Chapter 205: I Must Live (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 205: I Must Live (1)
Violet - ???
Since the Holy Kingdom’s delegation arrived at the Academy, nothing particularly major had happened.
Even if the students didn't care about the delegation, if an incident had occurred, word would have inevitably spread. So, in a way, the silence was expected.
And behind that peaceful facade...
“……”
Lay Violet’s tear-jerking sacrifice.
“Violet!”
The Pope looked at her with a bright smile. Violet forced a smile back and replied.
“Your Holiness.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt a sharp tug on her sleeve.
She turned her head.
“Delmoa…”
Delmoa was staring at her with a grumpy expression. When Violet shifted her gaze toward her—
“……”
This time, she felt a tug on her sleeve from the other side.
If she gave one person attention, the other expressed dissatisfaction.
If she turned to address that dissatisfaction, the first person got upset.
What do you want me to do?!
It was a situation that made her want to burst into tears, but for the sake of world peace, neutral diplomacy was required.
Thus, she positioned the Pope and Delmoa right in front of her.
This way, she could see them both at once, so neither should have any complaints—
They look like they have a lot of complaints.
They had only met today; why was the atmosphere so bad?
Did they know each other before? Or was it just awkwardness?
Since this part never appeared in the Original Work, she had to find out for herself.
Violet put in a heart-wrenching effort to initiate a "Please Get Along" project between the two.
“……”
“……”
“……?”
A few days later, the relationship between the two had only worsened.
…Why?
The Pope and Delmoa were like oil and water.
No matter how hard she tried to stir them together, they refused to mix.
What on earth was the problem?
Daisy—no, Violet—sighed at the sight of the two of them pouting and silently protesting against her.
The only silver lining was that she wasn't the only one suffering.
“Well then, Saintess…”
“I’m not the Saintess.”
“Lady Delmoa…”
The delegation was trying their best to take Delmoa back to the Holy Kingdom, but Delmoa refused to even engage in proper conversation with them.
On top of that, the Pope, who was supposed to lead the conversation as the representative of the Holy Kingdom, was acting like that…
As someone trying to stay in the Empire, Violet was technically achieving her goal.
However, she couldn't help but feel like she was walking on a path of thorns every single day.
Time passed. Just as rumors began to circulate that the Holy Kingdom’s delegation had started negotiations with representatives from the Imperial Family...
“……”
Violet found herself face-to-face with the 1st Prince of the Empire.
It’s freezing in here.
Violet couldn't read a single emotion in the 1st Prince’s cold eyes.
The way he performed his official duties with such chilling detachment made him seem like a machine.
If she hadn't known the Original Work, she would have been terrified.
This is exactly how Prince Erild is supposed to be.
Fortunately, Erild appeared quite frequently in the original story.
Violet actually felt relieved by his cold demeanor.
In fact...
The dangerous one is... the woman!
A gay man and a lesbian in a marriage of convenience.
Even thinking about it again made her doubt the author’s sanity, but as she was only dealing with Prince Erild for now, she could only feel grateful.
This man was strictly business when dealing with women.
Compared to the emotional tug-of-war between the Pope and Delmoa, Violet found this much more comfortable.
“Your Highness Erild. Lady Hariel has arrived.”
“Tell her to enter.”
“……?”
Hariel. That name sounded familiar.
Violet searched through the folder in her mind labeled Like a Flower Blooming in Barren Land for the name Hariel.
“……”
It didn't take long to remember who she was.
Among the characters she had categorized, this woman was at the very top of the danger list.
Hariel Alencia.
The second daughter of the Empire’s House Alencia and the wife of Erild, the man closest to the position of Crown Prince.
While Erild moved personally to accumulate achievements and build a base of support, Hariel was the one who maintained—no, expanded—his political foundation every time he was away.
The reason Erild was evaluated as the 1st Prince closest to becoming the Crown Prince was partly due to his own merits and public image, but the consensus was that it would have been impossible without Hariel’s "internal assistance," which kept his influence steady in the central government and the Imperial Family during his absences.
They were the Empire’s ultimate power couple, recognized by everyone.
Because of this, many questioned why the Emperor had not yet officially named Erild the Crown Prince...
But Violet knew the hidden reason.
“You’ve been working hard.”
“You’ve arrived, wife.”
They greeted each other warmly, looking every bit the devoted couple the rumors claimed they were.
But in that split second, Violet saw it.
The moment the door opened, her gaze hadn't landed on Prince Erild.
It was on me…!
And as someone who knew the secret everyone in the Imperial Family wondered about—why Erild hadn't taken the Crown Prince's seat yet—Violet couldn't help but tremble at Hariel’s sudden appearance.
And for good reason.
I’m actually pretty cute!
Not just anyone could be the childhood friend of a RoFan heroine.
Violet was well aware that her appearance was fundamentally beautiful.
She also knew this was a narrative device to show that even with beautiful people around, the RoFan male leads would only ever have eyes for the female lead.
Because of that, Violet hadn't paid much attention to her own looks.
I mean, she was born pretty. What could be bad about that?
H-Help me!
But not right now.
Violet felt a "crisis of her virtue" at the way Hariel was stealing glances at her while pretending not to.
Knowing what she had done to Daisy in the Original Work made it even more terrifying.
Daisy had the protection of the RoFan male leads and her status as a Saintess.
But Violet was still a nobody!
Wait, did the Holy Kingdom team up with the Empire to trap me?
"If you don't accept at least a Cardinal position offered by the Holy Kingdom, your virtue will be in danger."
