Volume 2 - CH 6

We stayed for three days in the Ashbaton territory.

I spent most of my time with Patrick’s mother. She’s a normal person as long as I didn’t utter the words ‘Remrest Kingdom’ or anything related to them. When I brought up the topic of 「Restaurant」 my first reaction was that of fright.

Thankfully, the Yumiela-style leveling theory was well received. Patrick kept reminding me not to share too much but I couldn’t help it since it would make her happy. I don’t think I want to know what she’s going to do once she levels up.

And everyone who worked in the Lord’s residence was kind enough to welcome me. For the first time I felt so spoiled. Is this how it feels to be a child?

The days we spent on the Ashbaton territory passed in the blink of an eye, soon we had to say our farewells. Unfortunately, Patrick’s father was still stuck on the border and wouldn’t be able to come home for a while.

「Thank you for taking care of me.」

「Come visit anytime, Yumiela-chan. Come alone next time, you don’t need to bring Patrick.」

「Ahaha, thank you very much. Ryuu, it’s time to go.」

Ryuu flapped his wings and took off into the sky with us on his back.

Patrick’s mother waved at us until we were out of her sight.

I’ve done everything I need to do. I’ve met his parents and officially became his fiancee…

「Eh? Hey Ryuu. It just hit me, but I didn’t meet your older brother yet, is he away from home?」

「No, my brother was at home.」

We had to talk in a louder voice so that we could hear each other over the howling wind. Wasn’t it strange that we’ve been staying in the same house for three days and yet never made contact with each other? No way.

「Hey, was he avoiding me? Your brother?」

「Yeah.」

Yup, I knew it. I used to be avoided in school but it still hurt.

Feeling my negative aura he quickly added.

「Don’t worry, it’s not your fault, my brother is just bad with women. Next time I’ll make sure that he meets you.」

Fear of women, huh? Oh yeah, makes sense. I am a woman. People who have a hard time with women are especially uncomfortable with anyone they perceive as the opposite sex.

‘I see, he was just embarrassed to meet the beautiful girl his brother brought home. Ah, it’s a crime to be beautiful.’ She thought in amusement.

「My brother is particularly weak towards strong-hearted or rather feisty women. I think it might be because of mother’s influence, but…」

「…Am I that feisty though?」

After all, from the beginning, there was no such thing as a beautiful girl. I wish those self-proclaimed beautiful girls would just disappear from this world.

「If that was your calm temperament… I don’t wanna know how feisty you are.」

‘Guess I’m going to start living like Buddha from tomorrow.’ I thought.

◆　◆　◆

We didn’t go straight to our territory but stopped by at the capital. Ryuu landed in the garden of Dolknes’ residence in the royal capital.

I had to verify the rumor about the crown prince and the second prince having beef.

For now, I’ll leave the house in the capital. But I’d like to sell it as soon as possible as I won’t be in the capital often.

「How much do you think this house will sell for?」

「Are you going to sell the house? That’s a shame, I mean, we have a residence in royal capital too but it’s smaller compared to this house.」

「That’s why I want to sell it. I know I need a place to stay in the capital but a smaller house should be enough?」

「Also right now we don’t have any financial problems. 」

Incidentally, my parents still live in this house. However, since I forcefully succeeded the Count title, I don’t have any obligations to support my parents.

I tried to convince them to move somewhere quiet and peaceful in the countryside and offered them some financial support but they were being stubborn and refused to leave the capital.

They couldn’t go back to the noble society anymore… I really could not understand the appeal of staying in the royal capital.

The servant immediately escorted me to my room once I announced my presence. The servants were somewhat cold just like the one in the territory’s residence,

When the servant who escorted me left, I breathed a sigh.

「Haa, Patrick’s house is really nice. Everyone is so pleasant.」

「Your stiff facial expression gets misunderstood easily. So you need time to compromise.」

「Will they even accept it when they know that I threatened my parents for my position right now?」

「Didn’t you bring a maid to school? Uhh, what was her name… Rita? I’m sure she can help clear up the misconceptions surrounding you.」

However, Rita was currently working in this residence, I didn’t bring her back to the territory. The situation is kinda complicated… I was thinking about how to solve this situation when I heard the commotion from the hallway.

The door was opened forcefully. Speaking of the devil, Rita rushed inside.

「Yumiela-sama, you were home. By all means, please order me as you please.」

「I don’t have anything for you…」

「Did something happen to the servants in the territory? If something is troubling you, I’m here—」

「Relax, everything’s fine.」

Rita’s little sister was taken as a hostage and she was caught poisoning my tea in the past. After I helped rescue her sister, her loyalty towards me increased to the level of a fanatic.

Patrick was obviously taken aback after seeing Rita bent on one knee in front of me.

「Ohh—, how’s your sister doing?」

「You even care about my sister’s wellbeing… Thank you for being so compassionate. My sister is working diligently to become Yumiela-sama’s servant one day.」

「O-okay. I’ll talk to her next time.」

Sara is dangerous. I have to rescue her before she falls victim to her sister’s sinister ways.

As she was on her knee, she kept staring at me with an ecstatic expression. She’s not going to move unless I give her something to do.

「Oh, it’s been a long time since I had Rita’s tea.」

「As your wish, my Lord. I will prepare some tea immediately.」

What do you mean with “As your wish, my Lord”? Am I the emperor or something?

She stood up quickly and gave a graceful bow before leaving the room.

I stared at the door for a few seconds to make sure Rita was far enough that she couldn’t hear what I’m about to say.

