Giant Tarantula.
As the name suggests, it’s an enormously large spider-like monster.
This giant tarantula is notorious for its strong lethality.
‘It’s hard enough to kill, but capturing it alive is several times harder.’
Even specialized monster hunting mercenary groups barely manage to slay one, let alone capture it alive.
But Alexis actually caught one alive?
‘Impressive.’
The main character really isn’t just anyone.
Considering Alexis’s age, it’s a remarkable feat. After all, he’s just a 14-year-old kid.
Thinking about how the once little Alexis has grown up made me proud.
‘He’s grown well. Enough to catch a giant tarantula.’
That said, it also made me worry more.
Catching a notorious monster like a giant tarantula without a single scratch is not an easy task.
I felt the urge to see it with my own eyes.
‘Why isn’t there a video communication stone?’
If I had a protagonist buff, I’d develop a video comms stone first.
A sigh of regret escaped me.
[Why? Don’t like the giant tarantula?]
Alexis misunderstood my sigh and asked in a puzzled voice.
“How could I not? But...”
It’s just that I’m worried.
Wondering if he’s pushing himself too hard. What if he got hurt trying to capture the monster alive?
‘He tends to push himself while pretending it’s nothing.’
But worrying alone won’t solve anything.
At times like this!
‘I really should build more hospitals.’
It’s better to plan ahead.
So if anyone gets hurt, I can say confidently, ‘There’s a hospital nearby, go!’
Though I’d still be worried.
‘My precious stocks.’
If the first prince becomes the emperor, Astra will be doomed.
So I poured all my resources into Alexis.
If he doesn’t rise, I’m in serious trouble.
‘No, my stocks are steadily rising now.’
He’s only 14 but already capturing giant tarantulas.
My motivation surged.
When I’m motivated like this, I have to work even harder!
First, I asked Alexis clearly.
“Did you get hurt?”
[Not really.]
“Not really? So, did you get hurt or not?”
[No, I didn’t.]
I was about to ask if he was really unharmed when other voices chimed in nearby.
[Miss? Miss! I want to say hi too!]
[Miss, how have you been?]
[It’s Glee!]
[Please talk to us more often!]
These were the kids who had been trainees at the Igritz training camp.
They’d just been promoted (?) to trainees from seed candidates.
They got excited hearing my voice after a long time and noisily jumped into the communication.
[Miss, we ugh─!]
[Move aside.]
I heard Alexis sigh.
But seeing the kids freely interrupt like that, it seemed they got along well.
‘Good. So he’s not lonely.’
Sending Alexis to the training camp was the right choice.
In the original story I knew, Alexis suffered terribly.
He almost tumbled over repeatedly.
So I hoped Alexis would grow up without the bruises, unlike the original.
‘Hmm, with that secret of birth, it’ll be hard to avoid scars.’
Still, things should improve if only good things come next.
I want to lay a path of flowers ahead of a struggling protagonist.
‘Is this how online readers commenting as “mom” feel?’
I happily listened to Alexis and the kids bickering.
After a noisy commotion, Alexis said over the stone.
[Anyway, I’ll send it to you.]
“But the tarantula can’t cross the border.”
[Then what about the eggs?]
The eggs shouldn’t be too hard to smuggle in secretly. They basically look like ostrich eggs.
But giant tarantula eggs are truly hard to get.
They hatch inside the mother’s body.
“You have eggs?”
[Yeah. Got lucky and got one. Wouldn’t it be nice to tame it from the egg?]
Of course!
Thinking of that so carefully, he really is smart.
I nodded proudly.
‘I feel my investment is paying off.’
I’m an investor.
Of course, I’m not the kind of investor who only invests with words.
‘I actually invested properly.’
Not just in Alexis, but in the entire Igritz mercenary group.
How much money and time it took...
When they repaired the training camp’s outer walls, it leaked.
After fixing the ceiling, the stairs collapsed.
When they repaired the stairs, the knights caught infectious diseases.
‘Even this communication stone I’m using now was bought by me.’
It was very expensive. Why is this tiny stone so costly?
When buying it, my hands trembled, really...
Not as Princess Erilot, but as Yoo Hyemin, my inner ordinary citizen screamed, “This is such a poor value!”
‘Haggling is only possible when there are many sellers.’
For expensive products like communication stones, the price is set by the supplier.
Though I cried tears of blood paying an inflated price, the communication stone was a must-have.
I have an information network branching everywhere, and that information is my power source.
Being able to communicate anytime, anywhere with that network is crucial.
More than money!
Moreover,
‘I caught and tamed monsters thanks to the Igritz mercenary group.’
They spared no expense.
‘...’
Well, not completely ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) spared...
It’s painful but necessary!
Money always feels precious when spent!
[Take your time if you have things to think about.]
Alexis patiently waited for me as I fell silent, distracted.
‘Oh no, I hope I didn’t give away that I was thinking about money!’
Clearing my throat, I called out.
“Alexis.”
[Yes.]
I was surprised.
His voice sounded lower than before.
‘Is his voice already changing?’
It’s amazing how much he grows even if I don’t see him often, but I pushed distracting thoughts aside and spoke.
Since we only talk by voice and not face-to-face, I wanted to clearly express my concern.
“Come back safely. Don’t break another arm.”
[I told you.]
“Shall I hang up?”
[...Yeah.]
‘Is there anything more?’
I waited quietly like Alexis waited for me.
But it didn’t seem like he had more to say.
“Okay, I’ll hang up then!”
I ended the call first.
Then I expressed my excitement that I couldn’t say during the call.
‘Wow! Giant tarantula eggs!’
I shook my fist and jumped onto my bed.
Rolling around on the soft bed, flailing my limbs.
