Chapter 73

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

"Prince Jinklett, I am Lana Kolts, one of your potential fiancées."

The one who made such a bombshell statement during their first meeting was Lana Kolts, the eldest daughter of the Kolts Duke family of the Nalys Kingdom. With her black hair, emerald eyes, and a figure that defied her age of 18, she was a dazzling and seductive beauty. She was three years older than me. Would I grow to be like her in three years? There was only despair.

After welcoming Prince Rolf, we moved to the reception room to entertain him along with Prince Kanam and the entire Marita royal family and their fiancées. There, a beauty surrounded by many maids and attendants sat gracefully. We all stared at her in shock.

The beauty greeted the stunned king elegantly and asked, "I have a lot of luggage. Where is my room?" She was the first person I had ever seen who embodied the phrase "thick-skinned and shameless."

Unable to ignore the daughter of a prestigious duke family from a friendly kingdom, the king, with his temples twitching, had a room prepared for her. The king glared at Prince Rolf, but Prince Rolf had a blank expression.

Lana was allowed to join the reception as a guest from the Nalys Kingdom. She sat there as if she were the hostess. Oh no, the queen's smile is scary. Despite the smile, the pressure is intense. The Crown Princess Luna narrowed her eyes, Princess Hannah, the fiancée of Prince Alan, smiled deeper, and Princess Saria, the fiancée of Prince Lute, frowned. She had turned all the Marita royal women into enemies in an instant. Impressive, in a way.

As for me? I've been in combat mode since her first statement about being a potential fiancée. I'll stand up to you, damn it.

To summarize the self-important and boastful story that Lana told without anyone's consent:

The Kolts Duke family is a noble lineage descended from the sister of the great-grandfather of Prince Rolf, the former king of Nalys. So, Prince Rolf and Lana are cousins?

Furthermore, Lana herself is an excellent magician who graduated from the Nalys Kingdom's academy with outstanding grades and participated in Prince Kanam's escort mission due to her remarkable abilities.

By the way, this escort mission was not offered by anyone. "I joined voluntarily because of my excellence," she said. Hmm. Isn't that just saying she came along without permission?

Anyway, I looked her up and down.

So, you're a magician on an escort mission, right? You're wearing a luxurious dress with many jewels sewn onto it. Can you really fight in that?

Magicians' battles, I know from my experience in the Glass Forest extermination team, are not about standing still and calmly casting spells. You have to run around, ensuring your safety while responding to the movements of monsters and the front-line fighters, and cast spells. Sometimes, you even get caught up in friendly fire.

During the journey from the Nalys Kingdom to the Marita Kingdom, even with the use of monster-repelling incense, there should have been monsters. Could she really have fought in such a cumbersome outfit? She would probably scream if a branch caught on the lace of her dress.

"Lana, it is disrespectful to claim to be a potential fiancée of a foreign royal family without permission. You haven't even obtained permission from the King of Nalys. Please retract your statement."

In response to Prince Rolf's reprimand, Lana smiled confidently.

"Oh, I got carried away with my admiration for Prince Jinklett. I apologize. But it's fine, isn't it? There is no one more suitable to be a princess than me."

There's something very off about this. No matter how prestigious a duke's daughter she is, isn't she being too disrespectful to the current royal family, especially Prince Rolf, who is the king's younger brother? Prince Rolf sighed at Lana's words but didn't reprimand her harshly. He looked like he had swallowed a hundred bitter bugs.

I wondered about the power dynamics as I looked at Prince Rolf, and our eyes met. Suddenly, he winked at me playfully. Light and charming!

While I shuddered at the handsome wink, Lana gazed at Jinklett with a sticky, intense look.

"I have accumulated a lot of practical experience through the academy's exercises and have achieved excellent grades. I can be of great help in monster extermination."

Is she trying to appeal to Jinklett's taste, who is known as a "monster enthusiast," by emphasizing her excellent magical abilities? Jinklett isn't a battle fanatic, though. Noblewomen with territories are expected to be capable of using magic in battle. While women rarely go to the front lines, those with high magical power are welcomed as marriage partners because they are more likely to bear children with strong magical power.

"Miss Kolts, I already have a fiancée."

Jinklett replied with a cold, expressionless gaze, but Lana didn't back down.

"Oh, I've heard it's only a provisional engagement. The other party is a commoner, right?"

Lana snorted disdainfully. In fact, Jinklett and I are still provisionally engaged because my adoptive family hasn't been decided yet. The battle between Grandpa Sand and Lord Kailart is still ongoing, with Lord Kailart in the lead. The king is expected to make a decision soon.

