kscans

Chapter 13 - What Happened to Her, and an Unwanted Favor, Part 2

"Besides," Lupia continued.

"Who is it that suffers from my Crown Princess training memories being erased? Only Falty, who wants to be taught the contents, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"I myself have no problem without such memories. So, I erased them. That’s all there is to it."

So like my sister, Rupert thought with admiration. She says "that’s all," yet she endured such a painful experience to see it through. It was precisely because she was this sister that she was fit to be the next duchess. But he also thought that if her future as Crown Princess and future Queen had not been cut off, she would have undoubtedly become a fine queen supporting the king, a figure spoken of for generations to come. The ones who destroyed that future were Falty and Liam.

As a result of Crown Prince Liam getting together with the count’s daughter, Falty, the most promising Crown Princess candidate, Lupia, was eliminated. He had wondered what the other candidates were doing and looked into it, but it seemed they had all been removed from the list as well. His father, who had been at his wit's end, had told him while Lupia was bedridden, so it had to be true.

However, the identity of this 'System' that Lupia had been talking about was still unknown. But that 'System' had manipulated Lupia like a doll for a whole year, stealing her thoughts. That alone made it worthy of a thousand deaths in Rupert's and Vernella's minds, but who was the one behind it?

The idea that the Crown Princess, Falty, had used some kind of spell to manipulate Lupia was a possibility, but if so, she would have had to keep her under control continuously. The fact that she had made the absurd request for Falty to be supported ruled out the theory that she herself had done something. If she could control Lupia, she could just make her do as she was told.

"That voice, was it a woman’s? A man’s?"

"The voice?"

"The ‘System’ thing you were just talking about. That voice."

"...It was a strange voice, hard to describe…"

In the world where Rupert and the others lived, there was a religion that was worshipped, and gods existed. He had considered the possibility that the events of the past year had occurred due to some kind of 'divine oracle,' but he couldn't connect the dots. He couldn't understand what could possibly be gained by treating a person like a doll and stealing their will.

"I’m glad I’ve been freed, but I want to understand exactly why this happened. Just in case, we can’t rule out a second time."

Both Vernella and Rupert nodded at Lupia’s calm, dispassionate statement.

"Of course, I’ll refuse the request for a visit from those two. It would be great if Father and Mother could cooperate…"

"Of course they’ll cooperate. As for Vernella… yeah. I get it, so try to hold back on nodding so enthusiastically."

"Anything to help my dear sister-in-law!"

"Hehe, thank you, Vernella."

Just as a gentle, soft atmosphere began to settle, the area outside the room—or rather, the mansion—grew noisy. Such disturbances were rare, and both Lupia and Rupert tilted their heads in confusion.

They could hear voices shouting things like, "You can’t just do as you please!" so they immediately understood that something was wrong. As the three of them exchanged glances, the door was knocked on violently. When they didn’t answer, the door was thrown open with tremendous force, as if the person couldn’t wait any longer.

"Excuse us!"

Turning their gazes to see what was going on, they saw the two male students from the baron families who had restrained Lupia on either side at the wedding reception. They were glaring at Lupia with furious expressions, but to have forced their way into a ducal mansion like this, they must have been prepared for the consequences, or so the twins thought, conversing with their eyes alone.

"..."

Taking their silence as encouragement, the two began to speak in loud, almost shouting voices.

"What is the meaning of this! I hear you have been disrespecting the Crown Princess’s magnanimity!"

"That is why His Highness chose Her Highness the Crown Princess over you!"

And? was all Lupia could think. The words didn't even register as insults to her. She didn't care who they revered or worshipped; that was their own business. But why were they trying to force it on her? Just as Lupia was about to open her mouth to deal with them, Rupert, who had been sitting, stood up, walked silently in front of the two, punched one of them, sending him flying, and kicked the other one away.

"Agh!"

The two, completely unprepared, were sent sprawling. There should have been ducal knights on the way here, but they must have somehow broken through. But getting this far was the end of the line for them.

"...Baron Garibaldi’s son and Baron Ginasmo’s son, was it. You bastards."

"...W-wha, ah…"

He might have been trying to say something, but if he thought he could win against Rupert, who was glaring at them like a demon, Lupia would love to see him try. As her brother's sister, she knew that Rupert, who had been determined to join the royal knight order to protect her if she had become Crown Princess, was, needless to say, strong. The ducal knights were strong too, but they probably hadn't anticipated something like this. She would have to retrain them a little more thoroughly, Lupia thought as she sipped her tea. She looked down on the two men writhing on the floor and continued in a cold tone.

"You have some nerve. To pull a ridiculous stunt like storming into our ducal mansion."

"…!?"

Even if they wanted to say something, the pain was too great for them to open their mouths properly. They could only glare at Lupia, but that would end immediately.

"Who do you think you are, glaring at my sister?"

Rupert mercilessly stomped on the head of Baron Garibaldi’s son. A muffled groan could be heard, but he couldn’t care less.

"‘Storming in’ sounds almost too polite, doesn’t it? What should we do with them…? I know. Shall we report that the baronies were plotting a rebellion against the ducal house?"

An astonished gasp came from one of the baron’s sons. But she didn't care.

"It’s true, isn’t it? Despite not having permission, you two suddenly barged into our home, and what’s more, you pushed past the ducal knights and servants to get here…"

Lupia stood up and walked over to Rupert. The clack, clack of her heels echoed loudly to the two men on the floor. Their faces seemed pale, but she paid them no mind.

"It’s almost as if you timed your assault for when my father was away, isn’t it?"

This wasn’t the Lupia who let her guard down in front of her family. This was ‘Lupia-Calmond,’ the duke’s daughter in a public setting, perfectly concealing her poor health and everything else, glaring down at the two with contempt.

"And you even ignored the rule that ‘those of lower rank shall not speak without permission from their superiors.’ …Now, what shall we do with you?"

"My lady!!"

The knights came rushing in, flustered.

"What is the meaning of this! For a ducal knight to allow these fools to trespass—it is an outrage!"

"We are deeply sorry!"

"Even a child can apologize! I will report this matter to my father, after which you will redouble your training! …It seems you have all grown lax."

Overwhelmed by Lupia’s intensity, the members of the knight order let out small yelps of "Eek!" Aristerios would be furious when he found out about this. For the knight order, trained to protect this house, to allow such intruders to enter was, indeed, an outrage. And then there were the two sons of the barons on the floor.

"...I do hope your actions don’t lead to your houses being crushed, hmm…?"

Lupia looked down at the two with a truly amused sneer. They, who had probably never expected this outcome, had completely underestimated the twins. And they had finally realized it. That their families were no match for this house.

"The poor Garibaldi and Ginasmo families. To think they’ll have to run around cleaning up the scandal of their sons coming to assault a duke’s daughter."

Their breathing became shallow. Lupia’s tremendous presence and Rupert’s intense intimidation.

This is bad, they regretted now. They realized, belatedly, that they had picked a fight with the ducal house, but it was far too late. And they had not yet realized that they had also made an enemy of the unbelievably expressionless Vernella’s family, the Alcioni Count Family.