Chapter 50

ED: I’m slow .

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Father’s Advice

…Well, I guess it’s about time to leave .

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Thinking that, I headed towards Father’s room . I knocked on the door, and walked in .

“Excuse me, Father . ”

Father stared at me from beyond the wall of papers . Though I spoke to him once after I was banished from the Academy, that conversation feels like it was forever ago .

“You’re heading home?”

“Yes . I plan on returning to the fief tomorrow . ”

“Is that so . ”

Father placed down his pen on the table . He then gestured towards the seat that was placed in front of the study room table .

“If you’ll excuse me . ”

I obeyed and sat down .

“I have one thing that I want to warn you about . ”

Upon hearing Father’s strict tone, my posture corrected itself . It feels as if this conversation is more strict than the last time we faced off .

“What is it?”

“Be careful of Queen Elria and her house… the Marquess Maeria’s household . ”

“I understand they’re the head of the 2nd prince’s faction, so I’ll be sure to take extra care . ”

“That’s not what I meant . During the Foundation Day party, you proved you protected the crown prince’s back in front of both domestic and foreign powers . ”

“So basically, I’ve become a nuisance to Queen Elia and the Maeria Household?”

My engagement to the 2nd prince had been annulled . Because of this, I figured it’d be next to impossible for me to be accepted by their faction . It’s not a question of just my own feelings, but their image becoming worse . If that were the case, I’d be nothing besides a nuisance in the eyes of Queen Elia .

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“No . . Not just you, the Armelia House too . ”

“Oh…”

“By nature, the Armelia household is seen as an annoyance to the Maeria house . Although I’m a comrade of the royalty I’m merely the prime minister, and because Melly is a favourite of the crown prince and has such an influential voice in high society, we’ve managed to stand at the top . Even so we’ve avoided being involved with political affairs for a long time . By doing so we avoided being attacked by the Maeria house again and again . But now…”

“By breaking my engagement with the second prince, I’ve applied pressure as a daughter of the Armelia house…”

“Precisely . You caused the fief to boom even faster than I could imagine, and even managed to found a conglomerate and turn a profit . You’ve accomplished too much too quickly . Because of that we’ve become an existence that cannot be ignored by the Maeria House . ”

“…My . . My apologies…”

How shameful… Everything going so swimmingly had me simply accepting my good luck and not considering its aftereffects . It was something that I could have seen had I given it even the smallest amount of thought – how annoying my existence was to the Armelia house . I was allowed that position out of the kindness of my father’s heart . Yet, to think I simply caused my family more trouble…!

“…No . It’s also my fault for not gauging your strengths properly . No need to apologize . ”

“But still . . ”

“Fortunately, nothing has happened yet . So, Iris… Take the utmost precaution when moving forward from here on out . ”

“Yes!”

Hearing my response, Father rang a bell . A maid promptly entered the room .

“Something to drink . ”

“Absolutely . ”

Without a moment’s delay, a teacup was placed in front of me . I decided to drink it to calm my racing heart .

“This may seem a bit redundant…”

Looking troubled, my father prepared to speak .

“… It’s obvious that you have to take precautions around the Maeria house, but you must also at all costs avoid Queen Elria . ”

“Is that different from what you said earlier?”

“…It appears that Queen Elria betrayed the royal palace . ”

Father spoke slowly, choosing his words with great thought . What is he saying with such delay . . ?

“… The disappearance of the real queen-to-be seems to also be related to Queen Elria . ”

“Father, have you such proof for a theory like that?”

“There was no evidence left . Are you saying that we should try investigating the queen?”

“…It was a slip of tongue . ”

If I think about it, in this world where forensic investigation doesn’t exist, finding the answer would be difficult . It’d also be difficult to use physical force on someone with such high influence .

It could be a ploy by the 1st prince, or it could be true . I don’t know who it might be, but the reason for spreading this rumor might be so that people won’t investigate it further .

“Anyway, there’s a rumour like that floating about . Make sure you take heed of what’s happening around you . ”

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“Yes . ”

I felt my heart shiver . I don’t want to acknowledge it, but it seems like the opposing side is trying to single out opponents .

“I’ve told Tanya, Ryle, and Dida ahead of time, so you be careful of yourself too . ”

“I’ll take Father’s advice to heart . ”

I’ve come a long way since my confinement . I know for sure that I don’t want to die yet . Furthermore, if I were to die at this point in time, there’s no doubt I’d cause trouble for my territory’s people . The reform I’m leading right now and the politics surrounding my territory cannot be left aside .

“… In addition, you’ve been looking into Baron Noir’s daughter, Yuri, correct?”

“Ah… Father seems to know everything . ”

“Well… So how much do you know?”

“Yuri’s mother was a maid that worked in the royal castle . ”

“Alright . …By the way the family that was protecting her was the Reuben house . ”

“…The Reuben house?”

I tilted my head in confusion at the name of a house I never heard of before .

“This is the limit of the information I can divulge at this moment . ”

Hearing his statement, I gave up on prying more information from him .

“If you look into this, you should be able to discover what’s been going on at the capital . But don’t look too far into it . You’d only be adding more stress to your already severe situation . ”

“…Then why has Father…” Translated by jynkitl . wordpress . com

“If your protégé was sniffing around the capital, you’d want to stop it before something happens right? If it’s just a family name you should be able to discover information about it from a book . ”

“…Thank you for the information . ”

‘Don’t look into it any further‘… huh . Considering our previous conversation, I can’t simply do what I please anymore . As expected of Father . I have no reason to object .

“Thank you for the time . With this I’ll excuse myself . ”

“Ah . Be careful on your way home . ”

I almost thought I heard him add “too” to the end of his sentence . True, it’s practically a given that attacking travelers is easier . I should listen well to what Tanya, Ryle, and Dida say on the way home .