Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord - Volume 2 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Hidden Boss Heads to the Royal Capital

It had been less than two months since we had started working on developing the new village, but preparations were already nearly finished. The fields were still untilled, but that would be left for the villagers to handle. As the land was to be theirs, they shouldn’t have any qualms taking on that particular job.

There was still one problem left for us to solve regarding the villagers from the devastated village that would be moving here, though—I needed to convince my neighbor, Viscount Cottoness, to agree to my plan. I wanted to settle things as amicably as possible.

I figured if I prodded the viscount on his lack of management, he probably wouldn’t be able to say much to contradict me—after all, the reason his villagers had turned to theft was because he’d decided to refuse them aid even though they’d informed him that they were leading a life of hardship after being attacked by monsters. He’d left them pretty much entirely to their own devices before that too, which meant that the village couldn’t have been located in that important of an area for the viscounty. Lastly, it was likely that the village had been in the red for several years, perhaps even a few decades if things were really bad—technically, my taking them off his hands should be a good deal for both of our territories. Or at least, I thought so.

The plan was for me to travel to speak with the viscount along with Patrick. He seemed to want to travel with me whenever I went anywhere for work.

Aw, Patrick, you silly! This isn’t a date, you know!

Regardless, he’d insisted, “I can’t let you out of my sight.”

In return, I’d asked him, “Does that mean you’re completely smitten with me?”

But he’d only rolled his eyes. “It means I don’t know what sort of trouble you might cause on your own,” he’d clarified.

Here I was, thinking our tale was one of a charming girl and a passionate boy, but it was actually about a delinquent girl and her guardian supervisor all along! I pouted internally. Come on, Patrick, our relationship should be more loving than a prisoner and her guard!

Anyway, we were going to visit the Viscount Cottoness, who was just another provincial aristocrat...or at least, I’d thought he was. According to the preliminary research I’d done recently, he leaned toward the radical side of the political spectrum, and had actually ended up quite wealthy despite his provincial territory due to the cotton his family had begun cultivating several generations before. It appeared that cash crops like cotton were worth quite a lot of money.

The current viscount of Cottoness had used this wealth to get as close to Duke Hillrose and his merry band of friends as possible, in what was clearly a bid for power. As always, that specific brand of thinking was a complete mystery to me.

He’s not quite as bad as my parents, who left their territory for the Royal Capital and never looked back, but the viscount is clearly quite an ambitious man, I mused. I can see him asking for something from me in return for taking the village off his hands—I’m going to have to approach these negotiations with a clear mind. 

Just then, we arrived at the viscount’s mansion, which was located in the central town of his territory, and was a bit smaller than my own property in Dolkness County. We were quickly led to the drawing room, where the viscount was waiting for us.

“It’s been a while, Viscount Cottoness,” I greeted the man.

The viscount, who was a slender man in his forties who looked so unsubstantial that he might be blown away by a strong wind, nodded. “We’ve been awaiting your visit.”

I had actually met the viscount once before, back when I’d first become countess and had been traveling around to greet my neighbors. That had just been a courtesy visit, though, so this was basically our first real meeting. The viscount himself seemed somewhat pleased by my visit, which was a bit odd since I’d mentioned I was coming to discuss something important.

I glanced around the room we were in, whose walls were decorated with various paintings and pieces of armor. It’s a bit over the top in here, I thought, taking a sip of the tea that had been brought out to us.

“I came here today to—”

“Yes, I know,” the viscount cut in. “It appears the rumors are true.”

I paused, eyeing the man in confusion. It would have been only natural for him to find out we’d been sending food to one of his village’s without permission, but there was a strange giddiness to his tone that made me think the viscount was referring to something else altogether.

“If you’re going to be affiliated with the duke,” the viscount continued with a cocky smile, “then the plan will become even more solid.”

I blinked, slowly taking these words in. But I would never switch alliances to join the duke...and also, what’s this plan you’re talking about?

I opened my mouth to ask this question, but Patrick jabbed me in my side, stopping me in my tracks. You almost made me let out a weird sound! I thought in his direction, giving him a glare that declared my intent to never forgive him. Alas, he took no notice.

“We’ve actually come to ask about the plan,” Patrick declared. “We haven’t been able to visit the Royal Capital in a while due to certain circumstances, and letters have the possibility of being compromised. That’s why we wanted to ask you to share the details of the plan with us.”

“Wait, you don’t know anything about the plan at all...?” the viscount asked.

