Author Note: This chapter is in Nicolette’s point of view, desu~
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It"s Pitiful (Chapter 13)
"Her Majesty, it"s morning."
That day, Nicolette was shaken until she was woken up by Maria.
After blinking her eyes a few times, Nicolette place her hand on the bed and raised her body.
"........Sleepy."
Toward Nicolette, who muttered those words, Maria looked confused, then asked,
"Umm, is there anything wrong with Her Majesty"s body?”
"....Sleepy."
"....Is that so?"
Maria ended their conversation after that even though she felt that they didn’t really connect. Nicolette got up from the bed while yawning, and stretched her back.
Last night, since she was sleeping while still getting hugged by Wolfgang, her body was now a bit stiff. She could still move her body normally, so there wasn’t any problem with that. However, since Wolfgang hugged her so strongly like he was clinging to her, she woke up several times in the middle of the night, so she got a lack of sleep.
She felt like he has been weird ever since the evening party….aah, it’s probably because of the appearance of the Duke of Raihenbahha.
Nicolette made that conclusion by herself. Getting Maria and Helma to help her get dressed, she decided what she would do for today, she will search the matter about the Duke of Raihenbahha. Though she decided to research him, it ended rather quickly. The Duke of Raihenbahha seems to be the father of the First Empress that married Wolfgang. He was punished for five years of house arrest for planning a coup d"etat, and this is the year when his punishment is lifted.
With just that amount of information, Nicolette understand the reason why Wolfgang was so shaken.
"Her Majesty.”
Helma told Nicolette that the Prime Minister, Sir Folger came to visit Nicolette welcomed him with a smile on her face,
"What’s the matter, Folger-sama?"
Sir Folger made an uneasy expression when he looked at Nicolette, who had a smile on her face. Nicolette tilted her head with her smile still plastered on her face.
"Her Majesty, a letter has arrived."
"Letter?"
"Although it"s very imprudent for me to do it, but I already opened it beforehand."
By my own judgement, without any of His Majesty’s concern, or so Sir Folger said. Nicolette then said, "I don"t mind it though" with an expression of curiosity.
Who is the person that sent the letter to Nicolette? There is no way that her family sent a letter to her, so it"s probably from someone at the monastery. Nicolette"s prediction wasn"t wrong, the sender was the nuns at the monastery. As she read the contents of the short letter, Nicolette opened her eyes in surprise.
"Her Majesty?"
Maria worriedly called Nicolette. Nicolette was somehow able to hold off her quivering hands.
It seems that the monastery where she was raised caught fire. Almost all of the nuns and apprentices weren’t able to escape, so they were burned to death. The letter was about how the head nuns tried to save everyone to escape, and in the end, they were late in taking refugee.
At the end of the letter, they wished for Nicolette’s happiness which caused her heart to hurt. She was desperately stifling the urge to cry.
"....Since we haven’t researched its validity, the contents could be a lie.”
Sir Folger said that after looking at Nicolette suppressing her urge to burst into tears.
However, Nicolette just shook her head.
"No….it’s probably true."
There"s no need to check it, the matter about the monastery being burned must be a fact. If it"s the King of Roware, then it"s certainly possible.
The King of Roware was trying to remove all of the traces of Nicolette who received the prophecy. He killed the fortune teller that gave the prophecy, and the midwife that helped her mother with delivery. Even if Nicolette and her mother were able to escape from the jaws of death, they were still secluded into a remote region. Her mother died at a young age, and she was taken into another country as a wife.
As long as he can erase the monastery where Nicolette was raised, he can remove the fact that Nicolette ever existed. To convey that, it wasn’t even a problem for the King of Roware to erase everything connected to Nicolette. That was how much the King of Roware feared the prophecy, and the one who received the prophecy, Nicolette.
"........Her Majesty.
Sir Folger called Nicolette, who fell into silence with a worried tone. Nicolette answered with, "I"m fine" with a trembling voice. Since her voice was clearly shaken, it was as clear as day that she wasn’t fine at all.
Nicolette was apathetic to the King of Roware who she just met once in her lifetime, she didn’t think that he really mattered. However, if her prediction is possibly right, she might be resenting him, or so she thought.
After Sir Folger returned to his work, Nicolette finished her lunch, then rain that rarely fell here, poured in the evening. Nicolette leaked out a sigh like it was speaking for her mind at the moment.
"....Her Majesty."
Maria muttered that, but since even Maria couldn’t make a cheerful remark, she was quite troubled. Somehow or another, the room was filled with a heavy atmosphere.
As Nicolette read a book on the rocking chair by the window like usual, Helma informed her that there was another guest coming, it seems to be the Duke of Raihenbahha.
"What business is here for?"
"He said that he just wanted to give a greeting to Her Majesty after his first meeting."
Though Helma is the one who said that, Nicolette still felt slightly doubtful. Even so, since it will be awkward to just drive him home, Nicolette asked her to make him wait in the parlour. It wouldn"t be a problem to let Sir Folger into her room, but she felt it was different with the Duke of Raihenbahha, so she sent him to the parlor beside her room. She came out of the corridor for a moment, then entered the parlor. The Duke of Raihenbahha that was waiting inside, got up from his seat when he saw Nicolette enter the room.
"Well, Her Majesty, thanks for yesterday."
"Its an honor to actually be able to meet you, Duke of Raihenbahha."
They exchange lip service, even though they didn’t think about it in their minds. Both sides were smiling, but their eyes weren’t. Nicolette then sat on the seat on the opposite of the Duke of Raihenbahha.
"Thanks for coming to visit me despite your busy schedule. Is there any business that you have with me?"
"There"s no need for grat.i.tude, it’s a matter of course to give a greeting to Her Majesty. Actually, I wanted to give my greetings faster, but my punishment was just lifted yesterday after all."
