Chapter 6: The Hidden Boss Receives a Confession
If I had the choice, I would not have wanted to be born into aristocracy. There were so many things to learn, such as etiquette and dances, and I hated conversing with excessive social pleasantries required among aristocrats.
However, there were some moments where I felt it might have been a good thing that I was born as an aristocrat, typically when I was eating a delicious treat. Eating something delicious cost a pretty penny—these treats would have been out of my budget if I were a commoner.
Some treats I bought for myself, and some treats were gifts from Her Majesty or Eleanora. Today, I planned on eating the cookies that were gifted by Eleanora. Though cookies didn’t sound like much, they were probably quite delicious because Eleanora picked them out, and the one thing I could trust about her was her taste.
“Rita, could you prepare me some tea?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Rita was very talented at preparing tea and always flawlessly cleaned my room. If you ignored the fact that she was employed by my father, she was the perfect maid.
Delicious treats and delicious tea... It’s another lovely day.
I gracefully took a sip of my tea like a proper aristocrat’s daughter.
Oh...? This tea tastes different than it usually does. The tip of my tongue feels tingly... Maybe Rita changed the tea leaves? Or it could just be that this batch was poor quality.
“Hey, Rita, are these the same leaves you usually use?”
“Yes, it is the same as usual.”
It seemed it was my tongue that was poor quality. Perhaps it wasn’t worth being an aristocrat after all. The treats I bought downtown were good enough anyway.
The tea I had the next day also tasted strange.
Maybe I’m starting to catch a cold. Not that I’ve ever caught one before.
After school, I decided to return to my room early and rest as a precaution, only to be stopped on the way there by a man I didn’t recognize.
“Excuse me. Might you be Lady Yumiella?”
“Yes, I’m Yumiella.”
“My name is Alastor. I work in the kingdom’s Department of Magical Instrument Development. I’d like your cooperation in developmental experiments for magical instruments.”
I had no obligation to cooperate, but I was interested in magical instruments currently under development. Thanks to magical instruments, I was able to live a life not too different from my past one.
“Sure, if it doesn’t take too long.”
“Yes, it’ll be over shortly. I’ve prepared things in that empty classroom.”
The fact that they were asking me meant it was probably an endurance test or something along those lines. I was wondering where I was going to be taken, but it was apparently an experiment that could be done in an Academy classroom.
“This is a new type of magic-sealing manacle,” he explained. “We want to test if it can even hold up to your magic, which is probably the strongest in this kingdom.”
“Oh, so it’s an endurance test after all.”
Alastor pulled out a magical instrument that looked like a pair of handcuffs.
If I remember correctly, magic-sealing manacles make targeted types of magic unusable. I believe they’re used to restrain mages.
Alastor put the magic-sealing manacle on me. I wasn’t sure what they were made of, but their weight was incomparably heavy to something like iron. It was probably sturdy in both a magical and physical sense.
A man and a handcuffed female student alone in an empty classroom... This suddenly looks criminal.
“Should I try to use magic with these on?”
“Yes, try gradually increasing your magic output. If it seems like the instrument can’t take it, I’ll signal to call it.”
I attempted to cast a small spell just as I was told to, but nothing happened. I slowly increased the amount of magic I was releasing, but there were no signs of any change. Finally, I tried to use my magic at full power, but even that ended in failure.
This magical instrument is incredible. This is the first thing that’s held up to my magic.
“That was my full power. This magical instrument is incredible,” I told him in awe.
As I was shivering, half moved and half frustrated by my possibly first-ever sense of defeat, Alastor’s next words almost went over my head.
“Okay, now’s our chance!” he shouted. “Let’s kill her and get the hell out of here!”
No, I haven’t lost, not yet. If I can’t use magic, I just need to fight with physical strength.
“Hyah!” I used all of my strength to tear apart the magic-sealing manacle. The chain on the manacle easily broke. Nice, now we both have one win and one loss. It turned into a draw. “Huh?”
Only then did I realize that I was surrounded by armed men.
“Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and kill her!” Alastor commanded the others with a sleazy expression on his face.
“Um, I’m sorry...” I said.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Alastor smugly replied. “The magical instrument experiment was a lie. I didn’t think you would fall for it that easily.”
“Um, I broke this...” I moved my eyes to the manacle and back up again.
“Huh?” The other men had frozen after seeing me tear apart the manacle, but Alastor seemed to have just noticed. Though he was happily cackling just moments ago, the color was now draining from his face. “Th-That was just a joke. We appreciate your cooperation with the experiment. Well, I’ll be off, then.”
“Do you really think I believe that?”
It seemed that I was about to be killed a moment ago, and I was mortified that they thought they could neutralize me just by sealing my magic. I captured Alastor and his men and handed them off to the kingdom’s soldiers. According to the headmaster, there would have been someone behind the scenes who led them into the Academy, so I still needed to be cautious.
Two days later, I felt something strange on my chest and woke up to find a masked man before me.
Is he some kind of pervert? Did he touch my breasts?
“N-No way...” the man mumbled as his eyes widened in shock. I noticed that he was holding a large knife and that there was a hole in the chest area of my clothing. I had probably been stabbed, despite there being no damage to my body itself.
“Um... You’re like an assassin, right?” I asked.
“Gah! Freak!”
It appeared that I had just been the victim of attempted murder once again. I wasn’t sure of the assassin’s level, but there was no way I could be killed that easily.
