The Northern Villainess
There weren't many people clearly above me, the daughter of a ducal house.
The imperial family, the four great ducal houses, key figures from other nations, the core personnel of the imperial court. All told, about twenty. Stretch that to include those of roughly equal standing, and you might reach fifty. Everyone else couldn't even dare show their displeasure if I threw my weight around a little.
I clicked along beside the maid and asked,
"So who exactly showed up that you're summoning me like this? What, did His Grace or some member of the imperial family arrive? Or did the Pope himself come calling?"
"A member of a ducal house has arrived, my lady."
My voice jumped a little at the words ducal house.
"A ducal house? I didn't hear anything about anyone coming to visit."
"Lady Erika of House Aquitaine has come to call. Duke Aquitaine is meeting with His Grace separately. Judging by the lack of prior notice, it seems to be a matter of great urgency."
"House Aquitaine? Even if it's important, I don't think the North would come discuss something like that with us. Did the West or East make a move?"
"I wouldn't know that much, my lady. Servants like us haven't heard anything."
"Well, you're tools, after all. I wasn't expecting much."
I spoke down to her as naturally as breathing, and we arrived at the room the maid had been guiding me toward. When she opened the door, a girl came into view.
Blue eyes. Blue hair. Even the shape of her eyes curved gently, making her appearance the complete opposite of mine. But they say extremes meet in the end, don't they? If I was the type with a fiery, foul temper, she was the type with a quietly foul one.
"Mages really are slow, aren't they? Being that slow, you wouldn't be any help when you're actually needed, would you? By the time you arrived, everything would already be over."
She looked down on me sweetly with those soft eyes. More precisely, only her eyes were soft—that filthy gaze was exactly like mine.
"That's because knights are the sort whose brains are all muscle, isn't it? If you were going to visit, you should have given at least a week's notice. That's the bare minimum of courtesy."
"Shouldn't one always be prepared? If a pillar of the Empire is this flimsy… the southern pillar might change in the next generation."
"It would still be better than the northern pillar. If you're still at that level, that is."
I openly mocked Erika's abilities. With that, I glared at her sharply, and she smiled as she glared right back. I waved my hand roughly; the maid who caught the signal left the room.
Thud.
The door closed, and only then were the two of us alone.
"So what's going on? Coming all the way down from the North to the South isn't exactly common."
Now that we were alone, I switched to casual speech. My relationship with Erika wasn't entirely positive, but paradoxically, the only ones a villainess could befriend were villainesses of similar caliber.
I walked over slowly, picked up the teapot, and filled it with water using magic. Then I roughly boiled the water with heat magic. Erika casually took out two cups and set one in front of herself and one in front of me.
"The West and East have made a move. They seem to be looking for the Hero who's supposed to appear in this generation. When Father heard that, he moved in a hurry."
"The Hero… isn't there still quite a bit of time left? At least five years, I'd think."
"They're identifying talent in advance. And planting people in various places even if not. You know how important it is to secure and support the Hero, right? Being such an excellent mage."
I didn't really know, so I shrugged as if I did and said something plausible.
"Having the Hero's support does give legitimacy and justification for various activities. But you came all this way just for that? The North isn't the type to care about that sort of thing."
"Normally, yes. But an oracle came down from the Holy Kingdom."
"An oracle? What did it say?"
I already knew the content, but I asked anyway. Erika explained with her shoulders raised high, as if she thought I wouldn't know.
"The oracle says this Hero will destroy the pillars of the Empire and create a new one. Because of that, the imperial palace is very interested too. Apparently opinions are split between those who say he must be killed and those who say he mustn't."
"That is definitely a big deal. So that's why Duke Aquitaine came down too? The four pillars would be the ducal houses in the South, North, West, and East."
"That's what we consider the most reasonable interpretation. But we can't trust the West or East. The West plays at being pirates, and the East is little better than a band of thieves—even if they're ducal houses, their history is different. Only a house like Lucilla, the guardian of the South, is on the same level as our House Aquitaine."
"You're not wrong. We've ruled the South and North since before the Empire even existed."
Erika smiled with satisfaction at my answer. Strictly speaking, House Aquitaine and House Lucilla had been nations that existed before the Empire was founded. And unlike the West and East, the Empire had made contracts with them instead of subjugating them through war.
That also means they were that powerful. They're the only two places where the Empire gave up on military conquest.
I filled Erika's teacup with the fully steeped tea, then filled my own, and took a sip. At the unexpectedly bitter taste of the black tea, I slightly furrowed my brow and plopped sugar cubes in one after another.
"So why did you come find me? Everything we've talked about so far is stuff our parents will handle on their own. There's nothing we can do about it, is there?"
Erika watched me adding sugar cubes as if it were amusing, then took a sip of tea. And her expression crumpled too.
"There's the debutante soon. I don't like that you're a mage, but you're the only one on my level. So I'll graciously keep you company. That's all."
Saying that, Erika also diligently added sugar cubes to her tea.
Plop. Plop plop. Plop plop plop.
Wouldn't it be better to just drink hot chocolate at that rate? I thought that as she put in twice as much as me, but I didn't say it out loud. After taking a sip of what was now more sugar than tea, Erika smiled. I stared at her for a moment, then answered her words.
