……Hey, are you trying to pick a fight with me right now?
What on earth are you relying on to act like this?
My insides were bubbling with anger, but tomorrow was Cedric’s coronation ceremony.
In this kind of situation, wasn’t it the mark of a noble lady to let things go gracefully?
I inhaled sharply and exhaled.
“You. Get out.”
“Huh?”
What noble lady manners.
It’s not like I ever acted like a noble!
“I don’t know what you were thinking, crawling into our house like this, but you’re seriously annoying me, so get out.”
“W-why are you acting like this, sis?”
Maybe she didn’t expect me to actually tell her to leave, because Bonica’s face turned pale.
“Why do you think?”
I spoke to the maid who was cleaning up the broken doll pieces.
“You heard everything too, right?”
“Huh? Y-yes!”
You think I’m crazy enough to stay quiet?
“I was just worried about you!”
“Yeah. Your kind of worry is annoying, so get out.”
Before I knew it, Atticus, the butler who had heard the commotion, came rushing over to us.
“Young lady, what’s going on!”
“Oh, Atticus. Perfect timing.”
I grabbed Bonica’s wrist and walked up to him.
“Cut off this wrist.”
“W-what, sis?”
Bonica called me in a terrified voice.
“When you steal something from someone else’s house, you cut off the thief’s wrist. That’s the agreement, right?”
“I-I’m sorry, sis! The necklace was just so pretty, I was going to ask if I could have it……!”
“Cut it.”
At my firm order, Atticus’s pupils shook violently.
As he silently stared at Bonica’s wrist, she screamed in shock.
“I-I’m sorry! I won’t do it again……!”
Tears welled up in Bonica’s eyes. I hesitated briefly, then shrugged lightly.
“Of course I’m joking.”
“T-then you didn’t have to go that far!”
“I was just worried about your sticky fingers, so what’s the big deal?”
When I blinked innocently like I meant no harm, Bonica started hiccupping.
That’s what you get for messing with someone who was just minding their own business.
* * *
Of course, it wasn’t a joke at all.
I said it hoping she’d leave the house, but contrary to my wishes, it seemed those two even planned to attend the coronation.
‘They sure are quick.’
There was still plenty of time before the ceremony, yet Bonica was already seated in the coronation hall.
Seeing that brought yesterday’s events vividly back to mind. In the end, I got up from my seat and left the hall.
Might as well go see Grandpa.
Since it was Cedric’s coronation, I also wore the ceremonial uniform dress, as a member of the family. It was as heavy as a ball gown.
The black uniform was hot, and the epaulets embroidered with golden thread over the shoulders were so heavy they could make your back bend.
Who’s the one getting coronated, seriously?
I was walking, flicking at the hem of my dress with my feet, when it happened.
“You wanted to live as a dog of the Imperial Family, and now you’ll meet your end like a hunting hound, just as you wished.”
I heard Elizabeth’s voice from somewhere. The atmosphere felt tense, so I quickly hid myself behind a wall.
“The honor the Roygin family built up until now has crumbled because of you, and in the end, everyone will die.”
“It was you and Brother who brought upon us the fate of the hunting hound.”
……Grandpa?
The fate of a hunting hound? That kind of title didn’t suit a war hero like Grandpa.
I was still trying to grasp the situation. Suddenly, Elizabeth let out a scream-like shout.
“You should have died on the battlefield……!”
“……”
“You should’ve blocked the Imperial Family’s will with your death! At the very least, if you still remember that you carry the blood of the Roygin family……!”
Her words felt like someone was tightening a noose around my neck.
Grandpa, should’ve died in battle?
……What kind of nonsense is that?
My clenched fist trembled.
Anger flared in my head for a moment, but then a new suspicion arose.
The will of the Imperial Family.
If something about the Roygin family changed because of the Imperial Family’s will after the magic war ended……
Drimokan Forest.
That was the only possibility. The Imperial Family had said they handed the troublesome forest over to the Roygin family.
My heart pounded violently.
Could it be that Grandpa’s illness, and the deaths of his descendants, were all because of the forest?
“You and Harnen knew everything about Drimokan, and yet you ended the war. This tragedy is your doing.”
As I held my breath, I heard Grandpa rising from his seat and hurriedly moved away.
Drimokan Forest and the magic war.
It occurred to me that perhaps Grandpa knew more about Drimokan Forest than anyone else in the world.
