Chapter 32
Clang!
"No hunting party or dinner party...?"
The cup slipped from her hand, clattering loudly as it rolled off the table and onto the floor.
As it fell, the contents spilled onto the hem of her dress, and she clicked her tongue softly.
The pink dress, adorned with delicate floral embroidery, had just been completed yesterday and was meant to be unveiled at the tea parties and hunting events hosted by the Rotish family...
In the flower-filled garden, she had been enjoying tea like a princess, but her mood sank at her mother's words when she arrived later.
"Why? Even if it's just the others, we always held the hunting and dinner parties on our estate every year."
"I don't know the details. It's something your father decided, so it can't be helped..."
"No way... I was looking forward to it."
"I know... I had dresses and jewels I wanted too. It's such a shame."
It's been three years since Celestia disappeared.
Though it was a rare case for a villainous daughter to go missing, and caused confusion, during the first year, I honestly thought it was lucky.
Celestia vanished during the peak of the social season, supposedly due to illness and returned to the estate, and at the remaining tea parties, theater outings, and music festivals, I successfully established myself as the daughter of the Rotish family.
I only saw Floyd occasionally at social events since he no longer escorted his fiancée, but he came to the royal capital's secondary residence once a month without fail, and I was able to meet him a few times at the main estate after the social season, so I should have steadily progressed in capturing him...
But ever since the day Celestia rejected him, Floyd stopped smiling at me and only looked down.
I thought he was visiting me under the pretense of seeing his fiancée, but he kept asking, 'I wonder if Celestia has recovered...'
Even when I showed tears saying I was lonely and worried without my stepsister, he didn't react well. Floyd spoke less and less each day, and his gloomy, brooding demeanor only made me more irritated.
I never cared about Floyd in the first place.
The one I'm aiming for is Ludweek, the Crown Prince.
We'll officially meet after entering the academy, but before that, there's an event where we coincidentally meet at a royal music festival.
The Crown Prince sneaks out of the festival, becomes captivated by the heroine gazing at the lake, and can't take his eyes off her as she slowly turns around, their eyes meeting and holding breath.
The Crown Prince's first love.
His heart races, and he continues watching the heroine walk away without even speaking, occasionally recalling that day and looking for her at the music festival.
Without realizing what that feeling is, time passes until he finds her at the academy and realizes it's love.
Due to his position as Crown Prince, he can't help the heroine who is being bullied by Celestia, and can only watch from afar with frustration.
Gradually, Ludweek's smile fades, and Renato, the Second Prince who notices the change in his brother, begins to care about the heroine.
An important, crucial event in capturing both princes.
Yet... the Count of Rotish refused all social engagements from the following year, citing Celestia's inability to attend.
Without social events, I couldn't go to the royal capital, and the event with Ludweek that only happened at the music festival was ruined...
Since our estates are far apart, I could only meet Floyd at the hunting events held at the main estate, and our relationship remained vague.
Thinking this was bad, I focused on charming the noble ladies at the tea party held on the sidelines of the hunting event by acting like a cute child and winning their hearts.
Nobles drawn by the name Fildé Rotish, hoping to taste even a little of the sweet nectar, swarmed around me.
Among them were many parents of boys around the princes' age, who would likely be chosen as their aides in the future.
If the event with the Crown Prince was ruined, I'd need connections to bridge the gap with him.
So, I used their mothers to build relationships with their sons and steadily worked on winning over the aide candidates.
And yet.
"Just this year? What about next year? Will we resume social activities once my stepsister starts attending the academy?"
"Who knows? But I think it's just this year. I overheard your father and the butler saying they were going to visit Celestia."
"What!? You found out where my stepsister is?"
"W-Well? I don't know that much... I was only eavesdropping. The butler glared at me, so I left right away."
Angry that she didn't listen until the end, I left my carefree mother behind and dashed into the mansion.
The maids I passed warned me, but when I said, "I'm sorry. I want to see my foster father," they all told me where the count was.
I headed to the lord's study.
Even if the butler tried to stop me, today I would ignore everything and storm in! I charged up the stairs with determination.
"...Hah, hah..."
I stopped in front of the door leading to the study, caught my breath, and knocked several times.
Normally, the butler would appear here and turn me away.
Creak.
But I quickly slipped my hand into the opening door and slid my body inside.
"Foster Father!"
The study I entered for the first time was a bit dim, and perhaps due to the wall of bookshelves, it smelled of paper.
Sitting on the sofa in the center of the spacious room, the count looked stunned and muttered, "Mirabel...?"
