Completed ― You’re Breaking Off Your Engagement with Me? It Was Done Yesterday, Didn’t You Know?!

Chapter 1

“Alicia Filta I’m breaking off my engagement with you!”

The voices of classmates echo through the lunch cafeteria.

Most of the seats in the cafeteria are taken, and Raymond-sama’s voice draws the attention of everyone.

Raymond-sama is the eldest son of Duke Jaeger, a handsome man with chestnut hair and brown eyes.

There was Miranda-sama in Raymond-sama’s arm, and she had her own arm around Raymond-sama’s arm.

Miranda-sama is the daughter of Baron Rando, a sheltered and beautiful girl with pink fluffy hair, red eyes, a slim but vivacious figure, and a lovely smile that changes at every turn.

On the other hand, I have silver hair and purple eyes, and my facial expression is not so expressive, so I am called “Princess of Noh Masks” or “the Doll Princess”.

Miranda knows how to talk and behave in a way that makes men fall in love with her, and many boys are crazy about her. Raymond-sama seems to be crazy about Miranda-sama, too.

“You are jealous of my fondness for the kind-hearted and beautiful Miranda, and you tore up Miranda’s school books, pushed her down the stairs, and committed other violent acts!”

“Excuse me?! May I have a word with you?”

I’m sorry to interrupt your pleasantries, but I’m busy and don’t have time for this farce.

If I take it easy, the cafeteria will be filled and I still haven’t ordered anything. I have to prepare for this afternoon’s geometry lesson, and I want to talk to my friends about the new boutique later.

“What!”

Raymond-sama wrinkles his brow and glares at me. He seemed annoyed that I interrupted him.

“You’re breaking off your engagement with me? It was done yesterday, didn’t you know?!”

In my words, Raymond-sama and Miranda-sama looked at each other and were shocked.

That’s right, it was stupid of you to call it quits in front of everyone, but the engagement had already ended.

“I meant exactly what I said—the proof of Raymond-sama’s infidelity was presented to Duke Jaeger in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, and yesterday my engagement to Raymond-sama was officially broken off.”

Didn’t he know?

When I looked at Raymond-sama’s clothes, I found a stain on his shirt in the same place as the gravy stain he had on his shirt at lunch yesterday.

Miranda-sama also still has the gravy stain on her sleeve. They both seem to be wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

It is possible that neither of them went home yesterday.

I won’t go into why they didn’t.

“Wha…! What is the proof of infidelity? And why does Her Majesty interfere in the engagement between the Dukes of Jaeger and the Marquises of Filta!?”

Raymond-sama is a single-minded person, isn’t he?

“Because my mother and the Queen are best friends.”

“Don’t bluff me! How can the Queen be best friends with a Marquise?!”

Raymond-sama snickers.

“My mother’s family are the Dukes of Shutia. My mother went to the royal palace when she was a child and went to study groups and tea parties with the Queen.

“You mean to tell me that your mother is from the Dukes of Shutia?!”

Raymond-sama’s face turns blue.

The Dukes of Shutia have a larger estate than the Dukes of Jaeger, and they have more money and power.

The current Duke of Shutia is the Prime Minister, while the Duke of Jaeger has his hands full governing his lands and running his business and holds no office.

There is a world of difference between the two dukes.

How do you not know the family of your fiancée’s mother?

Raymond-sama also looked down on my mother. In front of me, he made fun of her by saying, “The dukes are higher than the marquises!” But when it came to the Duke of Shutia, he was a bit like a cat.

“In addition, the second prince, Rushard-sama, and I studied side by side under the same tutor when we were children.”

At that time, Her Majesty the Queen invited me to tea parties many times. The Queen is a very nice person, and she likes me very much.

After Rushard-sama went to study in a neighboring country, she did not invite me to tea anymore.

My mother and Her Majesty the Queen are still good friends, and my mother is often invited to the tea parties hosted by Her Majesty the Queen.

“My maternal cousin is married to a prince of the Kingdom of Balm, and my paternal cousin is married to a royal family of the Kingdom of Kvor.”

Raymond-sama can be heard gasping.

Raymond-sama didn’t know anything about it. Not knowing about his fiancée and her relatives is a bit of a problem. Well, not that it’s any of my business since he’s an ex-fiancé.

“It was Duke Jaeger who proposed the engagement to the Marquise of Filta, who has strong connections to these families and to other countries.”

“That can’t be true! My father is a duke! He would never make an offer to a lower-ranked marquis!”

Raymond-sama thought that I had fallen in love with him at first sight and that my father had asked Duke Jaeger to make this engagement happen.

No matter how many times I told him otherwise, Raymond-sama did not understand.

“It was in the year of bad weather and poor harvest on the estates of the Dukedom of Jaeger that the Duke of Jaeger begged for his son, Raymond-sama, to become my fiancee. —He needed help because he was heavily in debt due to the failure of his business.”

“The Duke’s estate had a bad harvest? Father’s company failed?! Massive debts?!”

I’m sure this was explained to Raymond-sama and the Dukes of Jaeger family when we got engaged.

“Raymond-sama believed I was going to marry the Duke of Jaeger, but that’s also wrong. — It’s the other way around”

“What…!”

Raymond-sama’s eyes widened.

♦

[ Alicia is the heiress to the Marquise of Filta, so she can’t get married into someone’s family! ]

My father refused at first.

The Duke of Jaeger kneeled down in front of my father.

[ If a child is born between the two, that child will be your heir. If two or more children are born, we will adopt them! “]

The engagement with Duke Jaeger, who was in debt, was not good for the Marquises of Filta. My father, who was weak, was overcome by Duke Jaeger’s tears, and the engagement between Raymond-sama and me was made official.

My father then lent the Duke of Jaeger money without interest and without collateral.

Even though Raymond-sama and I are engaged, my father’s good-naturedness is appalling.

“This is what happened: “The Duke of Jaeger came down on his knees in front of my father to seal the deal. Raymond-Sama’s infidelity ruined it.”

Raymond-sama looked pale and his mouth was gaping open.

It seems that Raymond-sama did not know that the Duke’s estate had been suffering from bad harvests, that his family’s business was not doing well, or that he would be adopted as the son-in-law of the Marquises of Filta.

Chapter 2

“Your Lying! Lies! Lies!! You made up the whole story about the duke’s debts and my father getting down on his knees to the Marquis Filta!”

Raymond-sama started shouting. —It’s Raymond-sama’s bad habit of shouting beyond comprehension.

“You say that the engagement was broken off because of my infidelity, but you have no proof, do you?! You are a ridiculous woman, jealous of Miranda, stalking her and then falsely accusing me of infidelity!”

How can you say such a thing when you have your hands around Miranda-sama’s waist, the proof of your infidelity, and you both came to school in the same school uniform as yesterday?

“No, we have proof that Raymond-sama committed adultery—because Her Majesty lent us her shadows.”

“W-What!”

Raymond-sama’s shoulders trembled when he heard the word “shadow”.

“That’s a lie! How can the royal family lend their shadows so easily?”

“Yes, that’s right. As I mentioned earlier, my mother has been close friends with Her Majesty the Queen since their school days, and since I am personally favored by Her Majesty the Queen, she kindly lent me one.”

Raymond-sama was horrified when I told him with a smile.

“The shadows were excellent and quickly gathered evidence of Raymond-sama’s infidelity. They also found evidence of Raymond-sama’s other wrongdoings.”

At my words, Raymond-sama and Miranda-sama’s faces turned pale.

Raymond-sama’s body trembles little by little. They seemed to know what I was talking about.

“The day Raymond-sama canceled a date with me because [my mother was sick], the day he canceled his appointment at an evening party because he [sprained my leg], the day he canceled a dinner with my father that was planned a month in advance because [something urgent came up], —all those days with the same woman. We know Raymond-sama spent the night at the inn.”

That woman is Miranda-sama.

“You never gave me a gift for my birthday, but for your own birthday, you said, [Give me the finest goods!!] You didn’t like the fountain pen I gave you, so you broke into my room and took my amethyst earrings. “

Shadows watched Raymond-sama steal the amethyst earrings.

The earrings disappeared right after Raymond-sama attended the Filta family dinner party.

It was a rare occasion for Raymond-sama to attend my family’s dinner party, but it turned out that he just wanted to steal my earrings.

The earrings were a souvenir from my father’s business trip to a neighboring country.

“Eh, those earrings were stolen!?”

“You idiot! Don’t say unnecessary things!”

Raymond-sama interrupts Miranda-sama’s words.

Giving stolen things to one’s lover is rotten to the core, isn’t it?

“What I do with what belongs to my fiance’s house is my business!”

That’s a very logical argument. But, even a fiancée is a stranger before marriage. —If you steal from her house, you are a thief.

“But that’s not all. He damaged my desk with a knife after school, tore up my textbooks and notebooks, put insects in my lunch, threw my bag in the pond, called me names when no one was looking, and hurt my self-esteem.”

The cafeteria was abuzz. I guess everyone did not know that Raymond-sama was such a despicable person.

Her Majesty the Queen’s shadow witnessed Raymond’s infidelities, destruction of property, theft, abuse, and a number of other harassing acts.

Damage to property and theft are criminal offenses.

“Bullsh*t…! I-I didn’t do that…!”

No, I just told you there was a witness. What were you listening to? Are you stupid?

“The Shadow saw everything. You won’t get away with it.”

“Damn it!”

Raymond-sama raised his eyebrows and bit his lip.

Chapter 3

“It’s cowardly of you to talk to the Queen! If you had told my father or me, I would have changed my attitude!!”

“Before I told the Queen, I also told Duke Jaeger that Raymond-sama was cheating on me, that Raymond-sama was verbally abusing me, and that Raymond-sama was harassing me behind everyone’s back.”

But Duke Jaeger said, [Let it go. Raymond is just being mean to the girl he likes.], [It’s a youthful indiscretion, he’ll settle down when he gets married.] or [Raymond cheated on his fiancée? I feel sorry for Raymond. It’s not fair to accuse him of cheating just because he spent some time with a girl from school.]

I was thinking of how he bowed his head and said, [Please make your daughter my son’s fiance!] But when that settled, he turned salty and abandoned his son’s education.

The Marquises of Filta was treated like a fool.

“I have told Raymond-sama repeatedly to change his behavior. But each time he told me, [ You’re just a marquis’s daughter! Be careful what you say!] And all you did was yell at me!”

“Ugh…”

So I talked to my mother. I knew that even if I talked to my father, he would be defeated by Duke Jaeger’s tearful words.

My father is not a bad person, and he has a talent for business, but his weakness is that he is weak at people shedding tears.

Duke Jaeger, who can slide down on his knees anytime and anywhere, is quite good at it.

“So my mother consulted Her Majesty the Queen and borrowed her shadow to gather evidence of Raymond-sama’s infidelity. The Queen was very angry when she heard about the deeds of Duke Jaeger and Raymond-sama, so she kindly lent the shadow to me.

Her Majesty said, [If you’re going to collect them, make sure you have enough evidence to crush them.]

“By the way, I would like to inform Raymond-sama that the Marquises of Filta and my mother’s family, the Dukes of Shutia, will not do business with the Dukes of Jaeger from now on.”

