan. But it's a pointless thing to think about now. I must have been removed from the list of candidates after running away so irresponsibly.

The prince apparently wants to marry the first princess of Newar, but the Aigrette family, thinking they had filled in the outer moat, seems ridiculous. Perhaps they had some reason to force me into the situation, taking advantage of the prince's inability to mention the other person's name.

"Riana, what's wrong? Did that man say something unpleasant to you?"

"No, no... It's just that I didn't expect them to search for me, so I was surprised."

Yes, if I were to be found, I thought it would be by my family. I tried to cover my tracks as much as possible, but my skills are far inferior to theirs. I thought they would quickly see through it, trace me, and find me in no time.

But there was no sign of them finding me, and I even thought they might not be seriously searching. But that was wishful thinking.

For whatever reason, if they are searching, I will just hide. Fortunately, the alchemist Rio, who started the magic stone business, hasn't revealed that he is the adventurer Riana, and those who don't know me assume "Alchemist Rio" is a man.

I hope I can live peacefully, but with reporters now entering the adventurer and alchemist guilds, it's only a matter of time before I'm exposed. By then, I need to have built a position where the Cronheim Kingdom's ducal family will protect me even if they demand my return.

I am an adult, and if I publicly refuse, they shouldn't be able to force me. After talking with the prince, I was still dazed and gave an evasive answer to Kohaku, who came to check on me.

I finally stood up after receiving a message that Miel was calling me.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Don't worry, it's good news."

Indeed, her expression was bright, but it seemed there was something significant that required her to call me to her office. I sent Kohaku to the children and entered the room. I sat across from Miel, leaning slightly over the low table, wondering what had happened.