CH 22

I thought of David only as「a brother who is a little bit stupid, but I can’t hate him.」Well, he thought of me as a「nagging older sister.」We would have made a good family, but I had never done or wanted to be engaged to anyone outside of obligation.

After all, David had already committed his heart to someone else when he became my fiancée.

Although he seemed to be keeping it to himself, a good number of people around him knew David’s true intentions. No one took the trouble to point it out, though.

I have a fiancée who has feelings for me… and I have never felt any jealousy or anger about it. In fact, I was even relieved that I didn’t have to do the「sweet exchange between engaged couples」thing. Apparently, I was not suited to the idea of male-female romance.

David’s thought was of the next generation of queens, the Crown Prince Williard’s fiancée, Remilia-sama… which is probably a big deal. A female knight from a noble family, a precious woman whom I will serve in the future and to whom I will offer my sword. It seemed wonderful to see a knight falling in love with the queen in a sincere and secretive way, and above all, because that future queen, Mistress Remilia, was a wonderful woman.

Unfortunately, however, we had never exchanged words directly, only greetings. As I was already working as a knight, I rarely had the opportunity to socialize as a lady, and as one of the few female knights, I was often in the royal palace guarding women who were related to the royal family.

So when we met face to face as an inter-fiancee exchange, I was more than happy to hear from David about Lady Remilia. Of course, I have heard about it as information, but I think it is human nature to want to hear the actual story from someone who has seen and heard it up close and personal.

He was often compared to his older brother, who is known as the “Sword Saint,” but even so, he never gave in and sought his own fighting style and has now made a name for himself as a Magical Knight, thanks to Remilia.

I only knew the story that when he was jealous of Lady Remilia, a prominent wizard, and caused a runaway riot, she chased after him and scolded him and brought him back… I hadn’t heard the details of the exchange, which was very touching. He seemed a little embarrassed, but it seemed to have been sublimated into a「good memory」in his mind, and he told me whatever I wanted him to. It was wonderful to see him as a knight, proudly saying that the exchange had helped him face his complex about his brother.

Every time I hear about Lady Remilia, I am moved to the point of shaking and saying,「What a wonderful woman I will be serving.」Policies that lead to the happiness of many people by vividly solving social problems to useful inventions that no one would have thought of. It produced magic not for fighting but for people’s lives and created a new field of activity for wizards. She was not proud of her own ability to use healing magic, but expanded medical care that did not rely on magic and created a healing hospital, and her research on「quarantine」saved more lives than she could ever reach.

The anticipation is high, wanting to get to the role as soon as possible. A mage, an inventor, a saint, or perhaps a great leader. I wonder what two names she will be remembered by in future history books. I began to fantasize about the future when I would be appointed as a knight to guard Lady Remilia, the queen.

I wonder if Lady Remilia will be dignified and present me with the sword with the dignity of a queen… Or, after the appointment, they would smile at you and say,「Nice to meet you,」and such… What if she called me「my knight,」like in the story I once read in a picture book about a lady knight and a princess?

The days when I was improving myself, dreaming of a happy future, ended abruptly… I heard that the Crown Prince has broken off the engagement of Lady Remilia and disowned the lady. She mistreated the Star Maiden behind their backs, refused to listen to their advice, did not reform her own behavior, and then refused to admit her guilt…?

That’s too strange. The character that we have heard of Lady Remilia’s words and actions does not match the insidious and long-lasting harassment that has been allegedly「perpretated against the Star Maiden.」

I understand her jealousy because she and the Crown Prince were engaged to be married on good terms, but I would think that Lady Remilia would first of all set up a proper conference and have a fair discussion without bullying her behind her back.

「…Hey, did Lady Graupner really do that?」

「What do you mean… are you saying it’s impossible?!」

I raised my eyebrows at David, who snapped and yelled at me. It was as if he was a believer who had been denied the God he believed in.

I was unaware of it because I had been out of the country for the last few months following the queen on a diplomatic mission, but she told me that the disagreement between the Crown Prince’s fiancée, Lady Remilia, and the Star Maiden was well known at the academy. I had several questions and asked, but did not get answers to my satisfaction. Why didn’t they use a professional investigating organization? Why didn’t they give both Lady Remilia and the Star Maiden an escort to keep an eye on them? Isn’t the punishment too heavy for a problem that occurred among students?

