The Imperial Princess vs. the Three Women of the Grand Ducal House
“Edward! I’ll see you later at dinner~”
Creeeak…
Charlotte stepped out of Edward’s room after spending a pleasant stretch of time with him.
Truth be told…
He had declined, yet if she had pushed just a little harder, she might have managed it.
The only reason she hadn’t was…
Ssssss…
Even after she left his room, three women were still pouring murderous intent straight at her.
“…What exactly do you three think you’re doing? I am the first imperial princess and heir to the throne of the Euphoria Empire, you know?”
Charlotte glared at the three women waiting outside the door as she spoke.
Ordinarily she disliked flaunting her rank to crush others under sheer authority. There was simply no need. Accomplished in both scholarship and martial arts, the perfect princess had far more than her title to rely on; putting down anyone who dared challenge her had never been difficult. In the first place, almost no one was insane enough to try.
But standing before her now were three lunatics every bit as capable as she was—so she was forced to invoke her authority.
The three women brushed the warning aside as if it were nothing.
“I have no idea what Your Highness is talking about.”
“Lady Lirith…”
How long had it even been since this one lost consciousness, and she was already up, hunting Charlotte down, and spraying killing intent? Lirith wore a serene smile so calm it was hard to believe she was the same person who had collapsed screaming only moments earlier, and she brazenly pretended not to understand a word.
“Hello, Your Highness! Young Master seems to be doing better now, so I thought I’d stay by his side and attend him!”
“Miss Maid…”
Emma, standing to Lirith’s left, beamed with an innocent face and likewise pretended the princess’s warning had never happened.
I was certain this girl was a complete airhead…
Charlotte knew who Emma was—or rather, she had thought she did. Whenever she visited the Frigid Grand Ducal House, she had always seen the personal maid glued to Edward’s side. At every commemorative banquet Emma would inevitably make a mess of something in the ballroom, and kind-hearted Edward would click his tongue, sigh, and still help her clean it up.
Was that all an act?
While Charlotte stared at the still-smiling Emma in growing confusion—
Shiiing! Thunk!
Shiiing! Thunk!
—the knight on Lirith’s right kept drawing her sword halfway from its scabbard and sliding it back in.
…There’s another complete maniac here.
No matter how Charlotte looked at it, the posture was pure iaido, ready to cut. She shot the knight a sidelong glare, and Grace finally spoke.
“I am of the same mind. I intend to resume my duty as Young Master’s escort.”
Then why are you glaring at me and fondling that sword?!
Every last one of them was insane. Lirith, terminal brother-complex case, needed no further comment; the personal maid was cunning; and the knight was clearly unhinged. Edward should never be left alone with these women.
“Heh heh… I see. Well, if it’s such a bother, why don’t I simply have Edward stay with me in my guest room?”
“Haha… Your Highness, Edward has a perfectly good room of his own. Suggesting he stay in a guest chamber is simply absurd…”
Of course they would never allow it.
“Hoho… But that killing intent over there is a little…”
At the very least, she wished they would stop radiating murder. Charlotte kept her smile as polite as possible while she asked the three women who continued to feign ignorance and refuse to retract their aura. An ordinary person would have fainted on the spot. Since they were Edward’s older sister and his people, she was trying to be patient for now, but—
Saaaaaaaa!!!
These bitches.
Instead of withdrawing the killing intent, they poured it out even harder.
“Get rid of that, you lunatics—this is treason!”
Charlotte finally snapped and shouted.
“Pardon?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Treason? I merely serve Young Master.”
Once again the three women pretended complete innocence.
“Haha… So that’s how you want to play it…”
Ah, she was getting pissed. Did they think she didn’t have fists of her own?
Charlotte was just about to raise her hand when a voice drifted from inside the room.
“Is something the matter?”
Edward’s voice. She had been loud enough that of course he would have heard.
“Well, it’s—”
Before Charlotte could explain,
“Edward♡~ Are you feeling better now?”
“Young Master! Are you all right?!”
“Young Master! I am returning to escort duty at once.”
—the three women cut her off, opened the door, and greeted Edward as if they had never been quarreling at all.
“Uh, uh? Yeah, I’m fine… More importantly, Charlotte, what happened?”
Edward accepted their greetings in mild confusion and asked her again what was going on.
And then—
“Cha… Charlotte?”
The moment Edward used the nickname, Lirith froze solid. Not only Lirith—the maid and the knight beside her wore identical expressions of pure shock.
“Pfft—no, it’s nothing. Nothing at all~ Edward!”
Charlotte barely managed to hold back her laughter and answered him lightly.
“Huh? Ah… yes. Then I’ll see you later, Charlotte.”
