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
Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi
v
Credits page/Translator’s notes
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Credits:
Raws: Icarus Bride
Translation: Crystal Hikari
Proofreading: Scylla
Quality Checking: Mizuouji
Translator’s note:
The Japanese 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.
The titles for this volume are all based on chess terminologies.
vi
CHAPTER II TOUCH AND MOVE
- 7 -
Three days after the magic circle incident, Leti was
holding a one-on-one lesson in her room.
“To be the knight of the First Seat of the Knights of
the Round bears an important meaning. The honorary
knights of the king are different to other honorary
knights because they have military powers. Special
mention has to be given to the First Seat knight because
he has the authority to give orders as the King’s
representative. In other words, instead of a knight, you
are more like the highest ranking general in the country.”
An army under the name of the Royal Chivalric
Order and a group of military officers collectively known
as the Knights of the Round - these are the two forces
responsible for Sommevesle to be recognized as a
superpower by the world. If it wasn’t for this, there was
no reason for the kingdom to keep the budget-eating
Order during this time of peace.
“I get that part, but what about all these books and
papers?” Duke said while looking at the books written in
languages he didn’t know and the stacks of paper
completely filled with text.
- 8 -
Leti tapped on the books with her fingers and said in
reply, “The magic circle incident shall be put on hold for
now. We cannot do anything but wait for the next one.
Therefore, while we wait, I shall have you use that time to
do some studying. Now that you know what these are all
about, let us proceed.
For the other countries, our knight system is nothing
of importance. The Royal Chivalric Order is simply what
we call our army and you, as the First Seat Knight, are
seen as ‘the Honourable General’. So I shall teach you the
knowledge you will need for that position.”
The First Seat Knight’s duty was not only protecting
the king. That was one reason why Leti chose Duke for
the position. Duke, being part of the nobility, had already
received the compulsory education as a gentleman so
there was no need for her to teach him everything. She
would be crowned in a few years’ time and that was not
enough to teach an illiterate knight how to read and write
and to instil in him proper etiquette.
“First, completely memorize the social map of
Sommevesle. Remember the relationship between the
- 9 -
families. After that, memorize the other countries’ social
map. While you are at it, better learn how to speak at least
two more foreign languages.”
Duke nodded in understanding without even letting
out a complaint. If Leti said so, then he truly needed all
that knowledge as the First Seat Knight. Besides, if he, as
a representative of Sommevesle, could not even greet the
generals of other countries properly, then they would
surely not be taken seriously.
“These books over here are the ones I used for my
studies. They are good references so you can use them
for yours. Read them over and over whenever you have
time.”
“How many languages can you speak, Your
Highness?”
“I can speak three languages at a native level, enough
for me to tell jokes and three more with fluency, enough
to hold casual conversations and a few more to say
greetings.”
“…Amazing.”
- 10 -
Duke suddenly remembered his friend’s performance
during foreign language classes back at the Knight
Academy. Friedhelm always seemed bored and sleepy
during the classes but still got perfect marks on their tests
and assignments. Duke sometimes found himself
wondering how Friedhelm did it. Now, he seemed to
have found the answer. Friedhelm did not get high grades
because he was particularly good in the subject, but rather
it was something he had already learned as a part of the
royal family; it was expected of him.
“Leon is more amazing. At thirteen, he was already
being asked to do the final confirmations of terminology
books written in different languages. There is a proper
reason why he can do as he pleases – he has a true value
as a member of the royal family. If he was just a fool,
then he would have been long given to the church and
tasked to pray for the kingdom every day.”
Leonhardt could do whatever he wanted because of
his eccentricity. He might look like that, but he had his
own share of difficulties and gave his best effort to be of
help. Duke now learnt about it and this improved his
impression of the unique prince.
- 11 -
“To be honest, I originally wanted Leon to teach you,
but his hands already seem full with his teaching positions
at the Knight Academy and the University so I decided to
do it myself. Besides, having a lady teach might actually
motivate you to study better, at least for the sake of your
ego.”
“…Lady?”
“Yes. Have you forgotten?” Leti asked, but there was
no trace of offence in her demeanour.
“Ah, no. It’s just that you’re more of my master
and…”
“Good, I do not mind at all. I do not see you as a
man as well. If I did, I would have a maid stand in here as
chaperone.”
Leti suddenly remembered the ‘mongrel incident’
with Astrid. Being alone with Duke, her knight, was fine
but not with Astrid.
“A maid…now that you mention it, why don’t you
have a lady’s maid?”
- 12 -
“I had two before but after I was chosen as the heir,
the one from Guido’s faction turned white and resigned
on her own. I fired the other one from Friedhelm’s after
she served me tea while her hands were shaking violently.
Searching for someone I can trust is too much work so I
only have maids for now.”
Leti’s comment before that the brutal ones were
those around her was true. Moreover, the conditions for
Leti’s lady’s maid - a lady of high social rank, of character,
and of neutral standing, that could pass Leti’s meticulous
eyes, were probably difficult to satisfy.
“A party will be held soon in celebration for the
birthday of my younger sister. Until then remember at
least everything about the kingdom’s social hierarchy. I
suggest starting first with the families under the Guido
faction since your family belongs to it. Studying that may
be comparatively easier.”
Leti proceeded in teaching Duke the things he should
know one after the other and cut the day’s lessons at a
good point.
- 13 -
“And one last thing. An assignment for you,” Leti
said as she handed Duke a sheet of paper.
The paper contained a list of the positions in
Sommevesle, such as the Knights of the Round and the
Commander of the Order. Written on the other side were
the corresponding positions in other countries, such as
Marshall and General.
“This is a comparative list of the different ranks and
positions of Sommevesle and our neighboring countries.
Make sure to remember everything, even the smallest
details. It will be rude to make any mistakes. Once you
have perfectly memorized those, I shall teach you about
their insignia and shoulder marks.”
If Leti could teach Duke that much, then it simply
meant that she had studied and memorized all of those
herself. Duke somehow found it frustrating that the
people did not even have any idea about Leti’s efforts. If
they knew about it, then his master would have never
been branded as a ‘Leftover Princess’.
“I remember you are good at remembering people’s
faces, but take this piece of advice based on my
- 14 -
experience. You should learn to remember people aside
from their faces. Women, for example, can use cosmetics
to change how they look. Have you ever seen your
previous lover’s face without any makeup?”
“...No.”
Leti looked like she had something to say but decided
to keep her silence, out of either kindness,
disappointment, pity, or all of the above.
“Do you put on makeup as well, Your Highness?”
“Yes, but only a little. I am beautiful already so there
is no need to put much on. Tell me, am I wearing
anything on my lips today?”
Duke stared at Leti’s face, trying to discern whether
she had any coloring on her lips. He never took notice if
Leti wore makeup on a daily basis, but he was certain she
had worn one for the party. He tried to recall her face
that night and then compared it to her current look.
“You...don’t?”
- 15 -
“You better pay closer attention to women then. I am
using a lighter shade.” Leti took Duke’s thumb and
pressed it to the corner of her lips. He looked at his
thumb and there was indeed a pretty shade of light pink
on it. Leti jokingly said to him that he has another
assignment.
“Take your time in doing those assignments, no need
to rush and remember everything all at once. You have all
the time to study until my coronation. Another advice, do
not even try to remember two languages under the same
language tree at the same time. You will just confuse
yourself. And...”
A knock cut Leti’s words and a maid informed them
that Leti has a visitor.
“Your Highness, Lady Eleanor of Aufrecht House
wishes to see you.”
“Eleanor? It is unusual for her to come unannounced.”
Leti thought Eleanor’s business might be important
so she decided to meet her in her private room instead.
- 16 -
She asked the maid to clear the desk and gave Duke the
books for him to study.
“Do you know Lady Eleanor?”
“She is Prince Guido’s fiancée, right?”
Duke, though not actively using his affiliation as a
Barchet, still knew the basic information of the other
families under the Guido faction. Leti thought of
introducing him to Eleanor if he did not know her, but
since he did, there was no need for it and she ended their
lesson for the day.
Eleanor Aufrecht entered the room when Duke took
his leave. Eleanor is the daughter of Lord Aufrecht, a
marquis under Guido. Leti had previous interactions with
her as she would be her future older sister and had
established a good relationship with her since then.
Eleanor’s chestnut hair and aquamarine eyes exuded a
more gentler and softer aura, compared to Leti’s sharp
and striking beauty.
“Eleanor, how have you been? I last saw you at the
ball hosted by the Lauensteins.”
- 17 -
Leti welcomed Eleanor with her perfect princess
smile, but Eleanor returned it with a forced one and
immediately looked down.
“Leti, I do not know what I should do.”
“Take a seat first. I am all ears.” Leti said with a sweet
voice as if cooing the seemingly distressed Eleanor. The
situation might indeed be serious.
“We...Prince Guido and I, were talking about
our...future and then...” Eleanor cried. This surprised Leti.
She immediately went to her friend’s side, held her hand
and asked what was wrong.
“Prince Guido suddenly told me...he told me...he
wanted to break off the engagement!”
“Break off?” Why now? Leti found the timing to be
too suspicious.
The engagement between Guido and Eleanor had
long been official and the only thing left was for them to
make their vows. The only reason why their wedding was
delayed was because of Guido’s mother, the late Sofia,
was against it. According to rumours, Sofia did not like
- 18 -
Eleanor. Leti also remembered hearing her saying
“...anyone else but Eleanor,” with a stern look on her face.
“Has he made an official request to your father?”
“No, not yet. He still has not said anything to Papa...
It was more of a slip of the tongue, but...”
“I wonder why...the last time I talked to Prince Guido,
he even said he was sorry for delaying the marriage for so
long.”
Guido’s opinion on marriage was the same as Leti’s.
They would prioritize their positions first over love. Leti
thought that Guido found the marriage with Eleanor
advantageous for both families and the only reason why
he kept it ambiguous was his mother. Besides, he did not
seem to hate the union at all, so why?
...An affair?
Leti remembered seeing Guido alone at night during
the night of the magic circle incident. Even so, she could
not imagine him, the cool and nearly cold Guido, doing
something as passionate as an affair. He was a logical man
who could easily pickup sarcastic remarks and reply with
- 19 -
twice the damage and yet he could not comprehend a
pleasant joke. He was not a warm person who could
easily form relationships.
“Dear Eleanor, it has only been two months since
Queen Sofia passed away. He might have said it out of
confusion. Please stay with him until he has calmed down.
Support him as his fiancée, his future wife.”
Leti carefully chose her words to calm Eleanor. For
now, this was what she could do. Interrogating Guido
and investigating about this matter had to be saved for
later.
“Is that so? I was really worried he has come to hate
me.”
“No, there is no reason for you to be hated. You are
a wonderful lady.”
Leti continued on listening to Eleanor and assured
her that everything will be all right. By the time Eleanor
was cheered up, the sun had nearly set and their shadows
had already grown longer. Eleanor told Leti she would try
- 20 -
to invite Guido to watch a play and left Leti’s room with
a smile.
“...this has become complicated,” whispered Leti.
The room, now devoid of visitors, was silent. Leti
took a seat in front of the chessboard and stared at the
pieces while contemplating Eleanor’s story.
“Prince Guido having an affair? No. It is more
probable that he is having a hard time accepting Queen
Sofia’s death, but still...” Leti mused as she idly fiddled
with the chess pieces.
“I did think he was grieving but I did not expect it to
affect him this much...”
The rational Guido blurted out something he did not
mean. If this indeed happened, then his sadness might be
deeper than Leti originally thought. Maybe it was about
time to give her brother a visit.
“Call Duke and also prepare flowers for Queen Sofia,”
Leti ordered her maid who followed immediately, already
knowing what should be done.
- 21 -
Leti’s maid prepared her outdoor clothes and shoes,
and helped her change. By the time her preparations were
finished, Duke was already standing outside her room,
carefully holding the flowers arranged for the deceased
queen.
“We shall pay a visit first to Queen Sofia’s grave and
then make a call to Prince Guido.”
Leti thought on how long it had been since she went
out of her way to meet Guido out of sisterly affection.
Up until now, she had been acting out of her duties as the
First Princess and simply chided Guido whenever he and
Friedhelm would start a fight. Now, she felt something
was changing between them as compared to the time
when she had lost all hopes for their relationship.
If this continues, I think I can give a positive answer to my
assignment.
“How much shall we be on good terms?”
1
Leti understands that it would be impossible for the
three of them to go back the way they used to be. But the
1 See the prologue for details.
- 22 -
current situation was a whole lot better than the time
when she thought she’d get the crown at the expense of
her brothers.
Leti was able to accomplish both of her goals at the
same time. Guido happened to be giving his mother a
visit in the North Cemetery so Leti did not have to look
for him. She was somehow surprised to see him there,
standing by Queen Sofia’s grave, but she still walked
silently and stood beside him.
“Truth be told, I did not expect to see you here.” Leti
said as she knelt down, gently placed the flowers she
brought on the ground and offered a silent prayer for the
late queen.
“I see you come here quite often. I’ve seen the same
flowers before.”
“And that means you come here just as often...There
is something I want to talk about. Could you spare some
time?”
“Sure.”
- 23 -
“It is a bit difficult to talk about it in front of Queen
Sofia. Let us go somewhere else.”
Leti walked further into the cemetery and Guido
listlessly followed her. Duke and Guido’s knights
followed a few steps behind them.
“I just had a talk with Eleanor...and she told me that
you, after all this time, are being hesitant about your
marriage. Is it true?”
“...Yes.”
Guido knew about Eleanor’s good relationship with
Leti so he had already expected Eleanor to consult with
Leti and Leti, in turn would question him. He was about
to give his prepared answer when Leti asked something
he did not expect.
“Are you alright?”
Guido faced Leti. Their eyes, sharing the same steel
blue colour, met but his was evidently filled with
confusion—confusion as to what was the meaning
behind Leti’s question.
- 24 -
“I thought at first that the reason why you are
cancelling off your engagement was because of an affair.
But seeing you like this and how frequent you come here,
I am certain you do not even have the heart to think
about it.”
Guido was surprised to hear the word affair. His
expression did not hint anything about his surprise but
the fact that he was silent and did not immediately reply
to Leti’s question, laced with a tinge of joke, was proof
enough that he did not expect this.
“I see. There was that option...” Guido softly
whispered.
Leti heard this and felt relieved to know that even the
mere thought of having an affair did not cross his mind.
“Only two months have passed since Queen Sofia
passed away. All this time I thought you were all right.
Queen Sofia’s health was already declining for some time
and you were perfectly calm during the funeral services. I
really thought you were doing fine.”
Leti’s beautiful face slowly closed in to Guido’s.
- 25 -
“You look a little worn out. Prince Friedhelm was
also worried about you. You should take a rest.
Sometimes, you think you are alright but truthfully you
are not.”
Leti’s ‘are you alright?’ was not a question for Guido
to answer, but rather words of sympathy coming from a
worried sister.
“If you have any complaints, try talking about those
with Eleanor. She may seem quiet but she has a strong
heart. I am certain she will be your support.”
“I know, she’s too good for me,” Guido said as his
normally cold facade softened a little.
Leti stopped digging deeper into the issue. That was
the furthest she could go as his sister. Anywhere further
was Eleanor’s, his fiancée’s, turf.
“We will go back now. But you should take your
time,” Leti said as she turned back on her heels and gave
her signal to Duke who was standing a few paces away.
“Bishop to D6.”
- 26 -
Leti turned back again to face Guido, her expression
was somewhere in between shock and displeasure with
what Guido said.
“I guess you truly are alright. You should at least try
to feign weakness and choose a poor move when you are
down.” Leti said with a tinge of relief evident in her voice.
She turned her back again and continued on walking
without saying another word.
“Hey, I also remember you saying Bishop something
before. Is it a code of sorts?” Duke asked as they walked
back to the castle. He decided to ask something different
to Leti instead of trying to find out what the royal siblings
talked about.
“When Queen Sofia passed away, I invited him to a
game of chess once everything had calmed down. So we
alternately give our moves every time we see each other.”
Guido did not mind playing a game and accepted
Leti’s invitation and suggested this playing style, which
could take months to finish.
- 27 -
Guido taught Leti how to play chess, whereas
Friedhelm taught Guido. The three of them used to play
the game together with Leti and Friedhelm sometimes
teaming up to conspire a plan on how to defeat the
invincible Guido.
“The one who loses the game will have to expose one
of their weaknesses.”
“Is that promise alright? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yes, of course, it is alright. We are both aware that
this is just a simple game. If I win, I would just ask him to
tell me one dish he hates.”
They were walking on the path covered with ivy-lined
walls leading to the usually peaceful Royal Villa, but what
they saw upon their arrival was far from peaceful.
Leti’s normally calm maid went scampering towards
them and cried, “Your Highness! Thank goodness you’re
safe, but your mother’s, Her Majesty’s white lilies...”
Leti asked her maid what had happened. After
hearing the gist of the situation, she immediately went to
the site of the case with speed unbelievable for a woman.
- 28 -
The site was located in the eastern part of the castle, the
place where the First and Second Queen Consorts took
care of white lilies.
Leti stood from a distance to observe the scene.
There were knights from The Order already there and
some passers-by gathered to see the commotion. She
checked on the scene by peeking through the gaps in
between the people in the crowd.
What was supposed to be a beautiful bed of lilies
filled with white flowers swaying in the wind was now a
wreck of scattered and tattered petals with a bloody
magic circle drawn on it and in the centre of the circle
was a cat’s dead body.
“Mother and Queen Sofia’s lilies! Who could do such
a thing...?” Leti cried upon seeing the horrible sight. Duke
was readily behind her and supported her as she nearly
fainted from the shock at seeing what had happened. Leti,
the delicate princess was deeply hurt at the savagery done
to her late mother’s lilies. Or so she wanted them all to
see because Duke knew for a fact that behind this act, his
master was fuming with rage and he could easily imagine
- 29 -
himself doing anything necessary to pacify a raging Leti
later.
“Your Highness, let’s leave this matter to The Order
for now. This scene is not fit for your eyes.”
Leti nodded and followed Duke as he led her away
from the horrendous sight.
Leti continued on her frail and meek princess act for
as long as there were people to see it. However, the
moment they were out of the Royal Palace and near her
villa, she dropped it. She stomped her feet as they walked
to her room and let her anger explode the second Duke
closed the door to her private room.
“This is unheard of! You sure have the guts to fight
me! I accept your challenge! I’ll catch you and crush you
with everything this kingdom has! Charging you with
treason is not enough!”
Leti revealed her true self. She punched the wall with
all her might as she said this. Her movements all seemed
so natural and fluid, from the flow to the exertion of
force. Duke didn’t need to ask if she had done this before.
- 30 -
- 31 -
Her actions spoke of it. The supposedly meek and
gentle princess had been punching walls to vent her anger
for a long time.
“It’s not yet clear that you are really the target. If
we’re going to base it on this latest attack, the only clear
thing is that the target is the royal family and...”
“But I, the heir to the throne, is the face of the royal
family! ‘Tis the same as picking a fight with me!”
“Well, you have point.”
How dare they do that to Queen Sofia’s lilies!
Leti silently swore as the cruel sight played back in
her mind.
“I must say this came as a surprise. I thought that the
second circle would also be discovered somewhere where
many people gathered. Just like the tournament.” Duke
stated.
The second circle was drawn in blood on a bed of
flowers, at its centre was a cat’s dead body, scattered
around it were plucked petals of white lilies and beside it
- 32 -
the sentence ‘I know who you truly are’, also written in
blood.
Is the royal family really the target? There is still a possibility
that I am targeted as an individual. It is not a secret that those lilies
are the ones I bring with me when I visit Mother.
For Leti, this incident showed how much she was
looked down on as the Crown Princess. And she did not
bother suppressing her anger about it.
“I also heard there were no clues found for this
incident as well. It’s the same as the last one, a daring act
delivered with utter care and caution.”
Duke asked for information from a knight of The
Order nearby while they were at the scene. Unfortunately,
he got nothing of importance, and just a confirmation of
the only thing they knew about the perpetrator – that
finding him, or her, or them would be difficult.
But Leti, though fuming with anger, kept a clear head
and was able to observe the scene properly and found a
clue.
- 33 -
“There is a clue in this second circle. There are two
people involved. The petals scattered around the circle
were plucked in two different ways. Some of the petals
were carefully plucked out and some were recklessly torn.
This means that one of them may be the brain behind
this while the other one was not interested.”
Leti might have put on an exaggerated act when she
saw the violated flowerbed, but while she was being
dramatic, she was also keenly observing every detail,
including the petals scattered around the circle. This was
one of Leti’s strongest weapons, a woman’s eyes
providing her a point of view different from a man’s.
Men would normally focus on the gruesome things, such
as the bloody circle and the cat’s corpse, but Leti was able
to see the minute detail in the difference of the petals.
“Then that means the pair is composed of a
mastermind and an accomplice. The mastermind has to
have some power over the accomplice to force him, or
maybe her, to do something they do not want to do. My
guess is that they can be a noble and their servant or
knight. If we are going to go with this, then I think it is
safe to say that the unaffiliated Knights of the Order
- 34 -
present during the tournament can be ticked off our list
of suspects.”