「I can’t take her back again.」

「I see, everything is no more than a misunderstanding.」

The day where I open up to my servants is still far off in the distance. Patrick and I sigh at the same time.

Why is there no one normal around me?

Rita didn’t take long before she returned, however, but she didn’t bring anything to brew the tea. On the contrary, she looked a little displeased about something and said.

「Apologies, the tea will be served late. His Highness, the second prince has just arrived. I sent him to the parlor… or would you prefer to drive him away?」

「No, you can’t drive him away.」

「If Yumiela-sama orders me to drive him away, I will beat him out with a broom. Even if the consequences involve getting executed, I’ll be fine with it since I’m merely fulfilling your commands.」

Scary, it was really scary. Rita said those terrible things with a straight face. I don’t mind kicking out the prince, but I’m afraid she’s going to do it literally. Next to me, I didn’t even have to look at Patrick’s face, I could feel his face stiffen.

「Uh— Rita? I’m going to meet his Highness, can you bring the tea to the next room? I really like Rita’s tea.」

「I’ll bring it right away.」

Her face suddenly brightened. I don’t think it was this bad when we lived on campus.

Anyway, back to Prince Edwin. While I did come to the royal capital to find out some more info about the second prince’s faction, never did I expect him to appear in person to meet me.

The prince was sitting alone in the parlor, he didn’t seem to bring any escorts with him. He’s one of the strongest people in this kingdom, maybe he didn’t need an escort.

We sat on the couch facing each other.

While we were making small talk, a sense of silent awkwardness still hung across the room, Prince Edwin took a sip of his tea before breaking the silence.

「Sorry for coming unannounced Miss Yumiela, but I want to explain what’s happening on the capital right now.」

「Likewise, I also came here to find out more about the second prince’s faction.」

「Yeah, I was about to talk about it. I’m in a bit of a pickle, too. Since I don’t want Miss Yumiela to be in trouble, so I rushed over to visit.」

「Aren’t you rushing too soon?」

It hadn’t even been an hour since we arrived at the capital. How did he become aware of our arrival so quickly?

The one who answered my question is Patrick who sat next to me.

「Anyone who pays attention would know that we’ve arrived at the royal capital. Riding on Ryuu isn’t exactly subtle, you know.」

「Patrick’s right, when I saw the dragon I rushed over to visit. And maybe the fact that I was in the neighbourhood also helped.」

「What happened? It’s only been a month since we graduated and left the royal capital.」

「To keep things short, the nobles are supporting the duke’s faction. Personally I have no hostility towards my elder brother.」

「Just like I thought… It’s troublesome.」

Patrick murmured.

It’s the extremists again. The duke faction could be referred to as dissident, a group of nobles who aren’t happy with the status quo. There are dangerous people who call for military invasion of other countries for power and profit.

I’m aware that he’s not a warmonger, he just wants the key positions in the office occupied by the moderates. He probably will swing to moderates as soon as the king appoints him as minister or something.

I kinda feel sorry for Prince Edwin, he caught the attention of those ambitious people.

But what if he makes a statement refusing them, wouldn’t that be the end of it? He explained the situation when I asked him about it.

「They said that since I defeated the Demon King, I’m worthy of being the next king. Since the saintess is dead they want to appoint Miss Eleanora as a substitute which will in turn increase Duke Hillrose faction’s power.

The movement was still small when I was attending the academy but the situation has been heating up since I graduated.」

I knew this would happen, after defeating the Demon King. It’s a relief, if I really went to the Demon King’s castle alone, I would get dragged into even more troublesome situations.

From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like Prince Edwin is the one who defeated the Demon King. While it is true that I played a bigger role and the official announcement said that the others killed in action and their death were not in vain.

For now, it’s a relief knowing that the second prince and the crown prince aren’t at odds.

That’s why it’s unlikely that Prince Edwin and Eleanora will get married.

「Miss Eleanora seems to be persistent.」

「I know, it’s really troubling me. She keeps coming over uninvitedly…」

Eleanora is Duke Hillrose’s daughter and she’s head over heels when it comes to Prince Edwin.

Unfortunately, I really like her. And in an attempt to get in her good grace, I often told her that she’s going to be married to Prince Edwin, so I was often invited to tea parties and other events.

She didn’t budge even though I kept rejecting her invitations, but sometimes I didn’t bother rejecting and just gave in. I haven’t met her ever since I graduated from the academy.

「I guess you’re in for a ride. She genuinely likes you…」

「I agree. And the fact that she has no ill will makes it harder to be mean to her.」

Prince Edwin said bitterly.

What should i do? There’s nothing that I could do since my intervention would make the situation even worse.

「How about you disappear for a while? They can’t do anything if the second prince has disappeared.」

「I’ve already tried that. When I was absent for several weeks, those guys just got excited and planned to overthrow the crown prince.」

It seems like what Prince Edwin said didn’t matter anymore. We can either deal with the nobles from the extremist factions or wait until the heat dies down.

At the same time he had to endure Eleanora’s ferocious attack for a while. …Sounds like a lot of work.

「Miss Eleanora is really persistent. I was struggling with her persistence when I was attending the academy.」

「Oh, Miss Yumiela seems to take a liking to her. Maybe she will come to visit here as well.」

Please stop raising the flag, please don’t jinx it. You are the one who will be troubled the most with her arrival here.

Just when I was about to give the prince a piece of my mind for his offhand remarks, there’s a commotion from the hallway. I heard someone running on the hallway and Rita came bursting into the room without knocking.

「Eleanora-sama from Duke Hillrose house is here. The servants are trying to hold her back but she’s going to be here soon.」

Isn’t the flag rising way too quickly?