"The debutante is still about six years away, isn't it? You want to maintain a steady friendship with me until then? To counter the West and East."
"Something like that. The East and West also have heirs of the same age and gender as us. If we're inevitably going to be compared… shouldn't we stick together?"
"Hmm…"
I remembered that originally, they hadn't joined hands. Lucy had been so confident in her own abilities that she thought she could beat the West-East alliance without the North. As a result, at the academy, the factions had formed as East and West, North, and South. Naturally, for Lucy—who lived off her superiority and made villainy her baseline—there had been no allies. At least the dukes had joined hands, so the family had remained intact.
If I refuse here, will I end up isolated at the debutante or the academy too? To act like a proper villainess, it might be good to have a few solid allies.
Accepting this shouldn't cause problems. What Plausibility demanded of me was to act like a villainess, not to faithfully follow the original. If it had been the latter, problems would have arisen the moment I brought Rena and Mona.
After a moment's thought, I nodded.
"Fine. I don't particularly like muscle-brained knights, but the only house on a similar level to ours is House Aquitaine."
"I thought a rigid theorist like you would refuse, but you accepted? Then I'll be counting on you going forward."
"You too. Make sure you don't get in my way."
We smiled at each other and took another sip of black tea together.
Ugh.
I set down the teacup, looked at the tea for a moment, then Erika and I looked at each other.
It's bitterer than expected.
Right? I think so too.
Then shall we add a bit more sugar?
That sounds good.
After exchanging that look, we quietly moved our hands.
Plop.
Plop plop.
In many ways, we were similar.
After that, ordinary conversation flowed. Having lived as a man my whole life, I thought I wouldn't be able to do girls' talk—and this was a medieval fantasy setting at that—but the knowledge in this body was enough on its own.
We finished all the sugar too.
Wasn't it black tea?
Since neither of us could handle how bitter it was beyond our expectations, it would be more accurate to say we drank sugar. Of course, compared to modern-day punks who claim "~flavor" even after putting in 0.001% concentrated fragrance, we could say we drank black tea in our own way.
"I should be going soon."
"You came from quite far away, but you're leaving right away? I thought you'd rest a bit since the distance is long. The North is cold, so it's hard to relax leisurely like this."
"We train our bodies to overcome that. And we came in a hurry. We'll take the continental teleport back."
"Then it doesn't matter."
The teleport devices installed at each ducal house and the central capital could only be used with permission from both sides. It cost a lot of money and required a lot of mana, but for a ducal house, that was no problem.
"Then see me off to the front. I need to show Father that we've become friends."
"You care more than I thought."
Though a few words were omitted, Erika understood what I meant and gave an uncomfortable smile.
"…My level is so high that there's no one suitable to hang out with. I should show at least once that I have a friend at times like this. Wouldn't that be filial piety?"
She was really beating around the bush about having no friends.
"Well, can't be helped then. I'll go with you."
Having no friends was the same on my end, so I just decided to go along. My father on this side was a wife-fool rather than a daughter-fool, so he wouldn't care about my friendships anyway.
"No need for gifts, right? We're equals."
"Of course. Gifts are what superiors bestow on subordinates. There's no need for gifts between us. Later, when you officially invite me, just come to the tea party. Those little things are important."
"Got it. As long as you don't send for me suddenly like this time, I'll come."
"This time couldn't be helped…!"
With that agreement reached, we left the room. When we opened the door and stepped out, three maids who had been waiting outside scurried over to our sides.
"Have the Dukes come out?"
The oldest maid answered my question.
"Yes, they came out about five minutes ago. They're currently taking a short walk in the garden while waiting for the young ladies. Shall I guide you there?"
When I nodded, that maid took the lead, and the other maids followed behind. With so many eyes watching, Erika also walked quietly beside me.
"His Grace is just ahead."
When we arrived at the place where the two dukes were visible, the maid immediately stepped aside. Erika and I slowly approached the two.
"Ah, Erika. You're out."
True to a knight, Duke Aquitaine—sensitive to presence—spotted us first. Following that, the man who was my father looked at me.
"Yes, Father. I had a good time with Lady Lucilla. Hello, Duke Lucilla. You still look healthy. Have you been well?"
Though she was young and lacking in many points of etiquette, Duke Lucilla didn't particularly mind. For a young lady who hadn't even had her debutante yet, this was sufficient.
"It's truly pleasing to see Lady Aquitaine growing more with each passing day. With such a sharp sword in the North, there will be no worries going forward."
"Thank you."
After the brief greetings ended, I also offered my respects to Duke Aquitaine.
"You seem stronger and sharper than before. Looking at Duke Aquitaine, it seems the sword of the North will be eternal, which makes me envious."
In contrast, I openly sniped at Duke Lucilla. Duke Aquitaine naturally understood the hidden meaning in my words, but knowing the family situation, he let it pass.
"It's enviable to see Lady Lucilla growing day by day as well. With such rapid growth, you might become the greatest mage in the Empire's history."
With those formal greetings finished, Duke Aquitaine and Erika boarded the carriage and left. I stood with the Duke for a moment, then offered my farewell first.
"It's cold, so I'll go inside first, Your Grace."
The Duke looked at me for a moment. I could read a strange emotion in his eyes, but I simply returned to the mansion.