The Crimson General Desires no Prince! (GL)
Chapter 41 - 37: Taking A Princess Home (V).

Chapter 41: Chapter 37: Taking A Princess Home (V).

Chapter 37: Taking A Princess Home (V).

The former crown princess and resident transmigrator was riding black beauty who is an obvious joy to have, she was obedient and patient. Rowan has definitely trained her well.

Nearing the end of the afternoon they stopped to camp, Rowan saw that everyone might be tired and saw the perfect camping ground to settle on. "This is a good place to camp and rest before night falls. We can continue our journey tomorrow just to be safe."

Everyone nodded in acknowledgement and started preparing for camp.

They all unmounted their horses, Rowan let go of the princess’ waist and got down off the saddle offering her hand for Princess Camille to hold.

"Thank you, Rowan."

Rowan was quietly wagging her tail and started ordering the guards and servants around on what to do.

"You three collect some logs for the camp. I need two people to dig a small camp fire pit, a small squad will hunt fish for our dinner tonight and the rest can set up the tent. I’ll be helping collect some firewood, everyone- dismissed."

A quiet grassy clearing near a calm river, surrounded by tall trees that provide shade.

As Princess Camille sat down on one of the tree’s shade, everyone got to work diligently as she watched carefully.

A small fire pit sits in the center, with smooth logs and rocks for seating.

Jonathan eyes the swimming fishes in the river and smiles, his stomach rumbling and feeling a little hungry. "The river here has a lot of fish. We can use our spears to fish them. Have you ever done some fishing, Sir William?"

"I have, the only perks of living in the dregs is that we had to get creative. I prefer to work a little smarter." He takes a thin line from his pockets and a small hook. "I packed this just in case."

He ties the thin line around the hook and some bait. "Crafty, simple and neat. This is the only thing I pack when I need to fish, many would disagree with me and tell me that I need a much more proper and expensive fishing gear to catch fish."

"Hah! I say they just lack the skill to wield such an advanced tool!" The two bonded over fishing. Jonathan borrows the thin line and tries to fish using it, but as the line almost slips Sir William needed to hold his hand for good measure.

"Careful." He says looking concerned.

Jonathan winks, giving a toothy grin, "I got this- hey if you can do it I can do it too."

Sir William, who wasn’t used to rowdy and cheerful people, doesn’t seem to mind Jonathan’s company. He teaches him how to properly hold the thin line and finally catches something.

"I caught one!" The fish flaps around as he shows it to Sir William happily. "Holy-!"

"Quickly put it inside this bucket."

The fish hits its tail to Jonathan’s face, its sliminess makes him take a step back and throw it into the bucket. "bLEH!"

He could smell the fish and it absolutely disgusted him.

"...PFFT." (Sir William) snickers covering his mouth.

"Sir William Marshall- you’re laughing at my face being slapped by a fish?!"

"My apologies if you looked at that from my angle it was rather hilarious." He apologizes and gives him a towel to wash his face.

A gentle breeze carries the scent of wildflowers, and the distant sound of chirping insects adds to the peaceful atmosphere.

"..." General Rowan was gathering firewood, stacking a few dry sticks in her arms.

She wanders near the side of the forest where wildflowers bloom in a bunch.

The edge of the forest bursts with a riot of wildflowers, a natural tapestry woven with vibrant hues and delicate fragrances. Tall foxgloves sway in the breeze, their bell-shaped blossoms a cascade of purples and pinks. Golden buttercups and fiery poppies nestle among them, their petals glistening under the sun like tiny flames.

"..."

Clusters of lavender release their soothing scent, mingling with the sweet perfume of wild roses that bloom in soft shades of blush and cream. Daisies, simple yet cheerful, dot the green with their white petals and sunny centers, while bluebells form gentle pools of color beneath the dappled light.

Rowan kneels onto the soft grass, slowly plucking the wildflowers with care wanting to give it to the princess as an offering.

...

Meanwhile...

Our transmigrated princess was staring at the few floating windows that had all of her earned skill. There were about 30 skills that she unlocked but never got to fully upgrade to the max.

"My horse riding skill leveled up."

[Horse Riding: +1].

[Current Level: Lvl. 2].

"So I really have to gain experience in order to level them up. Actually- what happens if I get some of my skills to the max level?" She asks herself, pondering. Since this is an otome game world where originally you’d have to level up some certain skills as the heroine in order to gain and capture the attention of the love interests- "Is there like a reward or something else like passive effects on me?"

Now that it’s come to her... there should be some reward in store, right?

She’s not just leveling up for the fun of it...

"And what are these unused points bar- I have about five of them but what are they for? Is the system so stupid that it won’t provide some sort of tutorial?" She bashes the bad programming of the system until suddenly-

[Ding]!

