“What are you doing, Carla!”
Amor slammed his hand on the table and stood up, directing a sharp gaze at Carla.
Pouring tea over the head of a lady sitting with the Crown Prince. Being criticized for doing such a thing was only natural, but Carla, who was glared at not by the lady herself, nor by the highest-ranking Crown Prince, but by Prince Amor, the only adult in the room, responded with a sarcastic smile, undaunted.
“Couldn’t you please butt out if you’re not involved?”
“What!?”
Born as royalty, Amor had never been told such a thing before and was left speechless, unable to find his next words.
In the stunned silence, Carla moved soundlessly, gliding over to look down at Nasanitaru, who was sitting next to Elvan.
“Step aside.”
“…”
As if pushed out, Nasanitaru tumbled from his chair, and Carla gracefully took his seat. It was then that the frozen time began to move again.
“Y-you!”
“Oh, Prince Amor, how lovely to see you. El-sama and Clara-sama, how are you both?”
As if noticing their presence for the first time. However, ignoring their presence right in front of her, Carla smiled only at Elvan and Clara.
Carla’s position was that of a Countess’s daughter, but as the Crown Prince’s fiancée, she was guaranteed to become the Second Queen, and was treated as quasi-royalty.
In terms of status, she was lower than Prince Amor, and even after marrying and becoming the Second Queen, she would only be on par with Amor, but from the moment she obtained her Divine Protection, Carla politically stood above Amor.
Even so, for Carla, who was still only the Crown Prince’s fiancée, to take such an attitude towards Prince Amor could be seen as disrespectful by others, but Amor, who had witnessed her incinerating the Rank 6 Minotaur Murderer, albeit in a near-death state, felt an invisible Intimidation and could only grit his teeth without saying anything more.
“W-wait! More importantly, Licia, are you alright? Someone! Get Licia!”
Elvan, interrupting the two, placed his hand on Alicia’s shoulder and called out behind him. Her young butler rushed over in a fluster.
“What do you intend, Carla?”
Elvan, who couldn’t be described as very spirited, directed a strong gaze at Carla, who sat next to him. Behind him, Nasanitaru, who had been ignored and had his seat stolen, glared at Carla as he comforted Alicia, though he was still frightened.
“Fufufu, I simply heard that my cute El-sama had picked up a stray dog, so I came to see. My, how smelly. I thought the scent of tea might mask it a bit, but the stray’s odor doesn’t disappear, does it? Forgive me.”
The men’s eyes widened at Carla’s outrageous words.
“Carla… How can you say such terrible things!”
“Please, El-sama. I’m alright!”
Alicia, clinging to Elvan’s arm as if pleading, stopped him as he was about to rise from his seat.
“…Licia.”
“Carla-sama is just in a bad mood. It’s because El-sama, Amor-sama, and Nasanitaru-kun are being kind to me…”
Clinging to Elvan’s arm as if pressing her still immature body against him, Alicia gently took Elvan’s hand and subtly guided it towards her body.
“Oh my, that’s quite a thing to say. It makes it sound as if a man with a fiancée is dallying with another woman, like a fool, doesn’t it?”
“…”
Elvan slightly averted his gaze at Carla’s mocking words.
“I’m not like that!”
“Oh my, how it chirps. Don’t you think so, Clara-sama?”
“…”
Having been addressed and having listened to the exchange silently until then, Clara lightly glared back at Carla, directed a contemptuous gaze at the men and Alicia, and stood up.
“My interest has waned. I shall take my leave here.”
“Clara!”
Clara stood up, and Elvan finally remembered the meaning of calling Clara to this place—to question the true meaning of the harsh words Clara had directed at Alicia. He couldn’t help but call out to her. Clara, with a slightly sad look in her eyes, looked down at the men with a cold gaze.
“El-sama, my opinion remains unchanged. A little dalliance is fine, but at least choose someone who has been trained. —And…”
“”…””
Clara stopped Amor and Nasanitaru, who were about to retort to Clara’s words, with a strong tone.
“Amor-sama? You are here as a teacher, yet you seem to be favoring a particular student. If you do not fulfill your duties as a Prince, what is the point of you as royalty? And Nasanitaru-sama, if you are to become a priest in the future, what would the head of the Temple think of your dallying with women? Where are my brother and the Melrose House? Shouldn’t they be the ones who should be here?”
Amor and Nasanitaru gritted their teeth at Clara’s words. They couldn’t retort because her words were not wrong.
And Elvan, implicitly blamed for the absence of the March family members who should have been his original confidants and friends, twisted his lips painfully.
Nothing was wrong. But emotions were different.
Amor and Nasanitaru directed hateful eyes at the ladies, who had demeaned Alicia, who had acknowledged their feelings, and who had spoken harsh words to them, like the “villains” of a play.
In response, Clara snorted dismissively, turned her back, and began to walk away. Remembering her, whom she had been with since childhood, her face turned into that of a crying child, saddened by their changed relationship.
“Well then, I shall also take my leave. El-sama… that face of yours is lovely. Fufufu.”
Carla, directing a joyful smile at Elvan, who had a painful expression, stood up, gently touched Elvan’s cheek, and whispered as if singing.
