I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel - Chapter 42

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

◈ I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel ◈

Chapter 42: New Semester (2)

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There was a saying in my previous life.

-What matters is an unbreakable heart.

Considering what made that phrase popular, it meant that if your heart truly didn't break, you could do anything.

"So, I have no regrets now."

Put another way, once your heart broke, even things you could have done became impossible.

Senior Lorellia's romance was over!

Because she had cleanly given up on it herself!

"Well, there wasn't any love to begin with. There was barely anything to regret."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, it had been a political engagement.

I'd forgotten because I'd been watching a blazing one-sided crush up close.

"Honestly, when I was defeated by force, I thought I'd still try a little harder. But to reform the Holy Kingdom alone just because she witnessed something... I never imagined it."

There was no lingering sadness over giving up her fiancé in Senior Lorellia's quiet laugh.

She looked genuinely happy.

"To see injustice and refuse to back down. Isn't that exactly what a Saintess should be?"

"Not really."

"...Isn't it?"

Senior Lorellia looked at me awkwardly after my immediate answer.

"Yeah."

Even if she was my senior, wrong was wrong.

Maybe if Daisy were a Hero, but what could a Saintess do just by refusing to back down from injustice?

"Daisy is the weird one. Ordinary Saintesses can't do something like that."

I'd wondered whether Saintesses were exceptionally gifted people who doubled as Heroes, so while I was in the kingdom, I gathered every bit of information I could find about past Saintesses.

Here, I had to look through everything myself. Back in the kingdom, I only had to submit a request to the Instructors, and they organized it for me.

And I confirmed it.

Saintesses originally filled exactly the role I knew.

There had occasionally been Saintesses talented with swords or magic.

But history had never seen anyone like Daisy, who judged the wicked with an insanely awesome sword of light.

"That's... true."

Senior Lorellia seemed to want to argue, but even after agonizing over it for a while, she couldn't come up with a rebuttal.

"Anyway. Personally, I've acknowledged Daisy. And politically, I've given up the fight too."

Senior Lorellia muttered with a slight pout, as if that part displeased her.

Still, what she said was no small matter.

"I'm surprised you gave up politically too."

It didn't just mean she had given up. Her family had given up as well.

House Jeyka seemed to have invested heavily in Prince Essid.

And they were throwing all of that away?

"They judged the Saintess's value to be greater. Rather than fight the Saintess over Prince Essid, they decided it would be better to help the two of them and get what they could from it."

Was this the dignity of a great house?

Even from the outside, their investment had looked considerable.

Prince Essid might have been far from the imperial succession, but they had ignored all their sunk costs and looked toward the future.

"That doesn't mean we'll break off the engagement, though. For a while, I'll remain his fiancée."

"What? Why?"

The Flame-Slinger, who had been half out of her mind ever since hearing that Senior Lorellia had given up, finally came to her senses.

Or was she still out of her mind?

What an obvious question.

"There's no reason to take a loss."

"That's right."

If House Jeyka announced the broken engagement, they would lose everything they had invested.

But if Prince Essid broke it off, they could recover part of that investment.

It wouldn't be because there was something wrong with Senior Lorellia.

It would be because Prince Essid had fallen for another woman and chosen to end the engagement.

Normally, rumors might spread through high society that she had lost to another woman.

But Daisy was like a natural disaster now, so everyone would accept it.

"But there's one big problem, Senior."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Will Daisy... choose Prince Essid?"

"...Wouldn't she normally?"

Question filled Senior Lorellia's wide eyes.

Naturally, he was still an imperial prince, even if he stood somewhat far from the throne.

The ancient imperial succession wars, where brothers slaughtered one another, hadn't happened for ages.

Once the next emperor was chosen, the remaining siblings formed ties with suitable houses and left the imperial palace.

The sibling who became emperor also granted them suitable authority and power.

Imperial blood was such a sweet prize that House Jeyka had targeted Prince Essid to gain it.

Daisy, the daughter of a mere baron from a small frontier house, had no reason to refuse.

That was the ordinary way of thinking.

"Daisy probably won't."

She was the heroine of a romance fantasy novel.

If she chose her lover based only on status, Tinky Winky would never have witnessed that whole mess.

"Uh, well. Then..."

"You'll be engaged for quite a while."

"..."

Senior Lorellia's mouth closed.

She seemed to have realized that romance was off-limits until Prince Essid's love life worked out.

"...How are things going with His Highness's love life?"

That was why she demanded information from the spy I had bought in advance.

"He's doing nothing but fumbling around."

I gave her the information I knew exactly as it was.

* * *

Fortunately, the members of the Imperial Academy Romance Alliance could remain unchanged.