The Duke of Jaeger was not a government official and his only income came from taxes on his farmland and his business.

It has been a long time since the Duke has had good harvests on his land. Without the help of the Marquise of Filta, the Duke’s business would be nearly impossible to run.

If the Marquises of Filta and the Dukes of Shutia could no longer do business with the Dukes of Jaeger, they would go bankrupt.

“The loan made by the Marquises of Filta to the Dukes of Jaeger must be repaid promptly. The debt is due in one month.

If they sell their territory and mansion, they’ll be able to afford to pay for it.

“In addition, I have already filed charges against Raymond-sama for harassment, damage to property, and theft.”

At this very moment, Duke Jaeger is probably busy selling his household goods and properties.

“T-That’s!”

Raymond-sama fell to his knees on the floor.

Chapter 4

“And Baroness Miranda Rando.”

“What? Me!”

Miranda-sama looked at Raymond-sama, who was hanging his head.

She looks cool even though Raymond-sama is ruined. Did she think it was none of her business?

She must have thought that marrying Raymond-sama would bring her luxury, even though the Dukes of Jaeger only had debts.

She must have naively thought that if Raymond-sama went bankrupt, she could just drop another nobleman. But the reality is not so simple.

“We have also demanded compensation from Miranda-sama’s family, the Randos. And do you know why? For deliberately undermining my character by spreading false rumors about me bullying you, for tearing up my notebooks and textbooks with Raymond-sama, for pushing me into the pond when we were alone… For these things, we sued the baroness for damages.

Although it was a shallow pond, if it had been a deep pond, I would have drowned.

“That’s terrible! It’s a false accusation! You have no proof!”

I told you the shadows were following you… Do you have cotton instead of brains in your head, Miranda-sama?

“Of course, there’s proof—the shadows saw everything. From now on, the Marquises of Filta and my mother’s family, the Dukes of Shutia, will have no further dealings of any kind with the Barons of Rando in the future. “

“You can’t threaten me with that! Because the Barons of Rando don’t do business with your family! My family does business with the Dry Trading Company, a large trading company!”

“It’s a subsidiary of the trading company run by the Marquises of Filta.”

“You can’t be serious…!”

Miranda-sama’s face turned pale, and she covered her mouth with her hands.

You don’t know the parent company of a business association that your family deals with, do you? That’s quite a coincidence.

“They must have put the buildings and land owned by the Baron of Rando on the market by now. I suggest you go home!”

“Oh my God! I have to tell my father not to sell my things!”

Miranda-sama turned on her heel and left the cafeteria with a clatter.

Chapter 5

Raymond-sama, left alone, flutters to his feet.

I send words to Raymond-sama, who walks away without a sound.

“If the two of you had been present at the meeting yesterday to discuss the dissolution of the engagement and if you had sincerely apologized to me, then the alimony amount could have been reduced.”

Raymond-sama turns around and looks at me with a sullen look in his eyes.

“…I didn’t know there would be a place for such discussion.”

“You didn’t? Duke Jaeger told us that [I told him to go straight home after school!!]”

We told the Duke of Jaeger ahead of time that we wanted to talk about canceling the engagement with Raymond-sama, and he agreed to meet us.

“That’s…”

Raymond-sama paused and looked away.

You ignored Duke Jaeger’s request and didn’t go home, didn’t you?

Duke Jaeger should have picked up Raymond-sama at the school and forced him to come home.

Duke Jaeger must have thought that he could get away with anything, that there was no proof of Raymond-sama’s infidelity, even if I made allegations about it.

And when confronted with the evidence in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, Duke Jaeger’s face turned pale for the first time.

“The Duke of Jaeger was shouting disgracefully, [I will call my son! From now on, I will discipline Raymond from now on and make him apologize to Miss Alicia, tell him to take good care of her, and I will not let him cheat on her again!] He was yelling in a miserable way.”

Who in the world could really be talking like this at this point in time?

The Duke ignored my reports, disrespected me and the Marquises of Filta, and when he was cornered, he went down on his knees and verbally apologized.

He believes that if he gets on his knees, he will be forgiven.

When Duke Jaeger went down on his knees, neither my mother nor I, nor Her Majesty the Queen, were moved.

My father was not allowed to attend the discussion about breaking off the engagement. My mother decided that my father was not the right person to break off the engagement.

“The Duke of Jaeger was making so much noise that the Queen ordered the guards to call Raymond-sama, who was having fun with Miranda-sama at the inn. My mother and Her Majesty The Queen was furious when they heard the news, and the Duke of Jaeger turned pale.”

I am used to Raymond-sama’s affairs and thought it would happen again, but not my mother and Her Majesty the Queen—they were furious.

“That’s when my mother decided not only to break off the engagement, but also to have no further business with the Dukes of Jaeger.”

If he had obeyed Duke Jaeger’s words and gone home and bowed lightly, they would have only had to pay a small compensation.

But if he were having fun at the inn with his lover, he would get what he deserved.

Raymond-sama glared at me and turned his heel, perhaps because he didn’t have the power to argue anymore.

The students in the dining room gave Raymond-sama a cold stare. They giggled, whispered curses, and some shouted abuse at Raymond-sama.

Raymond-sama is still in the cafeteria as he slowly walks by, and they are all relentless.

Raymond-sama was very hard on those who were lower in rank than him, especially the nobleman who shouted abuse at Raymond-sama, so he must have had a grudge against him.

I waited until Raymond-sama was completely out of sight, then I bowed to the people in the cafeteria .

“I apologized to all the diners for making them feel uncomfortable. As an apology, I will treat you all to lunch today.”

The students in the cafeteria cheered.

Few of those who cheered seemed to be the teachers… Ara? Is it my imagination?

Students lined up at the counter to order refills and extras.

If you want to eat at the cafeteria, you can order food that is cheap to very expensive, but students of lower class and commoners can’t order them.

They may want to take this opportunity to eat.

This keeps the cafeteria cooks busy, and I should thank them for their hospitality later.

Chapter 6

When Raymond returned home, he found the Duke assessing the furniture and furnishings.

When Duke Jaeger saw Raymond, he hit him with his cane without question or answer.

“Please stop!”

Raymond shouted at him to stop, but Duke Jaeger hit him again and again.

“The Dukes of Jarger’s disgrace! Shame on you! You ended the Duke’s family! The Marquises of Filta, the Dukes of Shutia, cut us off because of you! If you break off the relationship with these two families in this country, you can’t do business anymore!”

The angry Duke Jaeger had his maid bring in a plate of scraps of food and hang them over Raymond’s head.

“They told me to pay back all the money I owe the Marquise of Filta! They also demanded a lot of alimony! And my wife left me with the divorce papers! She abandoned you and me!”

“You can’t be serious, Mother…!”

Raymond was shocked to find out that his mother had abandoned him.

“If you had obeyed my orders yesterday and come home straight after school, you wouldn’t have made Marquess Filta, her daughter, and the Queen so angry! —Three women! I could have told them off as much as I wanted! When things had cooled down, I could have asked the Marquise Filta to postpone the repayment of the debt! If all went well, I could have made Alicia your fiance again!”

But, no matter how nice Marquis Filta is, he will never allow Alice to reconnect with Raymond, who has hurt his daughter, and with the Duke of Jaeger, who has mocked them.

What Raymond did to Alicia was despicable and unforgivable.

And Duke Jaeger, who thinks he can get away with it by crying over it, is as naive as his son.

“And yet you stayed at the inn with your lover and played!”

The Duke of Jaeger punched Raymond in the face.

“It… It’s not my fault! If I had known there was going to be a meeting to end the engagement, I would have come home too! You didn’t make it clear to me, Father…!”

“You’re noisy!”

The Duke of Jaeger struck Raymond with a cane again without remorse.

Raymond had always considered the Marquises of Filta a lowly family. He believes that it was their good fortune that their daughter was able to marry into the Duke’s family.

And even if he had known that the dissolution of the engagement was under discussion, he would not have returned.

The Duke of Jaeger should have dragged Raymond home with a rope around his neck.

He knew Raymond was unfaithful, but he did not condemn Raymond’s actions.

When the Marquise family asked him to discuss the children’s engagement and possibly break it off, Duke Jaeger paid no attention.

There was no evidence that Raymond had been unfaithful, and he could get away with it. If the proof came, he could fall on his knees before Marquis Filta, who would forgive him if he cried to him, for he was a compassionate man.

He thought that Alicia and Raymond’s engagement would be maintained.

The massive amount of alimony demanded after the engagement was called off was the result of the father and son’s shallow and foolish thinking.

“The only way to pay for the debt and compensation is to sell most of the estate and properties.”

After a failed business venture that had left them in massive debt, the Marquises of Filta and the Dukes of Shutia cut a deal and demanded a lump-sum repayment of their debts.

They also demanded that Duke Jaeger pay for his son’s infidelity, harassment, and property damage, which put him in a predicament.

The duke was left with no choice but to sell his house, household goods, and estates to make money.

“I will buy a house in the countryside with the money I have left and live a quiet life.”

“Then I’ll make preparations…”

“You are stupid?! I don’t need a god of plague like you!”

Duke Jaeger kicked Raymond away.

“You will go to the neighboring kingdom of Skorupion and work as a miner until you die! I will take the money you earn as payment for the alimony I paid to the Marquises of Filta!”

“No way…!”

“Look, don’t forget! The money for breaking off the engagement was only paid by me. You’ll pay me back by working in the mines!”

“That’s too much, Father!”

Raymond despaired at his father’s words.

“You take him away!”

“””Yes, sir.”””

Raymond is surrounded by a group of unsavory people.

“What kind of person do you think you are?! Let go! Where are you going to take me!!?”

Raymond was bound and gagged by a scruffy man and roughly placed in a carriage.

Chapter 7

I didn’t like Marquess Alicia Filta. She’s a woman, but she’s better at studying than I am, and she preaches to me when she’s just a lowly aristocrat.

She is beautiful, but she is always so complacent and uninteresting.

She is my fiancée, so she should let me have sex with her, but she won’t let me lay a finger on her.

Miranda was the daughter of Baron Rando, a woman of low status, but she knew her place and knew how to set up a man.

Miranda always said, [You’re awesome!] when I did something. and praised me for what I had done.

She was beautiful, charming, had big breasts, and was willing to let me have sex with her.

She was beautiful, and when I walked with her, I felt good because I was the envy of other men.

She was the perfect woman to be my lover.

But Miranda is not well educated, has no manners, and is of low status, so she cannot be my wife.

I came up with the idea of harassing Alicia. I’ll tell her to break off the engagement at the school.

I’ll turn Alicia, known for her good grades and good behavior, into a jealous b*tch who bullies Miranda.

I’ll flirt with Miranda in front of Alicia.

When despised, cursed, scorned, and shattered, even someone who does not have a facial expression like a Noh mask will change color.

I wanted to see Alicia clinging to me. [Please don’t break the engagement] with tears in her eyes.

Engagement is a family affair. You can’t just break it off by shouting at the school anyways.

This engagement came about because Alicia fell in love with me and the Marquis of Filta begged my father.

Even if I insult Alicia, a lesser marquis, she will not break off the engagement.