The people in attendance during the first incident
were nobles with their honorary knights as participants in
the tournament, and unaffiliated knights of The Order
who were helping to manage the event. If the latter were
to be removed from the list, it would greatly reduce the
number of suspects, but there were still too many of
them left. Leti and Duke were already wishing for more
more information when the perfect source for it entered
the room.
“Ane’ue2
! I’m back. Would you like some details on
the second circle?” Leonhardt greeted as he peeked inside
the room in his blood stained coat. The Order had once
again asked for the help of the genius prince.
“You also went to check on it, right? There’s no need
to hide it. Anyway, I think you would agree that this
somehow came as a surprise. Well, we did expect seeing
the number ‘II’, nothing unexpected about that.
2 Ane'ue: A Japanese honorific for calling one’s older sister. (More
formal and old-fashioned than the normal Onee-san)
- 35 -
Ahahahaha.” Leonhardt said with his usual bouncy
manner of speaking.
The number ‘I’ was written on the first circle and the
number ‘II’ on the second. The first offering was a bird
and the second was a cat. Anyone with scant knowledge
in the occult could understand the obvious logic behind
the circles.
Leti knew what Leonhardt was pertaining to.
“Don’t you find it interesting that the offering got
bigger this time?”
The cat was bigger than the bird. Why use a bigger
offering?
“Well, you see this is a staple in the world of horror
and occult. The offerings for each ceremony get bigger
and bigger and bigger and at the final ceremony...”
“The offering is a human,” finished Leti.
“Yes, you’re right. Therefore, The Order is now
putting this incident at top priority before anyone gets
- 36 -
hurt. They are planning to solve this before the third one
comes up.”
“Your Highness, we should increase your guards.
Make sure to have me or a knight from The Order with
you at all times. Let them handle the investigation for this.
We should notify Seventh Heaven and Valkyrie as well to
focus on protecting their masters.”
Leti nodded her agreement to Duke and Leonhardt,
and shared with them her thoughts.
“If I was the criminal, and my target is the Royal
Family, my next opportunity will be on Cornelia’s
birthday. There is no more obvious time than this. It
would be best if we can forestall him on that event.”
The upcoming birthday of Cornelia, the Second
Princess of Sommevesle, which Leti had kindly taken
charge of the preparations, was the perfect opportunity to
cause an uproar. Many of the princes and princesses and
most of the nobles in the kingdom would be in
attendance. It was truly the best time to make an attack if
the target of the curse was truly the royal family.
- 37 -
“Leon, did you notice anything else? Anything you
might even dismiss as trivial.”
“Hmmm...Well, I did meet Guido Ani’ue 3
at the
scene. He was unusually persistent in asking me if I knew
who the criminal is. I guess even he, the cool one, won’t
stay put with Queen Sofia’s favourite white lilies sullied
like that. He used to give those to his mother every year
for her birthday.”
No one could blame the calm and collected Guido if
he lost his cool in that situation. The situation would
cause anger to anyone, to have a bloody curse circle
drawn on a place dear to him.
Leti and Leonhardt were trying to justify Guido’s
uncharacteristic display of emotion while Duke was trying
to reconcile the knowledge he had on the relationship of
the eldest royal siblings. He had always thought that they
were on bad terms with each other but following the
conversation he had heard, what he knew might be
wrong.
3 Ani’ue. A Japanese honorific referring to one’s older brother (More
formal and old fashioned than the normal Onii-san)
- 38 -
Two days after the discovery of the second circle,
Duke had still yet to find an answer the question he had
in mind since he heard Leti and Leon’s conversation
about Guido. He wanted to know about the childhood of
the three eldest royal siblings but was hesitant to ask
Friedhelm since he was one of the parties involved. So he
decided to ask another person not involved in it but knew
about it first-hand. Of course, he had to hand in the
payment in advance.
“Thank you for helping me out~ these physical tasks
are too much for my flimsy arms, ahahaha. By the way, is
it alright for you to be away from Ane’ue?”
“Please, Your Highness, I honestly do not know how
I should react to your joke. As for her highness, she is
currently in a meeting so I have some free time before I
have to fetch her.”
Duke, carrying a stack of books, was walking towards
The Archives with Leonhardt, his chosen informant. He
asked Leonhardt the question that had been bugging him
for some time.
- 39 -
“How was her highness’ relationship with her older
brothers when they were children and how about now?”
“Their relationship? I think they are close with each
other ever since before, though the current situation has
forced them to act otherwise.”
“Ever since before? Meaning they are on good terms
until now?”
“Yes, yes. Even now. I even think that one of
Ane’ue’s intention in hosting the previous tea party was
to cheer up Guido ani’ue.
Duke knew that Friedhelm truly cared for Leti but he
did expect that the same was true for Guido. He had
always thought they were really on bad terms, just as the
rumours said. Anyone would have thought so since they
acted more like strangers to each other in public.
“My elder brothers are chained by the curse called the
‘bloodline-of-the-three-Grand-Marquises’. They have no
choice but to distance themselves from each other for
now. Well, it’s not like I do not understand the reason
why their families would want to regain their place in the
- 40 -
royal family. I guess that is just how religion works. No
matter how much people try to separate the church from
state, they will always find those two entangled with each
other. It is an interesting topic for research, you know.
Ahahaha.”
According to the story, the Kingdom of Sommevesle
was founded by her first king, the god Christian, also
known as The Knight King. Therefore, the members of
the royal family are descendants from the gods. This is
what the Lauensteins, Eulenbergs, and Kleinschmidts
wanted back. They wanted to restore the “Noble Pride”
in their names.
“I somehow feel bad for Friedhelm ani’ue and Guido
ani’ue. They have been pressured all their lives to be king.
I sure am glad I was born from parents of royal blood.
Oh, and for the record, I am NOT on good terms with
my elder brothers...”
Leonhardt suddenly stopped in thought and then
opened his mouth again.
“Wait. That’s wrong. We are not on bad terms with
each other. It is more like I am not within their field of
- 41 -
vision. Yes, that’s it. Well, I wouldn’t want to be in it
anyway. If I were, I’d be dead now. Murdered and it
would be disguised as an accident. Ahahaha.”
Leonhardt was a prince mothered by the First Queen
Consort Julienne. Technically, if the traditional line of
inheritance was followed, he was the next in line to the
throne, therefore the one most in danger. But with what
happened now, Leti took Leonhardt’s position and
shouldered everything in his place. Duke realized this
now and decided to be a better support for his master.
“... uhmmmm ... I wonder why... if anyone would ask
me whether I hate or like you, I would say I like you... I
mean, you do not look at Ane’ue with weird eyes and you
are very professional with your duties.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“But recently, I do not know why, but I feel annoyed
whenever I see your face. Yes, especially that expression...
I wonder why.... ahahaha”
Duke replied with a simple “I see,” as he was
completely at a loss with what Leonhardt was thinking.
- 42 -
“Ah! I see! So that was it. It is that ‘I-understand-Letibest’
look. Yes, yes, that is exactly it. Ahahaha Now that
I’ve noticed it, you are now more on the hate side.”
Duke let out a deep, deep sigh. He should have
known, that even Leonhardt was inflicted with that
disease similar to lovesickness.
“Your Highness, please excuse my rudeness, but are
you perhaps afflicted by a certain illness that makes one
prioritize the ladies in the family over their own lovers?”
“Stop the jokes. I am already sixteen years old.”
“Yes, of course.” Duke was already feeling relieved
when Leonhardt continued speaking.
“But if at sixteen and it still persists, then I think it is
already incurable, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Anyway, I now know I hate you but let us be cordial
with each other in front of Ane’ue. We are both mature
adults, are we not? ahaha”
- 43 -
Leonhardt was just the same age as Astrid. Duke did
not think he was qualified as an adult and wanted to say
something back but decided to simply state his agreement
instead. He had learned his lesson that rebutting just
makes discussions last longer than necessary.
“Her highness’ brothers, younger or older, are all a
pain in the neck...” whispered Duke as he returned the
books to their shelves.
Duke already had an inkling that his friend, Friedhelm,
also shared the same sickness as Leonhardt, and that he
was only trying to hide it. It seems that the only sane
royal brother was the serious Guido.
Leonhardt and Duke finished returning the books
and were already going out of the archives when they saw
Guido.
Leonhardt swiftly hid behind Duke and bid him
goodbye.
“Well, I shall go now. Talking to Guido Ani’ue taxes
me. See you~”
- 44 -
Isn’t it the other way around? Duke thought but did not
voice out since he was being the mature adult. Duke
watched Leonhardt, who was already a few paces away,
take a route different to where they passed through to go
to The Archives. Then, he stood up properly, gave the
approaching Guido the proper greetings, and bowed his
head.
If Guido was here, it meant that the meeting was
already finished and he had to fetch Leti. He was about to
excuse himself and hurry when Guido stopped him.
“Can I talk to you for a while?”
“...With me, Your Highness?”
Duke did not have any idea as to what Guido would
talk about with him. It is true that his family was under
the Guido faction, but his family was near the tail end of
the hierarchy and they personally only had one
conversation with each other before. Duke decided to
accept the invitation but he was on full alert and
requested to the prince to keep it short.
- 45 -
While Guido and Duke were having their
conversation, Leti, clueless as to why her knight was
running late, was waiting for him in the meeting room.
“Oh, is Duke late?”
“I understand that he is still a knight of The Order. I
do not mind if he is late for a while.”
“Yes, of course,” nodded Johannes Müller, the
Commander of the Royal Chivalric Order and one of the
attendees in the meeting. He is man in his mid-forties
with a stately air but amiable and approachable
personality. However, he was also a veteran knight
hardened by experience and it is no joke that the black
cape he had worn as the commander was once dyed red
by the blood shed by his enemies.
“Your Highness seemed to have enjoyed the meeting.”
“No, I was certainly bored.”
Leti did not utter a word during the meeting but her
eyes keenly observed the expressions of all those in
attendance. Johannes knew about this and did not believe
- 46 -
Leti’s expression of boredom and found her denial
interesting.
Leti and Johannes had long been chess rivals because
Leti had always relied the Order whenever she and Leon
needed protection. This was quite peculiar, as most
nobles disliked the company of knights of the Order
because they have their own honorary knights.
“How is the investigation going for the most recent
magic circle incident?”
There were no human victims yet due to the magic
circle incidents or else it would have been discussed in
the meeting earlier. However, it was evident that the
circle was growing in scale since the second circle used a
bigger offering. Leti thought since the Commander of the
Order was already beside her, she might as well ask if
there was any progress.
“I am truly sorry Your Highness but we have not
gathered any new information since our previous report.
But please, rest assured that we are doing our best for this
case and the Order is putting utmost priority for your
safety. Please be patient with us.” Johannes bowed deeply,
- 47 -
saying his apologies as he thought Leti’s question was a
reprimand.
“That was not meant to scold you. I simply wanted to
know the status of the Order. In case you are short on
men due to the ongoing investigation, and would not
have enough to act as guards for Cornelia’s birthday, I
would ask father if he could lend me his Knights of the
Round and maybe ask some more from Prince Guido’s
Valkyrie.”
“I am grateful for your kind consideration, Your
Highness but you need not concern yourself. We have
already lowered the priority for the investigation on the
incident. It is still called an investigation but we are just
getting statements from people inside the castle.”
Johannes told Leti, an obvious attempt to hide his
message that the Order is adequate and able to handle the
situation and honorary knights would be unnecessary.
The relationship between the knights of the Royal
Chivalric Order and honorary knights was as bad as usual.
“Oh, Prince Guido has also asked me again about this
incident.”
- 48 -
“...Again?”
“Yes. He was quite persistent about this case as well.
He has asked me several times about the previous
incident too. Maybe he is worried about Princess
Cornelia’s birthday party.”
“I see.” Replied Leti but she was not at all convinced
with the reason Johannes gave her.
I understand if he was concerned about this second circle since it
involved Queen Sofia’s flower bed but for the first one...why? He
seems to be paying too much attention to this incident on magic
circles. And he does not even believe in curses.
Maybe on that night of the first circle when she met
Guido, he was not there because of a secret love affair,
but to look at the magic circle again.
If he went back to the scene just as a criminal would, too many
things will not add up. It is completely meaningless for him to sully
his beloved mother’s lilies and it is completely out of his character to
rely on something so uncertain like a curse. He can easily hire an
assassin to finish off anyone he wants to.
- 49 -
Leti gave herself a small laugh as she found herself as
well thinking too much about the magic circle. She
pushed all her thoughts on the circles aside and thanked
Johannes for giving her a truthful report.
“Your Highness, I have another piece of information.
Duke shall be transferred to handle a minor post in the
Order so that his tasks will be lighter. I shall advise him
as well to use the free time he will gain to protect you.”
“What post?”
Originally, Duke should have quit the Order the
moment he became Leti’s knight but due to some
circumstances in the Order and Leti’s ulterior motive, he
is still a part of it. However, he had to be assigned to a
lesser post because there is an implicit rule in the Order
that to pursue higher ranks, the knight should be
unaffiliated. Now that Duke has a master, he was now
disqualified from that career path.
“He shall be in charge of training the new members
of the Order. Though I have a feeling this post will be
more challenging that it has been in the previous years
- 50 -
because of the presence of one troublesome rookie.
Anyway, it is the young one’s role to bear such pains.”
Leti immediately thought of a young redhead knight
when Johannes mentioned ‘troublesome rookie’.
Is he referring to Astrid? If he already had him investigated,
then I am certain he has probably figured out the truth.
If the Commander had decided to keep Astrid and let
Duke handle him and suffer doing so even after knowing
about Astrid’s past, then, truly, the Order’s Commander
is not someone to mess with.
“But are you busy as well Your Highness? Is it truly
alright for you to let Duke stay with us?”
“Yes. Duke may have enough connections as a knight
but his lateral connections within the noble world are
nearly non-existent. He could use his position in the
Order to build that up more and of course, he could
gather more information this way.”
Instead of warning off Leti on her plans to use the
Order’s information network, Johannes showed
- 51 -
generosity and happily welcomed her to use it as she
pleased.
“Thank you. But I do feel a little bit sorry for taking
away your future commander.”
“No, don’t be Your Highness. The Order will not at
all be affected by the loss of one or two youngsters like
him. It is rather my pleasure to let him go if he would be
useful to you.”
Duke’s noble birth, clear mind, superior abilities and
wide popularity among his colleagues made him the
perfect next commander of the Order. But because Leti
took him and he would have to resign in a few years
meant that the Order would have to go back to the
drawing board and search for their next commander.
Despite all of that, Johannes gladly gave his blessing to
Leti.
“If you say so, then just let me thank you for that. He
was truly the only one I wanted to have no matter what.”
“Hahaha... to that I can totally agree.”
- 52 -
Leti let out a strained laugh and once again asked
Johannes whether he also wanted Duke as his next
commander but he strongly denied it again, probably
because he had no plans on praising Duke openly.
“But I also feel sorry for him. He might have dreamt
of becoming the commander and I took away that chance
from him.”
“No, Your Highness. Don’t be sorry. Becoming the
Commander of the Order is not something to be dreamt
of.” Johannes clearly refuted Leti’s words.
“The highest ranks in the Order are all filled up by
leftovers, those who were not chosen or wanted. On the
front, we may act all mighty and brave saying that we are
serving the country and our king, but deep inside, we are
thinking of something else. The title ‘Commander’ is just
another name to call someone with broken dreams.”
For everyone, the Commander was the knight all
other knights respected. But Johannes said it was
different.
- 53 -
“He and I are already enough to represent the supply
of knights crushed by reality.” Johannes’ voice when he
said this was heavy. Leti wanted to ask him more about
this when Duke arrived.
“Your Highness, please excuse my tardiness.”
Johannes stood up upon hearing Duke’s voice.
“Well then, Your Highness, I shall leave the
approaching youngster to your care. And for the
upcoming birthday party, I hope you would consider
placing another promising youngster by your side for
additional protection. A good day, Your Highness.” He
bowed and left the room after he gave Leti his words of
encouragement.
Duke slightly bowed his head in salute to his
commander and afterwards walked towards his master.
“Sorry for being late.”
“Do not worry. Johannes kept me company and I am
aware that you still have your duties to the Order.”
- 54 -
“Well...actually, I was called on by Prince Guido on
my way here and...and we talked and...” Duke’s
expression showed that he was unsure whether he should
tell Leti what his conversation with Guido was about.
“You do not have to force yourself. If it is sensitive,
you do not have to tell me. You are under Guido’s
faction and I understand you have your own
circumstances. Besides I am not a narrow-minded lady
who would get jealous because of your previous men.”
“Hey, quit choosing words that can cause a
misunderstanding.”
Leti walked out of the meeting room. Duke followed
behind her and started telling her about his conversation
with Guido despite his hesitation.
“Prince Guido asked me to...to teach him how to
have an affair.”
“An affair? He asked you?...Oh. I see.”
“Hey, what does the ‘I see’ means?”
- 55 -
“Your face. You see, your looks are very likable to
women that they are the ones approaching you. If you
wanted, having an affair or two would be a piece of cake
to you. Therefore, it is quite logical to ask for lessons on
infidelity from you. Do you understand?”
Leti easily understood the reason why Guido would
choose Duke as his teacher on this particular subject but
the reason behind why he would like to know how to
have an affair was a complete mystery. She tilted her head
on one side and the only conclusion she could come up
with was this might be one of those.
“It might have been one of Prince Guido’s infamous
jokes.”
“Could you please explain it to me in layman’s terms?
I don’t see where the joke is.”
“Sorry to disappoint but I do not see where it is
either. Let me share with you a childhood story.
One day, the four of us where having a nice cup of
tea and Leon said that I would only be marrying someone
- 56 -
that is more beautiful and smarter than I am. Then Prince
Friedhelm replied, ‘That means she’ll be marrying Guido.’”
Duke smiled a little bit, as he could easily imagine
Friedhelm saying those words and Leonhardt’s disgusted
face at the joke.
“And you know what Prince Guido said after that?
‘Stop saying foolish things. Siblings cannot marry each
other.’ He said that with a serious look on his face. It was
a joke no matter where you look at it.”
“...Ah.”
“You can classify him under the same category as
your clueless junior. I find their cluelessness annoying.
No, wait. It is not his cluelessness. It is his face. It is that
irritatingly beautiful face that makes everyone take him
seriously. They all think that he was scorning the shallow
joke when he was in fact just being a dork and did not
understand the simple joke.” Leti blurted out merciless
comments against that cold-hearted Guido. Just as
expected of his half-sister.
- 57 -
“I wonder though. Where is the joke? He might have
ulterior motives.”
“Ulterior motives?”
“Like he was trying to find out your tastes in women?
Or he was trying to get some information from our side.”
“I understand. I’ll be careful next time.”
I really don’t get what runs inside the heads of intelligent people.
Duke whispered.
The Commander of the Order, Johannes, paid a visit
to Leti in the Royal Villa to report the changes in the
security plan for Cornelia’s birthday party. There were
now more guards assigned to be on duty during the party.
“Oh, you changed the plans drastically.”
“Yes, Your Highness. We have concluded that
Princess Cornelia’s birthday has the highest possibility of
being the next stage for the magic circle. This may be the
only chance we can get the upper hand in this case.”
- 58 -
“I agree with you. Whatever their purposes are, it is
clear that they want the circle to be discovered and cause
commotion because of it. If they do it at night, the
chances of it being discovered in the morning of the next
day are higher. So this party that will be held at noon is
supposedly the best time for them.”
Johannes came up with the same conclusion as Leti.
Well even a girl like me was able to think of this. Certainly,
the commander of the Order would have figured that out. He would
have also simulated all the possible scenarios of catching the culprit
with the least damage.
Leti thanked Johannes without saying how grateful
she was to have such a capable man as the Commander.
“I understand that we have limited resources, but
would it also be possible to increase the guards in the
Cattleya Palace? I agree that the next most likely target is
the birthday party but if they are trying to outwit us, then
there is a possibility that their next target is the nearly
empty Cattleya Palace.”
- 59 -
“That is correct, Your Highness. I shall prepare men
to be stationed in Cattleya Palace.”
Leti, now satisfied with the security plan, gave her
consent.
The most they can do now was to have tighter
security. The only thing left was for them to be able to
carry out the party safely.
Oh, there was another thing I could do in advance, but I am
not the one to do it. Do your best, Duke.
The other advanced preparation was currently
ongoing in another part of the Villla and Leti could easily
imagine Duke’s scowling face because of it.
The youth should learn how to face crises. Leti whispered,
putting aside her own young age.
Commander Johannes’ present to Leti might be a
simple gift, but it might be something else, something
filled with hidden motives.
- 60 -
“And whatever it is, I’m the one expected to look after
it, right?” Duke sighed upon seeing what the present was.
“Yes sir! I will give my best, Sir!”
The additional knight Johannes lent to Leti, as her
additional guard for the party, was none other than the
amazing rookie, Astrid Gale. Duke was deep in thought
on how he should deal with this troublesome present
from his commander.
I do understand his reasons for doing this. Skill-wise, it’d be a
total waste to just assign Astrid as a runner but giving him
guarding duties is too much special treatment for an individual
knight.
