Chapter 39: Selling Goods to Three Parties

Su Na was taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered and returned a salute: “Good day, Your Highness the Princess!”

The instant she lowered her head, tempestuous waves surged in Su Na’s heart.

‘As expected of the male lead! Brother, you actually managed to lure the Crown Princess—who lived deep in the royal palace in the original story—all the way out to the academy. Whatever strong magnet you have is absolutely broken! It can’t even compare to a single hair of yours.’

Caitlin’s large, exposed eyes were bright and lively. Her peach-blossom eyes, slightly similar to Su Na’s, were watery and inevitably evoked a sense of closeness in anyone who saw them.

Su Na exclaimed in her mind that this girl was truly worthy of being the first official wife. With this temperament, she was naturally suited to be the main wife.

She began to understand why Caitlin had been guided here. Without the support of this official main wife, Charlie might have truly been stalled out and died in the academy due to the “bugs” Su Na had created.

It wasn’t that he would be killed by Su Na, but rather that his potential would be drained until he faded into obscurity. Peacefully neutralizing the male lead like this was precisely the method Su Na had decided on from the very beginning.

If he couldn’t graduate smoothly at a normal pace this term, Su Na intended to rob him of all his subsequent fortuitous encounters. By then, whether he lived or died wouldn’t matter anymore.

But with Caitlin’s arrival, the situation had completely changed.

Regardless, she was the set-in-stone Princess. Her status firmly suppressed Su Na, just as Su Na had suppressed the male lead. Su Na could raise her voice against Yulia, the Duke’s daughter, but before a Princess, she had to obediently lower her head.

This was because a Duke still fell under the category of a high-ranking noble. Even if Yulia succeeded to the title, she would have no authority over Su Na. She didn’t have that power; it was simply impossible.

But the royal family was different. Putting aside the natural suppression the royal family held over the nobility, just at this critical juncture where the Central Supervisors were beginning to control the provinces, a little administrative maneuvering could make Su Na’s business very difficult.

She had no desire to gamble on whether the Regent would choose to back the Fafnir family over a minor squabble between “children”—the Fafnir heir and the Crown Princess.

In fact, the Regent might be delighted to seize such an opportunity to pressure the Fafnir family into coughing up some benefits.

The steam engine was currently being implemented in many territories, and its efficiency and value had long been demonstrated. It was only because the Church stood at the forefront that other nobles found it difficult to reach their hands in.

The Church of the Goddess of Light was a monotheistic religion spanning multiple nations. It occupied vast amounts of land and resources within each kingdom and monopolized the major trade routes between them.

Relying on their loyal base of believers, they even held a place in various manufacturing sectors, such as traditional military production.

Even state-led workshops could not compete in cost control against these believers, who farmed and produced on their own, required no wages, and often didn’t even need to be fed.

A normal person would neither want to nor dare to cross such a behemoth.

Otherwise, if the Regent was so strapped for cash, why didn’t he ask the Church for some? Having an excuse would make things much easier. ‘If I can’t squeeze out the Church, I can surely squeeze you out!’

No wonder the System had suddenly gone crazy, and Charlie’s confidence had swelled again. In terms of luck, there were truly few who could compare to this young girl who had effortlessly become the Crown Princess.

If the original Su Na hadn’t been replaced by the transmigrated Su Na, she would be knocking on death’s door right about now.

“No need to be so formal; you can call me Caitlin.”

Caitlin’s eyes curved in a gentle smile, and her tone was soft. She extended a pale little hand. A maid standing nearby hurriedly stepped forward, placed a wooden box in her palm, and Caitlin immediately handed it to Su Na.

“I am very happy to meet you, Su Na. This is my meeting gift; please do not decline.”

Su Na paused for a second, then smiled and took it gracefully: “Thank you, Caitlin.”

“Oh~ Sister Nana, you’re here!”

A crisp call rang out from a short distance away. Charlie, whose smile had frozen on his face, was bumped and stumbled slightly as a fragrant breeze swept past him.

Su Na looked down somewhat blankly at the small hand that had suddenly wrapped around her arm.

Yulia affectionately clung to Su Na, her small mouth chattering away about how much she had missed her and the interesting things that had happened over the holidays. Only after a good while did she seemingly notice the quiet Caitlin standing nearby and gasped in surprise: “Ah! Your Highness! Why are you here?”

Caitlin elegantly took the lead in offering a salute. Her voice remained as smooth as water, lacking any trace of dissatisfaction: “Good day, Miss Yulia.”

Yulia pursed her lips and said nothing, nor did she show any intention of returning the greeting.

Su Na’s mouth twitched. ‘Is the conflict between these two already out in the open? Isn’t Yulia trying a bit too hard?’

The Roriman Kingdom did not have the rank of Prince, but an enfeoffed Duke was essentially equivalent to one. Yulia’s father, the Duke of Rose, had not gotten along with the Regent in the past. He was King William’s most trusted brother-in-law, which was how he had been granted a duchy.

Who could have expected that in the next generation, Yulia would turn out to be the Regent’s die-hard supporter? It was a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree reversal.