[System Notification: Skill Mastery System Tutorial Unlocked!]

Level up your skills and unlock powerful bonuses!

Reach Level 5 in any skill to earn a Skill Point, which can be used to enhance other abilities. Max out a skill to its highest level to gain a unique Passive Ability and a Mastery Achievement!

Examples:

Charm [Lv. 10] - Unlocks "Irresistible Presence" (80% success rate in charming even your most hated enemies).

Horse Riding [Lv. 10] - Unlocks "Whisperer’s Touch" (Tame every horse you see, no matter how wild!).

Sewing [Lv. 10] - Unlocks "Master Tailor" (Craft flawless, high-quality outfits instantly, no matter the material!).

Hone your skills and become a true master in your craft! We have now provided you with a tutorial video!

"T-This system can hear me?" She watches the tutorial video where as the system has written, she can use the points to level up the other skills that she’s not really actively using. The passive skills that she can earn from this once she levels them all up to MAX... almost all of them were so good!

"Wait... isn’t this practically overpowered if I level them all up?!" She scrolls over the three examples, she checks the floating window of her skills and each skill has a written passive skill as a reward.

She hasn’t reached any skill yet to MAX to test out the theory but since her highest and most useful one out of all of them is [Charm] she plans on experimenting with that a lot more.

"All of these skills... if I get them all to the highest level... then my path in life will be assured as safe! And I can protect Rowan too in the future!" Now that she’s a full on love interest with no proper pathway of a story point- anything could happen. "I need to know more- browse every skill and determine which ones I need to level up to MAX."

Princess Camille got back to work as she carefully read each and everyone of her skillset before hearing someone approaching her.

"Your highness! Take a look at what I found!" (Rowan) wags her tail once more, hoping to gain praise from the princess. It’s been a while since she’s been away.

Princess Camille eyes the messy state of the flowers that were resting in her arm, she guesses that Rowan must’ve ran as fast as she could to get where she was. She closes the floating window that she was messing with before giving Rowan her complete attention.

"What is it, General Rowan?" She asks.

Rowan presents the messy bouquet of wildflowers with the widest childish smile on her face. "A bunch of wild flowers for you. I found these over there. I thought you’d like them."

Princess Camille could hear some of her heroine status going up- both the [Happiness] and [Love] meter chimed. Seeing the heroine giving her flowers she felt grateful, "Thank you, General Rowan. I love the flowers you bought, since you’re done getting some firewood-"

She pats an empty spot on the blanket where she was sitting. "Please come sit with me and relax."

"Y-Yes!"

Rowan stiffly walks over and sits next to Princess Camille.

"Look at them being so lovey dovey while we set up camp." (Jonathan) and Sir William pops up who had spent the whole hour fishing, it was a lucky day because of the amount of catch that they had.

They placed it into a bucket, the fresh trout still swimming inside.

"The princess had no idea how Rowan used to avoid and hated relaxing, she would jump into work the moment she could." He pouts, memories of their times together resurfaced.

Jonathan Smithers was the well renowned right hand man who begs for the crimson general to take a break, free from work and ask for some time accompanying him inside an adult bar.

"Rowan, let’s go to a concert! My favorite band and singer is going to play for us tonight as a thank you for saving their hometown!"

"Rowan come on, let’s go eat out! You’ve been eating steak too much, you need your vegetables!"

"Ahhh! Rowan I heard our local blacksmith is having a discount on their weaponry! I’ve been eying on one of their shiny gold plated swords for so long! Come with me and check it outmaybe you’ll find something you like!"

Every soldier needs to spoil themselves often and live life after all- destressing is an important factor to take care of one’s mental health.

"Look at her now... sniff. If it only took the princess to get her soft side to come out then we would’ve killed the demon lord sooner."

Everyday he made sure that Rowan is doing her needed amount of work while still living her life to have some fun... it doesn’t always have to be all about work.

"We should leave the two of them alone and prepare dinner." He suggests and Jonathan nods, wanting to give the two some privacy.

"Yeah let’s go prepare some dinner but- Can you cook?"

Sir William nods, ever since he was living after all he was only able to rely on himself. He knows how to cook, clean and even do laundry.

Honestly all of these are just basic survival skills everyone should be able to do.

"I can cook. Should I make something?"

"You can cook?!" (Jonathan) rubs his hands together looking impressed with the royal guard, "Sweet, I love people who cook! I’ll go start the fire."

Sir William had his tongue tied for a moment. "You... love-"

"I’m really hungry. I could eat the whole river of fish. This is why good people like you who cook are definitely my number one favorite people to hang out with." (Jonathan) smiles at Sir William who looks away, looking rather embarrassed for assuming.

"Ah... I see."