Tensei saki de suterareta no de, mofumofu tachi to oryouri shimasu ~okazari ouhi wa my pace ni saikyou desu~ Chapter 3

3. The Exilement Pronouncement​

“Leticia, you’ve always been like that. You’re seemingly prim and proper with how you talk and act…… It makes me wondered how long you have been laughing at me behind my back.”

A crooked smile appeared on Fritz’s face.

“Your Highness, that is not true. As your fiancée, I’ve always adored you-“

“After all, you only went through with this engagement, not because of me, but because you want to be the crown princess, am I right?”

………What the hell is he talking about?

Since this was an arranged engagement made due to politics, it’s a given that there wouldn’t be any love in the beginning. But that doesn’t mean it won’t bloom later.

……Or that’s what I believed in, but it appears not to be the same for Fritz.

“You greedily want the throne to yourself, so you worked so hard for that goal. But of course, you would think that I’m an idiot for being so slow, right?”[1]

“This is a misunderstanding. I would never look down on you, Your Highness.”

While refuting, I had already resigned myself that what I’m doing was hopeless.

Honestly, Fritz is far from what a proper crown prince should be. He was neither born with any special talents, nor was he a hard worker. The only thing above average were his looks, but other than that, he’s mediocre when it comes to studying, swordsmanship and magic.

I’m worried about how he’s going to govern, but that doesn’t mean that I thought he was foolish. You could say because he was lacking, that I desperately worked harder instead, to compensate as his future queen. But even if I don’t look down on him, there indeed was a huge gap between us. And that might have caused him to feel inferior.

“Leticia, your words are superficial. Same as the talkative people of the royal court, they’re pleasing to the ear but are quite insincere……… Compared to Sumia’s, who cares about me, they’re different. At first, I was foolish and prejudiced against her because of her lower status, yet she accepted with a warm heart.”

“Your Highness……”

While looking bashful but happy at the same time, Sumia leaned more against Fritz.

A young man that is burdened by the heavy responsibility that accompanies his title falls in love with the Lady who lived a commoner’s life who lovingly tends to him.

……This trope was well-used in royal-based literature works in my previous life.

The problem was that I was the villain who’s in the way of their love.

“I’m going to make the kind-hearted Sumia the crown princess. You’re in the way of our future happiness. For bullying Sumia, you’re no longer allowed on these lands.”

Fritz’s pronouncement resounded in the silence.

“Let’s have a vicious woman like you thrown out of the country.”

………exilement? Are you in your right mind?

Despite myself, I became the straight man of this joke.[2]

I knew that breaking off the engagement was unavoidable, but to go even further? I was shocked. You can’t even joke about that. As the Duke’s daughter, I was a central figure in the political affairs of this kingdom. To arbitrarily condemn and drive me out like that…… Isn’t that crown prince a bit too much?

Let’s say for the sake of argument, that you had no choice but to break off the engagement, but that doesn’t mean you need to drive me out. And where are you going to exile me, huh?

It would be a different story if you were going to exile a commoner. But to exile me, a Duke’s daughter, you would need to do the proper essential procedures.

…. It was probably one of this simpleton crown prince’s whims, so it wasn’t something planned in advance.

As if to confirm my thoughts, that crafty four-eyes, Ileus, looked flustered as he fumbled with his glasses. And I understood how this was going to go just from his appearance.

Crafty four-eyes’ personality may be bad, but his brain is certainly not. Rather, he’s quite nimble-witted. It might have slipped my mind due to the current situation, but we used to compete for the top spot. And a sense of camaraderie was born from that, without meaning to. So, we had some interactions as rivals.

“You big-headed woman, show me how to decipher this old book.” “Crafty four-eyes-San, could you lend me this reference book?” Our interactions would usually be like that. We were like cats and dogs, sometimes curse at each other and sometimes act amiably.

Unlike the simpleton crown prince, he has some common sense; he’s not the type who would defend Sumia for no reason. He would only do it if, it’s for his self-interest.