Because I am able to bring Alicia from a lowly family to the highest rank, second only to the royals—I can do what I want.

Even if I break off the engagement in front of everyone, even if I flirt with my lover, Alicia will have no choice but to cling to my legs and weep and beg for forgiveness.

What an exciting plan!

I’m going to make Alicia cry! So I said I’d break off my engagement at the school cafeteria…

But Alicia didn’t budge an eyebrow when she heard the words “break off the engagement.”

Then she said something that didn’t make sense.

Alicia and I are no longer engaged as of yesterday?

Has Her Majesty lent Alicia a shadow?

Did you gather evidence of my infidelity and other misdeeds?

Was Her Majesty present at the meeting where the engagement was called off?

Was my engagement to Alicia sealed when my father bowed to the Marquis of Filta in the first place?

Did the Jaeger estate have a bad harvest due to bad weather?

My father’s business failed, and now the Dukes of Jaeger owe a lot of money?

Instead of Alicia marrying into the Duke’s family, I’m going to marry into the Marquise’s family?

What the hell is this? I don’t know anything about that!

On the day of my meeting with Miranda, my father was talking about something, but I was too absorbed in looking at Miranda’s cleavage peeking through her dress to hear what he had to say.

Did the Marquises of Filta and the Dukes of Shitia force you to pay off your debts in unison?

Did they break off the engagement and demand a large sum of money for alimony?

Will you have to sell most of the Duke of Jaeger’s property to pay for it?

My mother abandoned me and my father, left the divorce papers and went back to her parents’ house?!

I’m going to a mine in a neighboring country?!!!

Will the money I earn disappear into the alimony my father paid to Alicia?

I didn’t hear you say that!!!

Please help me! Father!!

I don’t want to go to the mines!

Sorry Alicia! I’m sorry I did such a terrible thing!

I apologize, so please, I want my fiance back!!

♦

As he rode in the carriage, a guilty conscience came over him.

Raymond was sent to a neighboring mine where he was forced to work in poor conditions and died of lung disease.

♦♦♦Awebstories.com♦♦♦

Potato tan: Eh? Is that the end of the story?!

Lolilord: No, there are still more than 24 chapters left.

Potato-tan: But I want to go to the next story!!!

Lolilord: Then let’s finish it right now.

Potato-tan: Yes!!! I’m sure our editor is eagerly awaiting the final draft.

Asian-Potato “The Unpaid Editor”: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Chapter 8

Duke Jaeger sold most of his property to pay off his debts and alimony.

Having lost his fortune and being a nobleman in name only, Duke Jaeger buys a small house in the corner of his small estate and settles there.

Most of the income from the estate was taken by taxes, and the remaining money was spent on the upkeep of the house and food for the year.

With no money to hire servants, Duke Jaeger had to take care of everything himself.

Having no money to eat out and never having cooked before, Duke Jaeger had to subsist only on hard bread and water.

There were no horse-drawn carriages, so he went out on foot, as he had no money to buy new clothes. Even if they were torn, he still wore them.

He never washed his clothes, so he spent most of his time with dirty clothes.

Since he had never cleaned his house, it became dirtier and dirtier day by day, and eventually maggots set in.

For a duke who has enjoyed a prosperous life, a poor and dirty life was more painful than death.

♦

A few years later, a plague broke out in his area, and Duke Jaeger fell ill. But without money to buy medicine, Duke Jaeger suffered more and died.

Chapter 9

Miranda’s father, Baron Rando, was furious that his dealings with the Marquises of Filta and the Dukes of Shutia had ceased.

He was also shown evidence that Miranda had hurt Alicia and demanded a lot of money in compensation for what she had done to her.

The amount of money the Marquises of Filta were demanding was so large that it could not be paid even if the property of Baron Rando was disposed of.

Therefore, the baron packed his sack with gold and jewelry from the house and fled on horseback.

The servants, seeing their master fleeing in the night, realized that the household was no more and left the house, taking with them vases, pictures, dishes, and other things that might be worth money.

When Miranda returned home and tried to enter the house, the gate was tightly closed.

In front of the mansion, there were several ugly men waiting for Miranda.

One of the men restrained Miranda and tied her hands behind her back.

“What the hell are you doing! I am a baroness! Let go of me!”

Miranda screams, and one of the men thrusts a document at her. Miranda reads the document and is mortified.

“It’s a lie… I can’t believe my father would sell me…”

It was a document that Baron Rando, Miranda’s father, sold her to a brothel.

Baron Rando didn’t like Miranda because she made the Marquis’s daughter angry and kicked his business out of the trading company that the Marquises run.

First of all, it was Baron Rando who incited Miranda. [Go to the academy and seduce some rich guy’s son, no matter if he has a fiancée or not!]—And he hated the girl who obeyed him and sold her to a brothel.

Miranda tried to escape from the men, but they beat her, tied her with a rope, and threw her into a carriage.

In the carriage to the brothel,

“I was supposed to seduce Raymond-sama, the duke, marry him, and live in luxury… How did this happen?!”

Miranda muttered to herself and shed tears.

“Fufufu… I see. This is a dream, right? Come and help me, Raymond-sama… hahahaha!.”

Miranda tried to protect herself by escaping to the dream world.

People around her were creeped out by her mumbling nonsense, even when she was sold to a brothel.

♦

Still, as a young woman and partly because she was a former aristocrat, she had her share of customers,

However, as she aged and her appearance deteriorated, she lost customers, and her employer, unable to afford an older woman, dumped her naked in a garbage dump.

Meanwhile, Baron Rando, who ran away in the night and encountered bandits on his way through the forest, was stripped of his clothes and sold as a slave to a neighboring country.

♦♦♦Awebstories.com♦♦♦

Lolilord: Karma is a b*tch.

Potato-tan: Lolilord-san! You said there was no description of violence in this story?! Editor-san, please help me filter it out!!!

Asian-Potato “The Unpaid Editor”: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Chapter 10

A month has passed since the engagement with the Dukes of Jaeger broke off.

After all that has happened, I am relieved to be rid of Raymond-sama and the Dukes of Jaeger.

Today I am attending a party organized by the royal family.

My mother could not come due to an emergency, so my father escorted me.

I am wearing a bright yellow sack-back gown (robe à la française), a gift from the Queen.

The ribbon-filled piece adds to the glamor of the dress, and the vato pleats that run down to my feet give me a cape-like appearance and make me look graceful while standing.

The dress is luxurious but not too flashy and is a refined design, showing Her Majesty’s good taste.

Participants at the party are glancing over here.

The bilgola sleeves with a laid-down collar and large bulging sleeves were in fashion not so long ago, and most people are still wearing such dresses.

Only a few of them wear French-style dresses, so I seem to stand out.

My necklace has a big sapphire in the middle surrounded by diamonds, and the earrings have three diamonds as well.

Brilliant cutting is a recently invented cutting method. Most of the nobility wear square table-cut jewels, and only royalty wears diamonds that are cut in a way that makes them sparkle.

My accessories and the fan in the same color as the dress are also gifts from Her Majesty the Queen.

I refused to accept so many expensive things at once, but the queen said, [There’s someone I’d like you to see today, and I want you to wear this as a favor to me.]

Who does Her Majesty want me to meet?

My father left me to go greet his business associates.

I was looking for the waiter to get me a drink when suddenly someone pushed me from behind and I fell to my knees.

“Kya.”

I looked up and found myself surrounded by four ladies.

“Good day to you, Alicia.”

The one looking at me with devilish eyes was Lovisa Sachs-sama, former Duchess of Jaeger, now Countess of Sachs, and mother of Raymond.

“Duchess Jaeger… No, now Countess Sachs, perhaps.”

Lovisa-sama left the Duke of Jaeger and returned to her family home, the Countess of Sachs. So she can no longer be called Duchess Jaeger.

So I can call her Countess after she has returned, right? There is no other way to call her.

Next to Lovisa-sama were Viscountess Thomas, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil.

All four of them caused me great pain during my engagement to Raymond-sama.

My father arranged my engagement to Raymond-sama at the request of Duke Jaeger.

Duke Jaeger’s purpose was to finance his business.

The fact that Raymond-sama was the son-in-law of the Filta family was a condition of the engagement proposed by his father.

This was explained to Lovisa-sama at the engagement meeting years ago, but Lovisa-sama did not seem to understand correctly.

In Lovisa-sama’s mind, I fell in love with Raymond-sama at first sight and begged my father to be Raymond-sama’s fiancé.

Raymond-sama was an only son, so there was no chance of him becoming the son-in-law in her mind, and she assumed that I, a low-ranking marquis, would be married into their household.

Both Lovisa-sama and Raymond-sama are the same in that they are so prejudiced that they do not understand the facts correctly. As expected, parents and children alike.

Each time I saw her, she would sarcastically say, “[With my son’s good looks, he would have been very popular if it had not been for his engagement to the daughter of a marquis. The dukes or even the royal family would have been a better match for Raymond, but your family had to beg my good-natured husband and force Raymond into an engagement. You have ruined Raymond’s future!]

Raymond-sama has a pretty face, but he is stupid, lazy, and has bad manners. How can such a person be engaged to a royal?

In the first place, I had not the slightest merit to be engaged to the debt-ridden Duke Jaeger’s stupid son, whose only merit was his face.

It was an engagement in which the Duke kneeled down and asked my father for an engagement.

Lovisa-sama and Raymond-sama, who did not understand it properly, and Duke Jaeger, who knew that his wife and son despised me and left it alone.

All three of them are assh*les.

The fact that I was engaged to Raymond-sama was a stain on my life.

The two years I was engaged to Raymond-sama were like throwing myself into the river. Even though Raymond-sama was the one who was unfaithful, I was treated like a damaged woman when I broke off the engagement.

My future was ruined, in my opinion.

Chapter 11

When I was engaged to Raymond-sama, Lovisa-sama invited me to a tea party. My experiences were painful.

Once, she gave me the wrong time on purpose, and when I was late, she asked me, [Can’t the Marquise of Filta keep time? I guess a girl from a lower family isn’t any good.] For several hours, they made me stand next to them on the sofa and told me about my shortcomings and the bad things about the Marquise of Filta.

One time, she gave me an old dress and forced me to wear it to a tea party. When she saw me wearing the old dress, she said, [I wonder if the Marquise can afford a dress!] and laughed at me.

I never had a good impression of Lovisa-sama and her three cronies.

“You’re wearing such a gorgeous dress, the current fashion robe à la française, with brilliant cut diamonds as accessories… It looks like you’re living a life of elegance on the alimony you’ve collected from the Dukes. “

“No, this dress is…”

“Shut up!”

I was about to say that it was a gift from the queen, but Lovisa-sama interrupted me.

“Raymond has betrothed you, a lowly marquise, because you fell in love with my son at first sight! Your family borrowed a shadow from the Queen, bribed the shadow, maliciously broke Raymond’s engagement, and demanded high compensation from the Dukes of Jaeger! You put Raymond in a bad light by demanding a large alimony payment! That’s not fair! I can’t believe you’re living off the money you took from the Duke of Jaeger’s family! What a shameless girl!”

Lovisa-sama raises her eyebrows and spits at me.