「It was warm-hearted of His Highness to not use the official police or the High Court of Justice, where official records are kept, because it was during the student period. The same goes for Imperial Guards. Their service is on record. But the outrageous behavior toward the Star Maiden protected by the state as living legends had to be dealt with harshly to set an example.」

I am still not convinced. It’s as if all four of them, including the Crown Prince and David, would be happier if 「Lady Remilia had abused the Star Maiden out of caustic jealousy!」

It was visible in every word David said.「You know I value her as a friend as a childhood friend, but Lady Remilia has crossed a line that should not be crossed.」I could sense a hint of pride, not sadness, on his face as he said this.

And, although this has happened, His Royal Highness Prince Williard intended to re-honor Lady Remilia as the queen. Behind the scenes, though, there is a slightly transparent intention for the Royal Family to take the initiative by knocking down the head of the Graupner Duchy, who have been greatly enriched and increased their influence by Lady Remilia’s invention. If Lady Remilia was later forgiven and welcomed back into the royal family, all her talents, once ostensibly cut off from the Duchy, can be monopolized by the Royal Family. Even the current situation of being disowned is related to the will of the state…? In that case, Duke Graupner, who heard that he was a small man and noble in rank, has danced and abandoned the goose that lays the golden egg.

But if both sides have disagreed so much, then it’s a sure sign that one side is deliberately lying. If all the evidence that David says is true… However, based on the character she has portrayed so far, it does not seem that Lady Remilia is that wayward. David said,「I guess she didn’t realize that her harassment was against the law,」 but could she be that stupid, even if she was madly in love?

And the evidence… right, there’s too much evidence and too many witnesses. If she really did something stupid that would be a crime, then Lady Remilia was not smart enough to leave so many witnesses and evidence.

Listening to the story as it was, I was convinced. David said,「The Star Maiden never said a word directly accusing Lady Remilia, a fact that turned out to be true when we moved in when we sensed something was wrong,」but looking at what I heard dispassionately, it looked like she was caught in a blatant inducement.

…I have followers of women since I was a student. Probably more than any other knight, including men. Perhaps it was because I was tall with a neutral face, a convenient「prince」role. Aside from some ladies who have low titles and have not yet decided on a fiancée, high-ranking noblewomen cannot afford to be yellowed by men. In this respect, I was a woman, so my parents felt comfortable tolerating my「female knight chasing.」

I myself drew the line at the idea of a knighthood, but I was dating as a classmate, junior or senior at the academy, but some… Some of the ladies were so enamored with this alternative act of love that they seriously fell in love with me. At such times, I would sincerely apologize, decline, and try to be a good friend again, but sometimes my followers would get into trouble with each other.

I would try to keep the other kids in check, and I would try to surround the kids who had not been my fans for a while with「you have a big attitude for a newcomer.」Among other things, they told me. I had been educated as an aristocratic woman, so there was nothing overtly accusatory, but the manner in which it was done was extremely insidious.

In a roundabout way, they would slur their words and say something like,「As a friend of Lady Sofia, I wanted to be friends with you, but I feel like you doesn’t like me and… that’s sad.」I was required to play the role of a prince, although in reality I was also educated as a noblewoman, so I was not easily fooled by such things.

No, this is a strange story considering the difference in educational content between men and women. It seems simple, but even that guy should have been educated as a candidate for the next king’s entourage.

However, I left my seat early that day because I could not bring myself to listen to his invective against Lady Remilia.

I was not convinced about the truth of this matter by any means, so I started my own investigation. Though not official, the royal family… I couldn’t do it publicly because it would mean disagreeing with the Crown Prince’s decision.

If anyone asks me anything, I say,「I can’t believe that the future Queen did that…」and I would explain that I was shocked and therefore just asking around a bit.

It was fortunate that several of the students who were witnesses included women who were my followers. There was a high ranking noblewoman who always had a lady-in-waiting with her, but if it was with me, a woman, she would accept the exorcism without any doubt, and if I made a sincere request, she would tell me the truth after hesitation, saying,「…I will only tell you, Sofia-sama.」

As it turns out, the various criminal acts allegedly committed by Remilia-sama to the Star Maiden were fabricated. I was able to hear the truth from three people, but it is unlikely that「the Star Maiden wished for perjury by chance」as the common denominator is only 「my follower」and the three people have different titles, different family factions, and different incidents they testified about. It’s not the kind of language that makes a direct request, just a hint of something, but it’s also the same kind of language that made me think, unintentionally, that「I could… if I wanted to.」

Their arguments had one thing in common. 「The pitiful Star Maiden who was given a hard time by Lady Remilia was well known.」「I was told there was plenty of other evidence and witnesses.」「I thought I would like to help her too.」

What was asked of her varied.

I approached the Star Maiden who was crying in a secluded spot in the courtyard, and she said,「Graupner-sama…? Do you still have something… on me, no, I beg your pardon.」She told me how I was mistaken for someone else, and when I asked what happened, the Lady Graupner called her up and abused her. She said that she had a maid of honor look around for the Star Maiden who was afraid to see if she was still nearby, and that she comforted her as she burst into tears.

