It was the morning of the 3rd day I woke up.
(As expected, it"s no use, huh…)
Apparently, it really wasn"t a dream.
During those three days, I found out many things.
First of all, this body…or rather, the current me is a bona fide princess.
Alterie = Lutiarne = Dia = Dis = Elsevelt = Dartier.
A righteous Princess, with Duke Elsevelt, who is the leader of four great Duke Houses, considered to be the n.o.bles within n.o.bles in this kingdom, as the father and current King"s younger sister, Princess Efinia as the mother. Age is just 12 years old.
And this place is not a foreign country but another world altogether.
Different world….uncommon world.
Really, that"s how it is.
Although only three days have pa.s.sed since I woke up, I soon realized that this is a completely different world from the one in my memories.
And if you ask why, it"s because there"s no electricity.
Obviously, there could still be a place without electricity in the world, but judging from cultural display level in this room, it"s unlikely that this is simply a place without electricity.
I won"t say that I"ve seen every country in the world, but I can claim with conviction that this country is nowhere within the world.
…..The fact that there is no electricity means that naturally there is no A/C or illumination. I mean, the chandelier"s in this room are lit by oil, after all. In the evening, there are people who come with lo~ng ladders to fill in the oil and people who come to lit the fire.
The fact that I received a culture shock when I found out that illumination was managed via lamps and candles is a secret.
Whenever I do anything I receive a culture shock so strangely enough, despite still getting surprised, I"m starting to get used to it.
“Princess, it"s time to wake….oh my, you have changed your clothes already?”
The one who came in was the female attendant, Lilia.
She"s something like a mediator between me and other maids who have been a.s.signed to me, so they are also relying on her for instructions.
They each wear a simple black velvet one-piece dress uniform decorated with a white lace collar and cuffs, along with a white headdress. It"s pretty similar to the so-called cla.s.sical maid outfit, but it doesn"t feel like cosplay. For them, this is a very ordinary uniform.
I nodded lightly.
“Should we have breakfast brought here?”
I nodded once again.
Lilia withdrew with “Understood.”
I decided that I wouldn"t open my mouth till I understood the situation well, but I"m still maintaining that decision because the situation is somewhat complicated and I"m not sure about what to do.
You can even say that it has become so significant, I keep missing the timing to open my mouth.
(To think that it would become such an uproar….)
After learning more about the circ.u.mstances and environment I was in, I did think that it was a bad idea, but…I also felt like I had no other choice but to stay silent.
(…No matter how you think about it, I was almost killed.)
Just like how I met the car accident in the other world, it seems like Alterie also fell from the balcony in this world.
I can only say 『seems like』 because I don"t remember it.
Right now I have lost both my memories and my voice due to the impact of the incident, that"s how it has become known to others.
Besides Lilia, there are other maids who have been a.s.signed to me and from the way they talk to me or ask me something, I have found out a couple of things.
(They don"t really think that it was an accident, do they?…these people)
Although the maids use an expression, 『Accident』to refer to me falling from the veranda, somewhere, they don"t seem to truly believe it.
n.o.body thinks that Alterie fell from the veranda due to her carelessness.
(Besides, only one person…)
There was also a person who mentioned that I was ‘almost killed".
But that"s also understandable. I mean, even if you say that she fell from the balcony, this residence of Duke Elsevelt is a castle built on a small island in the lake.
Balcony from where Alterie fell is on the 3rd floor. Though even if I say the ‘3rd floor", it"s not on the level of an ordinary house, but rather a double of that height if talking about buildings…It"s the 3rd floor that could be compared to 5th, no, 6th floor. Also, if you think that the height of the cliff also adds to that, I think that it becomes the same as falling down from the roof of a 10-store building.
By the way, below was a midwinter lake.
(Honestly, she did well to survive)
When I looked down from the veranda of the room I"m staying in right now…which is on the 1st floor, by the way…I silently had a thought.
Normally, one wouldn"t be able to survive.
Alterie survived only because she was still a child and therefore still very light and because she was unbelievably lucky. You can even say that it was miraculous.
Though, it"s somewhat questionable to say that she really survived now that『I』have replaced her.
(I haven"t seen your face, but thanks for saving me, 3rd elder brother…)
I heard from rumors that 3rd elder brother, who had set a boat afloat on the winter lake while on a date with some aristocrat lady immediately saved me. If not for him, even if I was saved after falling down, I would either die from drowning in the lake or freezing to death.
Right now, the season in this country is early winter. This period is cold in every region and there are times when a layer of ice stretches on top of the lake.
Even on that evening, a thin layer of ice was on top of the lake, but in order to set the boat afloat in the morning, most of it was broken in advance and because of that, the rest apparently just melted during the daytime.
That"s why Alterie was unscathed.
She didn"t have any injuries, only slight bruises.
It was really miraculous.
To be honest, if such good luck really existed, I"d like to use it to win the lottery.
(I won"t ask for luxury, so I"d like to live in a place where my life would be safe…)
This is Alterie"s birthplace but it"s not a place that"s absolutely safe for her.
(Because…)
I, who have taken the place of Alterie, am placed in a rather complicated situation.
In this country, you can find out the person"s lineage through their full name.
It"s an easy distinction, but you can judge that the longer the name one has is, the higher is their lineage. Ordinary citizens have only one name and surname and they don"t have the t.i.tle either.
My current full name is Alterie Lutiarne = Dia Dis = Elsevelt = Dartier.
