Chapter 9 When You Stir the Nest
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After getting a temporary agreement to cancel the engagement at the dance party, I went back to my room in the girls’ dormitory. Emma handled the leaving preparations with skill, so I quickly moved to a townhouse.
It has now been about half a month since the graduation ceremony. Right now, I am relaxing with tea at the Howard estate in the royal capital.
The cancellation of the engagement is still not finished. It seems they are making it take longer, saying that checking the facts is necessary. They are taking the position that decisions about royal engagements need to be made with caution.
I sent a report to Father about Charlotte-sama’s strange behavior and false statements beforehand. There is physical proof. And we should be able to get testimony from the royal guard who was sent from the palace. So it should not be too hard to prove that I did nothing wrong.
And yet, the annulment still has not gone through. This probably means that Charlotte-sama does not meet the standards for a new fiancée.
As proof of that, flowers arrive every day from Garrett-dono. They come with apologies saying he was not thoughtful enough and he is sorry. They also come with messages begging, “Could you at least go along with a fake engagement for now?” He is getting quite a lot of pressure from Kokuo Heika and the Queen.
I understand that they need time for Charlotte-sama’s re-education. But if the way to do that is by continuing the engagement, then I am sorry, but I cannot help.
The old me would have agreed, as if I were helping a brother with his romance. But now, after I remember my husband, I cannot stand the thought of promising my future to anyone. Not even as a lie.
Luckily, Father is actively working to end the engagement. I will leave this matter to him and enjoy a nice holiday. At least, that is what I am supposed to do.
I would really like to go back to the family lands. But until the engagement is officially ended, I am still the Koutaishi’s fiancée. So I cannot just go wherever I want.
For the first week or so, I enjoyed the feeling of freedom. I made the most of my vacation. But I quickly got bored.
When you have free time, you start wanting to do something. That is just human nature.
”Offensive magic is not really my strong point. The Shadow members do keep me safe. But I do not like being completely helpless. If someone attacks me, I would like to be able to fight them off, or at least buy enough time to run away.”
And so, while I was thinking about whether I could make some kind of self-defense gadget, a corner of my room slowly started to fill with lab-like equipment. It was Emma and I who happily jumped into shady research and making prototypes.
Emma is supposed to be a maid. But she has a secret identity as Peridot. She is a member of Shadow who uses the maid network to gather information. She also has a special skill: deep knowledge of medicines. After I developed self-healing magic, she said, “A highborn lady must be prepared for poison attacks!” So she started giving me small amounts of poison every day.
Because of that, I have now reached the point where I can neutralize most poisons without even thinking about it.
I understand if you want to say, “What do you mean by poisoning your mistress?!”
The truth is that this is a tradition in the Howard family that has been passed down through many generations. To build resistance to poison, we start taking very small amounts of poison from around age thirteen. It seems there was some incident a long time ago. Of course, it is done under the watch of special doctors. So there is no danger to our health.
It is Emma who comes from a side branch of that doctor family. It was Onyx who brought her into Shadow. And now she serves as my maid.
It is easy to see how Emma’s love for research is a bit crazy in a way that makes you like her. Before she ever gives me anything, she always tests it on her own body first. She keeps pushing herself too far and getting sick on her days off. I keep telling her to stop. But she just gets even more motivated in some strange direction and shouts, “It’s for your sake, milady!” On top of that, she asks to be a test subject for my healing magic. Her love for me is probably very strong, even among Shadow members.
By the way, because it was Emma’s special skills that got her assigned as my maid, her job description is a bit different from what you would call a normal maid. She can do most tasks. They are just not required of her. In short, she has free time.
This self-defense gadget project also served as a way for Emma and me to pass the time.
Then, one day some time later, it was Onyx who brought in troubling information.
”Rebecca-sama, regarding that former saint candidate. It seems she has been assigned to transfer to the Temple of Ariana. She is to train there as a saint candidate.”
Ariana is a famous temple with strong ties to the royal family. It is known as a temple where the rare royal-born saint candidates go to study and train their magic.
”That is good news, then. She has an unusual way of thinking. So I imagine she struggled to get along with everyone at the academy. Especially after everything that happened.”
In the noble society of the academy, where honor is everything, Charlotte-sama’s behavior at the graduation party was the kind of act that badly damages a person’s social standing. Whether she still has anyone willing to be her friend, well.
In the closed world of the academy, she did not have a single friend. And now that Garrett-dono, who had been protecting her, has graduated, there seemed to be no benefit to her staying there.
