Chapter 8
As I was nibbling on a cookie, I met Grandfather's frowning gaze, and he quietly looked away with a sigh.
Even for Grandfather, being told to let me stay here for seven years would be enough to leave him speechless.
As I silently apologized in my heart and reached for a third cookie, Uncle Ruget lowered my outstretched arm with a quiet "Let's stop for now."
"......Am I the only one who thinks this isn't the kind of topic to discuss while eating sweets?"
"No, I think so too."
Apparently, what they were exasperated about was the fact I was eating sweets...
Surprised—like, really, that's the issue?—I wiped my mouth with a handkerchief and straightened my posture as if nothing had happened.
"I thought it couldn't be, but so it was a runaway..."
"It wasn't a runaway, okay? I told Father and the butler I was going to Grandfather's place, and I have guards and a maid with me. Besides, I plan to return home after seven years."
"Where did that seven years come from? Explain everything without hiding anything."
After thinking for a moment, I decided to explain from the beginning.
That my stepsister Mirabel, who was only five years old at the time, said it was a prophecy and spoke about my future.
I didn't believe it at first, but when things started happening just as Mirabel had said, it became clear it wasn't something to laugh off as mere fantasy.
Regarding the fiancé, it seems he likes Mirabel instead of me, and no one says a word about how things have gotten worse year by year.
After thinking a lot about my future and reaching the limit of my patience, I declared to Father that I would quit being a daughter and left home the next day.
"Would that about sum it up?"
"I don't understand a thing..."
Rubbing his chin in thought, Grandfather remained silent for a moment before saying, "Let's go over this step by step."
"You said your stepsister made a prophecy—so that was about your fiancé, life after school, and after graduation, right?"
"Yes. If it really is a prophecy, apparently I'll end up in a convent, so I assume it ends there."
"So far, the only part that's come true is about the fiancé and his behavior..."
"Yes."
"To verify the rest, we'll have to wait until you enter the academy... But if the issue is Celestia causing trouble, then simply avoiding both the fiancé and the royal family until graduation should solve everything."
"......I thought so too, but once I enter the academy, factional disputes will begin. Currently, our country has two duke families and one marquis family, but when I enroll, only Lord Floyd's marquis family will be present. So, naturally, as a daughter of a prestigious count family, I'll become the head of the largest faction."
One year after I enroll, Mirabel will enter, and the year after that, the duke's daughter and son will enroll.
"Nobles despise and refuse to accept those without blood ties or of lower status. Even if she's from a count family, Mirabel, being a stepsister, will find it nearly impossible to form a faction. Not being able to have a faction based on mutual protection and benefits means death in the academy. If Mirabel stays by Lord Floyd's side like she does now, she'll draw resentment and become a target."
"So even if it's unintentional, others will attack her on their own?"
"She'll appear to be acting like a queen with her entourage, and if someone from my faction bullies her, I'll be held responsible as the one in charge."
"Wasn't the Crown Prince and the Second Prince supposed to enroll too?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince will enroll the same year as me, and His Highness the Second Prince will enroll the same year as Mirabel."
"Father, during your recent meeting with His Majesty the King, didn't he happily mention something about the princes and Celestia being like close friends? Could it be he's told them that?"
"If that's the case, then being involved with the Crown Prince and Second Prince is his fault?"
I thought it would be impossible to get involved with royalty with no prior connection, but to think there'd be a trap like this...
I'll have to greet them and respond if spoken to. It wouldn't be strange if others who don't like that used the phrase "clinging to royalty."
"......I don't think Baldo would send Celestia to a convent though?"
"I don't think Father would do something like that either. But still..."
Maybe they brushed off my first complaint as childish, but because of that, I learned to give up.
In fact, Father hasn't done anything for the past three years. That's why I can't trust him.
"So regarding the fiancé and Mirabel, both the Armle family and Baldo are just watching?"
"What is Brother even thinking?"
"......He's not thinking at all. After all, Baldo's completely useless when it comes to that stuff."
Grandfather shook his head gently and gave me a pitying look, so I tilted my head in confusion.
"The reason I passed on the title was because Baldo was that capable. Ever since he was young, he excelled at everything and was good at managing people. Well, the only thing he lacked was talent in swordsmanship."
"From my perspective, Brother was perfect though?"
"Perfect? Don't you remember why Baldo married Lumie?"
"......Ah!"
Uncle Ruget, who tilted his head just like me, suddenly raised his voice.
Did something happen with Mother?
"Weren't Father and Mother in a political marriage?"
"No. He said it was love at first sight at the academy... Lumie did, that is."
"Mother was the one?"
"Yeah."
I always thought they got along well, but to think it was a love marriage...
Still, I don't see how that connects to Father being useless.
"Baldo kept saying the fiancé could wait until after graduation. So when someone said they wanted to get engaged before graduation, he was shocked."
"Did Father fall in love with Mother at first sight too?"
"No, he was cornered. Surrounded and trapped, really."
"Ahh... now that you mention it, that's exactly how it felt. At the time, Brother was panicking, talking about taking responsibility or something."
It seems Mother deliberately plotted to win over Father.
According to Grandfather and Uncle Ruget, Mother stuck close to Father in a subtle way, spread rumors throughout the academy that they were dating, and during her debut at the age of adulthood, claimed she had no escort, so Father ended up escorting her.
While Father insisted they were just friends, when she cried and said, "I can't get a fiancé because of Baldo," he panicked and decided to take responsibility and marry her...
"Is Father an idiot?"