Our lack of information seemed to make him a bit suspicious, so Patrick continued his bluffing.

“We know the gist of it,” my fiancé explained, “but we went through a lot of trouble in the Royal Capital to even get that information.”

“Oh, right, your family is...”

“Yes, my father is a margrave. I understand why they would be cautious around me.”

“Why, of course they would be; the margrave’s distaste for Lemlaesta is well-known.”

Whoa, this guy’s even bringing up one of our neighboring kingdoms? I thought. This is definitely something bad... I wanna just pretend I didn’t hear anything and go home. Also, get your facts straight, viscount! It’s the margrave’s wife who hates Lemlaesta, not the margrave himself. But I guess that doesn’t really matter right now.

“The truth is, I don’t know many details either,” the viscount went on. “I’ve heard that we’re going to get reinforcements from Lemlaesta in order to get rid of the king’s faction, but I have no idea what exactly those reinforcements will entail.”

Jeez, he’s totally spilling his guts, I thought. Looks like Patrick did a good job of convincing him.

“I see,” Patrick responded thoughtfully. “So we’re not the only ones who weren’t told much.”

“Yes,” the viscount agreed. “It appears to be that way since the duke is actually making moves himself for a change.”

I had been listening to their discussion under the assumption that some people hadn’t thought things through and were just getting ahead of themselves, but hearing this I was shocked. “The duke of Hillrose himself?” I asked without thinking.

“Yes, the duke himself negotiated with Lemlaesta.”

It seemed Eleanora’s father was finally making some big moves. And here I’d been, thinking he didn’t want to stir the pot since he’d told Eleanora to stay away from Prince Edwin. I hadn’t even thought the request that strange, since the royal family had always been at odds with the duke’s. But it seemed that, contrary to my assumptions, Duke Hillrose was quite ambitious indeed.

Suppose I believed what Viscount Cottoness had told us so far. That would mean that the duke was doing something as extreme as inviting an enemy country to assume control of his homeland. There was no sugarcoating it, this was a coup d’état—it was an irreversible act of treason.

Regardless, it’s best if we leave while the viscount still thinks we’re on the duke’s side, I decided. It doesn’t seem like he has any useful information for us anyway, and things will get complicated if he figures out Patrick is bluffing. Firm in this decision, I took my own jab at Patrick’s side, hoping to signal to him to change the topic. Raaaaawr, feel the wrath of my pointer finger! This is payback for earlier!

“Ugh!” Patrick grunted.

The viscount’s eyebrows rose. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing,” Patrick said, glaring at me resentfully. “We actually came here to discuss one other thing.”

Forgive me, Patrick, I thought. I didn’t mean to use that much force... 

Then, I seized my chance to take control of the conversation. “I’ll be the one to speak on this portion,” I declared. Then, focusing on the viscount, I began, “A few months ago, we were attacked by a band of thieves in Dolkness County.”

“Oh my, I hope you were...” The viscount paused, almost laughing at himself. “Well, I’m sure you were all right, Countess Dolkness.”

“Yes, we were completely unscathed,” I agreed. “There’s only one problem: the thieves were from your viscounty.”

“Oh my...” the viscount murmured, his face going rigid. “I-I’m terribly sorry, I don’t know how to make it up to you.”

As I watched, the man before me began to tremble in fear, likely thinking about what I’d demand of him to make up for being attacked by people from his own territory.

Negotiations will go smoothly if he remains in this state, I thought cheerfully. All I need him to do is agree that the villagers can move. 

“I spoke to the thieves, and according to them, their village was desolate to the point that they weren’t able to make ends meet. Do you know of a village in your territory that’s located in the shadow of a mountain, with low crop yields?”

“Y-Yes! Yes, I know that village. They don’t even pay their taxes and keep bothering us, asking for aid. They have proved quite troublesome for me as well. How would you like me to deal with them?”

“To...‘deal’ with them...?” A low, simmering anger began to build in me.

While a territory owner of course had to look at their people as numbers at times, due to their position, the way Viscount Cottoness spoke of these villagers seemed unnecessarily cruel. To treat them with such disdain when their only problem was being housed in a bad location... To act as if they were just baggage to be cast aside...

“Oh, but if you’ve taken your revenge already, there must be considerably less of them now,” the viscount continued, rambling in his panic. “Thank you, I’m so gratefu—”

The viscount cut himself off with a shiver as I stood up without thinking, thoroughly mad now. Patrick didn’t even move to stop me, which was completely unexpected and actually calmed me down.