If they threatened her like that, she might be forced to become a Cardinal.
Violet was in such a state of mental exhaustion that she was having these ridiculous delusions.
“Hello? I’m Hariel.”
“Y-Yes…”
As Hariel naturally reached out for a handshake, Violet’s fear reached its peak.
Violet - I’m screwed.
Contrary to Violet’s worries, Hariel didn't exert any direct threat(?) upon her.
As if proving why only a select few, including the Emperor, knew their true nature, the 1st Prince couple remained perfectly cold and professional in public, showing not a hint of personal desire.
“……!”
It was just that, occasionally... she felt the gaze of a bird of prey looking for its next meal.
Still, since the worst-case scenario hadn't unfolded yet, she let her guard down.
“……?”
Violet turned her head to the right.
“Hmm. She is a very talented individual who maintains top grades at the Academy. After she graduates, she must be of help to my be—I mean, the Empire…”
Wait, was that her imagination? She was pretty sure she heard the word "bed."
But she couldn't afford to dwell on that, because the voices coming from the center were just as intense.
“She is someone who was present at the awakening of the Saintess and has achieved deeds that wouldn't make it strange for her to be canonized as a Saint. There are many who could be talents for the Empire, but those who have achieved enough to become a Saint of the Holy Kingdom are few enough to count on one hand in the entire continent. Not only that, she is the playmate of His Holiness and the Second Saintess…”
That bastard just straight-up called her a "playmate."
“If it’s about that, then I also…!”
As if refusing to lose, Hariel also insisted that Violet should become her playmate.
“Sh*t, yeah. This is RoFan.”
Just a moment ago, it was a cold political battle between the working-level officials of the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.
Seeing these blatant, desire-filled remarks that completely ignored human rights made Violet want to cry.
“Give me more.”
Even in this situation, Delmoa, who had been silently munching on cookies, held out her hand.
Violet let out a deep sigh and pulled a piece of bread from her subspace pouch—which was now half-filled with bread, cookies, and snacks, essentially becoming Delmoa’s pantry.
“If you eat too much, you won't be able to eat lunch.”
Delmoa nodded as she took the bread, but Violet knew very well that Delmoa never missed a meal.
Delmoa refusing food? That would either be a catastrophic event or a doppelganger pretending to be her.
As she watched the situation with Delmoa sitting on her lap...
“We cannot leave such people in a dangerous place like the Academy.”
“Doesn't the fact that they stayed safe through so many attacks prove otherwise?”
The argument was slowly shifting into a battle of pride.
“In that case, let us see which side can better protect the Saint and the Saintess.”
“That sounds fair.”
“……?”
No, wait, sh*t.
Why is the conversation going that way?
“The winner shall have the rights to the two of them.”
No, sh*t. Why are you deciding my human rights on your own?
“I promise, on the name of the Empire.”
No, sh*t! Why are you promising that on the name of the Empire instead of asking me?!
Violet screamed internally, but no one heard her desperate cries.
Violet – Please save me.
“…And that’s what happened!”
After everything was over, she ran to her boss for an SOS and vented her frustrations.
“As expected of medieval fantasy… the human rights of a low-ranking noble are truly…”
“You think you’re any different?!”
“Yeah. My family is a Count’s house. A prestigious family that’s been around since the founding of the Kingdom, so even the Royal Family can’t touch us easily.”
Her damn boss was declaring "GG" based on the status gap!
“Save me! You said you’d take responsibility!”
“People might misunderstand if they hear you say that.”
“If you don't help me, I’m going to run around the Academy screaming that I’m your secret lover!”
“Go ahead. I’m already two-timing. No damage.”
“I don’t think Daisy will stay quiet, though?”
“Sh*t.”
And so, at the cost of her own shame, she managed to secure her boss’s help.
That damn bastard. After everything I’ve done for him.
She vowed to get her revenge when he asked for help later, but for now...
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“First of all, I managed to secure the right to self-determination by betting the last of my human rights.”
“And?”
“In typical sh*tty RoFan fashion, I have to win a fight to keep those rights.”
People think RoFan is all about romance, but once you open the lid, it’s a world full of duels and wars.
Well, it’s rare to see 100,000 troops moving like in a real fantasy, but there are plenty of small-scale skirmishes.
In short, you need power in a RoFan.
That was why she had worked so hard to learn sorcery.
“You can just use Daisy.”
“She’s banned because her attribute is shared by both the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.”
With her ultimate move, Daisy, banned, the power she could muster was far too weak.
On top of that...
“The Holy Kingdom is bringing their top forces, including the Holy Knight Commander and the Vice-Commander.”
“If it’s the Holy Knight Commander, that’s a Holy Master.”
A Holy Master.
The highest rank among Paladins—essentially a Sword Master who uses Divine Power.
Actually, they use mana too, so you could just call them a Sword Master in Paladin mode.
“And the Imperial Family said that since the duel is happening under the pretext of defending the Academy, they’ll fight with the Academy’s forces.”
“Who’s on the list?”
“The Academy Director, the Swordsmanship Department Head Professor, the Magic Department Head Professor…”
“Are they insane…?”
And those facing them were the Sword Emperor and Archmages.
Sh*t. She didn't realize her human rights were this expensive.
“What about you?”
“A Boradori who’s been gathering sorcery for a month.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“You’re finished…”
“Don't end my life like that! Save me! I said save me!”
It was a pathetic sight, but she had no choice.
At this rate, she was headed for either the Imperial bed or a Holy Kingdom convent.
Surviving in a RoFan.
It really is this hard.