Liselotte"s Side (Part 2) “…Prince.”
The first time I met him, I was only five years old. When I forgot those polite words of greeting that I had practised over and over again, it was as if time stood still. I couldn"t even remember to curtsey as I stood rooted in place, so stiff it was as if my soul had left my body.
“Liese… Liese… Liselotte!”
I remember that my fretting father called out my name which snapped me out of it as I curtseyed in a flurry, bowing my head to him.
It was because my first meeting with the Crown Prince, His Highness Siegward, was a stunning occasion for me.
His pure blonde hair and amber eyes.
He looked just like Lilena, the G.o.ddess of Creation, as if he had suddenly stepped out of the pages of myth.
Even though he was still so young, his delicate charm and good looks were plain for anyone to see, but that warm and gentle smile lit something deep within me. He was like a Prince from the fairy tales. Today, I still feel the same way.
Thinking back on it now, it was probably love at first sight.
When the adults told us to play together as they discussed business, just what did we do together in the garden of the royal palace?
All I can remember after that was how happy I was just to gaze at him. His kind smile, his beautiful face, it was like he was an impossible ideal.
Then that day, when I was told that in the future I would be marrying this ‘Prince" when I grew up, I was over the moon.
I remember excitedly telling my father just how amazing I thought Siegward was. How I liked him and hoped that he would like me. About how I would do my best at both the Queen"s education and my sword and magic training as a Lady of the Riefenstahl family. Even during the etiquette cla.s.ses that other children of n.o.bility dreaded, I would do everything I could.
Then, with a strange sadness in his expression, my father smiled as he stroked my head.
“I don"t mind if you tell me such things, but remember to keep these feelings of yours a secret, Liselotte. For His Highness isn"t in a position where he can talk about what it is that he likes or dislikes.”
“…Why?”
“That is because he will one day become this country"s king. As the Crown Prince, if he says he loves one thing or hates another, it could very easily cause an impact in politics because of how influential a position it is that he holds. He too knows this all too well. Of course, no one would be happier than me if the both of you had a good relationship with one another, if you try and push your own selfish feelings of liking him or wanting to be liked back in turn onto him, you risk driving him into a corner.”
To put it simply, even though I didn"t understand it back then, I know now that love has very little to do with the realities of a political marriage.
Even if I expressed such feelings myself, he wasn"t in a position to openly reciprocate them.
But at the time, I was still just a child. “It"s so strange that he can"t say what it is he really likes or dislikes, I feel sorry for him.” Even though I made it looks like I accepted my father"s words on the surface, those were my true thoughts back then.
Yet as I kept those thoughts nestled in the corner of my mind, the more I saw of Prince Siegward, the more I slowly began to realize.
He was the kind of person who smiled anywhere, at any time.
But, his eyes never reflected that warmth. It wasn"t as if you could see any horrible emotion in them, but rather, you couldn"t glean anything from those cold eyes at all.
At first, I thought it was simply his being calm, but when I thought about how it was really a reflection of how much he had to hold back his feelings, somehow it made me want to cry.
“Father, I… I want to support him. Even if he cannot love anyone, I want to love him. I want to stand by his side.”
Last year, I declared that to my father.
Before attending the academy myself, I came to tour the grounds and coincidentally saw His Highness surrounded by all sorts of people.
Artur Richter wasn"t there at the time, yet His Highness shared his smile equally with all of them.
To show favour to all was to show favour to none.
Apart from Artur Richter who was a special person to His Highness, myself who was his fiancée for the time being and the girl he hadn"t met yet but was surely now friends with His Highness, Finne…
Apart from a select few people, because of the shifting tides of n.o.ble political allegiance, he had no choice but to keep the students of the school at an arm"s length.
It was only then that I finally understood.
It was so sad and lonely I felt like crying.
In the beginning, I admired him.
Then, that turned into compa.s.sion and sympathy for his circ.u.mstances.
The feelings that had built up in my heart had blossomed into a deep love.
Before I realized it, that person who was beloved by many yet was swallowed up by his own loneliness, I loved him. I loved him so much.
Therefore, I was happy just to be able to watch him from afar.
I was happy just to be seen and respected as such a person"s fiancée.
Even if we only met formally, I was happy.
It was then that it came.
I do not mean Finne. But, it was something that appeared at the same time Finne did, that thing.
By the time I had even noticed that strange existence, that thing had already burrowed its way into my heart.
