← Previous Chapter | Chapter Index | Next Chapter →

The Duke's Daughter Goes Her Own Way

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s Confusion and Surprise

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

In the spring of the year I turned seven, I underwent the Investiture Ceremony and became the Crown Prince.

This followed custom; if the legitimate child of the royal family is approved by parliament as having no issues with their qualifications, they are invested as crown prince at age seven.

I have two younger sisters.

If something were to happen to me, one of them would have to take the throne as ruling queen.

I want to be careful to ensure that doesn't happen.

There is no need to burden my little sisters with an unnecessary weight.

Once the investiture is complete, a future spouse must be selected.

Currently, the domestic situation is stable.

Although neighboring countries are somewhat tense, it's within the scope of normal operations.

In other words, there is no need for a major political marriage.

After consultations with the King, Queen, and courtiers, it was decided that I would be engaged to the daughter of Duke Macnagan.

The Macnagan Ducal House ranks third among the five ducal titles. While they possess a reasonable amount of influence, they rarely make major assertions in the first place.

Though sometimes labeled as opportunists, they are more of a moderate, status-quo-seeking household.

They neither lead a large faction nor belong to one.

And yet, many nobles admire their house.

The neutral among neutrals.

The daughter of the Macnagan Ducal House is four years younger than me. It isn't an excessive age gap.

Too many factions pushed their own daughters forward, and it took time to silence them.

Throughout it all, the Macnagan Ducal House at the center of the storm remained completely silent.

They made no move to advance themselves, nor any move to withdraw.

I felt they were a rather mysterious house.

If there was a problem, it was the lack of definitive information regarding the girl named Elizabeth Macnagan.

I obtained a portrait from the Duke.

It depicted a highly adorable young girl.

Softly waving pale gold hair, bright green eyes like fresh young leaves. Plump lips and a delicate nose. Seated neatly in a chair, she looked just like a doll.

(Well, it's not like I would blindly believe a portrait completely, though.)

Somehow, I managed to quiet the noisy factions and finalized the engagement.

The documents to be submitted to the altar, the ones for the House of Lords' mediation office, and the files to be kept at the royal palace were drawn up, and the Duke's consent was secured.

While the Duke complied solemnly, treating everything as a royal command, he looked at me with a wry smile after signing all the papers and said,

「If my daughter does not please you, I will gladly agree to void the arrangement at any time.」

I couldn't help but be dumbfounded by the Duke's total lack of ambition.

(With a head of the house like this, is the ducal family really going to be alright?)

However, I would learn the true meaning behind the Duke's words during our first meeting.

It wasn't that he lacked ambition. It was anxiety born from how incredibly eccentric his daughter was.

In preparation for meeting a girl four years my junior, I had thought in advance about what we should discuss.

My sister, three years younger than me, was obsessed with a doll our father gave her for her birthday.

The young noble ladies who cozied up to me around the castle under the guise of coincidence seemed to adore dresses, jewels, beautiful flowers, and illustrated stories.

All of these were things I possessed absolutely zero interest in.

Even so, thinking I should make an effort to match their conversation, I tried reading botanical encyclopedias and trendy stories. I never would have dreamed that such efforts would end up entirely wasted.

On the day of the meeting, the designated venue was the grand garden, where roses were beautifully arranged. It was a choice based on the crude preconception that "women generally love roses."

On my way to the venue, I observed the prepared setting from a distance.

This was to see what kind of attitude the young lady and her parent brought to this meeting.

The two didn't seem to be having much of a conversation.

The Duke was leisurely gazing at the garden, and the young lady was doing the same. Borrowing an opera glass from my guard, I observed her closely.

She was looking at the garden.

She was looking, yes, but the height of her gaze seemed focused somewhere higher than the low shrubs like the roses.

What was she looking at?

I tried to follow her eyes, but out where her gaze landed, the Hebel Wing of the royal palace merely jutted out. If she were interested in architecture, the structure of the Hebel Wing might be intriguing. But a five-year-old girl?

Following her gaze further, she was nodding while looking at an empty space across the garden.

It was nothing but a complete mystery.

(Is that young lady really going to be okay?)

Feeling a slight tinge of anxiety, I returned the opera glass to my guard and headed toward the venue.

