I sat in the grand ducal office, reading reports on everything that had happened while I was away.
"It seems there were no particularly noteworthy incidents."
"No. Ah, there is one thing."
"Hm?"
Jester placed a letter before me. The wax seal on the envelope bore the crest of a house I had never seen before.
"What is this?"
"It is a letter from House Roienthal."
"Hm?"
House Roienthal? Wasn’t that the house to which the first villainess to oppose the protagonist belonged?
"They are close to the North, but what could this be about?"
I carefully opened the envelope and checked its contents.
"Hm?"
I read the letter once more, making sure I had not misread it. I had not.
"Your Grace? What is it?"
"...They are asking whether I would consider becoming engaged to the Lady of Roienthal."
"Pardon?"
**
The maid watching Cecilia Roienthal looked at the young lady she served with concern in her eyes.
"Rain."
"Yes, my lady."
"I’m all right."
"But..."
"I truly am all right."
The day she had promised the Crown Prince was drawing near—the promise that she would leave the imperial capital before the Imperial Academy’s winter break ended.
I was a fool, too. I never imagined those three would appear as the commoner’s representatives at the trial by duel.
There was no student willing to make enemies of Baron, her former fiancé; Ryan, the son of the commander of the knights; and Boris, the Mage Tower’s disciple. In the end, Cecilia had sent a representative from her own house to the trial by duel, only for him to suffer a crushing defeat.
Still, I am grateful that Father... that House Roienthal believes in my innocence.
Though Cecilia had done nothing, that woman Elysia had branded her the mastermind behind everything that had happened to her.
"Still..."
It had been an engagement without love, but Cecilia had hoped that Baron, whom she had supported as his fiancée for so many years, would at least believe in her innocence.
[To commit such disgusting acts while bearing the name of my fiancée? Get out of my sight at once.]
Those cruel words denied everything she had done over the years. Cecilia felt as though she had lost everything.
"Cecilia."
"Father."
The Duke of Roienthal entered through the door and looked at her with a benevolent smile. That smile made Cecilia’s heart ache even more. She believed that everything had been ruined because she was inadequate, because she had made a mistake.
"Has a reply to the letter come?"
"...Not yet, I see."
It was only to be expected. Even the Northern Grand Duke, who held near-independent power and openly stood opposed to the imperial family, would have no reason to take in a woman whose reputation had been tarnished.
"I’m sorry, Father... Because I am not good enough, even the Northern Grand Duke will..."
"No. That cannot be so. My daughter Cecilia is the most beautiful young lady in the world! No one in House Roienthal thinks you inadequate!"
Her kind father. Just as tears welled in her eyes while she thought of the retainers of House Roienthal who fought to protect her—
"Your Grace."
"What is it?"
"A reply has arrived from House Walterheim."
"!!!"
Wolfgang checked the contents of the letter the retainer handed him. Then he smiled at Cecilia.
"He says he will come in person."
"Pardon?"
"The Northern Grand Duke says he wishes to visit the ducal house himself and discuss the matter."
**
"I’m not going."
"You must go."
"..."
Jester’s gaze as he looked at me was sharp.
"Look at the proposal House Roienthal sent. The exclusive rights to the iron ore produced in their duchy, along with an enormous dowry."
"...Is the North... really that poor?"
"The North is always short on money. And then there are the orcs Your Grace brought back this time."
"..."
"Do you truly believe we can manage with wild animals and monsters alone?"
"Damn it."
I rubbed my dry face and sank into thought. Cecilia Roienthal, the villainess who ran wild, blinded by jealousy.
In the end, consumed by fury, she became a witch, and the protagonist and the Crown Prince subjugated her.
But Cecilia is already engaged to the Crown Prince and should be confronting the female protagonist. Why is she already in a broken engagement?
There was one more important point.
What if Cecilia goes on a rampage as a witch in the latter half of the story while she is in the North? Wouldn’t that be the route where the North is destroyed?
Wait. Then, using the subjugation of Cecilia as an excuse, the protagonist’s party would storm into the North...
No. This was an engagement I should refuse.
"I have heard rumors that the young lady’s mana is unstable and dangerous."
"Hm."
"Bringing a woman whose mental state is unstable after breaking off her engagement into the North is far too risky."
"What is the problem with that?"
"Pardon?"
Jester smiled and continued.
"Your Grace’s arrow will be faster than her spellcasting, after all."
"Jester..."
I was about to tell him that was not the point, but Jester cut me off and continued speaking.
"In the first place, what the ducal house wants in this letter is not a real marriage."
"Huh?"
So that was it?
"They want a shield. A new fence that will protect the young lady, who cannot remain in the imperial capital, and themselves, who have become enemies of the imperial family."
Come to think of it, the novel did say House Roienthal began to fall after the broken engagement.
"It is only an engagement, Your Grace. We can gain such a great price through an engagement that may be broken at any time."
"Then..."
"You need only go there this time and make it clear—the precise conditions for the day this contract ends."
He was right. As long as I, the Northern Grand Duke, protected Cecilia and her house from the imperial family’s bullshit until House Roienthal stabilized, I would gain overwhelming benefits from a relationship bound solely by contract.
Besides, it may actually be safer to keep Cecilia where I can see her.