A short while later, Patrick called out to me in the halls of the Academy, but it was for the best that I kept some distance between us for a while. “So, since there’s been two assassination attempts on me already, you should probably stay away from me,” I told him, but despite my explanation, he didn’t move.
“Are you all right though, Yumiella?” he asked, staring straight at me intently.
“What? As you can see, I’m perfectly fine—”
“I’m not worried about you being killed. I’m not sure how I should say this, but... I doubt you can just be ‘perfectly fine’ knowing someone wants to kill you.”
Someone was trying to kill me... This was probably a first for me. Was there a part of me that was hurt by that?
I do think I’ve experienced that feeling of being attacked somewhere before...
“That’s why,” Patrick continued while I remained lost in thought, “I think you should stay with me for a while. You don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll take care of your enem—”
“Oh! It’s the feeling of fighting monsters!”
“What? Monsters?”
I was used to the murderous intent coming from monsters. It had taken me longer to recognize the feeling from the assassins because it was not as strong coming from them. It was safe to say I was used to being in kill-or-be-killed situations. I explained that to Patrick, but he didn’t seem satisfied.
“Well, it’s different with monsters than it is with hu—”
“Watch out!”
An arrow flew in from the open window. It probably wouldn’t have hurt me if I got hit, but I didn’t want it to tear my clothes, so I grabbed the arrow with my hand.
“I’ll go capture the marksman! You should hide just in case,” I said to Patrick before jumping out of the window to capture the amateur who shot the arrow.
I won’t forgive them no matter what. What if the arrow had hit Patrick?
Perhaps the Academy had become a hotbed for assassins. We didn’t have classes tomorrow, so I planned to head outside of the Academy. Of course, I was going to keep it a secret from Patrick since he would probably stop me—I didn’t want to get him involved. Maybe the assassins would actually leave me alone outside of the Academy.
“Surround her! Surround her and skewer her!”
I was surrounded by roughly twenty scoundrels in a back alley of the Royal Capital. The men looked like your typical villains, armed with spears and swords.
Does this still count as an assassination?
“Dark Bind,” I said, casting the spell with a sigh. One after another, the men were restrained by the arms that reached out of their shadows.
“Aaaagh! What is this?!”
I was starting to reach my limit. I had been leaving it to the kingdom’s soldiers to interrogate the assassins, but the identity of the person behind all this was still unclear. It was probably about time I took matters into my own hands and looked for the culprit myself.
“Who is your leader?” No one answered me, but the men’s gazes all focused on one man—the man who had instructed them to surround me. “You must be the leader. Who requested this job?”
“How should I know?”
“Shadow Lance.” Spears shot out of the shadows and pierced his foot, causing blood to splatter all over.
“Gaaagh!”
“Heal.” I treated his injury with recovery magic. There wouldn’t even be a scar left over. “How many times do I need to do this in order for you to talk?”
I didn’t have the skills to torture him effectively without killing him, so my only option was to repeat this process. There was no way he would die, and it didn’t leave any lasting damage, so you could say it was a humane method of torture.
“That’s brutal...”
“That’s not something a person would do.”
“She’s a freak after all...”
Well, I called it humane, but the other men didn’t seem to respond to it too well. “It doesn’t have to be the leader who talks,” I said, turning to the other men. They immediately fell silent, averting their gazes.
“I really don’t know! You have to believe me!” the leader desperately pleaded. “I was just told by some person who wouldn’t show their face to kill the black-haired girl leaving the Royal Academy!”
“It looks like you haven’t had enough. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t run out of mana even if we did this a hundred times.”
“You’ve got it all wrong! I’m telling the truth! Please believe meeee!” Ultimately, the leader started crying. It seemed that he really didn’t know. The other assassins likely had their services requested by someone they didn’t know as well. It was no wonder that the investigation hadn’t progressed.
Now that I was under attack everywhere, my room became my only safe haven. It was broken into once before, but now, all possible entrances and exits were barricaded. I considered flying around on Ryuu indefinitely, but I couldn’t sleep in the sky, and the burden on Ryuu to keep flying like that would be considerable, so I decided against that idea.
I sighed. I was in my room, drinking the tea Rita had prepared for me. It still had a strange taste to it.
Should I go see a doctor if this continues? Everything else tastes normal.
I started thinking about how the recent attacks had gotten kind of sloppy.
Usually, assassins use something like poison...
“Hey, Rita... Could you try this tea for me?” I asked, handing her the cup I was drinking. She took it with both hands and stared intently at the cup. Her hands began to shake, causing the tea inside to swish around. She had turned completely pale by the time she slowly began to raise the cup to her lips.
“P-Please forgive me. My sister has been taken as a hostage,” Rita said shakily as she placed the cup down on the table.
So it was poison after all.
It appeared that I had been drinking poisoned tea for the past week. The poison was probably weak, considering it wasn’t very effective.
“What kind of poison is in here?”
“Um, I was told it was a strong poison with a lethal dose of one drop. I put five drops in each time...”
Come on, me, how did you not realize?
In the game, poison had several levels of strength, each having a set amount of damage it dealt. It seemed that this was the case for the real world as well. If it was proportional damage, I might have been dead by now—or actually, I would have noticed if I was truly dying. This incident was a tragedy caused by my bottomless HP.
Rita was most likely instructed to poison me by her employer.
“So, the person who instructed you to do so was...”
