Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry, Volume 2, page 1
Prologue
As a King and as a Father
In his office in Viatris Castle in the capital of Nirvaan, King Oswald listened to a report from his chief secretary. “Is there any new information about the disappearance of the 11th army platoon?” he asked.
The chief secretary was the primary consul working under the prime minister. As Platina did not have a vice prime minister, he was the next bureaucrat in power after the prime minister to advise the king.
“I’m terribly sorry,” the chief secretary responded. “We’ve been investigating the cause and circumstances as quickly as possible, but we still have no clue.”
“I see. Report to me the instant you find something.”
Oswald groaned, holding a quill pen in hand as he listened to the report. The other day, the army’s 11th platoon, which had been training near the border, had mysteriously vanished. Such a large group had never disappeared like this before; it was an unprecedented case. Though an urgent investigation had been conducted, the results didn’t seem promising.
“Also,” the chief secretary continued, “there was another skirmish between the citizens and guards in the town of Jord, near the border.”
“Again?” After a pause, Oswald ordered, “Have someone spy on the citizens’ movements.”
“Understood.” The chief secretary bowed before taking his leave. Oswald let out a long sigh as his quill pen danced over parchment. From mass vanishings to skirmishes, there were many unsettling events that had been occurring in the country lately.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Without pausing his work, Oswald gave permission to enter. The door opened, and a woman in a dress stepped inside. “Pardon me, Your Majesty,” she greeted.
The woman’s eyes widened slightly as her gaze settled on Oswald whose relief was palpable when he saw the familiar woman with deep indigo hair and gray eyes.
“Ah, Cordelica. It’s you.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt you when you’re busy. Thank you for your hard work,” the woman—Cordelica—said. Oswald was surprised that the second queen consort would visit him at such an early hour, when the sun had just risen.
“This is the duty of a king,” he replied. “What are you doing here so early?”
After a slight hesitation, Cordelica answered, “I came to give you a report on Rocheford’s behavior.”
At those words, Oswald almost dropped his quill pen. He’d been aware of Rocheford’s behavior—shouting and lashing out at irregular intervals—ever since yesterday’s commotion.
“Has something happened to him?” he asked.
“No. He finally calmed down in the early hours of the morning. Now he’s sleeping peacefully. I just thought to inform you of that.”
“I see.” Oswald breathed a sigh of relief. After Rocheford had lost his mother, Oswald’s consorts—Cordelica included—had been the ones to care for him.
After the queen had passed, her duties had been split between Cordelica, the second queen, and Oswald’s other queen consort. He knew how busy the women kept. In addition, the third queen was sickly. Oswald was grateful to Cordelica for making the time to check on Rocheford every day.
“Thanks for always looking after him,” Oswald continued.
“Not at all. It’s partially my fault that he turned out that way. If I’d confronted him more…”
“It’s not your fault. All the blame can be laid on my shoulders.”
“Your Majesty…”
A subtle moment of silence fell upon them. It was true that Oswald and the queen consorts had been too busy with their royal duties to pay Rocheford much attention. But it was pointless to wish after the fact that they had done things differently back then.
“By the way, Your Majesty, Sirius doesn’t seem to be here today,” Cordelica pointed out.
“Ah, he’s accompanying Tuvalu to the Filiaregis manor to deliver messages to the duke and Drossell.” Oswald had entrusted the letters he’d written last night to Sirius first thing that morning. He might have already reached the manor as they spoke.
“Oh my. You’re going to see Miss Drossell?”
“Of course. She was a major participant in the incident that occurred, so I must hear her version of the events in detail.” Saying this, Oswald glanced at a stack of papers on his document-covered desk which were clearly written on a different quality of paper than the rest. It was a regular report that Tuvalu had submitted when he visited earlier that morning.
Oswald had been ordering research into that “power” for many years, but he knew from the reports that a lack of information had put the study on hold for the past year. He didn’t believe that the power, which had already once been lost with almost all of its references burned, could be brought back so easily. But he was hoping that the power Drossell had shown at the academy could be the solution he needed.
On the other hand, she was played a role in bringing about Rocheford’s current situation. He couldn’t tell Cordelica of his hopes for Drossell.
“Your Majesty, how should we deal with Rocheford?” Cordelica asked, interrupting Oswald’s train of thought. He had yet to punish Rocheford, who had caused the monstrous riot earlier. His quill pen paused, his eyes lowering as he slowly put it down.
“He took the relic out of his own self-interest, plus he caused a great deal of damage to the academy. I don’t plan on letting him off scot-free.”
“Your Majesty…”
Now, it was highly unlikely that Rocheford would be able to inherit the throne. Which meant that he would have to summon the second and third princes, who were out of the country, back home.
Cordelica gave Oswald a wistful look as he sank deeper into his seat, but she didn’t say anything. Picking up his quill pen once more, he returned to his paperwork, putting an end to the discussion.