After that, whenever I saw Finne together with His Highness, my heart raged.
As all those horrible feelings poured over me, I felt as if I was drowning.
No.
Please don"t hate me.
I love you.
Don"t look at anyone else.
I hate that girl.
Don"t take my light away.
I love you.
He"s mine.
I hate you.
I love you.
Therefore…
iwontforgiveyouiwontforgiveyouiwontforgiveyou, ■■■■■
Why are you pushing me away, ■■■■■■■■?
When I was swallowed up by that thing, my expression turned ugly, twisted and warped with jealousy. Venomous bile in the form of words spewed from my mouth and my body did terrible things.
“Finne. It is unbecoming to be so familiar with a gentleman who already has a fiancée. Putting the case of Artur and Bard aside… His Highness is officially engaged to me. Even if you do not care about what people think, there might still be trouble if you are gossiped about in vulgar rumours related to His Highness and me. Do I make myself clear?”
Just why is it that I can only speak in such a curt and uptight way?
If I can only say things like that over and over again, I"ll be hated.
Even if he disliked or hated something, he wouldn"t say it. He couldn"t say it.
Did he already hate me? I couldn"t know.
Thinking back, ah, those were the words I said just a little while ago…
『Liselotte"s jealousy is plain to see!』
『It must be the influence of the Ancient Witch, don"t you agree? Why else would her expression look so painful when she says such jealous things.』
Suddenly, I heard two voices. They were strong, but they were also warm.
【The Ancient Witch】
The moment I heard that woman"s voice say that somehow I knew what it was instinctively. It was that. That black thing.
That horrible existence that drove me to bear a grudge against Finne.
The true nature of it, the real ident.i.ty of that thing, was an Ancient Witch.
『Wait, Liselotte has suddenly fainted…!? Is this really the influence of the Ancient Witch"s spell to try and undermine her…!?』
This didn"t feel like the usual nightmare. Usually, it dwelled on things that had happened, never letting me escape that darkness, but this was different. Just what were these strange voices?
『We won"t let you get away with this, Ancient Witch! Rize-tan, I"ll definitely protect you, okay!? I promise that I will absolutely not let you die, okay!?』
When I heard that woman"s powerful shout, it felt like my heart stirred at her words.
『But unfortunately, our voices can"t reach Liselotte…!』
『That"s right. We have no choice but to hope Sieg can do his best. All we can do is hope that he listens to our commentary, and then pray. That Rize-tan can be happy, that she doesn"t die, that she can find love with the person she adores the most, that she is strong enough not to lose to the witch… All we can do is pray.』
As they repeated those heartfelt words over and over again, slowly but surely, it felt as if a warm and gentle power flowed from them, denying the power of that hateful thing.
I managed to calm down.
Ah, maybe for once, I might be able to get a good night"s sleep.
It was then that I suddenly felt the sensation of my stiff body being lifted up.
Up I went, then swayed softly side to side.
For some reason, I felt relieved.
Like this, I would be alright. That"s what I thought.
『Uwoaaaah… T-That"s a powerful princess carry…!』
The woman"s voice sounded somewhat strained.
『Ah, stop it, Kobayashi-san! That hurts!』
The man tried to calm the woman down, but it didn"t seem to be going well. In fact, she only got more excited.
『But, Sieg is princess carrying Liselotte, that never happens in the game…!』
When I heard that woman"s happy voice, I felt happy too. I"m happy. I"m glad. I love him.
『I-I get it, I get it already so… Wait, Liselotte is smiling…? It"s like she"s happy just being near Sieeeeg! As for Sieg, it looks like he"s struggling to contain himself because Liselotte is so cute!』
『As expected of Liselotte, she possesses incredibly destructive power even when she"s unconscious.』
Just what nonsense were they talking about? Calling me things like ‘cute", that"s impossible.
This really was just a dream then, after all. A strange and mysterious dream. A strange dream, but… a happy one. I preferred it to the nightmares I usually suffered through.
The voices of those two faded away. I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
But as I fell into that sleep, I had one thing on my mind.
So long as I never lose sight of my love for Prince Siegward, I won"t fear that Ancient Witch. I will remain myself.
And with those words, I was convinced.
Man, the web novel version is really different from the light novel from around this point on. For example, this chapter is at the very end of the LN and happens in pretty different circ.u.mstances. Hard to tell which does it better though, they"re both good in their own way.
At the very least, you can look forward to the manga being quite different if it follows the LN.