Many things are going smoothly.
‘First, my second gaho.’
Now people know I have two gahos.
The first known to the public is .
It was very useful when grandfather first noticed me, but after finishing all the ancient history books, there’s no place to use it.
‘So I read as slowly as possible near the end.’
Still, the number of pages is limited and the utility of my gaho declined daily.
I could feel people’s opinions of me falling more and more.
The fundamental difference between commoners and nobles was whether they had gaho.
‘If you don’t have gaho, you’re basically a commoner.’
Especially since my mother was a commoner, I was judged more harshly.
‘If my gaho became useless in this situation...’
I’d be treated just like a commoner.
But even then, it wouldn’t change the fact I was Astra’s direct descendant.
However,
‘I can’t just stay still.’
No matter how excellent Balzac and Joshua are, I’m Dad’s favorite daughter.
If I’m treated like a commoner, the family’s reputation falls with me.
‘That’s why I created a new gaho called .’
Of course, since I’ve done a lot so far, if I stayed only in the Astra territory, it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t have a second gaho.
But my current goal is higher.
‘Hehehe.’
To enter the imperial central political arena!
The high-ranking nobles in the center have formidable gahos.
They would never acknowledge a worn-out gaho like .
‘But is different.’
Monster Taming.
A special gaho no one else has.
Because no one’s had it before, everyone will be curious.
Can she tame all monsters?
How many can she tame?
What abilities can she show using tamed monsters?
People would be full of questions.
Considering the endless variety of monsters, many won’t be tameable by me.
I pictured the central nobles being shocked to see me taming monsters.
I smirked.
‘I hope the eggs arrive soon.’
𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦 No matter how much I train with the white birch flute, nothing beats taming from birth.
Adult monsters will attack if I don’t have the flute in hand.
But babies are different.
If you show your face and tame them with the flute from birth or hatch, they recognize you as family.
‘But baby monsters are really hard to get.’
Monsters raise their babies in ‘nests.’
So to get baby monsters, you have to destroy the nest where the monster group lives.
‘That’s practically a war... I don’t want to destroy nests just for my needs.’
So far, I’ve only tamed two monsters properly.
Steel crow, Lagon.
Shadow monster, Ombre.
‘I wonder how cute a giant tarantula baby would be.’
Hanjihyuk would say my taste is weird again.
The next day.
The twins and I boarded the carriage to go to the training grounds.
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, Balzac rested his chin on my head.
“Last night, your lights were on late in your room.”
I was excited about the tarantula eggs and looked up some monster books before sleeping.
‘But how did he know?’
“How did you know I didn’t turn off the light?”
“......”
“......”
The twins’ silence was unsettling.
I glared sharply at Balzac and Joshua.
“You secretly checked if I was going to the ‘nest’ again, didn’t you?”
“No!”
“...No.”
If you’re going to deny it, at least coordinate your answers.
Balzac denied too quickly, Joshua too late. Joshua was glaring at Balzac.
“I told you not to bother Lagon!”
The twins acted like they hated my steel crow, Lagon.
Once Hanjihyuk rode on him, he freaked out.
Since then, he carried around books like—
He was desperate to release Lagon whenever I looked away.
Balzac smiled awkwardly.
“Listen, raising something means it’s safer if possible...”
“Balzac, you secretly raised a crocodile.”
“......”
Hanjihyuk accidentally walked into a room raising a crocodile and almost got eaten.
Then Joshua laughed and said,
“It’s better to keep animals many others raise nearby. There’s lots of info when they get sick or need care—”
“Joshua, you said raising black-bellied piglets was fun.”
“......”
You said that while laughing to a corrupt official, didn’t you?
I gave them a haughty look.
“I’m going to raise Lagon at the training grounds.”
“Why!”
“......”
“Because you’re always trying to release him.”
Balzac and Joshua quietly muttered, “Training grounds....”
“If you mess with Lagon again that day, I’m really running away.”
“Won’t do it!”
“Good.”
The two of them went serious.
When the talk ended, we arrived at the training grounds.
We all walked to the new hall together.
There was a reason everyone gathered today.
‘Because today is the annual evaluation day.’
We headed to the newly built hall in the training grounds.
If it was any other test, the twins would’ve left late.
But today was different.
They left early with me.
‘Well, that makes sense.’
The results of the annual evaluation have become very important recently.
Grandfather, disappointed in the second generation, ordered the third generation to be evaluated more thoroughly.
‘Since it’s a thorough evaluation, the results are definite.’
As the trustworthiness of the evaluation grew, grandfather treated it as an objective indicator, raising its importance.
‘It’s practically where the yearly ranking is decided.’
When we arrived at the hall, a grand chandelier greeted us.
The other halls in the training grounds were also beautiful, but the new hall was special because it was newly built.
Its interior combined classical and trendy styles in a tasteful way.
Delighted by the sight, I looked around.
‘Oh, someone’s already here.’
I thought we were first, but someone had arrived earlier.
The first thing I noticed was a tall figure.
Next, a handsome face — not as much as my dad, but still good looking.
And last to arrive were two blond, red-eyed people who looked just like my dad and me.
‘Blond hair and red eyes aren’t common.’
My dad and I have blond hair and red eyes.
It’s very rare for two generations to share this.
It symbolizes the Astra family.
The first head of the Astra family had blond hair and red eyes, so Astra people place great meaning on them.
So much meaning that an occult story even exists.
The first head prayed so that only outstanding children would inherit blond hair and red eyes!
That’s the legend.
Though just a legend, many believe it.
‘Well, I’ve benefited from it.’
Among the third generation, there are only two blond red-eyes.
Me, Erilot Astra.
And Blizen Astra.