“Yes, it was the master,” Rita admitted. Perhaps she had given up and thought there was no way out of this.
The person trying to kill me was my father.
◆◆◆
“What do you mean by your sister being a hostage?”
“My younger sister works at the main residence in the Royal Capital. She’s unrelated to all of this. Please, at least spare...”
According to Rita, who was poisoning me, her sister had been taken hostage by my father. I decided to think about what to do with her after I saved her sister.
“All right, then, we’re going to go get your sister. I don’t know what she looks like, so you’ll have to come with me.”
“What? But I was poisoning you...”
“There was no way the hidden boss was going to die by poison.”
“H-Hidden?”
“It doesn’t matter. Hurry up! Let’s go!”
I had accidentally let my game knowledge slip. Why was I so flustered? Was it because Rita’s sister was in danger? No, my feelings were probably in a frenzy right now due to the knowledge that my parents had tried to kill me, and now, I was going to meet them for the first time.
“Come here, Ryuu!”
We rode on Ryuu’s back and flew through the night sky to the Royal Capital. Ryuu’s dark color, combined with our high altitude, made seeing us from the ground difficult.
“Hey, Rita, where’s the Dolkness house?” I had gotten amped up and just left, but I didn’t actually know where my own family’s house was. Rita, who I had forced to come with me, had her eyes tightly shut, possibly from a fear of heights. “You can give instructions starting from the Royal Palace, right? You don’t have to open your eyes.”
“Y-Yes. You leave the gates of the Royal Palace and go straight, turning right at the third main street...”
I traced the path along the streets, looking at it like a map from our vantage point in the sky. I couldn’t tell colors apart very well in the dark, so I had Rita describe landmarks by their shape.
“And then it’s the second house on the left.”
“The one with an annex in the back right in reference to the front gates?”
“Yes, and the main building is L-shaped.”
It’s that one.
The mansion looked to be a size larger than the one I grew up in. I guess they were fine with that because they never visited Dolkness County.
“We’re getting off, Rita.”
“We can’t. If a dragon landed in the yard, it would cause a commotion.”
Rita was probably worried about causing harm to her sister, but there was nothing to worry about.
“It’s fine. Only we’re getting off. Ryuu, keep flying above that house.”
“My lady, what are you...”
We’re just parachuting in, minus the actual parachute. I’ve done this a bunch of times. I’m an expert.
“We’re going to jump now, but I want to sneak in, so stay quiet, okay?”
Rita looked deathly pale, but after a moment of silence, she nodded in agreement—likely having prepared herself in order to save her sister.
With Rita in my arms, I jumped off Ryuu’s back. The moment I jumped off, I started shooting out magic energy in a downward direction, making sure we didn’t pick up too much speed. Rita continued to keep her eyes closed, hanging onto me tightly. She didn’t let out a single peep.
I continued to decrease our speed as we got closer to the ground, and soon enough, we landed softly in the mansion’s yard.
“All right, we’re here. Where’s your sister?”
Once she let go of me, Rita collapsed to the ground. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she spoke softly. “Right now, she should be in her room. This is just my guess, but I don’t think she’s been told anything. I think she finished her work for the day as usual and has retired to her room.”
We sneaked into the mansion, led by Rita, and arrived at the servants’ living quarters. She stopped in front of a specific door and knocked softly.
“Sara, it’s me, Rita,” she called quietly.
The door opened. “Rita? What are you doing here?”
Upon seeing that her sister was safe, Rita got choked up with emotion, tears spilling as she hugged her sister. Sara, not understanding the situation, seemed puzzled.
“Rita? What’s wrong?” She then turned to me. “Um, who are you?”
“Inside we go. We’ll get caught if we stay out here,” I said, pushing Rita and forcing our way into the room—sneaking in would have been pointless if we got caught now. I closed the door behind me and scoped out my surroundings. The room looked like it housed multiple people, but currently, it was only occupied by Rita’s sister.
Rita was still crying, so I decided to explain the situation myself. “You were taken hostage by my parents. They told Rita they would kill you if she didn’t kill me.” The violence of the word “kill” made Sara freeze in shock.
Perhaps I should have sugarcoated my phrasing a bit. Maybe “stuffing away” or “squishing” would have been good. They almost sound kind of cute.
“I’m sorry, Sara. This is the end for me. Thank you for everything until now,” Rita blubbered as if these were her final moments. “My lady, if you could at least spare my sister...”
“Rita?! What are you talking about?”
Huh? How did the conversation get here?
“Just so you know, I don’t have any intention of giving you up to the soldiers.”
“Yes, I’m aware. If you could just do it in one go, maybe somewhere my sister won’t see...”
What was I, some kind of devil who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her after this touching display of sisterly love? I’ve done a lot up until now, but I haven’t killed anyone, nor do I have any plans to.
“I won’t be squishing you either.”
Rita only did what she did because she was threatened, and the only effect it had on me was that my tea tasted bad for a week. I wasn’t particularly bothered.
I guess I can see why Patrick called me a good person and overly trusting.
“I have no intention of punishing you. We can talk later about how things are going to be moving forward.”
I’m sure Rita doesn’t want to work for the Dolkness family anymore, so I’ll need to help her look for her next job.
Rita lifted her head up, eyes widening in relief. Slowly, her eyes began to swell with tears again.
Wait, please don’t cry anymore.