The commander was truthfully a capable one. It was
one of his responsibilities to assign tasks that would
match each newcomer’s skills and he did it so perfectly
with Astrid. However, Duke was the one bearing the
responsibility of teaching everything about being a
bodyguard to someone used to killing. He could easily see
how much of an ordeal this training would be.
- 61 -
I got your message. You transferred me to a leisure post but you
won’t let me have it easy now, don’t you? Damn you, old man.
The Royal Chivalric Order is composed of men
coming from a wide range of social status. Some are of
royal and noble descent while some are simple
commoners. Therefore, as they spend years together,
their manners of speaking are somehow levelled off and
they become slightly bad-mouthed. Duke, though at the
lowest rank of the nobility, was still a noble and grew up
being taught the proper manners of a gentleman, but with
his current predicament, ungentlemanly words were
running through his mind.
Duke took a deep breath and accepted his fate.
“Alright, I’m going to teach you the protocol of
protection. I’ll try to find time everyday so you’d better
remember everything I teach you. Review all of it at the
end of each day and make sure to remember it the next
day.”
Duke has been quite busy lately with his own studies.
Leti told him to memorize all details regarding
Sommevesle’s social hierarchy so he had been spending
- 62 -
hours a day staring at the hierarchy his master gave him.
Add to that the foreign languages she asked him to
master as preparations for his future post as the Knight
of the First Seat of the Knights of the Round. Now, he
had to teach Astrid the basics and protocols of protection
during his free time from his duty at the Order and a few
moments before going to bed. So today, to take
advantage of their day off, he asked Astrid to come to
Leti’s villa for a lecture.
“Listen well; there are two things you have to
remember as a close protection guard. The most
important thing, just as the name of the role suggests, is
to stay close to the person you are guarding. The next
important thing is to be able to send signals to any
messenger knight within range in case you notice
something strange. “
“Yes sir!”
Duke wanted Astrid to at least try these things once
for practice but since they did not have any time left,
Duke could only trust in Astrid’s inborn instincts.
- 63 -
“If you happen to find someone suspicious roaming
around your charge and you could not coordinate with
the other knights, the first thing you have to do is to
check if he has weapons on him. To do this, you have to
bump into the suspect casually. But remember, don’t be
too obvious and openly touch him. Be covert. The target
should not suspect that you are suspecting him.”
“I should only check? Why not get the weapon?”
“Can you? Wait. That’s not the point. If you get their
weapon and they notice afterwards that it is gone, they’d
become more suspicious and cautious. This can make the
operation harder if the targets start sending signals to
other members of their party. Remember, don’t do
anything reckless on your own. That’s an absolute rule.”
Duke reminded Astrid strongly.
“I’ll teach you one technique to do this. Act as if you
are in a hurry and bump into them. Remember to keep
the focus of your eyes somewhere afar to make them
think they were not really the ones you were targeting.
Excuse yourself, say your apologies quickly, and then
move on without even looking at their faces. “
- 64 -
“Bump, look afar, excuse without looking...” Astrid
nodded his understanding that a simple bump was not
just a simple clash of bodies but rather there was more to
it.
“One last reminder. Be careful when your target is a
lady. If you simply gave them the per functionary
apologies when you accidentally bumped into them and
carelessly touched their bodies, there are some instances
when they would file a case of molestation against the
knight.”
“E----h!”
“So for lady targets, put on a good smile and ask if
they are fine. You can try saying, ‘Pardon me, milady. Are
you hurt anywhere?’”
“‘Pardon me, milady. Are you hurt anywhere?’”
Astrid repeated and thrust the line into his head. He was
willing to give all of his efforts to protect the princess he
so admired.
- 65 -
“Ask some of the other knights to be your practice
partner for the male version. Let’s practice the lady
version first.”
“Yes sir!”
Astrid followed Duke’s instructions and he bumped
into Duke.
“Wait! Hold on. I said lightly remember? Lightly. A
lady would have already stumbled with that force. Again.”
Duke immediately pointed out Astrid’s mistake
before Astrid could even say his apologies. He prepared
again to bump his senior, this time being conscious to
make the contact as light as possible. However, he found
the movement of checking the presence of weapons
within a moment of contact quite difficult.
This action requires so much precision. There could only be one
point of contact so I should at least already have an idea where a
weapon could be hidden.
He realized in this short span of time that what he
needed was not the skill to feel up for weapons but rather
observation skills to make a good guess as to where the
- 66 -
target could be concealing the weapon. While thinking
about all of this, his fingers instinctively moved due to
the habits instilled by his previous jobs.
“Ah.”
“The line.”
“Oh, right. ‘Pardon me, milady. Are you hurt
anywhere?’“
Astrid asked with a smile but his act did not pass for
Duke.
“Can’t you do it better?”
“Better? How?”
“More knightly? More appealing? What I mean is that
the smile should be cooler, more mature and not your
childish grin. You are smiling for a lady.”
Duke’s vague advice simply confused Astrid, for right
know, he only knew two types of smiles. One was his
usual refreshing grin and the other was the smile-despitethe-pain
kind of smile that Leti taught him. So imagining
- 67 -
the new ‘knightly, appealing, and mature smile’ was
proving to be difficult for him.
Duke and Astrid were silently thinking of how to
solve their predicament when their silence was broken by
a loud laugh.
“Ahahaha! What is this? A comedy? If it is, ‘tis very
entertaining. Ahahaha.”
“Professor!”
The laughing person was Leonhardt who passed by
the room while he was on his way to Leti’s to borrow her
desk since his room was already buried deep in books. He
happened to witness the serious training Duke and Astrid
were doing and could not hide his laughter to himself.
“Professor? Ah, yes. I remember her highness saying
that you were teaching at the Knight Academy.”
“Yes. Professor is teaching us Manners and Ethics.”
“What!? Manners and Ethics? Now I see. The one
teaching the proper manners and conduct to the
incoming knights is His Highness. I see.”
- 68 -
- 69 -
Duke thought the world might really be ending
because the Academy chose to ask the worst example of
manners and ethics to teach it. And before Duke could
continue his comments, Leonhardt defended himself.
“I did not choose to teach the subject myself, for
your information. It was purely coincidence that it was
the only post available. Just think of it this way. I was able
to attend the Academy, not as a student, but a teacher.”
It has been a tradition in Sommevesle for her princes
to get education from the Knight Academy. However,
Leonhardt’s weak body did not allow him to take part in
the quite physical curriculum so he decided to attend the
Academy as a teacher. That showed the prowess of his
brain, by being recognized as a professor at the age of
fourteen.
“Anyway, Ane’ue’s Sir Knight, I am afraid it is
impossible and a complete waste of time to teach Astrid
that way to apologise. That would only work with your
extremely handsome face. There is a better way which
would fit his personality better.”
“What would that be?”
- 70 -
“Allow me to teach my former student for free on
this one. I may look like this but I am still a prince. Who
do you think escorted Ane’ue to all of those balls and
parties she attends? Yes, yes, yes. That would be me.”
Leti had always found rumours on who her lover was
extremely annoying so she attended social gatherings only
with her brother to stay clear of rumours. Now if
Leonhardt misbehaved in any form and danced lousily,
his feet had to bear Leti’s merciless attacks so he was
consciously aware to be a prince whenever he was
escorting his older sister.
“Ane’ue’s Sir Knight, you shall be the target. Astrid,
take a good look,” said Leonhardt as he took off his
glasses.
Leonhardt bumped into Duke lightly and before
Duke could say anything, he distanced himself
immediately, looked at Duke, and said, “I’m sorry. Are
you alright?”
Duke was rendered speechless for a moment.
Leonhardt delivered the line with an upward glance, an
apologetic look and a high-pitched voice of a boy yet to
- 71 -
have grown. It was an apology overflowing with charm
that no lady would be able to say anything else other than
she was all right. Duke knew Leonhardt was a handsome
lad if he took off his highly reflective glasses but could
not help but be surprised at how princely the Leonhardt
was in front of him.
“Wow! Professor looks so cute, just like a girl!” Astrid,
innocent and inexperienced about life, exclaimed the one
thing Duke consciously avoided.
The comment warranted Astrid a punishment
rendered personally by the offended. Leonhardt quickly
took from the desk a thick tome, most likely Leti’s, and
hit Astrid on the side of his head with its corner.
“If there is a man out there who would be glad to be
called cute, I tell you, he is nothing but a pervert. For this
kind of case, the best praise would be, ‘Just as expected
of Prince Leonhardt!’ Remember that Astrid because you
are kind of stupid.”
“Yes, sir...” came Astrid’s reply in reflex when
replying to someone of higher status when in fact he was
still in a daze due to the hard blow he received.
- 72 -
“You alright?” Duke asked worriedly.
“Yes...” replied Astrid as he shook his head to wake
himself up.
“Ah, Senpai4
, I took this from you a while ago.”
Astrid remembered that he took a sheet of paper
sticking out from Duke’s pocket but before he could
hand it over to his senior, Leonhardt stole it, scanned the
contents and sighed.
“You truly are the epitome of a serious, boring man,
aren’t you? And I was expecting something like
unfinished poetry, a blackmail threat, or a sketch of your
lover.”
“I am fine being a boring man, thank you.”
“Is that so? Here you go.” Leonhardt handed over
the paper to Duke.
“What was written inside?” Astrid asked curiously.
4 Senpai – a Japanese honorific used in addressing one’s senior
- 73 -
“A table of comparison between the social hierarchy
and titles of our kingdom and of other countries penned
by none other than Ane’ue. I understand that it is
something required for you to know as the future First
Seat Knight. Getting it wrong is nothing else except for
being rude. Right? Ahahaha”
Duke was seriously studying everything on that sheet
just as Leti had ordered.
Leonhardt had already come up with the conclusion
that he did not like the Duke who acts as if he is the one
who understands Leti the best. But other than that part
of him, Leonhardt actually likes him.
He is quite different from what I expected him to be,
Leonhardt regrettably whispered silently in his heart.
“Ack! I have to go back to camp! Please give my
regards to Her Highness!”
“Yes, yes, yes. Of course you may go.”
Astrid headed towards, not the door, but the window.
He stepped onto the window frame and before Duke
could stop him, he had already disappeared from the
- 74 -
window and a sound of nice landing was heard, leaving
his senior and his professor behind.
Leonhardt peeked out of the window Astrid jumped
off and whispered his amazement on Astrid’s superb
reflexes.
“He sure is something, isn’t he? I see you have a lot
of disciplining to do. Ahahaha. Oh, I just remembered
something I heard in the Order about him. The rumours
say that everyone in the Order is spoiling him because of
his skills. Is there any truth in it?”
“Spoiling?”
“Yes, like sparing him from writing the reports and
writing those for him? He is not smart so if you do not
let him do those things, he will stay an idiot. Why not
save him from idiocy now before it becomes too late for
him?”
Leonhardt was also familiar about the internal affairs
of the Order just like his sister, though in a different
sense. His being privy about the Order was probably
- 75 -
because of his position as a teacher in the Knight
Academy.
Hearing this internal information from Leonhardt, it
reminded Duke about a particular rumour on the
intelligent prince. That he conditioned his students to be
absolutely obedient to him and that even though they had
graduated from the Academy, they still worked for him,
like ants, bringing information to him about the Order.
“I shall let the higher-ups investigate your sources,
but let me say this. I am different compared to the
previous instructor. I am not spoiling Astrid in any way.”
“...I see. What do you do then?”
“I don’t spare him the reports. I make sure he passes
them. Then I would mark the corrections and ask him to
write it again legibly.”
Leonhardt faced Duke with an unconvinced look.
“So how exactly is that ‘not spoiling’ there? I cannot
see it. I never gave him any considerations in my subject.
Not even once. I gave all of his assignments an F, which
is what he rightfully deserved. It was the rightful mark to
- 76 -
be given to an assignment written in a code that could
not even be decoded by the Rosetta Stone. Oh, and by
the way, all of his assignments and tests were Fs.”
“Please wait. If everything was an F then how did he
pass and complete the required units to graduate from the
Academy?”
“I asked him to take a supplementary exam as a final
resort. I changed the format from written to oral and he
passed it. I think the problem is with his abilities to
express himself, his linguistic capabilities. But I doubt
that can be solved since this is not his mother tongue.”
“You’re saying that we spoil him but don’t you think
you are also spoiling him, Your Highness?”
The two were busy debating on who was spoiling
Astrid more when Leti came into the room after she had
received the report from Johannes about the changes in
the security plan for Cornelia’s birthday. She already
heard the heated discussion between her younger brother
and her knight so she decided to call their attention,
dismay evident on her face.
- 77 -
“What pointless thing were you arguing about enough
to distress both of you? I could hear your voices from
outside. I am glad to leave if you wish to continue your
little debate.”
Leti was about to turn around and go out of the room
when Leonhardt stopped her.
“No, no, no, Ane’ue. We are not arguing at all. In fact,
we are on very good terms, aren’t we?”
“...Yes, we are on very good terms.” Duke
monotonously agreed since he was a mature adult.
It was the day for the party in celebration of the
birthday of Sommevesle’s Second Princess. To let her
younger sister, Cornelia, shine as she was the main
celebrant, Leti decided to wear a sombre lavender gown
but the edges were trimmed with white lace so the dress
created a charming image befitting a seventeen-year-old
young lady. Her hair was tied with a nearly transparent
ribbon sharing the colour of her dress and it was further
decorated with little white flowers symbolizing joy for the
- 78 -
celebration. For the final touches, she wore a set of
amethyst jewellery—a pair of earrings and a necklace,
which completed her gentle ensemble of lavender and
white. Leti, with all of her elegance and beauty, entered
the Great Hall just like a true princess from a fairy tale, and
this was even made more real with two knights, Duke and
Astrid, following her back.
“I wish you a happy birthday, dear Cornelia. You look
so wonderful.”
“Thank you Onee-sama 5
!” Cornelia gave Leti her
heartfelt thanks, not only for wishing her a happy
birthday but also for taking care of the preparations for
her party in place of her late mother. She was thankful for
having her older sister with her to celebrate this joyous
day.
Leti smiled gently to her younger sister and whispered
to her that next year would be grander since it would be
her debut to adulthood.
5 Onee-sama: Onee =Older sister | Sama = formal honorific for a
high person
- 79 -
Duke, looking at the young girl receiving greetings
from different people, could not help but have mixed
emotions for the young princess. This was because he
heard from Leti that on Cornelia’s thirteenth birthday
next year, she would not only have her social debut but
also the announcement of her engagement.
“An engagement at thirteen? Isn’t that too early?”
“That is what it means to be a lady in the Royal
Family. Cornelia had already met her fiancé once so it is
better compared to some who would be meeting the
person they are marrying at the wedding ceremony itself.
But more than that, I suggest you be more concerned
about your studies. “
A princess’s birthday meant that nobles who normally
are not present in the castle would attend. So, just as Leti
planned, this would be the perfect place to test how
much Duke has studied. He could leave the protection
duties to Astrid for now.
“A review on Lord Aufrecht. He is a marquis under
Guido’s faction and...” Leti prompted Duke to continue.
- 80 -
“...the father of Lady Eleanor, the fiancée of Prince
Guido.” Duke continued and searched for the marquis
with his eyes and found him chatting with another
marquis from Guido’s side. Leti followed Duke’s eyes
and checked that he was indeed looking at the right
person and nodded to show that he got it correctly.
“That was easy. I expected you to know that much.
Lady Eleanor is Lord Aufrecht’s daughter with his second
wife. He and his first wife did not have any children. Try
and search for Eleanor.”
Duke did as he was told and searched for a young
lady with soft-coloured chestnut hair. He directed his
eyes once again and told Leti that Eleanor was the kindlooking
lady happily chatting with Guido. Leti affirmed
her answer and added more information about the
Aufrecht House.
“Lord Aufrecht’s first wife was actually my aunt but I
did not have the chance to meet her since she died before
I was born. From what I heard, she had difficulty in
giving birth to their child and both she and their son,
which would have been my cousin, did not make it.”
- 81 -
Duke nodded and tried to remember this information.
“If my cousin lived, he would have been my fiancé.
Our ages were perfect you see. He would have been four
years older than me.”
“So if the child was a boy, he would have been your
fiancé. If the child were a girl, she would be Prince
Guido’s. Looks like it was Lord Aufrecht’s destiny to be
related to the Royal Family.” Duke gave this comment
without realizing that he was also destined to be
connected to the Royal Family based on the fact that he
received invitations from Friedhelm, Guido, and Leti, the
three eldest royal children, to be their knight.
“Your Highness, please accept my sincerest
congratulations for your sister’s, Her Highness’, Princess
Cornelia’s birthday.”
“Lord Borel, thank you.”
“The skies had been unfavourable these past few days
so I was a bit worried but I was glad to see the sun
shining this morning. Certainly, the Almighty is one with
us in celebrating Princess Cornelia’s birthday.”
- 82 -
“Yes, I, too, am glad for the good weather.”
As Leti was busy chatting with the earl, Duke tried to
recall information about him. The Borel family is
supposedly under the Guido faction but the atmosphere
between him and Leti was closer to that of allies friendly
chatting rather than enemies feigning cordiality. When
Borel left, Duke confirmed his thoughts with Leti.
“Lord Borel is under Guido’s faction, right?”
“I am glad you remembered. Yes, he is under Guido.
But he is a firm believer of the ‘Royal Family Faith’ so he
is on good terms with me as well. There is nothing wrong
in having a good relationship with him.”
Leti found Duke to be confused upon hearing ‘Royal
Family Faith’ so she added an explanation about it.
“The First King Christian is believed to be a son of
god. Therefore, his descendants, us, the Royal Family,
have inherited this sacred blood. Thus, this hobby of
overly revering the royal family is called the ‘Royal Family
Faith’.”
- 83 -
Leti consciously selected the words “hobby” and
“faith” to describe this certain belief to show that she was
neither a supporter nor a hater of the Royal Family Faith,
and was only a curious observer.
“So, if you say ‘Royal Family’, then does this mean he
is also on good terms with Prince Friedhelm?”
“Yes, he is. By lineage, he is under Guido but his
stance as a person is neutral. He was a very devoted
husband and was devastated with sadness when his wife
died. He was able to overcome that sadness of losing his
wife by clinging on to his faith in God. If the royal family
had any value, then maybe that was it.”
If the believers of the Royal Family Faith revere and
pray to the royal family as children of god, then it is the
task of the royal family to live according to the
expectations of the believers on how a royal should be.
Every child of the royal family has been educated to live
up to that.
“They believe that a princess should act like a
princess and a prince should act like a prince. It is a
reasonable demand.”
- 84 -
“And a queen should act like a queen?”
“Yes. I shall give Lord Borel a reign he wishes for
from a queen.”
After Borel’s greetings, the line of greeters for the
next queen did not grow any shorter. However, despite
the unending wave of people, Leti never mistook anyone
from someone else. She addressed each of them with
their names and titles. After each greeting, she would
share information to Duke about the lineage and recent
events about each greeter.
“...To be a royal means you’ve gotta have amazing
skills.”
Duke never had any difficulty with remembering
people’s names and faces, but even he felt overwhelmed
with the number of people giving their respects to Leti.
He was now not even sure if he matched the name with
the correct face. Somehow, he started dreading the review
Leti would throw at him during the evening ball tonight.
“...And contrary to our expectations, nothing’s
happening.”
- 85 -
The supposed target for the next magic circle incident,
Cornelia’s birthday party, ended without anything
untoward happening.
The Great Hall where Cornelia’s birthday party was
held underwent a transformation. The prettily decorated
hall by day was transformed into a grandiose ballroom for
the evening’s ball. The ladies swapped their conservative
dresses for elegant gowns with daring cuts emphasizing
more of their womanly charms. The innocent atmosphere
of the hall was gone and replaced with a more matured
tone, a true sign that the evening ball was a social party
for the adults.
“Duke, you do not have to return until you have
finished your assignment. I will be fine. Now go and talk
with the incumbent Knights of the Round, knights of
Seventh Heaven and Valkyrie, and the nobles on my side
whom I have introduced to you during the day,” ordered
Leti.
“Are you sure? There’s quite a lot of people on that
list.”
- 86 -
“Yes. Astrid will be here while you are gone. Tonight
is nothing but a hurdle as you are already acquainted to all
of them. Better prepare yourself now as I plan to drag
you around to meet all of the nobles living in the
kingdom.”
Duke nodded his understanding and exchanged looks
with his junior. Astrid was able to do well and did
everything that was taught to him all throughout the day
so Duke thought it was safe to leave Leti to him for a
while and left to complete his task.
Leti followed Duke with her eyes and once she saw
him talking to one of the current Knights of the Round,
she decided he would be fine and allowed her gaze to
scan the area.
Since she had already finished most of the obligatory
greetings during the afternoon party, all she had to do
was to finish the remaining ones and she could leave as
soon as it was acceptable. For now, she had to look for a
place to be her sanctuary because if she stayed in the
middle of the ballroom, Friedhelm would definitely get
hold of her and pester her with his husband
- 87 -
recommendations. She kept herself alert in search for the
perfect timing to run away from the crowd.
Leti, with Astrid behind her, went out to a balcony
located on the second floor to catch some of the night
breeze.