“If he hadn’t gotten engaged to you, Raymond could have gotten engaged to someone of a higher rank! We made the daughter of a lowly marquess the fiancée of my son, and this is what we got! You’re the demon who ruined the Duke of Jaeger! The devil who made Raymond unhappy! And Her Majesty is also incompetent to believe it! “

“That’s right, Her Majesty is a wretch for only believing Alicia’s words! You’re the one who’s having an affair! You B*tch!”

“You’re a sl*t to any man! You brought shame to Raymond-sama! And Her Majesty the Queen is too blind to trust a woman like you!”

“I wish you were dead! I can’t forgive Her Majesty for taking your side!”

In a stupor, I was listening to the abuse of the four of them.

Lovisa-sama is no longer the mother of my former fiancée or the wife of the Duke of Jaeger.

She is now the daughter of a renegade count. She is lower in rank than I am, the daughter of a marquis.

And Lovisa-sama’s friends are only a viscountess and a baroness.

Are these people insane, oblivious to the fact that their status is lower than mine, and pushing and abusing me?

What concerns me more than that is the outburst against Her Majesty the Queen. They desecrated Her Majesty at a royal party.

They call the evidence gathered by Her Majesty’s shadow a fabrication, and they call the breaking of the engagement that was agreed upon in Her Majesty’s presence unjust.

They also referred to Her Majesty the Queen as “incompetent,” “wretch,” “blind,” and “unforgivable.”

Are these people really out of their minds? Blasphemy against royalty cannot be tolerated beyond a scolding. Not only you, but your family will be punished.

Chapter 12

“You need to be disciplined, you piece of sh*t! I will start a rumor that you are a sl*t who sleeps with everyone! I will also have to punish you physically so that you do not do something so presumptuous again! I will tear off your beautiful dress here and now! I will not be blamed because you bought it with the alimony you wrongfully took from the Dukes of Jaeger! I will see to it that you return the jewelry you bought with the alimony! Take it away from her!”

“””Yes, Lovisa-sama!”””

Three hands are coming towards me.

“Please stop!”

The dress and jewelry were given to me by my queen. I can’t let anyone steal from me!

But, I could only bend down and defend myself.

As the hands of the ladies reached for me, and just before they touched me, someone else grabbed them.

“Gya!”

“What’s going on!”

“Don’t do that!”

“Stop!”

Lovisa-sama, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil were on their knees on the floor with their hands behind their backs.

“I am a former duchess! Do you think you can get away with this!”

Lovisa-sama screams at the person who is holding her arm.

The crowd began to murmur, and all eyes were on us.

“This is my line.”

A commanding voice rang out, and the buzz in the room instantly died down.

A woman with a strong presence, wearing a noble aura, stood with a dignified posture.

“Her Majesty the Queen…!”

The people in the hall give a nobleman’s bow at the Queen’s appearance. I also stood up and did the courtesy.

“You’ve been very rough with my favorite person, Duchess Jaeger. Ara? You left your husband and son and went home to your family, so now you’re Countess Sachs.”

The faces of Lovisa-sama and her entourage turned pale in an instant.

Chapter 13

People in the hall stop talking and look at Her Majesty the Queen. They aren’t too close or too far away from us, and they are watching what’s going on.

The distance shows that they do not want to get involved in anything unnecessary but want to know what is going on.

“Can you explain to me what is going on?”

Her Majesty the Queen speaks in a relaxed tone. Her tone is gentle but full of royal dignity.

A lady approaches Her Majesty and explains the situation. It’s probably one of Her Majesty’s shadows.

“Countess Sachs, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch and Baroness Weil pushed Alicia-sama from behind. Alicia-sama fell to her knees from the impact, and the four women I just named verbally abused Alicia-sama and were about to do something physical.”

A gasp could be heard from the audience at the lady’s words.

Everyone was shocked because lower class nobles were beating up an upper class noble and berating her in front of everyone in the banquet hall.

“I wonder what exactly they said about abusive language?!”

“They claim that Alicia-sama lied to Her Majesty the Queen. Her Majesty only believed Alicia-sama’s words and lent her a shadow. The shadow was bribed by the Marquise of Filta to fabricate evidence of the infidelity of Raymond-sama, the heir to the Dukes of Jaeger… that the Dukes of Jaeger are not convinced that they must pay a large sum of alimony.”

“So all four of them think that the shadow I lent was foolish enough to be bought and that they fabricated Raymond’s infidelity, is that it?”

Her Majesty the Queen looked at Lovisa-sama and her three cronies. All four women shuddered, and their shoulders shook.

“They also said this—In the first place, Alicia-sama fell in love with Raymond-sama at first sight, and the Marquis of Filta begged and cried out to the Duke of Jaeger, so they had no choice but to conclude this engagement.

“Ha! You’ve interpreted it to suit yourselves so well—what else did they say!”

“That Alicia-sama spends her alimony from the Duke of Jaeger on clothes and jewelry and lives in luxury. That Alicia-sama needs to be disciplined. And they are about to tear Alicia-sama’s dress and humiliate her… Before that, she said, [It doesn’t matter if I tear up the dress because she bought it with the alimony that she unjustly took from the Dukes of Jaeger, and I will get the accessories back because they were also bought with the alimony.]

The lady tells exactly what has just happened.

“They also said the following.—Her Majesty is also incompetent for believing!—Her Majesty is a wretch for only believing Alicia’s words!—Her Majesty the Queen is blind to trust a woman like her!—I can’t forgive Her Majesty for taking your side!”

“Well, that’s what they said.”

Lovisa-sama and her three cronies were shaking with white faces when it became known that they had spoken out against Her Majesty the Queen.

The audience roared. They had spoken ill of Her Majesty at a party hosted by the royal family and would not get away with it.

Chapter 14

“I can’t ignore the insults against me, but also, I’m curious that you said they said they’d spread a terrible rumor about Alicia. Tell me more about it.”

“That Alicia-sama will sleep with anyone and a b*tch.”

“Oh, my God.”

Her Majesty’s complexion changes and seems to have touched the wrath of the gentle Queen.

“I guarantee that Alicia is a clean and faithful person. Countess Sachs, Viscount Thoma, Viscount Koch, Baroness Weil, do you have any objections?!”

Countess Sachs and her three cronies shook their heads with bloodless faces as Her Majesty the Queen glared at them.

“I would like to inform everyone in the hall that I guarantee Alicia Filta’s character and purity. Anyone who has any objections may raise them here and now.”

The room fell silent.

No noble wants to defy her majesty and be noticed by the royal family.

“Let us correct Countess Sachs’ arguments in turn. Everyone in the audience must listen carefully.”

The ladies and gentlemen in the audience nod silently.

“First of all, a shadow serving the royal family cannot be bought. If you have any objections, please express them right now.”

Lovisa-sama and her three cronies did not speak. How could they say that the shadows had been bought in front of Her Majesty the Queen?

“Next, I will explain the engagement of Raymond, the legitimate son of the Dukes of Jaeger, to Alicia, the eldest daughter of the Marquises of Filta.

 In the year of the bad harvest in the Duchy of Jaeger, the Duke of Jaeger failed to manage his business and was heavily in debt.

 The Duchy of Jaeger is now bankrupt, and Duke Jaeger asks Alicia’s father, the Marquis of Filta, for help.

 On the condition of the engagement, Duke Jaeger goes down on his knees before Marquis Filta and declares that he would marry Raymond to Marquis Filta as his son-in-law and give him a loan.

 And the loan from the Marquise of Filta helped the Dukes of Jaeger to get back on their feet.”

Lovisa-sama and three of her cronies blurted out, “No way…!”

“The Marquise of Filta is not a good match for the Duke of Jaeger…Being a man of weak feelings, he was persuaded by the Duke of Jaeger to marry his only daughter Alicia to Raymond.

 Alicia fell in love with Raymond at first sight and cried to the Marquis of Filta, who then begged the Duke of Jaeger to marry her to Raymond?

 I wonder if Duke Jaeger was the one who told his wife or son about this.”

Lovisa-sama is stunned and trembling. It seems that Her Majesty has confronted her with the truth and she is ready to accept the reality.

Chapter 15

“Excuse me for speaking to Your Majesty.”

“It is all right, Alicia, speak.”

“When Raymond-sama and I were engaged, my father and the Duke of Jaeger told Lovisa-sama and Raymond-sama the truth. For some reason, Lovisa-sama and Raymond-sama distorted the facts themselves. No matter how many times I explained the facts to them, they refused to accept them.”

“Yes, they are irredeemably stupid people, aren’t they?”

Lovisa-sama glared at me. Her face told me not to say anything else, but I ignored it.

“The Dukes of Jaeger owe a great debt to the Marquises of Filta. And what have you done to Alicia!”

Lovisa-sama and her three cronies looked away from Her Majesty.

“Alicia, this is a good opportunity. Tell us what you did to Countess Sachs and Raymond.”

“Yes, Raymond-sama often canceled appointments, tea parties, evening escorts, and dinners with my father on the same day. On the days he canceled plans with me, he stayed at the inn with her lover, the Baroness of Rando

They spread rumors about me in the school, damaged my desk after school with a knife, tore up my textbooks and notebooks, put insects in my lunch box, and often abused me when no one was looking.”

The ladies and gentlemen in the hall look at each other. They didn’t seem to know that Raymond had committed such an atrocity.

“Then Lovisa-sama, Raymond-sama’s mother, the duchess at the time, told me a lie about the tea party and made me late on purpose, reprimanding me for being “a Marquise with no punctuality”. She made me stand next to her on the sofa during the tea party and was very sarcastic with me.

She forced me to wear an old dress she had given me to the tea party, and mocked me for wearing the same old dress to the tea party, saying, “Marquises can’t even afford dresses.”

The whole place was in an uproar.

Some people said, “Unbelievable,” “How insidious,” and “I can’t believe it.”.

“What Alicia just said is true. The shadow I cast over Alicia proves it.”

Her Majesty’s words silenced the hall again.

To doubt her shadow’s words is to doubt the royal family.

No one would do such a foolish thing at a royal party. Only the four women trapped in front of me would do such a thing. Their faces have turned from blue to purple.

“And since you all seem to be mistaken, let me tell you that Alicia did not receive a penny of the alimony from the Dukes of Jaeger and the Barons of Rando.”

“”””What…!””””

The eyes of Lovisa-sama and her cronies widened in astonishment.

“The head of the Barons of Rando ran away in the night, and the daughter of Baron Rando is missing, so we have not received any alimony from the Barons.”

Alicia did not accept the alimony paid by the Dukes of Jaeger, saying she did not feel good about it, and donated it to hospitals and churches. That money was used to pay for the treatment of the poor, to rent houses, and to run soup kitchens.”

“That’s… That’s a lie! Then what’s with the gorgeous dress and earrings Alicia is wearing today?! A marquis’s daughter can’t afford them! That’s the proof that Alicia is lavishing our money on the alimony she got from the Dukes of Jaeger!”

Lovisa-sama exclaimed, with a trembling body.

Lovisa-sama’s comment caused a stir in the hall.