If I let my emotions take the reins and lose my temper, nothing is going to get resolved, I told myself firmly, taking a deep breath. Right now, the most important thing is to get him to agree to our terms. 

Newly composed, I said disdainfully, “It is clear you think nothing of losing your citizens if they aren’t already proving productive for you. That being so, I would like you to let the residents of the village we spoke of move to my county.”

“Y-You want them to move?” the viscount asked, visibly shocked and flustered.

At this point, I just wanted to get the man’s approval and go back to my county. I decided to drive my words home.

“It is obvious you are at a loss for how to handle that village,” I said firmly. “And I need more workers. Our interests appear to be aligned in this matter. So, you’ll agree to my proposal, right? You’ll let the villagers move?”

Viscount Cottoness just nodded in agreement to my question. It was an immediate yes—he didn’t even ask how his people would be treated in my county.

◆◆◆

Now that we were in possession of the information that Duke Hillrose was collaborating with Lemlaesta to work against Valschein, I decided I needed to pass that intel on to the appropriate parties. It was clear the situation was far too big for us to handle.

Thus, we departed Dolkness County first thing in the morning and flew to the Royal Capital. First, we headed to the Dolkness estate, from which I had a letter I’d prepared for the king delivered to the Royal Palace. Despite being a countess, it wasn’t like I could just bust into the palace and visit the king whenever I wanted—his schedule was surely packed. It would likely take over a week to see him in person...or so I thought.

It turned out, the response from His Majesty was quite rapid. No less than an hour after we arrived in the Royal Capital, a messenger from the palace arrived at our door. Patrick and I immediately headed for the estate’s drawing room, where we found our old headmast...ahem, Ronald, the king’s close confidant, waiting for us. He stood up and bowed his head slightly in greeting.

“It’s been a while,” I said.

“Indeed, it has. It is nice to see you, Yumiella, and you as well, Patrick. Quick question, is the kingdom going to be destroyed today?”

“What?” I stared at the man, baffled. “How would I know?”

Is a meteor going to crash into us or something?

“No,” Patrick chimed in, saving me from working up another response. “Our matter is not quite that urgent.”

“I see, that’s good to hear.” Ronald let out a sigh of relief and then practically fell onto the couch, like all the energy had drained from his body at once. “I noticed you were in the Royal Capital because I saw your dragon,” he continued in a casual tone, his usual smile still plastered on. “Right after that, there was a letter addressed to His Majesty saying there was an emergency, so I thought something terrible must have happened.”

“It’s still bad news,” Patrick said flatly.

“But you don’t look too panicked, so everything’s probably going to be fine, right?”

I suppose that Duke Hillrose’s coup d’état isn’t something to worry too much over, compared to another Demon Lord-esque being appearing or a giant meteor coming to annihilate us. Still, it’s certainly significant enough to shake up the kingdom. 

“You can relax,” I told Ronald as I sat down across from him. Given how he kept imagining a worst-case scenario, I felt he needed the reassurance. “It’s not something that will lead to anyone incurring any immediate harm.”

“Coming from you, that’s not very reassuring,” Ronald replied, laughing lightly.

Am I really that untrustworthy? I looked to Patrick, who was sitting next to me, and found him silently nodding in agreement.

My trustworthiness aside, I wasn’t sure if we could just jump right into the details in our current location. I’d been planning to tell His Majesty what I’d found out directly, so as to avoid being overheard by someone who was on the duke’s side. Although, Ronald didn’t seem like a traitor—the king appeared to trust him quite a bit...

Seeing my indecision, Ronald said, “Here, make a decision after reading this,” and handed me an envelope stamped with the royal family’s wax seal. I proceeded to open the missive, and inside I found a letter written by the king himself.

He must have written this in a rush, I thought idly, scanning it. There are no formal greetings, like there usually are in letters, and it’s basically scribbled. 

The letter’s content essentially requested that we trust Ronald, who was likely sitting directly before us. The king asked us to tell Ronald what we wished to discuss with him first, and then a decision would be made on how we would move forward from there. Once I finished the letter, I handed it to Patrick to read as well.

“That’s why I’d like for you to tell me what happened,” Ronald said, nodding toward the letter. “Though if you must insist on speaking to His Majesty directly, I can get you in to see him today.”