“Astrid, is the person you want to be your master in
attendance tonight?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Who? I can do the introductions for you.” Leti
thought of using her status as the princess to recommend
Astrid if his chosen master was high in hierarchy but the
young knight shook his head.
“I’m thankful for your offer but I think I should try
first and give my best. If that is not enough, then I’ll just
have to be better.”
“Very well then.”
- 88 -
Leti thought about Astrid’s future, considering what
she could do if his chosen master did not choose him.
Astrid may be a commoner but his abilities and skills are
enough for his name to reach Commander Johannes’s ears. They
might already be considering him as candidate to be the next
commander, but are having second thoughts because he is not of
noble descent.
Leti had in her power to grant a random title to
Astrid if his lack of it were to hinder him. It was a life she
saved once, she would help him however she could.
Now, if he could just surround himself with intelligent people...
Leti thought about the future as she leaned her back on
the handrail of the balcony.
“Ah, Senpai, you’re back.”
“Her Highness?” Duke asked, his voice signalling he
had finished his assignment.
“I am right here,” called Leti.
- 89 -
“I see our business for tonight is over. I did send him
an invitation but I did not see him so he most likely did
not come and had just sent someone else in his stead.”
Duke stood beside his master and asked her with a
puzzled look, “Him? Do you mean...”
Seeing her words made her knight think of something
she did not mean, she rephrased her words to clear
whatever misunderstanding might be forming inside his
head.
“No, not a lover, but a knight candidate. He is not
included in that list I gave you before but I have already
set my eyes on him. However, I should be careful about
the order, timing, and the factions to be successful in
getting him. Until then, all I can do is prepare an act on
how I can sell the position of being a Knight of the
Round at a higher price.”
A great-great-great...uncle once told Leti that men are
weak against dramatic productions so Leti thought of
taking advantage of that male psychology to bring her
next target down to his knees with her tears.
- 90 -
“To complete my ideal Knights of the Round, there
are people I need to be there no matter what. They may
even be harder to get than you were. Especially this one I
am planning to be by my fourth or fifth knight. I might
even need the whole kingdom to bring him down. In fact,
I have already asked Leon to find anything I can use for
it.”
“He is quite a big fish then, for you to be thinking of
ways to blackmail him this early.”
Leti did not seem to have any plans on simply
persuading her next target. She would not accept “no”
for an answer and to do that, she might even need the
kingdom as her back up. This was proof enough that this
man, whoever he might be, was not just an ordinary
person.
“I am quite looking forward to how the pleasure of
bringing a man down to his feet would fe...” Leti’s words
were cut short and she set her gaze at something.
Duke looked towards the direction Leti was looking
but he could not see anything wrong.
- 91 -
“...I can see clearly in the dark, how about you?” Leti
asked Duke, still staring at the same direction.
“I don’t know how clearly your clearly is but I’m
normal.”
“Then can you see the figure drawn on the floor of
the balcony over there. There is also something at its
centre.”
Duke squinted his eyes to shape out whatever Leti
was describing. He was at least able to see that there was
indeed something on the floor of the other balcony but
he could not see the drawing she described.
“Astrid, come here,” called Duke.
Astrid was standing on guard by the entrance of the
balcony and walked immediately towards Duke upon
hearing his call. Duke then asked him to look at the same
balcony and tell them what he saw.
“Hmmm...An animal? And yes, there seems to be
something drawn on the floor as well.”
- 92 -
“So it was not my imagination then. That, I think, is
our third magic circle and the offering this time looks like
a dog.”
“Are you sure!?”
Leti squinted her eyes and nodded at Duke’s question.
“Is there any chance we have missed this during the
day?” Duke suspected this was an oversight but Leti
though otherwise.
“The balconies were decorated with flowers during
Cornelia’s party. If this was already drawn during that
time, someone would have discovered this when the
flowers were cleared in preparation for the evening ball.”
But why?
The evening ball was a separate occasion and was in
no way connected to Cornelia’s party since she had yet to
make her debut. Therefore, if the target was truly the
“Royal Family”, a princess’ birthday party was the more
logical target since it was in celebration for a ‘royal child’
and not this regular social event.
- 93 -
“They might have changed their plans because of the
increased security during the day. But still...” Leti could
not even make a guess on what the reason behind this act
was and the only way to know it was to catch the
perpetrators and ask them directly.
“Anyway, the first course of action is to report this.
Astrid, go immediately to Commander Johannes.”
Protocol would require Duke and Astrid to report
this immediately to their commander. The knights of the
Order would then call off the ball and arrange a facilitated
evacuation where each knight would stand guard at all the
exits of the Great Hall. They would look like they were
guarding the guests when in fact they were already
searching who among them would have traces of blood
on them, which could make them the primary suspects.
Leti would have ordered the two knights with her to
follow the protocol, but, “Leave the report for later. The
perpetrators were able to draw the circle right under the
nose of the Order. I highly doubt that they would be so
careless to leave traces of blood on their clothes. We will
not be able to catch them if we simply go by the book.”
- 94 -
The criminal or criminals made their every move with
extreme caution that not even a clue as to who they were
was left in any of the sites of the magic circle incident.
Such a criminal would have easily prepared a change of
clothes in case they were dirtied with blood.
“It was a good thing I was the one who discovered
this first. I have a plan that could forestall theirs. Astrid,
go back to the first floor and shout that you have found
the magic circle. But you will not point towards the
balcony but rather towards the gardens in the opposite
direction.”
“Eh? I will tell a lie?”
“Not a complete lie. At least draw something that
would look like one and then draw the attention of the
people towards that direction. Duke, you shall stay with
me to observe what would be the reactions of the guests
when they hear Astrid.”
“So the person who would look towards the balcony
where the real circle is when Astrid shouts is our prime
suspect,” confirmed Duke.
- 95 -
Leti nodded and reaffirmed their plan. “Yes. The
normal reaction to Astrid’s announcement will be to
follow where he was pointing since they know nothing
about it. If there is anyone facing elsewhere, then that will
make him or her a suspect. We only have one moment
for this.”
Duke could remember in an instant who was standing
where. Once he found the odd balls, Leti could easily
identify them since she knew everyone in attendance.
“Astrid, take this with you. It will be too unnatural
for you to find the magic circle when you are not with me,
the person you are supposedly guarding. If anyone asked,
tell them I dropped my earring and I ordered you to
search for it,” Leti explained as she took off one of her
earrings and gave it to Astrid.
“Ain’t that a familiar excuse? How many times have
you used that again?”
“What are you saying? I just thought of it now.” Leti
smoothly shrugged off Duke’s questioning look and gave
her signal to commence their plan.
- 96 -
After he had finished the preparations, Astrid slightly
opened one of the doors leading inside the Great Hall to
peek inside. He looked at Leti and Duke who were
standing atop a stairwell to observe the guests. He sent
them a signal that he was ready and closed the door once
again. He counted to ten and pushed the door wide open
and shouted with a rattled expression, “Oh no! Everyone!
I found a cursed magic circle!”
“The cursed circle!”
“The third one!?”
The Great Hall buzzed in an instant. All of the guests
present at the birthday party were aware about the recent
magic circle incidents and it was the latest topic of
conversation among them. Now that the said circle had
made an appearance at this moment, everyone was either
surprised or curious, except, of course, the suspects who
did not face towards Astrid’s direction.
“I got three!” Duke instantly identified their probable
suspects and described where they were to Leti.
- 97 -
“The first one is on your left. The man wearing the
green coat standing near the third pillar. He reacted late
to Astrid’s announcement despite being near the door.”
“Lord Dumeier. The old baron has poor hearing so
his late reaction is nothing unnatural.”
“The other one is the lady wearing a dress with gold
trimmings. She is standing over there near the goddess
statue. She did not even turn to give Astrid a look.”
“The Countess Fach. She is a meek lady and is easily
frightened by things like this. I think it is safe to say she
was so scared when she heard about the discovery of the
circle and could not even move.”
Leti provided the identities, details, and possible
explanations for the actions of each of the suspect. For
the first two, Duke decided they were clean based on
Leti’s words.
“The last man is someone I also know. Lord Borel.
Only he, out of the three, faced towards the direction of
the balcony. He is standing over there, second pillar from
here, on our right side.”
- 98 -
Leti followed Duke’s direction and saw the earl
standing there, his expression, however, was already
mirroring the surprised reaction of the other guests.
“Lord Borel...” Leti did not expect him to be
involved in this. Borel was a royal family fanatic and he
would not fit in her initial theory about the royal family
being the target of the curse. He would not want to curse
the object of his veneration.
“He was also present during the tournament. His
knight was a participant and he was there as a spectator.
Considering his background, he might’ve been ordered by
someone to do this, since I doubt he’d do this out of his
own accord. And the only ones who could give the order
are...”
The Borel House was under Guido’s faction. The
only people that could have given the orders were Guido
or the family behind him, the Eulenbergs.
“So what now?”
Duke’s question was not asking Leti what she would
do now, but rather what she would do about this incident.
- 99 -
Would she leave this to the Order or would she keep on
investigating to find the truth? He was worried that if she
chooses to continue on, she might uncover a truth that
he would not want her to; the truth that her brother
Guido wanted to curse the entire royal family, including
his own mother.
“The act of ‘not knowing’ and ‘knowing but acting
otherwise’ looks the same to others but they have
different meanings for the actor. I would always choose
the latter no matter what the result might be. Besides, it is
not certain that my brother is behind this. There is a
possibility that the Eulenbergs are. If that will be the case,
then it is a good thing for me.”
Leti wanted materials she could use for threats or
blackmail when she ascends the throne, more so if it was
something like this, a failure by one of the families of the
Three Grand Marquises of Sommevesle.
“Anyway, the first thing I have to do is to talk
privately with Prince Guido. If I feign sickness, I am
certain he would allow me to use one of the empty rooms.
- 100 -
We could talk privately there. Duke, I would need you to
support my story.”
Leti shared with Duke the perfectly consistent story
she came up. It went like this.
The magic circle Astrid found at the garden was a
draft of the magic circle. Leti was the one who found the
true circles drawn at one of the balconies on the second
floor. She felt sick upon seeing the bloody dog corpse
used as the offering.
Duke went to his commander to give his report
containing ‘nothing but the truth’ and left the
investigation to the hands of the Order. After finishing
this, he searched for Guido to inform him about Leti’s
condition.
“Prince Guido, Her Highness does not seem to be
well. She did not want to cause a scene and asked if you
could lend a room for her to rest.”
Guido immediately nodded to Duke’s request and
went to Leti. He even lent his arm to his sister for
- 101 -
support and escorted them by himself towards a room
located at a quiet corridor.
Duke could not help but admire how marvellous of a
strategist his master was. Everything went smoothly and
exactly as she said. It was a waste she was a woman. The
Order could definitely find a use for her superb brain.
“I’ll go and fetch some water. Your Highness, would
it be alright to leave Her Highness with you for a while?”
Guido silently nodded. Duke left them after giving
Astrid a reminder in front of everyone.
“Astrid, stand on guard outside by the door.
Remember, you should not enter a room where a lady is
taking her rest even if you are her guard. Understood?”
“Yes sir!”
Duke’s reminder served both as an order to his overly
eager junior and as a warning to Guido’s Valkyrie to
prevent them from entering the room so that Leti could
have her private talk with Guido.
- 102 -
The room Guido escorted Leti was one of the rooms
prepared beforehand in case some guests felt ill or tired
during the ball. However, instead of letting her rest on a
couch near the door and easily visible outside, he led her
to the inner room, thinking she would be able to rest
better there.
“Leticia, are you truly alright?”
“Yes, thank you. I just feel a little nauseated.”
Leti replied, feeling a little guilty when she heard
worry from Guido’s voice. She continued acting sick and
lay down on the couch but still kept her eyes open. The
room was dimly lit and Guido, standing beside her, stared
at her.
“—Leticia.”
Guido’s voice sounded different. His tone was lower
than usual.
“Prince Guido...? I have something to ask you.” Leti
slowly got up from laying down but Guido stopped her
and held her shoulders. She could not even remember
when they have looked at each other’s face so closely.
- 103 -
The room was dark, but Leti, with her night eyes clearly
saw Guido’s expression.
“We look so similar, don’t we?”
“What would you expect? You are my brother and I
am your sister. It is natural for us to resemble each other.”
Slowly, the beautiful face inched closer and closer and
Leti felt something different from her brother. At that
moment, Leti did not feel he was her brother, but a man.
She grabbed Guido’s arm to stop him and create some
distance between them. Nevertheless, Guido tightened
his grip on her shoulders, as if in answer to her resistance.
What is he doing?
Had Guido not been her brother, Leti would have
either kicked him already or screamed at the top of her
lungs. However, she could not physically overpower him
to get him off her.
Leti’s sight was filled with nothing but steel-blue eyes
framed by golden hair that were so similar to her own.
Their gazes locked on each other and her mind was
swirling with confusion.
- 104 -
“W...Why?” Leti whispered with a hoarse voice, soft
but still loud enough to reach Guido’s ears. However, he
was not moved and kept on closing in their distance, with
strands of his golden mane caressing Leti’s cheeks.
WHY...NO...STOP! THIS SHOULD NOT BE!
“Onii-sama6
! Stop this!!”
“What the hell are you doing!!!”
Friedhelm entered the room at the same time Leti
screamed.
The scene that welcomed him was a dark room, his
younger brother pinning down his younger sister, who
was catching her breath.
Anyone who saw the scene could easily imagine what
was happening.
“Guido! Get off her! Leti is your sister! What were
you thinking?”
6 Onii-sama: Onii =Older Brother | Sama = formal honorific for a
high person
- 105 -
Guido slowly stood up and uttered not a word.
“Why won’t you answer?...Still nothing? Then answer
with this!”
Friedhelm took two swords hanging on the wall and
threw the other one to Guido. Guido caught it
effortlessly.
“This ain’t gonna cut you, but is damn strong enough
to break your bones. Leti, I’ll have you decide who’s
better between the two us right here, right now!”
Friedhelm raged. He did not even bother to hide his
contempt for his brother.
Friedhelm drew his sword and threw its sheath. He
was serious. Guido caught onto his meaning and
followed suit.
“W...wait! Stop this nonsense!”
The two princes were serious. If this went on, they
would not just end with grave wounds. Leti could already
see the imminent future fast approaching. She wished for
someone to come and help. She thought of her knight.
- 106 -
“Please stop this!”
As if Leti’s scream was their signal, the two princes
launched at each other and a metallic clash echoed across
the room. Leti unconsciously closed her eyes, fearing that
the unpleasant future she thought of would materialize in
front of her eyes. Then a voice spoke. It belonged to
neither of her brothers.
“...Senpai taught me it is rude to cause a ruckus inside
a room where a lady is resting.”
In between Friedhelm and Guido was a red-haired,
green-eyed young knight. He blocked Friedhelm’s sword
with his own and Guido’s with his knife. This young lad
had just prevented a national disaster from happening.
“You watchdog! Get your nosy ass off here or I’ll cut
your throat!”
“...Please, go ahead.”
Astrid was short so he was looking up to Friedhelm.
But his piercing green eyes were as if he was looking
down on the tall prince, threatening him, Try if you dare
‘cause there’s no way you could.
- 107 -
Seeing the worst had past, Leti appealed to Guido,
“Please, Guido Onii-sama! This is all just a
misunderstanding, right? Please, withdraw your sword.”
Leti wanted to ask Guido a multitude of questions
but decided it was best to first solve this case at hand. She
had to keep the situation in control.
“Your Highnesses, please slowly put your swords
down and withdraw,” Astrid prompted the two princes to
retreat.
“Guido should go first.”
Friedhelm already withdrew his sword but had yet to
put it down, glaring at his brother.
Guido, without uttering a word, picked up the sheath
of his sword, and closed it. He threw the sheathed sword
to Astrid and went out of the room.
“Oi, Leticia, is this really a misunderstanding?”
“Yes. I was taking a break from the ball and Prince
Guido was only checking on me. Please, believe that for
now.”
- 108 -
Friedhelm did not say anything else and left the room.
He chose to believe his sister’s words for this incident,
but that did not mean his anger had dissipated and the
heavy wooden door had to bear the brunt of it.
When her brothers left and the room regained its
silence, Leti’s strength left her knees and she fell down on
the couch.
“Your Highness! Are you alright!?”
“Just surprised...Thank you for stopping them. If not
for you blood might have been...”
“Uhm...Your Highness, please forgive me for letting
Prince Friedhelm inside. He said he was worried you were
going have a secret meeting with Prince Guido so he had
to stop it at all costs. I thought it was alright since he was
family.”
“No, don’t be sorry. If Prince Friedhelm did not
come...” who knows what would have happened.
Although it would most likely end as an attempt since
Leti would have summoned the Knight Sword and
- 109 -
rendered Guido unconscious. Leti let out a deep, deep,
deep sigh.
Astrid was kneeling in front of her when he felt
something strange with Leti. Upon further observation,
he felt the same impurity during the day of the
tournament. He gathered up his courage to speak about it.
“Your Highness, may I ask you something?”
“If that is about Prince Guido, do not even bother.
Even I do not know the answers.”
“Ah, no, this might be something different, but I’m
not sure. I think that because of the Sword of White
Light Your Highness granted me, I am now able to sense
impurities around me. I sensed some before on your hair
that was stained by the bird’s blood during the first magic
circle incident.”
Leti remembered that day well since that was when
she kicked Astrid out of her room and called him a
mongrel. Now, she understood that he was trying to sniff
out the impurities - or the black scent as he called it then.
- 110 -
“I can also sense it again around your arms and
shoulders. Didn’t Prince Guido touched you on those
parts?”
Leti spoke nothing but her silence meant affirmation
to his question. Guido indeed grabbed her on the
shoulders.
The impurity from the blood from the magic circle
and the impurity from Guido’s touch were the same.
“...Maybe, maybe His Highness is related to this
incident,” Astrid stated his hypothesis calmly.
Leti wanted to deny Astrid’s hypothesis, but there
were far too many pieces fitting if Guido indeed played a
role in this situation.
One, she met him at the site of the first circle a few
nights ago.
Two, he was uncharacteristically persistent in chasing
after information about this case and kept on asking
about the progress from Leonhardt and Commander
Johannes.
- 111 -
Lastly, Borel, the only one who knew where the third
circle is, was under his faction.
Leti’s head was swirling between understanding and
disbelief.
“Give me your orders and I shall investigate on this
case, Your Highness.”
Astrid did have the Sword of White Light and it holds
the ability to counter curses. Add to that his abilities and
skills acquired from being a former assassin, and he was
the best man to do this investigation.
“I see. But even if you have the Sword, you are not
my knight and I cannot order you to do things on my
behalf. Thank you for the information but I will take care
of this now.”
Leti did save Astrid, but she did not want him to feel
indebted to her. He was just a hired temporary knight;
she did not plan to use him more than that.
“Then, please let me return this to you. This is
effective against curses, and, there’s the matter with
- 112 -
Prince Guido. Please take the Purifying Sword and use it
for your protection,” pleaded Astrid.
“Astrid, the Sword would already be useless even if
you return it to me. It is already your power and I can no
longer use it.”
A knight’s investiture done in the name of the Knight
King meant that the Knight King is dividing his powers to
his knight. Whenever he grants a Sword of Promise to his
knight, his power is lessened.
Leti was aware of this fact so she initially did not have
any plans on granting any of the Swords. Even the brave
and strong Lion King Alexander and the One-armed
King Oswald living in a time of war did not let go all of
the Swords of Promise.
“No way...” Astrid was dumbfounded upon learning
the true meaning behind the Sword and what Leti did for
him.
Leti placed her hand on Astrid’s shoulder to stop him
from blaming himself.
- 113 -
“Astrid, we humans are weak. There will always be
times when we have to cling onto something to keep
standing. For some it is God, for others it is their master,
king, or lovers. It can be anyone or anything.”
Lord Aufrecht lost his wife and son but he continued
on to love his second wife and their child and found
happiness with them. Lord Borel also lost his wife but
found solace in his faith in God and in the kingdom.
“As for me, I hold on to the fact that I am a
reincarnation of the Knight King. It is because of that
fact that I was able to accept my fate as the next queen
and do whatever I could to prepare for it. As for you, you
can make it as the Sword of White Light. It can be your
centre, your source of strength. Use its light as your guide
whenever you feel like darkness is swallowing you up.
That is the reason I gave you that sword.”
Leti’s gentle voice echoed in Astrid’s heart. He looked
up and faced the princess with determined eyes. “I will,
Your Highness,” his voice was soft, yet strong.
Satisfied with his answer, Leti let go of Astrid’s
shoulders and dismissed him.
- 114 -
“I am a bit tired. I shall rest here for a while. Stay on
guard by the door and inform me when Duke returns.”
“Shall I light up some more candles?”
“No, this is just perfect to do some thinking.”
Astrid stood up and closed the door of the inner
room.
Leti reclined on the couch, closed her eyes and
recalled the events of the day. Too many things had
happened that she wanted to shout.
Guido made an attempt on her. Her two brothers
nearly killed each other. Guido might be the one drawing
the circles.
“Guido Onii-sama, if you truly are the one behind
this, then who are you cursing?” Leti whispered into the
dark.