She came up to me and fell to her knees. “My Lady...no, Lady Yumiella, I vow to devote my loyalty to you until the end of my life.”
“Oh, um, yeah. Thank you?”
Uh, that’s not really what I was going for...
Rita stopped crying and was now looking up at me ecstatically.
Creepy...
It felt like I had cleared up one misunderstanding by creating a new one.
I’ll deal with this later.
“I have something to take care of, so you two, just wait in this room.” I probably should have let the sisters escape first, but there were people I needed to meet.
I slowly made my way through the mansion, heading the way Rita told me to go. I didn’t bump into anyone on my way to the room that was my destination.
I actually wanted more time to mentally prepare.
I opened the door, and two pairs of eyes fell on me. The two people in the room were having some food while drinking wine.
It seems the couple is getting along well.
My father was the first to speak. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”
“Good evening. Thank you for having me. Or would it be better to say I’m home?”
“Home...? That black hair... You must be...!”
“It’s nice to meet you, father, mother. I am your only daughter, Yumiella Dolkness. The Yumiella Dolkness who you tried to use. The Yumiella Dolkness who you tried to kill.”
My parents looked surprisingly normal. I had thought that they were going to be typical overweight, evil aristocrats, but they didn’t have any standout features. They were both blond-haired and didn’t look anything like me. If they weren’t eating in this mansion, I would have a hard time believing they were my parents.
“Damn them. I even paid them handsomely...” my father muttered.
“So you admit to trying to kill me?”
“It’s your fault for betraying us in the first place! Do you hate us that much for isolating you in our domain?!”
It was only now that I’d met them that I realized this, but I didn’t particularly hate my parents. Of course, I had some qualms about how they acted as aristocrats, but I did think that I wouldn’t be who I was today if they had pampered and spoiled me growing up.
“What do you mean when you say I betrayed you?”
“We know that you’re planning to dispatch troops with those in the king’s faction. Because you went to their side, we’ve been humiliated!”
It was true that I leaned more toward His Majesty’s faction. However, that was partially because I wanted to distance myself from the radicals.
“Planning to dispatch troops?”
“The soldiers directly under the kingdom’s command are preparing for a large-scale dispatch. I bet you have a hand in it.”
I’m starting to see the whole picture now.
In order to prepare for the resurrection of the Demon Lord, the kingdom was currently organizing the military. The radicals, having gotten ahold of that information, probably misread the situation, thinking that the moderates in the king’s faction were planning a war against another kingdom. They were probably concerned about the moderates’ power growing due to the dispatching of troops.
The fact that I, a strategic-level weapon, was under the protection of the royal family probably only furthered their delusion, especially because I had turned down every invitation from the radicals. That put my parents in bad standing within their faction, leading them to attempt to assassinate me, as they would rather have me killed than have me in the hands of their political opponent. That last portion was mostly a guess, but I was probably correct for the most part.
“There will be no dispatching of troops to another kingdom, and I have no intention of participating in any invasions either.”
“Why not?! If you succeed in war, the Dolkness house can grow even larger! We could maybe even obtain a central position. We wouldn’t have to be called pseudo-centralists anymore!”
Maybe you should focus on enriching your county if you don’t want to be called a pseudo-centralist.
“Father, why don’t you return to the county? I think our current county is plenty large, and it could be good to start up some kind of business.”
“Such nonsense! The county can be left to the deputy while we just collect taxes!”
“How do you feel, mother?”
“You want me to live like a country bumpkin? It’s bad enough that you had to be born with black hair. Why did a child like you have to be born?!”
This conversation was going nowhere. Not only were our values different, but so were our morals. My feelings would never get through to them, and their way of thinking was something I couldn’t understand. I was about to sigh, but I swallowed away the temptation.
These parents were no good. I already had no expectations for them as parents, but they were no good as aristocrats either. I decided that I needed to interact with them as not just their daughter but as another aristocrat.
“Father, please give me your title.”
“What are you...?”
“I’m usurping your title. You can turn me down if you’d like. After all, I’m the only heir to the Dolkness house. But once you’re gone, I’ll automatically become a countess,” I said, teasing the idea of murder. My father, who had been red with anger, was now turning pale.
“S-Someone! Call for the guards!”
“Do you have someone in your personal army who can win against me? If you do, you should have sent that person to assassinate me.”
“There’s no way you’re getting away with treating your own parents like this—”
“You’re one to talk, sending assassins to kill your own child.” I turned to my mother, who had gotten up from her chair. “Oh, do give up on running away, mother.”
She began to panic and try to persuade me. “Yumiella, you know there’s many good offers of marriage that have come in for you? You’ll find happiness if you marry into a large house.”
“I’m plenty happy right now.”
Also, I might have someone I like right now...maybe.
“You have black hair. There’s no way you could live life normally and find happiness.”
“There are people who’ve said they like my black hair. Please don’t decide my own happiness for me.” I didn’t see any point in continuing this conversation any longer. In an effort to intimidate them, I created a black orb out of magic and let it float beside me. “Now, please choose. Would you like to be under house arrest and live a slightly inconvenient life or would you like to die gracefully right here and now?”
“Y-You couldn’t kill someone...”
Why are they saying something parental after all this time?
“Don’t you know what happened to the assassins you sent to kill me? My magic can make the object of my choice disappear. I don’t have to clean up any bodies, so it’s very useful.”