Lana smiled nastily from behind her fan and looked at me.

What is it? I stared back, and Lana, with a dramatic air of importance, said kindly:

"Prince Jinklett, you mustn't be deceived. This commoner might be pretending to be a weak child to elicit your protective instincts... but she is actually a notorious criminal."

Her voice was sticky and poisonous, like a predator toying with its prey.

"A criminal?"

Jinklett raised an eyebrow in displeasure. Lana nodded vigorously, stood up gracefully, and dramatically raised her fan, pointing it at me.

"Yes! A criminal! This woman is the former saint who attempted to murder a high-ranking noble's daughter in the Daido Kingdom!"

If this were a drama, there would be a dramatic sound effect. Unfortunately, it was silent, so it lacked impact.

Silence enveloped the reception room.

An awkward, unbearable atmosphere. From somewhere, a sound of someone choking back a laugh came. Surprisingly, it was Prince Alan.

Lana looked triumphant. ...Someone, please tell her. She's announcing it proudly, but everyone already knows, right? And she looks ridiculous with her nose flaring and her face contorted.

"So what? I already know all of that."

Jinklett looked at Lana as if she were a bug on the street. His straightforward words without any sugarcoating made Lana's noble demeanor crumble.

"What? You can't possibly be planning to make a criminal the princess of Marita?"

"You keep calling her a criminal, but her trial didn't take place in the Daido Kingdom. In our country, it is impossible for such a serious crime to be determined without a trial according to the kingdom's common law, and there is no such cruel punishment as exiling criminals to a monster-infested forest. ...Is the Nalys Kingdom a country that condones such barbaric acts? If so, we must reconsider our relationship."

Lana's body trembled at Jinklett's words. The Nalys Kingdom follows the kingdom's common law for its judicial system. Acknowledging what the Daido Kingdom did to me would be like declaring that the Nalys Kingdom also disregards the judicial system.

"Our country does not condone such acts. Hmm. Is this the stance of the Kolts Duke family? I must inform the king."

Prince Rolf immediately corrected her, his gaze cold.

"No, no, that's not what I meant! The Kolts Duke family respects our country's judicial system! I just wanted to inform you that this woman is the notorious former saint from the Daido Kingdom! Even if there was no trial, the fact that she attempted to harm a high-ranking noble and was condemned by the Daido Kingdom is true!"

Lana's shrill, grating voice hurt my ears.

"Still, Miss Kolts, how do you know that Shina is the former saint from the Daido Kingdom?"

Prince Rolf quietly drew his sword and approached Lana.

"In the Nalys Kingdom, only a few people know about Shina, right?"

I remember... I requested that my involvement in the monster-repelling incense and Prince Kanam's treatment be kept confidential in the Nalys Kingdom. How did it leak out? My public identity is supposed to be a distant relative of the queen.

Despite Prince Rolf's terrifying intimidation, Lana laughed bravely.

"There is nothing the Kolts Duke family cannot find out!"

The Kolts Duke family has a significant faction in the Nalys Kingdom, so they gather a lot of information. They have big ears and sharp eyes.

Barry quietly slipped out of the room, probably to investigate Lana and the Kolts family... I'm a bit scared of what he might do. Barry isn't just a big-breast enthusiast, you know.

While Prince Rolf and Lana glared at each other, I whispered to Jinklett.

"Hey, Jinklett. Usually, high-ranking nobles have fiancées by the time they reach marriageable age, right? Why doesn't she, a duke's daughter, have one?"

Jinklett smiled wryly and explained.

"Usually, they do. Some, like me and Lute, run away, but as a successor to a duke's family, most have their fiancées decided in childhood. Said and Alan had theirs decided when they were young."

Hmm. As the successors to the Marita Kingdom, Said and Alan need to be educated as future queens. It's better to decide early. High-ranking nobles need to be educated to govern their territories. The Kolts Duke family has two daughters, and the eldest, Lana, was supposed to marry and take over the family.

"Shouldn't a successor have many suitors?"

Despite her personality, she is a duke's daughter. She should have many choices, right?

"But, the fiancé of Miss Kolts was decided in childhood to be the second son of a certain marquis. However, he broke down from being overwhelmed by Lana's whims. About two years ago, the engagement was dissolved."

Ah. Even if it were a golden opportunity, it was too much for her personality. I disliked her after meeting her for a few minutes. It's impressive that the marquis's second son endured for years. He's a great guy.