“Beautiful, beautiful Prince. Become more tainted, suffer more. Then you will surely become a good king to my liking. I will pick up your burnt bones for you.”
“Hii!”
Elvan recoiled, feeling physical heat from Carla’s fingertips that had been touching him.
It was an outrageous act that could not be dismissed as a lovers’ quarrel, as if she had inflicted some harm, but the surrounding Royal Knights did not understand what Carla had done, and those who had noticed were overwhelmed by the eerie aura Carla emitted, and no one could move.
Carla’s Desire was to defile Elvan. Watching him, who had been innocent, betray those he loved and who loved him, become tainted, wounded, and fall from grace out of remorse, was one of Carla’s few pleasures.
In such an eerie atmosphere, only Alicia’s eyes, harboring a dark light, and Carla’s gaze intertwined head-on.
A manifestation of darkness in human form, different from Carla. A demon of desire to defile Elvan.
Even so, Carla smiled like a muddy swamp, acknowledging that she could not match that girl, who was as vivid as a Blade shining in the darkness.
“It was fun. Let’s meet again, El-sama.”
“…”
The two fiancées of the Crown Prince left, and Alicia gently touched Elvan’s cheek, which had turned red from the burn, as he hung his head, unable to speak due to the harsh words.
“El-sama is not wrong. You’re only human, so it’s okay to run away when things are tough. I’ll be here for you if it’s hard.”
“Licia…”
Amor and Nasanitaru gasped in admiration at Alicia’s saintly smile.
Under the table… Alicia, still holding Elvan’s hand, pressed her immature body against his arm, and as he reflexively tried to pull away, she held his arm down and whispered softly in his ear the moment his attention turned to her.
“I… will heal you.”
“Ojou-sama, that kind of…”
“It’s fine.”
On the way to the carriage, Clara replied curtly to the words of the maid who accompanied her.
Clara used her Divine Protection, Foresight, and judged that staying in that place was not a good idea as a result of her calculations.
If she stayed there, her position would only worsen. Even so, she had to say something, or her heart would break.
Elvan was just being deceived by that woman… the Heroine. She thought that if she explained the hypothesis derived from her calculations, the kind Elvan would return to her, but her emotions were showing, and the persuasion was not going well.
If he would come back to me, I wouldn’t mind not becoming the Queen. But in reality, Elvan was the Crown Prince, and to be with him, I had to be the Queen.
If that Heroine becomes a consort, that would be fine. I could endure it if Elvan’s heart was with me. But Clara wondered if she could bear it if the Heroine became the Queen, just like in the Otome Game.
Clara’s aunt, the Second Queen, couldn’t bear it and became mentally ill. Clara began to think that the Clara in the game realized she couldn’t bear it either, and became the “villain” herself to get away from them.
“Do you have that thing?”
“…I have it prepared, but are you really going to use it?”
The maid, in her mid-twenties, hesitated, thinking of her mistress, Clara.
She was a so-called “escort maid.” However, she wasn’t from the Shadow Unit, but from the destroyed Assassin Guild.
A few years ago, while she was away from the branch for work, the branch, along with all its members, literally disappeared.
She was a member of the Assassin Guild, but instead of direct combat, she handled poisons and supplied them to the Guild. After the Guild disappeared, she was selling poisons in the Underworld to survive, and was captured by Dandole’s guards.
Not all assassins are murderers. Like her, many sold drugs in the city to survive, rather than kill. Five years ago, Clara, judging that it was difficult to obtain information about the Heroine through Dandole’s spies, forcibly rescued her who was about to be executed, and by piling favors upon favors, even saving her impoverished family, she won her over.
Now, she not only acted as a food taster, but also helped with information gathering at the academy, so devoted to Clara that she would risk her life.
The item prepared by the maid was an unorthodox poison made with a special method.
It was left behind by an Evil Race member who used to be in the Assassin Guild. Because it used human Magic Stones as ingredients, the Evil Race seemed to have discarded the production method for ethical reasons once they established it. However, an alchemist who was in the Guild at the time stole the method and succeeded in producing a small amount.
That alchemist also burned to ashes along with the Chapel when the Guild was destroyed, but the maid, who was his apprentice, found the poison among the items she was managing in another location, as some of the poison was vulnerable to moisture.
“I’ll use it. If it ends everything…”
“…Understood.”
＊＊＊
“Licia, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, Nasanitaru-kun. I really wanted to meet you alone.”
The Chapel is located within the academy. It’s not as large as the Chapel in the Royal Capital, but it’s still a medium-sized one in the countryside.
The priest who manages this place is also dispatched from the church in the Royal Capital, but Nasanitaru, as the grandson of the Temple head, could enter it during unused hours.
Even though they were still students of twelve to thirteen years old, it was not desirable for them, as nobles, to meet alone. However, her butler, who should have been admonishing her, had left her side to report to the Shadow Unit about Clara and Carla at the tea party.
“Yeah. I wanted to see Licia too.”
Seeing the girl, Alicia’s, shy smile, Nasanitaru replied with a face that seemed healed.
