10. I Hope We Get Closer (3)
10. I Hope We Get Closer (3)
[Episode 10] - I Want Us to Get Along (3)
Marchioness Lorenzo.
In the game's story, she was the 'godmother' of the First Queen in the past, and the Queen's 'guardian' who had been in charge of her education since she was just a noble young lady before ascending to the throne.
And currently, she was one of the NPCs in charge of the Princess's 'education'.
If you assigned Marchioness Lorenzo as the Princess's educator while raising the Princess, you could get a fairly high 'Knowledge' stat early on.
Because of her exceptional performance—giving 1.5 times more 'Knowledge' stat than other educators—I, too, naturally fell for it at first and entrusted the Princess's education to Marchioness Lorenzo.
The downside was that the Princess received a lot of stress from the lessons, but even considering the Princess's stress, Marchioness Lorenzo's performance seemed quite attractive.
At the time, I felt pretty good. I even felt a sense of pleasure seeing the Princess, who kept dying because of the witch, overwhelmingly clearing the story with the stats she gained from the Marchioness's education.
So, naturally, I entrusted the Princess's 'Knowledge' stats entirely to Marchioness Lorenzo. I definitely expected to see a happy ending this time, but...
I had no way of knowing back then.
That Marchioness Lorenzo was actually a trap NPC.
That if the Princess got involved with her for a long time, she would head straight for a 'bad ending'.
The me back then couldn't have known.
*
"What brings the First Queen's dog here?"
I tilted my head to the side and looked down at the Marchioness with just my eyes. The point of this posture is to never lower your head. Folding your arms here is the icing on the cake.
Looking down at the opponent by rolling just your eyes in a rude manner.
This was Vivian's basic posture when looking at someone.
Perhaps she didn't like my attitude, as the Marchioness narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I smirked, as if to say, "So what are you going to do about it?" and provoked her even more.
The reason I was hostile toward Marchioness Lorenzo was simple.
Because the Princess was receiving her education.
Because I knew full well what kind of fate awaited her if she stayed by her side for too long. So, I had no choice but to be hostile toward the Marchioness to somehow separate the Princess from her.
Exhausted from the battle of nerves with me, the Marchioness sighed and turned her head to look down at the Princess. The Princess was startled by that gaze and slightly trembled her shoulders.
"As the Queen knows, I have been appointed as the Princess's 'education supervisor' by His Majesty's order. I have only come to fetch the Princess as it is almost time to start the lesson."
The Marchioness used polite honorifics with me, but her tone and behavior were as if I wasn't even worth talking to. I glanced at the Princess.
Surely, the Princess said earlier...
"The Princess said it's not time for class yet, didn't she?"
"...Where is there a set time for studying? The Princess must become a great person in the future, so isn't it better the more time she pours into studying?"
"Isn't that a class time you decided? Then shouldn't you at least keep to that time?"
"Adjusting the time according to the lesson is only natural. Didn't you often have cases like this when you were young, Queen?"
...She's not going to lose a single word, is she?
For some reason, it felt like Marchioness Lorenzo's words were being interpreted. So, the Marchioness was clearly saying to me, 'Were you not educated when you were young?'
Is this the elegant bickering of nobles?
I fell into thought for a moment, tapping my arm with my fingers while keeping my arms crossed. What should I do about the Marchioness? No matter how much I am the Second Queen, I couldn't disobey the King's order.
In other words, I was in a situation where I couldn't do anything about the Marchioness who became the education supervisor by His Majesty's order. Even if I told her to stop, the King's order would be a priority for the Marchioness...
'...Should I just flip everything over, Vivian-style?'
...Even if I caused a scene here, it wouldn't really be a problem. Everyone would just think, 'Vivian being Vivian,' as if it were nothing.
But...
I glanced down at the Princess and Ellie. The Princess was busy moving her head left and right, not knowing what to do between the Marchioness and me.
