The royal capital city of the Kingdom of Lunamilia, ‘Lunamis'
The city is built around a lake.
The water that gushes out of the lake is spread throughout the city by waterways, giving the royal city of Lunamis the name of the Water City.
The castle that stands in the center of the lake is one of the most beautiful in this continent.
The view from the tower that overlooked the capital was truly spectacular, with the blue sky, the beautiful castle, and the cityscape all reflected in the lake like a mirror.
The shape of the castle, to use the simplest analogy, closely resembled the although a symbol of Tokyo, is not found in Tokyo, that castle with pointed blue roof and chalk walls.
However, in order to enter the castle, we had to cross a bridge built over a lake.
It was the only bridge that connected the royal capital to the castle.
The lake is not that big, so the bridge is not that long.
However, it was wide and long enough for carriages to pass each other and for a parade to be held.
At the end of the bridge, in front of the castle gate, there was a roundabout for visitors' carriages.
On a normal day, there would only be about ten carriages in a half day at most, including those of the nobles who came for an audience, but today, it was a huge crowd.
Many noblemen's carriages came and went, dropping off their family members.
All of this was for the second day of the national celebration party.
The second day's party was to be held in the morning.
It was almost noon in the morning, but for those who had been there since last night, it was still morning.
The bell announcing 11:00 a.m. echoed throughout the castle.
At the same time, the front gates of the castle opened and the nobles who were unable to attend last night or those who attended last night but had returned home began to enter the castle.
Some of them were children who were unable to attend the previous day due to their age. As a result, many nobles came with their entire families, and some nobles had a moderately large group.
Many aristocrats attend the event once a year because they can see the royalty up close and greet them on rare occasions.
However, those who were judged by the gatekeepers to be unsuitable to enter the castle were turned away by the soldiers guarding the gate.
For example, those who were trying to stand out from the royalty.
For example, those who did not disarm.
For example, a commoner who got drunk and lacked common sense.
Basically, commoners are not allowed to enter the castle unless they are invited by the nobility, but many of them were caught unawares in the aftermath of the festival being held in the city.
Since the bridge could be crossed on foot, it was assumed that they had come on a flurry of activity and momentum.
In such a situation, ordinary nobles could enter the castle very normally without being stopped.
This is because there is almost no danger to the ordinary nobles, and it is also a sign that the royal family trusts the nobles.
This kingdom of Lunamilia generally tends to focus on the total amount of magic power.
Hence, nobles generally have a certain amount of total magic power.
The reason for this is that people who have a large amount of magic power and can use magic, often marry each other.
On the contrary, the number of commoners with magic power is almost zero, although there are exceptions.
In such a situation, a person with high magic power and a problematic personality would be disqualified as a nobleman and would not be allowed to inherit the family name.
This is because if such a person is made the head of the family, the country will be faced with a major crisis.
A nobleman must be able to use his magic power to protect his territory and lead his people.
If there is only a problem with their character, they can be controlled by letting other nobles deal with them.
Therefore, there are no such nobles.
...... Outwardly, that is, anyways.
I'm not sure if there are any nobles currently living in the kingdom that fall into the above category of nobles that should not exist.
It is an unpleasant reality that it is not difficult to imagine that there may be.
Aside from that, there was one family that stood out from the rest of the nobles entering the castle one after another.
Wore in the slender and mellow body is a simple mermaid-line dress of a blue color, almost a navy blue, that only those with royal blood can wear.
A stunningly beautiful woman with loosely waved bluish silver hair that she wears lightly in a half-updo, giving the viewer a somewhat cold impression.
She was 37 years old, but still looked like she was in her late twenties, not like she had a daughter who would turn twelve this year.
Escorting her was a blond aristocratic man.
With his large, droopy eyes, he could be described as a baby-faced man.
If it weren't for the faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, he would look to be in his early twenties.
He was wearing a light green nobleman's dress that had been ordered for the party and was more ornate than usual, but apparently the her beside him didn't like the outfit that had the same color as his eyes.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
She wrinkled her brow and muttered, her neat face contorting as if to spit out an insult.