“Charlotte… Charlotte, of all things…”
Lirith kept murmuring the nickname under her breath—too quietly for Edward to hear.
“Pfft, yes, Edward! I’ll be going now~.”
Casting one last sidelong glance at Lirith, Charlotte finally withdrew.
“….”
She took one last look at the three women still frozen in shock.
Puhuhuhu… No matter what you do, Edward already proposed to me, you know?
Go ahead and spray all the killing intent you want. The winner was already decided.
Charlotte left, laughing at them inwardly.
Yet the voices that followed made her pause for a moment.
“Big Sister? And Grace, Emma? Aren’t you coming in?”
“O-of course we are~ Edward♡”
“Coming right in, Young Master!”
“I shall carry out my duty, Young Master!”
As if the shock had never happened, the three women chirped brightly and hurried toward Edward.
Maniacs.
Complete maniacs whose insides and outsides were entirely different.
I need to get Edward somewhere these bitches can’t reach—as soon as possible!
Realizing that the people she had to watch out for in order to protect Edward were not limited to the Hero, Charlotte left the corridor.
Charlotte… Edward!!
Charlotte is the imperial princess’s nickname…
Young Master has never called anyone by a nickname before…
The three women of the Grand Ducal House nearly lost their minds from the sudden blow.
Lirith barely restrained herself from smashing the lewd pink-haired bitch’s skull with her bare fist.
Grace nearly drew the sword she had been toying with and unleashed a killing stroke.
And Emma was still seriously considering whether she ought to pay a visit to the princess’s bedchamber that very night.
“Why do you all look like that?”
Edward tilted his head at the three women’s faces.
They tried desperately to look fine, to look bright, but the shock had been too great; holding their expressions was hard.
“Um… Edward?”
“Yes, Big Sister?”
“Calling her Charlotte… you really shouldn’t address the imperial princess that way.”
“Ah, well… Charlotte told me to call her that.”
“Cha… Charlotte…”
Thud.
“Big Sister?”
Lirith had of course known the answer when she asked, yet hearing exactly what she expected still made her knees give out on the spot.
“Edward, I also…”
“Yes?”
“N-never mind. My legs just went weak all of a sudden, hoho…”
She wore a pitiful expression, briefly considering asking her little brother to give her a nickname too, but—
Crazy bitch.
Definitely a crazy bitch.
—the stares from Grace and Emma beside her made her abandon the idea for now.
Meanwhile Emma had something she wanted to ask Edward, so she called to him.
“Um… Young Master…”
“Emma? Come to think of it, ever since I woke up you’ve been calling me Young Master…”
Edward started to bring up the form of address again so they could settle it properly, but—
“Ah, is it not allowed? I’ve been so worried ever since you collapsed…”
“…Ugh, fine.”
When Emma put on that pitiful face, he simply gave in.
“Edward!”
“Yes, Big Sister?”
“N-never mind…”
“?”
Watching that exchange, Lirith tried once more to protest, only to give up again when she saw the completely clueless look on his face.
“Pfft.”
Emma let out a tiny snicker at the sight, forcing Lirith to glare at her.
Hey, we agreed to cooperate.
That’s one thing, this is another.
They exchanged no words, yet reading each other’s thoughts through their eyes was hardly difficult.
“Um… Young Master, do you truly intend to marry Her Highness?”
Grace hesitated slightly, then asked the question the three of them had agreed would be their first priority.
Barely twenty-four hours had passed since they swore to work together, and already the other two were bickering; the sight was so exasperating she decided to ask herself.
“Hm? Ah… yeah, that’s the plan.”
Edward scratched his cheek as he answered. Looking closely, his cheeks seemed a little flushed.
Edward, no! You can’t!
Young Master… don’t tell me you’ve actually given your heart to that woman?
Kkh… Has Master truly taken a liking to that bitch?
Seeing Edward’s faintly reddened face, the three women of the Grand Ducal House could only despair inside.
“Wh-why do you all look so unhappy? I’m fine now, so cheer up.”
“A-ah, no, our faces aren’t unhappy at all—how could they be~ Edward♡”
“That’s right, Young Master!”
“I am simply glad you have recovered, Young Master.”
When Edward looked at them with concern, they forced themselves to sound casual and kept the conversation going.
There was so much they wanted to interrogate him about…
But he had only just risen from his sickbed…
They didn’t want to place even the slightest burden on him…
So for now the three women of the Grand Ducal House contented themselves with simply talking with him at ease.
Still—
That pink-haired bitch has already made her move this far… This won’t do!
Just a little… just one little mistake… and I’ll cut her down on the spot…
I really ought to pay her a visit tonight…
—inside their hearts, each of them was already spinning her own schemes.
The war between the imperial princess and the three women of the Grand Ducal House…
…had already begun.