'I've only just started to shake off Vivian's notoriety, I don't want to increase it again by doing Vivian things.'
Sigh.
I could only sigh at the frustrating situation. If the King hadn't been secluding himself, I could have somehow met him and requested to remove that Marchioness from the education supervisor position.
But the King is currently in a shut-in state...
In this situation, all I could do was back down for now and plan for the future. However, just backing down like this was quite annoying.
So—
"Princess."
"Y-yes...?"
I looked at the Princess and asked with a bright smile.
"You decide. Whether you will play with me and Ellie until class time, or whether you will go to take the class as it is. The Marchioness will surely respect the Princess's choice, right?"
"Yes?"
"What is it? Marchioness Lorenzo? By any chance, were you thinking of forcibly dragging the Princess to class? Without even asking for the Princess's opinion?"
"I, I am the Princess's education supervisor..! So—"
"So, because you're the education supervisor, you're going to ignore the Princess's opinion?"
The Marchioness looked up at me as if she were dumbfounded.
So what? What can you do here?
No matter how much the Marchioness is the Princess's 'education supervisor', this is a strictly hierarchical society. This place is a society where even an old Marchioness cannot ignore the opinion of a young Princess.
As things didn't go as planned, the Marchioness's pale face turned red and blotchy, but she soon sighed and looked at the Princess with a pleasant expression.
"Of course, I always respect the Princess's opinion."
"That is only natural for a subject to do."
As soon as those words ended, I felt the Marchioness's fiery gaze, but I didn't care and looked down at the Princess. The Princess blinked as if she were bewildered by the current situation.
"Princess."
"Princess."
The Marchioness and I called the Princess at the same time. The Princess's pupils shook wildly as if there were an earthquake. As if she didn't know what to do at all.
However, we didn't have time to wait for the Princess's judgment. The Marchioness and I stood on both sides of the Princess, crouched down as if calling a puppy, and opened our arms wide.
"Come here! Princess!"
"No! Come here! Princess!"
*
To state the result, I was the loser.
Perhaps it's because the time I've met the Princess is still short. The Princess hesitated, looking back and forth, and eventually took the Marchioness's hand. It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped.
I returned to my room and rolled around on the bed to soothe this complicated feeling. I went out for a walk wanting a refreshing feeling, but I ended up returning with a sticky feeling.
"Sigh-"
-Just cheer up, it couldn't be helped, right? In the first place, Vivian didn't have a good relationship with the Princess either. Because Vivian showered the Princess with insults every time she met her...
"...Yeah. It couldn't be helped. After all, it's practically my first time meeting the Princess today."
Lying still and thinking about it again, it was still annoying, but I couldn't help it. I had no choice but to kick the blanket with my feet to vent my feelings.
"Whew, whew-"
-Your temper...
It was an annoying thing, but there were things I could learn from this incident. First of all, the words of Marchioness Lorenzo, who became the 'Princess's education supervisor by His Majesty's order'. The moment I heard those words, I could know for sure.
'Ah, the 'King' must not be a 'possessor' like me.'
Honestly, the part I was most worried about after possessing Vivian's body was if the 'King' was a possessor like me. The seclusion, well, I thought he might have secluded himself to escape reality after possession.
But if you were a user who played the game even a little bit, you would never appoint Marchioness Lorenzo, a trap NPC, as the Princess's education supervisor.
Because if you appoint the Marchioness as the education supervisor even after seeing that ending, you're not human. So it was clear that the King was definitely not a possessor.
If the King had been a person possessed like me in the first place, he would have thoroughly kicked 'Vivian' out of the royal castle or killed her first. Still, I didn't have certainty until now, but I gained certainty through Marchioness Lorenzo's words.
Then, for what reason did the King seclude himself? Vin Chaud, Ainsel, neither of them knew the reason why the King secluded himself, did they..? Could it be that something happened between the King and the First Queen?