Noticing my arrival, the two bowed deeply in a subject's salute.

Bidding them to raise their heads, I gestured for them to take their seats.

When I looked at Lady Elizabeth as she sat down, to my surprise, she was even more lovely than her portrait.

Between her misty, pale gold hair that a painting couldn't fully capture and her sparkling, bright eyes, the minute differences were too numerous to list.

While it wasn't uncommon for people (especially women) to flatter their portraits upward, this was the first time I had ever seen someone downplay their appearance. No, perhaps she didn't intend to misrepresent herself. It might just be that the painter was unable to fully capture her essence.

As the maids prepared the tea and withdrew, Lady Elizabeth watched them with a look of admiration. (What on earth is she so impressed by?)

Furthermore, she looked toward the guard knights stationed at a distance and nodded in deep approval.

Guard knights who appear before nobles are selected specifically for their good looks. Bringing along intimidating, fierce-faced men would only make the other party wary.

(She, too, was likely satisfied with their fine appearances.)

For now, today's objective was to learn even a little about this young lady named Elizabeth Macnagan, about whom I had zero prior information.

Based on that, I had to formulate the curriculum for her education as the future Crown Princess.

In fact, blending in among the servants was my tutor, Master Nathaniel Vallen. Though it would likely be a mundane conversation, he was there to gauge the level of her education from her responses.

Deciding it was time to begin, I addressed her.

The moment she opened her mouth, she smoothly stated, 「My name is Elizabeth Macnagan. It is an absolute honor to be granted this audience,」 and bowed her head without a single stumble.

(Had she been instructed to say exactly that? For a five-year-old, wasn't her choice of words a bit too rigid? She must be working quite hard too.) I thought, and a natural smile slipped out.

Since it was likely a rehearsed greeting, a slight mischievous urge rose within me to see how she would react if I replied like this:

「I am already well aware of your name. After all, I couldn't neglect to investigate it.」

(What kind of reaction will she show upon being told I already knew?)

Most of the young noble ladies I had met before usually blushed with delight. Some were surprised.

However...

「It is exactly as you say.」

True to her words, without showing the slightest hint of surprise, Lady Elizabeth nodded with an air of complete understanding.

(What is with this girl?)

Her house is the moderate of moderates, completely devoid of ambition for power. It wouldn't be surprising if the daughter lacked political ambition as well. Even before that, there was a possibility that a five-year-old girl simply didn't grasp what it meant to be the 'Crown Princess.'

Yet, this girl was likely different.

She seemed to understand all of that, conveying an air of realizing from our very first meeting that 'since the engagement is finalized, it's only natural you'd know my name.'

(What?)

I blurted out a ridiculous question to the Duke before I could stop myself: 「Is your daughter truly five years old?」

While the Duke gave a wry smile and confirmed it, Lady Elizabeth sat beside him, smiling warmly at me with eyes that looked as if she were watching something utterly endearing.

(Right, that's it. It's the exact look my grandmother gives me. No, wait a minute. I'm the one who's four years older, aren't I? And she's only five right now, isn't she?)

「Since you have introduced yourself, I shall follow suit. I am Leonard Francis Belkraine. You may call me Leon.」

When I said that, she flashed a vague smile, as if thinking, *Hmm, what should I do~?*

(What is up with this girl? She completely throws off my rhythm°.)

After that, trying my best to keep the conversation going, I brought up topics like trendy dresses and favorite flowers.

The result was a spectacular, complete strikeout.

This was the first time I had ever encountered a young lady who gave absolutely no resonance, no matter how much you prompted her.

Moreover, she blushed slightly and looked down, seemingly ashamed of her lack of interest in those subjects.

(No, it's not like I desperately want you to be interested in them, so you don't have to feel that ashamed...)

None of the topics I prepared for today seemed usable.

If that was the case, I had no choice but to rely on my own repertoire.

「Do you read books at all?」

I had made sure to brush up on trendy romance stories just in case. If it was a classic picture book, it would be a breeze.

(*Come at me!* I thought, waiting, but...)

Lady Elizabeth replied in a small voice, looking a bit hesitant, 「I do read.」

Curious as to why she seemed so uncomfortable, I decided to press on.

「Could you tell me about a book you've read recently?」

「Recently...」

She seemed incredibly hard-pressed to speak.