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
Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi
v
Credits page/Translator’s notes
Brought to you by:
AQUA Scans
Credits:
Raws: Icarus Bride
Translation: Crystal Hikari
Proofreading: Scylla
Quality Checking: Mizuouji
Translator’s note:
The Japanese 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.
The titles for this volume are all based on chess terminologies.
vi
CHAPTER II TOUCH AND MOVE
- 7 -
Three days after the magic circle incident, Leti was
holding a one-on-one lesson in her room.
“To be the knight of the First Seat of the Knights of
the Round bears an important meaning. The honorary
knights of the king are different to other honorary
knights because they have military powers. Special
mention has to be given to the First Seat knight because
he has the authority to give orders as the King’s
representative. In other words, instead of a knight, you
are more like the highest ranking general in the country.”
An army under the name of the Royal Chivalric
Order and a group of military officers collectively known
as the Knights of the Round - these are the two forces
responsible for Sommevesle to be recognized as a
superpower by the world. If it wasn’t for this, there was
no reason for the kingdom to keep the budget-eating
Order during this time of peace.
“I get that part, but what about all these books and
papers?” Duke said while looking at the books written in
languages he didn’t know and the stacks of paper
completely filled with text.
- 8 -
Leti tapped on the books with her fingers and said in
reply, “The magic circle incident shall be put on hold for
now. We cannot do anything but wait for the next one.
Therefore, while we wait, I shall have you use that time to
do some studying. Now that you know what these are all
about, let us proceed.
For the other countries, our knight system is nothing
of importance. The Royal Chivalric Order is simply what
we call our army and you, as the First Seat Knight, are
seen as ‘the Honourable General’. So I shall teach you the
knowledge you will need for that position.”
The First Seat Knight’s duty was not only protecting
the king. That was one reason why Leti chose Duke for
the position. Duke, being part of the nobility, had already
received the compulsory education as a gentleman so
there was no need for her to teach him everything. She
would be crowned in a few years’ time and that was not
enough to teach an illiterate knight how to read and write
and to instil in him proper etiquette.
“First, completely memorize the social map of
Sommevesle. Remember the relationship between the
- 9 -
families. After that, memorize the other countries’ social
map. While you are at it, better learn how to speak at least
two more foreign languages.”
Duke nodded in understanding without even letting
out a complaint. If Leti said so, then he truly needed all
that knowledge as the First Seat Knight. Besides, if he, as
a representative of Sommevesle, could not even greet the
generals of other countries properly, then they would
surely not be taken seriously.
“These books over here are the ones I used for my
studies. They are good references so you can use them
for yours. Read them over and over whenever you have
time.”
“How many languages can you speak, Your
Highness?”
“I can speak three languages at a native level, enough
for me to tell jokes and three more with fluency, enough
to hold casual conversations and a few more to say
greetings.”
“…Amazing.”
- 10 -
Duke suddenly remembered his friend’s performance
during foreign language classes back at the Knight
Academy. Friedhelm always seemed bored and sleepy
during the classes but still got perfect marks on their tests
and assignments. Duke sometimes found himself
wondering how Friedhelm did it. Now, he seemed to
have found the answer. Friedhelm did not get high grades
because he was particularly good in the subject, but rather
it was something he had already learned as a part of the
royal family; it was expected of him.
“Leon is more amazing. At thirteen, he was already
being asked to do the final confirmations of terminology
books written in different languages. There is a proper
reason why he can do as he pleases – he has a true value
as a member of the royal family. If he was just a fool,
then he would have been long given to the church and
tasked to pray for the kingdom every day.”
Leonhardt could do whatever he wanted because of
his eccentricity. He might look like that, but he had his
own share of difficulties and gave his best effort to be of
help. Duke now learnt about it and this improved his
impression of the unique prince.
- 11 -
“To be honest, I originally wanted Leon to teach you,
but his hands already seem full with his teaching positions
at the Knight Academy and the University so I decided to
do it myself. Besides, having a lady teach might actually
motivate you to study better, at least for the sake of your
ego.”
“…Lady?”
“Yes. Have you forgotten?” Leti asked, but there was
no trace of offence in her demeanour.
“Ah, no. It’s just that you’re more of my master
and…”
“Good, I do not mind at all. I do not see you as a
man as well. If I did, I would have a maid stand in here as
chaperone.”
Leti suddenly remembered the ‘mongrel incident’
with Astrid. Being alone with Duke, her knight, was fine
but not with Astrid.
“A maid…now that you mention it, why don’t you
have a lady’s maid?”
- 12 -
“I had two before but after I was chosen as the heir,
the one from Guido’s faction turned white and resigned
on her own. I fired the other one from Friedhelm’s after
she served me tea while her hands were shaking violently.
Searching for someone I can trust is too much work so I
only have maids for now.”
Leti’s comment before that the brutal ones were
those around her was true. Moreover, the conditions for
Leti’s lady’s maid - a lady of high social rank, of character,
and of neutral standing, that could pass Leti’s meticulous
eyes, were probably difficult to satisfy.
“A party will be held soon in celebration for the
birthday of my younger sister. Until then remember at
least everything about the kingdom’s social hierarchy. I
suggest starting first with the families under the Guido
faction since your family belongs to it. Studying that may
be comparatively easier.”
Leti proceeded in teaching Duke the things he should
know one after the other and cut the day’s lessons at a
good point.
- 13 -
“And one last thing. An assignment for you,” Leti
said as she handed Duke a sheet of paper.
The paper contained a list of the positions in
Sommevesle, such as the Knights of the Round and the
Commander of the Order. Written on the other side were
the corresponding positions in other countries, such as
Marshall and General.
“This is a comparative list of the different ranks and
positions of Sommevesle and our neighboring countries.
Make sure to remember everything, even the smallest
details. It will be rude to make any mistakes. Once you
have perfectly memorized those, I shall teach you about
their insignia and shoulder marks.”
If Leti could teach Duke that much, then it simply
meant that she had studied and memorized all of those
herself. Duke somehow found it frustrating that the
people did not even have any idea about Leti’s efforts. If
they knew about it, then his master would have never
been branded as a ‘Leftover Princess’.
“I remember you are good at remembering people’s
faces, but take this piece of advice based on my
- 14 -
experience. You should learn to remember people aside
from their faces. Women, for example, can use cosmetics
to change how they look. Have you ever seen your
previous lover’s face without any makeup?”
“...No.”
Leti looked like she had something to say but decided
to keep her silence, out of either kindness,
disappointment, pity, or all of the above.
“Do you put on makeup as well, Your Highness?”
“Yes, but only a little. I am beautiful already so there
is no need to put much on. Tell me, am I wearing
anything on my lips today?”
Duke stared at Leti’s face, trying to discern whether
she had any coloring on her lips. He never took notice if
Leti wore makeup on a daily basis, but he was certain she
had worn one for the party. He tried to recall her face
that night and then compared it to her current look.
“You...don’t?”
- 15 -
“You better pay closer attention to women then. I am
using a lighter shade.” Leti took Duke’s thumb and
pressed it to the corner of her lips. He looked at his
thumb and there was indeed a pretty shade of light pink
on it. Leti jokingly said to him that he has another
assignment.
“Take your time in doing those assignments, no need
to rush and remember everything all at once. You have all
the time to study until my coronation. Another advice, do
not even try to remember two languages under the same
language tree at the same time. You will just confuse
yourself. And...”
A knock cut Leti’s words and a maid informed them
that Leti has a visitor.
“Your Highness, Lady Eleanor of Aufrecht House
wishes to see you.”
“Eleanor? It is unusual for her to come unannounced.”
Leti thought Eleanor’s business might be important
so she decided to meet her in her private room instead.
- 16 -
She asked the maid to clear the desk and gave Duke the
books for him to study.
“Do you know Lady Eleanor?”
“She is Prince Guido’s fiancée, right?”
Duke, though not actively using his affiliation as a
Barchet, still knew the basic information of the other
families under the Guido faction. Leti thought of
introducing him to Eleanor if he did not know her, but
since he did, there was no need for it and she ended their
lesson for the day.
Eleanor Aufrecht entered the room when Duke took
his leave. Eleanor is the daughter of Lord Aufrecht, a
marquis under Guido. Leti had previous interactions with
her as she would be her future older sister and had
established a good relationship with her since then.
Eleanor’s chestnut hair and aquamarine eyes exuded a
more gentler and softer aura, compared to Leti’s sharp
and striking beauty.
“Eleanor, how have you been? I last saw you at the
ball hosted by the Lauensteins.”
- 17 -
Leti welcomed Eleanor with her perfect princess
smile, but Eleanor returned it with a forced one and
immediately looked down.
“Leti, I do not know what I should do.”
“Take a seat first. I am all ears.” Leti said with a sweet
voice as if cooing the seemingly distressed Eleanor. The
situation might indeed be serious.
“We...Prince Guido and I, were talking about
our...future and then...” Eleanor cried. This surprised Leti.
She immediately went to her friend’s side, held her hand
and asked what was wrong.
“Prince Guido suddenly told me...he told me...he
wanted to break off the engagement!”
“Break off?” Why now? Leti found the timing to be
too suspicious.
The engagement between Guido and Eleanor had
long been official and the only thing left was for them to
make their vows. The only reason why their wedding was
delayed was because of Guido’s mother, the late Sofia,
was against it. According to rumours, Sofia did not like
- 18 -
Eleanor. Leti also remembered hearing her saying
“...anyone else but Eleanor,” with a stern look on her face.
“Has he made an official request to your father?”
“No, not yet. He still has not said anything to Papa...
It was more of a slip of the tongue, but...”
“I wonder why...the last time I talked to Prince Guido,
he even said he was sorry for delaying the marriage for so
long.”
Guido’s opinion on marriage was the same as Leti’s.
They would prioritize their positions first over love. Leti
thought that Guido found the marriage with Eleanor
advantageous for both families and the only reason why
he kept it ambiguous was his mother. Besides, he did not
seem to hate the union at all, so why?
...An affair?
Leti remembered seeing Guido alone at night during
the night of the magic circle incident. Even so, she could
not imagine him, the cool and nearly cold Guido, doing
something as passionate as an affair. He was a logical man
who could easily pickup sarcastic remarks and reply with
- 19 -
twice the damage and yet he could not comprehend a
pleasant joke. He was not a warm person who could
easily form relationships.
“Dear Eleanor, it has only been two months since
Queen Sofia passed away. He might have said it out of
confusion. Please stay with him until he has calmed down.
Support him as his fiancée, his future wife.”
Leti carefully chose her words to calm Eleanor. For
now, this was what she could do. Interrogating Guido
and investigating about this matter had to be saved for
later.
“Is that so? I was really worried he has come to hate
me.”
“No, there is no reason for you to be hated. You are
a wonderful lady.”
Leti continued on listening to Eleanor and assured
her that everything will be all right. By the time Eleanor
was cheered up, the sun had nearly set and their shadows
had already grown longer. Eleanor told Leti she would try
- 20 -
to invite Guido to watch a play and left Leti’s room with
a smile.
“...this has become complicated,” whispered Leti.
The room, now devoid of visitors, was silent. Leti
took a seat in front of the chessboard and stared at the
pieces while contemplating Eleanor’s story.
“Prince Guido having an affair? No. It is more
probable that he is having a hard time accepting Queen
Sofia’s death, but still...” Leti mused as she idly fiddled
with the chess pieces.
“I did think he was grieving but I did not expect it to
affect him this much...”
The rational Guido blurted out something he did not
mean. If this indeed happened, then his sadness might be
deeper than Leti originally thought. Maybe it was about
time to give her brother a visit.
“Call Duke and also prepare flowers for Queen Sofia,”
Leti ordered her maid who followed immediately, already
knowing what should be done.
- 21 -
Leti’s maid prepared her outdoor clothes and shoes,
and helped her change. By the time her preparations were
finished, Duke was already standing outside her room,
carefully holding the flowers arranged for the deceased
queen.
“We shall pay a visit first to Queen Sofia’s grave and
then make a call to Prince Guido.”
Leti thought on how long it had been since she went
out of her way to meet Guido out of sisterly affection.
Up until now, she had been acting out of her duties as the
First Princess and simply chided Guido whenever he and
Friedhelm would start a fight. Now, she felt something
was changing between them as compared to the time
when she had lost all hopes for their relationship.
If this continues, I think I can give a positive answer to my
assignment.
“How much shall we be on good terms?”
1
Leti understands that it would be impossible for the
three of them to go back the way they used to be. But the
1 See the prologue for details.
- 22 -
current situation was a whole lot better than the time
when she thought she’d get the crown at the expense of
her brothers.
Leti was able to accomplish both of her goals at the
same time. Guido happened to be giving his mother a
visit in the North Cemetery so Leti did not have to look
for him. She was somehow surprised to see him there,
standing by Queen Sofia’s grave, but she still walked
silently and stood beside him.
“Truth be told, I did not expect to see you here.” Leti
said as she knelt down, gently placed the flowers she
brought on the ground and offered a silent prayer for the
late queen.
“I see you come here quite often. I’ve seen the same
flowers before.”
“And that means you come here just as often...There
is something I want to talk about. Could you spare some
time?”
“Sure.”
- 23 -
“It is a bit difficult to talk about it in front of Queen
Sofia. Let us go somewhere else.”
Leti walked further into the cemetery and Guido
listlessly followed her. Duke and Guido’s knights
followed a few steps behind them.
“I just had a talk with Eleanor...and she told me that
you, after all this time, are being hesitant about your
marriage. Is it true?”
“...Yes.”
Guido knew about Eleanor’s good relationship with
Leti so he had already expected Eleanor to consult with
Leti and Leti, in turn would question him. He was about
to give his prepared answer when Leti asked something
he did not expect.
“Are you alright?”
Guido faced Leti. Their eyes, sharing the same steel
blue colour, met but his was evidently filled with
confusion—confusion as to what was the meaning
behind Leti’s question.
- 24 -
“I thought at first that the reason why you are
cancelling off your engagement was because of an affair.
But seeing you like this and how frequent you come here,
I am certain you do not even have the heart to think
about it.”
Guido was surprised to hear the word affair. His
expression did not hint anything about his surprise but
the fact that he was silent and did not immediately reply
to Leti’s question, laced with a tinge of joke, was proof
enough that he did not expect this.
“I see. There was that option...” Guido softly
whispered.
Leti heard this and felt relieved to know that even the
mere thought of having an affair did not cross his mind.
“Only two months have passed since Queen Sofia
passed away. All this time I thought you were all right.
Queen Sofia’s health was already declining for some time
and you were perfectly calm during the funeral services. I
really thought you were doing fine.”
Leti’s beautiful face slowly closed in to Guido’s.
- 25 -
“You look a little worn out. Prince Friedhelm was
also worried about you. You should take a rest.
Sometimes, you think you are alright but truthfully you
are not.”
Leti’s ‘are you alright?’ was not a question for Guido
to answer, but rather words of sympathy coming from a
worried sister.
“If you have any complaints, try talking about those
with Eleanor. She may seem quiet but she has a strong
heart. I am certain she will be your support.”
“I know, she’s too good for me,” Guido said as his
normally cold facade softened a little.
Leti stopped digging deeper into the issue. That was
the furthest she could go as his sister. Anywhere further
was Eleanor’s, his fiancée’s, turf.
“We will go back now. But you should take your
time,” Leti said as she turned back on her heels and gave
her signal to Duke who was standing a few paces away.
“Bishop to D6.”
- 26 -
Leti turned back again to face Guido, her expression
was somewhere in between shock and displeasure with
what Guido said.
“I guess you truly are alright. You should at least try
to feign weakness and choose a poor move when you are
down.” Leti said with a tinge of relief evident in her voice.
She turned her back again and continued on walking
without saying another word.
“Hey, I also remember you saying Bishop something
before. Is it a code of sorts?” Duke asked as they walked
back to the castle. He decided to ask something different
to Leti instead of trying to find out what the royal siblings
talked about.
“When Queen Sofia passed away, I invited him to a
game of chess once everything had calmed down. So we
alternately give our moves every time we see each other.”
Guido did not mind playing a game and accepted
Leti’s invitation and suggested this playing style, which
could take months to finish.
- 27 -
Guido taught Leti how to play chess, whereas
Friedhelm taught Guido. The three of them used to play
the game together with Leti and Friedhelm sometimes
teaming up to conspire a plan on how to defeat the
invincible Guido.
“The one who loses the game will have to expose one
of their weaknesses.”
“Is that promise alright? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yes, of course, it is alright. We are both aware that
this is just a simple game. If I win, I would just ask him to
tell me one dish he hates.”
They were walking on the path covered with ivy-lined
walls leading to the usually peaceful Royal Villa, but what
they saw upon their arrival was far from peaceful.
Leti’s normally calm maid went scampering towards
them and cried, “Your Highness! Thank goodness you’re
safe, but your mother’s, Her Majesty’s white lilies...”
Leti asked her maid what had happened. After
hearing the gist of the situation, she immediately went to
the site of the case with speed unbelievable for a woman.
- 28 -
The site was located in the eastern part of the castle, the
place where the First and Second Queen Consorts took
care of white lilies.
Leti stood from a distance to observe the scene.
There were knights from The Order already there and
some passers-by gathered to see the commotion. She
checked on the scene by peeking through the gaps in
between the people in the crowd.
What was supposed to be a beautiful bed of lilies
filled with white flowers swaying in the wind was now a
wreck of scattered and tattered petals with a bloody
magic circle drawn on it and in the centre of the circle
was a cat’s dead body.
“Mother and Queen Sofia’s lilies! Who could do such
a thing...?” Leti cried upon seeing the horrible sight. Duke
was readily behind her and supported her as she nearly
fainted from the shock at seeing what had happened. Leti,
the delicate princess was deeply hurt at the savagery done
to her late mother’s lilies. Or so she wanted them all to
see because Duke knew for a fact that behind this act, his
master was fuming with rage and he could easily imagine
- 29 -
himself doing anything necessary to pacify a raging Leti
later.
“Your Highness, let’s leave this matter to The Order
for now. This scene is not fit for your eyes.”
Leti nodded and followed Duke as he led her away
from the horrendous sight.
Leti continued on her frail and meek princess act for
as long as there were people to see it. However, the
moment they were out of the Royal Palace and near her
villa, she dropped it. She stomped her feet as they walked
to her room and let her anger explode the second Duke
closed the door to her private room.
“This is unheard of! You sure have the guts to fight
me! I accept your challenge! I’ll catch you and crush you
with everything this kingdom has! Charging you with
treason is not enough!”
Leti revealed her true self. She punched the wall with
all her might as she said this. Her movements all seemed
so natural and fluid, from the flow to the exertion of
force. Duke didn’t need to ask if she had done this before.
- 30 -
- 31 -
Her actions spoke of it. The supposedly meek and
gentle princess had been punching walls to vent her anger
for a long time.
“It’s not yet clear that you are really the target. If
we’re going to base it on this latest attack, the only clear
thing is that the target is the royal family and...”
“But I, the heir to the throne, is the face of the royal
family! ‘Tis the same as picking a fight with me!”
“Well, you have point.”
How dare they do that to Queen Sofia’s lilies!
Leti silently swore as the cruel sight played back in
her mind.
“I must say this came as a surprise. I thought that the
second circle would also be discovered somewhere where
many people gathered. Just like the tournament.” Duke
stated.
The second circle was drawn in blood on a bed of
flowers, at its centre was a cat’s dead body, scattered
around it were plucked petals of white lilies and beside it
- 32 -
the sentence ‘I know who you truly are’, also written in
blood.
Is the royal family really the target? There is still a possibility
that I am targeted as an individual. It is not a secret that those lilies
are the ones I bring with me when I visit Mother.
For Leti, this incident showed how much she was
looked down on as the Crown Princess. And she did not
bother suppressing her anger about it.
“I also heard there were no clues found for this
incident as well. It’s the same as the last one, a daring act
delivered with utter care and caution.”
Duke asked for information from a knight of The
Order nearby while they were at the scene. Unfortunately,
he got nothing of importance, and just a confirmation of
the only thing they knew about the perpetrator – that
finding him, or her, or them would be difficult.
But Leti, though fuming with anger, kept a clear head
and was able to observe the scene properly and found a
clue.
- 33 -
“There is a clue in this second circle. There are two
people involved. The petals scattered around the circle
were plucked in two different ways. Some of the petals
were carefully plucked out and some were recklessly torn.
This means that one of them may be the brain behind
this while the other one was not interested.”
Leti might have put on an exaggerated act when she
saw the violated flowerbed, but while she was being
dramatic, she was also keenly observing every detail,
including the petals scattered around the circle. This was
one of Leti’s strongest weapons, a woman’s eyes
providing her a point of view different from a man’s.
Men would normally focus on the gruesome things, such
as the bloody circle and the cat’s corpse, but Leti was able
to see the minute detail in the difference of the petals.
“Then that means the pair is composed of a
mastermind and an accomplice. The mastermind has to
have some power over the accomplice to force him, or
maybe her, to do something they do not want to do. My
guess is that they can be a noble and their servant or
knight. If we are going to go with this, then I think it is
safe to say that the unaffiliated Knights of the Order
- 34 -
present during the tournament can be ticked off our list
of suspects.”
