At the moment when Whitney was making a flustered expression due to Parsha’s sudden report, in front of the main gate of the Lingard Count’s house.
“Oh, you’ve arrived, my lady….”
“P-please, come inside first….”
The servants of the Lingard family, who stood there looking restless, immediately opened their mouths with nervous faces as a carriage bearing the now-familiar emblem stopped right in front of the gate.
“Where’s Whitney?”
However, Meredia, who stepped out with a drowsy expression, simply glanced around at the servants before tilting her head and asking.
“Ah, well…”
“The master is currently holding knight interviews in the garden.”
“Sh-shall I bring him over right now?”
Hearing the servants’ reply, Meredia’s face instantly twisted in displeasure.
“Tch, he really has a knack for standing people up.”
At her grumbling full of dissatisfaction, the servants, who had been bowing their heads at the gate, immediately turned pale.
“Does he already think I’m completely his possession or something? How rude.”
“……”
“When a fiancée visits your home, isn’t it basic manners to come greet her at the front gate?”
Naturally, for the newly hired servants, having the Empire’s sole princess murmur seriously must have felt extremely intimidating.
However, if anyone knew Meredia even a little, they would have been flustered for a different reason.
Because despite her frowning and muttering, there was no hint of hostility in Meredia.
Rather, her pouting lips and grumbling manner probably felt far from her usual cold demeanor.
“…I-I’ll bring him at once!”
“No need. I’ll go myself.”
“H-hiek! Y-yes!”
Of course, the newly recruited servants had no way of knowing that, so as Meredia started moving toward the garden, they followed her in a panicked flurry, still looking as if their lives depended on it.
‘Still, it does finally feel like a proper noble household.’
Meanwhile, Meredia, who watched them out of the corner of her eye, quietly lifted the corners of her mouth and muttered inwardly.
‘The number of servants has increased, and they’re all well-disciplined. At least we won’t be embarrassed even if guests visit.’
Thinking so and feeling somewhat proud, Meredia lifted the corners of her lips.
But the ultimate reason why the Lingard household, which had been declining, could replenish its servants was actually thanks to her.
Although the internal evaluations of the mansion remained disastrous, Whitney had recently been recognized as a Hero in the promising candidates’ selection competition and had formalized his engagement with Meredia, making him an emerging star of the Empire.
Moreover, the fields into which the Meredia duchy had suspiciously begun investing large sums had all, knowingly or unknowingly, flowed into businesses that Count Lingard had previously started before disappearing, improving the family’s finances considerably.
Of course, most of those finances were somehow being funneled into a mining operation under Parsha’s command, but still, the Lingard family had enough resources to hire many new servants.
‘I should start organizing how the servants address us too. And I need to secure control over the finances as soon as possible…’
Anyway, confirming that the Lingard house was regaining some vitality, Meredia, who had been quickly sketching out future plans in her mind, suddenly paused and gave a bitter smile.
‘…Why am I acting like the lady of the house?’
Although she had confirmed her love for Whitney, she was still not destined to become the lady of the Lingard household.
All of this was only acceptable because Whitney was entering the Embergreen duchy as a son-in-law.
If, conversely, she — the next head of the Empire’s sole duchy — entered Whitney’s family, everything would collapse.
It would mean handing over all the power and foundation needed to protect herself — and Whitney — to the strangely quiet Meyer.
“…Ha.”
Stopping in place for a moment, Meredia let out a cold laugh, her face filled with disillusionment.
“What a ridiculous mess.”
At her crude language — far from what a graceful princess would normally say — the servants following behind her flinched and lowered their gazes.
“…Power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Thus, in the suddenly chilled atmosphere, Meredia muttered bitterly and began walking again.
‘Well, I guess it’s a happy kind of trouble in a way…’
Though the guilt of forcing the man she loved to inherit her cursed house was heavy, Meredia had something even more serious to worry about.
Because even such a one-sided marriage might not be possible — she simply didn’t have enough time left.
“……”
Feeling a strange sting on the back of her hand, Meredia’s expression darkened even further.
Although she fully trusted Whitney’s earlier declaration that he would find a way to lift her curse no matter what, she still couldn’t shake the unease.
When she had nothing to lose, fear was meaningless.
But now that she had gained something irreplaceable, she was terrified.
‘If only we had met a little earlier…’
Thus, she unconsciously bit her fingernails out of nervousness.
“He, he’s inside…”
“…Hoo.”
As they neared the garden’s temporary interview area where Whitney was, Meredia shook her head fiercely and took a deep breath, pulling herself together.
‘Focus on the present.’
For someone who had always been obsessed with grand future plans, it was an unusual shift.
“Oh, you’re here, my lady.”
“…Tch.”
“Please, come sit here. We’ve prepared your seat in advance.”
And Meredia no longer denied that the reason for this change was the man who sat smiling creepily as always at the tea table now repurposed as the interview space.
