Chapter 4 - A destruction flag has come

In accordance with the decision from the strategy meeting, I started some special training for swordsmanship and magic the very next day.

Of course, my parents thought it odd that I would suddenly want to improve my swordsmanship and magic, and looked at me dubiously, but I emphasized that “I want to be able to protect myself, and not get embarrassed when going to magic school in the future.”

With an expression as if they were giving up, my parents consented. Their expressions looked a bit like my parents from my previous life, somehow or other it became a nostalgic mood.

And so I requested of my father with his empty eyes, for a swordsmanship teacher and a magic tutor, but…

We found a swordsmanship teacher right away, but magic tutors were so rare that they were difficult to come by.

So for the time being, in order to polish my magic, I’ll just borrow books on magic from the library to read for now.

I turn to the first page of a thick book about magic open on top of my knee in the corner of a large garden. “First, in order to enhance magic power, interaction with oneself’s source of magic power is important.”

To begin with, swordsmanship aside, there was no such thing as magic in my previous world…… Therefore, I know absolutely nothing about magic in this world. Everything starts from zero……

Interaction with oneself’s source of magic power, eh……

My magic type is earth, and that magic is very shabby.

By the way, the current magic that I can do is -

I can move the soil on the earth about two, three centimeters. Having this ability, will it be of any use?

Although honestly, the Katarina of the game did not use this ability to “move the soil on the ground about two or three centimeters.”

This “move the soil on the ground about two or three centimeters” magic…… since the name is too long, let’s abbreviate it as “Earth Thud,” with this magic the game Katarina would not even be able to trip the heroine, trip the heroine, trip the heroine……

Well, in short, I would not even be able to trip anyone with this “Earth Thud” magic.

Really it’s such a shabby magic.

But, if in the end I can only use “Earth Thud,” I won’t be able to survive the destruction end! I have to raise my magic power by any means possible!

But, I was unable to interact with the source of my own magic. Since my magic is earth, I wonder if I should talk with the soil……

Talking with soil… talking with soil… to talk with the soil…

…… That’s right!!!!

★★★★★★★★★

“Uhh, Ojou-sama, whatever would you happen to be doing?”

The maid Anne asked me in a timid voice.

“What, I’m just plowing the soil!”

I cheerfully answered her as I was working while wearing clothes borrowed from the gardener. Starting today, I was making a field in a corner of the large garden of our mansion.

“Well, uhh, I thought that Ojou-sama was undertaking training to enhance magic power, why is Ojou-sama plowing the soil?”

“I’m just making a field and plowing the soil in order to enhance my magic power!”

“Ojou-sama, I am so very sorry, I’m afraid I do not understand…”

To Anne who was already making a doubtful face, after my cheerful reply she began making an even more dubious face.

“Well uh, it was on this magic book you see. It said that first of all in order to enhance magic power, interacting with oneself’s own source of magic power is important. So, the source of my magic is probably the earth! So, to interact with the earth, you should be making a field!”

In my previous life, since my mom’s family home was a farm, I was often borrowed during school vacations as part of the labor force. And, my grandmother used to say, “it is said that creating fields is our way of interacting with the earth.”

Gratefully remembering my grandmother’s teachings, I decided today to create a field in order to better interact with the earth.

Of course, I did check first with the gardener to see if it would be okay.

I borrowed a hoe and some work clothes and was all set. However, while I was talking with the gardener he just stared at me with the same kind of look in his eyes as my parents.

So, in order to prevent the destruction end, and to strengthen my magic, I worked hard at plowing the field.

“Interacting with the source of magic, interacting with the earth…… so that is creating a field…… I feel like you might have gotten something fundamentally wrong……”

Somehow or other, Anne still seemed to be grumbling something under her breath, but I resumed tilling the ground with my hoe.

There’s still seven years left until I have to enroll in school. Not only “Earth Thud,” at a minimum, I have to at least get some magic that will be able to let me make some money for a living.

So in this way, I was plowing the field singlemindedly when…

Anne who was grumbling to herself under her breath, suddenly shouted as if she remembered something.

“AHH!! This is no time for Ojou-sama to be plowing a field!! Something big is happening! The prince… Prince Jared was looking for you in the mansion!!”

“…Eh… Why?”

I involuntarily dropped the hoe I was holding.

“Why Ojou-sama, isn’t it that he is coming over to give his greetings for the engagement!!”

“Ah, is that so.”

How dangerous, I had completely forgotten.

“Anyways, we can’t keep him waiting! Let’s hurry and get you ready to go back to the mansion!”

“Ye-, Yeah!”

Even for me I would not want to see the prince in my borrowed soil-covered work clothes. I needed to get back to the mansion in a hurry, but……

It was too late…… Prince Jared who was tired of waiting inside had been guided to the garden by the servants.