"Because it's a once-a-year festival, I suppose."
He said these words to his wife with an annoyed smile.
She was frustrated with him, and he was frustrated with her.
"No! If you dress like that, you're bound to attract more undignified fools and depressing piggish women!"
I can't even stand the thought of that in your line of sight, so why should I allow myself to fantasize about it…?"
No matter who you ask, it's just a love affair.
He, the husband, opened his mouth to his wife with a frown and an irritated look on his face.
"... I'll tell you something else. What is it that you're wearing?
I'm the one who can't tolerate sensational dresses that accentuate the lines of the body, which only exist to incite the lust of the pig aristocracy and horse shit men around here."
As thought before, no matter who you ask, it's a love affair.
The girl, the eldest daughter of the two, who was sandwiched between them, thought ah it started again, with a distant look in her eyes.
"What? You're my husband…!?"
"Yes, and you're my wife. I can't allow another man to look at you."
"When are you going to trust me!?"
"You are more beautiful than anyone else and even prettier and more adorable.
When are you going to believe me?"
"It's your fault that you're so nice to everyone, so good-looking, so charming…"
"... Ooh, I want to lock you up… !
I’m sure the both of them love and love each other so much that they can’t help it.
What on earth are you two going to do together? Such disturbing words muttered while kneading the magic power overlapped beautifully.
Her maiden name was Rosalind Werstein.
She is the sister of Duke Augusto Werstein and the current Countess of Laurist.
And her husband, who is now the head of the County, Emilio Laurist, is the brother of the late Duchess Julia Werstein.
If anyone had listened to the conversation that had just taken place, they would have thought… What’s with this couple?
However, sadly, the people around them only observed the couple from afar because they were so fierce, and none of them understood what was going on.
They were known to be the worst of the worst in social circles and among the nobility.
"Father, mother, I want to go to the castle as soon as possible! How long do we have to stay here?"
As if in a tantrum, Countess Christia Laurist, the daughter of the couple who seemed to be in the worst of marital straits, raised her voice.
The people around her were either impressed by the girl's courage and arrogance, or scowled at her, wondering how she could interrupt them.
The girl, who wore a pretty princess-line dress of pale pink fabric with light green frills, lace and ribbons, was an incredibly beautiful girl, just like her parents.
Because of the similarity in the shape of her eyes to those of her mother, Rosalind, she gives the impression of being harsh rather than cold, but since she is only eleven, the impression of being cute is stronger.
The girl felt that her parents, who seemed to be standing still and quarreling with each other, were gradually developing their magic power, and she thought that this was a bad idea, so she just gave her opinion to distract them somehow.
"Well, Christia, you shouldn't speak so loudly, it's a disgrace."
The lady frowned at her daughter's comment, and wondered where she had been hiding a feathered fan the same color as her dress, which she flipped open to cover her mouth.
Her eyes were cold and stern, but underneath the fan, her mouth was incredibly loose.
Oh, my God, my little girl must be sulking because we don't pay much attention to her, because she's still very cute like Emilio-sama.
"... I'm sorry, mother."
But sadly, the girl, the daughter, felt that she was not loved very much by her own mother's cold attitude.
Therefore, the girl almost turned her head down in sorrow, but she still smiled a little and said she was sorry.
The lady wrinkled her brow even more at the sight.
She looked as if she wanted to say, what a cute little girl.
However, she kept her fan loose.
When she smiles, she smiles like Emilio-sama, she is really too cute! That's how it is.
"Hmm, but Christia is right, it's no use staying here like this."
The girl's father, Emilio, seems to be indifferent to his daughter, probably because he tries not to show his emotions through his poker face with a kind expression that he has cultivated as the head of the family.
But what he really thinks is, oh no, my daughter is so cute, I shouldn't have brought her here, I don't want to marry her off, I'll do my best to get rid of her as a potential fiancée of that prick.