Only Senior Lorellia's position, as one of the people involved in the romance, had changed.

"I need to help Prince Essid and Junior Marie's romance."

She would be working in a support position, just like me.

"S-Senior..."

Senior Lorellia hugged the moved Flame-Slinger and said, "It helps me too. Noble young ladies who enter the Academy usually marry later, but... most of them still find their match before then."

If Prince Essid didn't break off the engagement by the time Senior Lorellia graduated from the Academy, she would have to choose one of three options.

Give up on recovering House Jeyka's investment in Prince Essid.

Or give up on romance.

Otherwise...

"If they don't end up together, couldn't you just wait it out and marry him?"

She could wait it out and aim for marriage.

"Like I said earlier, I've given up on the engagement. I'd rather give up the investment and break it off than wait around like an opportunist."

I nodded at her firm voice.

"Then we're enemies."

"Enemies?"

"I'm backing the Little Sword Emperor."

"Oh?"

When I confidently revealed my pick, Senior Lorellia smiled as if she found it interesting.

"I've heard Junior Asran, called the Little Sword Emperor, is a good person. But compared to an imperial prince, he can't help but fall short."

"If my racehorse wins in that situation, it'll be a perfect victory no one can deny."

"How interesting. But it'll be difficult to overcome House Jeyka's support in the Empire."

"I've been preparing for this steadily for a while."

There was the unexpected variable that there were more single people than I'd expected, but I had been setting up the Little Sword Emperor's romance route through people connected to the Instructors since before summer break began.

If we pushed him during the various event periods starting in the second semester...

It might be difficult to pair deadweight Asran with Daisy, but I was confident I could raise his affection rating by around twenty percent.

"This will be fun."

Senior Lorellia smiled competitively at my confidence.

Come to think of it, she'd been burning with competitiveness toward Daisy from the first time I met her.

"You're more combative than the rumors said."

"I tend to avoid fights I can avoid. But when I have no choice but to fight, I might as well win."

For someone who said that, she seemed to fight every time.

"Right. If you're going to fight, you should win."

"Exactly. So... our Junior Marie should win too, shouldn't she?"

At Senior Lorellia's words, the Flame-Slinger looked away.

Damn it.

"That one doesn't look promising at all."

The Flame-Slinger lowered her head at my words.

It looked like she knew it too.

"...Is it that bad?"

Senior Lorellia frowned.

"She doesn't have the confidence to make the first move."

"She courageously challenged Daisy last time."

"And lost."

"I lost too."

Well, I understood that there was nothing anyone could do when the opponent was Daisy.

"That's why I told her to go after the man, but she has no intention of moving."

If she couldn't beat Daisy, she only needed to directly attack that magic-slinging prince.

The problem was that our Flame-Slinger couldn't do that.

"Hm. Freezing up in front of the person you like. I honestly don't understand it. If you like someone, can't you just say so?"

Senior Lorellia looked at the Flame-Slinger as though she couldn't understand either.

The Flame-Slinger's head lowered even further.

At this rate, she was going to slam her forehead into the floor.

"By the way, you're awfully confident for someone who says it was a loveless engagement."

"Am I?"

"Senior. Be honest. You've never dated anyone, have you?"

"I've been engaged to the imperial family since I was seven. How could I date?"

She couldn't.

"I admit it."

"Well, even aside from that, I haven't exactly lived in an environment where romance was easy to consider."

"Aren't you popular?"

Even Tinky Winky had praised her endlessly, so she must have had plenty of people around her.

And considering her status, it was inevitable that people gathered around her.

"I am popular. But most of them only want ties with my family."

"That's still popularity."

"Hm. It may sound strange coming from someone in a political engagement, but if I ever date someone, I want to meet someone who truly loves me, not my status."

"You're quite the maiden at heart."

"Can't you see? I am a maiden."

She smiled, grasped the hem of her skirt, and turned in a circle. It was needlessly elegant.

Was this what a noble young lady from the Empire's greatest house was like?

"I admit it."

The only women around me were the wild Princess Hestia, Senior Lucia, who kept handing in resignation letters, modern possessor Violet, and Daisy, who looked like she could beat me in a fistfight.

I had no choice but to acknowledge these perfect noble-lady skills.

"Then, maidenly Senior Lorellia."

"Yes, young Junior Adam."

"First, please reform this Flame-Slinger who couldn't even manage to be a maiden."

"All right. No, before that. Calling her a Flame-Slinger is a little... Don't you plan to change it?"

"She can't do anything but sling flames."

"Eek!"

The Flame-Slinger glared at me as if it were unfair.

"If you don't like it, succeed at romance."

"Y-you can't either!"

"It's not that I can't. I choose not to."

Who was it that said it?