“That’s fine, we can discuss it here,” I said. I turned to Patrick, who was inspecting the wax seal on the letter’s envelope. “That would be all right, wouldn’t it?”

Patrick nodded in agreement.

I should go ahead and tell Ronald what is going on then, I decided. After all, if the king trusts him this much, it’s highly likely Ronald is not in cahoots with the duke. 

“The reason we came to the Royal Capital is because we got some information that has to do with Duke Hillrose,” I explained. “He’s getting reinforcements from Lemlaesta and planning to clear out those in the king’s faction. We got this information from the viscount of Cottoness.”

“I see; it looks like he’s finally making some moves,” Ronald said, nodding.

I watched him closely to see if his expression would shift even slightly, but it stayed exactly the same. I couldn’t discern a single ounce of surprise in the man, and his smile was as unflinching as ever.

“Did you...perhaps already know of this news?”

Ronald shook his head. “Nope, this is the first time I’m hearing of our neighbors being involved. I don’t think the king knows either.”

“Um... Shouldn’t you be a bit more alarmed...?”

The Ronald I knew had always spoken quite casually and taken things lightly, but he’d always approached serious topics with the appropriate attitude. But right now, I couldn’t discern any seriousness in his demeanor at all.

“Anyway, how’s the county doing? It looks like the deputy’s still working hard.”

“We’ve been doing well,” I replied, then shook myself. “Is this really something we should be discussing right now?”

Ronald shrugged. “I’m just kind of over it, to be honest. The thing with the duke will be fine, and I don’t think you’ll get caught up in it.”

Something...doesn’t seem quite right, I thought.

This was a massive issue—the aristocratic households who held the most power beyond the king were planning to revolt against the kingdom! So why would Ronald be reacting like this...?

I turned to Patrick, staring at him as I racked my brain on what to do.

“Do you want to go ahead and tell the king directly anyway?” Ronald asked. “His schedule was pretty packed today, so the meeting would have to be scheduled for the day after tomorrow.”

“No...it’s fine,” I said weakly. “If you could tell His Majesty for us, that would be great.”

“Ha ha, you sure?” Ronald asked, his voice strangely joyful. “Not just anyone can see the king in two days.”

Patrick gave me a look as if to make sure that I was fine with the way things were playing out, but honestly I didn’t care.

Look, I just want to avoid going to the Royal Palace. I’ve shared what I needed to, so Ronald can take care of the rest along with the other centralists. 

As far as I was concerned, if Ronald said things were fine, then it was likely the king would give us the same answer. After all, the king put quite a lot of trust in the man. Still...I couldn’t help but wonder who Ronald truly was. He was so adamant about not sharing his family name that it was unlikely that he came from a commoner family.

As if reading my thoughts, Ronald smiled widely at me. “I don’t think you’ll get anywhere trying to figure out who I am,” he informed me. “There are even people with high positions in the kingdom who don’t know.”

That only makes me more curious! I thought, pouting internally. To be so young, and yet be a close confidant to the king... Could Ronald perhaps be the king’s bastard child? That would make sense as to why he didn’t have a family name, and would explain why the king has such trust in him that he’s willing to assign him this kind of work... 

“I’m not a bastard or anything, okay?” Ronald said, chuckling. “I’m used to people thinking that though.”

I didn’t even say anything, and he already contradicted my line of thought! 

I tried letting my imagination run wild, hoping that would give me another explanation for the king’s trust in Ronald, but found I couldn’t come up with a single thing. Sighing, I gave up—it seemed, just like Ronald had told me, I wasn’t going to get anywhere trying to figure things out.

Just then, a commotion kicked up in the hallway—it sounded like someone was trying to force their way in while the servants tried to stop them.

There was only one person I knew who would invite themselves to my estate in the Royal Capital. Patrick and I quickly turned to look at each other. Ronald, meanwhile, seemed lost as to what was currently happening. He looked quizzically toward the door.

“Sounds kind of loud over there. Is something wrong?”

I sighed. “The last time this happened was when His Highness came to visit,” I said wearily. “She’ll find a way in momentarily.”

The noise drew closer and closer, just as I’d expected it would, and then the drawing room door was thrown open with vigor. In burst the daughter of the man at the center of our most recent conversation—Lady Eleanora Hillrose.

“I have come to grace you with my presence!” she announced grandly, bursting into the room with all the intensity of a summer storm.

Watching her, I couldn’t help but think, How can she make such aggressive movements in a dress? 