It was not funny at all.
"...... It's no use, let's go."
Just as the girl felt a pain in her chest at the sight of the woman walking away with a loud sigh.
The girl could hear the gossip of the nobles a little further away.
────... Oh, did you hear that?
────... I'm sure you've heard the rumors that the Pig Duke has become a wise man.
The girl who was about to walk away stopped at such a content.
When people talk about the Pig Duke, they are talking about her own uncle, the Duke Werstein.
And when they say wise man, they mean God's chosen one.
... Ojisama, a wiseman?
The girl tilted her head, wondering what on earth was going on.
The reason why it had slipped her mind, despite the fact that he had told her about it when they had met before, was probably due to the child's characteristic forgetfulness, which made her forget when distracted by other things.
If she thinks about it for a moment, she might remember, but the main reason why she forgot something so important is probably because the existence of a wise man is above the clouds and not familiar to her at all.
"Christia, come quickly!"
At her mother's stern call, the girl hurriedly turned her head forward.
When she realized she had a lot of distance from her parents.
“Yeah, I'm coming now"
The girl hurriedly replied and ran towards them.
When she finally caught up, her father was looking at her with a suspicious expression.
"What's the matter, Christia?"
The expression on his face was not out of the ordinary, but merely questioning.
The girl decided to be honest and tell him what had caused it.
"... Earlier, there was a rumor about ojisama."
Her father raised his eyebrows in annoyance as she said this.
"... Don't pay attention to the words of a fool who doesn't know brother-in-law themselves."
"That's right, Christia, rumors about my brother are nothing but a waste of time."
The father said plainly, and the mother continued coldly.
The girl's heart throbbed with pain as she realized that she was being neglected by her parents.
Still, the girl smiled stoutly.
The girl is 11 years old and lacks experience.
Therefore, she doesn't realize that her parents are hiding their true feelings from her.
Her parents have been acting the same way since before she could remember, so it was probably a given in her mind that they didn't love her.
Her parents only saw her as a bright girl who was growing up with a straightforward attitude and occasional selfishness.
Therefore, they are not aware of the problem.
If you think about it a little bit, you can see that it's unnatural, but they didn't notice it at all.
Twelve years ago, Julia Werstein, the father's sister and the mother's best friend, died.
And the transformation of Augusto Werstein, the father's friend and my mother's brother.
The fact that each of them has left their own scars on their hearts is one of the main reasons.
Sadly, they were completely oblivious to this reality.
In order to answer her parents' words, the girl smiled and opened her mouth in a healthy manner.
"... Yes, you're right, ojisama is much slimmer now, and he looks very nice."
But the memory of her now beautiful ojisama eased her sadness, and her cheeks naturally relaxed.
He was beautiful, good-looking, and kind.
She felt really proud of the fact that her kind ojisama, the only one who looked at her, had lost weight and became so beautiful and good-looking as a result.
She wondered when she would see him again, maybe today? And it makes her little heart beat faster.
“I’ll ask as much as I need but is that true?"
"It's true! ... Ah, if I was going to be a potential fiancé, I would have preferred ojisama."
The girl replied clearly to her father's question as she walked forward, and then muttered a few words of regret.
The mother next to her gave a small laugh.
"Oh, it's no use, I think, because my brother is all about Julia."
The sound of her mother's voice, neither scornful nor cold, surprised the girl inwardly and made her curious about the existence that had made her so.
"... Julia, father's sister, who died when I was born, and is ojisama's wife?"
The girl asked for confirmation, and this time her father answered calmly.
"Yes, my brother-in-law was a very doting man."
Her father's gentle expression and nostalgic smile broke the young girl's heart.
Why… you make such a kind expression.
I've never had that kind of expression pointed at me from mother nor father...!
The ugly feelings of jealousy stirring inside her, the guilt she felt for having such feelings, and the fact that she couldn't cry, made her heart ache as if it would burst open.
"But the timing was so bad that I didn't get to say hello to him at all, so I hope today is the day I get to meet my brother-in-law."