For some reason, it seems the First Queen isn't active either, and is the First Queen even alive in the first place? However, Ainsel clearly said that 'Vivian performed a ritual to swap bodies with the First Queen', so...
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no answer. Regarding the First Queen, neither Vin Chaud, Ainsel, nor even the maid Ellie told me anything. Because they kept avoiding the topic.
"...Ainsel."
-Yes?
...So, putting aside things I don't know, the most important thing right now was none other than the 'Princess'. The problem was how to kick out the 'Marchioness Lorenzo' who was entangled with the Princess.
The method I could use for the Princess right now.
"Tell me everything you know about the Princess."
-Y, yes? Suddenly?
"Anything trivial is fine. What she likes, what she dislikes, how old she is, in the first place, I don't even know the Princess's name."
It seemed there was no other way but to check the Marchioness after getting as close to the Princess as possible. Stopping the Marchioness's filthy obsession was the best I could do.
-Uh... Do you really have to ask me about the Princess? I, I don't really know...
"..? You said you've been in the royal castle for a long time..? Then you should at least know the Princess's age and name, right?"
-W, well, but... Ah! How about asking Ellie?
"..? Ainsel, don't avoid my eyes."
Ainsel, who kept avoiding my eyes whenever I talked about the Princess, was suspicious.
Thinking about it now, Ainsel called the Princess a little specially. Even though she called the King and Queen as they were, she always attached '-nim' to the Princess.
As I approached the mirror and met her gaze, Ainsel's pupils began to shake in all directions. This was clearly the reaction of someone hiding something.
"You have something you're hiding from me about the Princess."
-U, th, that is.
"Tell me quickly, before I smear fingerprints all over the mirror and don't wipe them off."
-Ah, d, don't do that! It's gross, seriously!
As I tried to put my finger on the mirror, Ainsel screamed in horror. Then, she hung her head as if thinking for a moment, and soon sighed and looked at me.
-I can't tell you everything, but I'll tell you about the Princess's personal details for now.
"...Do you want to taste a fingerprint?"
-Ah!! I hate it-!! It's not my fault I can't tell you! Even if you ask other fairies, it'll be the same, right?! This is like our 'species' characteristic!!
"..? Is that so?"
If she said that much, it couldn't be helped.
I didn't know well, but I had seen it in the game, so I didn't press further. Perhaps it was about the Princess being able to see 'fairies'?
In the first place, the Seven Dwarfs are also 'fairies'.
It was natural to think that the Princess could see fairies.
-...Anyway, don't get angry or anything like you did in front of the Marchioness earlier after hearing this. First of all, the Princess's age is 6 years old. Since her birthday is coming up soon, she'll be turning 7.
"? Wait, why are you saying I'll get angry?"
-And, the Princess's name is...
*
A secluded room used for the Princess's lessons.
The moment she entered, Marchioness Lorenzo's complexion turned pitch black. As if she had taken off the mask she had been wearing until now, the Princess swallowed dry saliva and became tense at the Marchioness's expression that changed in an instant.
The door closed, and the Marchioness, who had turned around, gripped the Princess's shoulder tightly.
"Why were you with the Second Queen?"
"Th, that is... I was sleeping under the tree..."
Squeeze- Like wringing out a rag, the Marchioness twisted the Princess's forearm. The Princess tried to scream in pain, but she bit her lower lip to endure the scream.
"Why do you keep going around doing such vulgar things? Didn't you accept candy from the maids as you pleased last time, and this time you slept under a tree? Why don't you know your own worth?"
"U, hugh..!"
"Your mother, the Queen, never did such vulgar things in her whole life! Why do you!!"
For the Princess, this level of pain was bearable.
However, the words that came out of the Marchioness's mouth next gave her pain as if stabbing her heart with a knife, so she could no longer endure it.
"It must be because you are like this, Princess, that His Majesty has not given you a name."
Large tears welled up in her big eyes and soon flowed down her cheeks without a sound.
Drip. Drip.