“Then I’ll excuse myself,” Cordelia said. “Please make a choice you won’t regret.” She smiled anxiously at Oswald, who didn’t look up from his documents. When the heavy sound of the door closing finally echoed in the room, he let out a small sigh and stood to face the window that had been at his back.
“She can see right through me…”
Cordelica had likely noticed that he’d forcefully brought an end to the discussion. Despite that, she hadn’t said a word. “I’m too lenient,” he murmured mournfully.
As the king, he had to choose a suitable punishment for Rocheford, but his personal feelings kept him from doing so. He had thought that telling Rocheford he didn’t expect anything from him and giving him that girl were in Rocheford’s best interests, but it had all stunningly backfired on him.
“I’m sure it won’t be long now,” Oswald murmured quietly while looking out the window at the royal capital’s cityscape and the vast scenery behind it. “I promise to make this country a good one.”
That was what Oswald longed for most as its king, and it was also a promise he had made to the woman who had trusted him and given up her life. The woman he loved most. Slipping his right hand into his pocket, his fingers brushed against hard, cold metal.
“Josephina…” Conjuring an image of the crown prince’s late mother in his mind’s eye, Oswald’s hand clenched around the pendant in his pocket.
Chapter 1
An Audience with the King
Despite the turbulent day she’d had yesterday, Leticiel woke up feeling refreshed at her usual time. The sheets rustled as she sat up in bed, stretching as much as she possibly could while squinting in the morning sun.
Though it was good she had defeated the mysterious beast, much of the series of disturbances didn’t make sense. The monster’s identity, the reason for Rocheford’s sudden change, how the sword he’d been carrying related to everything…
After giving her eyewitness interview, she had mingled with the teachers who were too busy dealing with matters out in the field to investigate. And though she had dug for information in the Great Library, she couldn’t find anything of import. Before she knew it, the sky, tinted orange with the setting sun, had turned pitch black.
Frustrated that her search had born no fruit, Leticiel had reluctantly returned to the manor and jumped straight into bed. Ruvik was incredibly angry at her for coming home so late, and if Nicole hadn’t forced her to wash up, she would have fallen asleep with her uniform on.
“Excuse me. Good morning, my lady,” her personal maid, Nicole, said as she entered the room. Currently, only Ruvik and Nicole were able to pass through the door to Leticiel’s room, so she wasn’t bothered when she didn’t hear a knock.
It seemed like the general gist of yesterday’s events had already reached the manor the previous day, possibly because her family had connections through her engagement to the crown prince. The people in the manor had been rushing around when she arrived home yesterday, but since she wasn’t interested, she had ignored the knocks on her door, determined to stay inside.
The knocking attacks had continued until late at night. They had even come a few times while she was sleeping, annoying her enough to use sorcery to lock and soundproof the door. Good grief. I wish they wouldn’t intrude on my sleep.
“Good morning, Nicole,” Leticiel answered.
“Please allow me to help you get ready, my lady!”
Leticiel til
“Nicole, why do you look so eager when I’ll just be wearing my uniform?” she asked.
“We received a notice from the academy early this morning. It said that the academy will be closed for a while due to yesterday’s commotion.”
Leticiel blinked at the announcement, but once she stopped to think about it, many of the teachers had been injured in the battle against the monster. It was probably a struggle for them to unravel what had occurred, much less hold classes.
At the same time, Leticiel could guess why Nicole’s eyes were shining. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Nicole had somewhat strong-armed her into dressing up.
“I’ve realized that with a little shining, you can turn into a diamond!” Nicole exclaimed, insisting, “Since you won’t be wearing your uniform today, please allow me to get you dressed!”
Leticiel involuntarily took a step back. So that’s how it was. If she didn’t have classes today, she would have to wear everyday clothes.
“Erm… Nicole, could you please wait a moment? To be honest, I couldn’t care less about my clothes…”
“Don’t say that! My lady, you haven’t realized how attractive you are! My duty is to show your noble beauty to the master and mistress… No, the whole region… No, to everyone in the entire kingdom!” Nicole blurted. Leticiel’s face twisted into an obvious frown, but she was unable to resist a smiling Nicole, who wouldn’t take no for an answer and dragged her into the dressing room.
Thirty minutes later, Leticiel walked out of the dressing room with a divine beauty and aura, having been dressed up and polished to Nicole’s heart’s content. The makeup even did a good job of hiding her expression, which gave off the impression that she had used up an entire day’s worth of energy.
Nicole may be the only person I cannot contend with…
While admiring Nicole’s fashion sense, Leticiel mentally noted that she might possibly be weak against Nicole’s arm-twisting.
Glancing around her room, Leticiel tilted her head and commented, “Now that I think about it, Ruvik hasn’t arrived yet.” He usually brought her breakfast by the time she finished getting ready, but today there was no one else in her room.
“That’s odd. It isn’t like him to be late,” Nicole agreed.
“Yes. Perhaps he’s caught up somewhere. I’m going to go search for him.”
