The Farce and Tragedy Called Revenge
Crown Prince Erason had just abandoned his own fiancées in front of ministers, noble heads of house, and powerful business figures from every nation, while exposing himself with the utterly disgraceful title of “Holy Knight of Lust.”
Even though he was already doing something as idiotic as flirting with someone else’s fiancée, there was another bold fool who charged in even further.
Yes. Our very own Hero Waltz.
“Oho. You’re Princess Flora, right!? Good for you, getting picked by Crown Prince Erason. You’re too big for me, so I don’t really get the appeal, though...”
Yeah. Total idiot.
What the hell is this guy saying to a woman who’s already engaged to someone else?
And that’s your standard for judging women?
Maybe heroes really do have to be simple-minded by nature...
Yeah, no thanks. Couldn’t be me. Wouldn’t do it anyway...
“That’s right! You there, woman, go to my dear brother-in-law at once!!!! Julius already has me, his rightful first wife... If you absolutely insist, kneel and beg me. If you do, I may graciously permit that woman there to become his second wife. And as for the rest of you...”
Princess Elizabeth pointed from left to right at the members of Shiranui kneeling before Princess Flora.
“The one you should be kneeling before is me. First of all, I am Julius’s legal wife and the Second Princess of the Kingdom of Titania. Hurry up.”
… What is she talking about?
Does she still think she’s going to marry me?
… No, more likely she’s just jealous seeing famed adventurers and the head of a merchant company bowing their heads.
“It seems you still understand nothing, Princess Elizabeth. There is no future in which I marry you! The same goes for Milian and Almeria as well...”
I let out a deep sigh.
Then I wrapped an arm around Princess Flora’s waist.
Princess Flora looked startled for a split second, then immediately rested her head against my chest, peered up at me from below, and smiled brightly.
Long eyelashes.
And man... she’s unbelievably cute today too...
“Why not!? Has that woman seized some weakness of yours!? If so, I’ll tell Father and…”
“You’re mistaken. I was the one who proposed to Princess Flora in the first place. Above all else, I love her... And I am the heir to a Margravate. It is absolutely unacceptable for me to take a woman who has been unfaithful as a wife. That is why noblewomen cannot act carelessly, isn’t it?”
A Japanese person might find it a little strange, but in this world bloodlines matter deeply. (Mana-related reasons too.)
A woman who has accepted another man cannot become a legal wife, nor even a concubine.
[As a former Japanese guy, I’m not obsessed with virginity... probably.]And in this world, where men are fewer in number, that’s even more true.
(And betrayal is betrayal, after all...)
“Ugh... but... I...”
“Your feelings do not matter here, Princess Elizabeth. No matter what you say, facts do not change... That is why noble ladies are careful in their relationships with men and women, is it not? And you know that noblewomen who make such mistakes are sometimes sent to convents, do you not?”
The women around us all nodded.
Princess Elizabeth lowered her head, clenched her fists, and tears pooled in her eyes...
There were no voices of sympathy from the crowd.
---
[Almeria’s POV]
Those were words from Julius I never could have imagined hearing...
(Julius is getting engaged...?)
Huh?
Why... what about me?
Then an even crueler truth followed.
“... Though she is not present here, another woman I became engaged to at the same time is Viscount’s daughter Nemesia von Zanger, captain of Shiranui’s Seventh Squad, the Holy Demon, who will become my second wife...”
...
..........
................!?
Eh!?
Nemesia?
Nemesia is marrying Julius...?
What!? What!? Whaaat!!!!
It was true that Nemesia had always liked Julius since long ago, but... why?
And more importantly…
A captain of Shiranui!?
“That” Nemesia?
This was probably the one reality I could least accept.
Princess Flora, the Jade Princess, was a beautiful woman any girl would admire. She seemed dependable too...
And Yukimi and Charlotte had surely supported Julius by his side all this time...
Maybe... maybe I could have endured those three...?
But my own little sister, Nemesia?
The heir to a Margravate had to take at least one bride from the frontier...
Because of that rule?
Because I betrayed him?
Somewhere in my heart, I had hoped that if I reflected enough, Julius would someday forgive me. Even if marriage was impossible, maybe I could still stay beside him...
But then...
Then he spoke even crueler words.
“And I am the heir to a Margravate. It is absolutely unacceptable for me to take a woman who has been unfaithful as a wife. That is why noblewomen cannot act carelessly, isn’t it?”
GAAAAAN!!!!
So this is what it feels like to be struck in the head with all your strength...
My head spun.
The beautifully lit hall felt like it was going dark around me.
Julius was probably right...
I had admired Crown Prince Erason and drifted away from Julius of my own accord...
And even though I had been educated as a noblewoman, I gave my body to the Crown Prince...
But...
There’s no going back now!?
No matter what, I’ll never be forgiven!?
If Nemesia was going to marry Julius...
Then perhaps even my family had abandoned me.
They probably knew I had feelings for the Crown Prince.
Meanwhile, Nemesia must have worked hard so she could stand beside Julius...
That was why…
Because she is my sister…
I could accept it the least.
It’s not that I don’t wish for my sister’s happiness.
But only if it had been with someone unrelated to Julius...
This thorn may never leave my chest for the rest of my life.
As for what happened afterward in the dance hall...
I barely remember it.
I only remember watching Crown Prince Erason, who kept picking fights with Julius over and over, with a strangely calm detachment.
Even though he already had fiancées like us, he still obsessed over Princess Flora...
Why was I ever attracted to such a hollow man, who only fought desperately to protect his status and pride!?
His face? His rank? His prestige? His money!? The Hero Party?
I keep thinking about it, but I don’t know...
For a man like this, I threw everything away… That truth had become a wound that would never fade, carved forever and deeply into the name “Almeria” itself.
I don’t know anymore... I really don’t~...
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