kscans

Chapter 60 - Episode 49: Clean Up Your Own Mess, Part 1

Still supported by Lupia, it took Falty a moment to comprehend what was happening to her. The Lupia before her was smiling, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all. A glance behind Lupia revealed a young man who looked very much like her—Rupert, probably—and standing next to him was Vernella, the girl from that contentious tea party the other day. And behind them were likely Lupia’s parents, her guard, and… another person who made her gasp.

Why is the King of the Qua Kingdom here…!

But then, a thought struck Falty. Lupia’s mother, Millière, was from the Qua Kingdom. What's more, Millière had been a princess of that country. But at the same time, she wondered why the entire family was together. The common perception of the Calmond family in this country was that they were ‘estranged.’ Everyone believed it, so she had assumed it was common sense, but looking at the atmosphere here, that was clearly wrong.

"Why…"

Falty’s whisper was hoarse, perhaps from tension, but Lupia seemed to have quickly grasped the many meanings packed into that single word. With a deep sigh, she looked down at Falty with an expression of pure exasperation.

"Are you being serious right now?"

"...!"

Lupia wasn’t trying to mock her, but upon hearing those words, Falty immediately felt she was being made a fool of. She still felt a sense of guilt towards Lupia, and a desire to apologize for everything she had done. But what came out first was a torrent of words that were little more than insults.

"Don’t be ridiculous! Because you… no, because all of you abandoned this country, Liam-sama and I have had to struggle so much! What do you want now?! Did you come crawling back to your homeland?! Are you going to drag the entire Calmond family here and make some kind of demand of Liam-sama?!"

What is she talking about? The thought was shared by everyone present, except for the still-unconscious Liam.

"Huh?"

The first to speak was Lupia, who was closest to Falty and still supporting her.

"...Are you being serious?"

"Do I look like I’m lying?!"

Lupia thought, We can’t have a proper conversation. As far as she knew—which was only from their time at the academy—Falty had always had a good reputation, and on the very rare occasions they spoke, they seemed to communicate normally. Was this another side effect of the System’s influence, or was she just so confused that she was spewing whatever came to mind without thinking? It could have been either, and Lupia sighed once more, which only seemed to anger Falty further. Falty half-forcefully pushed herself up from Lupia’s support and, stumbling slightly, stood up and pointed a finger straight at her.

"It is rude to point at people, you know."

"Be quiet! How rude of you to speak to me, the Crown Princess, in such a manner!"

"...Excuse me?"

"Because you all abandoned this country, the other high-ranking nobles fled as well! Every last one of them went to the Qua Kingdom or its neighbors!"

"...And?"

"What…! How can you be so shameless! Don’t you think this all happened because you refuse to take responsibility for your own actions?!"

"And then?"

"‘And then,’ you ask?!"

As Lupia continued to respond with only short, terse questions, Falty’s frustration seemed to build. Her voice began to take on a shrill, hysterical tone, and Rupert and Vernella, standing just behind Lupia, started to wonder if they should cover their ears. Then, they both had the same thought. Lupia was only asking questions. And only single words at that. Was she just tired of this, or was it… Rupert and Vernella glanced at each other. Without any signal passing between them, they both nodded.

"Hey, Vernella."

"Oh my… were you thinking the same thing, Rupert?"

"Well, yeah… it has to be. That is…"

"Indeed…"

They whispered to each other without using any names, confident that they were both on the same page. Then they glanced back at their parents, who were standing a little behind them. It seemed they all had the same idea; everyone except Falty, who was still shrieking at Lupia, nodded in agreement.

"How pathetic…! Lupia-sama, are you really so incompetent that you can’t take responsibility for yourself?"

"Which mouth is spouting such nonsense, I wonder."

At Lupia’s sharp retort, Falty’s eyes went wide. The ‘Lupia-Calmond’ she knew would never have made such a stinging, direct criticism. Furthermore, she wasn’t supposed to be loved by her family. As Falty struggled to process a situation so different from everything she knew, Lupia continued in the same flat, emotionless tone.

"You stole my position from me because you thought you could do it, didn’t you? You yourself boasted that you could do a better job than I could. I’d hate to think you stole my position simply to satisfy your own ambition… you wouldn’t say something like that, would you?"

"Uh… well…"

Lupia’s position, needless to say, was her future as the Crown Princess, a destiny that had been decided by the royal family.

"W-well, I…"

I didn’t think that far ahead. There was no way Falty could ever say that, not even if her mouth were torn open. She had been goaded, she had been full of ambition, she had (selfishly) thought it would all work out for her, so she went along with it. She had even used an inhuman power to interfere with Lupia’s consciousness for a year, robbing her of her freedom.

"To shove all the responsibility onto me and then start insulting me the moment the entity that was helping you is gone… you have quite the lovely nerve, I must say."

Lupia’s words sent a chill through the air. The moment the Will of God (System) had taken over her body, Falty had been filled with nothing but remorse, thinking, ‘I’ve done something terrible to Lupia!’ And yet, the moment she was face to face with Lupia herself, a torrent of insults came pouring out of her mouth. On top of that, she added a stream of self-serving justifications. The words she’d spoken couldn’t be taken back, and even if she tried to act meek now, from Lupia’s perspective, it would only look like Falty was offering a superficial apology just to be forgiven. While Falty was panicking, wondering what to do—a realization that came far too late—Lupia shifted her gaze to Liam, who was still unconscious on the throne, and continued.

"And besides, to sit on the throne when you aren’t even the king…"

Lupia’s voice was laced with nothing but contempt. I can’t back down, Falty resolved in her heart. She took a deep breath and looked straight at Lupia.

"…………Ah."

Where their eyes met, all Falty could see in Lupia’s gaze was pure, absolute nothingness.