Chapter 231

To you who survived (6)

After that, the war of nerves with Princess Selaha continued for a long time.

Even before the closing ceremony, they continued to harass me and criticize me, so I had no choice but to repeat the same thing over and over again.

“Princess Fenia is sad...”

“That is an action against Princess Fenia’s will.”

“I cannot tell lies to Princess Fenia.”

“I only follow Princess Fenia’s instructions.”

Fenia Fenia Fenia Fenia.

To the point where I wondered if this was really okay, I pushed Princess Fenia towards her with my shield and deflected all of Princess Selaha’s attempts to appease her until the end.

At this point, Princess Selaha, who is constantly trying to catch me, is so amazing.

Princess Selaha placed the lace fan she was carrying on the bench table, narrowed her eyes and pressed her temples.

He looks like he’s in pain. It seems like something is desperate, frustrating, and even gives a faint feeling, which is truly excellent acting. Well, since I even put down my heavenly pride for a moment, what can I do?

However, you should never let your guard down here.

This is what Princess Fenia has requested again and again. The moment I pass over it, my value becomes something that is not even worthy of devotion. Here, you must keep your perseverance until the end.

“I guess it will be difficult to convince you of your position. “It seems like you only listen to Fenia’s instructions.”

Princess Selaha spoke in a much calmer tone.

After about ten minutes of repeating the same story, it seemed like the conversation was finally making progress.

I nodded for a moment. Then Princess Selaha spoke with a sigh.

“Then I have no choice but to talk to Fenia myself.”

“...yes?”

“Didn’t you say you would follow Fenia’s instructions? “Shouldn’t I just persuade Fenia and make you cooperate with me?”

“Well... that... there is no logical flaw, but is that okay?”

That doesn’t work.

Princess Selaha spoke with a frown, as if her pride had been shattered by the tone that seemed to give up.

“You seem pretty confident. Are you sure that Fenia will cherish you until the end and not give you up? “I’m sorry, but it wouldn’t be a task to take you out of Fenia’s arms.”

“At such an important time as the competition for imperial power is coming to an end, he is not a person worthy of handing over someone from his own faction to the other party.”

“It depends on what the exchange conditions are. In any case, handing over you alone will not destroy the support of the Ross Taylor family. “As long as Tanya Rosstaylor, who is holding the position of head of the family right now, supports Fenia, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if just one of you changed your support.”

Before I could answer anything, Princess Selaha added.

“Aren’t you trying to drive a wedge between me and the Elphelan family anyway?”

This part was completely unexpected.

For now, I felt the need to keep my mouth shut.

“Why did you think I didn’t know? I noticed it a little late, but that bat from the Elphelan family was plotting something useless. “It looks like he’s planning to go over to Fenia and sell out my faction’s internal secrets... If he’s going to do that, he should have done it after I left the academy.”

“...”

“Well, from that bat guy’s point of view, he probably did it because he was anxious because he didn’t think he would have any more opportunities after this festival period, but... unfortunately, he made a wrong decision. “I know Fenia as well as she knows me.”

Princess Selaha smiled in an overbearing manner. Especially when dealing with Fenian or Persica, his attitude was more confident than usual.

“Fenia, that kid is not a traitor. I guess they just wanted to keep the strong support group called the Elphelan family away from me. Even if the Elphelan family tries to leave me and join Fenia, Fenia will not accept it. Poor idiots. “If he had just stayed quietly under me, he could have received at least one position and maintained his authority.”

“...”

“I don’t need those incompetent traitors. Withdrawing support from the Elphelan family may be somewhat damaging, but it is much better than carrying around such a rotten branch. “They will be abandoned by Fenia anyway, so they will be eliminated on their own.”

Selaha was right.

Princess Fenia has a benevolent attitude and hires all people regardless of social status... but she never hires traitors.

Just as she cut off Dune Grex, who betrayed the Elte Company and tried to join Fenia’s side, without hesitation, for her, a person who has experience stabbing someone in the back cannot even fall into the category of middle ground.

This is why he is always at odds with Lortel Kecheln, a byword for betrayal and trickery.

This is because Lortel Kecheln seems to completely deny all of Fenia’s ideals.

