Chapter 43

"Then, what do you want to do, Princess Einhorn?"

"Huh? What?"

"It seems I’ve caught you. Do you still want to give me a ‘zamaa’ (a comeuppance)? Or, rather, do you even intend to do it?"

At my question, Princess Einhorn, perhaps remembering what she had said, looked at me, trembling.

"What will you do after you give me a ‘zamaa’? In a novel, the cheating fiancé who picks a fight with the ‘villainess’ gets his comeuppance, suffers terribly, and the ‘villainess’ gets a proposal from a handsome and wonderful hero, marries him, and lives happily ever after. But this is the real world, so it won’t go that way. After giving a ‘zamaa’ to me, who isn’t even your fiancé, what will happen? What...?"

"The Marquess Fulftbahr and the Markovius family won’t just sit quietly and accept it, will they?"

With an expression that seemed to ask, "What are you talking about?" Princess Einhorn looked at my face.

"When I come of age, I will become Albert Markovius. Eventually, I will become the head of the Markovius family, which means I will succeed the Marquess Fulftbahr, the administrator of the Unreturning Forest. You understand what that means, right?"

The army that Fulftbahr possesses is specialized in hunting magical beasts, but that doesn’t mean they can’t wage war. They might not be good at fighting humans, but if they think of humans as magical beasts, the war will be even more brutal.

Most importantly, if the instigators and their associates are silenced, there’s no need to wage a costly war.

The Markovius family, which has Attentita as a vassal, can do that, but Princess Einhorn doesn’t seem to understand this.

Ah, in other words, you haven’t investigated what kind of family my mother’s family is. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have such a sense of crisis.

"Got it, got it, I understand. Then, let me phrase it this way. After you give me a ‘zamaa,’ will Princess Einhorn marry Ignatius? How?"

"How...?"

"You don’t know, but that kid is quite a big brother complex. Even if you tell Ignatius my bad things here, I think he... well, it’s hard to imagine, but I think he would get angry."

If he finds out that I’m doing sports and studies with Nebel and Hilda, he would get jealous and confront me. Would he take your word for it just because you told him my bad things?

Ignatius isn’t that simple and stupid.

"At the very least, he won’t take Princess Einhorn seriously. After all, he’s already quite wary of you, right?"

Even without knowing her intentions, Ignatius was wary of her. Ignatius is quite perceptive about such things.

The fact that Ignatius shows no interest in the foster brothers and attendants prepared for him suggests there’s something going on. After all, they seemed to be there for some purpose. I should report about Ignatius’s foster brothers and attendants to the Queen and the Chancellor.

"I, I..."

Thinking about Ignatius, Princess Einhorn shed large tears.

"S, so... what?"

"This isn’t a neatly wrapped-up world like the last few lines of a novel. Have you thought about what will happen next and are you prepared to take responsibility for it?"

"Responsibility?"

"The responsibility for an internal conflict. The responsibility for Einhorn being ravaged by Fulftbahr."

By the way, he also thought that the mess caused by his former attendants was no big deal. Why was he so carefree and thought so lightly about things? He probably thought that since no one died, it wasn’t a big deal. But even without killing me, considering the extent of what was done, someone would have to take responsibility and hang themselves to settle the matter. He didn’t think that far.

Princess Einhorn is the same.

She hasn’t thought about what will happen after she gives me a ‘zamaa.’

"Internal conflict?! Why would such a thing...?"

As I silently stared at Princess Einhorn, she closed her mouth halfway through.

You think it won’t happen, right? Or you haven’t thought that far.

"Do you think it won’t happen?"

"W, well, I... don’t know."

"I see, you don’t know. That’s a problem."

"I just wanted to give a ‘zamaa’ coolly like in a novel, and then, be with the person everyone envies, and then..."

"And then?"

"...It’s not, the end."

"It’s not the end."

Because we’re alive.

Life doesn’t just end there, right?

"Shall we make it homework?"

At my words, Princess Einhorn blinked repeatedly.

"Today’s apology. You realized the difference between the novels you know and this real world. And you came to apologize because you realized that the cause of my flawless bad reputation was your own actions, and that if you did something to the royal family, it would bring trouble to the Einhorn family."

That’s how it should have gone.

"But deep down, you were captivated by the idea of giving a ‘zamaa’ and wanted to do it. Without understanding the situation of this Kingdom of Laave and what the two dukes and four marquesses are responsible for, you wanted to give me a ‘zamaa’ without thinking about the consequences."

No matter how much you’re a reincarnated person and not a child of your apparent age, what you’re doing is really projecting yourself into novels and situations you know and dreaming. It’s really dangerous.

"I’m not saying all nobles, but first, the roles of the Markovius family and Fulftbahr. And what happened four years ago at the palace, you can ask your father. If you want to know more, you can ask the Chancellor. I’ll put in a word for you."

I think that even if you apologize without understanding, Princess Einhorn won’t realize what she was about to do.

"Will you study all of that? After you understand, let’s have another meeting. I’ll put this apology on hold."

Princess Einhorn is a bit dreamy, but unlike someone else, if she learns about the situation and the balance of power among the nobles, I think she can think about the future properly.

So I want her to study and understand what she was about to do and what would happen as a result.

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