Akuyaku Reijou no Naka no Hito - CH 9.2

One day, Angel came to me with news, as I was spending my time in the demon world, doing the necessary groundwork for the project. It was while I was playing in the mud with demon children in a sort of orphanage in the demon realm. Apparently, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the start of trade with the demon world, they decided to hold a party with the Demon King Angel and other important figures of the demon world as a social gathering.

The story was that they would see how things went for a few years with small-scale transactions, but it seems that not a few people were attracted to trading goods with the demon tribe, and this was the result of being urged by the nobles and big merchants.

I could tell from the messenger lurking around Pina that the woman was overjoyed to see Angel. She was told only yesterday by the treasurer of the royal court that she should「exercise a little more moderation.」Are you going to make them your another new dress? You still have a few pieces of clothing that you haven’t even gone through… I feel sorry to hear this from Pina’s squires.

Pina’s true nature, which she had been unable to mend for some time, gradually began to emerge, and people began to think that「if a woman with such a『good』personality was following around her fiancé, it would not be surprising if she harassed him a little or two.」

Williard and his group also seem to be unconsciously feeling more dislike than the fully raised likability. Now they don’t even see each other willingly.

Children show unconditional love to their parents, but children born to terrible parents hate them. But I can’t hate them, probably because I remember the love for my parents that was first imprinted on me. In the same way, does the false love that has been instilled not allow the Williards to take the option of giving up on Pina at the last minute? Or are you afraid of losing your stronghold that「you are not wrong in condemning Remilia?」

Although she is called the Star Maiden, she is so ugly that she has become too famous among the nobles and castle servants and is not usually visible. Is it correct to say that it is impossible to get out? If it had been a time of war, would she have been heavily used? No, it’s difficult because that lazy woman has done very little to level up or improve her「ally buffs,」 which is a star maiden’s ability, so she’s useless as it is.

The story and reality have developed far apart.

Six months ago, the academy began accepting students from the demon tribe to study abroad at the academy. They chose to coexist with the demons because they recognized their usefulness and hid their true intentions, saying,「If the demons attack us, there is nothing we can do now.」With this, the first prince has taken the opportunity to announce that he has demon blood in his veins, and is now at the forefront of diplomacy with the demon world.

Last month, a marriage between a demon and a human couple was reported. Although there are some issues, such as the difference in life expectancy, we expect to see more of these marriages in the future.

The case of Duchess Remilia, who had condemned the Dauphin Williard to the point of losing the backing of the Duke of Graupner, was found to be perjured, and Pina’s true nature was occasionally glimpsed and her hysterical face was seen again and again, making them wonder,「Was that condemnation the right thing to do?」After all, even here, the statements like,「I’m sure there was a degree of harassment, but if that was the person you were dealing with, I can understand that feeling a little, and I think breaking off the engagement was too much,」and「even the last direct assault was not something that would have caused terrible injuries, but the punishment was too severe for the duchess,」were existing. This is especially true of the women who were at the academy at the time, although they do not speak openly against the royal family.

I guess I am able to make the right decision now that I am away from Pina and no longer smelling that perfume.

In direct contrast to the first prince who shines in diplomacy with the demon world, Williard, who was forced by His Majesty to take full care of Pina, who could not be used properly as a Star Maiden no matter how long she stayed, saying,「He was the person who went to such lengths to get rid of his fiancé,」 came to feel depressed.

「Hey, Pina… Hurry up and come on. If it’s a dress you haven’t worn yet, there’s plenty to go around. Budgets don’t just spring up.」

「Why do you say such cold words? I’m too embarrassed to entertain Angel with the dress I have in my closet right now…… Will is okay with his prospective fiancée attending dressed shabbily and being laughed at by the demons?」

「I didn’t say that, just that there are limits…」

「That’s terrible…! Will has become cold to me…… When I was at the school, you listened to me and even took a lot of time to talk to me. No matter how much you tell me that now you need time for self-discipline… You wouldn’t even let me go to the suburbs to take down demons anymore… I’d like to be with someone else, but Will won’t let me…」

Pina was still a potential fiancée, because that’s what the Star Maiden Pina wanted at the time. Pina herself had a problem with the idea of having a fiancee to marry a man she had already chosen, so she evaded by saying,「I still have a lot to learn, so I can’t be your official fiancee,」 and waited for people around her to say,「No, you’re right,」but all she got in return was a cold response like,「Well, yes, that’s true.」Only the education officer and the lady attendant with Pina knew that Pina was upset about it.

For a new fiancée, and the nobles around her were on board just because she was a Star Maiden. Now that his true nature is known, that story is frozen, and even if Pina wants it now, the royal family will be reluctant this time.

Williard, the crown prince, self-disciplines under Pina’s displeasure… it is not surprising that the level-raising that Emi was doing is not possible now. Because of his duties as the crown prince. In the story…… or the game, the time of disaster was caused by the Demon King invoked by Remilia, and while the knights and soldiers suppressed the continuing damage caused by the demons led by the demon tribe in various places, Williard, who has the blood of a hero, held the sword in order to strike the main cause. The situation was supposed to be different in reality.

