This story includes Elnet’s recollection inserted midway.
“Kent! Kent! I’m close… pant, pant.”
“I’m about to… too.”
Elnet, straddling Kent on the bed, thrust her hips fiercely while still connected. Both were lost in their own worlds, their ecstasies nearing, so they paid no attention to their surroundings.
“Elnet, I’m coming in.”
“…”
Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, and someone entered.
“Oh, Father.”
“D-Duke-sama.”
It was the Duke, who had entered without knocking.
“My apologies. It seems I’ve interrupted something. Well, you know. It seems I’ll be able to see my grandchild soon. …Sorry to disturb you. I’ll give you some time, and come back later.”
With that, the Duke gently closed the door.
“I said, we’re busy right now…”
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t expect it to be *this* kind of busy. Hahaha.”
The voices of the butler and the Duke could be heard from beyond the door.
“Elnet, what should we do?”
“For now, we have to see it through, don’t we? It’d be tough on Kent.”
Kent asked Elnet, but both felt their mood had been broken. After a mechanical completion, they got dressed and tidied up the room.
A while later, the Duke visited Elnet’s room again.
“Sorry for interrupting earlier.”
“Father, it’s cruel to just barge in without knocking!”
Elnet protested, looking at her apologetic father.
“Sorry, sorry. I really didn’t expect you to be doing that. Sorry to interrupt, Kent.”
“No, it is I who should apologize for causing you various troubles.”
The Duke apologized to Kent. It seemed he had no intention of saying anything about the previous incident as a father.
“So, Father. You came here with a purpose, didn’t you? Do you need something?”
“Ah, that’s right, that’s right. I came to give you this.”
“What is it? May I open it?”
“Of course.”
Elnet opened the envelope handed to her by the Duke and checked its contents.
“An invitation to an unveiling ceremony? The host seems to be royalty.”
“Actually, next Saturday, someone important to the country is going to assume a significant position, and an appointment ceremony will be held. After that, you and Josette have been requested to attend a party that will serve as both an unveiling and a celebration.”
Inside the envelope was an invitation to an unveiling ceremony hosted by royalty.
“However, I do not attend royal events…”
Elnet’s expression darkened, and her voice became too quiet to be heard by the end.
“I understand your reluctance to attend royal events. However, this time, you have been specifically requested, and no proxy will be accepted.”
The Duke said apologetically.
“By the way, whose unveiling ceremony is it?”
“That’s what I don’t know. There have been no rumors of anyone in a crucial position retiring or being replaced. The only possibility is a newly created position, but I haven’t been informed of anything yet.”
“I see… I’m not enthusiastic about it, but as a member of the Duke’s family, I suppose I have no choice but to attend. Understood. I accept.”
Elnet reluctantly agreed to the invitation.
“I apologize for causing you trouble, but I appreciate your cooperation. Well then, my business here is concluded. Kent, feel free to stay as long as you like.”
The Duke said the above and left the room.
“Haaa…”
As soon as the Duke left, Elnet let out a big sigh.
“Elnet, are you alright?”
“I’d like to say I’m alright… but I don’t think I can.”
“Does attending a royal event mean you might see the First Prince?”
Kent asked Elnet, who seemed down. He had only heard a little about Elnet’s past, specifically that her engagement with the First Prince had been broken off. Therefore, Kent hesitated, wondering if he should delve deeper into the matter.
“Well, that’s part of it, but the bigger problem is the Princess… It’s a bit of a long story, but would you listen?”
“If it would make you feel any better, Elnet, I’ll listen as much as you want to talk.”
“I knew you’d say that, Kent. Let’s get some tea ready, then we’ll start.”
It seemed like it would be a long story, so Elnet prepared tea, took a breath, and began to speak.
***
When I attended school… yes, it was in May of my third and final year.
“Good morning, Lady Elnet.”
“Oh, Liliana, good day.”
As I approached the school gate as usual that morning, Liliana called out to me. Liliana was a bit plump and the daughter of a Middle Aristocrat. Her physique often kept others at a distance, and she was usually alone. However, by chance, Elnet spoke to her, and from then on, they began to spend a lot of time together.
“Lady Elnet, is that bullying?”
“This is unacceptable! I have to help quickly.”
Liliana spotted a first-year student surrounded by many female students behind the school building. With her innate sense of justice, Elnet immediately intervened.
“What are you all doing?”
“A-Lady Elnet.”