”That is not the issue. The problem is that, after that incident, the saint candidate holds a grudge against you, Rebecca-sama. She will not be able to bring many personal belongings into the temple. So it seems she is planning to sell the wealth that she… took from the Crown Prince. Then she plans to use that money to hire an attack on you.”
My eyes opened wide.
The merchant who Charlotte-sama was close to at the academy is a man with underworld connections. Otherwise, he would not be doing the dangerous business of reselling nobles’ belongings. He probably has ties to violent operations as well.
I reached into my knowledge from a game in a past life, which was a web novel based on one, and it clicked. Ah. That is a classic “corruption route” sign if I have ever seen one.
I had planned to leave Charlotte-sama’s matter to Garrett-dono. But if she is coming after me, that changes things.
”Well… since she has invited me so nicely, I really must respond, mustn’t I?”
There were things I wanted to discuss with her. Maybe this was the perfect chance.
After that, Shadow did some first investigations. The case had grown a bit bigger than expected. So I talked with Father and called on Darkness, which is the full network, to dig into the connections behind it.
After I received their report, I contacted my royal guard liaison through the Howard family’s official security channels.
”Milady will be going out in disguise in three days. For a small experiment, she requests only one guard to come with her. She will be field-testing a new product that is currently in development. I hope you understand. Also, there may be some rather intense performances. But please, do not step in, no matter what you see.”
It seems that the royal guard in question was very excited.
”Oho! I have heard rumors of the Howard family’s gadget innovations! What field is this one in? If it is something for soldiers, I would love to volunteer!”
”No, this one is designed for women, apparently. And please, keep everything you see and hear confidential, yes?”
Whether there was any behind-the-scenes dealing, something like “when it goes to market, we will give you a share,” I will not comment on here.
And three days later, I took a carriage out to a nearby forest. Halfway there, just as planned, the attack came.
Notes:
• Emma – Peridot, Rebecca’s observant personal maid and one of four Shadows, has clear yellow-green eyes matching her codename. From a physician family’s collateral branch, she wields deep pharmacology knowledge. Endearingly unhinged in devotion, she self-tests poisons before dosing Rebecca mild toxins for resistance training. Extremely energetic, loyal, recklessly enthusiastic. Serves as Sophie’s lady’s maid, mining servant circles for intel. Views Charlotte as a compulsive liar with a few screws loose.
• Howard – Marquis Howard, Rebecca’s father and Howard family head, shrewdly manages domain yet indulges her unusual requests; reluctant about her royal marriage. Her mother supports with exasperated tolerance toward daughter’s demands.
• Charlotte – Baron Silver’s daughter, self-proclaimed heroine. Pink-gold hair, pale skin, aquamarine eyes, pale pink lips. Raised countryside, free-spirited but brash, entitled, childish. Views self as Garrett’s rightful fiancée. Accuses Rebecca of harassment at graduation ball to force annulment. Delusional, calls self saint, lacks social awareness. Exposed as false accuser, transferred to Temple of Ariana for re-education. Bears grudge, plans mercenary attack using Garrett’s funds. Connected to underworld merchant.
• Garrett – Blond-haired, blue-eyed second prince of Rendel, strikingly handsome, engaged to Rebecca Howard. Student at Royal Lemres Academy, possesses earth-affinity magic. Self-described wimp compared to brother Ethan, the crown prince. Dependable, stable, gentle, often taciturn. Struggles with passivity, conflict avoidance. Initially resentful of Rebecca, grows to respect her. Silent during confrontation, fails to deny engagement dissolution. Uses dry humor to cope. Sends daily apology flowers, requests fake engagement.
• Peridot – The informant among the servants who supplies Emma with gossip about Charlotte. Described as mining information aggressively.
• Onyx – One of Rebecca’s four personal Shadows, poached from her father’s “The Dark” network at age seven. Founded and trains the Shadow organization. Delivers intelligence reports to Rebecca, recruited Emma, and serves as sensitive-information liaison. Appears solely as an information bearer.
• Rebecca – Seventeen-year-old eldest daughter of Marquis Howard, protagonist and first-person narrator. Silver hair, amethyst eyes, sharp intelligence. Fiancée to Prince Garrett, top student at Royal Lemures Academy, seeks to dissolve engagement. Temporary villainess, oversees “Shadow,” a group of former “Darkness” operatives. Composed, strategic, and competitive. Emotionally guarded, hides deep loneliness beneath exterior. Uses formal dialogue with casual internal monologues. Navigates aristocratic politics with wit and patience.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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