****
“Interviewing at a tea party? Are you trying to imitate the Emperor?”
“…Uh, let’s pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Fine, but I hope you don’t share the Emperor’s sadistic hobby of making nobles melt under the scorching sun just to amuse yourself.”
Preparing for the second round of interviews at the impromptu interview space, I forced a smile and turned my head away from the princess’s dangerously sharp remark, which had come at a perfect time.
‘The Emperor’s eyes and ears are really everywhere, yet she’s so fearless.’
Thanks to Parsha, who had an excellent eye for people, our household was relatively safe, but anywhere the Emperor couldn’t place people, he would lavish gold on magic devices to spy instead.
In an open place like this full of servants, Meredia was probably the only one who could criticize the Emperor.
“Haha, Princess, please consider the servants’ feelings.”
“Why should I?”
“If you keep making those mischievous jokes, we might have to rehire all the servants.”
Since it would trouble me greatly if the servants resigned out of fear, I tried to persuade her with my friendliest smile.
“…True, that would be inconvenient.”
Fortunately, after glancing briefly at the distant servants, Meredia nodded, albeit with a slightly reluctant look.
“D-did you hear that?”
“…Shh. Pretend you heard nothing.”
Hiccup—
The servants seemed to be having their own conversations and hadn’t heard ours, so luckily, a mass resignation crisis was avoided.
“So, why did you call me here today?”
Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief, the princess naturally dragged a chair next to mine, put on a slightly sulky face, and asked.
“Our family is founding a new knight order.”
“……”
“So we’ve officially invited you as our advisor.”
“Is my presence really necessary?”
She spoke again, glancing back and forth at Runiel and Parsha, who were sitting on either side of me, with a gaze that seemed genuinely doubtful.
“From what I see, those two alone could handle everything related to the knight order.”
Though she said that, there was an undeniable discomfort hidden in the princess’s eyes.
“Runiel and Parsha are both incredibly talented, but experience matters too, doesn’t it?”
“In that regard, there’s no one better than you, Princess.”
“The Electron Knight Order of the Embergreen Duchy is the strongest in the Empire, after all.”
Though I hadn’t figured out the source of her unease, I could at least explain why I dared to inconvenience the busy princess by calling her here.
“True, they could wipe out the Imperial Knights if they fought.”
“…You really didn’t need to go into that much detail.”
Because of the princess’s reckless remark, I had to check the servants’ reactions again, but it seemed I had successfully persuaded her.
“Fine, I’ll help.”
“Oh!”
“A noble’s knight order is incredibly important. I know that better than anyone.”
Hearing that from someone who, in the original story, used her personal knights to ravage the Empire was admittedly a little frightening.
Still, the reason I asked the princess to serve as an advisor for this knight order interview was simple — to assert dominance.
Even with Runiel, the top young talent, by our side, we would always risk being underestimated by proud and arrogant knights.
In short, because we were creating a brand-new knight order, we could be looked down upon at any time.
But if the princess herself was standing firm at the interview venue, the story would be different.
Anyone with half a brain would think twice about behaving rudely, considering their future career.
“But something seems a little strange.”
“Yes?”
Of course, I was keeping quiet about that motive because if she found out, the backlash would be unpredictable.
That was when the princess, resting her chin on her hand, suddenly spoke to me.
“That girl’s face doesn’t look so good.”
Following her gaze, I turned to look, and sure enough, Runiel’s expression seemed quite off.
Unlike her usual stoic face, she looked nervous and uneasy, with even a bead of cold sweat running down her forehead.
“…Parsha, did you happen to tell her?”
“No, Master told me not to.”
“Hmm….”
“Well, even before I said anything, she already sensed something suspicious. But she didn’t look this strange back then.”
For a moment, I wondered if Runiel had figured out the identity of the ‘assassin’ Parsha mentioned, but judging from her words, that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘True, even if she were alone, maybe, but with Lady Meredia here? No way she’d get this tense over just one assassin.’
But then what could explain Runiel’s strange reaction?
Could there be something Parsha and I missed?
“Ah.”
Just as I was scratching my head with a bad feeling, Parsha, who was quietly skimming through the first-round successful applicants’ documents, suddenly widened her eyes and gasped.
“…What’s wrong?”
“I think I understand why Runiel is acting that way.”
Turning to her and asking, she glanced between Runiel and me before finally opening her mouth.
“…Evangeline Mistilane. And Richard Mistilane. They’re the final successful applicants for the interview.”
“…Mistilane?”
I looked closely at the end of the documents she handed me, my face showing clear surprise at the somehow familiar family name.
“Don’t tell me…”
“I’m sorry.”
At that moment, Runiel, who had been gritting her teeth and keeping silent, finally spoke in a low voice, her face clouded over.
“…They’re my younger siblings.”
And so, an awkward silence fell over the impromptu interview space.
Cliche Novel 