The assassins were all alive, but seeing how much my parents were shaking, they probably didn’t know that. I used Black Hole to make an empty chair disappear, which finally broke them. They began to scream like children and beg for their lives.
“A-All right! We’ll do as you say, so just don’t kill us!”
After these events, I was completely sure that I had a strong displeasure toward murder. I had obtained strength that was impossible for most people by killing many monsters, but apparently, I had a human heart after all. Occasionally, and it was only very occasionally, I would feel uneasy about that, so it was a relief to know for sure.
◆◆◆
“They are under the wrong impression that His Majesty is preparing to dispatch troops to another kingdom.”
“I see. To think that the radicals had such an impression... I guess even the Duke of Hillrose couldn’t keep them under control. It’s true that there are some moderates who are suspicious of the strengthening of the military. The resurrection of the Demon Lord had been kept a secret in order to avoid commotion, but perhaps we should make it public soon.”
I was currently reporting the incident with my parents to His Majesty—my second time meeting the king face-to-face. This time, we were meeting one-on-one in a small drawing room rather than in the large audience chamber we were in previously.
“We also have to think about how we’ll handle the Count of Dolkness,” the king continued. “Hmm, what to do about the next lord of the county... It would be great if you would take that on.”
“Yes, if Your Majesty would allow it, I would like to succeed the title of countess,” I responded. The king widened his eyes in surprise upon hearing that I wanted to take over the county, likely because I had avoided obtaining any power like this until now.
“I thought you would turn me down. What has changed?”
“I would like to try and eliminate the discrimination against those with black hair. In order to do that, I thought it would be best to take center stage.”
“Eliminate discrimination... That’s a path full of trials and tribulations. Discrimination and ostracism are created by the weak and unsightly parts of people’s hearts. Overcoming those factors on your own is already difficult. Making others overcome it is another level of effort.”
“Even if I can’t eliminate discrimination, I would be happy if I could lessen it.”
For Phil, the boy with the dark brown hair, for myself, and for the children who will be born with black hair in the future.
“Also, His Highness was able to overcome his so-called weak heart,” I pointed out.
Just as Prince Edwin was able to change, other people could also change. Though, in His Highness’s case, the incredible one might actually be Patrick, who convinced him.
“I see. In that case, will you be continuing to make achievements?”
“Yes, but I do not intend on making any war-related achievements. Even if I were to succeed in war, it would only make me the object of fear.”
From now on, I needed to become a kind Yumiella who governed fairly, not a scary Yumiella with ruthless strength. My strength was sure to be a double-edged sword in this endeavor.
“So you will perform your duties as the county owner. Very well, I will prepare for you to succeed the title of countess. We do have precedent for female counts.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Well then, what shall we do about the former Count and Countess of Dolkness? We can execute them in the name of the king.”
“I would like to have them under house arrest in Dolkness County.”
“Just as Ronald says, you’re a good person with a bottomless heart,” the king said with a small chuckle.
Ronald’s been saying that too?
“No, it’s just that I believe my reputation would suffer if I took on the title after killing my parents. I think them not being able to live a lavish life in the Royal Capital anymore is punishment enough.”
Though I was satisfied with the points I brought up, I felt that the true reason was that I was truly put off by the idea of someone dying. As an aristocrat, logically, I knew that I couldn’t be idealistic about everything. But I didn’t want to kill if I didn’t have to. If there were lives I could save, I couldn’t help but want to save them.
All this sounds strange coming from the person who has probably killed the most monsters in the world.
“I understand,” the king said kindly. Perhaps he had seen right through me and knew how I felt.
“Soon, we will be announcing the Demon Lord’s resurrection to the public. That should quiet down the radicals. I doubt they would come out and say they will defeat the Demon Lord themselves. I would like you to be there for the announcement, Lady Yumiella. I’m sure there are many people who will feel at ease seeing you there.”
“Understood. His Highness and Alicia will be there as well, right?”
The prince and I were fine, but Alicia still saw me as an enemy. It had gotten even worse after I helped her with level grinding.
“Yes, we’ll have Edwin keep her in line, and I’ll do what I can to make sure there’s minimal contact.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“What to do with Lady Alicia... We have to think about having her and Edwin get married. Would you be interested in being the saintess, Lady Yumiella? ‘Saintess’ is just a title given to the person who defeats the Demon Lord alongside the hero. There’s no need for them to be a light magic user.”
“I’m sorry, but...”
“I know. I just thought I would ask,” the king said with a wry smile.
If you know, then I’d prefer you didn’t ask.
Though becoming the saintess would probably be an effective plan to eliminate discrimination against people with black hair, that was the one thing I didn’t want to do.
“Don’t worry,” the king continued. “I won’t stick my nose into matters of your marriage. There’s a man you’re getting along with, isn’t there?”
“Do you mean Patrick? We don’t have that kind of relationship. Besides, I’m into people who are stronger than me.”
I guess the king knows about Patrick after all.
I had to do everything in my power to hide my positive feelings toward him—not because I was embarrassed but because there was the possibility of him being taken as a hostage. I had impulsively used my usual rejection line.
If Patrick were to be taken hostage and the culprits demanded something of me, I don’t think I would be able to deny them. Of course, that would only be if they could thwart my hostage-recapturing plan.
“Yes, it’s probably better you hide your relationship with him until you have a stable foothold. I’m sure the consequences of any harm coming to him would be terrifying, but there are many who wouldn’t consider those consequences.”