I glanced over to check on Ronald, only to find he’d frozen solid upon seeing Eleanora. I could understand his surprise, but Eleanora was similarly wide-eyed upon seeing him.

“Why are you visiting Yumiella’s home, brother?”

Brother?! Ronald is Eleanora’s brother? So he’s Duke Hillrose’s son?

“Well, hello there, Lady Eleanora,” said the man whose identity was currently in question. He forced a smile. “I haven’t seen you since your graduation.”

Eleanora gave him a baffled look. “What are you talking about? We just met up the other day.”

“I’m sure I don’t understand what you mean. An educator and a former student would never meet up outside the Academy.”

“Oh!” Eleanora suddenly exclaimed, slapping a hand to her forehead. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about you being my brother, was I?!” There was a brief silence while she composed herself, and then she greeted Ronald anew. “Headmaster, how do you do?”

“I can’t believe you mistook me for your brother, ha ha.”

You guys know you’re not fooling me, right...?

There was a long silence, and then Eleanora asked, “So, why are you here, bro— I mean...Headmaster?”

Is she even seriously trying to hide his identity?!

I gave the two siblings a look of deep suspicion, to which Ronald threw his hands in the air.

“Ugh, fine! I was able to hide it until now, but whatever...” A look of deep displeasure came over Ronald’s face, which was quite an unusual look for him. “You got me, I’m Ronald Hillrose. I’ve been hiding my family name and working as the king’s confidant.”

I was truly shocked, and not only at Ronald’s true identity—how had he and Eleanora been able to hide their relationship to one another for so long? I was specifically quite curious about why Eleanora had kept things a secret, but the more important question to ask at the moment was why Ronald had hidden his name in the first place.

He must have left the duke of Hillrose’s home at quite a young age, if no one else is aware that they’re related, I realized. But what would the duke have to gain by going to all that trouble?

“Why?” I asked Ronald simply.

“It was my father, Duke Hillrose’s, idea. According to him, I should live my entire life as someone unrelated to the Hillrose family.”

“There must be a reason,” I said.

Ronald nodded. “Of course, there is. When father first told me, I couldn’t believe it, but now I’m thankful for his foresight. I guess I can’t make fun of his predictions after all...”

Well, it seems my vague question has been met with an obscure answer, I thought. It didn’t seem right to prod him any more about the reason he hid his background though, so I let it go.

It must have been excruciating for Ronald to grow up in Valschein without his family name—in the aristocratic society of Valschein, your background was considered incredibly important. There had to be a much deeper, complex reason behind why he’d been living this way for so long.

“I understand,” I said finally. “Since the matter has nothing to do with me, I won’t ask for more information. I won’t tell anyone else either.”

“Nothing to do with you, huh?” Ronald muttered. “Well, that’s helpful, thank you.”

Wh-Why is he talking like that? It was probably something that happened before I was born, so how could it involve me...?

Anyway, that wasn’t important right now—we should be concentrating on the matter of Duke Hillrose. Now that we knew that Ronald was secretly connected to the duke, there was a chance he’d decide not to pass on my information about the coup d’état to the king.

“I think I’d like to see the king after all,” I decided.

“I guess I lost your trust,” Ronald said lightly. “Sorry about that. If you want, I can set the meeting up right away.”

“It’s just a formality, so the day after tomorrow is fine,” I said with a shrug.

After all, His Majesty likely already knew Ronald’s identity, and had reason to still trust him. I was not privy to that reason, and so didn’t feel as secure. I just wanted to go about this situation in the safest way possible.

Ugh, but I really don’t want to go to the Royal Palace...

My internal whining was interrupted by the sound of the drawing room door opening once again. I turned to look in the direction of the sound, and found Eleanora was trying to sneak out of the room.

“Eleanora,” Ronald said, stopping her in her tracks. “I’d love to chat with my adorable younger sister—it’s been a while.”

“You’re not mad at me, brother...?”

“Of course not, I never get mad.”

“You’re lying!” she said fiercely. “You totally do, but you just keep smiling! It’s terrifying!”

This brought to mind the conversation I’d had with Eleanora in the past, about how she had a brother whose expression never changed. I could see what she meant now—though Ronald was smiling just the same as he always did, there was an intensity behind the expression that felt a little frightening.

Cornered by her smiling, angry brother, Eleanora turned to me for help. “I have plans with Yumiella right now!” she cried, twitching her eye at me several times in what appeared to be an attempt at winking. “I don’t have time for you!”