Alterie Lutiarne is my first name. Alterie Lutiarne…it means『The Light Shining Within the Light』
It was taken from the beginning of the Bible that was written in the ancient language.
The one who named me was my mother. This name is the only bond between me and my mother who died as if in exchange for giving birth to me.
And Dia is the t.i.tle indicating the royalty.
『Dia』 is given to the descendants of the King. For example, even if the Prince or the Princess marry, it won"t be given to their spouses. I have 『Dia』because I"m the daughter of the Princess and therefore the granddaughter of the previous King.
『Dis』means consort and it"s the t.i.tle that"s given only to the spouses who have officially married into the royalty or one of the four great Dukes. In other words, Alterie is married.
Alterie"s husband is the first Prince of the current King and the Crown Prince, His Highness Nadir.
Being the Crown Prince means that he"s pretty much set to be the next King and as his consort, I think I have the highest status a woman can obtain.
But…although age doesn"t matter for the political marriage, Alterie is still 12 years old. What the h.e.l.l is up with 12 years old married woman! Even I was still a bachelor at 33!
Well, leaving the personal circ.u.mstances aside, it seems that Alterie got married 7 months after birth, so I can"t say a thing anymore…this is not at a level I could do anything about since it already goes beyond the discussion of right or wrong.
Last but not least, the last name. Since after marriage, the female"s last name gets connected to the last name of in-laws, it became Elsevelt = Dartier.
If one is unmarried, the last names of the mother and the father gets connected. In my case, only the order got switched but the combination is still the same.
Elsevelt is my father"s last name.
Alterie"s father is the current Duke Leonhart = Sisleigh = Will = Dis = Adinia = Elsevelt.
Although Elsevelt Ducal House has been revered as a military family within the leading great n.o.bles of the Dardinia Kingdom, one member of the family always joins the church and becomes a high priest.
Then again, there are also many who excel in academics and some have even made a name for themselves as scholars.
The current Duke holds the position of the General and his cousin is at the position of the Archbishop at the church. Among other relatives, there are many who have high posts in the royal palace. In other words, they also hold a considerable political influence.
That"s why it was possible to have the Princess marry beneath her station.
My mother"s last name – Dardier. It"s the last name of this kingdom"s, Dardinia"s royal family.
My…Alterie"s mother who got married below her status, was the youngest Princess of the previous King, Efinia = Judière = Dia = Dis = Dardier.
Because my mother was the direct descendant of the royal family, she only had one last name. Princes and Princesses of the direct royal descent don"t get the last name of their in-laws added to their last names. It implies that the child of the King is the child of the King no matter where he or she goes.
Efinia was the youngest daughter of the late King Laglas II and Queen Eleanor, and the d.u.c.h.ess Elsevelt. She pa.s.sed away right after giving birth to Alterie.
Whenever I think about being in the same situation, I feel lost about what I"d do, But Alterie is a Princess of an extremally n.o.ble lineage, born between the Princess and the leader of the 4 great families of this kingdom in a legitimate marriage. Moreover, even if young, she is the Princess consort.
So, what"s complicated is that right now I have become not only the Princess consort but also the only successor of the Duke.
I understand that it"s enough reason for me to get targeted.
(It"s not like I can do anything about it, but…)
Being both the Princess consort and the only successor of the Duke, if it was the novel, I"d say that the setting was too stacked up.
(……Ah…..)
Suddenly I heard a sound.
(It"s already that time, huh…)
I heard a rattling noise from the corridor.
It"s the sound I"ve heard several times… the sound of the breakfast wagon being brought.
Hooray, a breakfast!, as soon as I thought that, my stomach shrank.
Even at such times, at least my stomach is still dependable.
(For now, let"s think after eating…)
I"m only putting off the problem for a bit…it"s not like I"m running away, absolutely not!
Next Chapter —
Notes
tfw I was expecting a short food p.o.r.n but got 2k words long explanation about how to decipher last names.
Well, it did pique my more than the last chapter, so yeah.
This is not only the fluffy mouth-watering story we expected!
Full names are:
アルティリエ・ルティアーヌ＝ディア・ディス＝エルゼヴェルト＝ダーティエという – Alterie = Lutiarne = Dia = Dis = Elsevelt = Dartier
エフィニア＝ユディエール＝ディア＝ディス＝ダーディエ – Efinia = Judière = Dia = Dis = Dardier (Alterie"s mother)
レオンハルト＝シスレイ＝ヴェル＝ディア＝アディニア＝エルゼヴェルト – Leonhart = Sisleigh = Will = Dia = Adinia = Elsevelt (Alterie"s father)
Notice that in raws Alterie"s father has Dia t.i.tle? I took the liberty to change that to Dis in translation because according to the translation, Dia is the t.i.tle given to the descendants of the king and it does not go over to the spouse, meaning that he couldn"t get the t.i.tle even though he married the Princess, so the other possible t.i.tle he could have is Dis, meaning a t.i.tle given to the spouses of royals.
This was a weird chapter because MC keeps switching between (I) and (Alterie) to exposit because she still has the weird ident.i.ty dissonance. I"ve heard that this speech actually gets settled in few chapters so I left it because it might be something essential to the development of the character.
Actions are supposed to be in past tense and narration in the present tense so tell me if I somehow f.u.c.ked that up. Also pls tell me about any weird grammar, awkward sentences or mistranslations you see, I"ll fix it afap.
P.S I"ll probably be doing a super cute mofumofu nadenade chapter next.