Pina was impatient that a year had passed without any of the likability-raising events that occur when the game story progresses, due to the loss of the trip to defeat the Demon King. She can no longer get the love potion, and she can’t even take the method of fighting together as friends as she did in the game. Lately, the guys she was supposed to have been less and less friendly, and she asked myself,「Don’t tell me that unlike in the game, if I don’t do anything, my likability goes down over time?」She muttered irritably in her room.

Pina gnashed her teeth in frustration, thinking that if only she could travel, she could make all the other guys besides Williard and the others go crazy for her as much as she wanted, since she remembers all the conversations during the night camp in the dungeon, when the demon attacked her and begged her help, and all the other event choices.

Giving normal items to the target of the attack was quickly stopped as it was outwardly offensive for a potential fiancée of the crown prince to repeatedly give gifts to other members of the opposite sex, and first of all, he did not look too happy about it. That’s why she had to go to defeat the demons with the guys who haven’t been able to conquer them at all yet. Unlike in the game, Pina was frustrated with Williard, who restricted her behavior, perhaps out of jealousy.

No matter how much he told her that「he had work to do,」 Pina didn’t understand even that much, and recently Williard had been feeling increasingly frustrated. He was not convinced that an unmarried woman staying out with another man, even if it is in the name of defeating demons, is a bad appearance, even if she is a prospective fiancée in name only. Pina blamed him for this with tears in her eyes, saying it was terrible.

Now he thought,「If she was making such a big deal of playing the tragic heroine, maybe she was making a big deal out of a little thing like Remilia’s. She pushed her down the stairs. The fact that she pushed her down the stairs was just because she was so angry that the stairs happened to be behind her when she pushed her, and she probably didn’t intend to kill her or cause her serious injury,」he thought that time.

If Remilia had been able to hear even her heart, she would have immediately cut off Williard’s head, saying,「What’s the matter now?」even if she had to cut off the revenge play.

Williard’s entourage has not decided what to do next, as his former fiancée was left abandoned or dismayed by his former fiancée and the engagement was amicably called off. They, too, are beginning to be abandoned by other nobles.

Williard and his entourage are now tired of Pina’s selfishness, but for some reason, they can’t give up on her at the last moment. Although she has the title of “Star Maiden,” her power is useless unless she uses it very well, even in wartime. They have tried to encourage her to study agriculture, dairy farming, and geology, but she does not want to do so.

Williard said,「I can’t make you a new dress,」to get away from Pina’s kinky cry, and left the room. He sighed deeply as he muttered a few words of regret,「How could I have let this happen?」

Inside the castle, some people began to say,「Williard is going to be abolished and the first prince, Erhasha, is going to be crowned as the crown prince.」The king, who had heard the rumors at the time and allowed Remilia’s absolution to be carried out, has long regretted since then that he should have had the royal family’s secret service examine the evidence again, apart from the evidence that Williard had submitted, saying that he had「corroborated it perfectly.」It looked like solid evidence on paper, but……

Recently, as if to corroborate this, a witness at the time, unable to bear the scruples of his conscience, said,「Actually, I perjured her at the request of the star maiden.」Some of those who heard the confessions also tipped off the authorities. Although the number is small, suspicions have arisen.

「Isn’t the other evidence fabricated as well?」

Mistress Remilia complained that she had been falsely accused. There are too many charges and too much evidence to support them, and that’s beyond doubt as far as they can see…… They only thought it was a grossly exaggerated excuse, but on the off chance that it is true. If the evidence is all false, if the evidence is all false to the witnesses who tell that vast third party story.

「No, don’t tell me…」

Williard had no intention of breaking off the engagement at that time. The absolution play at that time was supposed to be a farce to encourage Remilia to reflect and let the nobles know widely that the Star Maiden and Remilia were reconciled. The plan is to confront the changed Remilia with her foolish deed, threaten to break off the engagement if she balks, and then Remilia will bow down to the star maiden for the grand finale. Therefore, there was no formal trial or investigation by a legitimate investigative agency that would have been recorded, and in fact, this was done with Remilia’s future in mind after the handcuffs were made.

He said that Williard, his entourage, and some of the nobles, including himself, knew the backstory, but that Remilia’s stubborn refusal to admit guilt and her acceptance of the annulment had thrown everything out of whack.

If only they had disgraced themselves that time to an innocent noble daughter. The power of the “Star Maiden,” as she was called, was not seen as such by the whole country, and the poisoned woman who made it happen was promoted by the whole country. Because he cannot admit it, he subconsciously denies it, meditating on all the discomfort, saying,「It can’t be true.」

If Remilia had found out that he was thinking of putting the blame on「Remilia,」 who was a minor at the time, she would still have been separated head and torso before finishing her revenge story, just like Williard.