“All right!” Nicole nodded firmly. Leticiel left her in charge of watching her room as she stepped outside. It was a straight shot from Leticiel’s room to the kitchen. She searched for any sign of Ruvik while walking down the somewhat familiar corridor.
“This is all your fault! Do you understand that?! You’re her personal butler, so how can you say that you didn’t know anything?!” She heard a man shouting from around the corner ahead.
“That’s right! You didn’t stop that girl! That’s why all of this has happened!”
“I’m terribly sorry…”
It was the first time in a while that she’d heard her parents’ voice, followed by Ruvik’s. Peeking around the corner, she saw that the duke and duchess had cornered Ruvik in the hallway and were yelling at him. Judging by the wagon that was parked beside him, it seemed like they had caught him while he was on his way to deliver Leticiel’s breakfast.
Leticiel’s face immediately went blank and a thread of ice wove into existence at her feet. With a cracking sound, it spread and crawled down the hallway like a snake, wrapping around the duke and duchess’s feet.
“Wh-What is this?!”
“Kyaaaah! What in the world is this?!”
By the time Scarlough and Diane noticed the change, the ice had completely encased one foot each. They panicked and tried to free themselves but lost their balance and fell over ungracefully.
“Good morning, Lord Scarlough, Lady Diane.” Leticiel smiled faintly as she finally made her appearance, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I came looking for my butler because he was taking a while to come to my room, but what business do you two have with him?”
“Eeeek!”
“If you have something to say to me, you’re welcome to say it to my face. I may not seem it, but I do listen to others, you know.”
Leticiel slowly approached the duke and duchess on light feet.
“D-Don’t come any closer! You monster!”
“But we can’t talk face-to-face if I don’t come closer. Don’t worry, this isn’t my first time being called a monster.”
“Gyaaah!” With their feet still frozen to the ground, leaving them unable to escape, Leticiel likely looked like a grim reaper or a demon–something along those lines. The color drained from Scarlough and Diane’s faces with each step she took. To be honest, it was a little entertaining.
“U-Um, my lord…”
But they were interrupted just when things were getting interesting. The old man who served as head butler called out from a few yards away on the other side of the duke and duchess. “The prime minister wishes to meet with you,” he added.
“Wh-Why is the prime minister here?!”
“He said he has a letter from His Majesty that he would like to give you. For now, I’ve shown him to the parlor.”
“I-I-I-I’ll be right there!”
Leticiel couldn’t play any longer if they had a guest. Releasing the spell she’d been using on the duke and duchess, she turned to leave–she no longer had any business there–but the head butler also called out to her.
“P-Pardon me, Miss Drossell, but he has requested your attendance, as well.”
Of course it wasn’t that easy. Sighing, Leticiel decided that she would at least meet with the man. She could return to her room after quickly popping in to show her face.
“Ruvik, you can head on to my room without me.”
“B-But…”
“I’ll be fine. You needn’t worry.”
“All right. Take care.” Ruvik still looked somewhat anxious, but he pushed the breakfast wagon and disappeared down the hallway. After seeing him off, Leticiel started walking as well.
Following the duke and duchess, who had stumbled over themselves to get ahead, Leticiel arrived at the parlor. Sirius, the prime minister, rose from his seat on the sofa and gave them all a small bow.
“Thank you for making the time to see me when you’re so busy,” he said.
“N-Not at all. Thank you for coming, Lord Sirius.”
“I came today to deliver letters from His Majesty.”
“Letters?”
“Yes.”
Apparently, there were two letters—one addressed to Leticiel and one for Scarlough. Leticiel undid the tie holding her letter closed and read through it. It was rather lengthy, but in a nutshell, the king wished to apologize for what had happened with Rocheford and to talk to her in person.
“Miss Drossell, His Majesty is requesting a meeting with you and is waiting for you at the royal palace. Would it be possible to have the both of you come?” Sirius asked.
Leticiel redid the clasp on her letter before facing him. “When would it be best for us to visit?”
“Please come to Viatris Castle tomorrow. His Majesty has expressed that he would like to meet with you at noon then.”
“I understand. Then I will come by at that time.”
Having secured the promise of an audience with the king and not having any other reason to stay there, Leticiel decided to excuse herself. Just before leaving the room, she glanced back and saw Sirius talking with Scarlough about something.
Not far behind Sirius was a young man with ash-blond hair. When he noticed Leticiel looking his way, he gave her a small nod. The boy’s hair was naturally curly, and he had dark eyes.
If I remember correctly, that boy is…
The door to the parlor closed and the boy disappeared from her sight. Still, Leticiel got the feeling that she had seen the boy before. And that was only natural as she’d seen him collapsed on the ground at the scene of the monster’s riot the day before.
She was somewhat curious, but there was no point in wondering about it now. Turning her back on the door, Leticiel headed back to her room, where Ruvik and Nicole were waiting for her.