The Baron family Sumia hails from was a distant relative to Ileus’s family. And since my family and his have a bit of hostility toward each other, it’s believable to think that he wants Sumia to take my place as the crown princess by getting closer to Fritz.

……I could discern the situation a long time ago, and it has now borne fruit.

It’s most likely that Ileus didn’t expect this matter to become that serious. While his end goal was to end my engagement, his plan would’ve been well-thought and gradual.

One could say that Fritz’s pronouncement was the worst move he could have made. While I knew very well that he didn’t have feelings for me, I didn’t expect that he would act so foolish.

He unilaterally decided to end our engagement and ordered my exilement right in public. He foolishly declared war against my family and me. And it’s natural to take it as such.

My family holds the sea route in the western part of the kingdom and boasts vast territories and wealth.

If my family deem my exilement as a consensus decision from the royal family, it may cause discord between them which, in the worst-case scenario, might lead to a full out civil war.

Of course, Ileus should have realized that possibility, as he was glancing at me asking for my assistance.

…………Hey crafty four-eyes, don’t look at me with such pathetic eyes.  Where was the usual annoyingly confident spectacled boy?

No matter how unexpected the crown prince’s foolishness was, this plan was yours originally, so take responsibility, is what I wanted to say. But unfortunately, it seemed like I was the only one capable of de-escalating this situation.

It can’t be helped.

It looks like I had no choice but to draw the short straw for the sake of the kingdom.

“…………I have certainly heard your intentions, Your Highness, but is His Majesty aware of my aforementioned deportation?”

“I’ll get approval from my father later.”

As I thought, the decision for my exilement falls solely on this simpleton crown prince. But the problem is that he is His Majesty’s only son. In my opinion, it would be better if His Majesty renounces him, only son or otherwise…….but alas.

If Fritz were to be renounced as crown prince by his father, the only candidate left would be His Majesty’s younger brother who is known for his intelligence. But His Majesty doesn’t like his younger brother, as such, he didn’t want to hand the throne off to him.

So, the chances of the crown prince getting renounced are close to none.

If Fritz keeps insisting on my exilement, His Majesty would be stressed, because the kingdom’s politics will be in a state of confusion.

And, while it may be true that His Majesty would get that Fritz’s pronouncement was folly, it doesn’t mean he would revoke it. It will affect the royal family’s dignity if he does.

“……. I understand, Your Highness. Please inform His Majesty that because I, Leticia, seem to be hated by His Highness Fritz, so, I will leave the country for a while in consideration of His Highness’s feelings. “

[Because I was hated by Fritz] is the crux of the matter.

I can’t tolerate these false accusations of bullying Sumia, and by saying this, it would give the impression that Fritz was the one at fault for exiling me because of his self-interest.

I’m not doing this to cause friction the Duke’s family and the Royal family. I’m doing it because it’s important to make it seem like I’m complying with Fritz’s selfish whims.

Watch the Crown Prince so that my intentions get properly transmitted to His Majesty.

Is what my gaze conveyed to Ileus.

When I saw his glasses glint and him nodding in confirmation, I decided to take my leave from this absurd situation altogether.

Turning back to exit the school, a cry of pity and ridicule followed.

“The Woman who got cast aside by His Highness.”

“Poor lady, was driven out of her prosperous homeland.”

These scathing voices remind in my ears.

……… This country has a long history, as such, many aristocrats looked down on other countries for being new. Therefore, they consider exilement as equal to the death penalty.

But I wasn’t as disappointed, perhaps because of my past life’s memories.

In any case, on that day, my engagement ended, and I got exiled from the country.

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[1]I’m not sure about this sentence. Oh well. 「おまえは王太子妃の座を強欲に欲し、それはもうがむしゃらに勉強していたんだ。進みの遅い僕のことは、どうせ馬鹿にしていたんだろう？」

[2] The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance. As in she’s saying that Fritz is a comedian for trying to exile her.