Toward the Duke of Raihenbahha who made a smile, Nicolette answered, "I heard about that", while still smiling.
"Congratulations and welcome for your return to the imperial court."
Toward Nicolette, who gave a formal answer, the Duke of Raihenbahha made an amused expression, then he said,
"It seems that Her Majesty was sent to this country to be married as a hostage, right?"
Nicolette’s expression turned slightly angry after hearing that.
"Even if I was a hostage, i"m still His Majesty"s wife."
"The fact that you answered like that, it means that Her Majesty knows the fact that my daughter was the First Empress, right?"
Nicolette grimaced after hearing the words from the Duke of Raihenbahha. Those were words that the Fourth Empress, who was Nicolette, didn’t really consider herself with. Then, the Duke of Raihenbahha considered the fact that Nicolette didn"t rebuke his remarks, so he continued with his talk.
"My daughter, Rizerotta, is loved by His Majesty, you know."
"........"
Nicolette fell into silence because she didn’t know how to answer. She felt that answering "is that so?" wasn’t good, and the truth about how Wolfgang actually felt about Rizerotta is only known by the person himself.
"However, my daughter was scared of His Majesty, so she ended up poisoning him to kill him. Because of that, she was killed mercilessly by His Majesty, even though he clearly loved her."
(ED: That literally makes no sense at all)
"........"
She still answered with silence. Indeed, there"s a story that the First Empress was killed by Wolfgang because she tried to poison him. However, the possibility of that poisoning accident being something that the Duke of Raihenbahha ordered is rather high. However, since there was no proof to arrest him, it became a small crime with only five years of home arrest as punishment. When Nicolette herself heard the story from Marcus, she thought the poisoning was probably an order from the Duke of Raihenbahha, though that is based on her instincts. She felt like the Duke of Raihenbahha was slightly similar to her father, the King of Roware. The Duke of Raihenbahha is scared of Wolfgang, and the King of Roware is scared of Nicolette.
The Duke of Raihenbahha made a disgusting smile to Nicolette, who fell into silence after she didn’t respond to his remark.
"Her Majesty, aren’t you scared of His Majesty? Don"t you have a wish to return to your own country? When Her Majesty decides to go back to Roware, just leave it to me to arrange everything. In exchange, there"s something that I wish for Her Majesty to do."
"....Is it perhaps to murder His Majesty?"
"Oh, but I didn"t say anything like that though."
Though the Duke of Raihenbahha said so, one can quickly realize based on his his expression. He was thinking about Nicolette murdering Wolfgang for him, which she would of course be quickly arrested for doing. Nicolette, of course, didn’t want to harm Wolfgang even a little bit.
"Duke of Raihenbahha, you’re shameless for suggesting such a thing, you know."
"n.o.bles can"t make a living if they"re not shameless, you know."
"Even though the fact that you"re alive here right now is thanks to His Majesty, you still want to harm him? Don"t joke with me. Furthermore, without trying to dirty your own hand."
Beginning with using his own daughter, Rizerotte, and now he wanted Nicolette to eliminate the origins of his fear.
The Duke of Raihenbahha"s face grimaced upon hearing this, then he told Nicolette with a strong tone,
"I didn"t say anything about that, it’s just Her Majesty’s misunderstanding. Also, my daughter is the one who was killed by His Majesty, you know."
"It seems that you slipped up eh, Duke of Raihenbahha. From those words, it can be proof that you are apart of the anti-emperor faction, you know. Well, I won"t say anything about that remark, but your daughter Rizorette and His Majesty are the pitiful ones here.
Though she had a lot of thoughts regarding Wolfgang’s ex-wife, Rizorette, but right now, the pitiful feeling was overwhelming all of that, which is why she could feel that.
"Having your own father telling you to kill a person, let alone your beloved person, I wonder how that feels?"
*BAM*, he slammed the table, and then the Duke of Raihenbahha stood up while glaring at Nicolette. However, Nicolette had a strong mentality and a high position in society. She expressionlessly stared at the duke.
"....I disappointed in you, Her Majesty."
"Is that so? In the first place, I wasn’t even thinking about expecting something from you anyways. Helma, please help the Duke of Raihenbahha out.”
Nicolette smiled at Helma who was already at her wits end, she then opened the two leaf door while waiting for the Duke of Raihenbahha to exit the room. He left the room after courtesly responding to her, so Helma slowly closed the door after her left.
At that moment,
"Her Majesty!"
Helma, Maria, and Marcus shouted. At the time when she was about to take a sigh of relief, the shout of three different people surprised her.
"What happened with you today!? That wasn"t like Her Majesty at all!?"
"Well~, I got a bit upset, you know "
To Helma"s question, Nicolette answered with a small smile on her face. Until just a moment ago, she didn’t realize that she was in a state of anger, but it seems like Nicolette felt really nervous. Her hands were full of sweat, and her heart was beating loudly.
"That was splendid though."
"Her Majesty, you were angry for His Majesty, right….?"
Helma smiled, and then Maria muttered some romantic line under her breath. Well, Nicolette was just really p.i.s.sed off, that"s all though.
Praised by three people, as expected, even Nicolette got slightly embarra.s.sed, but as always, she was still somehow able to retain her composure.
Nicolette thought that Rizorette was pitiful because the Duke of Raihenbahha thought of her as nothing but a mere p.a.w.n. If she thought that that girl was pitiful, then Nicolette, who was confined because of her father’s fear of the prophecy, perhaps she could also be called pitiful, or so Nicolette thought.
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Author Note: For everyone who has read so far, thank you very much.
I did consider to have the chapter subt.i.tle be, "Nicolette, angry" and I was honestly quite troubled by it, but I finally rejected the name.
The next update will be December 28th.