Is she trying to signal something to me? I wondered, watching Eleanora’s antics.

“Lady Eleanora, I only just arrived at the Royal Capital today.”

“Y-Yes, but we made some plans a while ago through our letters! Remember?”

My mind had already strayed from the conversation. Now that I think about it, how did she get here so quickly? We’ve only been at the estate for a few hours.

The answer to this idle thought was delivered to me by Ronald. “Ah, you came here because you saw the dragon, right?” he asked his sister. “You’re so smart, Eleanora.”

Eleanora giggled, thoroughly pleased. “He he, I got a compliment from Ronald. Turns out you’re exactly right! I saw Ryuu and knew that Yumiella had come to the Royal Capital!”

“So...you didn’t have any plans with her, did you?”

“O-Oops.”

I gotta remember to not trust Eleanora with the task of relaying any important information, I thought, watching the scene unfold. She’s such a goof, it’s a little worrying. 

“Might I borrow this room for a moment?” Ronald asked. “There’s something I’d like to discuss alone with my dear sister.”

“Of course, the room is all yours,” I replied, abandoning Eleanora instantly. “We’ll be waiting elsewhere.”

Heh heh, Patrick’s followed right behind me, I thought. He’s totally my abandonment accomplice now. 

Freed from the drawing room, we walked down the hall for a bit. I only stopped when I could no longer hear Eleanora’s loud voice.

“So, Patrick, what do you think?”

“He seems to be telling the truth,” he said slowly. “I don’t think it’s likely that he’d be involved in the rebellion, and honestly it isn’t that dangerous.”

“Seriously? You think that too?”

Patrick shrugged. “Even if Ronald was lying, he’d be outed the moment we had an audience with the king.”

After that, Patrick laid out all that he’d been thinking while he’d observed the conversation earlier. He mentioned how Ronald still appeared to have the trust of the king, even though the radicals were attempting to cajole the second prince into trying to succeed the throne. According to him, that meant we had no reason to be cautious of Ronald, at least for now. That didn’t mean we should trust him, however.

It seemed we were both on the same page.

“I guess I don’t have to visit the palace after all,” I said, relieved.

Patrick swiftly popped that bubble. “No, I think you should still go. I’ll come with you.”

And so, it was decided that I would be visiting the palace in two days’ time.

I hope I don’t run into any troublesome people...

◆◆◆

After I saw off a grinning Ronald and teary-eyed Eleanora, I was left with nothing to do. My schedule was wide open for the rest of the day and tomorrow, but there wasn’t anything in particular I wanted to do now that we were in the Royal Capital.

“What should we do?” I asked Patrick. “We have so much time on our hands now.”

“What about going out for lunch?” he suggested. “It’s a nice day for a walk too.”

What an excellent set of ideas! I thought.

I’d forgotten until now, but during my time at the Academy, I’d enjoyed taking walks around the Royal Capital in my free time. Exploring areas of the city I didn’t know for the first time in quite a while sounded like the perfect way to spend the day. I started getting excited.

The biggest smile I was capable of stretched across my lips. To others it would barely look like a grin—they may not even be able to perceive the slight turn of my lips. “Thank you for the idea, Patrick! That sounds wonderful!”

He smiled back at me. “We’ve been working a lot these days, so it’s important to take a day off once in a while.”

“Well then, I’m off!”

“Uh...what?” Patrick stared blankly after me as I headed straight out of the mansion.

Why wouldn’t I go now, since I don’t have any preparations to make? I thought cheerfully. I wonder what Patrick’s going to do with his free time.

I loved the Royal Capital’s big main streets, with all the various stores lined up right next to each other, but if I was telling the truth, my favorite places in the city were its empty back alleys. Whenever I found a suspicious-looking store selling strange things down one, I’d get super excited.

At the moment, I was observing one such store from the outside. I could see that the dimly lit space was filled with shelves, but they all appeared to be empty. The only employee seemed to be an elderly woman in the back of the store. In fact, without the sign outside, there was no way to tell that the space was a store at all! The sign was actually the only normal thing about the whole place.

What an unsettling, suspicious place... I thought. I have no choice but to go in!

I skipped to the door and put my hand on the handle...but stopped there. To tell the truth, I wasn’t actually having much fun. I’d been trying to force myself into being excited, but it just wasn’t working for me for some reason. With a sigh, I decided not to enter the store and headed back to the main streets.