"Yes, I agree with you on that."
Despite the girl's feelings, her parents walked into the castle while having an idle conversation like that.
The girl struggled not to stray from her parents and not to explode the dark and ugly feelings that were going through her.
The family continued to walk, letting the flow of people carry them along.
As they did so, they seemed to have arrived at the venue.
Seeing the aristocrats in various costumes chatting and enjoying themselves, and the glittering world quickly rewrote the girl's thoughts.
Her parents quietly watched the little girl, calmly on the outside and inwardly agonizing over the excessive smiling, as the dark and heavy feeling she had just experienced became irrelevant and she scampered around.
Like the little girl, this was the first time for the boys and girls to attend the party, and as is customary every year, they were first taken aback by the size and opulence of the venue, and then looked around busily.
Although the debutantes of the aristocracy are not yet 16 years old, the annual celebration gives the children a taste of the party atmosphere they will eventually attend.
However, it is assumed that the children who can participate in this celebration will be 12 years old now.
Looking around, it seemed that there were boys and girls everywhere who were just as scurrying as the girl.
"You're finally here! Christia Laurist!"
The girl's shoulders jumped at the sudden loud and rude call.
The first prince of this country, Ludwig Sheva Lunamilia, 12 years old, was at the end of her line of sight.
In the original history of the event, these two people would never have met in this venue.
This was due to the fact that there was no outrageous treatment of the girl by Duke Augusto Werstein.
Originally, the prince was so frustrated with the girl that he didn't even attend the party and didn't even apologize in writing, that he visited the Count's house and carelessly comforted the girl who seemed to be in despair over everything, not knowing what to do with her.
As a result, the girl thought that he had apologized to her and was kind to her.
And she became obsessed with him to the point of becoming a yandere, and he eventually became her fiancé due to her excessive obsession and the girl's high level of magic power.
The prince's appearance is that of a lily-livered beautiful boy with silver thread-like hair color and amber eyes that look like gold in the light, a rare occurrence in the royal bloodline.
His luxurious clothes, based on the royal color blue and shaped like military uniforms, which are ceremonial uniforms exclusively for the royal family, accentuated the beauty of the prince.
Normally, the prince would wear a cloak over it, but since this was in the castle, it was simplified and he was not wearing it.
But what about the girl who caught sight of the prince?
"Well, Your Highness... It's been a very long time since I've seen you.
I'm honored that you remember my name."
She seemed to have no interest in me at all, and responded in a casual manner.
Rather, it was a somewhat cold response that gave off the vibe of, what's wrong with you?
But even so, the girl who was behaving politely and respectfully was quite the aristocrat.
"Enough of this nonsense! Don't you have something to say to me!?"
The prince, however, changed his address from boku to watashi¹ because it was an official occasion, but his attitude was so bad that it didn't matter.
Whether he was not thinking, or was he just that irritated with the girl to that point.
It's unclear, but no matter how much of a royal prince you are, yelling at a woman in this kind of situation is not something that is recommended.
For now, he was only allowed to do so because he was still a child, but if he continued to do so in the future, the prince would probably receive some sort of retribution someday.
The girl felt pity for the prince.
The girl opened her mouth to answer the question, having been convinced that this was a rebellious period.
"...... First of all, I would like to express my sincere congratulations on the successful celebration of the National Day today.
As your vassal, I wish for the continued prosperity of this country…"
“Wrong! Well it’s not wrong, but that’s not it.
About the other day!"
The prince looked somewhat desperate as he shouted at her and pointed at the girl with a fierce look on his face.
The girl gives the prince a cold stare.
"... The other day? If it's about that time, I won't apologize, in fact, I'd like you to apologize to me."
“Wh…!?"
Thinking back to the day, the girl said crisply to the prince.
For the girl, disgracing her uncle is one of her reverse scales.
The prince, on the other hand, didn't seem to have a second thought and just opened and closed his mouth in a whisper.
