OKOBORE HIME TO ENTAKU NO KISHI
The Leftover Princess and the Knights of the Round
Book II: A Queen’s Conditions
Story by: Riine Ishida
Art by: Ichiko Okiya
Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi
iii
Characters:
Duke Barchet
Knight of Sixth Rank of the Royal Chivalric Order
Rumored to have the best skills within the Order
The receiving end of Leti"s high-handed invitation
Leticia
“Leftover Princess”
First Princess of Sommevesle, heir to the throne
Already knew that she would be the next queen
Leonhardt
Leti"s younger brother
Third Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle
An eccentric historian
iv
Friedhelm
First Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle
Leti"s eldest half brother
A prince of charm and charisma
Astrid Gale
Knight of Tenth Rank of the Royal Chivalric Order
Duke’s junior
Guido
Second Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle
Leti’s second oldest half brother
A Prime Minister-type of prince with his detailed
planning and organized executions
v
Brought to you by: AQUA Scans
Credits:
Raws: Icarus Bride
Translation: Crystal Hikari
Proofreading: Scylla
Quality Checking: Mizuouji
Translator’s notes:
The j.a.panese honorifics were kept in the translation of the dialogues of
the characters to show the respect or adoration shown by the characters.
Footnotes were provided upon the first appearance of the honorific in the
chapter to explain it.
Thoughts are signified by ‘italics’.
PROLOGUE
- 8 -
It was a stormy night. Strong, howling winds shook the windows
and the sound of slashing rain mixed with the roaring thunder.
Bright lightning lit up the room for a moment despite the heavy
curtains draped over the window.
Sommevesle’s Second Prince, Guido, was ten years old that
night. Though old enough to handle the storm, the unpredictable
thunder and lightning still startled the young prince, making it
difficult for him to sleep. He simply lay down on his bed, kept his
eyes shut, waiting for the storm to subside.
He knew not how much time had pa.s.sed when he heard a soft
knock on his door. Guido woke up and turned his head towards the
door, wondering who it might be. Then another knock came,
though the sound lacked the sharpness for an intended knock.
“…Who is it?”
“I’ve got my hands full here. Guido, open the door.”
On the other side of the door was his older half-brother of two
years, Friedhelm, the First Prince of Sommevesle. Guido followed
his brother’s order and found his younger half-sister, Leticia, on
Friedhelm’s back. The reason behind the soft knock was because
Friedhelm knocked using his feet.
Leticia, or Leti, was the First Princess and was four years
younger than Guido. She was wrapping her dainty hands around
Friedhelm’s neck and her eyes were tightly shut, probably because
she was scared of thunder.
- 9 -
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, I can’t allow Leti to sleep alone on a night like this. She’s
still young. Besides, I was also worried you might be scared of the
thunder.”
Leti has a full younger brother, Leonhardt. He was born a year
after Leti and their mother was probably staying with him all night,
leaving Leti alone.
“Alright, let’s all sleep together! The bed may be a bit small for
the three of us but bear with it for tonight. Leti will sleep in the
middle.”
Guido thought he was no match for his older brother, who was,
in all sense of the name, an “Older Brother”. Friedhelm did not
forget to check on Leti and on him even on a night like this.
“Guido Onii-sama1 will also be sleeping with Leti?”
“Yeah, so everything is all right, no need to be scared.”
Guido gently said to Leti and helped her get down from
Friedhelm’s back and up to the bed. Guido’s bed was not small for
a ten year old child to sleep alone but it was a bit narrow for three
children to sleep in. But he thought the closer they snuggled, the
safer would Leti feel.
1 Onii-sama: Onii =Older Brother | Sama = formal honorific for a high person
- 10 -
Leti fell asleep after a while, but Guido could not. The thunder
gradually became softer and Guido was thinking about the
a.s.signment given to him this afternoon.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about my a.s.signment.”
Guido heard Friedhelm sigh about him being too serious.
“What a.s.signment is that, enough to bother Guido, the perfect
and wise child like our great-grandmother?”
