Chapter 661: The Borrowed Seal

Didi stopped beside the roadside refuge and watched displaced families wait for permission to enter the shelter lane.

Wooden shacks and canvas tents lined the gravel verge, offering temporary shelter to villagers who fled the recent border unrest.

In a quiet corner behind the supply barn, Didi paused to review her personal status window.

With three unassigned attribute points glowing before her eyes, she carefully finalized the progression rewards earned from the viaduct campaign.

[ Attribute allocation initialized ]

[ Mana: +2 Points assigned ]

[ Stamina: +1 Point assigned ]

[ Note: Maximum capacity increased / current reserves unfilled ]

A steady resonance rippled through her spirit as her mana pool expanded, though her physical vitality remained at its existing baseline.

As she stepped out onto the main path, the harsh sound of raised voices shattered the peaceful morning air.

A squad of armored Crown couriers was surrounding the refugee camp, their horses blocking the northern road.

At the front stood a haughty courier captain clad in polished mail, brandishing a parchment scroll bearing a golden royal seal.

"By emergency decree of the provincial chancery, all able-bodied laborers in this camp are conscripted for fortress reconstruction!" the captain shouted.

"Refusal to obey this royal requisition will be punished as treason against the realm!"

Two elderly weavers knelt in the dust, weeping as two mounted guards dragged their teenage sons toward a prisoner wagon.

"Please, my lord, our boys are simple weavers!" an elderly mother cried out, clutching the captain’s stirrup.

"They know nothing of masonry or soldiering!"

"Remove your hands, peasant!" the captain barked, raising his leather riding crop to strike her across the face.

Before the crop could fall, a slender rapier of condensed frost intercepted the blow, frosting the leather until it snapped like dry kindling.

Didi stepped between the mounted captain and the weeping mother, her seven sapphire Shards rotating in a calm crescent behind her shoulders.

"There is no treason on this road," she said softly, her voice carrying the quiet authority of a true sovereign.

"Let the woman stand."

The courier glared down from his saddle, resting his right hand upon the ornate hilt of his seven-Shard longsword.

"Princess Didi," he scoffed, his tone dripping with condescension.

"You may have played at war in the mountains, but you have no authority to obstruct a legal Crown requisition."

"Show me the parchment," she demanded, extending her left hand with steady composure.

He tossed the rolled parchment scroll toward her with a dismissive flick of his gloved wrist.

She caught the flying parchment in mid-air, scanning the fine script with sharp, discerning eyes.

The wax seal was genuine, but an unaccepted obedience rider was added to the bottom margin in fresh black ink.

"This emergency requisition was issued for voluntary transport," she noted, looking up with cold disapproval.

"You attached an illegal servitude rider to force free citizens into bonded labor."

"The frontier requires labor, girl!" the captain snapped, leaping down from his saddle and drawing his seven-Shard longsword.

"Those who accept Crown bread must obey Crown commands!"

"Stand behind me," she told the villagers, signaling the families to slip away through the western clearing.

The captain lunged forward with explosive speed, his sword glowing with seven vibrant Shards as he aimed a vicious thrust at her chest.

Didi met the charge without yielding ground, deflecting the thrust with an effortless parry that redirected his blade into the mud.

"In the name of the Crown, kneel and obey!" the captain roared, channeling the forced servitude rider through his royal seal.

A wave of coercive authority swept toward her, attempting to bind her will to the imperial decree.

[ Domain activated: The Unclaimed Kingdom ]

[ Contested order: Coercive bloodline rider ]

[ Result: Forced obedience nullified ]

The golden wave shattered harmlessly against the pale blue perimeter of her domain, dissolving into thin air.

The captain gasped in shock as the magical compulsion failed completely, leaving him off balance in the churning mud.

"How can this be?" he choked out, raising his sword for a desperate overhead cleave.

The Unclaimed Kingdom blocked the coercive command, but his physical blade still carried the momentum of an experienced swordsman.

Didi stepped smoothly to the side, allowing the descending blade to pass harmlessly through the empty air beside her shoulder.

She pivoted on the ball of her right foot, slapping the flat of her frost rapier against his exposed right wrist.

The sharp impact froze the nerves in his forearm, and his longsword slipped from his numb fingers.

Before the weapon touched the ground, she tapped the pommel with her foot, frosting the blade solid against the gravel.

She rolled the forged parchment in her left hand, its false rider still visible beneath the royal seal.

"Your seal is confiscated," she declared, stepping back with complete composure.

"You will return to the provincial governor and explain why his officers are forging royal warrants."

"Wait—my wrist... what did you do to my wrist?" the captain gasped in agony, cradling his frozen arm.

"I froze the nerve cluster," she replied calmly. "It will thaw by sunset, provided you do not draw steel again."

The captain scrambled backward in terror, clutching his frozen wrist as he mounted his horse with trembling limbs.

"Retreat!" the captain screamed at his guards, wheeling his stallion around and fleeing down the highway in full panic.

The refugee camp erupted in joyous cheers as the terrified villagers rushed forward to thank their young protector.

"Thank you, Lady Didi!" the elderly mother wept, kissing the young princess’s hand.

"We have nowhere left to go... will you witness our local settlement agreement so the Crown cannot take our boys?"

"I will witness it gladly," she answered with a bright, luminous smile that warmed the entire autumn camp.

She spent the remainder of the afternoon drafting an official report detailing the courier’s abuse of imperial instruments.

The quiet road outside the Sixth remained peaceful beneath the golden autumn foliage, guarded by the unwavering resolve of a princess who ruled without chains.

The grateful villagers returned to their humble hearths in peace, knowing their freedom was anchored by an incorruptible shield.

High above the roadside refuge, the celestial broadcast interface lit up with a brilliant cascade of golden superchats.

[ Seoul_Tactician: "DIDI’S POLITICAL MATURITY IS UNREAL! Spotted the forged servitude rider instantly!" ]

[ StarlightScholar: "Two points to Mana and one to Stamina, then Didi went straight to the shelter lane!" ]

[ IronVanguard: "The Unclaimed Kingdom nullifying royal obedience commands while she parries the physical blade with pure skill!" ]

[ HearthKeeper: "Seeing Didi agree to witness their local agreement brought tears to my eyes! She is a true people’s princess!" ]

[ ShadowMage44: "Seventh Shard in full effect! Didi took down a 7-Shard captain with zero effort!" ]

[ TacticalNerd: "Notice how she forced the chancery to answer for its own corrupt officers? That is high-level statecraft!" ]

[ NewViewer_02: "The way she froze his sword to the dirt was so clean! Didi’s martial choreography is top tier!" ]

Didi rolled up the fraudulent requisition scroll, watching the refugee children play peacefully in the afternoon sunlight.

Didi held the altered rider beside the original seal and asked one of the villagers to read both clauses aloud.

"The order says transport by consent," the woman said, her voice steadying as she reached the forged line.

"Then this part has no authority over you," Didi answered.

She gave the villager a copy of the genuine wording and kept the forged parchment for the governor, so the captain could not return with the same lie.

Her kingdom held no physical walls, but its protection stood unbreakable against every tyrant’s decree.