When the surrounding female students realized it was Elnet who had suddenly intervened, they looked embarrassed and left. If Elnet had heard from the girls surrounding her at this moment, the subsequent events might have unfolded differently, but there was nothing that could be done now.
“Th-Thank you for saving me, Lady Elnet.”
This was my first encounter with Beine. This meeting led to Beine acting as one of Elnet’s hangers-on.
“Good morning, Lady Elnet.”
“Lady Elnet, I’ll accompany you today too.”
“Lady Elnet, are you returning? Please let me accompany you part of the way.”
Beine began to stay by Elnet’s side constantly, and her status as one of Elnet’s followers, already numbering a few, rose. However, around the end of summer vacation, she suddenly stopped coming to Elnet.
“Lady Beine hasn’t been seen around lately. I wonder what happened?”
“I haven’t heard anything specific. She probably has her own reasons.”
Elnet replied to Liliana, who was worried. However, the reason Beine left Elnet’s side was only revealed at the party after the school festival.
“Lord Randolph, would you dance with me one last time?”
For the final dance of the post-festival party, Elnet asked her fiancé, the First Prince Randolph, to dance with her. There was a superstition at this school that couples who danced together at the final dance of the post-festival party would be united. She aimed for this.
“I’m sorry. I’ve decided to dance with her.”
“Eh?”
Elnet, who hadn’t expected to be refused, exclaimed in surprise. And holding Randolph’s hand was Beine.
“Lady Elnet, please stay strong.”
Liliana said, staying close to a stunned Elnet. Liliana glared at Beine.
“It was just as I’d heard. Apparently, when she first met me, she was being interrogated because her boyfriend, whom she was dating, had been stolen by her. It seems she has a history of stealing other people’s partners. She wasn’t a victim, but the perpetrator.”
“No way…”
Elnet was deeply dejected by Liliana’s words. Shortly after the school festival ended, Elnet was informed by Randolph that their engagement was canceled. Elnet’s father, the Duke, was furious, but there was nothing they could do as the King sided with the First Prince.
Later, in winter, Randolph and Beine’s engagement was announced. Beine was already pregnant, and to save face, despite being students, their marriage was quickly decided after the engagement announcement, and the ceremony was held.
“Lady Elnet, please cheer up.”
“…”
Luna, the daughter of a Marquis and Elnet’s close friend, tried to comfort Elnet. Elnet could no longer trust people, and the bright, exemplary Duke’s daughter she once was was nowhere to be seen.
“Lady Elnet, congratulations on your graduation.”
“…”
Time passed, and Elnet reached the day of her graduation. Although she was mentally unstable, she did not let her grades drop, graduating with outstanding results, unprecedented in history. And on that day, Beine, whom she hadn’t spoken to in ages, called out to her.
“Oh, didn’t you hear what I said? It’s rude to the Princess. Your former fiancé is now mine. I’m so grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to become a Princess. Hahahahahahaha.”
“Hmph.”
Elnet desperately suppressed the rising anger towards Beine, who was taunting her with her high-pitched laughter. After graduating from school, Elnet decided to pursue the path of the sword to temper her own mental weakness.
***
“So, that’s roughly how my student life went.”
“…”
Hearing Elnet’s story, Kent felt even more anger towards Beine.
“Now, now, Kent, there’s no need to get so angry. It was originally decided by our parents when we were children, so there was no romantic feeling. And as I said before, because of this incident, I was able to meet you, Kent.”
Elnet brushed off the past, as if unaffected by it.
“But with matters like this, surely the Queen wouldn’t have let it slide?”
“Indeed, that might be the case. However, unfortunately, this incident occurred when the Queen was on a long visit home with the Second Prince, Lord Gordon. Conversely, she might have cleverly timed it.”
Kent wondered if the Queen would have managed the situation better if she had been there, and asked Elnet. But Elnet said it happened when the Queen was away.
“Well, Beine became a Princess because she was pregnant, but in reality, there were complications, and the child was not born. I heard she resented me, believing I caused her to miscarry due to stress, but that’s none of my concern.”
“She’s truly a terrible person.”
Hearing the aftermath from Elnet, Kent could only be speechless.
“Still, she’s not someone I’d want to meet willingly. She will undoubtedly be there at the upcoming unveiling ceremony.”
Elnet said with a very displeased expression.
Liliana, who appeared in Elnet’s recollection, is now a teacher at the academy. Luna, the Marquis’s daughter, is the wife of Chuck, who serves as the Captain of the Guard in Sumput, the Caro family’s territory.
