Chapter 34

【Chapter Seven】

Queen Ilmela of Abianoya stood with a deep sense of urgency.

"---So? Have you found the magic item I ordered this time?"

"Please forgive me, Your Highness Ilmela. Even we, who can gather the finest items from around the world, find it difficult to meet your expectations..."

The merchant, summoned to this place, repeated the same words as he had a week ago. Ilmela, resisting the urge to scratch her throat, confronted the merchant.

"Enough with your excuses. I made it very clear that 'today is the deadline.'"

"Please... The item you seek, one that can take a life and completely erase all traces of magic from the corpse, is extremely specialized..."

Feeling a hidden meaning in the merchant's defense, Ilmela's blood began to boil.

"...Show me what you've brought!! You couldn't possibly come here empty-handed after I've given you my attention!!"

"As you wish, Your Highness..."

The frightened merchant pointed to a wooden box at his feet and took a step back. Ilmela grabbed the velvet-lined wooden box and spilled its contents onto the marble floor.

(What is this...! They're all useless items!!)

Even as she sifted through the scattered items, she couldn't find anything satisfactory. Ilmela had knowledge and could tell the effects of most magic items at a glance.

(Why am I crawling on the floor, doing this...! What a despicable commoner. From before she was born, to the present day where she has been abandoned by His Majesty, she is nothing but an eyesore...!!)

The image of Princess Claudia, the country's princess, came to Ilmela's mind.

Her large, pale golden eyes and fine, milk tea-colored hair. Her appearance was very similar to that of the beautiful songstress whom Ilmela had seen only once.

She was the complete opposite of Ilmela, who was disliked for her bad eyes and gloomy face.

(...A commoner should not bear royal blood.)

Six years ago, Ilmela used this as a pretext to take action.

She had a fake crystal prepared and made it show that Claudia had no magic. The songstress had died during childbirth, and this news was reported simultaneously.

Folkhardt merely said, "I see," as if it didn't matter.

Ilmela felt a dark joy and relief and arranged for Claudia's exile.

Since then, for several years, Claudia's existence occasionally crossed her mind, but otherwise, it was a peaceful time.

(The great western nation of Clingate, which has been tense for years, is now forming an alliance with this country... With this alliance, Folkhardt no longer needs my homeland, Magnonia...)

Folkhardt and Ilmela were a political marriage to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Therefore, with a new ally, Folkhardt no longer needed Ilmela.

There was no point in filling the important position of 'Queen' with someone from the Magnonia royal family. Folkhardt would likely want to vacate the position of Queen for a new political marriage.

However, Magnonia is still a great nation.

Divorcing her for this country's reasons and turning her into an enemy would not be a wise move.

So Folkhardt is now trying to expose the crime Ilmela committed six years ago.

If he uses this as a pretext for divorce, Folkhardt will lose nothing. On the contrary, he can welcome a new Queen and even demand compensation from Magnonia.

And Ilmela will be exiled and punished in her homeland, possibly with execution or imprisonment.

(If that happens, what about Emilia...?)

Thinking of her beloved daughter, Ilmela shuddered.

For her daughter's sake, she absolutely cannot lose everything here.

(Ah, how despicable...!! Six years ago, I acted solely on the feeling of 'dislike,' and now it is choking me...!!)

But no matter how much she regrets it, it's too late. The only thing Ilmela can do now is to stick to that lie.

(Why? Why is this happening? Fortunately, Claudia really had no magic, didn't she?)

Folkhardt must have seen it too. The crystal Claudia touched during the re-evaluation showed no reaction.

(Why, then, did His Majesty...?)

At that time, Folkhardt, sitting in a special seat under a canopy, smiled with interest.

(Claudia has no magic. That is absolutely certain. But I have a strange feeling... I need to kill her quickly and erase any traces of magic from her corpse...!!)

Ilmela did not have much magic.

Of course, as a royal, she had more than a commoner, but compared to the nobility who had historically married for their magic, her amount was notably small.

Ilmela's own magic was not enough. That's why she summoned the merchant who was present at Claudia's birth and had him gather magic items.

However, it seemed unlikely that such an item existed.

As her anxiety grew, she noticed a small necklace-like object among the scattered items.

"...What is this?"

"! T-that is..."

The pale merchant revealed its purpose in a low voice.

"..."

Hearing the effect, Ilmela was somewhat intimidated.

But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed that using this item was the only way.

(Is such a thing forgivable? ...It's a foolish question, it's not forgivable!! Ah, but there's no other way...)

Clutching the necklace, Ilmela swallowed hard.

"Your Highness. With all due respect, to activate this magic item, Your Highness's magic may not be sufficient..."

Though the suggestion was difficult to make, it was not a significant problem.

(There is a way. If I wait for tomorrow's night party and bring this inside...)

***

"Very cute, Princess Claudia!"

As evening fell, Claudia was surrounded by adult maids at the vanity in her private room in the castle.

"The pale dress suits you so well!"

"Hehe. Thank you."

"You look like a flower fairy. Look, if you hold this teddy bear... Oh, you're so adorable, I want to make a portrait of you right now...!! I hope you'll wear this dress next time too."

"This one is also hard to give up. You can wear any outfit so well, no amount of dresses would be enough."

The maids tried on various outfits on Claudia and giggled.

(All the dresses are indeed well-designed. High-quality clothes keep coming one after another.)

Just a month ago, Claudia was neglected by the tower maids.

The maids probably couldn't even imagine that Claudia was ignored and left alone, with no one even knowing the color of her eyes.

(But I'm a bit bored... Ah...)

Sitting in front of the vanity, Claudia stifled a yawn and buried her mouth in the back of the teddy bear's head.

The maids, seeing this, whispered in very low voices.

"She's so cute. If she had magic, she would have been a famous princess, wouldn't she? It's a shame..."

"Shh. Even if you say that, it can't be helped. Being born without magic is something that can't be changed."

Thanks to magic, Claudia could hear their whispers. But to her, it didn't matter, and the maids didn't think she could hear them.

(I've also gathered information about the castle and learned a lot from the maids. All I need to do is show Noah off at the night party and get my brother and sister interested in him.)

This would be for Noah's future.

"Well, Princess. How would you like your hair done?"

"Should we tie it up with a ribbon? Or a twin tail? A half-up style would also be lovely."

"..."

Hearing this, Claudia thought.

"Yesterday, you just did a simple braid."

"Please, let us do it tonight. We can do any kind of braid you want."

They usually took care of her older sister, Emilia.

They would likely do a very cute hairstyle for Claudia, even without magic.

"..."

But Claudia shook her head.

"My hair is fine as it is."

"Princess?"

Claudia's hair, fine and milk tea-colored, was left loose.

It wasn't tied or braided, and not even a ribbon was attached.

"I'm going to the night party with this hair!"

"But the dress and shoes are so beautiful..."

"Yes, but it's fine!"

Claudia hopped off the chair, twirled her dress, and said cutely.

"My hair is only right when Noah does it."

"Oh my..."