"Foster Father, I have something I want to ask..."
"Please wait. Entering here without the lord's permission is prohibited."
As I tried to approach while the count was still dazed, that annoying butler stopped me again.
He blocked my path with his hand, and though the corners of his mouth were upturned, his eyes weren't smiling.
"...Because, otherwise I can't see you, Foster Father. I've been so lonely. I was so happy to finally have a father..."
"Bram, it's fine."
If I cried and spoke with a trembling voice, the count would be easy to sway.
"...My apologies."
"It's okay. I was in the wrong."
"..."
The butler called Bram didn't change his expression at all, whether I cried or smiled, and didn't respond.
When I first came to this mansion, he gave a brief self-introduction, saying he was the Rotish family's head butler.
He's never called my name, and even when stopping me, he only says, "Please wait," "Excuse me," or "Pardon me"—just those three.
It's so blatant that even I realized it was intentional, and it made me angry, but I'm not scared of some butler.
After all, the count dotes on me.
"It's been a while, Foster Father. I have something I want to ask."
Eventually, the Rotish family will be mine.
"A remote... fortress?"
The count, who had grown quite gaunt since I last saw him, nodded slightly with a serious face.
"I'm sorry, I meant, I wanted to ask where my stepsister is..."
"Celestia is with my father, who has retired to Ransheen Fortress. She has been there for the past three years."
The repeated answer wasn't a mishearing, nor a joke or a lie.
"It's also a battlefield, with the enemy nation just a stone's throw away."
"A battlefield..."
"Yes. It's a far more dangerous place than the royal capital or here..."
'Ransheen Fortress, which has long defended the border with other nations.'
That single line was all that appeared in the game.
The heroine's activities mainly took place in the royal capital, and she met the targets at the academy.
There were events involving day trips during holidays, but since she lived in the dormitory, returning the same day was the norm.
For targets in other countries, the setting was that they met at balls or similar events. It wasn't a violent game involving war or invasion.
Since it was a romance game where the heroine solved their problems and grew closer to them in her small world, it made sense that only one line was given.
"...Why is my stepsister at that fortress? Did she go to see Grandfather?"
"She probably... went to see him."
"But if she just went to visit, there's no reason to stay there for three years, right? She'll have to enroll at the academy soon, so are you going to bring her back?"
"I intend to... but..."
The count dropped his shoulders with a wry smile, and his vague words gave me a bad feeling.
"'Intend to'? My stepsister is coming back, right?"
A remote place like that must be a rundown town with lifeless residents, right? If it's a battlefield, she probably can't even go out freely, and maybe even logistics have stopped. There's no way Celestia, who was raised with care and lived in luxury, could endure that.
Even I couldn't handle lowering my current standard of living, so there's no way I could bear it.
Yes, there's no way she could endure it.
"That child seems to intend to enroll in a military school in the town where the fortress is."
"...What?"
"I intend to persuade her, but... Even as a military noble, there's no precedent for a noble daughter joining the National Army. If Celestia enters a military school instead of the academy, rumors will spread quickly in social circles and become a topic of discussion for a while."
A topic of discussion basically means a scandal, doesn't it?
If that happens, I'll be a laughingstock too...!
"...Foster Father. You absolutely must bring my stepsister back. I can't bear to live apart from my beloved stepsister any longer."
There wasn't a single route where Celestia enrolled in a military school.
No matter who you pursued, she always reigned as the queen of the largest faction at the academy.
And yet, a military school? That helpless young lady? That girl who was so blissfully ignorant of the world?
"Thank you for caring about Celestia."
"Oh, there's no need to thank me."
I never thought I was the only one who had reincarnated.
That's why I checked early on whether Celestia was a reincarnator, and I felt relieved when I thought there was no problem.
I've even seen her self-destruct on her own with my own eyes.
But what if she simply remembered her past life later than I did?
"I..."
There were plenty of villainess reincarnation stories where a trivial trigger caused memories of a past life to resurface...
Now that I think about it, disappearing from the mansion so suddenly was strange, and the fact that she lived for three years in a remote land without any contact, and even enrolled in a military school—none of it seems natural. It's like her personality has completely changed.
"Without my beloved stepsister, I can't have fun, and I can't be happy either."
I don't know what Celestia is trying to do, but without raising the affection of any capture targets, there's nothing a villainess living far away can do.
If she just fades out without doing anything, then I just need to skillfully use her scandal to my advantage.
Either way, the future where I become happy won't change.