Um, the part about us not being in a relationship is true... Doesn’t seem like he’s going to believe me, though.
“Eliminating discrimination...” the king pondered, calling back to our previous conversation. “It’s quite the undertaking, but I like it. I’ll help you as well so that we can also prevent a second Demon Lord from being born.”
“A second Demon Lord?”
Perhaps His Majesty’s lips were loose after talking about romance. He had just dropped a massive bombshell.
The second Demon Lord? Is the Demon Lord that will resurrect soon the first? What does the royal family know about the Demon Lord?
“Oh my, I have... Please forget that statement. I thought it would be fine to tell you, but I believe the battle against the Demon Lord will go better if I don’t say anything. Please refrain from asking any further questions about it,” the king said, bowing deeply.
“Does that mean you won’t tell me for reasons related to me, not because of reasons related to the royal family?”
He said that it would be more convenient for the battle against the Demon Lord if I didn’t know the whole story. It’s as if he thinks I would hesitate to fight the Demon Lord if I knew his identity...
“I apologize. I vow to tell you before I die, but I cannot right now.”
“I understand. If Your Highness has made that decision, I will trust it.”
The king absolutely refused to speak anymore on the secret of the Demon Lord.
In the game, it was only said that he was an evil being that controlled the monsters, but what kind of truth is hidden behind that?
◆◆◆
After discussing it with the king, it was decided that I would announce my succession of the title of countess at the Founding Festival, along with the announcement about the resurrection of the Demon Lord. The festival was right at the beginning of winter, and aristocrats from all over gathered at the Royal Capital to celebrate the founding of the kingdom.
Patrick was very worried about the multiple assassination attempts on me. I got permission from the king as well, so I decided to at least tell him what happened. We were sitting across from each other in my room at the dorms while drinking warm tea.
“So, with that, I’m a countess now.”
“I see. You went through a lot, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Patrick’s simple words felt like they lifted a weight off my chest. I thought I was fine, but a lot had happened, and I must have been tired at the end of it all.
“I’m surprised that you’re going to succeed the title. Did something in you change?”
“You know how it’s hard to live in this country with black hair? I’d like to change that, so I can’t avoid putting myself out there anymore.”
“I like your hair. Is that not enough?” Patrick asked, staring straight into my eyes.
Jeez, that scared me. I thought he was asking me out for a moment, but it was just about my hair.
“If it was just about me, then that would be enough. But thanks to a certain boy—”
“Boy? Who is he? Where is he from?”
What? That’s what you want to know?
I began telling him about the events surrounding Phil in order, including the fact that Phil made me feel like the entire kingdom needed change.
“Because of that, I thought I needed to bring change to the entire kingdom. There’s probably a lot of people who are having a hard time, and we just don’t see it.” This was a small declaration of my determination.
Patrick had a stern expression after hearing what I had to say.
“Will that bring you happiness, Yumiella?” He leaned in and whispered, genuinely worried about my future. “If you leave for somewhere far away, you could live freely and not worry about that. I could go too, and—”
“Please stop. I’ve already made up my mind.”
Patrick was kind. If I were to hear him out any longer, my determination would have wavered.
“Okay, then, I’ll help as much as I can. It’s not like I’m completely unrelated to the issue,” he said with a soft smile as he touched his gray hair.
“Thank you. I guess the first thing is to make sure we graduate. His Majesty said I could deal with the county after that.”
The current owner of the county being absent made me uneasy, but Dolkness County had spent several decades with the current owner away from the area. There was already a system in place where the deputy handled the actual work, and the owner living in the Royal Capital would just sign off on the documents.
Of course, things couldn’t stay that way forever, but it was something that could be dealt with in one to two years after I graduated from the Academy. There was a message from His Majesty saying that things could be left to the deputy until I defeated the Demon Lord and graduated.
“Does that mean you’ll be returning to Dolkness County immediately after graduating?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. Though, I do think it would be best if I visited at least once before that happens.”
“I think you can just send a letter. You’re planning on going to Dolkness County with Ryuu, aren’t you? That would cause an unimaginable frenzy.”
Darn, I knew it. The king also implied the same thing.
“I guess I’ll send a letter, then. Hmm, there’s a lot to think about now that I’ll be a countess.”
“You can take it slowly. I’ll help you out too.”
I was to become the county owner of Dolkness as a countess, so I also had to think of my heir. Worst case, I could just adopt, so there was no need to focus on marriage as my only solution.
I can’t marry someone who just wants my land, and I don’t want someone who’s too much older than me either. If possible, I’d like to build a good relationship with my marriage partner, and I’d like them to be a second-born or younger provincial aristocrat with knowledge regarding running a county.
Now that I had given it some thought, there were quite a few requirements.
On top of that, I would need them to be cooperative toward me. I don’t think there would be anyone who’d conveniently match all of that...
“Hey, Patrick, how do you feel about me adopting you?”
“Once again, saying something completely out of nowhere... Adoption? What?”
“You’re the second-born in your family, right? Since you can’t succeed the title of margrave, how about settling for a count?”
“I don’t want to be adopted.”
I wasn’t expecting him to turn me down right away, so I was a bit shocked.
“Um, I thought it would be nice if we could become family...but I guess you don’t want that.”
“That’s not what I said!” Patrick exclaimed, raising his voice—something he rarely did.
There must be another reason he doesn’t want to, then.