“I should’ve brought Patrick with me...” I mumbled, the words unconsciously spilling out.

I hadn’t even considered it earlier, since walking around the Royal Capital had always been something I did alone. But now, I couldn’t help but think that if I’d brought him with me, the activity could’ve turned into a date.

We would’ve had a ton of fun for sure... I thought, pouting. I should try again tomorrow, and invite Patrick this time. Wooow, I think I had a good idea for once! I can’t believe I came up with a date idea that he didn’t already think of! Could I...be the more knowledgeable one when it comes to romance...?

After a few minutes of being lost in such thoughts while wandering my way back to the main streets, I walked out onto a more public path that felt familiar to me. I wasn’t particularly fond of areas like this in the capital, but I decided to walk along the road and peek into the stores lining both sides of it for a little bit. I’d neglected to bring a hat today, so I stood out quite a bit.

Just as I’d suspected, my black hair alone was enough to make people stare at me strangely, and some even gave me looks of disgust. Back in Dolkness Village, reactions like this had grown much more mild, perhaps due to the townspeople having gotten used to me, but the same couldn’t be said for the people of the Royal Capital.

Suddenly, I wasn’t in the mood for a walk anymore. I decided to have some lunch instead. 

In the end, I purchased bread from a random store. I would’ve been more than happy to just eat it as I walked around, but I was an aristocrat, whether I liked it or not. I had to be ladylike.

After strolling around for a bit, I finally found the perfect place for me to sit down and eat. It was a large plaza located at the intersection of several main roads, which had benches located in various places. I chose one in the corner of the plaza and sat down.

A bard had set himself up in the center of the area, and I listened to his song as I slowly ate my lunch. It was a story about a prince and his friends that had fought against a Demon Lord.

Wait, shouldn’t one of his friends be a black-haired girl with a dragon? I wondered as the song suddenly came to a close. She never even got brought up!

Glancing over to the center of the plaza, I saw that the crowd that had gathered to listen to the bard’s song was pretty sparse. And even though his song had ended, few of them tossed him change in thanks for his performance.

Feeling a bit annoyed, I stood up right away and marched myself over to the bard. The people that had still been lingering around quickly ran away when they noticed my presence, but the bard didn’t even notice, as he was staring down sadly at his meager earnings.

I tossed in some gold coins, hoping to catch the man’s attention.

“What?!” he shouted. “Gold coins?!”

“Yes,” I said happily. “I’d like for you to perform that song at my home.”

The bard finally looked up at me, beaming. He was clearly under the impression that I was a noble woman looking to hire some musical entertainment.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were an aristocrat,” he said in delight. “I’d love to...”

The bard froze. It seemed the sight of my face had left him speechless.

“Your song was about a prince, a saintess, and two of their friends...four people, right?” I asked in a kind voice. “I haven’t heard that story before, so I’d like to hear about it in more detail.”

“E-Eek!” The bard squealed. His face blanched, and his teeth started chattering.

Aren’t you a bit too scared? I thought, feeling a bit annoyed. I just tried to surprise you a little.

“I won’t do anything to you,” I promised. “I really just wanted to hear the story from you.”

“You’re real...right?” the bard asked hoarsely.

I gave him a confused look. What do you mean, am I real?

The bard didn’t calm down for a good while after that. By then, people had started to gather again at the empty plaza.

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘real,’” I told the man, “but I am Yumiella Dolkness, in the flesh.”

“Of course, I apologize,” he said, voice subservient.

“I didn’t need you to apologize...” I sighed. “I just wanted to know why I didn’t show up in your song.”

It’s not like I have any intention of publicizing my accomplishments in the battle against the Demon Lord, but it seems a bit problematic that others are acting like I wasn’t even there, I thought.

After all, I was still working toward one of my major goals—decreasing the amount of hatred directed at people with black hair. I was doubtful I’d ever be able to fully eradicate negative feelings toward people like me, but I wanted to make a positive change, even if it was only a little one. Spreading the news that I, a black-haired person, had helped in the fight against the Demon Lord, had always been my plan. It should prove helpful in turning public sentiment in the right direction.

I didn’t need the people to know that I’d been stronger than the Demon Lord either. I just needed them to know that I’d been there at all. After all, if they knew the level of my strength, people would only grow more scared of me instead of less. It was a difficult line to tread.

“Um, w-w-well...” the bard began fearfully, struggling to get the words out. “I d-didn’t know how to have you appear in the song, Lady Countess. Other bards have struggled with that as well...”