“To write a composition about my dream for the future. Have
you written anything like that, Ani’ue2
?”
“Oh, that one. Yeah. I have. But it was something they made
me write to please Grandfather Lauenstein. So it’s probably the
same for you, it’s something to please your Grandfather Eulenberg.
Write that you want to be king. I’m sure that’ll be enough to satisfy
them.”
“I will.” But he noticed something in the way Friedhelm had
said it.
“Do you not want to be king, Ani’ue?”
2 Ani’ue. A j.a.panese honorific referring to one’s older brother (More formal and
old fashioned than the normal Onii-san)
- 11 -
“Who knows? I mean, being a King is something like a future
that is prepared for me rather than being my dream. It’s like being
an adult.”
Hearing the words spoken out loud made Guido realize that
maybe, he was just the same as well.
“Can’t the heir be Leti or Leon? That way, I could be ———
in the future.”
The thunder roared, silencing Guido’s voice for a moment.
Then after the thunder subsided, Friedhelm said, “Me too.”
“—do, Prince Guido.”
Guido opened his eyes when he heard a voice whispering in his
ears. He slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see Leti"s
young face grow older. Soon he realized that he had been dreaming
just a moment ago.
“Are you alright? Shall I have a room prepared for you to rest?”
“No, I’m alright.”
“Are you certain? It is strange for you to openly sleep in a place
such as this.”
Today was one of their regular tea parties Leti had suggested to
have. Guido came first and they were waiting for Friedhelm in a
- 12 -
drawing room in the Royal Villa. Guido unconsciously closed his
eyes and fell asleep when Leti had left him alone for a while.
“Did I…did I say something?”
“No, nothing in particular, but you were frowning quite hard
and I thought you were having a nightmare so…”
A maid came in, informing them of Friedhelm’s arrival. Leti
stood up and left the room to welcome Friedhelm, leaving Guido
behind so she did not hear him say that his dream was, indeed, a
nightmare.
“Hey! Are you doing well?” Friedhelm greeted Leti with
unnecessarily overflowing liveliness and she returned his greeting
with a perfect smile for they were in the presence of other people,
specifically Friedhelm’s knights. After the greetings, Leti ushered
him, alone, to the drawing room where Guido was waiting.
“I am doing fine. But Prince Guido, on the other hand, does not
look so well. He even fell asleep for a few minutes in my, his enemy’s,
room.”
“That’s serious. He ain’t someone who’d let anyone attack him
in his sleep… and here I was, thinking that he was feeling fine since
Queen Sofia’s funeral.”
They were only a few steps from the drawing room but they
stopped. They did not want Guido to hear this conversation.
- 13 -
“Two months have pa.s.sed since Queen Sofia’s death. He is
probably feeling the pain and loneliness now that things have settled
down.”
Two months ago, the bells of mourning rang throughout the
castle. It was about a month after the Ghost Energy incident.
Guido’s mother, the Second Queen Consort Sofia, had been
sick for a while already. Everybody was prepared for her imminent
death. But for her real son, there were still too many memories that
caused hurt and pain.
“Better speak warmly with him today. Do not bite at each
other’s neck,” warned Leti.
Queen Sofia left Guido in Leti"s care. Leti understood that she
meant it for her to be cooperative when Guido became King. But
despite that, Leti still could not easily disrespect Queen Sofia’s
request.
“But ain’t this the job of his fiancée, Lady Eleanor?”
“Stop making that obviously troubled face. If he noticed that his
siblings were worried about him, it might become his support,
though I am well aware he is not one who will notice it.”
Guido was both serious and dense. He could not possibly know
anyone who was actually worried about him unless it was plainly
told to his face. But he was also not someone who could easily brush
off anyone who was worried about him. Guido’s rationale for
- 14 -
controlling his emotions was one his good points, but it was a bad
point as well.
“That is the most we can do for Prince Guido…because we are
not on good terms with each other.”
