I Favor The Villainess

The damage from the Sa.s.sal Volcano eruption was enormous.
One third of the House of Lords members pa.s.sed away and the Parliament was on the verge of ceasing functioning, it only barely remained operational thanks to Lord Speaker being alive and Dor-sama"s display of shrewdness.

The Parliament, that regained its function to a certain degree by filling the vacancies with relatives, first discussed the matter of who would be the successor of His Majesty Rosseau who pa.s.sed away.
Of course, it was thought the first heir to the throne, Rod-sama, would be elected the king, but Rod-sama, who"s essential for it, has been missing since just before the eruption.
According to his attendant, Rod-sama headed the village at the foot of Sa.s.sal Volcano, he seemed to go to directly persuade the residents to evacuate.
His tone when talking about the village with me sounded resigned, but he"s been working properly.

(But, the timing was the worst)

Perhaps Rod-sama was swallowed up by the eruption.
His safety is uncertain, but seeing there"s been absolutely no contact despite it being five days since the eruption, it"s difficult to imagine he got out safely.
The Parliament was in confusion, but with the urgency of the situation, the trend was to try having Sein-sama enthroned.
It was clear that with the shape of the kingdom"s government it was almost impossible to overcome the crisis with the position of king vacant.

However――.

"Honestly… What is Father thinking…"

Claire-sama"s irritated voice resounded in her room.
Claire-sama and I are in her room in the Royal Academy.
She"s sitting on a chair and reading a newspaper with furrowed eyebrows.

Claire-sama wanted to investigate Dor-sama"s wrongdoings, but the situation being what it is I got her to give up.
For better or worse Dor-sama is a competent politician.
I persuaded her we can"t be lacking Dor-sama now, but…

"What"s written there?"

I was hesitant to call out to her, but if it continues like this, Claire-sama is capable of spontaneously going off.
Thinking that I could help her let off steam I asked Claire-sama.

"It looks like Sein-sama"s enthronement was forsaken"

Claire-sama spat that out and with rustling sound flung the bundle of newspapers at me.
I also looked over them.
As Claire-sama said, there were no mentions of Sein-sama"s enthronement to be seen.
Instead, publicized were articles about Dor-sama and n.o.bles from Rod-sama faction running the government.

"The sovereign of the kingdom can only be the king. What the House of Lords should do is elect the next king as soon as possible, and yet"

Claire-sama ground her teeth.
The tone of newspapers was almost identical to Claire-sama"s.
Some of the newspapers are even writing about coup d"état by aristocracy.

Of course, it"s not like every n.o.ble agrees with the current flow.
But, of the members of the House of Lords, many who suffered or pa.s.sed away in the eruption belonged to Sein-sama and Yuu-sama faction.
With Yuu-sama losing position many people from Yuu-sama faction switched over to Rod-sama"s, it"s also important that Sein-sama faction had the smallest power from the start.
And above all, Rod-sama who"s essential is missing.
It can be said that the biggest power went out of control.

"Now is the time to face the national crisis united. The confusion leaves the citizens anxious"

Crops around the Royal Capital have all suffered damage from the volcanic ash and projectiles from the eruption.
Buying up of goods due to the expectation of goods shortage occurred, and prices around the Royal Capital have been continuing to steeply rise.
Dor-sama"s provisional government - self-proclaimed as it is - is distributing goods, but I wonder how long it will last.

Of course, I was aware of this course of events thanks to the game knowledge.
The date speeding up considerably was beyond my expectation, but I knew the political chaos and the steep price rise of commodities would occur.
Naturally, there"s no way I haven"t done anything.
Via Tulu company - which is Hans-san"s shop I"ve dropped by before the holidays - I"ve exchanged the private funds I got from Blume for food stockpiles.
I"ve tried cultivating potatoes that in this world still had only served a decorative purpose, and also tried to have buckwheat cultivated on a barren soil.
I"ve also tried making seaweed salad known in the kingdom through Blume.
I spread the rumor about volcano erupting due to spirit"s wrath.
But, that"s all I could do.

Volcanic eruption is a major disaster, normally it takes whole effort of a country to fight it.
There"s not much a young girl, who only knew it would occur beforehand, can do to a great disaster, that a major volcanic country like 21st century j.a.pan would be unable to make up for the losses from, even with all the countermeasures.
Of course, there are still things to do.