Since there is usually no one around to talk back to him or give him opinions, he must have been unable to come up with words to respond immediately.
Leaving the prince to his own devices, the girl took a small breath in and spoke out her words as if she were determined to spit them out.
"But if there is one thing I need to apologize for, it's this."
The prince was puzzled by the girl's words, but perhaps sensing an opportunity to win, he raised the edge of his mouth from his neat face.
"… What is it, say it."
When he crossed his arms and said that, the prince's expression was already irreverent itself, with a confident smug look on his face.
The girl was plainly annoyed by the prince's attitude, even if it was to show the dignity of royalty.
But still, she had to do this one thing, she thought to herself, and bowed her head.
"Apologies to His Highness for speaking more ill of him than necessary that day.
That was just me taking it out on you. I'm very sorry."
The prince, apparently pleased with the girl's earnest apology, snickered as he looked down on her.
And then, in a dignified manner.
"Well, I accept your apology.
But why are you talking nonsense about wanting me to apologize?"
... Nonsense, he ended up saying.
Inwardly, the girl seriously thinks that she should blow this little shit up, but she still opens her mouth gracefully and demurely, like a child of nobility.
"...... Your Highness, I know I'm being rude."
"What? I'm generous, I'll listen to you."
Oh, I wonder what this is, what should I do, I want to blow him up so badly.
Once again, the girl was annoyed by the prince's arrogant, supercilious, and ridiculous tone and attitude.
However, the other party was royalty, and above all, a child.
The girl put aside the fact that she was also a child and explained, convincing herself that the prince's attitude was due to his childhood.
"For example, if there was someone you respected, wouldn't you be upset and angry if someone humiliates him?"
"What are you talking about? Of course I would be angry."
"That's what I mean.
I was angry with His Highness at the time."
The prince looked at her with a puzzled expression for a moment, and then looked at her with a half smile mixed with derision.
"...... Wait, you don't mean to tell me you respected that duke?"
"Respected is the wrong word! And please don't disgrace ojisama based on your own assumptions when you don't even know him well enough!"
Looking at the prince with a sharp glare, the girl opened the fan with a light green feather on a brown shaft, which she had made to match her dress, with a burst of energy and gracefully covered her mouth, but answered in a hoarse voice.
"What do you want me to know about such a man?
A ugly, lowly, pig-like nobleman, what else is there to know?"
The prince's face twisted in mockery as he said this, but he must know that his position was unassailable.
Without any reservation, he ridiculed the girl.
The girl, however, was not going to remain silent.
"If you say anything else, I will twist your noble mouth."
The girl's eyes had no light in them, which should have been there normally, as she said crisply with a completely straight face.
“A!?"
While feeling instinctive fear at the girl's appearance, the prince, mobilizing all of his meager royal pride, was only momentarily dismayed.
The girl continued to stare at the prince with her lightless eyes while he looked away, unable to make eye contact.
"Please apologize."
The prince's inner thoughts were frightened by the girl, but he still desperately opened his mouth.
“Do you understand what you’re saying?"
The girl quietly replied to the prince, who was raising his voice in anguish, with the same attitude.
"Of course I do."
Just as the girl was about to say this, a new person appeared on the scene.
"What on earth is going on? A lady should not raise her voice, Christia."
“Ojisama!?"
The girl turned around as if in a panic, as if the voice she heard was unexpected.
The prince, on the other hand, was relieved to see the intruder come into view, but at the same time he had a dubious expression on his face.
Because the prince had no trace of this person in his memory.
However, the person in front of their gaze was the girl's real uncle, Duke Augusto Werstein, who had been mentioned earlier.
//Melki: 2 releases today because chapter 22 and 23 have been the shortest so far.
[1] : Both are ways of referring to oneself, I/me; one is just more appropriate to the setting
This crown prince seems like he could be easily manipulated.
Idiot parent. Show her how much u love ur child,don't hide it like that. Thanks for the chapter.
when ojiisama come at the right time, Christia at that time must be squealing hard inside her heart
Nice translation