I decided to reason with him. “Don’t worry. I’ll retire right away! I won’t pick on your wife or anything!”
“I just don’t want to refer to you as my mother.”
His reasoning was understandable. It was insane to think about us being parent and child when we were the same age.
Or, actually, it might not be that unheard of with aristocrats. I feel like I may or may not have heard of people whose second wives were younger than their children.
Patrick seemed to be seriously against it, so I stopped the adoption discussion there, and we started reminiscing about the past together. It hadn’t even been two years since we entered the Academy, yet the topics were endless.
“It’s been a while since we’ve talked this much, especially since I haven’t gotten to spend much time with you these days,” I admitted. “Can’t you tell me where you’ve been going all this time already?”
“Just wait a little bit longer. After that, there’s something I want to tell you.”
With that, Patrick left. It was around the time we entered our second year at the Academy, but Patrick often ventured outside the Academy alone. Not getting to spend much time with him made me feel lonely.
Lonely, huh? I’ve been alone all my life, yet I feel lonely now. It’s pretty clear what my feelings toward him are.
“I guess my time with Patrick ends at graduation,” I muttered to myself.
I was dreading our graduation from the Academy in a year and a half more than the resurrection of the Demon Lord in six months.
I wonder if I’ll be able to tell him how I feel by then.
◆◆◆
The time for harvesting was over, and winter was about to be in full swing. The Kingdom of Valschein’s Founding Festival was the day when the most people gathered in the Royal Capital. With the harvest festival going on as well, even the commoners were rowdy and festive. Aristocrats also gathered in the Royal Capital on this day and celebrated the founding of the kingdom. Last year, I spent the holiday touring the Royal Capital, but this year would not be as quiet.
In the grand hall of the Royal Palace, I was on standby at the wing of the stage. I was in the proper attire, a dress, given that this was a ceremony. I peeked out at the venue to see many people standing around and chatting, as well as a large amount of food laid out like a buffet; however, most people barely had a sip of the drinks in their hands, and not a single person had touched the food.
I wish I had some containers on me.
“His Majesty has arrived!”
With that announcement as a signal, the aristocrats put down their drinks and took a bow, as did I. The king then began to speak.
“Everyone, thank you for coming. Please raise your heads and unwind.”
Upon lifting my head, I could see Alicia and Prince Edwin just past the king—they were in the stage wing opposite of me. If we were together, we could have caused a scene, so I was grateful for their consideration.
The king offered some celebratory words about the founding of the kingdom, then proceeded on to the next topic.
“I have something important to tell everyone. Some people may have caught on due to Edwin’s indeliberate statements, but in less than a year, the ancient Demon Lord will be resurrected.”
The aristocrats started whispering to each other upon hearing this, but there wasn’t much confusion. After all, Prince Edwin had already publicly mentioned that the Demon Lord would be resurrected. Though the king had denied it, there were probably many who suspected that it was the truth.
“The Demon Lord was sealed away by the hero, who was our first king, and the saintess, who was our first queen. However, even strong seals eventually break, and the first king had accurately estimated when that would be. The Demon Lord will surely be weak immediately upon his awakening. Even though the hero couldn’t do it, it’s possible to definitively defeat the Demon Lord and end suffering for our future generations!”
The venue erupted at the king’s declaration to achieve a feat that would surpass the first king.
“It is said that the Demon Lord can control monsters. The Demon Lord will most likely send an army of monsters to attack our country in order to build up his strength. I will leave the army handling this to Commander Adolphe. We have already started preparing for a large-scale dispatch of the Royal Army, but no matter how many troops we have, it wouldn’t be enough. I would like to ask those here to send some of your troops as well.”
There were various reactions to the request for soldiers from the king. Some were excited to be fighting for the kingdom, some looked like they were in a difficult situation, perhaps from not having enough troops they could lend, while some seemed to be thinking about how they could maximize their exploits.
“As for the crucial Demon Lord himself...” The aristocrats quieted and focused on the king’s words so they didn’t miss how he was going to handle the Demon Lord when just sealing him was all the first king could do. “A small, elite unit will enter the Demon Lord’s home base and take him down! I’d like to introduce the members...”
The king began by introducing Prince Edwin. The prince made a declaration of his determination, to which the entire crowd applauded. William, Oswald, and Alicia were also introduced, until finally, it was my turn.
“Finally, we have Yumiella Dolkness. She has reached level 99, a feat no one has accomplished before, and has tamed a dragon. She will surely be a strong force against the Demon Lord. I’d also like to take this moment to announce that she has succeeded the title of countess and is now the Countess of Dolkness.”
It’s my time.
I psyched myself up and made my way up to the stage.
“Thank you for the introduction. I am Yumiella Dolkness. I have faced many hardships because of my black hair. At one point, I had given up, thinking that it couldn’t be helped, but I met a certain boy, and my feelings changed. I met this boy, who had a kind heart despite the horrible things he had to endure because of his hair color, and I felt that I had to do something about it. Because of that, I want to do everything I can to take down the Demon Lord, the main reason for this discrimination.”
I’ve gone and said it in front of people. What if they don’t accept me?
The venue had gone silent. In the quiet hall, the sound of one person clapping rang out—the sound came from my side. It was Prince Edwin. Following him, the king and queen clapped, and eventually, the entire audience joined in.
After the founding ceremony ended, a grand ball would be held. I should be actively participating in social scenes like this; however, I had completely lost my stamina after my short greeting on the stage.
