PGVCW 39

 

Playing God in Various Catastrophic Worlds

Chapter 39: The Noble Welcome at the Castle

Out of profound respect for the esteemed princess, everyone in the castle poured boundless enthusiasm into her reception. Merely laying eyes on Xia Wang'an's attire and the loyal, silent, towering guard by her side was enough to convince every single person without a shadow of a doubt of her imperial princess status.

Count Albert and his eldest son were away from the castle at the time, but fortunately, the experienced old steward was present. Leading a retinue of servants, he acted with lightning speed to clear out and tidy up the guest suite on the second floor. He fetched the most comfortable bed, hung expensive oil paintings on the walls, and even laid down a rug fashioned from giant bear fur.

Once everything was completed, Head Steward old Henry first inspected the place with immense satisfaction before heading downstairs to welcome Xia Wang'an upward.

• "Respected Princess, this finest chamber shall be your dwelling."
  
  

Xia Wang'an looked down at a colossal louse strolling smugly and brazenly across the fur rug. The Savior remained completely expressionless. She genuinely wanted to draw her blade. Yet, as luck would have it, Xia Wang'an wasn't blind either; she could clearly perceive that all these people held profound goodwill toward her.

Old Henry acutely picked up on the displeasure radiating from the Princess, leaving him utterly baffled. Before he could even open his mouth to inquire, however, he witnessed that silent, black-armored guard suddenly pull out a dazzlingly white towel from goodness knows where—a towel that was instantly recognizable as being crafted from precious linen. A towel of such rare value would serve as a supreme symbol of status even within the royal capital, representing a luxury item that even the upper echelons struggled to purchase. Yet here it was, unexpectedly appearing in the hands of a mere guard.

In his heart, old Henry silently elevated this guard's standing by yet another notch, surmising that he must hold immense favor and prestige in the presence of Her Highness the Princess. Otherwise, how could he possibly possess such a pristine, soft towel?

Then, in the next second, he watched as the black-armored guard abruptly opened his hands and sprayed a blue-green mist of water onto the towel from an unseen source. Before old Henry could even feel a pang of heartache over this cloud-like luxury item being contaminated, the black-armored guard had already squatted down and begun wiping the room's wooden floorboards with lightning speed.

Old Henry: "!!!" The rest of the servants: "!!!"

Xia Wang'an also suddenly remembered that as a robot tasked with her protection and daily care, 123 was programmed with maid and housekeeper protocols. Previously, she had assumed 123 might cook meals for her or something similar; but seeing it now, the settings added to 123 by the Machinery Department were vastly more extensive than she had ever imagined.

The urge to draw her blade instantly vanished from Xia Wang'an's mind. Headquarters was truly wonderful, having accounted even for such mundane details.

Cultivation on the Rooftop

She happily ascended to the roof and began her meditative cultivation. The good news was that the rooftop was clean; although there was a light layer of dust, a single sweep of spiritual energy completely cleared it away. As for why she hadn't used spiritual energy to sweep away the literal excrement earlier... Xia Wang'an flatly refused to elaborate.

In any case, with nothing else to do, she might as well cultivate. Had the black-armored guard not been down below diligently scrubbing away, Xia Wang'an might have even considered lingering atop the roof to seize the opportunity for deep cultivation as a rather stellar option. Since she had already stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage anyway, whether she slept or not made virtually no difference.

While she sat in earnest cultivation, the castle below was already abuzz with ripples of shock. It was inconvenient for Carlo to barge into the Princess's chambers, so he remained waiting on the first floor while anxiously and frantically urging a guard to go check why his father and eldest brother still hadn't returned.

Then, he was greeted by old Henry’s stunned, thunderstruck account.

• "A towel of such extraordinary softness was actually put straight to use as a tool for scrubbing the floor."
  
  
• "Though I led the servants in cleaning the chamber to pristine condition, Her Highness the Princess still remained unwilling to take up residence within it. One can only imagine what kind of extravagantly decadent empire she hails from."
  
  
• "That guard procured some strange blue liquid from parts unknown and sprayed it across the wooden planks, and with just a gentle wipe, those worn boards were restored to look brand new."
  
  

Old Henry was shaken to his core, and Carlo was even more profoundly shaken than him.

• "What did you say?! That guard is actually performing menial chores like cleaning up?!"
  
  

He could scarcely suppress the turbulent shock crashing through his heart:

• "I couldn't sense his breathing or physical fluctuations whatsoever—he is at least a Senior Warrior!"
  
  

Old Henry’s eyes bulged wide in disbelief: "What?!" A Senior Warrior—even within the royal capital, such a figure would command the eager courtship of numerous noble houses and be treated as an honored guest of the highest order!

Old Henry couldn't help letting his imagination run wild:

• "A Senior Warrior is actually reduced to performing base chores like cleaning... just how immensely powerful must that Princess's kingdom truly be?"
  
