Tensei Reijou wa Shomin no Aji ni Uete Iru

It’s depressing…

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Kurogane and Mashiro carried me into my room and almost pushed me into bed, but somehow I convinced them.

“Lord, don’t you think you should rest?”
“Cristea, you need to sleep, okay?”
“Geez… I’m fine, alright? You are both worriers.
I was just a little surprised earlier.”

Yeah, I was just surprised by my Oniisama’s confession, and my face turned red.
I’m not sick, I’m not going to fall asleep.

“Umm, Cristea-sama? Are you not feeling well…?”

Miria came back from the dining hall and looked at me with concern.
I asked her to deliver the dinner to Byakko-sama’s group and Teacher Neil since Sei and I were not hungry.
Kurogane and Mashiro said they’d stay by my side, so they’re eating here now.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine.”
“However…”

Miria glanced at Kurogane and Mashiro.
The two were unusually worried about me, so it raised her concern.

“I’m really fine.
It’s just something happened…”
“Is that so…? Did you have any problems at the examination today?”

Well, my attributes and the glow of the magic circle was a bit more unusual than normal… no, it was quite powerful, but…

“Something happened after the examination.”

When I talked about what happened at the salon, Miria’s face crumbled.

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“Cristea-sama… please forgive me.
Master forbid me from speaking about it, so I couldn’t tell you about it myself…”
“It’s fine, don’t mind it.
Oniisama apparently had no intentions of telling me before his graduation either.
If that was the case, then I would surely found out about it one day from the rumors circulating around, so it’s better being in the known earlier than later.
Miria, my throat is dry, could you make me a cup of tea?”

I hurriedly tried to distract Miria who lowered her head apologetically and asked for a cup of tea.

“Umm… so, what do you intend to do about this, Cristea-sama?”

Miria asked while handing me the cup.

“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to marry Norman-sama after graduation?”
“…! Cough, eh, m, marry?”

When I heard about marriage with Oniisama, I instantly choked.
Nono, isn’t that a bit too fast of a development!?

“Yes.
You don’t like the idea of being the Crown Princess, right? And it’s not like you have someone you love, so I thought you would choose Norman-sama.”
“Umm, you see… I just found out that Oniisama was actually my cousin.
I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“Ah… of course.
I was thoughtless… I apologize.
However, I believe Norman-sama would be the most optimal partner for you, Cristea-sama.”
“Eh?”
“Please think about it.
Norman-sama loves your cooking and understands your need for freed… ahem, your flexible thoughts, so you won’t have to worry that he will scold you or oppose you from doing what you like after the marriage.
However, I don’t believe you will find the same freedom to cook if you marry into another family.”
“T, that might be true.”

Miria… she nonchalantly dissed me.

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“Besides, I don’t think Master or even your Oniisama won’t approve of a half-hearted match.”
“C, certainly…”

Otousama is unwilling to betroth me even to the best husband candidate in our country, His Highness the Crown Prince Raymond.
It’s not hard to see why, though, since Otousama always had a hard time dealing with His Majesty the King, and he doesn’t want to let me be his daughter-in-law.

“However, since we are here, is there a need to force Lord into a marriage?”
“Cristea should just stay with us forever!”

Kurogane and Mashiro pouted with displeasure.

“Kurogane-sama, Mashiro-sama.
Cristea-sama is a young lady of a noble family.
Even though the two of you, Sacred Beasts, are here to protect her, she can’t afford not to marry.”

That’s true… Otousama and Oniisama aside, Okaasama would never allow me to remain single.
It doesn’t seem she has given up on making me the Crown Princess just yet, after all…

 

“And because Norman-sama is already aware about your situation, I’m sure the two of you will be able to spend a lot of time together with Cristea-sama, Kurogane-sama, Mashiro-sama…”
“Guh…”
“Mumu…”

“Miria, I just found out about this today, so I’m going to take my time to calm down and consider it thoroughly.
I just enrolled in the academy, too.
I might be able to find someone good in the future too, no?”
“Eh? Yeah, well, that’s right, but…”

I know that Miria is thinking about me when she said that.

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But I’m only ten years old now.
Well, my heart and soul are that of an adult because of my past life’s memories, though.
It’s too high a hurdle for me, a mourning woman in a previous life and a little girl in the present…!
Please, let me think more slowly!?

“Rather than that, I’m more worried about tomorrow’s classess…”

Namely, about the blonde drills girl, Alicia Gruzier.

“Ahh… are you worried about that Alicia Gruzier you have talked about before?”
“Yeah.
I’m afraid that she might continue to be hostile and snap at me, which would be quite troubling…”

Since I’m an adult in mind, I should be able to endure, but Oniisama might not if she goes overboard, and things could get pretty bad for everyone.
The other party is from a Marquis’ household, so if there’s any trouble, it’s going to get ugly.
But even so, Otousama and Oniisama are likely to be merciless, so I really have to be careful.
As expected, it wouldn’t be good for her reputation if she had to leave the academy as soon as she entered…

“I will deal with the offender for you then.”
“That’s right, anyone who causes you trouble will be dealt with by us, Cristea!”
“No, you can’t do that, okay! I beg you, please don’t use such violent words!”

I beg the two of you, please be obedient, okay!?
As I was quieting them down, Miria said as she remembered something while clearing away the dishes

“She’s the daughter of Marquis Gruzier, right? I’m sure she has two older brothers, but Alicia-sama was born quite late and was raised with a lot of love from her family…”
“Y, you are very knowledgeable…”
“There are rumors among the maids who work at the girls’ dormitory that she’s very difficult to serve… ah, the word only reached me a little earlier.”

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She laughed as if to deceive me, but she seems to enjoy rumors quite a lot?
The maid network is frightening.
I wonder what kind of rumors would there be about me if I entered the girls’ dormitory… entering the special dormitory might have been a good deal for me.

“Until your magic power stabilized and the rumors about your cooking started circulating, Alicia-sama was the top candidate for Prince Raymond’s fiancée.
Perhaps that’s why the Marquis’ Gruzier’s household was quite upset when rumors began to circulate that you might be a new candidate.”
“… I’m surprised Otousama didn’t tell me anything.”

I’m sure your Otousama must have taken a lot of heat from the rumors that worsened my reputation back then…

“Marquis Gruzier is part of one of the most powerful factions in the nobility, so I’m sure they didn’t let Master meddle too much into these matters.
Besides…”

There, Miria hesitated to speak.

“Besides?”
“Master seemed to be very much in agreement with the idea of not wanting to name you as a potential fiancée, so he didn’t have to do anything about it…”
“……”

O, Otousama!
Why don’t I make you a big feast when I return home the next time!?

“Anyhow, I think we have no choice but to make Alicia-sama understand that you have no intention of obtaining that kind of status.”
“I guess that’s the only way… I will consult with Mariel-san tomorrow.”
“Please do that.”

I gave Miria her dinner and told her to retire, then I headed to the bath to recover from today’s fatigue.