No wonder, since she spoke without the Queen’s permission and called Her Majesty a liar. Lovisa-sama’s cronies around her also turned blue. They don’t want to get involved.

Chapter 16

“Be quiet. I don’t remember allowing you to speak.”

Rebuked by Her Majesty the Queen, Lovisa-sama kept her mouth shut.

“There are several problems with what you just said. First, you just called Alicia “just” a Marquise, but you yourself are no longer the Duchess of Jaeger, you are a countess rank under Alicia, so watch what you say.

Second, the dress and jewelry Alicia is wearing were gifts from me.”

The four, including Lovisa-sama, became increasingly pale when they realized that the dress I was wearing was a gift from Her Majesty the Queen.

They were trying to tear the dress and take the jewelry from me, a gift from Her Majesty the Queen.

“Third, you called me, the Queen, a liar. This is an act of disrespect.”

Her Majesty looks at the four with cold eyes.

Their teeth are chattering, as if they’re not biting together from the trembling.

“W-With all due respect, it was Lovisa-sama who called Her Majesty a liar! We did not say anything!”

“Yes, we had nothing to do with it!”

“You people! You betray me!”

Lovisa-sama and the others have started a rift.

“Shut up. I don’t remember allowing you to speak.”

The four of them fell silent at the sound of Her Majesty’s dignified voice.

“The four of you are guilty of disrespect. [Her Majesty is incompetent for believing!], [Her Majesty is a wretch for only believing Alicia’s words!], [Her Majesty the Queen is blind to trust a woman like her!], [I can’t forgive Her Majesty for taking your side!], —Do these words sound familiar?!”

These are the words that the lady has just reported to Her Majesty the Queen.

Lovisa-sama and her cronies are white-faced.

You have to be careful what you say to royalty. You’re sure to be accused of disrespect if you speak like that at a royal party.

“As I said, I have gathered evidence with the help of shadows, and I have no doubt that Raymond was unfaithful.”

Does Countess Sachs know where Raymond was when I visited the Dukes of Jaeger in discussion of breaking the engagement? Raymond was in the middle of a pleasurable evening at the inn with the Baroness, with whom he was having an affair!”

Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil saw Lovisa-sama’s face. Apparently, the three cronies did not know about this.

“And yet, Countess Sachs is trying to say that Alicia fabricated the evidence of his infidelity and that I, a “fool”, believed Alicia’s words and brought down the Dukes of Jaeger!”

Her Majesty’s expression was soft and her tone was gentle, but her words were intimidating and chilling to behold.

Lovisa-sama could only shake with fear.

If only she had accepted the reality earlier, she would not have had to go through this.

“Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil thought Countess Sachs was right, so they attacked Alicia and used words to humiliate me. Is that it?!”

Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil were like fish on land, their bodies trembling and their mouths gaping open.

“I wonder what the punishment will be for these four!”

Chapter 17

Her Majesty the Queen looks at the audience.

“Marquis Filta, did you know that your daughter was going through this?”

The Queen looks at my father, who is standing diagonally behind her. He looked at Countess Sachs, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil with a devilish look.

Next to my father were my mother’s brother, Duke Coate Shutia, and my father’s brother, Duke Ben Crepes, son-in-law of the Duke of Crepes and current head of the Duke of Crepes family.

“My daughter told me about Raymond’s deeds, but Raymond’s mother, the Duchess Jaeger… I did not know what Countess Sachs and her friends, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil, had done.

We had all the evidence to support the breakup of the engagement, and I wish I had broken off my relationship with Raymond-sama peacefully.

So I did not tell my father that I was being bullied by Lovisa-sama and her cronies.

“Alicia.”

“Yes, I didn’t want to cause Father any more trouble, so I didn’t tell him about what Lovisa-sama, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil had done to me.”

“Don’t be like water! We’re father and daughter! If you had told us, we would have kept those people away from Alicia!”

The father stares at Countess Sachs. The way my father looks at Countess Sachs and her cronies is like looking at a piece of garbage.

“Yes, I agree with him, Alicia. From now on, you can talk to me about anything.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for your concern.”

“What does Marquis Filta want to do with the four?”

Her Majesty the Queen asks my father

Does Her Majesty want to give my father the right to judge these four?

“I want to tear these four people who hurt my daughter to pieces!”

My father looks at them with murderous eyes. Their bodies trembled, and tears welled up in their eyes.

“But I leave it to the Queen to judge them legally. As head of the Marquises of Filta and chairman of the Ains Chamber of Commerce, I sanction them financially… The Marquises will not do any further business with the Counts of Saches, the Viscounts of Koch, the Viscounts of Thomas, and the Barons of Weil, or any of their relatives!

Upon hearing my father’s words, the relatives of the four families gasped.

Their families did not seem to think that the responsibility would extend to them.

The estate of the Marquises of Filta is vast and a major transportation hub. Any attempt to do business without passing through the Marquise’s territory would result in a long detour and a great loss of business.

Chapter 18

“May I have the Queen’s permission to speak?”

“Duke Shutia, you have my permission to speak.”

My maternal uncle, the Duke of Shutia, is standing beside my father. —His daughter, my cousin, is married to the Crown Prince of the neighboring kingdom of Balm.

“I am just as angry as my brother-in-law at the harm done to my lovely niece. From now on, the Dukes of Shutia will not make any further deals with the Counts of Sachs, the Viscounts of Thoma, the Viscounts of Koch, or the Barons of Weil! Moreover, these four families will be banished from the territory of the Duchy of Shutia!”

The hall was abuzz with the words of the Duke of Shutia.

The Duchy of Shutia faces the neighboring Kingdom of Balm and must pass through the Duchy of Shutia territory to enter the Kingdom of Balm.

The Counts of Sachs, the Barons and Viscounts of Weil, Thoma, and Koch are now cut off from trade with the Kingdom of Balm.

“May I also have my say, Your Majesty the Queen?”

My paternal uncle, the Duke of Crepes, steps forward. —His son, my cousin, is married to the princess of the neighboring kingdom of Kvor.

“Duke Crepes, you have my permission to speak.”

“Thank you very much. The Dukes of Crepes will not make any further deals with the Counts of Sachs, the Viscounts of Thoma, the Viscounts of Koch, or the Barons of Weil! These four families are forbidden to enter our territory!

There was an even louder commotion than before.

The Dukedom of Crepes borders the neighboring Kingdom of Kvor.

The Counts of Sachs, the Viscounts of Thoma, the Viscounts of Koch, and the Barons of Weil were now completely cut off from trade with the kingdoms of Balm and Kvor.

No family would want to do business with them unless they were in the sights of the Marquises of Filta, the Dukes of Shutia, and Crepes.

They have no choice but to leave the kingdom of Meister and move abroad.

But you cannot go to the kingdoms of Balm and Kvor because you cannot pass through the territories of the Dukes of Crepes and Shutia.

The only place you can move to is the Kingdom of Skorupion, which you can reach without passing through the territories of those three families.

Thirty years ago, the Kingdom of Skorupion was enriched by the discovery of a magic stone that could purify poison (miasma). However, there is no guarantee that this prosperity will continue in the future…

“That’s a reasonable judgment.”

Her Majesty affirmed the words of Duke Shutia and Duke Crepes.

The families of Countess Sachs, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil were taken by surprise.

They probably didn’t expect the sparks from the fire to fall on them.

Perhaps they did not expect to receive such a severe punishment.

That must be why they were able to look at the condemned family members with such coldness.

How naive. In a country where nobles and commoners are often held jointly responsible, The wife or son of an insane person is also insane.

Chapter 19

“Then I will finally judge you for your insults to me, the Queen. Before I do so, I would like to make sure that Count Sachs, Viscount Thoma, Viscount Koch, and Baron Weil step forward.”

Four men took a few steps forward in obedience to Her Majesty’s orders. Count Sachs is Lovisa-sama’s biological brother.

“I ask you four, where were you when the four ladies were talking about pushing Alicia, abusing Alicia, tearing Alicia’s dress and taking her jewelry?!”

The heads of the families look at each other. They seem to be pondering something.

Count Sachs: “I was out getting a drink at the time. I don’t know what my sister did to the Marquess of Filta”

Viscount Thoma: “I was on the terrace, so I do not know what happened in the hall.”

Viscount Koch: “I was in the corridor. I only found out about what my wife had done to Miss Alicia after Her Majesty the Queen had entered the hall.”

Baron Weil: “I was talking to an acquaintance by the wall, so I was not aware of my wife’s movements.

“Are you four telling the truth?!”

“”””Yes.””””

All four men answered in unison.

“Then report to me, Shadow.”

A man in jousting gear walked up to Her Majesty.

“Yes, Your Majesty, Count Sachs, Viscount Thoma, Viscount Koch, and Baron Weil were with the four ladies when it happened.”

“”””!””””

The four men gasped. They had no idea that they were being watched by shadows.

“The four of them were within hearing of the conversation and watched with amusement as Countess Sachs pushed Alicia-sama, and Countess Sachs, Viscountess Thoma, Viscountess Koch, and Baroness Weil cursed Alicia-sama and made insulting remarks about Her Majesty the Queen.”

The faces of Count Sachs, Viscount Thoma, Viscount Koch, and Baron Weil all turned pale at once.

“They knew that the sister and the wives were abusing the daughter of the Marquise and insulting me, the Queen, but they didn’t stop them and laughed?! This is a serious situation.

“Your Majesty, that’s…!”

“I don’t allow you to speak, Count Sachs!”

Her Majesty’s eyes were fixed on him, and Count Sachs kept his mouth shut.

Chapter 20

“You have committed two sins. The first is that you did not chastise your sister and wives when you knew they were speaking out against me, the queen.”

How can the four men stand by and not stop a family member from making disparaging remarks about Her Majesty at a royal party?

“Secondly, you lied to me. Count Sachs went to get a drink, Viscount Thoma went to the balcony, Viscount Koch went to the hallway, and Baron Weil said he was talking to someone he knew. But in fact, they were near Alicia.”

Why would they tell a lie that was so obvious?

“The shadows have been watching your every move. This is a royal party with hundreds of people. There must have been others who saw what you were doing. You lied about it to save your own skin… You four are very shallow-minded.”

Her Majesty the Queen casts a cold eye on four men.

Count Sachs, Viscount Thoma, Viscount Koch, and Baron Weil look down. Their faces are purple beyond blue.

“I’m going to hand you a trial. —The Countess of Sachs’ family, the family of the main culprit, has been demoted two ranks.”

The Countess of Sachs and Lovisa-sama are stunned and dumbfounded.

“Their accomplices, the Viscounts of Thoma, Koch, and Barons of Weil, have been demoted one rank. “

The heads of the families and their wives looked very pale.

The Viscounts of Thoma and Koch were demoted one level to barons, and the Barons of Weil became quasi-barons. The barons are only for one generation. The descendants have no choice but to make achievements in martial arts, academics, and medicine and to receive new peerages.

“The Barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil are forbidden to set foot in the royal court for two generations.”

The four families were shocked to hear the Queen’s words, and the Barons of Weil fell to their knees.

Being forbidden to enter the royal palace means that one’s career is over.

The Marquises of Filta, the Dukes of Shutia, and Crepes have refused to deal with them, so their business is no longer viable.