And maybe, the secrets related to it as well.
This world I had thought nothing of suddenly started to feel a little scary. I clutched the key hidden in my clothes.
* * *
Time passed, and nobles began arriving one by one for the coronation.
“What is there to see about that Cedric brat that so many people came?”
Leaning against the wall with me, Leon clicked his tongue as he watched the nobles entering the main hall.
“You say that, but you’re here too……”
Seeing Leon, the only one I was somewhat close to, slowly calmed the fear I’d felt earlier.
“I have to see that guy trembling with nerves.”
Leon replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Is Brother really the type to do that?”
“Bianca, you just don’t know. That guy gets super nervous.”
“……This is seriously the first I’ve heard of it.”
At my words, Leon chuckled. Then, as if he remembered something, he glanced around.
“By the way, where did that guy go?”
“Who? You don’t mean Cedric, do you?”
Leon nodded. I was momentarily speechless.
“Isn’t he with the Holy Emperor?”
“What for?”
“……Well, because he’s the main character today?”
“Just because he’s the Marquis?”
Leon shook his head, clearly not convinced.
“Oh, right.”
Then, Leon brought his face close to my ear.
“About what happened at the hunting competition. It’s been taken care of.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Leon let out a deep sigh and folded his arms.
“And, what about the mine? What did the Duke want?”
“Oh, about that.”
He shrugged lightly.
“He’s taking Hurrigon. Well, obviously. It’s a mine that produces mana stones.”
……So they weren’t after the Seren Mine just to get Kaen?
Well, there’s no way Ricardo would know about that detail from the original novel.
Even as I thought that, the uneasiness in one corner of my heart didn’t go away.
* * *
The inside of the main hall was solemn. There were many people, but it was strangely tense, perhaps because of the quiet that contrasted the crowd.
Even Elizabeth, who had raised her voice at Grandpa, wore her usual composed expression.
Bored, I looked around at the people, and someone caught my eye.
The former Duke of Hessen, Harnen.
‘R-Ricardo came too?’
But I didn’t see him. Instead, Harnen, who resembled Ricardo, smiled kindly.
He was Ricardo’s grandfather, and had survived the magic war along with my grandfather.
Meanwhile, the ceremony began, and the Emperor’s voice filled the hall.
“In the darkest times of the Carpea Empire, the Roygin family stood with the Imperial Family and walked through the shadows.”
I felt proud seeing Cedric kneeling on one knee before the Emperor.
Was this how parents felt when looking at their child?
Cedric hadn’t been an important character in the original story, so this kind of scene never even appeared.
‘This might be the most satisfying moment since I possessed this body.’
Smiling warmly, I beamed. The Emperor’s boring speech was longer than expected, but watching Cedric made it bearable.
Why are there no cameras in a world with magic?
The Emperor then bestowed a sword upon Cedric. Though Cedric normally hated swords, he concealed his feelings and accepted it reverently.
“I swear my loyalty to His Holiness the Holy Emperor and His Majesty the Emperor. With the faith that House Roygin has built over generations, I dedicate all that I am to Carpea and the divine.”
“May the grace of the gods be upon House Roygin.”
With a kiss to Cedric’s forehead, the Holy Emperor brought the ceremony to a close.
Ha, what a touching day.
Having resolved to be the loudest clapper here, I clapped with all my strength, but the man sitting next to me kept staring.
Thinking my clapping was too loud, I toned it down a bit, but his gaze didn’t waver.
How stingy people are these days.
Can’t even clap freely on a day like this.
Feeling wronged, I turned my head, intending to ask what his problem was.
The man who met my eyes spoke in a playful voice.
“You’re the one who sent my sister to the convent, aren’t you?”
“……Excuse me?”
And I’m supposed to know who your sister is?
Blinking as I tried to make sense of his cryptic words, the man continued.
“You’re also the granddaughter the Marquis treasures so much.”
He had a rare kind of handsome face, with a deep dimple in his left cheek.
‘With looks like that……’
There’s no way he’s just a side character.
I slowly took in his face.
Golden hair like the blazing sun, and faded silver eyes.
Red alert.
This was the debut of the true male lead from the original, Erkishian.
With a breezy smile, he tilted his head.
“So, are you satisfied with the punishment my sister received?”
Ha.
So, the sister Erkishian is talking about……
He means Hestia, right?