The people in attendance during the first incident
were nobles with their honorary knights as participants in
the tournament, and unaffiliated knights of The Order
who were helping to manage the event. If the latter were
to be removed from the list, it would greatly reduce the
number of suspects, but there were still too many of
them left. Leti and Duke were already wishing for more
more information when the perfect source for it entered
the room.
“Ane’ue2
! I’m back. Would you like some details on
the second circle?” Leonhardt greeted as he peeked inside
the room in his blood stained coat. The Order had once
again asked for the help of the genius prince.
“You also went to check on it, right? There’s no need
to hide it. Anyway, I think you would agree that this
somehow came as a surprise. Well, we did expect seeing
the number ‘II’, nothing unexpected about that.
2 Ane'ue: A Japanese honorific for calling one’s older sister. (More
formal and old-fashioned than the normal Onee-san)
- 35 -
Ahahahaha.” Leonhardt said with his usual bouncy
manner of speaking.
The number ‘I’ was written on the first circle and the
number ‘II’ on the second. The first offering was a bird
and the second was a cat. Anyone with scant knowledge
in the occult could understand the obvious logic behind
the circles.
Leti knew what Leonhardt was pertaining to.
“Don’t you find it interesting that the offering got
bigger this time?”
The cat was bigger than the bird. Why use a bigger
offering?
“Well, you see this is a staple in the world of horror
and occult. The offerings for each ceremony get bigger
and bigger and bigger and at the final ceremony...”
“The offering is a human,” finished Leti.
“Yes, you’re right. Therefore, The Order is now
putting this incident at top priority before anyone gets
- 36 -
hurt. They are planning to solve this before the third one
comes up.”
“Your Highness, we should increase your guards.
Make sure to have me or a knight from The Order with
you at all times. Let them handle the investigation for this.
We should notify Seventh Heaven and Valkyrie as well to
focus on protecting their masters.”
Leti nodded her agreement to Duke and Leonhardt,
and shared with them her thoughts.
“If I was the criminal, and my target is the Royal
Family, my next opportunity will be on Cornelia’s
birthday. There is no more obvious time than this. It
would be best if we can forestall him on that event.”
The upcoming birthday of Cornelia, the Second
Princess of Sommevesle, which Leti had kindly taken
charge of the preparations, was the perfect opportunity to
cause an uproar. Many of the princes and princesses and
most of the nobles in the kingdom would be in
attendance. It was truly the best time to make an attack if
the target of the curse was truly the royal family.
- 37 -
“Leon, did you notice anything else? Anything you
might even dismiss as trivial.”
“Hmmm...Well, I did meet Guido Ani’ue 3
at the
scene. He was unusually persistent in asking me if I knew
who the criminal is. I guess even he, the cool one, won’t
stay put with Queen Sofia’s favourite white lilies sullied
like that. He used to give those to his mother every year
for her birthday.”
No one could blame the calm and collected Guido if
he lost his cool in that situation. The situation would
cause anger to anyone, to have a bloody curse circle
drawn on a place dear to him.
Leti and Leonhardt were trying to justify Guido’s
uncharacteristic display of emotion while Duke was trying
to reconcile the knowledge he had on the relationship of
the eldest royal siblings. He had always thought that they
were on bad terms with each other but following the
conversation he had heard, what he knew might be
wrong.
3 Ani’ue. A Japanese honorific referring to one’s older brother (More
formal and old fashioned than the normal Onii-san)
- 38 -
Two days after the discovery of the second circle,
Duke had still yet to find an answer the question he had
in mind since he heard Leti and Leon’s conversation
about Guido. He wanted to know about the childhood of
the three eldest royal siblings but was hesitant to ask
Friedhelm since he was one of the parties involved. So he
decided to ask another person not involved in it but knew
about it first-hand. Of course, he had to hand in the
payment in advance.
“Thank you for helping me out~ these physical tasks
are too much for my flimsy arms, ahahaha. By the way, is
it alright for you to be away from Ane’ue?”
“Please, Your Highness, I honestly do not know how
I should react to your joke. As for her highness, she is
currently in a meeting so I have some free time before I
have to fetch her.”
Duke, carrying a stack of books, was walking towards
The Archives with Leonhardt, his chosen informant. He
asked Leonhardt the question that had been bugging him
for some time.
- 39 -
“How was her highness’ relationship with her older
brothers when they were children and how about now?”
“Their relationship? I think they are close with each
other ever since before, though the current situation has
forced them to act otherwise.”
“Ever since before? Meaning they are on good terms
until now?”
“Yes, yes. Even now. I even think that one of
Ane’ue’s intention in hosting the previous tea party was
to cheer up Guido ani’ue.
Duke knew that Friedhelm truly cared for Leti but he
did expect that the same was true for Guido. He had
always thought they were really on bad terms, just as the
rumours said. Anyone would have thought so since they
acted more like strangers to each other in public.
“My elder brothers are chained by the curse called the
‘bloodline-of-the-three-Grand-Marquises’. They have no
choice but to distance themselves from each other for
now. Well, it’s not like I do not understand the reason
why their families would want to regain their place in the
- 40 -
royal family. I guess that is just how religion works. No
matter how much people try to separate the church from
state, they will always find those two entangled with each
other. It is an interesting topic for research, you know.
Ahahaha.”
According to the story, the Kingdom of Sommevesle
was founded by her first king, the god Christian, also
known as The Knight King. Therefore, the members of
the royal family are descendants from the gods. This is
what the Lauensteins, Eulenbergs, and Kleinschmidts
wanted back. They wanted to restore the “Noble Pride”
in their names.
“I somehow feel bad for Friedhelm ani’ue and Guido
ani’ue. They have been pressured all their lives to be king.
I sure am glad I was born from parents of royal blood.
Oh, and for the record, I am NOT on good terms with
my elder brothers...”
Leonhardt suddenly stopped in thought and then
opened his mouth again.
“Wait. That’s wrong. We are not on bad terms with
each other. It is more like I am not within their field of
- 41 -
vision. Yes, that’s it. Well, I wouldn’t want to be in it
anyway. If I were, I’d be dead now. Murdered and it
would be disguised as an accident. Ahahaha.”
Leonhardt was a prince mothered by the First Queen
Consort Julienne. Technically, if the traditional line of
inheritance was followed, he was the next in line to the
throne, therefore the one most in danger. But with what
happened now, Leti took Leonhardt’s position and
shouldered everything in his place. Duke realized this
now and decided to be a better support for his master.
“... uhmmmm ... I wonder why... if anyone would ask
me whether I hate or like you, I would say I like you... I
mean, you do not look at Ane’ue with weird eyes and you
are very professional with your duties.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“But recently, I do not know why, but I feel annoyed
whenever I see your face. Yes, especially that expression...
I wonder why.... ahahaha”
Duke replied with a simple “I see,” as he was
completely at a loss with what Leonhardt was thinking.
- 42 -
“Ah! I see! So that was it. It is that ‘I-understand-Letibest’
look. Yes, yes, that is exactly it. Ahahaha Now that
I’ve noticed it, you are now more on the hate side.”
Duke let out a deep, deep sigh. He should have
known, that even Leonhardt was inflicted with that
disease similar to lovesickness.
“Your Highness, please excuse my rudeness, but are
you perhaps afflicted by a certain illness that makes one
prioritize the ladies in the family over their own lovers?”
“Stop the jokes. I am already sixteen years old.”
“Yes, of course.” Duke was already feeling relieved
when Leonhardt continued speaking.
“But if at sixteen and it still persists, then I think it is
already incurable, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Anyway, I now know I hate you but let us be cordial
with each other in front of Ane’ue. We are both mature
adults, are we not? ahaha”
- 43 -
Leonhardt was just the same age as Astrid. Duke did
not think he was qualified as an adult and wanted to say
something back but decided to simply state his agreement
instead. He had learned his lesson that rebutting just
makes discussions last longer than necessary.
“Her highness’ brothers, younger or older, are all a
pain in the neck...” whispered Duke as he returned the
books to their shelves.
Duke already had an inkling that his friend, Friedhelm,
also shared the same sickness as Leonhardt, and that he
was only trying to hide it. It seems that the only sane
royal brother was the serious Guido.
Leonhardt and Duke finished returning the books
and were already going out of the archives when they saw
Guido.
Leonhardt swiftly hid behind Duke and bid him
goodbye.
“Well, I shall go now. Talking to Guido Ani’ue taxes
me. See you~”
- 44 -
Isn’t it the other way around? Duke thought but did not
voice out since he was being the mature adult. Duke
watched Leonhardt, who was already a few paces away,
take a route different to where they passed through to go
to The Archives. Then, he stood up properly, gave the
approaching Guido the proper greetings, and bowed his
head.
If Guido was here, it meant that the meeting was
already finished and he had to fetch Leti. He was about to
excuse himself and hurry when Guido stopped him.
“Can I talk to you for a while?”
“...With me, Your Highness?”
Duke did not have any idea as to what Guido would
talk about with him. It is true that his family was under
the Guido faction, but his family was near the tail end of
the hierarchy and they personally only had one
conversation with each other before. Duke decided to
accept the invitation but he was on full alert and
requested to the prince to keep it short.
- 45 -
While Guido and Duke were having their
conversation, Leti, clueless as to why her knight was
running late, was waiting for him in the meeting room.
“Oh, is Duke late?”
“I understand that he is still a knight of The Order. I
do not mind if he is late for a while.”
“Yes, of course,” nodded Johannes Müller, the
Commander of the Royal Chivalric Order and one of the
attendees in the meeting. He is man in his mid-forties
with a stately air but amiable and approachable
personality. However, he was also a veteran knight
hardened by experience and it is no joke that the black
cape he had worn as the commander was once dyed red
by the blood shed by his enemies.
“Your Highness seemed to have enjoyed the meeting.”
“No, I was certainly bored.”
Leti did not utter a word during the meeting but her
eyes keenly observed the expressions of all those in
attendance. Johannes knew about this and did not believe
- 46 -
Leti’s expression of boredom and found her denial
interesting.
Leti and Johannes had long been chess rivals because
Leti had always relied the Order whenever she and Leon
needed protection. This was quite peculiar, as most
nobles disliked the company of knights of the Order
because they have their own honorary knights.
“How is the investigation going for the most recent
magic circle incident?”
There were no human victims yet due to the magic
circle incidents or else it would have been discussed in
the meeting earlier. However, it was evident that the
circle was growing in scale since the second circle used a
bigger offering. Leti thought since the Commander of the
Order was already beside her, she might as well ask if
there was any progress.
“I am truly sorry Your Highness but we have not
gathered any new information since our previous report.
But please, rest assured that we are doing our best for this
case and the Order is putting utmost priority for your
safety. Please be patient with us.” Johannes bowed deeply,
- 47 -
saying his apologies as he thought Leti’s question was a
reprimand.
“That was not meant to scold you. I simply wanted to
know the status of the Order. In case you are short on
men due to the ongoing investigation, and would not
have enough to act as guards for Cornelia’s birthday, I
would ask father if he could lend me his Knights of the
Round and maybe ask some more from Prince Guido’s
Valkyrie.”
“I am grateful for your kind consideration, Your
Highness but you need not concern yourself. We have
already lowered the priority for the investigation on the
incident. It is still called an investigation but we are just
getting statements from people inside the castle.”
Johannes told Leti, an obvious attempt to hide his
message that the Order is adequate and able to handle the
situation and honorary knights would be unnecessary.
The relationship between the knights of the Royal
Chivalric Order and honorary knights was as bad as usual.
“Oh, Prince Guido has also asked me again about this
incident.”
- 48 -
“...Again?”
“Yes. He was quite persistent about this case as well.
He has asked me several times about the previous
incident too. Maybe he is worried about Princess
Cornelia’s birthday party.”
“I see.” Replied Leti but she was not at all convinced
with the reason Johannes gave her.
I understand if he was concerned about this second circle since it
involved Queen Sofia’s flower bed but for the first one...why? He
seems to be paying too much attention to this incident on magic
circles. And he does not even believe in curses.
Maybe on that night of the first circle when she met
Guido, he was not there because of a secret love affair,
but to look at the magic circle again.
If he went back to the scene just as a criminal would, too many
things will not add up. It is completely meaningless for him to sully
his beloved mother’s lilies and it is completely out of his character to
rely on something so uncertain like a curse. He can easily hire an
assassin to finish off anyone he wants to.
- 49 -
Leti gave herself a small laugh as she found herself as
well thinking too much about the magic circle. She
pushed all her thoughts on the circles aside and thanked
Johannes for giving her a truthful report.
“Your Highness, I have another piece of information.
Duke shall be transferred to handle a minor post in the
Order so that his tasks will be lighter. I shall advise him
as well to use the free time he will gain to protect you.”
“What post?”
Originally, Duke should have quit the Order the
moment he became Leti’s knight but due to some
circumstances in the Order and Leti’s ulterior motive, he
is still a part of it. However, he had to be assigned to a
lesser post because there is an implicit rule in the Order
that to pursue higher ranks, the knight should be
unaffiliated. Now that Duke has a master, he was now
disqualified from that career path.
“He shall be in charge of training the new members
of the Order. Though I have a feeling this post will be
more challenging that it has been in the previous years
- 50 -
because of the presence of one troublesome rookie.
Anyway, it is the young one’s role to bear such pains.”
Leti immediately thought of a young redhead knight
when Johannes mentioned ‘troublesome rookie’.
Is he referring to Astrid? If he already had him investigated,
then I am certain he has probably figured out the truth.
If the Commander had decided to keep Astrid and let
Duke handle him and suffer doing so even after knowing
about Astrid’s past, then, truly, the Order’s Commander
is not someone to mess with.
“But are you busy as well Your Highness? Is it truly
alright for you to let Duke stay with us?”
“Yes. Duke may have enough connections as a knight
but his lateral connections within the noble world are
nearly non-existent. He could use his position in the
Order to build that up more and of course, he could
gather more information this way.”
Instead of warning off Leti on her plans to use the
Order’s information network, Johannes showed
- 51 -
generosity and happily welcomed her to use it as she
pleased.
“Thank you. But I do feel a little bit sorry for taking
away your future commander.”
“No, don’t be Your Highness. The Order will not at
all be affected by the loss of one or two youngsters like
him. It is rather my pleasure to let him go if he would be
useful to you.”
Duke’s noble birth, clear mind, superior abilities and
wide popularity among his colleagues made him the
perfect next commander of the Order. But because Leti
took him and he would have to resign in a few years
meant that the Order would have to go back to the
drawing board and search for their next commander.
Despite all of that, Johannes gladly gave his blessing to
Leti.
“If you say so, then just let me thank you for that. He
was truly the only one I wanted to have no matter what.”
“Hahaha... to that I can totally agree.”
- 52 -
Leti let out a strained laugh and once again asked
Johannes whether he also wanted Duke as his next
commander but he strongly denied it again, probably
because he had no plans on praising Duke openly.
“But I also feel sorry for him. He might have dreamt
of becoming the commander and I took away that chance
from him.”
“No, Your Highness. Don’t be sorry. Becoming the
Commander of the Order is not something to be dreamt
of.” Johannes clearly refuted Leti’s words.
“The highest ranks in the Order are all filled up by
leftovers, those who were not chosen or wanted. On the
front, we may act all mighty and brave saying that we are
serving the country and our king, but deep inside, we are
thinking of something else. The title ‘Commander’ is just
another name to call someone with broken dreams.”
For everyone, the Commander was the knight all
other knights respected. But Johannes said it was
different.
- 53 -
“He and I are already enough to represent the supply
of knights crushed by reality.” Johannes’ voice when he
said this was heavy. Leti wanted to ask him more about
this when Duke arrived.
“Your Highness, please excuse my tardiness.”
Johannes stood up upon hearing Duke’s voice.
“Well then, Your Highness, I shall leave the
approaching youngster to your care. And for the
upcoming birthday party, I hope you would consider
placing another promising youngster by your side for
additional protection. A good day, Your Highness.” He
bowed and left the room after he gave Leti his words of
encouragement.
Duke slightly bowed his head in salute to his
commander and afterwards walked towards his master.
“Sorry for being late.”
“Do not worry. Johannes kept me company and I am
aware that you still have your duties to the Order.”
- 54 -
“Well...actually, I was called on by Prince Guido on
my way here and...and we talked and...” Duke’s
expression showed that he was unsure whether he should
tell Leti what his conversation with Guido was about.
“You do not have to force yourself. If it is sensitive,
you do not have to tell me. You are under Guido’s
faction and I understand you have your own
circumstances. Besides I am not a narrow-minded lady
who would get jealous because of your previous men.”
“Hey, quit choosing words that can cause a
misunderstanding.”
Leti walked out of the meeting room. Duke followed
behind her and started telling her about his conversation
with Guido despite his hesitation.
“Prince Guido asked me to...to teach him how to
have an affair.”
“An affair? He asked you?...Oh. I see.”
“Hey, what does the ‘I see’ means?”
- 55 -
“Your face. You see, your looks are very likable to
women that they are the ones approaching you. If you
wanted, having an affair or two would be a piece of cake
to you. Therefore, it is quite logical to ask for lessons on
infidelity from you. Do you understand?”
Leti easily understood the reason why Guido would
choose Duke as his teacher on this particular subject but
the reason behind why he would like to know how to
have an affair was a complete mystery. She tilted her head
on one side and the only conclusion she could come up
with was this might be one of those.
“It might have been one of Prince Guido’s infamous
jokes.”
“Could you please explain it to me in layman’s terms?
I don’t see where the joke is.”
“Sorry to disappoint but I do not see where it is
either. Let me share with you a childhood story.
One day, the four of us where having a nice cup of
tea and Leon said that I would only be marrying someone
- 56 -
that is more beautiful and smarter than I am. Then Prince
Friedhelm replied, ‘That means she’ll be marrying Guido.’”
Duke smiled a little bit, as he could easily imagine
Friedhelm saying those words and Leonhardt’s disgusted
face at the joke.
“And you know what Prince Guido said after that?
‘Stop saying foolish things. Siblings cannot marry each
other.’ He said that with a serious look on his face. It was
a joke no matter where you look at it.”
“...Ah.”
“You can classify him under the same category as
your clueless junior. I find their cluelessness annoying.
No, wait. It is not his cluelessness. It is his face. It is that
irritatingly beautiful face that makes everyone take him
seriously. They all think that he was scorning the shallow
joke when he was in fact just being a dork and did not
understand the simple joke.” Leti blurted out merciless
comments against that cold-hearted Guido. Just as
expected of his half-sister.
- 57 -
“I wonder though. Where is the joke? He might have
ulterior motives.”
“Ulterior motives?”
“Like he was trying to find out your tastes in women?
Or he was trying to get some information from our side.”
“I understand. I’ll be careful next time.”
I really don’t get what runs inside the heads of intelligent people.
Duke whispered.
The Commander of the Order, Johannes, paid a visit
to Leti in the Royal Villa to report the changes in the
security plan for Cornelia’s birthday party. There were
now more guards assigned to be on duty during the party.
“Oh, you changed the plans drastically.”
“Yes, Your Highness. We have concluded that
Princess Cornelia’s birthday has the highest possibility of
being the next stage for the magic circle. This may be the
only chance we can get the upper hand in this case.”
- 58 -
“I agree with you. Whatever their purposes are, it is
clear that they want the circle to be discovered and cause
commotion because of it. If they do it at night, the
chances of it being discovered in the morning of the next
day are higher. So this party that will be held at noon is
supposedly the best time for them.”
Johannes came up with the same conclusion as Leti.
Well even a girl like me was able to think of this. Certainly,
the commander of the Order would have figured that out. He would
have also simulated all the possible scenarios of catching the culprit
with the least damage.
Leti thanked Johannes without saying how grateful
she was to have such a capable man as the Commander.
“I understand that we have limited resources, but
would it also be possible to increase the guards in the
Cattleya Palace? I agree that the next most likely target is
the birthday party but if they are trying to outwit us, then
there is a possibility that their next target is the nearly
empty Cattleya Palace.”
- 59 -
“That is correct, Your Highness. I shall prepare men
to be stationed in Cattleya Palace.”
Leti, now satisfied with the security plan, gave her
consent.
The most they can do now was to have tighter
security. The only thing left was for them to be able to
carry out the party safely.
Oh, there was another thing I could do in advance, but I am
not the one to do it. Do your best, Duke.
The other advanced preparation was currently
ongoing in another part of the Villla and Leti could easily
imagine Duke’s scowling face because of it.
The youth should learn how to face crises. Leti whispered,
putting aside her own young age.
Commander Johannes’ present to Leti might be a
simple gift, but it might be something else, something
filled with hidden motives.
- 60 -
“And whatever it is, I’m the one expected to look after
it, right?” Duke sighed upon seeing what the present was.
“Yes sir! I will give my best, Sir!”
The additional knight Johannes lent to Leti, as her
additional guard for the party, was none other than the
amazing rookie, Astrid Gale. Duke was deep in thought
on how he should deal with this troublesome present
from his commander.
I do understand his reasons for doing this. Skill-wise, it’d be a
total waste to just assign Astrid as a runner but giving him
guarding duties is too much special treatment for an individual
knight.