“Well, yes of course. I am only forced to attend this tea party to
give my recommendations for Princess Leticia’s future husband. I
don’t care about Guido…I don’t care at all.”
“And Prince Guido is attending as well to stop you from your
plans.”
Leti and Friedhelm rea.s.sured each other about where they stood.
“If someone from Kleinschmidt was here, this would be a tea
party with the complete representative of the top of the Kingdom.”
“Then let’s just have one with the three of us. Kleinschmidt has
fallen from grace anyway.”
“Well, I guess you are right,” Leti agreed with Friedhelm.
Inside Sommevesle’s social structure, there were three families
considered to be special among the n.o.ble families, namely, the
Lauensteins – Friedhelm’s faction, the Eulenbergs – Guido’s faction
and the fallen Kleinschmidts. These families were collectively
known as the Three Grand Marquises. They were special even
among the other marquises, despite having the same t.i.tle because
they had descended from the royal family.
- 15 -
So why are they not considered part of the royal family despite
their lineage and simply treated as special n.o.bles?
Leti"s great-grandfather, the Administration King Karlheinz,
created a decree that stripped down the three dukedoms of their
eligibility to inherit the throne and dropped their ranks from being
“dukes” to “marquises” as punishment for abusing their power and
using it for their personal gains.
“Great-grandfather left us something troublesome. It might’ve
been a wise decision at the time but now, it’s nothing but a problem
for us.”
Exactly as Friedhelm said, the way things were viewed changed
as time pa.s.sed.
“Wanting to be a royalty again is a frustrating desire. They
reaped what they sowed. They could just be satisfied with the special
treatment they were receiving.”
“Well, as if Your Royal Pureness could understand us.”
Leti, with a King for a father and a royal for a mother was
sometimes referred to as a “pure-blooded Princess”.
“But you are of pure royalty yourself.”
“Half, yes. The other half is the cursed bloodline of the
Lauensteins who lost their right to the throne. Now then, would the
Leftover Princess be kind to show me the room where we shall have
our private tea party?”
- 16 -
Leti coldly glared at Friedhelm for his unfunny joke.
“Say that again and I will scream ‘No! Onii-sama, stop! I am
your sister!’ at the top of my lungs and mess up my hair and dress a
bit to complete the picture.”
“Quit that! That won’t be a joke at all!”
‘Leftover Princess’ was nothing but an unpleasant nickname for
Leti. Her two excellent brothers, both coming from one of the
‘Three Grand Marquises’, made the succession for the throne a
complicated problem. The compet.i.tion between the two princes
grew worse over the years and the King was deeply hurt by it. So to
prevent the strife from getting worse, the King came up with a novel
idea. He selected Leti as the heir to the throne. So in other words,
Leti picked up the crown that fell from the two princes, a leftover
crown, thus, she was the ‘Leftover Princess’.
But despite all of the conflict, Leti knew that her two brothers
cared for each other deeply. They had just become the symbols of
the political war between their families that they had to pretend
otherwise.
“This is the third tea party. I guess it’s about time I get to hear
about what’s running inside the head of our next queen.”
“These tea parties are meant to eradicate all rumors circulating
about an impending civil war. It will be a big problem if the
neighboring countries think of this as an opportunity for them.”
- 17 -
“I agree with that…So, how much on good terms shall we be?”
Right now, Friedhelm and Guido met up with each other out of
obligation and nothing was really different with their relationship.
“Tell me, how does the next queen plan to solve the strife
between the two princes? Will you make the two parties reconcile
with each other? Or will you keep them in check with some
provisions? Or will you step up and intervene with the Three Grand
Marquises problem?”
“Did you think I would tell you, a political enemy, what my
plans are for the future?”
“I know you will. Make that one of your a.s.signments. I’ll wait
for your answer.”
Leti felt Friedhelm was testing her. If she gave him a half-a.s.sed
answer, then this brother of hers, who was more fit to be king,
would undoubtedly stand up to oppose her.
Leti knew, more than anyone, that her most difficult enemy was
just right beside her.