For Nasanitaru, she was “special.” Even so, if it had been the old him, he wouldn’t have trusted her so much, as there were rumors that she was raised as a commoner.
A few months ago, an event occurred that shattered Nasanitaru’s values.
The kidnapping of the First Princess, Elena. Nasanitaru, who was caught up in the incident in which a part of the Knight Order moved, was saved by a girl who was guarding the Princess. However, she slaughtered and took away the lives given to her by God, and when Nasanitaru tried to condemn her for it, she retorted that he shouldn’t talk about the weight of life in the words of a “stranger” called God.
He couldn’t accept that. What were they, the children of God who conveyed God’s words, supposed to do if they didn’t speak God’s words? But at the same time, the girl’s words pierced Nasanitaru’s heart like a wedge, and when his values collapsed and he was about to lose himself, it was Alicia who saved his heart.
‘You’re not wrong. Life and God’s words are important. Because there are people who are saved by them, you’re not wrong at all.’
The girl named Alicia, who said that with a smile, wrapped his hands in hers and gave him a shy smile.
‘But, just relax a little. You are free. If you do, you can hold hands and walk like this.’
In the warmth of that hand… Nasanitaru regained his wavering heart, and fell in love for the first time with her who “affirmed” all of him unconditionally.
“Actually… I want to help Carla-sama!”
“Eh?”
In Alicia’s story, she told Nasanitaru that Carla was acting so violently because she didn’t believe in God. She said that she wanted to borrow the power of a certain person in the church in the Royal Capital for that purpose.
“I think Ursula-sama can save Carla-sama’s heart.”
“…………”
Ursula. Nasanitaru also knew that name.
She was originally an orphan who had been abandoned in front of the church, but she followed the teachings of the Holy Church, awakened to the Mana of light, and was even called a “Saint” for saving many lives.
But Nasanitaru also knew her dark side.
The ‘Holy Church Guidance Squad’ – she was the leader of the execution unit that captured those who did not follow God’s teachings, the sinful, and sent them to the Church Underground to correct their minds.
Nasanitaru didn’t know what happened to those who were sent underground. His grandfather, the Temple head, said that they had awakened to God’s teachings, but no one had ever seen them again.
Something terrible was going on. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe his grandfather’s words, but he didn’t want to get involved actively either.
How did Alicia know about such a top-secret matter that only some people in the church knew about?
(…No, Licia is purely worried about Carla-sama…)
Ursula, who is said to be as strong as a Rank 4 Adventurer, and her Guidance Squad might be able to capture that terrifying Carla.
Even if Carla never comes out of the Church Underground again as a result… Nasanitaru recalled the humiliation he had suffered at that tea party, and nodded to Alicia’s proposal without telling her the truth.
Still, feeling as if he had committed a sin, Nasanitaru knelt in the Chapel with remorse and offered a prayer to God, when something soft enveloped his head.
“L, Licia!?”
“It’s okay. Nasanitaru is not wrong at all. Believe in yourself more.”
Nasanitaru raised a flustered voice at Alicia, who hugged his head from the front while he was kneeling.
As he tried to get away, he was hugged even tighter, and Nasanitaru, burying his face in the girl’s thin abdomen, gradually lost his strength to her loving care as she gently stroked his head, and hugged Alicia as if clinging to her.
“If it’s hard, I’ll comfort you.”
In the dimly lit Chapel, the girl, who was stroking the boy’s head like a saint while hugging him, had a faint, distorted smile on her face, with the faintly shining holy seal behind her.
Next time, who will survive in the academy where malice and malice collide?
I’m writing this while thinking, “What is this?”
The Carla in the game liked and tormented Elvan and Alicia because they were innocent and yet not defiled. So the current Crown Prince and fake Heroine are nothing more than toys.
Some supplementary explanation: “Noble Class”
I thought it would be difficult to understand how much power the nobles of the Kingdom of Claydale have, and how much power they have depending on their peerage, so I tried to apply it to modern times. (*There are some differences from the actual nobility)
[Lower Nobility]
・Knight (Knight Baron)
A powerful person in the village, the village head. Also serves as a town councilor. Also serves as a role like a police box.
・Honorary Noble (Lifetime Peer)
Town business owner. Town councilor.
・Baronet
A person who serves as both the town mayor and the police chief.
[Middle Nobility]
・Baron
Mayor. Serves as both police chief and court.
・Viscount
Mayor of a government-designated city. Serves as both police chief and court.
[Upper Nobility]
・Earl
Prefectural governor. Serves as both police chief and court. Member of the Diet.
・Marquis
Prefectural governor with a government-designated city. Serves as both police chief and court. Member of the Diet.
・Margrave
Equivalent to Marquis. The Melrose House and Dandole Family are about the same as the Governor of Tokyo and the Governor of Osaka.
・Duke
Prefectural governor with a government-designated city. Serves as both police chief and court. Member of the Diet. Minister.
・Royal Family
Nation and Cabinet. Prime Minister.
It’s rough, but that’s how it is. There is a considerable difference between middle and upper class with just one peerage.
Promotion from middle to upper nobility rarely happens.