“It’s difficult to include me?” I asked, both curious and confused. “How so?”

“Well, your appearance and the element you use, is, um...” The bard trailed off.

It was fine—I’d already gotten the gist of what he’d wanted to say. Basically, I came across like a villain.

In this world, it was very common for villains to appear as black-haired people in creative works. These dark-haired devils and witches would stand in the way of the protagonist, using dark magic to prevent them from progressing. It meant that if a bard described me in one of their renditions of the Demon Lord tale, it’d sound like Red Riding Hood had visited her grandmother hand in hand with the Big Bad Wolf.

In addition, I didn’t have the most affable personality, which probably made discarding that stereotype even more difficult. However, there was one saving grace—the endearing, adorable mascot-like presence that lingered by my side!

“I understand why it’s hard for me to appear in your story,” I told the bard, “but what if you add Ry— I mean, a dragon?”

“Um, dragons tend to be on the villain’s side as well...” the bard said reluctantly. “I’ve seen the black dragon myself, and he was truly...”

Truly what?! I thought. You can’t tell me that a dragon that cute can come across as anything but a hero’s ally!

Reining myself in, I set the issue of Ryuu’s inclusion to the side. More importantly, I needed to think of some way to dispel the notion that dark magic was only used by villains. It wasn’t like the element was dangerous in and of itself—it didn’t spread flames like fire magic sometimes did, or flood areas like water magic could. No, the dark element could restrain, melt, pierce through things, and just disappear your target, no question asked. It caused so few detrimental effects to the environment where it was used that I’d say it was even eco-friendly.

But, no matter how much I spoke on those points, it was unlikely that they would have any effect on the ingrained feelings of others. The only people that would think that the dark element was cool would be...well, someone like I had been when I was young. My past life self, rather.

My entire middle and high school career, I had been plagued with the moniker of “edgelord.” Looking back on it now, it had been quite a cringeworthy period of my life. Remembering how I’d attended high school with an eye patch over one eye made me want to die.

I’d only managed to come to my senses once I’d begun attending college. But of course, then I’d died in an accident, and here I was.

Hmm... I thought. I don’t really like the idea of sharing the dark parts of my past, but maybe he’ll surprise me by being accepting. 

I decided to go ahead and give opening up with the man a shot, even though I was pretty firm in my belief it wouldn’t work.

“Okay, take this with a grain of salt, but...what if you thought of black hair and dark magic as something cool?”

“‘Something cool’...?”

“Mm-hm. Like, imagine someone turned to this taboo, hated source of power so they could get strong enough to defeat their archnemesis, but they have to struggle not to be swallowed up by the dark magic they’ve come to wield...”

I trailed off, cringing at myself. Here I am, suggesting it, and even I’m embarrassed!

But just as I was about to suggest the bard forget everything I’d just said, I saw a glimmer appear in his eyes.

“That’s good! That’s really good! So the dragon-user is almost taken over by her power when standing before the Demon Lord, but...she’s saved by the power of friendship! And her dark magic is so powerful even the Demon Lord can’t withstand it... Oh, how interesting!”

W-Wait, isn’t this straying a bit far from the true story? I thought.

But the bard ignored my cringing self. “There could be an evil power sealed away in her right arm,” he mused, “but she unleashes that power in order to save her friends during a crisis... My god, what an intense plot development! I need to write this out from the beginning!”

“Th-That sounds great...” I said weakly.

I didn’t realize being an edgelord could be contagious... I hope everyone who hears his song has a strong immune system.

After that, I went home and found Patrick right away. His mood seemed a bit down—apparently he’d stayed home the entire time I was gone.

“I’m home, Patrick,” I greeted him. “Would you like to go somewhere and have lunch tomorrow?”

“Welcome back...” he said gloomily. “Should I take that as a suggestion I go out for a meal alone?”

I gave him a confused look. Obviously I’m not sending you out alone, silly. I planned on us going together from the beginning!

“Uh, no,” I told him. “We would be going out together, of course. Honestly, we should’ve gone out together today too.”

Now, come on! Bow before my incredible date idea!

“Took you a bit long to realize that, but I guess that’s fine,” Patrick said with a sigh. His murky eyes seemed to regain their color, shining at me like emeralds.

I looked back at the ring on my left hand and couldn’t help but smile, comparing it to the gaze of the man before me.

I won’t let anyone get in the way of our outing tomorrow!