Moreover, being barred from entering the royal palace blocked their path to success and advancement.

I can only imagine the downfall of the four families.

The four ladies who were seized by Her Majesty’s guards and forced to kneel on the ground had their entire bodies bloodless and white.

The four ladies were to be expelled from the nobility registration and become commoners.

The four women looked as if they had aged more than ten years in a short time.

“Your Majesty the Queen! I’m divorcing my wife! So please withdraw the demotion and the ban on entering the palace!”

Baron Weil kneels before Her Majesty in tears.

“I also disown my sister! So please withdraw the demotion…!”

“I’m also divorcing my wife! So please have mercy on me…!”

“I will disown my wife! Please Her Majesty the Queen, please have mercy on me…!”

Barons Sachs, Thoma, and Koch put their hands on the floor and rubbed their heads on the floor.

“I did not authorize you to speak. You really don’t have any manners.”

Her Majesty raises her eyebrows in disapproval.

“I think you’re mistaken. This is not a matter of cutting off your sister and your wives.

You knew they were talking out of turn against the royal family, and you stood by and watched.

You lied to me, the queen, that you were not present when your sister and your wives were speaking out against me.

For this reason, your titles were demoted. Disowning your sister and your wives will not change your punishment.”

The faces of the four men, who had been shedding tears, are now marked with despair.

“This will be the last time you attend the party. Enjoy the party. It’s the least warmth you’ve ever had. Your expulsion will take place after you leave the palace.

Is it the warmth of the Queen?

“The Barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil will stand in line by the wall until the party is over. They are not allowed to leave, to take a drink, to open their mouths, or to move. The guards will keep an eye on them.”

I remember this punishment. When Lovisa-sama was a duchess, she ordered me to come late to the tea party of the Duke of Jaeger.

[It’s absurd of you to be late for the tea party. As a punishment, stand by the sofa with your mouth shut and moving.]

I was given a false time and was an hour late when I arrived at the Duchess of Jaeger’s house.

When I entered the room where the tea was to be held, I was stared at by Lovisa-sama and her four cronies: Baroness Thoma, Baroness Koch, and Baroness Weil.

While I was standing beside the sofa, I was told my shortcomings and bad things about the Marquises of Filta for several hours.

Is Her Majesty going to do to them what they did to me?

“If one of you leaves the room, all of you will be jointly and severally liable to have your names removed from the list of nobility.

“”””What!!!!”””

Inaudible screams escaped from the four families.

Her Majesty is frightening.

The Barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil caused a stir at a royal party.

The guests in the hall are itching to gossip about them.

Being exposed to endless bad gossip about yourself does more harm than you can imagine.

In my case, there were only four people who gossiped about me, so it was still a relief, but I still felt a pain as if my heart was being ripped out of my chest.

There are hundreds of people in the hall.

Several hundred people ridiculed you, looked down on you, cursed you, and looked at you curiously for several hours… The mental anguish must be unimaginable.

Will they be in a normal state of mind when they leave the venue?

Chapter 21

“We’ve wasted enough time on trivialities—now let’s get this party started.”

Her Majesty gives the signal, the musicians play elegant music, and the guests begin to dance.

The Barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil, lined up in a row in the corner of the hall, were met with curious looks, derision, and snide remarks from the guests. Some of them cursed loudly enough to be heard.

“Lovisa-sama has always been very playful with men and has been flirting with anyone and everyone.”

“The same goes for Baroness Koch, who has flirted with all handsome men, nobles and commoners alike.”

“What prudishness!”

“They say similar people attract each other.”

“I wonder if Raymond-sama was really the son of Duke Jaeger!”

“Not even Lovisa-sama knows whose son she has!”

“The Baroness Thoma has no sense of style. Is the dress you are wearing today an old one of your grandmother’s? It’s so out of date. “

“Shhh she can hear you.”

“I don’t care if she can hear me.”

“That’s right, it’s a public execution… It’s a parting gift to you all.”

“I heard Baron Koch pissed himself until he was 13.”

“That’s a shame. I hope you’re not still wetting the bed!”

“The Weil family is over. Maybe the baronet can serve as… well, it’s not even worth living.”

“Baron Sachs used to bribe teachers and get test questions in advance.”

“He’s a scumbag. I hope he dies!”

“You’re a disgrace to the royal family! I will never do business with your house again!”

“I’d rather die than suffer this kind of humiliation!”

“Come to my house when you become a commoner, and I’ll hold you instead of being a prostitute!”

“I have heard that there are brothels that pay good prices for married women and former nobles. I can tell you that!”

“There are also brothels that buy men—I’ll show you!”

“Fufufufufu”

“hhahahahahaha”

“kkukukukukuku”

“Ohohhohhohhohho”

Some of the insinuations were about their social behavior and how they ran their estate, as well as how they dressed, their grades, and their love lives when they were young. They also talked about a bed-wetting incident that happened when they were young.

The Barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil endured the ridicule in silence.

They were divided into those who stood there with exhausted faces, those with dead eyes, those who looked down with tears in their eyes, and those who stoutly stared at the people who were gossiping about them.

Most of the women were crying with their hands over their faces, but they were not forgiven for crying.

The second son of Baron Koch’s family tried to escape, saying, “I can’t stand this punishment!”

The other three families seized the second son of the barons of Koch and said, “If you run away, we will be expelled too!” and beat him to a pulp.

Her Majesty the Queen told them not to move even a finger or face banishment of nobility…

They’re desperate to stay in the nobility.

It seems that the only thing holding them together is their pride as nobles.

Chapter 22

“You are a bad person, Mother. You should have destroyed the four baronages, erased them from the rolls of nobility, and thrown them in jail. Yet you’ve strangled them with a cotton ball… And make it a public spectacle. “

“Ara, Rushard, you are late.”

“My mother told me to participate, so I did. There were people you wanted me to meet? “

His Highness, Rushard Meister, the second prince of this country, appeared.

His Highness Rushard is a handsome prince with golden hair and blue eyes.

“The four barons were demoted because of the displeasure of the queen, and they were barred from entering the palace for two generations. They were also disowned by the Marquises of Filta, the Dukes of Shutia, and Crepes. No one would want to have anything to do with such a house. If left alone, they will fall, give up their titles, revert to commoner status, and die in the streets.”

I, too, believe that what His Highness Prince Rushard says will come to pass.

“That’s why I’m making it happen. They are alone and helpless, and all they have to rely on is their pride as noblemen. How painful would it be for them to give up that pride with their own hands? I won’t allow them to live in prison and eat for free. You think I would waste the taxpayers’ money like that!”

Her Majesty covered her face with a fan and giggled.—Her Majesty’s icy, enchanting smile sent a shiver down my spine.

It would have been easy to throw them in jail, but she didn’t do it just for the fun of watching them fall…

I made a mental note not to offend Her Majesty.

“By the way, it’s been a long time, Alicia. I’ve missed you.”

His Highness Rushard greets me with glee.

“Long time no see, Your Highness.”

I curtsy in the manner of a nobleman.

“Don’t call me Your Highness, like a stranger. We have known each other since we were children. I want you to call me Rushard, like in the old days.”

His Highness Rushard and I studied under the same teacher at one time in the royal palace.

I remembered Prince Rushard asking me to call him by his first name when we were alone—I used to call him by his first name.

I was too young. —And to call the second prince by his name, even though he was not my fiancée… It’s a black history.

“I can’t say that…”

Rushard-sama and I are now both adults. I can’t call him like I did in the past. Unless we’re relatives or engaged.

“Don’t worry, Alicia, I, the queen, will allow you to call Rushard by his name.”

“See, my mother says the same thing.”

Her Highness Rushard is beaming at me with the Queen’s support.

This is hard to refuse.

“I understand. Then I will take you at your word and call you… Rushard-sama. If that’s alright?”

This term is the best concession I can make.

“Can’t you call me like you used to?!”

Rushard-sama sadly turns his head down.

Don’t tell him I thought he was cute like a puppy.

“That’s just…”

Though he is a childhood friend, he is from a royal family, and you can’t call him that like you did when you were a little kid.

“I see, that’s a pity.”

Rushard-sama’s eyes shine like an abandoned puppy’s eyes—it’s a foul to stare at me like that!

Chapter 23

“Your Majesty, by any chance, the person you wanted me to meet…”

“Alicia has a good intuition—yes, it’s Rushard.”

The dress she gave me is yellow, the color of Rushard-sama’s hair, and the jewelry is a sparkling blue sapphire, the color of Rushard-sama’s eyes.

Her Majesty seems to want to keep a close relationship between me and Rushard-sama.

“Didn’t Rushard-sama study in the neighboring kingdom of Skorupion?”

Rushard-sama’s study abroad is not only for academic purposes, but also to connect the Kingdom of Skorupion with the Kingdom of Meister.

There is a princess in the kingdom of Skorupion who is the same age as Rushard-sama.

“I have been through a lot in the Kingdom of Skorupion, and I have returned.”

“You have been through a lot?”

“I don’t want to talk about it here… I’ll tell you later. Anyway, will you dance with me?”

Rushard-sama reaches out to me.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t danced with my father yet.”

The first dance of the party is customary with your companion. —If not a family member, the escort for the party would be… the fiancée.

“I see. So after the Marquis of Filta, then…”

“I’m afraid not, Your Highness. I will be dancing next after my brother-in-law.”

“Uncle Coate.”

My mother’s brother, the Duke of Coate-Shutia, interrupts Rushard-sama and me.

“I’m supposed to dance next.”

“Uncle Ben.”

My father’s younger brother, Duke Ben Crepes, stands next to Uncle Coate.

(Potato-tan: If you don’t remember, Ben is the son-in-law of the Dukes of Crepes.)

I find myself flanked on both sides by my two uncles.

“Uncle Coate, Uncle Ben, thank you very much for your help earlier.”

The Barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil were cut off from the Dukes of Shutia and Crepes and were forbidden to enter their lands.

As a nobleman and a businessman, it’s a terrible blow.

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal. I’ll make one, two, three, or four threats whenever I want to protect my lovely niece.”

“It was fun to see the faces of the little rascals in dismay.”

Uncle Coate, Uncle Ben, takes me by the hand and smiles.

Chapter 24

“That’s enough there, you two! Even if it’s a relationship between uncle and niece, you’re are still very close!”

My father had to cut off Uncle Coate’s and Uncle Ben’s hands, who were holding mine.

“Thank you for helping me, Father.”

“It’s only natural that I should help my beloved daughter. Sorry… I didn’t find out until it was too late.”

My father took my hand in his and looked at me with a sad face and a lowered eyebrow.

“I have not forgiven you yet, Marquis Filta. It’s only because you let the Duke of Jaeger’s tears get the better of you that you wed Alicia to Raymond, a man of such vile character.”

The Queen struck my father’s hand with a fan. Her Majesty’s eyes were as cold as ice as she looked at my father.

“I’m sorry, my shallow actions have brought this on…”

My father bowed his head to Her Majesty.

“On that point, I agree with Her Majesty, and I’m angry at this guy for accepting such trash like Raymond, whose only merit is his face to the lovely Alicia, who looks like an angel.”