However, the servants were all confused at being unable to find the target Ojou-sama in question.

It was unthinkable that the Ojou-sama that should have been training her magic was instead plowing a field in work clothes.

What should I do… Should I return to the mansion first and change my clothes before anyone finds out and then come back? As I was thinking along those lines……

I met eyes with someone who realized who I was. This person has sensed from the beginning that I was badly surprised by everyone’s arrival, and as such put on a lovely smile and came over to me.

“Well, isn’t this Katarina Ojou-sama, whom I had heard was practicing magic in the garden, so I thought I would pay you a visit, what would you happen to be doing?”

The third prince, Jared, said so with that angelic smile appearing on his face. The previous me, had admired his smile for its adorable angelic quality, but…… now that I have realized that he is the evil sadistic prince from “Fortune Lover,” this smile seems like the grin of the devil.

Moreover, while he appeared to be smiling, his reaction was something teasing like “what is this weird girl doing out here working in dirty clothes” as detected from his eyes, giving him the impression that there was no way he was just an adorable prince.

The family servants behind him were all frozen with their eyes glued to his retinue. Aren’t they just all being blinded by perfection…

Rather, my father that had come with everyone had a face that seemed so pale green that he would likely faint. By the way, mother already seems to have been so stunned, that she was being supported by a servant.

There’s probably no meaning in trying to smooth everything over while dressed in work clothes.

As for the frozen servants, and my parents since it had come to this, I decided not to mind any of it. I assumed a perfectly defiant attitude.

“Good day Prince Jared, I am so sorry to have troubled you to come all the way here to see me. In order to improve my magic power, I am currently interacting with the earth.”

“Ohh, interacting with the earth?”

“Yes, I thought the best way to interact with the earth would be to make a field, and so I have been plowing the soil in order to make a field.”

“…… in order to interact with the earth and making a field……”

To my cheerfully defiant answer, the Prince Jared that had been smiling up to now lowered his head. It appears that his shoulders are jiggling, slightly trembling. Uh-oh, did I say something to make him mad…… No way, I held my breath to see if I would get exiled before I had even entered school.

After a while, Prince Jared who was jiggling his shoulders raised his face. He is smiling. I’m relieved to see that he does not appear to be angry.

“So that was it, plowing a field is innovative training for magic strengthening. It was like that?”

Is it that innovative? Since I knew nothing about magic, I had no idea how to answer. I reply as vaguely as possible.

Suddenly, the prince walked right before me. Prince Jared slowly kneeled in front of me as he held my hand.

“Lady Katarina, I have to continue our talk from last time today, and have come to formally greet you for the matter of our engagement. I apologize for rudely requesting in such a place like this, but would you do me the honor of agreeing to our engagement?”

“……Eh, ah, yes.”

With his flowing movements, Prince Jared unexpectedly stretched out my hand, and pressed his lips against my hand. Well, it was almost like a fairy tale scene…… But anyways, since I was wearing work clothes, the picture was not quite satisfactory.

I received a proposal from an angelic prince on his knees. If this had been any other noble daughter, or Katarina before recovering her memories, I’m sure she would have been dancing in the air with joy, but……

As for me……

My hand that was covered in dirt, against his mouth……

I mean, isn’t it here that I should have said “someone like me is probably not worthy enough to be with the prince” and refuse him? Oh no! By accident, I just went along with the flow and said “yes.” Oh no, I can’t change it anymore. What should I do~.

Moreover, both my family servants and the prince’s servants were giving off this atmosphere of “congratulations……”

I felt as if the prince in his sparkling aura didn’t even notice me in my dirty work clothes. The prince is really scary…… Moreover, father who just looked like he was about to fall over is now clapping. Oh, mother is still stunned.

Somehow, while not really understanding what was going on, I had officially become the third prince, Jared’s fiancee.

Anyways, I decided to just try harder at my sword and magic training tomorrow.

★★★★★★★★★

Jared Stuart is my name. I was born in the delicate position of the third prince of this country. Since this country’s king is always nominated by the previous king, there is a chance for me to become king as well. Honestly, I’m not interested in it at all. I feel like it would be extremely bothersome to do. To begin with, my two older brothers are both excellent, and they are strong rivals to each other in swordsmanship and studies, so they may as well just decide the matter of the throne between them.

By the way, I also have a younger twin brother. Although we are twins, his body has been weak since he was born, and since he was so sickly he was mostly raised by mother and a nanny, and we never spent much time together.

Although the third prince is in such circumstances, there’s only matters about his older brothers and younger brother around him, Jared’s presence in the royal palace is rather forgettable.