"Lana's whims are well-known in society, and she couldn't find a suitable husband. In the end, her younger sister married and took over the family. So, she had to find a husband elsewhere, but she was rejected by influential nobles both domestically and internationally. Among them, I, who am expected to receive a dukedom and territory after Said's ascension, am a very good match, so she keeps proposing despite being rejected. This time, she probably came here out of frustration."

"Wait! Jinklett, you're going to be a duke?"

A bit of information made me forget about Lana. A duke?

"Yeah, that's the plan. Shina will be a duchess. Don't worry. Shina will have excellent people around her, and her duties as a duchess will mainly involve occasional social events and managing the household. She can spend her time doing what she likes, like cooking. It'll be fine. It'll be fine."

While whispering, Jinklett stroked my back, sensing my anxiety about the future.

"Can I do it?"

"Shina, you're receiving princess education now, right? Your teachers say you're excellent and have no problems. Besides, it's okay if you can't handle it. I just want Shina to be my wife. I know you try too hard, so it's better not to push yourself."

While thinking about that, Lana raised her voice irritably.

"Prince Jinklett, it is an insult to the Kolts Duke family for you to attend to that lowborn woman in front of me."

"What's wrong with loving my fiancée? I thought I declined all marriage proposals from the Kolts family?"

Lana, undeterred by Jinklett's dismissive tone, smiled elegantly with her fan.

"Oh, Prince Jinklett, you must have developed a taste for mingling with the common people and hunting monsters. Are you suggesting that you want to marry me as your main wife and keep that criminal as your mistress?"

What? How did she come to that conclusion? She has a vivid imagination.

"You only hear what suits you. I can understand why your previous fiancé broke down. It's hard to communicate with someone like you..."

Jinklett's way of speaking to people he dislikes is scary. How scary? As scary as Prince Alan, who is dealing with a criminal. This is probably why he is called the "Prince of Ice." Jinklett's eyes look dark and cold.

No. Jinklett's eyes are like a clear summer sky, warm and beautiful. I don't want to give him to someone who makes him look like this, no matter how beautiful and high-born she is. Absolutely not.

I put my hands on Jinklett's face and pulled it. His surprised eyes reflected me, and I felt happy as his eyes softened.

"What's wrong, Shina?"

"Nothing."

When I poked his cheeks, his eyebrows drooped pitifully, but I couldn't stop. Jinklett is so sweet to me.

Even while being affectionate, the others treat it as a normal scene. Are they used to it? I see.

However, there was someone who wasn't used to it. Yes, Lana. Seeing us leaning close and gazing at each other adoringly, she snapped.

"You lowborn commoner! Don't touch my Prince Jinklett!"

Lana, her face red with anger, threw her fan at me. It had shiny decorations, but I calmly analyzed that it wouldn't hurt much and braced myself. At that moment.

Whoosh, Boom.

Kiril, who had been standing by, drew her sword and cut the fan in half. The halves were instantly burned to ashes by a controlled fire spell.

Kiril returned to her original position silently, as when she appeared. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes glowed fiercely.

Wow! So cool! How did she hide her flaming sword in her maid's uniform!? No, Kiril is so cool. My child is the coolest!

No one could stop Kiril's quick action. Even Prince Rolf and Lana's guards couldn't move a muscle.

"I'm sorry, Lady Lana."

I looked around at the frozen people and apologized.

"Lady Lana's fan accidentally slipped from her hand, and my maid disposed of it to prevent me from getting hurt. Please forgive us. I will prepare a replacement for you."

I smiled apologetically. On the other hand, Kiril was leaking murderous intent. Kiril, I understand your feelings, but please try to control your killing intent. The guards are getting nervous.

"Ah! I, I am tired. I will take my leave!"

Perhaps affected by Kiril's murderous intent, Lana, pale, hurriedly left. Her attendants followed, making the reception room feel suddenly spacious and fresh.

"Kiril, thank you. You looked so cool!"

When I praised Kiril, her murderous intent dissipated, and she blushed. Ah, so cute.

"...What a wonderful maid, Miss Shina."

"Yes, she's my treasure."

In response to Prince Rolf's heartfelt praise, I nodded sincerely. Kiril is the best in the world, and everyone knows it.

"Besides, she's very reliable... To treat someone like Lana Kolts like a child... Haha, she deserved it."

Prince Rolf's eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement. They were fixed on me, making my back itch.