The commander was truthfully a capable one. It was
one of his responsibilities to assign tasks that would
match each newcomer’s skills and he did it so perfectly
with Astrid. However, Duke was the one bearing the
responsibility of teaching everything about being a
bodyguard to someone used to killing. He could easily see
how much of an ordeal this training would be.
- 61 -
I got your message. You transferred me to a leisure post but you
won’t let me have it easy now, don’t you? Damn you, old man.
The Royal Chivalric Order is composed of men
coming from a wide range of social status. Some are of
royal and noble descent while some are simple
commoners. Therefore, as they spend years together,
their manners of speaking are somehow levelled off and
they become slightly bad-mouthed. Duke, though at the
lowest rank of the nobility, was still a noble and grew up
being taught the proper manners of a gentleman, but with
his current predicament, ungentlemanly words were
running through his mind.
Duke took a deep breath and accepted his fate.
“Alright, I’m going to teach you the protocol of
protection. I’ll try to find time everyday so you’d better
remember everything I teach you. Review all of it at the
end of each day and make sure to remember it the next
day.”
Duke has been quite busy lately with his own studies.
Leti told him to memorize all details regarding
Sommevesle’s social hierarchy so he had been spending
- 62 -
hours a day staring at the hierarchy his master gave him.
Add to that the foreign languages she asked him to
master as preparations for his future post as the Knight
of the First Seat of the Knights of the Round. Now, he
had to teach Astrid the basics and protocols of protection
during his free time from his duty at the Order and a few
moments before going to bed. So today, to take
advantage of their day off, he asked Astrid to come to
Leti’s villa for a lecture.
“Listen well; there are two things you have to
remember as a close protection guard. The most
important thing, just as the name of the role suggests, is
to stay close to the person you are guarding. The next
important thing is to be able to send signals to any
messenger knight within range in case you notice
something strange. “
“Yes sir!”
Duke wanted Astrid to at least try these things once
for practice but since they did not have any time left,
Duke could only trust in Astrid’s inborn instincts.
- 63 -
“If you happen to find someone suspicious roaming
around your charge and you could not coordinate with
the other knights, the first thing you have to do is to
check if he has weapons on him. To do this, you have to
bump into the suspect casually. But remember, don’t be
too obvious and openly touch him. Be covert. The target
should not suspect that you are suspecting him.”
“I should only check? Why not get the weapon?”
“Can you? Wait. That’s not the point. If you get their
weapon and they notice afterwards that it is gone, they’d
become more suspicious and cautious. This can make the
operation harder if the targets start sending signals to
other members of their party. Remember, don’t do
anything reckless on your own. That’s an absolute rule.”
Duke reminded Astrid strongly.
“I’ll teach you one technique to do this. Act as if you
are in a hurry and bump into them. Remember to keep
the focus of your eyes somewhere afar to make them
think they were not really the ones you were targeting.
Excuse yourself, say your apologies quickly, and then
move on without even looking at their faces. “
- 64 -
“Bump, look afar, excuse without looking...” Astrid
nodded his understanding that a simple bump was not
just a simple clash of bodies but rather there was more to
it.
“One last reminder. Be careful when your target is a
lady. If you simply gave them the per functionary
apologies when you accidentally bumped into them and
carelessly touched their bodies, there are some instances
when they would file a case of molestation against the
knight.”
“E----h!”
“So for lady targets, put on a good smile and ask if
they are fine. You can try saying, ‘Pardon me, milady. Are
you hurt anywhere?’”
“‘Pardon me, milady. Are you hurt anywhere?’”
Astrid repeated and thrust the line into his head. He was
willing to give all of his efforts to protect the princess he
so admired.
- 65 -
“Ask some of the other knights to be your practice
partner for the male version. Let’s practice the lady
version first.”
“Yes sir!”
Astrid followed Duke’s instructions and he bumped
into Duke.
“Wait! Hold on. I said lightly remember? Lightly. A
lady would have already stumbled with that force. Again.”
Duke immediately pointed out Astrid’s mistake
before Astrid could even say his apologies. He prepared
again to bump his senior, this time being conscious to
make the contact as light as possible. However, he found
the movement of checking the presence of weapons
within a moment of contact quite difficult.
This action requires so much precision. There could only be one
point of contact so I should at least already have an idea where a
weapon could be hidden.
He realized in this short span of time that what he
needed was not the skill to feel up for weapons but rather
observation skills to make a good guess as to where the
- 66 -
target could be concealing the weapon. While thinking
about all of this, his fingers instinctively moved due to
the habits instilled by his previous jobs.
“Ah.”
“The line.”
“Oh, right. ‘Pardon me, milady. Are you hurt
anywhere?’“
Astrid asked with a smile but his act did not pass for
Duke.
“Can’t you do it better?”
“Better? How?”
“More knightly? More appealing? What I mean is that
the smile should be cooler, more mature and not your
childish grin. You are smiling for a lady.”
Duke’s vague advice simply confused Astrid, for right
know, he only knew two types of smiles. One was his
usual refreshing grin and the other was the smile-despitethe-pain
kind of smile that Leti taught him. So imagining
- 67 -
the new ‘knightly, appealing, and mature smile’ was
proving to be difficult for him.
Duke and Astrid were silently thinking of how to
solve their predicament when their silence was broken by
a loud laugh.
“Ahahaha! What is this? A comedy? If it is, ‘tis very
entertaining. Ahahaha.”
“Professor!”
The laughing person was Leonhardt who passed by
the room while he was on his way to Leti’s to borrow her
desk since his room was already buried deep in books. He
happened to witness the serious training Duke and Astrid
were doing and could not hide his laughter to himself.
“Professor? Ah, yes. I remember her highness saying
that you were teaching at the Knight Academy.”
“Yes. Professor is teaching us Manners and Ethics.”
“What!? Manners and Ethics? Now I see. The one
teaching the proper manners and conduct to the
incoming knights is His Highness. I see.”
- 68 -
- 69 -
Duke thought the world might really be ending
because the Academy chose to ask the worst example of
manners and ethics to teach it. And before Duke could
continue his comments, Leonhardt defended himself.
“I did not choose to teach the subject myself, for
your information. It was purely coincidence that it was
the only post available. Just think of it this way. I was able
to attend the Academy, not as a student, but a teacher.”
It has been a tradition in Sommevesle for her princes
to get education from the Knight Academy. However,
Leonhardt’s weak body did not allow him to take part in
the quite physical curriculum so he decided to attend the
Academy as a teacher. That showed the prowess of his
brain, by being recognized as a professor at the age of
fourteen.
“Anyway, Ane’ue’s Sir Knight, I am afraid it is
impossible and a complete waste of time to teach Astrid
that way to apologise. That would only work with your
extremely handsome face. There is a better way which
would fit his personality better.”
“What would that be?”
- 70 -
“Allow me to teach my former student for free on
this one. I may look like this but I am still a prince. Who
do you think escorted Ane’ue to all of those balls and
parties she attends? Yes, yes, yes. That would be me.”
Leti had always found rumours on who her lover was
extremely annoying so she attended social gatherings only
with her brother to stay clear of rumours. Now if
Leonhardt misbehaved in any form and danced lousily,
his feet had to bear Leti’s merciless attacks so he was
consciously aware to be a prince whenever he was
escorting his older sister.
“Ane’ue’s Sir Knight, you shall be the target. Astrid,
take a good look,” said Leonhardt as he took off his
glasses.
Leonhardt bumped into Duke lightly and before
Duke could say anything, he distanced himself
immediately, looked at Duke, and said, “I’m sorry. Are
you alright?”
Duke was rendered speechless for a moment.
Leonhardt delivered the line with an upward glance, an
apologetic look and a high-pitched voice of a boy yet to
- 71 -
have grown. It was an apology overflowing with charm
that no lady would be able to say anything else other than
she was all right. Duke knew Leonhardt was a handsome
lad if he took off his highly reflective glasses but could
not help but be surprised at how princely the Leonhardt
was in front of him.
“Wow! Professor looks so cute, just like a girl!” Astrid,
innocent and inexperienced about life, exclaimed the one
thing Duke consciously avoided.
The comment warranted Astrid a punishment
rendered personally by the offended. Leonhardt quickly
took from the desk a thick tome, most likely Leti’s, and
hit Astrid on the side of his head with its corner.
“If there is a man out there who would be glad to be
called cute, I tell you, he is nothing but a pervert. For this
kind of case, the best praise would be, ‘Just as expected
of Prince Leonhardt!’ Remember that Astrid because you
are kind of stupid.”
“Yes, sir...” came Astrid’s reply in reflex when
replying to someone of higher status when in fact he was
still in a daze due to the hard blow he received.
- 72 -
“You alright?” Duke asked worriedly.
“Yes...” replied Astrid as he shook his head to wake
himself up.
“Ah, Senpai4
, I took this from you a while ago.”
Astrid remembered that he took a sheet of paper
sticking out from Duke’s pocket but before he could
hand it over to his senior, Leonhardt stole it, scanned the
contents and sighed.
“You truly are the epitome of a serious, boring man,
aren’t you? And I was expecting something like
unfinished poetry, a blackmail threat, or a sketch of your
lover.”
“I am fine being a boring man, thank you.”
“Is that so? Here you go.” Leonhardt handed over
the paper to Duke.
“What was written inside?” Astrid asked curiously.
4 Senpai – a Japanese honorific used in addressing one’s senior
- 73 -
“A table of comparison between the social hierarchy
and titles of our kingdom and of other countries penned
by none other than Ane’ue. I understand that it is
something required for you to know as the future First
Seat Knight. Getting it wrong is nothing else except for
being rude. Right? Ahahaha”
Duke was seriously studying everything on that sheet
just as Leti had ordered.
Leonhardt had already come up with the conclusion
that he did not like the Duke who acts as if he is the one
who understands Leti the best. But other than that part
of him, Leonhardt actually likes him.
He is quite different from what I expected him to be,
Leonhardt regrettably whispered silently in his heart.
“Ack! I have to go back to camp! Please give my
regards to Her Highness!”
“Yes, yes, yes. Of course you may go.”
Astrid headed towards, not the door, but the window.
He stepped onto the window frame and before Duke
could stop him, he had already disappeared from the
- 74 -
window and a sound of nice landing was heard, leaving
his senior and his professor behind.
Leonhardt peeked out of the window Astrid jumped
off and whispered his amazement on Astrid’s superb
reflexes.
“He sure is something, isn’t he? I see you have a lot
of disciplining to do. Ahahaha. Oh, I just remembered
something I heard in the Order about him. The rumours
say that everyone in the Order is spoiling him because of
his skills. Is there any truth in it?”
“Spoiling?”
“Yes, like sparing him from writing the reports and
writing those for him? He is not smart so if you do not
let him do those things, he will stay an idiot. Why not
save him from idiocy now before it becomes too late for
him?”
Leonhardt was also familiar about the internal affairs
of the Order just like his sister, though in a different
sense. His being privy about the Order was probably
- 75 -
because of his position as a teacher in the Knight
Academy.
Hearing this internal information from Leonhardt, it
reminded Duke about a particular rumour on the
intelligent prince. That he conditioned his students to be
absolutely obedient to him and that even though they had
graduated from the Academy, they still worked for him,
like ants, bringing information to him about the Order.
“I shall let the higher-ups investigate your sources,
but let me say this. I am different compared to the
previous instructor. I am not spoiling Astrid in any way.”
“...I see. What do you do then?”
“I don’t spare him the reports. I make sure he passes
them. Then I would mark the corrections and ask him to
write it again legibly.”
Leonhardt faced Duke with an unconvinced look.
“So how exactly is that ‘not spoiling’ there? I cannot
see it. I never gave him any considerations in my subject.
Not even once. I gave all of his assignments an F, which
is what he rightfully deserved. It was the rightful mark to
- 76 -
be given to an assignment written in a code that could
not even be decoded by the Rosetta Stone. Oh, and by
the way, all of his assignments and tests were Fs.”
“Please wait. If everything was an F then how did he
pass and complete the required units to graduate from the
Academy?”
“I asked him to take a supplementary exam as a final
resort. I changed the format from written to oral and he
passed it. I think the problem is with his abilities to
express himself, his linguistic capabilities. But I doubt
that can be solved since this is not his mother tongue.”
“You’re saying that we spoil him but don’t you think
you are also spoiling him, Your Highness?”
The two were busy debating on who was spoiling
Astrid more when Leti came into the room after she had
received the report from Johannes about the changes in
the security plan for Cornelia’s birthday. She already
heard the heated discussion between her younger brother
and her knight so she decided to call their attention,
dismay evident on her face.
- 77 -
“What pointless thing were you arguing about enough
to distress both of you? I could hear your voices from
outside. I am glad to leave if you wish to continue your
little debate.”
Leti was about to turn around and go out of the room
when Leonhardt stopped her.
“No, no, no, Ane’ue. We are not arguing at all. In fact,
we are on very good terms, aren’t we?”
“...Yes, we are on very good terms.” Duke
monotonously agreed since he was a mature adult.
It was the day for the party in celebration of the
birthday of Sommevesle’s Second Princess. To let her
younger sister, Cornelia, shine as she was the main
celebrant, Leti decided to wear a sombre lavender gown
but the edges were trimmed with white lace so the dress
created a charming image befitting a seventeen-year-old
young lady. Her hair was tied with a nearly transparent
ribbon sharing the colour of her dress and it was further
decorated with little white flowers symbolizing joy for the
- 78 -
celebration. For the final touches, she wore a set of
amethyst jewellery—a pair of earrings and a necklace,
which completed her gentle ensemble of lavender and
white. Leti, with all of her elegance and beauty, entered
the Great Hall just like a true princess from a fairy tale, and
this was even made more real with two knights, Duke and
Astrid, following her back.
“I wish you a happy birthday, dear Cornelia. You look
so wonderful.”
“Thank you Onee-sama 5
!” Cornelia gave Leti her
heartfelt thanks, not only for wishing her a happy
birthday but also for taking care of the preparations for
her party in place of her late mother. She was thankful for
having her older sister with her to celebrate this joyous
day.
Leti smiled gently to her younger sister and whispered
to her that next year would be grander since it would be
her debut to adulthood.
5 Onee-sama: Onee =Older sister | Sama = formal honorific for a
high person
- 79 -
Duke, looking at the young girl receiving greetings
from different people, could not help but have mixed
emotions for the young princess. This was because he
heard from Leti that on Cornelia’s thirteenth birthday
next year, she would not only have her social debut but
also the announcement of her engagement.
“An engagement at thirteen? Isn’t that too early?”
“That is what it means to be a lady in the Royal
Family. Cornelia had already met her fiancé once so it is
better compared to some who would be meeting the
person they are marrying at the wedding ceremony itself.
But more than that, I suggest you be more concerned
about your studies. “
A princess’s birthday meant that nobles who normally
are not present in the castle would attend. So, just as Leti
planned, this would be the perfect place to test how
much Duke has studied. He could leave the protection
duties to Astrid for now.
“A review on Lord Aufrecht. He is a marquis under
Guido’s faction and...” Leti prompted Duke to continue.
- 80 -
“...the father of Lady Eleanor, the fiancée of Prince
Guido.” Duke continued and searched for the marquis
with his eyes and found him chatting with another
marquis from Guido’s side. Leti followed Duke’s eyes
and checked that he was indeed looking at the right
person and nodded to show that he got it correctly.
“That was easy. I expected you to know that much.
Lady Eleanor is Lord Aufrecht’s daughter with his second
wife. He and his first wife did not have any children. Try
and search for Eleanor.”
Duke did as he was told and searched for a young
lady with soft-coloured chestnut hair. He directed his
eyes once again and told Leti that Eleanor was the kindlooking
lady happily chatting with Guido. Leti affirmed
her answer and added more information about the
Aufrecht House.
“Lord Aufrecht’s first wife was actually my aunt but I
did not have the chance to meet her since she died before
I was born. From what I heard, she had difficulty in
giving birth to their child and both she and their son,
which would have been my cousin, did not make it.”
- 81 -
Duke nodded and tried to remember this information.
“If my cousin lived, he would have been my fiancé.
Our ages were perfect you see. He would have been four
years older than me.”
“So if the child was a boy, he would have been your
fiancé. If the child were a girl, she would be Prince
Guido’s. Looks like it was Lord Aufrecht’s destiny to be
related to the Royal Family.” Duke gave this comment
without realizing that he was also destined to be
connected to the Royal Family based on the fact that he
received invitations from Friedhelm, Guido, and Leti, the
three eldest royal children, to be their knight.
“Your Highness, please accept my sincerest
congratulations for your sister’s, Her Highness’, Princess
Cornelia’s birthday.”
“Lord Borel, thank you.”
“The skies had been unfavourable these past few days
so I was a bit worried but I was glad to see the sun
shining this morning. Certainly, the Almighty is one with
us in celebrating Princess Cornelia’s birthday.”
- 82 -
“Yes, I, too, am glad for the good weather.”
As Leti was busy chatting with the earl, Duke tried to
recall information about him. The Borel family is
supposedly under the Guido faction but the atmosphere
between him and Leti was closer to that of allies friendly
chatting rather than enemies feigning cordiality. When
Borel left, Duke confirmed his thoughts with Leti.
“Lord Borel is under Guido’s faction, right?”
“I am glad you remembered. Yes, he is under Guido.
But he is a firm believer of the ‘Royal Family Faith’ so he
is on good terms with me as well. There is nothing wrong
in having a good relationship with him.”
Leti found Duke to be confused upon hearing ‘Royal
Family Faith’ so she added an explanation about it.
“The First King Christian is believed to be a son of
god. Therefore, his descendants, us, the Royal Family,
have inherited this sacred blood. Thus, this hobby of
overly revering the royal family is called the ‘Royal Family
Faith’.”
- 83 -
Leti consciously selected the words “hobby” and
“faith” to describe this certain belief to show that she was
neither a supporter nor a hater of the Royal Family Faith,
and was only a curious observer.
“So, if you say ‘Royal Family’, then does this mean he
is also on good terms with Prince Friedhelm?”
“Yes, he is. By lineage, he is under Guido but his
stance as a person is neutral. He was a very devoted
husband and was devastated with sadness when his wife
died. He was able to overcome that sadness of losing his
wife by clinging on to his faith in God. If the royal family
had any value, then maybe that was it.”
If the believers of the Royal Family Faith revere and
pray to the royal family as children of god, then it is the
task of the royal family to live according to the
expectations of the believers on how a royal should be.
Every child of the royal family has been educated to live
up to that.
“They believe that a princess should act like a
princess and a prince should act like a prince. It is a
reasonable demand.”
- 84 -
“And a queen should act like a queen?”
“Yes. I shall give Lord Borel a reign he wishes for
from a queen.”
After Borel’s greetings, the line of greeters for the
next queen did not grow any shorter. However, despite
the unending wave of people, Leti never mistook anyone
from someone else. She addressed each of them with
their names and titles. After each greeting, she would
share information to Duke about the lineage and recent
events about each greeter.
“...To be a royal means you’ve gotta have amazing
skills.”
Duke never had any difficulty with remembering
people’s names and faces, but even he felt overwhelmed
with the number of people giving their respects to Leti.
He was now not even sure if he matched the name with
the correct face. Somehow, he started dreading the review
Leti would throw at him during the evening ball tonight.
“...And contrary to our expectations, nothing’s
happening.”
- 85 -
The supposed target for the next magic circle incident,
Cornelia’s birthday party, ended without anything
untoward happening.
The Great Hall where Cornelia’s birthday party was
held underwent a transformation. The prettily decorated
hall by day was transformed into a grandiose ballroom for
the evening’s ball. The ladies swapped their conservative
dresses for elegant gowns with daring cuts emphasizing
more of their womanly charms. The innocent atmosphere
of the hall was gone and replaced with a more matured
tone, a true sign that the evening ball was a social party
for the adults.
“Duke, you do not have to return until you have
finished your assignment. I will be fine. Now go and talk
with the incumbent Knights of the Round, knights of
Seventh Heaven and Valkyrie, and the nobles on my side
whom I have introduced to you during the day,” ordered
Leti.
“Are you sure? There’s quite a lot of people on that
list.”
- 86 -
“Yes. Astrid will be here while you are gone. Tonight
is nothing but a hurdle as you are already acquainted to all
of them. Better prepare yourself now as I plan to drag
you around to meet all of the nobles living in the
kingdom.”
Duke nodded his understanding and exchanged looks
with his junior. Astrid was able to do well and did
everything that was taught to him all throughout the day
so Duke thought it was safe to leave Leti to him for a
while and left to complete his task.
Leti followed Duke with her eyes and once she saw
him talking to one of the current Knights of the Round,
she decided he would be fine and allowed her gaze to
scan the area.
Since she had already finished most of the obligatory
greetings during the afternoon party, all she had to do
was to finish the remaining ones and she could leave as
soon as it was acceptable. For now, she had to look for a
place to be her sanctuary because if she stayed in the
middle of the ballroom, Friedhelm would definitely get
hold of her and pester her with his husband
- 87 -
recommendations. She kept herself alert in search for the
perfect timing to run away from the crowd.
Leti, with Astrid behind her, went out to a balcony
located on the second floor to catch some of the night
breeze.