If that crazy bastard Crown Prince dumped the villainess in the North because she would not leave the imperial capital, I might have to waste manpower and time searching for a land mine that could be anywhere. It might be better to keep her under my watch and observe the situation.
"Phew. All right. Then send a reply. And prepare for us to visit House Roienthal."
"Understood."
**
On the day we departed for House Roienthal, I nearly lost my mind at the sight of the black knights—the finest of the North’s elite—lined up around me.
"Why are the men who should be guarding Blackheart Castle here?!"
"Ha ha, do not worry. Only the minimum number are accompanying Your Grace as escorts."
"This is... the minimum?"
There had been twenty black knights following Rushe’s rebel army in the novel, so what were these ten doing here? Taking half of them as my escorts was a little...
"It is only ten out of the fifty black knights stationed at Blackheart Castle."
"..."
Ah, right. Blackheart Castle had not fallen, and the troops were still intact. More than half of them had been wiped out when the castle fell.
"Will you be all right with this?"
"It is an honor, Your Grace."
"To be entrusted with escorting Your Grace to your engagement ceremony..."
"We shall protect you safely!"
I whispered into Jester’s ear.
"...What is with them?"
"The knights from the Central have harassed the black knights terribly."
"Oh..."
"Would you like me to tell you how atrociously they behaved, relying on the influence of your two elder brothers who died before Your Grace assumed your post?"
"No need. Let’s leave."
"Have a safe journey."
Two days after departing the grand ducal estate, with Jester and the servants seeing us off—
"It really is close."
House Roienthal came into view in the distance.
"Your Grace, a party from the ducal house has come to greet us."
Sir Steak, the commander of the black knights, approached my carriage and reported to me. I ordered the coachman to stop.
"Welcome to House Roienthal, Grand Duke Walterheim."
"Thank you for receiving me so warmly, Duke Roienthal."
Behind Wolfgang Roienthal, who radiated the bearing of a seasoned political veteran, stood a young lady with silver hair and violet eyes.
That woman must be...
Cecilia Roienthal, the villainess from the novel I had been reincarnated into. She was beautiful in person, but terrifying. So she was basically a bomb that would go off if her mental state was mishandled even a little? Once again, I seriously began to wonder whether this engagement would truly benefit me.
"Come, rather than speaking while standing here, let us go inside."
"Certainly."
**
Before long, only Viktor and Cecilia, the two parties to the engagement, remained in the ducal house’s reception room. Cold air hung in the room as silence stretched on.
"It seems you are in quite a difficult position. Becoming engaged to the North, which stands opposed to the imperial family."
Viktor was the first to break the silence. It was a casual remark, delivered with indifference and coldness. Cecilia lifted her chin with composure and spoke to him.
"I believe the terms House Roienthal has offered hold great value for the North and for Your Grace."
"The exclusive rights to the iron ore from the duchy alone are excellent. And a companion who has likewise become an enemy of the imperial family..."
With one hand propping up his chin, Viktor looked at Cecilia. Meeting his unwavering red eyes, Cecilia’s violet eyes trembled.
"Very well, then."
Cecilia examined the contract Viktor placed on the table.
"You will reside at the Walterheim Estate. Except at public events, we will live as strangers. And..."
"Once House Roienthal has stabilized and the North has completely escaped the imperial family’s grasp, this engagement will be dissolved."
"A thoroughly political engagement."
"Is that not commonplace? Besides, I have no desire to marry anyone."
"I see."
Cecilia picked up a pen, wrote her name at the bottom of the contract, and pushed it back toward Viktor.
Viktor tucked the contract into his breast pocket and rose from his seat.
"We will return to the Walterheim Estate tomorrow."
"Yes."
"Then."
Viktor opened the reception room’s door alone and strode out. Left alone in the reception room, Cecilia looked at the place where Viktor had been sitting moments ago and murmured,
"...A cold, indifferent man... Yes. If it is to protect the people of the ducal house..."
**
"Haa... haa..."
After leaving the reception room, I braced a hand against the wall and began to gasp for the breath I had been holding in.
"She is fucking terrifying!!!"
That icy, frozen gaze. It was exactly the gaze she had shown at the novel’s climax. A nuclear bomb that could turn the entire area into a wasteland with one small gesture if someone provoked her even slightly.
"I never thought I would be the one stopping the nuclear bomb’s trigger."
As I scratched my head and wandered through the ducal estate, I overheard Cecilia being mentioned in a conversation ahead and pricked up my ears.
"Oh, our poor, kind young lady... What will become of her...?"
"It was not enough that the Crown Prince drove her out of the imperial capital. Now she is engaged to someone so cold."
"How much hardship she will endure once she goes to the North... Sigh."
"I am worried about the academy, too... How much the Crown Prince’s group will torment her in her second year..."
After finishing their conversation, the servants dispersed to their respective duties. Having listened carefully, I fell into thought.
"Looks like she has earned a good reputation among the servants. Well, even in the novel, she was a pure, sheltered young lady who suffered in silence until she finally exploded.
When I asked that family-register mate why this made her a villainess, she said, ‘Everyone who opposes the heroine is a villainess!’ It was so absurd I could not believe it."
That damned family-register mate. She must have gone to hell, right? She had better have.
"If I am going to manage her mental state, I will have to stay by her side as much as possible at the academy, too... Sigh."
Just my luck...
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