“If the lieutenant is tempted to that degree in the first place, there is no point in keeping him around. There is only one thing I want. Yes, that firm loyalty is towards me. If you need anything in the process, we’ll cover it. Loyalty to Fenia? Won’t that all be resolved once I complete the negotiations with Fenia? “I may have to lose some money in the process, but it’s worth it.”

“...Princess Selaha.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that why the host and guest have been converted?”

“...What did you mean by that?”

I thought for a while about how to explain coherently, then slowly opened my mouth.

“Rather than using me as a means to compete for imperial power, you are taking a loss in the competition for imperial power in order to bring me into your power. “Isn’t this a bit like a back and forth?”

“...”

“It is not a wise decision to give up other political interests to forcefully bring me in when you do not have the full support of the Rosstaylor family.”

“...It’s noisy. What do you know to give me pointless advice? “The arrogant bastard raised his voice in someone’s face.”

Princess Selaha suddenly throws away all logic and raises her voice. Indeed, there were rumors that Oman was a man soaring through the sky.

“You don’t have to worry about what loss I have to endure to bring you into my power. If I say it that way, doesn’t it seem as if I have personal feelings for you and am forcing you to do it? Get your mind straight. “No matter how much he is a prince of the Ross-Taylor family, he is too self-conscious.”

“I know that Princess Selaha has no reason to have any personal feelings toward me. It’s the same for me too. “I’m definitely aware of that, so don’t worry too much.”

“...How dare you not have personal feelings for me?”

“...”

I’m tired...! I am a much more tired person than I ever imagined...!

“And don’t bring personal feelings into political discourse...! So vulgar...!”

“Well... it was Princess Selaha who mentioned it first...”

“It’s arrogant of you to keep talking back... you... And you never know when personal feelings will arise and disappear. It’s arrogant to be hastily confident. “It’s not good to say things like that carelessly.”

“So you’re saying I should have personal feelings for Princess Selaha...?”

“That’s what it says! Words! Why is it that Fenia is giving favor to a human who is so clogged up? This is truly deplorable...! Stop saying strange things! “I’m speechless because it’s so absurd!”

Is this the right attitude for a person who is trying his best to get out that trapped human...

In any case, since we can’t come this far and go over to Selaha’s forces, it is right to ignore this situation for now.

I was wondering what to do, but thankfully the other side sorted out the situation first.

“Anyway, I have to attend the closing ceremony, so I’ll let you go for now. Before that, I will meet with Fenia to discuss things, so don’t go see Abama until I return!”

“After the closing ceremony, he ordered us to play chess right away. No matter how much Princess Selaha’s instructions are, they cannot take precedence over Emperor Cloel’s royal orders...”

“Who told you not to go? I’m telling you to meet me first before you go...! “Why do you hate seeing my face so much?”

How can you happily meet someone who acts like they’ll eat you whenever they get the chance?

Princess Selaha seemed embarrassed even after saying this, so she quickly added.

“...oh my god. “What is Ed Rosstaylor’s own opinion?”

“Does that matter?”

Selaha stuck out her head and smiled passionately.

“That man is mine.”

And then he adds in a whisper.

“Once you take your body and freedom, you can take your time and take your mind slowly. “It would be better to let it go before I take more violent measures.”

“...No matter how curious your sister was, I think it would be a huge burden for her to get engaged all at once. “Isn’t that right?”

“...Penia you...”

“I think you’re going crazy right now. “If you think about it calmly, you can see that a violent method like engagement is not easy even for Selaha.”

Fenia’s point was poking at a blind spot.

It wasn’t long before Selaha became aware of his unreasonable feelings of exclusivity toward Ed Ross-Taylor.

I can’t believe I’m swayed by these immediate emotions to decide on an engagement partner. If you’re in your right mind, you can’t do something like that.

It’s just a justification to control and shake up Fenia in order to attract Ed to their faction.

“You’re right, Fenia.”

Fenia has definitely become much sharper than when she was younger.

I had to admit that she was not the type of person who was manipulated by Selaha and had her dolls taken away from her as a child.

“But you just scratched my pride by pointing out so clearly.”

However, what Fenia did not expect was that Selaha’s sky-high pride was far outside the scope of normal thinking.

“... Sister Selaha?”

“If it gets that far, there’s nothing we can’t do about getting engaged. Why do you think it seems to be going too violently? But if you think about it carefully, what’s wrong with getting engaged? If a problem arises later, you can just break off the engagement.”