“Astrid, is the person you want to be your master in
attendance tonight?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Who? I can do the introductions for you.” Leti
thought of using her status as the princess to recommend
Astrid if his chosen master was high in hierarchy but the
young knight shook his head.
“I’m thankful for your offer but I think I should try
first and give my best. If that is not enough, then I’ll just
have to be better.”
“Very well then.”
- 88 -
Leti thought about Astrid’s future, considering what
she could do if his chosen master did not choose him.
Astrid may be a commoner but his abilities and skills are
enough for his name to reach Commander Johannes’s ears. They
might already be considering him as candidate to be the next
commander, but are having second thoughts because he is not of
noble descent.
Leti had in her power to grant a random title to
Astrid if his lack of it were to hinder him. It was a life she
saved once, she would help him however she could.
Now, if he could just surround himself with intelligent people...
Leti thought about the future as she leaned her back on
the handrail of the balcony.
“Ah, Senpai, you’re back.”
“Her Highness?” Duke asked, his voice signalling he
had finished his assignment.
“I am right here,” called Leti.
- 89 -
“I see our business for tonight is over. I did send him
an invitation but I did not see him so he most likely did
not come and had just sent someone else in his stead.”
Duke stood beside his master and asked her with a
puzzled look, “Him? Do you mean...”
Seeing her words made her knight think of something
she did not mean, she rephrased her words to clear
whatever misunderstanding might be forming inside his
head.
“No, not a lover, but a knight candidate. He is not
included in that list I gave you before but I have already
set my eyes on him. However, I should be careful about
the order, timing, and the factions to be successful in
getting him. Until then, all I can do is prepare an act on
how I can sell the position of being a Knight of the
Round at a higher price.”
A great-great-great...uncle once told Leti that men are
weak against dramatic productions so Leti thought of
taking advantage of that male psychology to bring her
next target down to his knees with her tears.
- 90 -
“To complete my ideal Knights of the Round, there
are people I need to be there no matter what. They may
even be harder to get than you were. Especially this one I
am planning to be by my fourth or fifth knight. I might
even need the whole kingdom to bring him down. In fact,
I have already asked Leon to find anything I can use for
it.”
“He is quite a big fish then, for you to be thinking of
ways to blackmail him this early.”
Leti did not seem to have any plans on simply
persuading her next target. She would not accept “no”
for an answer and to do that, she might even need the
kingdom as her back up. This was proof enough that this
man, whoever he might be, was not just an ordinary
person.
“I am quite looking forward to how the pleasure of
bringing a man down to his feet would fe...” Leti’s words
were cut short and she set her gaze at something.
Duke looked towards the direction Leti was looking
but he could not see anything wrong.
- 91 -
“...I can see clearly in the dark, how about you?” Leti
asked Duke, still staring at the same direction.
“I don’t know how clearly your clearly is but I’m
normal.”
“Then can you see the figure drawn on the floor of
the balcony over there. There is also something at its
centre.”
Duke squinted his eyes to shape out whatever Leti
was describing. He was at least able to see that there was
indeed something on the floor of the other balcony but
he could not see the drawing she described.
“Astrid, come here,” called Duke.
Astrid was standing on guard by the entrance of the
balcony and walked immediately towards Duke upon
hearing his call. Duke then asked him to look at the same
balcony and tell them what he saw.
“Hmmm...An animal? And yes, there seems to be
something drawn on the floor as well.”
- 92 -
“So it was not my imagination then. That, I think, is
our third magic circle and the offering this time looks like
a dog.”
“Are you sure!?”
Leti squinted her eyes and nodded at Duke’s question.
“Is there any chance we have missed this during the
day?” Duke suspected this was an oversight but Leti
though otherwise.
“The balconies were decorated with flowers during
Cornelia’s party. If this was already drawn during that
time, someone would have discovered this when the
flowers were cleared in preparation for the evening ball.”
But why?
The evening ball was a separate occasion and was in
no way connected to Cornelia’s party since she had yet to
make her debut. Therefore, if the target was truly the
“Royal Family”, a princess’ birthday party was the more
logical target since it was in celebration for a ‘royal child’
and not this regular social event.
- 93 -
“They might have changed their plans because of the
increased security during the day. But still...” Leti could
not even make a guess on what the reason behind this act
was and the only way to know it was to catch the
perpetrators and ask them directly.
“Anyway, the first course of action is to report this.
Astrid, go immediately to Commander Johannes.”
Protocol would require Duke and Astrid to report
this immediately to their commander. The knights of the
Order would then call off the ball and arrange a facilitated
evacuation where each knight would stand guard at all the
exits of the Great Hall. They would look like they were
guarding the guests when in fact they were already
searching who among them would have traces of blood
on them, which could make them the primary suspects.
Leti would have ordered the two knights with her to
follow the protocol, but, “Leave the report for later. The
perpetrators were able to draw the circle right under the
nose of the Order. I highly doubt that they would be so
careless to leave traces of blood on their clothes. We will
not be able to catch them if we simply go by the book.”
- 94 -
The criminal or criminals made their every move with
extreme caution that not even a clue as to who they were
was left in any of the sites of the magic circle incident.
Such a criminal would have easily prepared a change of
clothes in case they were dirtied with blood.
“It was a good thing I was the one who discovered
this first. I have a plan that could forestall theirs. Astrid,
go back to the first floor and shout that you have found
the magic circle. But you will not point towards the
balcony but rather towards the gardens in the opposite
direction.”
“Eh? I will tell a lie?”
“Not a complete lie. At least draw something that
would look like one and then draw the attention of the
people towards that direction. Duke, you shall stay with
me to observe what would be the reactions of the guests
when they hear Astrid.”
“So the person who would look towards the balcony
where the real circle is when Astrid shouts is our prime
suspect,” confirmed Duke.
- 95 -
Leti nodded and reaffirmed their plan. “Yes. The
normal reaction to Astrid’s announcement will be to
follow where he was pointing since they know nothing
about it. If there is anyone facing elsewhere, then that will
make him or her a suspect. We only have one moment
for this.”
Duke could remember in an instant who was standing
where. Once he found the odd balls, Leti could easily
identify them since she knew everyone in attendance.
“Astrid, take this with you. It will be too unnatural
for you to find the magic circle when you are not with me,
the person you are supposedly guarding. If anyone asked,
tell them I dropped my earring and I ordered you to
search for it,” Leti explained as she took off one of her
earrings and gave it to Astrid.
“Ain’t that a familiar excuse? How many times have
you used that again?”
“What are you saying? I just thought of it now.” Leti
smoothly shrugged off Duke’s questioning look and gave
her signal to commence their plan.
- 96 -
After he had finished the preparations, Astrid slightly
opened one of the doors leading inside the Great Hall to
peek inside. He looked at Leti and Duke who were
standing atop a stairwell to observe the guests. He sent
them a signal that he was ready and closed the door once
again. He counted to ten and pushed the door wide open
and shouted with a rattled expression, “Oh no! Everyone!
I found a cursed magic circle!”
“The cursed circle!”
“The third one!?”
The Great Hall buzzed in an instant. All of the guests
present at the birthday party were aware about the recent
magic circle incidents and it was the latest topic of
conversation among them. Now that the said circle had
made an appearance at this moment, everyone was either
surprised or curious, except, of course, the suspects who
did not face towards Astrid’s direction.
“I got three!” Duke instantly identified their probable
suspects and described where they were to Leti.
- 97 -
“The first one is on your left. The man wearing the
green coat standing near the third pillar. He reacted late
to Astrid’s announcement despite being near the door.”
“Lord Dumeier. The old baron has poor hearing so
his late reaction is nothing unnatural.”
“The other one is the lady wearing a dress with gold
trimmings. She is standing over there near the goddess
statue. She did not even turn to give Astrid a look.”
“The Countess Fach. She is a meek lady and is easily
frightened by things like this. I think it is safe to say she
was so scared when she heard about the discovery of the
circle and could not even move.”
Leti provided the identities, details, and possible
explanations for the actions of each of the suspect. For
the first two, Duke decided they were clean based on
Leti’s words.
“The last man is someone I also know. Lord Borel.
Only he, out of the three, faced towards the direction of
the balcony. He is standing over there, second pillar from
here, on our right side.”
- 98 -
Leti followed Duke’s direction and saw the earl
standing there, his expression, however, was already
mirroring the surprised reaction of the other guests.
“Lord Borel...” Leti did not expect him to be
involved in this. Borel was a royal family fanatic and he
would not fit in her initial theory about the royal family
being the target of the curse. He would not want to curse
the object of his veneration.
“He was also present during the tournament. His
knight was a participant and he was there as a spectator.
Considering his background, he might’ve been ordered by
someone to do this, since I doubt he’d do this out of his
own accord. And the only ones who could give the order
are...”
The Borel House was under Guido’s faction. The
only people that could have given the orders were Guido
or the family behind him, the Eulenbergs.
“So what now?”
Duke’s question was not asking Leti what she would
do now, but rather what she would do about this incident.
- 99 -
Would she leave this to the Order or would she keep on
investigating to find the truth? He was worried that if she
chooses to continue on, she might uncover a truth that
he would not want her to; the truth that her brother
Guido wanted to curse the entire royal family, including
his own mother.
“The act of ‘not knowing’ and ‘knowing but acting
otherwise’ looks the same to others but they have
different meanings for the actor. I would always choose
the latter no matter what the result might be. Besides, it is
not certain that my brother is behind this. There is a
possibility that the Eulenbergs are. If that will be the case,
then it is a good thing for me.”
Leti wanted materials she could use for threats or
blackmail when she ascends the throne, more so if it was
something like this, a failure by one of the families of the
Three Grand Marquises of Sommevesle.
“Anyway, the first thing I have to do is to talk
privately with Prince Guido. If I feign sickness, I am
certain he would allow me to use one of the empty rooms.
- 100 -
We could talk privately there. Duke, I would need you to
support my story.”
Leti shared with Duke the perfectly consistent story
she came up. It went like this.
The magic circle Astrid found at the garden was a
draft of the magic circle. Leti was the one who found the
true circles drawn at one of the balconies on the second
floor. She felt sick upon seeing the bloody dog corpse
used as the offering.
Duke went to his commander to give his report
containing ‘nothing but the truth’ and left the
investigation to the hands of the Order. After finishing
this, he searched for Guido to inform him about Leti’s
condition.
“Prince Guido, Her Highness does not seem to be
well. She did not want to cause a scene and asked if you
could lend a room for her to rest.”
Guido immediately nodded to Duke’s request and
went to Leti. He even lent his arm to his sister for
- 101 -
support and escorted them by himself towards a room
located at a quiet corridor.
Duke could not help but admire how marvellous of a
strategist his master was. Everything went smoothly and
exactly as she said. It was a waste she was a woman. The
Order could definitely find a use for her superb brain.
“I’ll go and fetch some water. Your Highness, would
it be alright to leave Her Highness with you for a while?”
Guido silently nodded. Duke left them after giving
Astrid a reminder in front of everyone.
“Astrid, stand on guard outside by the door.
Remember, you should not enter a room where a lady is
taking her rest even if you are her guard. Understood?”
“Yes sir!”
Duke’s reminder served both as an order to his overly
eager junior and as a warning to Guido’s Valkyrie to
prevent them from entering the room so that Leti could
have her private talk with Guido.
- 102 -
The room Guido escorted Leti was one of the rooms
prepared beforehand in case some guests felt ill or tired
during the ball. However, instead of letting her rest on a
couch near the door and easily visible outside, he led her
to the inner room, thinking she would be able to rest
better there.
“Leticia, are you truly alright?”
“Yes, thank you. I just feel a little nauseated.”
Leti replied, feeling a little guilty when she heard
worry from Guido’s voice. She continued acting sick and
lay down on the couch but still kept her eyes open. The
room was dimly lit and Guido, standing beside her, stared
at her.
“—Leticia.”
Guido’s voice sounded different. His tone was lower
than usual.
“Prince Guido...? I have something to ask you.” Leti
slowly got up from laying down but Guido stopped her
and held her shoulders. She could not even remember
when they have looked at each other’s face so closely.
- 103 -
The room was dark, but Leti, with her night eyes clearly
saw Guido’s expression.
“We look so similar, don’t we?”
“What would you expect? You are my brother and I
am your sister. It is natural for us to resemble each other.”
Slowly, the beautiful face inched closer and closer and
Leti felt something different from her brother. At that
moment, Leti did not feel he was her brother, but a man.
She grabbed Guido’s arm to stop him and create some
distance between them. Nevertheless, Guido tightened
his grip on her shoulders, as if in answer to her resistance.
What is he doing?
Had Guido not been her brother, Leti would have
either kicked him already or screamed at the top of her
lungs. However, she could not physically overpower him
to get him off her.
Leti’s sight was filled with nothing but steel-blue eyes
framed by golden hair that were so similar to her own.
Their gazes locked on each other and her mind was
swirling with confusion.
- 104 -
“W...Why?” Leti whispered with a hoarse voice, soft
but still loud enough to reach Guido’s ears. However, he
was not moved and kept on closing in their distance, with
strands of his golden mane caressing Leti’s cheeks.
WHY...NO...STOP! THIS SHOULD NOT BE!
“Onii-sama6
! Stop this!!”
“What the hell are you doing!!!”
Friedhelm entered the room at the same time Leti
screamed.
The scene that welcomed him was a dark room, his
younger brother pinning down his younger sister, who
was catching her breath.
Anyone who saw the scene could easily imagine what
was happening.
“Guido! Get off her! Leti is your sister! What were
you thinking?”
6 Onii-sama: Onii =Older Brother | Sama = formal honorific for a
high person
- 105 -
Guido slowly stood up and uttered not a word.
“Why won’t you answer?...Still nothing? Then answer
with this!”
Friedhelm took two swords hanging on the wall and
threw the other one to Guido. Guido caught it
effortlessly.
“This ain’t gonna cut you, but is damn strong enough
to break your bones. Leti, I’ll have you decide who’s
better between the two us right here, right now!”
Friedhelm raged. He did not even bother to hide his
contempt for his brother.
Friedhelm drew his sword and threw its sheath. He
was serious. Guido caught onto his meaning and
followed suit.
“W...wait! Stop this nonsense!”
The two princes were serious. If this went on, they
would not just end with grave wounds. Leti could already
see the imminent future fast approaching. She wished for
someone to come and help. She thought of her knight.
- 106 -
“Please stop this!”
As if Leti’s scream was their signal, the two princes
launched at each other and a metallic clash echoed across
the room. Leti unconsciously closed her eyes, fearing that
the unpleasant future she thought of would materialize in
front of her eyes. Then a voice spoke. It belonged to
neither of her brothers.
“...Senpai taught me it is rude to cause a ruckus inside
a room where a lady is resting.”
In between Friedhelm and Guido was a red-haired,
green-eyed young knight. He blocked Friedhelm’s sword
with his own and Guido’s with his knife. This young lad
had just prevented a national disaster from happening.
“You watchdog! Get your nosy ass off here or I’ll cut
your throat!”
“...Please, go ahead.”
Astrid was short so he was looking up to Friedhelm.
But his piercing green eyes were as if he was looking
down on the tall prince, threatening him, Try if you dare
‘cause there’s no way you could.
- 107 -
Seeing the worst had past, Leti appealed to Guido,
“Please, Guido Onii-sama! This is all just a
misunderstanding, right? Please, withdraw your sword.”
Leti wanted to ask Guido a multitude of questions
but decided it was best to first solve this case at hand. She
had to keep the situation in control.
“Your Highnesses, please slowly put your swords
down and withdraw,” Astrid prompted the two princes to
retreat.
“Guido should go first.”
Friedhelm already withdrew his sword but had yet to
put it down, glaring at his brother.
Guido, without uttering a word, picked up the sheath
of his sword, and closed it. He threw the sheathed sword
to Astrid and went out of the room.
“Oi, Leticia, is this really a misunderstanding?”
“Yes. I was taking a break from the ball and Prince
Guido was only checking on me. Please, believe that for
now.”
- 108 -
Friedhelm did not say anything else and left the room.
He chose to believe his sister’s words for this incident,
but that did not mean his anger had dissipated and the
heavy wooden door had to bear the brunt of it.
When her brothers left and the room regained its
silence, Leti’s strength left her knees and she fell down on
the couch.
“Your Highness! Are you alright!?”
“Just surprised...Thank you for stopping them. If not
for you blood might have been...”
“Uhm...Your Highness, please forgive me for letting
Prince Friedhelm inside. He said he was worried you were
going have a secret meeting with Prince Guido so he had
to stop it at all costs. I thought it was alright since he was
family.”
“No, don’t be sorry. If Prince Friedhelm did not
come...” who knows what would have happened.
Although it would most likely end as an attempt since
Leti would have summoned the Knight Sword and
- 109 -
rendered Guido unconscious. Leti let out a deep, deep,
deep sigh.
Astrid was kneeling in front of her when he felt
something strange with Leti. Upon further observation,
he felt the same impurity during the day of the
tournament. He gathered up his courage to speak about it.
“Your Highness, may I ask you something?”
“If that is about Prince Guido, do not even bother.
Even I do not know the answers.”
“Ah, no, this might be something different, but I’m
not sure. I think that because of the Sword of White
Light Your Highness granted me, I am now able to sense
impurities around me. I sensed some before on your hair
that was stained by the bird’s blood during the first magic
circle incident.”
Leti remembered that day well since that was when
she kicked Astrid out of her room and called him a
mongrel. Now, she understood that he was trying to sniff
out the impurities - or the black scent as he called it then.
- 110 -
“I can also sense it again around your arms and
shoulders. Didn’t Prince Guido touched you on those
parts?”
Leti spoke nothing but her silence meant affirmation
to his question. Guido indeed grabbed her on the
shoulders.
The impurity from the blood from the magic circle
and the impurity from Guido’s touch were the same.
“...Maybe, maybe His Highness is related to this
incident,” Astrid stated his hypothesis calmly.
Leti wanted to deny Astrid’s hypothesis, but there
were far too many pieces fitting if Guido indeed played a
role in this situation.
One, she met him at the site of the first circle a few
nights ago.
Two, he was uncharacteristically persistent in chasing
after information about this case and kept on asking
about the progress from Leonhardt and Commander
Johannes.
- 111 -
Lastly, Borel, the only one who knew where the third
circle is, was under his faction.
Leti’s head was swirling between understanding and
disbelief.
“Give me your orders and I shall investigate on this
case, Your Highness.”
Astrid did have the Sword of White Light and it holds
the ability to counter curses. Add to that his abilities and
skills acquired from being a former assassin, and he was
the best man to do this investigation.
“I see. But even if you have the Sword, you are not
my knight and I cannot order you to do things on my
behalf. Thank you for the information but I will take care
of this now.”
Leti did save Astrid, but she did not want him to feel
indebted to her. He was just a hired temporary knight;
she did not plan to use him more than that.
“Then, please let me return this to you. This is
effective against curses, and, there’s the matter with
- 112 -
Prince Guido. Please take the Purifying Sword and use it
for your protection,” pleaded Astrid.
“Astrid, the Sword would already be useless even if
you return it to me. It is already your power and I can no
longer use it.”
A knight’s investiture done in the name of the Knight
King meant that the Knight King is dividing his powers to
his knight. Whenever he grants a Sword of Promise to his
knight, his power is lessened.
Leti was aware of this fact so she initially did not have
any plans on granting any of the Swords. Even the brave
and strong Lion King Alexander and the One-armed
King Oswald living in a time of war did not let go all of
the Swords of Promise.
“No way...” Astrid was dumbfounded upon learning
the true meaning behind the Sword and what Leti did for
him.
Leti placed her hand on Astrid’s shoulder to stop him
from blaming himself.
- 113 -
“Astrid, we humans are weak. There will always be
times when we have to cling onto something to keep
standing. For some it is God, for others it is their master,
king, or lovers. It can be anyone or anything.”
Lord Aufrecht lost his wife and son but he continued
on to love his second wife and their child and found
happiness with them. Lord Borel also lost his wife but
found solace in his faith in God and in the kingdom.
“As for me, I hold on to the fact that I am a
reincarnation of the Knight King. It is because of that
fact that I was able to accept my fate as the next queen
and do whatever I could to prepare for it. As for you, you
can make it as the Sword of White Light. It can be your
centre, your source of strength. Use its light as your guide
whenever you feel like darkness is swallowing you up.
That is the reason I gave you that sword.”
Leti’s gentle voice echoed in Astrid’s heart. He looked
up and faced the princess with determined eyes. “I will,
Your Highness,” his voice was soft, yet strong.
Satisfied with his answer, Leti let go of Astrid’s
shoulders and dismissed him.
- 114 -
“I am a bit tired. I shall rest here for a while. Stay on
guard by the door and inform me when Duke returns.”
“Shall I light up some more candles?”
“No, this is just perfect to do some thinking.”
Astrid stood up and closed the door of the inner
room.
Leti reclined on the couch, closed her eyes and
recalled the events of the day. Too many things had
happened that she wanted to shout.
Guido made an attempt on her. Her two brothers
nearly killed each other. Guido might be the one drawing
the circles.
“Guido Onii-sama, if you truly are the one behind
this, then who are you cursing?” Leti whispered into the
dark.