She looked down, her face twisting into a troubled expression.

(Could it be that her claim to read books was a lie, and she hasn't actually read anything recently?)

「Elly, speak honestly.」

The Duke urged the visibly hesitating Lady Elizabeth with an exasperated tone. She looked at the Duke as if asking if it was truly alright, then timidly opened her mouth.

「Recently... I have been reading the final volume of Harald Boehm's The History of the Rise and Fall of the Demain Empire...」

......Huh? ...What?!

If it was that book by Dr. Boehm, I had read it too.

That was because Master Nathaniel had recommended it to me.

Shifting my gaze slightly, I saw Master Nathaniel, who was dressed in servant's livery, wide-eyed with immense shock.

(I wish I could express my surprise that honestly. I'm jealous.)

When I looked at the Duke in sheer astonishment, he gave a bitter nod.

In other words, this wasn't a case of a toddler wanting to act grown-up, flipping through a book meant for adults and insisting they had "read" it.

Even so, wasn't it far too esoteric for a five-year-old to read?

It contained numerous citations in Demain, the language used by the now-extinct Demain Empire, making it difficult to finish without a supplementary guidebook...

Even before that, it was rare for a five-year-old girl to be interested in a fallen nation.

When I asked her why she decided to read it, an even more shocking response arrived.

「Previously, I read The Eternal Agathia—」

「No, wait just a moment.」

(No, seriously, wait a moment!)

Setting aside whether it was rude of me to interrupt her, I simply couldn't comprehend what she was saying.

No, I understood the words, but I couldn't wrap my brain around it.

「You read it? The Eternal Agathia?」

When I asked, she nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. 「Yes.」

Master Nathaniel had finally slumped down, clutching his head.

(How enviable. I feel like taking that exact posture myself.)

The Eternal Agathia was otherwise known as "The Blunt Weapon."

While it was required reading for the history department at the Royal Academy, it was a massive, thick tome of history that had caused countless students to give up.

I hadn't finished reading it all yet myself. I had about a third left to go, but that final third alone was twice the volume of a regular book.

To be fair, the rise and fall of the Demain Empire occupied a significant amount of weight in that text. That was because the Demain Empire was considered the founding father of the restoration of civilization in the Agathia River basin.

「...So you read The Eternal Agathia and developed an interest in the Demain Empire?」

So that's what this meant.

It made logical sense.

This wasn't the vanity of a young girl; it was truly the path trodden by someone studying history.

「It is exactly as you say. Since I became interested, I first read Nelson Cocius's The Light and Shadow of the Demain Empire, followed by Aurelius Watts's The Demain Empire: Two Hundred Years of Glory, and then the history of its rise and fall... and so on.」

No, seriously, please give me a break.

She was perfectly tracing the correct path to learning about the fallen Demain Empire. A five-year-old girl.

The Light and Shadow of the Demain Empire was a book focused on the nation's imperial family, detailing the reign of each emperor.

And The Demain Empire: Two Hundred Years of Glory was a four-volume work centered on the country's culture and customs.

To read all of those, and then tackle the history of its rise and fall, which was considered a modern interpretation...

Master Nathaniel, still curled up clutching his head, showed no sign of standing back up.

This was the first time I had ever felt such deep camaraderie with my usually strict tutor.

What on earth was I supposed to do now?

...For the time being, let's just prod her.

「Do you aspire to be a historian?」

To which she answered as a matter of course, 「No.」

「I simply read it out of curiosity. It's something like a form of entertainment for me.」

Entertainment...

A book dubbed a blunt weapon, which made even grown students give up.

Even I couldn't bring myself to call those things "entertainment."

It was shameful of me to feel this way, but somehow, I was growing a bit tired...

After exchanging a few more words, I decided to wrap things up for the day.

When I told her that I would prepare something she might like for our next meeting, she showed an innocent, adorable smile perfectly suited to her age and replied, 「I shall look forward to it.」

Two weeks later, at our second tea party, she rejoiced so intensely she looked ready to leap for joy over the replica bracelet excavated from the ruins of the Demain Empire that I had prepared for her.

*****

Thank you for reading. If you want to help my hobby, please download and install LDP9 with my link down below. Just click the small yellow LDPlayer Banner.