For swordsmanship and academics, by and large I learn it instantly as soon as I am taught. The tutor went overboard in his praise for me, but I just felt “so what.” Since I also had to learn what people thought and how to read their expressions, I mastered appropriate flattery for each situation and putting on a perfect face and smile. Without any goals like my brothers, everything is too easy for me. Every day was very, very, boring.

While I was being bothered by my boredom, I got caught up in something really bothersome half a year ago.

My second brother got engaged when he was ten. Since my oldest brother had gotten engaged a year ago, that was probably the reason.

Well, the sudden engagements had nothing to do with me no matter how many there were. I thought it would have no relationship at all with me, but……

Suddenly nobles swarmed around me in order to capture the third prince as a partner. In the royal palace, despite being almost forgotten, since I had been tactfully avoiding attention, the result was that I had left a good impression upon noble society. Thus, nobles with daughters around my age were lined up here with fiancee candidates. Honestly, what a gigantic pain.

At this time, Duke Claes requested of me to be the guide for his daughter that was visiting the castle for the first time. This was something I had been doing often of late. If I really like his daughter, maybe she’ll get lucky and become my fiancee, or something like that.

Since Duke Claes was quite a powerful nobleman, I couldn’t afford to refuse him, and so the day in question arrived.

And so, upon meeting Lady Katarina Claes for the first time -

She was such an idiotic, spoiled selfish princess type. She stuck to me so closely, I felt so unlucky.

When she decided on her own to stick so close to me and to hit herself on the head I also felt she was really annoying.

Apparently, she would need stitches, and I was told it might even leave a permanent scar. I felt like it was completely her own fault and what she deserved. Well, that’s what I was thinking when I went to go visit her.

Even though that’s what I wanted to think -

“Because Lady Katarina Claes has a high fever and an injury caused by the prince, the prince has no choice but to take responsibility and get engaged to her.”

Those were the words said to me by the messenger. Is that so, there was that strategy, eh.

Honestly, I was completely fed up with all the tricks of all my noble fiancee candidates. I wanted to quit and be rid of it all, but thinking about my ties to aristocracy, I cannot.

There are various factions amongst the nobility. Both my eldest brother and second brother have already started their own factions. If I got engaged with a daughter from the elder brother faction, I would be resented by the second brother faction, and likewise if I got engaged with a member of the second brother faction, the elder brother faction would not stay quiet about it.

In this regard, Duke Claes has remained neutral until now, joining neither faction. And now, there’s an excellent excuse of having to take responsibility for the injury I caused to his daughter. I can steal the neutral Duke Claes from the succession battle, making him my ally, but anyone looking into the surface of the matter would see that excellent excuse instead.

Although that girl herself is honestly extremely annoying, and her brains seem nearly nonexistent, at least I’ll probably be able to decorate her well enough.

Thus, I decided to accept the engagement and take responsibility for the injury I caused to the duke’s daughter, Katarina Claes.

Then, although I went to pay my respects to the recovering lady in question……

“No, no. Please don’t worry about such a scratch, Prince Jared. Anyways, the scar will be no problem at all because my bangs will hide it anyhow.”

Lady Katarina said so absent-mindedly, and I was completely lost for words. What on earth is this girl talking about?

Well, for sure, for an ordinary girl, such a scratch is not a big deal, but it was a different story for the nobility.

I wonder what happened to the head of the spoiled brat that I had first met… Did the fever finish off what little there was of her brains?

However, to come here and change the plans to “let’s not get engaged anymore” seemed like an even bigger bother, so……

Even though Lady Katarina was clearly not listening to me at all, she somehow agreed to the engagement.

Besides, I had gotten a little interested in this girl named Katarina Claes. I felt like I wanted to get a little more involved with her.

And today, I visited her again to give my greetings and to confirm the engagement…… The person in question, Lady Katarina Claes, was standing around in a corner of the garden in peasant attire. I wanted to ask her what she was doing -

“In order to improve my magic power, I am currently interacting with the earth. I thought the best way to interact with the earth would be to make a field, and so I have been plowing the soil in order to make a field.”

She said so proudly. This girl is so hilarious, I was about to explode with laughter. In order to suppress my onset of laughter, I lowered my head, and when I raised it again I saw her light blue eyes staring straight at me.

I walked in front of Lady Katarina and kneeled.

“Would you do me the honor of agreeing to our engagement?”

“……Eh, ah, yes.”

Lady Katarina that seemed as if she had replied involuntarily, appeared to be rather bewildered and distressed. Her appearance was so funny that it almost caused another laughter attack.

A girl of the same age with slightly light blue eyes and tawny hair. I am now interested in a person for the first time since I was born.

I had a premonition that my boring days of being surrounded by boring people had ended.