  

The Misunderstandings of the Local Nobility

Anxiety and excitement warred within Carlo’s chest. The excitement stemmed from the realization that his family had finally stumbled upon a golden opportunity to cultivate ties with high-ranking nobility, while the anxiety lay in the dread of letting such a precious opportunity slip right through his fingers. Moreover, he had never taken any coursework on how to properly court an imperial princess.

• "Let's wait for Father and the others to return first. How we proceed will ultimately depend on Father's decision."
  
  

After racking his brain for a long while, Carlo finally settled upon this foolproof strategy: leave everything in his father's hands. If things succeeded, as the one who first discovered Her Highness the Princess, he would undoubtedly claim a share of the credit. If things failed, then it was entirely his father's fault, bearing not a single copper coin's worth of relation to him.

The guard spurred his horse into a rapid gallop toward the direction where Count Albert was conducting his patrols, leaving Carlo to let out a slight breath of relief.

As for Xia Wang'an closing her eyes to rest her mind atop the rooftop, Carlo accepted the sight with complete equanimity. After all, mages had always harbored a natural affinity for cultivating their arcane arts at elevated vantage points; though the underlying principles remained obscure to outsiders, it was an undeniable fact that spellcasting energies gathered far more rapidly when positioned high above. Furthermore, such an esoteric cultivation method was completely unknown to commoner mages lacking familial patronage—only those scions backed by venerable noble houses could inherit this little secret from their elders. Consequently, nearly every lineage where magic flourished would erect a majestic wizard tower explicitly to accommodate their house mages' high-altitude cultivation.

Xia Wang'an’s peculiar behavior could only be described as accidentally hitting the mark, thereby cementing her imperial identity beyond any shadow of a doubt.

Meanwhile, down below in the guest chamber, the black-armored guard continued diligently executing its duties as a housekeeping automaton. While the people of the Xia State never considered themselves abnormally obsessed with cleanliness and hygiene, measured against the standards of this world's baseline filth, the measures enacted by the black-armored guard struck the castle attendants as an extreme form of pathological germophobia.

Initially, the servants merely dared to observe from a discreet distance. After all, to these attendants, a Senior Warrior was a formidable entity addressed with high honorifics. Once they realized the black-armored guard harbored zero intention of reprimanding them, however, their courage swelled just enough for them to linger by the doorway and crane their necks for a peek.

Upon witnessing the spectacle, someone scurried off to report to old Henry and Lord Carlo:

• "That Lord has actually washed every single carpet and mattress in the room, and even unhooked the curtains—it looks like he's thoroughly inspecting the place for hidden hazards along the way!" (——The deep-cleaning mode naturally requires washing everything in sight.)
  
  
• "Once he finished washing, the Lord used some unknown method to dry them instantly in the blink of an eye!" (——Housekeeper robots come equipped with a built-in drying function; you truly need one.)
  
  
• "The floorboards were scrubbed by the Lord until they practically gleamed, and even the bedframes were wiped down repeatedly. When a towel grew darkened with grime, the Lord simply pulled an entirely fresh one straight out from inside his armor!" (——The Machinery Department, responsible for engineering the robot’s internal storage capacity, proudly assures you that cleaning rags are in inexhaustible supply.)
  
  

After Carlo and old Henry were subjected to wave after wave of profound astonishment, 123—having finally concluded its deep-cleaning protocols—lingered by the doorway to survey the interior of the chambers one final time before giving itself an official "cleaning standards met" evaluation.

The Magic Scroll and the Departure

When Count Albert and his eldest son hurried back to the castle and laid eyes upon a chamber so immaculate that one hesitated to step inside, carrying even a faint, refreshing trace of cleanliness (the crisp aroma of descaling agents), they instantly swallowed Carlo's claims whole: this was undoubtedly an imperial princess.

Aside from a princess backed by an entire sovereign kingdom, who else could possibly indulge in such extravagant, luxurious treatment?

To be more precise, the empire standing behind her must possess unfathomable might; after all, even the princess of their own nation could never afford the staggering luxury of employing brand-new, pristine towels merely as housekeeping implements.

Count Albert reached a swift, decisive verdict:

"I am going to fetch the communication magic scroll immediately!"

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The arrival of a great empire's princess presented an unmissable, colossal opportunity for the entire household. In such critical moments, a Count would never begrudge the expense of a single magic scroll—even though it carried a truly exorbitant price tag.

No sooner had the magic scroll been produced than Xia Wang'an shifted her posture atop the roof, dropping down in a graceful, weightless bound.

Although a language barrier stood between them, her earlier expressions of aversion had not escaped the keenly observant eyes of old Henry. As a master steward, his talent for reading subtle expressions and reading the room was, naturally, first-rate.