Tensei Saki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu Tachi to Oryouri Shimasu ~Okazari Ouhi wa my Pace ni Saikyou Desu~

Translator: Kuromaru

Editor: Evelet

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3. The Pronouncement of Exile

“Leticia, you’ve always been like that. Your speech and actions seem prim and proper.…It makes me wonder how long you have been laughing at me behind my back.”

A crooked smile appeared on Fritz’s face.

“Your Highness, that is not true. As your fiancée, I’ve always adored you—”

“After all, you went through with this engagement, not because of me, but because you want to be the Crown Princess, right?”

…What the hell is he talking about?

Since our betrothal had been arranged due to politics, it was given that there wouldn’t be any love in the beginning. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have bloomed later.

…Or that’s what I had believed, but it appeared not to be the same for Fritz.

“You greedily want the throne to yourself, so you worked hard for that goal. But of course, you would think that I’m an idiot for being so slow, right?”

“This is a misunderstanding. I would never look down on you, Your Highness.”

While refuting him, I had already resigned myself to the futility of my actions.

Honestly, Fritz was far from what a proper Crown Prince should be. He was neither born with any special talents nor was he a hard worker. The only thing above average was his looks, but other than that, he was mediocre when it came to studying, swordsmanship, and magic.

I was worried about how he would govern, but that didn’t mean that I thought he was foolish. You could say because he was lacking, that I desperately worked harder instead, to compensate as his future Queen. But even if I didn’t look down on him, there indeed was a huge gap between us. And that might have caused him to feel inferior.

“Leticia, your words are superficial. Same as the gossips of the royal court, your words are pleasing to the ear but quite insincere.…Compared to Sumia, who cares about me, it’s different. At first, I was foolish and prejudiced against her because of her lower status, yet she accepted me with a warm heart.”

“Your Highness…”

While looking bashful but happy at the same time, Sumia leaned more against Fritz.

A young man that is burdened by the heavy responsibility that accompanies his title falls in love with the Lady who lived a commoner’s life who lovingly tends to him.

…This trope was well-used in literature about royals in my previous life.

The problem was that I was the villain in the way of their love.

“I’m going to make kind-hearted Sumia the Crown Princess. You’re in the way of our future happiness. For bullying Sumia, you’re no longer allowed in this land.”

Fritz’s pronouncement resounded through the silence.

“Let’s have a vicious woman like you thrown out of the country.”

…Exile? Are you in your right mind?

Despite myself, I became the straight man in his joke.¹

I knew that breaking off the engagement was unavoidable, but to go even further? I was shocked. You shouldn’t even kid about that. As the Duke’s daughter, I was a central figure in the political affairs of this kingdom. To arbitrarily condemn and drive me out like that…Isn’t that Crown Prince a bit too much?

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you had no choice but to break off the engagement, that doesn’t mean you need to drive me out. And where are you going to exile me to, huh?

It would be a different story if you were going to exile a commoner. But to exile me, a duke’s daughter, you would need to do the proper essential procedures.

…It was probably one of this simpleton Crown Prince’s whims, so it wasn’t something planned in advance.

As if to confirm my thoughts, that crafty four-eyes, Ileus, looked flustered as he fumbled with his glasses. I understood how this was going to go just from his appearance.

Crafty four-eyes’ personality might have been bad, but his brain was certainly not. Rather, he was quite nimble-minded. It had slipped my mind due to the current situation, but we used to compete for the top spot, and a sense of camaraderie was unintentionally born from that. So we had had some interactions as rivals.

“You big-headed woman, show me how to decipher this old book.” 

“Mr. Crafty four-eyes, could you lend me this reference book?” 

Our interactions had usually been like that. We had been like cats and dogs, sometimes cursing at each other and sometimes acting amiably.

Unlike the moronic Crown Prince, he had some common sense; he wasn’t the type who would defend Sumia for no reason. He would only do it if it was in his self-interest.

The baronial family Sumia hailed from was a distant relative to Ileus’ family. Since my family and his had a bit of hostility toward each other, it was believable to think that he wanted Sumia to take my place as the Crown Princess by getting closer to Fritz.

…I had discerned the situation a long time ago, and it had now borne fruit.

It was most likely that Ileus hadn’t expected this matter to become so serious. While his end goal was to end my engagement, his plan would’ve been well-considered and gradual.

One could say that Fritz’s pronouncement was the worst move he could have made. While I knew very well that he didn’t have feelings for me, I hadn’t expected that he would act so fatuously.

He had unilaterally decided to end our engagement and ordered my banishment right in public. He stupidly declared war against my family and me. It was natural to interpret his foolish public actions as a declaration of war against my family.

My family controlled the sea route in the western part of the kingdom and boasted of both vast territories and great wealth.

If my family deemed my exile a consensus decision from the royal family, it may cause discord between them which, in a worst-case scenario, might lead to a full out civil war.

Of course, Ileus had realized that possibility, as he was glancing at me, asking for my assistance.

…Hey crafty four-eyes, don’t look at me with such pathetic eyes. Where was the usual annoyingly confident spectacled boy?

I wanted to tell him that, no matter how unexpected the Crown Prince’s idiocy was, this plan was his originally, so he should take responsibility. Unfortunately, it seemed that I was the only one capable of de-escalating the situation.

It couldn’t be helped.

It looked like I had no choice but to draw the short straw for the sake of the kingdom.

“…I certainly hear your intentions, Your Highness, but is His Majesty aware of my aforementioned exilement?”

“I’ll get approval from my father later.”

As I thought, the decision for my banishment falls solely on this halfwit Crown Prince. But the problem was that he was His Majesty’s only son. In my opinion, it would have been better if His Majesty renounced him, only son or not—but alas!

If Fritz were to be renounced as Crown Prince by his father, the only candidate left would be His Majesty’s younger brother, who was known for his intelligence. But His Majesty didn’t like his younger brother and as such, he didn’t want to hand the throne off to him.

So the chances of the Crown Prince getting renounced were slim to none.

If Fritz kept insisting on my exilement, His Majesty would be stressed because the kingdom’s politics would be in a state of confusion.

And while it may be true that His Majesty would understand that Fritz’s pronouncement was folly, it didn’t mean he would revoke it. It would affect the royal family’s dignity if he did.

“…I understand, Your Highness. Please inform His Majesty that because I, Leticia, seem to be hated by His Highness Fritz, so, I will leave the country for a while in consideration of His Highness’s feelings. “

“Because I was hated by Fritz,” was the crux of the matter.

I couldn’t tolerate the false accusations of bullying Sumia. Saying this would give the impression that Fritz was the one at fault for exiling me for his own self-interest.

I’m not doing this to cause friction between the Duke’s family and the Royal family. I’m doing it because it’s important to make it seem like I’m complying with Fritz’s selfish whims.

“Watch the Crown Prince so that my intentions get properly transmitted to His Majesty,” my gaze conveyed to Ileus.

When I saw his glasses glint and his confirming nod, I decided to take my leave altogether from this absurd situation. 

Turning back to exit the school, cries of pity and ridicule followed me.

“The woman who was cast aside by His Highness.”

“Poor lady, she was driven out of her prosperous homeland.”

These scathing voices rang in my ears.

…This country had a long history, and as such, many aristocrats looked down on other countries for being new. Therefore, they consider exile as equal to the death penalty.

But I wasn’t as disappointed, perhaps because of my memories of my past life.

In any case, on that day, my engagement ended and I was exiled from the country.

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