Engagements and deceit - Chapter 1
“Are you sure that you’re Princess Tearia?”
Just recently, I was addressed with a question that was polite in words but astonishingly lacking in etiquette. As I had grown slightly weary of the large tea party and was taking a moment to catch my breath, I turned around in surprise at the sound of the voice.
“……”
Baroness Shumika Bergner……
I’ve heard many rumors about her, mostly negative. The tea party was almost exclusively focused on gossiping about her, and she was the center of attention today, too. But she either is dull or has no sense of the atmosphere, as she acted perfectly normally.
“……Excuse me, but who are you?”
“Oh, my apologies. I am Shumika Bergner. I actually have something urgent to tell you, Princess Tearia.”
She looked at me straight in the eye, and her voice devoid of any malicious intent. I felt bitterness as I looked into her wide-open eyes and opened my mouth to speak. For a baron’s daughter to address an archduke’s daughter… Does this girl not understand how rude it is?
“……What is it?”
But if I were to say something like, “That’s rude!” here and now, her face would turn pale and she would start to cry. And without regard to those around her, she would apologize and let loose a barrage of bombshells. The young ladies around me have testified to this with their own eyes.
I want no part of this troublesome matter. Should I, who will become the future queen, really be so cowardly? But for now, I can’t find a way to deal with this girl.
Currently, the nobles are split into two factions.
One is the faction that believes we should definitely give this girl a piece of our minds!
The other is the faction that believes in avoiding confrontation and doing whatever it takes to stay out of her way.
Incidentally, both factions are made up exclusively of women.
The noblemen are all useless, aren’t they?
They defend her by saying things like she’s like a hamster or some other small animal, and if you ask them if they have romantic feelings for her, they deny it.
However, they all say she’s like a sister to them…… This makes all the noblewomen and myself thoroughly disgusted. I’ve even heard of several broken engagements as a result of fiancés getting angry about having to choose between their “pseudo-sister” and their fiancée. Even so, they do not stop protecting her.
“Pardon my forwardness……, but I heard you had a quarrel with Sir Willanant?”
Willanant is His Highness.
Even I, his fiancée of ten years, call him “Your Highness,” yet this girl calls him by his first name? How ridiculous.
Should I point that out here, or should I just pretend not to notice……?
I am not a member of the faction that lectures her, but a moderate who chooses to run away. It’s such a hassle to engage in a verbal battle with this girl, who has almost all of the noble men backing her up.
It’s true that His Highness and I had something that could hardly be called a quarrel the other day.
But why does she know about it?
“Yes, but… why ask?”
“I heard it from Sir Willanant. He said something about a conversation about the shapes of clouds that made Princess Tearia angry.”
Clack.
I was a little irritated. The conversation was something like that, but that’s not the childish reason I got angry.
And by the way, the reason for the quarrel was you, Shumika.
The general flow of the argument was as follows.
Under the pretense of deepening our friendship as fiancés, His Highness and I were taking a walk in the garden. At that time, we looked up at a cloud and I reminisced.
“It makes me nostalgic. I remember when we saw clouds like these a long time ago. Do you remember how I said the clouds were so close, I felt like I could reach out and grab them?”
“…….Did we ever say that?”
“You looked at them and said, ‘The air is so clear in the winter mornings.'”
“…….Oh, wait, maybe you said something about how fluffy they were and that you wanted to eat them?”
“Eh?”
“They were so fluffy… didn’t you say that you wanted to eat them…?”
His Highness had a puzzled look on his face when he said that, and it immediately clicked for me.
The only person who could make such a scatterbrained remark was her. That’s right, Baroness Shumika Bergner. He probably confused something she said with something I said.
His Highness forgetting his memories with me and recalling conversations with Baroness Shumika Bergner……
It’s no wonder I got upset.
“Tee-hee, oh my, Sir Willanant. It seems our memories differ…… I wonder whose memories they are.”
Well, it was pretty much as nasty as I could make it. His Highness, uncharacteristically, knit his brow, but our walk ended there and we didn’t speak again.
As I thought back to that incident and became bitter once more, Baroness Shumika Bergner continued speaking to me with concern.
“Princess Tearia…… With all due respect, I took the liberty of listening to Sir Willanant’s troubles. Because it seemed like he didn’t understand why Princess Tearia was angry…… So I explained it to him. I told him that Princess Tearia is an archduke’s daughter, but she is also a maiden. You would be angry too if someone forgot an important memory, right? I also told Sir Willanant to reflect deeply on his actions, so I’m sure he’ll be coming to you himself…”
Could you please just stop……
“How dare you say something like that…!? And to apologize in this manner………… If I had left it alone, I wonder what this girl would misunderstand. Eh? Is this person a royal? A saint from somewhere? No, even a saint wouldn’t speak like this. Even if she were royalty, she wouldn’t talk to the Crown Prince in this manner.
Oh, oh man.
That’s why I don’t want to talk to this girl…….
“Baroness Shumia”
I couldn’t help but interject with her voice. She looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“I apologize. I don’t feel well, so I will take my leave”
“I’m t-terribly sorry……! D-did I perhaps upset you? I apologize………! I was speaking with Tearia-sama in mind……! Look at me……doing it again……”
Again? Which means there are other young ladies who have fallen victim besides me.
How pitiful. She must have flown into a rage. I can tell just by looking at how pale she is.
“…………No”
“That’s a lie! Because you’re angry”
“Don’t mind it. I’m not feeling well”
“Tearia-sama is angry, isn’t she?! Because I said something unnecessary…”
Don’t talk over me!
Are you returning the favor from earlier? You really do have a great personality.
You’re also persistent. Why do you want me to get so angry? Do you want me to hit you?
However, I am a virtuous young lady. Raising my voice or striking out is completely out of the question………… My stomach is churning with anger!
“…………Baroness Shumia. Excuse me”
“Uhhh, fuhhh……… uuu”
Oh, she started crying…………
In any case, she’s an aristocrat and yet she cries so easily. What is this all about?
Ladies do not cry in public. So why is it that she always cries so easily?
This is bad. If I stay here any longer, there’s going to be a groundless rumor that I made her cry. Mainly among the men. The other women will probably only view it as her causing more trouble but the men who are infatuated with her won’t take it that way. With great reluctance, I take out a handkerchief and hand it to her, saying with a slight smile:
“Wipe your tears. I really do feel unwell…… I apologize but I must take my leave”
I say, and leave the scene. Oh, I never want to interact with her again…………!
***
“Tia, did something happen?”
I’m having the usual tea party with His Highness and enjoying it……or rather, I’m not enjoying it but we’re having a conversation, when suddenly he asks this. Incidentally, our previous quarrel is being treated as if it never happened.
That’s fine. If he brings it up again, I really might flip the table over.
“………What do you mean?”
“Your face is stiff”
“………It’s always been like this”
He seldom laughs at my cold reply, or rather he smiles wryly, and takes hold of his teacup.
“Did something happen?”
He’s ignoring me.
“…………No. Really, nothing”
“Hmph, I see”
And with that, that day’s tea gathering ended.