As I recall, the case is based on a letter with the Graupner family’s watermarked crest calling the Star Maiden to that day and place, and the testimony of an ordinary student who heard a woman yelling at someone in the courtyard at that time in an unlistenable tirade, and the testimony of a student who said she heard a woman yelling at someone in the courtyard at that time, there was also the testimony of a guard and a lady attendant who had been told to「leave her alone」just prior to the event and had been kept waiting near the courtyard.

Furthermore, this female student, who said she was a fan of mine, secretly told me that the maid of honor had given false testimony that「she thought she saw a beautiful blonde woman in the distance, but she did not know who she saw.」She wanted to help the star maiden, and her own maid of honor, who had been cheering her on from a former commoner for her healthy efforts, was also sympathetic, so I just had to. I also saw there a jealousy toward Remilia-sama, who was called「The Perfect Lady.」I wanted to think,「Oh, she was just a normal human being who would do stupid things out of jealousy,」that kind of unconsciousness.

When I look at it all together, the circumstantial evidence brings up「Lady Remilia,」who was verbally abusive to the Star Maiden. It’s very clever indeed, each perjury is small, and it is difficult to create a sense of guilt. It’s not possible to pursue a lie based on the mere fact that she saw a blonde woman, and even if he had been caught, it is highly possible that she couldn’t have been charged with a crime based on this alone.

She took the initiative to provide information to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had launched an investigation on behalf of the frightened star maidens, saying that she had no intention of making the matter public, as「it would be hushed up in the name of the Duke of Graupner by the voices of one or two people anyway.」Including the tiniest bit of falsehood.

「And even without my testimony, there was plenty of other evidence.」「It was better to side with the star maiden than with Lady Graupner, who had to leave her fiancée’s throne after what she had done.」「Above all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ruled that Lady Graupner had committed a crime.」She seemed to feel guilty about her perjury and was making excuses to themselves while confessing her guilt to me.

I proposed a re-investigation based on the records of this independent investigation. In a nearly random sampling, several witnesses admitted to perjuring themselves. Everyone needs to rethink this. She said that since this isn’t abuse between students, but a clear criminal act of humiliating the Crown Prince’s fiancée, a formal case should now be made and investigated by the public authorities.

But my written opinion was clamped down. The Royal Family feared that it would be more difficult to deal with the Crown Prince, who was more popular among the public than the Royal Family; the enemy faction wanted to weaken the momentum of the Duke Graupner; the Duke wanted to make more money by converting Lady Graupner’s invention to military use, but the patent holder, Remilia, stubbornly refused, and this was not possible, so she missed out on even more huge profits. It was a win-win situation for the Duke and Duchess Graupner and everyone around them. That absolution has already happened. There is no reversing it. I was confronted with this.

My father beat me when I wished for a「formal appeal」regarding such obvious perjury. He also nailed me to the wall, telling me not to do anything more than I had to… My mother, who has never done anything that resembles family and is always looking out for my father’s interests, and my brother, who is like a duplicate of my father. I didn’t have any feelings for this family, but I thought he was a respectable knight. How could they knowingly let evil go unchecked for their own protection?

I have been considering the option of abandoning my aristocratic status since this time. 「Lady Remilia cared about us so much that she hurt the Star Maiden out of jealousy, she cared about us that much,」and my fiancée, who remains delusional and refuses to listen to anything I say, likewise, the Crown Prince’s parents, who were eager to pretend that Lady Remilia’s jealousy「she was loved」was not true, the adults around them who accepted the story that was convenient for them and said that it was「warm-hearted not to make it as a formal case.」and the adults around me who made judgments based on written evidence and testimonies and didn’t do proper research. There are also families where self-preservation is more important than anything else, where knighthood is lost and mens rea is more important than justice.

Let’s throw it all away.

I rode my horse to the territory that Remilia-sama had given me. For several months, the escort who followed Her Royal Highness on her diplomatic mission has been given a sumptuous vacation, and he has taken full advantage of it.

And so when I arrived at my destination, I was astonished from the bottom of my heart… This is really, I thought, a territory of sinners?

David says that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince「intended to encourage reflection, and after she has grown up in the right way, he intends to reengage her,」but… isn’t it impossible to achieve results here that will reach the Royal Capital…?

Remilia would have been able to buy the results of her pioneering with her money and contacts…. she said the Duke took all her personal assets when they disowned her. It was to cover the cost of raising him up to now and the loss incurred from the royal family breaking off the engagement… Or so I was told. I’m sure the Graupner family had already made a lot of money from Lady Remilia’s invention, so that would all be a front.