“I’m also angry at my elder brother for choosing Alicia’s son-in-law from a scumbag family like the Dukes of Jaeger, whose only merit is their family background.”

My uncles, Coate and Ben, are glaring at my father. They are both radiating an unusually angry aura.

My father muttered, “I’m sorry.”—He bowed his head with a tearful look.

“Father, please dance the first dance with me.”

I felt sorry for my father, so I decided to help him escape from this place.

My father takes my hand and we start to dance.

“Thank you for saving me, Alicia.”

As I danced, my father said, his face full of relief.

“I have some thoughts about my engagement with Raymond, too.”

My father looked like he was going to cry again after a sigh of relief, because I was blaming him too.

“You are blaming me too!”

“Next time I will choose my fiancé, and if Father ignores my will and again chooses my fiancé without my permission, I will sever ties with the Marquises of Filta and be adopted by the Dukes of Shutia or the Dukes of Crepes.”

After breaking off the engagement, Uncle Coate and Uncle Ben have told me I should “leave my good-for-nothing father and come and adopt you into my family.”

My father’s face turns pale, as if he hadn’t expected to be cut off from me.

I don’t hate my father. But when I think of the engagement with the Dukes of Jaeger and the psychological pain I went through…

Raymond-sama is a cheating, lazy, ill-mannered, money-grubbing scum.

Lovisa-sama, Raymond-sama’s mother, is a wicked and crooked woman who believes only what is pleasing to her and attacks me with sarcasm. On top of that, she is stupid and has no sense of etiquette.

Raymond’s father, Duke Jaeger, has gone down on his knees to arrange the engagement of Raymond and me. He has been given a lot of money by the Marquise of Filta. When I say that Raymond and Lovisa-sama have treated me badly, he doesn’t pay attention to what I say. He’s a spoiled as*hole who thinks he can get away with anything if he gets down on his knees.

I shudder to think that I was about to become a family member of such people.

“Alicia will be adopted by the Dukes of Shutia or Crepes…?! You’re kidding me!!”

My father gives me a clingy look. I’m not going to bond with him if he looks at me like that.

“No, it’s true. The next time you get me engaged to someone else without my permission, I’ll leave the Marquises of Filta.”

An invisible one-ton rock fell on my father’s head. [A blow to the heart, 10,000 damage to the mentality] —His blue face had turned completely white.

“Okay… I won’t do anything selfish again. I promise.”

My father nodded weakly.

After the dance with my father, I danced with my uncle Coate and then with my uncle Ben.

They told me, “If at any point you want to disown your father, tell me.” —Uncle Coate 

“If any nobleman is disrespectful to you, you must report it immediately—Uncle Ben.”

They’re both too overprotective of me. But it is true that they are more reliable than my father.

Chapter 25

Finally, I danced with Rushard-sama. —It’s been three years since I last danced with Rushard-sama.

“I finally got to dance with you.”

Rushard-sama shone like a star, and his shy smile was so cute that my heart throbbed.

“Your father and uncles look at me as if I were a sore thumb.”

My father, Uncle Coate, and Uncle Ben are all staring at him with a fierce expression on their faces.

“They are tense because of what happened to Raymond-sama.”

“Raymond, that guy…! He seemed to care about Alicia, so I backed off, but I couldn’t believe he was treating Alicia badly…”

“Raymond-sama had a complex about Rushard-sama, so he must have felt good about having me, Rushard-sama’s childhood friend, as his fiancée.”

“Raymond had a complex about me?”

“Yes, the proof is that Raymond-sama appreciated me in your presence and despised me when you were not. After Rushard-sama went to study in the Kingdom of Scorupion, he would not even answer when I talked to him.”

“So that’s how it was! I won’t forgive Raymond! I should have hit him a hundred times!”

Rushard-sama distorts his beautiful face with anger.

“Please stop, Rushard-sama will only get his hands dirty.”

When Duke Jaeger leaves the royal capital during the night, Raymond-sama is sent to the mines, and Lovisa-sama is demoted to a commoner. Rushard-sama’s beautiful hands should not be stained with Raymond-sama’s blood.

“I am a fool not to have noticed Raymond’s tricks. Love is terrifying. —Jealousy haunts my vision and makes me blind.”

What has Rushard-sama been talking about, like “withdrawing” or “love”?

“…Next week, there will be a small tea party at the palace, and only my mother and myself will attend. I have something to announce. I hope you’ll join us.”

Did he find out anything about the Kingdom of Skorupion by any chance?

I’ve been curious about the situation there for some time.

The kingdom of Skorupion has become richer in the production of a magic stone that can purify even poisonous water. Has the amount of magic stone mined changed?

“Thank you for inviting me. I will definitely attend.”

“Thank goodness.”

Rushard-sama’s sapphire eyes narrowed and he smiled like a flower opening.

Chapter 26

The tea party was held in a gazebo in the royal gardens.

The sky was cloudless and blue. Colorful flowers bloomed and butterflies danced.

“Thank you very much for inviting me to come here today.”

“No need for formal greetings. Sit down.”

“Yes.”

Once seated, the maid pours my tea into a porcelain cup with a floral pattern.

She pours milk into the tea and mixes it with a silver teaspoon.

At the center of the table is a cake-stand with a third tier of sandwiches, a second tier of scones, and a first tier of cupcakes and pound cakes.

It is considered polite to start with the third tier of sandwiches. After a pleasant chat over tea and pastries, the queen asks the maid to leave.

Only Her Majesty, Rushard-sama, and I are left in the gazebo.

“This reminds me of Alicia and Rushard’s childhood days.”

“It’s nostalgic. I studied hard with Alicia almost every day and competed for grades.”

“I secretly enjoyed tea time after studying.”

We talk about the good old days over sweets.

And then the main subject comes to light.

“I wanted to engage Alicia and Rushard.”

“Eh…!?”

I almost spit out my tea when Her Majesty the Queen said that.

“To avoid a fight for the throne, the plan was for the first prince, Swain, to marry before deciding on a bride for the second prince, Rushard.”

The First Prince and Crown Prince Swain (22) are four years older than Rushard-sama.

“The plan was to formally engage Alicia and Rushard when they turned 14.”

Rushard-sama and I are the same age (18), and we were fourteen years old four years ago at that time.

“I never dreamed that Swain’s fiancée, Carla of the Marquess of Nonne, would elope with the son of a baron a few days before the wedding.”

Carla Nonne-sama, the Crown Prince’s fiancée, is the eldest daughter of a Marquis. —She met the eldest son of the Barons of Kiel, Con-sama, at school, fell in love and left the country hand in hand.

The marquises of Nonne, who were held responsible for the elopement of Carla-sama, were fined a large sum of money by the royal family and demoted to the rank of viscount. The head of the family was forced into retirement, and the Viscounts of Nonne were forbidden to hold office or enter the royal academy for fifty years.

The Barons of Kiel were forced to relinquish their titles. The former barons of Kiel, now commoners, could no longer stay in the Kingdom of the Maesters and moved to the Kingdom of Skorupion.

“I had to start the search for Swain’s fiancée all over again, so I had to postpone the announcement of Rushard’s fiancée.”

A year later, the Crown Prince became engaged to Johanna, the daughter of the Marquise of Keitel, and a year after their engagement, they were married.

“Just as Swain was married and Rushard’s engagement was about to be announced, Marquis Filta arranged the engagement of the brilliant Alicia to the failure Raymond after a desperate attempt by Duke Jaeger.”

Her Majesty’s eyes are filled with anger.

“Moreover, my husband, the king, decided to send Rushard to study in the kingdom of Scorupion without consulting me. How could he arrange Rushard’s study abroad without asking me, the queen?! I have never been so angry. I wanted to pull out every hair on my husband’s head!”

Since then, His Majesty King Gyaron has been recuperating in a detached palace due to an “illness”. He seems to have been put in confinement by the Queen’s wrath.

“The Kingdom of Scorupion has a princess the same age as Rushard—it is obvious that the Kingdom of Scorupion wants more than just Rushard to study abroad.”

Her Majesty the Queen exhaled deeply.

The Kingdom of Skorupion has two princesses. The first princess, Emily-sama, is 18 years old like us, and her sister Rosa is 7 years old.

“I thought Rushard would refuse the offer to study abroad.”

Her Majesty’s eyes are on Rushard-sama.

“I…It was hard for me to see Alicia and Raymond getting along so well at school… I ran away. I had no idea that Raymond was acting.”

Rushard-sama clenches his fists in frustration.

“It’s like they say, love is blind—how could you, a man of such insight and observation, be so blind to Raymond’s performance?!”

“…That’s how much the shock of heartbreak has hurt me, Mother.”

Is love blind? Heartbreak? What are Her Majesty and Rushard-sama talking about?

“Alicia has called off her engagement to Raymond. —A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is rolling in. —What are you going to do now? Are you going to run away again?!”

“No, I’m not going to run away this time, because I’ve come to realize how hard life is without Alicia!”

His Highness Rushard rose to his feet and walked up to me.

“R-Rushard-sama?!”

Rushard-sama knelt down and took a small box out of his pocket. He opened the box and found a ring with a brilliant-cut diamond in it.

“Alicia, I hate to tell you this, like I’m taking advantage of your weakness since you just broke off your engagement, but I can’t sleep at night knowing you’re going to belong to someone again, so I’m going to tell you now…”

His blue eyes look at me as if they are looking right into mine with intensity. —My heart is beating wildly.

“Alicia, I’ve thought about you since we were young. I like your intelligence, your kindness, and your strong heart. —Will you marry me?!”

Heat gathers in my cheeks—my heart beats loudly.

“…I also loved Rushard-sama since I was a little girl.”

I smiled in confirmation.

Rushard-sama then puts the ring on my finger.

“Alicia! I love you! Let’s get married!”

“Y-Yes, with pleasure.”

That’s how I got engaged to Rushard-sama.

♦

Potato-tan: Kya!!! Good job, editor-san!!

(Asian-Potato “The Unpaid Editor”: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Lolilord: Pay him already.

Chapter 27

“Well, I guess all the formalities are over now.”

Her Majesty the Queen smiles broadly as she arranges the bundle of papers.

We have moved out of the gazebo and are now in the conference room for the engagement formalities.

Her Majesty the Queen, Rushard-sama, myself, His Majesty, King Gyaron, and my father are with us.

King Gyaron looks older than when I saw him four years ago. He has dark circles under his eyes, and his face is gaunt and thin.

Is it my imagination that His Highness Gyaron’s hair seems to be thinner than when I saw him two years ago?

My father has lost several pounds in the past week. He has been blamed by our relatives for my engagement to Raymond without consulting them, and it has been hard on him.

“I feel safer if it’s well documented like that. It’s not like they’ll understand if I just tell them.”

Her Majesty glares at the King and my father.

They look away from Her Majesty, and their faces turn blue, and they tremble a little.

“Mother, may I tell everyone here about the Kingdom of Skorupion?”

“Yes, now that the problems of Barons Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil have been solved, it’s okay to go public.”

Lovisa-sama has been disowned by the head of the Sachs barony, and Baroness Thoma, Baroness Koch, and Baroness Weil are divorced. They were all sold to a brothel together.

The barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil had substantial debts to the bank. When the bank found out that they had been disowned by the royal family and by the Marquises of Filta, the Dukes of Shutia, and the Dukes of Crepes, the bank stopped lending to them, and they were forced to repay their debts.

The four families went around to their acquaintances and distant relatives to ask for loans, but no one would help them for fear of retaliation from the royal family, the Marquises of Filta, the Dukes of Shutia, and the Dukes of Crepes.

The four families, now in debt and devastated, said, “This is your fault! You didn’t educate your wives properly!” “It was father who asked me to marry her!” Family members swore at each other and blamed each other.

The heads of the four families, who had no means, sold their residences, their household goods, and their lands, paid off their debts, renounced their titles of nobility, and moved at night to the Kingdom of Scorupion.

They give up their titles willingly… Everything went according to Her Majesty’s plan.

The Kingdom of Skorupion is famous for its magical stones. The people of Skorupion have been living in idleness since 30 years ago, when it became possible to extract magic stones.

[Even if we are commoners, if we can marry someone from the Kingdom of Skorupion, we can live a rich life!] They left the Kingdom of Skorupion with a strong desire to live a prosperous life.

The Kingdom of Scorupion certainly became rich 30 years ago when it became possible to obtain magic stones. But they left the troublesome things to the slaves and workers from other countries and started to live a life of leisure.

I don’t think that moving to that country is a happy thing. Besides, the reserves of magic stones are limited…

Chapter 28

“I studied in the Kingdom of Skorupion for two years, partly because I was shocked that Alicia was engaged to another man, but also because I wanted to do an investigation.”

“What do you want to investigate?”

“I was looking at the reserves of magic stones in the kingdom of Skorupion. The king of Skorupion states that they have enough reserves of magic stones, but the amount of magic stones exported each year has decreased, so I was curious.”

The main export of the Skorupion Kingdom is magic stone. A magic stone has the power to purify poisoned water. Their purpose ranges from purifying the well water for the common people to purifying the drinking water of the royal family.

During the reign of the previous king of Skorupion, he boasted the world’s largest export of magical stones and was very wealthy.

The country is so rich that there are no taxes to pay, no school fees, zero medical bills, all living expenses are paid by the government, and a house and a carriage are given for free as a wedding gift. —People began to live in idleness because they could buy slaves from other countries to do their work.

As a result, 10% of the people became government employees and the remaining 90% became unemployed freeloaders. The people of the Kingdom of Scorupion became the least hardworking people in the world.

“The results of the survey were as expected. The reserves of magic stones are running out. In a few years, they will run out of magic stones, and that country will be over.”

Hearing Rushard-sama’s words, the color of King Gyaron’s face changed. His blue face turned more pale and almost purple.

“It’s a bit shallow to think that someone would send Rushard to such a country and try to make them relatives.”

The Queen looks at King Gyaron and says coldly.

King Gyaron is the same type of person as my father, a man of good character, but fragile and weak at heart. He was probably asked by the King of Scorupion to send Prince Rushard to study in their country.

“The first princess of Skorupion, Emily, was a total b*tch.”

Emily-sama, the first princess, is eighteen years old, the same age as me and his Highness.

I guess the King of Skorupion wanted to marry Princess Emily to Rushard-sama, so he requested Rushard-sama to study in his country.

“Princess Emily has been very friendly to me since the beginning of my studies abroad. Even though she is not my fiancée or my lover, she inappropriately touched me.

Imagining this scene made me uncomfortable in my heart. This is jealousy, isn’t it?

“I knew their plan was to marry Emily, the first princess of the kingdom of Skorupion, to me, the second prince of the kingdom of Maester, and support their country when the magic stone runs out.”

“It’s a very obvious move. Even a child can see it.”

The queen glanced at King Gyaron, and he flinched like a mouse before a tiger.

No wonder the Queen is angry. —King Gyaron decided to send Rushard-sama to study in the Kingdom of Skorupion on his own. He didn’t know about the Skorupion Kingdom’s tricks.

“Because I knew what the enemy was up to, I ignored Princess Emily’s advances, and I always had my bodyguard by my side to avoid any strange misunderstandings, so I was never alone.”

I guess Princess Emily could not afford to be complacent in her engagement, as the fate of the country was at stake.”

“Perhaps Princess Emily was upset at not being taken seriously by me, and she went off to meet a handsome soldier. I wasn’t interested in her at all, so I didn’t take it personally, but Princess Emily seemed to have entered into a relationship with that soldier… Their relationship reached the point of no return.”

“Irredeemable… !”

“Princess Emily was pregnant with a soldier’s child.”

Chapter 29

“Princess Emily was pregnant with a soldier’s child.”

“Oh, my God…!”

How could a princess of a country make love to a man before marriage… and a commoner at that.

“The king and Princess Emily said, [I want to announce Emily’s baby as yours and marry her!] and [Because Rushard-sama doesn’t care for Emily, she is lonely and has run away to another man! So take responsibility!]— They pressed me to do so for an absurd reason! They are beyond brazen and shameless!”

Rushard-sama clenched his fist hard and pounded the table.

I too felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. How could she ask him to marry her and have her child be Rushard-sama’s child while she was having an affair with another man? How shameless they are!”

They have concluded favorable negotiations with other countries on the condition that they export magic stones, and they therefore assume that their views will be accepted. They are not aware that their country is in great trouble now that they have dug up all the magic stones.”

The Queen’s words were tinged with anger. Of course she is, they made a fool of Rushard-sama and the Maester royal family!

“Of course, I refused their demands, and now they’re threatening to spread rumors that I raped Princess Emily out of love for her, that they’ve already fabricated evidence, and that if I don’t comply with their demands, they’ll seek compensation from the Maester Kingdom.”

“What an unreasonable demand!”

I found myself slapping the desk and standing up.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

I catch everyone’s attention and sit back in a chair

“Don’t worry about it, Alicia. You have every right to be angry at them for making unreasonable demands.”

Her Majesty the Queen smiles calmly at me.

“Thank you, Alicia, for getting angry for my sake.”

Rushard-sama holds my hand.

“Rushard-sama.”

Rushard-sama and I join hands and look at each other for a few seconds. I notice a penetrating look from my father and hastily pull my hand away.

“I recorded the words of the king and princess on a magic stone and broadcast them in time throughout the kingdom of Skorupion. By the time the guards came to the throne room in a panic, the conversation between the king and the princess had already been recorded. “

“That’s great. Rushard-sama, I’m so glad to hear that.”

“I am relieved to find out that the attempt by the king and princess of Skorupion has failed.”

“The king said that if it doesn’t work out with the first princess, then the second princess, Rosa… The second princess is only seven years old. She is a smaller version of the first princess, and her only talent is flirting with men. There was no good royalty in that country.”

She is only seven years old and flirts with men… Rushard-sama is right, there is no decent royalty in the kingdom of Skorupion.”

I reported what had happened in the Kingdom of Skorupion to my mother via the magic stone and rushed home.”

“I received the report from Rushard and informed the high nobles of what happened in Skorupion. I ordered those who were doing business in the Kingdom of Skorupion to leave the Kingdom of Skorupion as soon as possible. Among the nobles studying in the kingdom of Skorupion, I sent them home with him. —Conversely, only the incompetent nobles from our kingdom were left in the Kingdom of Skorupion.”

Incompetent nobles… You mean the barons of Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil? They are former nobles since they have given up their titles.

It’s about time Rushard showed the people what he recorded on the magic stone and cut off diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Skorupion.

Chapter 30

“May I make a statement, Your Majesty!”

My father raised his hand.

“Granted, Marquis Filta.”

“You mention high nobility. With all due respect, I didn’t know about this until now.”

“I have informed Marquess Filta. The Marquises of Filta’s merchants have long since left the Kingdom of Skorupion.”

“You told my wife and not me?!”

My father’s face said he was not convinced.

“Marquis Filta, you are a good man, but you have a light tongue.”

Her Majesty’s words shut my father’s mouth and turned his head.

“I will also personally announce the engagement between Rushard and Alicia. Marquis Filta, I asked you to keep your mouth shut and not let the world know.

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

It’s only been a month since I broke off my engagement to Raymond-sama. It’s not good manners to enter into an engagement with another nobleman so soon.

But if Her Majesty really didn’t want everyone to know, she would have invited my mother here instead of my father.

Perhaps the queen thinks it’s acceptable to start a rumor about my engagement to Rushard-sama.

“I was not informed about it either…”

King Gyaron timidly raises his hand.

“You are so ignorant, thoughtless, and good-natured that you made an agreement to send Rushard to study in the kingdom of Skorupion without telling me, and you thought I would tell you something important!”.

Her Majesty cast deathly cold eyes on King Gyaron. The king then trembled and looked down with a tearful face.

Both my father and His Highness Gyaron are good-natured, but that’s all there is to them. They are gullible and loose-tongued. Royalty and high nobility do not consist only of good-natured people.

♦♦♦Awebstories♦♦♦

That afternoon, it was announced that the reserves of magical stones in the kingdom of Skorupion were running out and would run out in a few more years.

A record of the King and Princess Emily threatened by Rushard-sama saying, “Be the father of the child between Princess Emily and the soldier, or else spread the rumor that Princess Emily was raped by Prince Rushard.” was played through a magical stone.

There will be no more talks between the Kingdom of Meister and the Kingdom of Skorupion.

The royalty involved, Rushard-sama, was insulted. The breakdown of diplomatic relations was a foregone conclusion.

In this case, there is little point in having diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Skorupion now that it can no longer get magic stones. Since the merchants have already left, there was not much opposition from anyone.

♦♦♦Awebstories♦♦♦

Some years later, after all the magic stones had been dug up, the Kingdom of Scorupion had become so poor that the King of Scorupion asked the Kingdom of the Maesters for a loan.

Her Majesty the Queen refused.

How can you ask for help from the Meister Kingdom after insulting Rushard-sama so much? Does the king of Skorupion have no pride?

The only people left in the kingdom of Scorupion were the kings and aristocrats who were wealthy and had made a habit of spending money like water, and the people who had become accustomed to working as slaves and living a complacent life.

After 30 years of idle life, the people of the Kingdom of Skorupion could not return to their former life of poverty and diligent work in the forestry and fishing industries.

When it became impossible to obtain magic stones, the company ceased its activities.

The people of Skorupion fell from the most livable country in the world to the most unlivable country in the world in one fell swoop.

Former Barons Sachs, Thoma, Koch, and Weil, who came to the Kingdom of Skorupion, are no longer in a position to make a name for themselves.

—They died in the impoverished kingdom of Skorupion in a quarrel over a slice of bread.

♦♦♦Awebstories.com♦♦♦

The people of the kingdom of Skorupion did not want to work after the magic stone was used up, and they thought about how they could live comfortably again.

They concluded that if there was no wealth, they should take from others, and so the Kingdom of Scorupion brought ruffians from other countries to wage war against the Kingdom of Meister.

The Kingdom of Meister formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Gvol and the Kingdom of Baom.

A group of ruffians and loafers could never defeat the combined forces of the Kingdom of Master and the Kingdoms of Gvor and Baom, and victory was decided on a single day.

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