I escaped from the venue and made my way to the courtyard in the Royal Palace. The night was cloudy, and there wasn’t a single light shining in the courtyard.
It’s so dark here. I can probably avoid being found if I stay here.
“Oh, Yumiella, there you are.”
And... I was immediately found. The person making their way toward me was Patrick.
That’s weird. I don’t think he was invited to the ceremony.
“Patrick? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here by courtesy of His Highness. But I couldn’t find the person I wanted to invite to dance with me, so I’ve come to look for her.”
“Who are you looking for? Would you like help finding her?”
The only people who were invited here were the heads of aristocratic households and their wives, so who could she be? Could she be...someone’s wife or a widow?
“Patrick, I think widows are fine, but I think you should stay away from married women.”
“What kind of misunderstanding do you have this time? No, wait. Don’t say it. I don’t want to hear,” he sighed, looking at me with disappointment.
Something’s strange...
This courtyard was quite dark, and I was only able to see with no issues because of my level 99 senses. Patrick shouldn’t have been able to see in this darkness with his level.
“Patrick, you can see right now?”
“I was hiding it, but I didn’t think you’d notice it like this. Yes, I’m level 60 now. My senses have gotten sharper, but in this darkness, I could only make out a human figure.”
Level 60 would put him at the top level in terms of strength in this kingdom.
When in the world did he...?
“Oh, so you weren’t at the Academy recently because...”
“Yeah, I spent all my free time going to dungeons. And I got a lot of help from this thing,” Patrick said, pulling out an amulet that was around his neck.
“Is that an amulet of growth? Hey! It’s dangerous not to have an amulet of protection on you. What would you do if something happened to you?!”
“You were the one who said we should be using these, weren’t you?”
Huh? He’s right. I did believe that the amulet of growth was the only choice for level grinding. I blurted out that it was dangerous because...
“No, it’s dangerous. I wouldn’t like it if something happened to you.”
“Just so you know, I felt the same way any time you did something reckless.”
“I’m...sorry about that?”
Moving forward, I have to be less reckless. With that said, what exactly have I done up until now that would be considered reckless?
“I can’t see your face because it’s dark, but I know that you don’t understand what I’m saying. That’s fine, though. What I wanted to ask was, could you let me join the battle against the Demon Lord?”
In the game, level 60 was the appropriate level to fight the Demon Lord. He would probably be an adequate asset in battle, but there was something else I wanted Patrick to do.
“I can’t do that. I want you to protect the kingdom.”
“I guess I’m not strong enough after all.”
“It’s not that. I think you would be a great help if you were to join the battle against the Demon Lord, but I think where you shine best is in large-scale group battles. I want you to defend the kingdom against the army of demons because I can’t help with that.”
His command of group battles that I saw during our outdoor training at the Academy had almost no unnecessary calls and even felt beautiful. I would be enough to handle the Demon Lord, so I wanted him to keep the damage from the defense battle to a minimum.
The margraves would likely be sending out an army as well. Even if he couldn’t command them, with his skills, he was sure to succeed there. With the ability to prove one’s strength with something as clear as levels, there was no way they could deny his help.
“Also, do you know what the first and second-highest level man and woman who defeat the Demon Lord will be called?” I asked.
“That’s right... They would be the hero and saintess.”
“I guess it would be okay if you wanted to start a new kingdom with me.” If Patrick wanted to defeat the Demon Lord to prove he was worthy of being king to start his own kingdom, I wouldn’t mind helping him.
“No, I don’t want to be seen as some challenger to the throne. But if you wanted to become a queen, I wouldn’t mind doing that for you.”
“I obviously don’t want that.”
That would mean that we would get married, but perhaps he hadn’t realized that.
“I understand. I’m sure Ashbatten will be sending out soldiers, so I’ll support them.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. Also, um, why did you rush level grinding so much? I don’t think I said anything about the Demon Lord’s resurrection.”
“You...” he trailed off.
I what?
His face, which I could see despite the darkness, was twisting into various expressions.
“What about me?” I asked.
“I wanted to be stronger than you.”
Hmm, if you look at our base stats, I think that’s a moon shot.
“Are you frustrated with being weaker? That’s okay. Hey, strength isn’t the only value a person has.”
“You’re the one who started it. You said that you liked guys stronger than you.”
That was my rejection line for sons of aristocrats. In reality, the person I had feelings for was weak in comparison to me.
Wait, so I said that I liked strong people, and he wanted to become strong after hearing that...
My mind was starting to get confused.
“Um, that was something I made up to turn people down, so... I don’t actually think that,” I explained awkwardly.
“That’s what I assumed it was, but then, I thought that being by your side would require a great deal of strength,” Patrick said with a sad expression.
That would mean it’s like that, right? Even I can tell that much. Something... I need to say something...
“Um, Patrick, let’s play rock-paper-scissors.”
“What?”
“Here we go. Rock, paper, scissors.”
Though he was confused, Patrick properly put out his hand. Unfortunately, I won.
“What’s the result? It’s too dark for me to tell who won.”
“You won. You’re stronger when it comes to rock, paper, scissors. I think I like people who are stronger than me after all, so...”
Patrick, this is as far as I can go. Please get where I’m going with this.
“Yumiella...”
Patrick put his hands on my shoulders, and—
Patrick, you must have been lying when you said it was too dark to see my face because you know exactly where my lips are.
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