"Rei, send the advance notice. I will be going to meet Sein-sama"
"… Won"t it be difficult"
"In what way!"

At my response, Claire-sama raised her voice like she was throwing a tantrum.
She"s considerably angry.

"Claire-sama is the daughter of Dor-sama who has contained Sein-sama. From Sein-sama faction"s point of view, that"s identical to being the sworn enemy"
"… Guh"

If it was normal Claire-sama, she shouldn"t have needed me pointing that out to notice the situation.
After all Claire-sama"s condition isn"t normal.

"Claire-sama, you better stop worrying too much. Ever since eruption, Claire-sama has been working too hard"

Although chaos in the Parliament and steep price rise of commodities have occurred, the country hasn"t spiraled out of control entirely thanks to Claire-sama"s precise initial instructions immediately following the eruption.
The volcano eruption, disappearance of Prime Minister Salas, death of His Majesty Rosseau, vacancies in the House of Lords, steep price rise of crops, with everything overlapping it wouldn"t be strange if the country spiraled out of control.
It was none other than Claire-sama who held it at bay.
Of course, it was only possible thanks to Dor-sama"s backing, but there"s no doubt Claire-sama"s own judgement was excellent.

"I have done what I should have. Nevertheless, why is Father not doing what he should"

For Claire-sama, who has a firm idealized image of how n.o.bles are, the current Dor-sama"s behavior seems impossible to understand.
In newspaper articles there were speculations that Dor-sama will seize the opportunity and usurp the throne.
It was impossible for Claire-sama to retain composure with such rumors about her father who was supposed to be the ideal n.o.ble.

"Claire-sama has done as much as possible. You should rest a little now. You"ve hardly slept in the past few days, haven"t you"

Shadow was visible on Claire-sama lovely face.
Her skin is rough, there are even slight dark circles under her eyes.
It"s natural, but she hasn"t even had time to take her beloved bath, she continued acting without sleep or rest.
It"s not good to work unreasonably just because she has great capacity thanks to being recklessly competent.

"I am still alright. I am alright, however――"

Saying so, Claire-sama drew near and leaned on me.

"But, I have got tired just a little. Could you let me be like this a little?"
"C, Claire-sama!?"
"I am glad Rei has been here. Had I been alone, I would have been crushed long ago"

I was surprised by Claire-sama"s sudden behavior.

"Claire-sama, are you alright? No, you aren"t alright. For Claire-sama to presume on me, there"s no way it――"
"I am being dere. This way of using it is fine, right?"
"Errr, it"s not a mistake, but…"

What"s wrong, suddenly.

"Even I have times when I want to presume on somebody. Before I had Lene do it like this"
"… Ah, I see"

So it"s not a lovers" thing.
It"s a little disappointing, but with the side benefit like this I won"t complain.

"Being a n.o.ble is the one thing I take pride in, but sometimes… It truly is sometimes, but I dream of wanting to be free from that sense of duty"
"Isn"t it a good thing. Let"s stop being a n.o.ble"
"It is impossible. I have been allowed to live in luxury until now, at the time of emergency like this I am obliged to act"
"You"re tough, Claire-sama"

Well, because Claire-sama is like this I love her.

"Then, even just as a silly talk, please tell me. If you stopped being a n.o.ble, is there anything you"d want to do?"
"… Let"s see…"

After pondering for around thirty seconds Claire-sama answered.

"I would like to learn cooking and sewing"
"A surprising answer. Such commoner-like things?"
"I am greatly obliged to you. If I stopped being a n.o.ble, I could only return this much"

Again I was so surprised, my eyes darted around.

"What is with that face. Ah, I have not taken a bath for how many days. I wonder if I stink?"
"No, not at all. Rather, you smell good"

I could only be surprised by Claire-sama"s straightforward words.

"You"re lying. It is a good opportunity, so let us take a bath"
"Yes"

We headed for the baths, but it seems the temperature of the water hasn"t stabilized after the eruption, so the dormitory hot springs were unavailable.

"Ah, jeez!"
"Now now. Claire-sama, now now"

After calming Claire-sama who began stamping on the ground in anger, I had her wait in her room, carried a bucket with hot water there and wiped her body with a towel.
While polishing up her porcelain white skin I thought.

(From here is the critical moment. I have to guide Claire-sama well)

I Favor the Villainess (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) is getting a light novel! It"ll be released on 26/02/2019 on j.a.panese amazon, please consider supporting it.