The first place I visited was the lord’s mansion, which, although former, was a very shabby house that could hardly be considered the residence of a Duke’s daughter. Unlike the other semi-abandoned houses that can be seen, this is the only two-story house, and although it is old, there are no holes in the walls or roof as far as I can see. I heard from the towns and villages on the way here that she had also laid off all her commuting servants. I wonder how they are making a living. In a few words, she said,「I don’t want you all to get involved.」The country ladies, who had been given a generous allowance and an apology for not hiring them, were half in sympathy and half wary of sparking off a quarrel between the nobles.

This first visit ends up empty. Lady Remilia was away, and a man passing by kindly tells me as I cross my arms in front of the house and ponder. Perhaps the lord of this countryside village doesn’t like it and is living a comfortable life in another city, keeping only her name here…? I was about to think that, and I reflected deeply in my heart.

Remilia, who had not even been given enough money to build a village, was earning money as an adventurer to fund her operations.

Invited to the home of a man who claimed to be the deputy chief of the village, I was served a bitter tea made from medicinal herbs found in the area, and I was impressed as I listened to his story. I considered the possibility that she was in shock and locked away, but what the hell…!

In a development that betrayed my expectations in a positive way, I went on to further interview the few people who said they had settled in the village. They were all apparently from the poorest of the poor in the Royal Capital. Most of them were children, and told me that he accepted the invitation to join the settlement with the feeling at the time that they were taking a gamble, saying,「If I stay here, I will either die or not make a decent living.」

They all still had skinny, unhealthy bodies, but there was a sparkle in their eyes. In this village where there is nothing to do, no one had a look of unhappiness on their face, although it looked inconvenient. I was still convinced that my reasoning was correct.

When I heard that Lady Remilia had returned to the village, I went to her and asked her「if she wanted my power to help her,」but she flatly refused and I was taken aback. I didn’t anticipate such response to happen.

「The castle is guarded here, and if you get involved with me, you will be unhappy too.」

…I understand now.

I have revised my assessment of Lady Remilia upward.

I am sure she knows better than anyone else that she is not guilty. I thought she would be pleased that I showed up, that she had「someone who understand her,」but I didn’t realize she was worried about me.

These words were the catalyst for my decision to abandon my status as a knight of the kingdom and a noble after observing Lady Remilia’s words and actions while camping out for a while. Not because I heard stories of people taking in children with no relatives and bringing them in. She is a healthy person who tried to build a village with them by directly teaching them how to do their jobs, cultivates the fields with the villagers, and even gets injured to earn money to run the village, but if a young child gets sick, she takes care of the child herself. The beautiful smiles on the faces of the villagers, with an attitude of「It’s only natural that you do it,」without putting them off at all.

From now on, I want to live as Lady Remilia’s… No, I want to live as Remilia-sama’s knight.

After using up all my vacation time and returning to the Royal Capital, I acted quickly. I filed papers with the court to remove my nobleship and cut off both my engagement to David’s family and my family’s ties to me. This one will be a bit of a struggle, but my intentions remain the same. As a noble by birth, I have a duty to fulfill, but… I have already contributed enough as a knight to that extent. I would rather have a change just for what Fort Seferu did last year.

And so I merely became Sofia without being backed into the ground by anything.

I guess you could say that the only regret I have is Rudy, the expensive war horse I left behind at my parents’ house. If I could, I would have walked with her down the road, but she is family property, not my personal property. I don’t have the personal assets to buy her out.

I left all the equipment I had purchased in my parents’ name behind, so I was much lighter. As I prepare to leave for a new place, I remember the words of a child I met in the village, who told me that he was going to be an adventurer, and that he was going to cut down his savings from his student days.

“I can’t say thank you enough to Remilia-sama,” the child said.

A person who can work so hard to make people happy would never have caused such an incident. Some may say that she was acting to make us believe that she was innocent, but there is no way that she could act like a saint for such a long period of time by acting.

I was in such a hurry to get to the village that I felt as if I wanted to run all the way.

「Then I’d like to start being your friend. Nice to meet you, Sofia.」

After visiting the village once again and being surprised by my cutting out「I want to serve you,」Remilia-sama surprised me with a pretty face… A little confused, she smiled shyly.

This… This was such a perfect, beautiful, ideal beginning for a princess and a lady knight!

「…, I tried to be loyal to you, and my eyes were not deceived.」

I held my chest and looked up to the heavens.

I vowed strongly at this time that I would be the knight of Remilia-sama’s… this heartbroken princess.