“...Don’t lose your temper, Sister Selaha.”

“I am very calm now. However, things that get on my nerves keep happening over and over again, so my head gets hot.”

Selaha’s voice definitely became calmer.

However, just because the voice has become calmer, there is no guarantee that the inside will also be calm.

“You shouldn’t have provoked me.”

“I didn’t know I would end up saying this, but if I push things forward like that, it might lead to something bad.”

“What does that mean? “I wonder if there is someone who would threaten the first princess of this glorious Cloel Empire?”

“...I won’t go into detail, but the human relationships built around Ed Rothtaylor are more complicated than you might think.”

Fenia is not as familiar with Ed’s personal relationships as Belle or Ziggs.

But at least if Ed was kidnapped and engaged like that... it reminds me of some people who wouldn’t sit still.

Since each and every one of them is a human being that cannot be easily seen, from Selaha’s point of view, it has a great potential to become the handshake of all handshakes.

“From my perspective, it would not be good if things escalated, so I would recommend not doing such a thing.”

“Don’t tell me to do this or that. Fenia. “Just because your support group has increased recently... Do you feel like you’ve achieved something by being loyal to that guy...?”

“Sister Selaha...”

“Loyalty is like a reed before the wind. Right now, I’m acting like I’ll follow you for the rest of my life, but I shouldn’t forget that my heart could break at any time. “If you grew up with first-hand experience of the Rose Palace’s dirty secret tactics and conspiracies, you would know that, right?”

Princess Selaha stretched out her upper body and whispered in Princess Fenia’s ear.

“Loyalty changes so easily that you wonder if it can be like this.”

“...”

“And twisting and breaking people’s hearts like that is my specialty.”

I had to admit that fact.

Princess Selaha is a ruler and has a charisma that captivates her subjects.

He always makes confident decisions and wears an elegance that seems to know his nobility.

It’s not something you learn, it’s something you have to be born with. That is the emperor’s timber.

Even that arrogant temperament is ultimately a by-product of being a ruler.

Those who follow Selaha kiss her shoe soles with joy.

“...”

Fenia couldn’t answer Selaha’s words right away.

Selaha has already tried to break Ed’s loyalty several times, but has failed. This is just something to shake up Fenia.

However, there was no way Fenia knew the entire process.

It’s just a strange feeling of anxiety rising.

Anyway, the opponent is Ed Ross Taylor. The story with Fenia is already over. I was determined that I would never be appeased by Selaha, and I was confident that no matter what I would do, I would not break her tenacity.

However, Ed is Ed, but Selahah is also Selahah.

She is a girl who has lived a life that has been plundered from everything she thought would remain forever and taken as she pleases.

Many of his subjects, who had pledged loyalty until the end in the face of any ordeal, were lured by Selaha’s vision and charisma. And when its abilities and uses were exhausted, it was abandoned like a devoted partner by Selaha, who lost interest.

Fenia already knows this from extensive experience.

A sense of loss for what was taken away. The empty space is painfully felt to the extent that it is on a completely different level than when it never existed.

Since he is the younger brother of Princess Selaha, who grew up plundering other people’s property, he knows much better.

And it was only then that he began to realize the strange peace and security he felt while under Ed Rosstaylor’s command.

I know that it is too late to realize it after losing it.

His relationship with Ed Rosstaylor was not always smooth.

Rather, it is not strange if Ed Rosstaylor harbors a grudge against Princess Fenia. This is because the relationship between Ed and Fenia began as an enemy.

In fact, it is strange that they are being so cooperative with Fenia. The relationship between Fenia and Ed was actually supported by Ed’s understanding.

The moment you realize that you can lose, the anxiety that comes over you becomes uncontrollable.

Initially, the plan was to use Ed to shake up Selaha’s power.

“It looks like you’ve worked your ass off to cause a wedge between the Elphelan family and me, Fenia.”

However, Selaha’s attitude, as if he had seen through even that, imprints a new possibility in Fenia’s mind.

“I’m sorry, but it’s a big mistake to think you’ll fall for such a lame plan.”

It is a big mistake to think that everything will go as you think.

Leaving that message behind, Princess Selaha stood up and left the reception room.

“...”

Princess Fenia, who was left behind, sat alone for a while without even moving.

There was only silence in the reception room.