Chapter 50: 3-13 Return to Drakas

Stahlia, 12 Years Old, Second Month of 948

My carriage rolled into the capital and I began to mentally prepare myself. Well, that was a lie. I had been preparing myself for the whole journey. I was about to meet Dominic again, however this time I would have the protection of my [Charm Resistance II] talent. Based on how quickly I was gaining talent experience, in another month it should level up again. I didn’t know how much protection it would give me though.

Jacqueline had the talent at level three, and she was able to somewhat resist Dominic, though not to the same degree as I had been able to back before my [Blessing of Winter] was forcibly activated. This led to the fact that his ability didn’t work on me anymore, and the rose-tinted glasses I seemed to have as far as he was concerned, were the result of some sort of lingering curse that had been put on me.

At least Jacqueline should be immune now, and I got ten life points, and I’m apparently the proper size for my age now… if what Jacqueline was saying was true. I knew I was growing a bit slow but didn’t realize I was noticeably stunted. All in all, for the cost of one year of my life, I got a pretty good deal. Not that I want to go through that again though. I had decided to focus on the positives, and not dwell on the fact that I had shortened my lifespan.

One such positive was that once I had recovered enough to resume my nightly pity party, I was no longer tormented by memories of maiming Jacqueline. Confessing the truth to Jacqueline had apparently been enough for me to do what the guard captain Albert said, and forgive myself. I was still being tormented by the memory of what I had done to Asten, but I was making progress. Though I’m not sure how I can overcome that… It’s not like I can go and tell him the truth, he’s dead.

Claire had a few things to say after I explained what I had done to Jacqueline. The first of which was a very stern warning to avoid using that power because, “If it costs lifespan, there’s always another hidden cost. That’s just how it works.” In all honesty, it had been incredibly cute; Claire wasn’t controlling Felicity beyond her senses. This meant that Felicity was awkwardly lecturing me according to what Claire was telling her to say; I had given her explicit permission to do so shortly after discovering Claire’s existence. Neither of us wanted to inadvertently cause Felicity any issues due to the slave contract.

Speaking of Felicity, I glanced to the side and observed her. According to Claire, and Felicity herself as I later confirmed, she did indeed want to come back with me. But looking at her now, I got the feeling she was nervous. At least her facial expression showed she was; Claire hadn’t flattened the ears, leading to an odd expression. Also with me were Jacqueline, Lucy, and Giogi. Everyone’s returning. I wonder how this reunion will go… Certainly, it wouldn’t be as heartwarming as my reunion with my family.

As I recalled that reunion from so many months ago, I couldn’t help but also recall our eventual separation. My mother and father had been sad when it came time for me to return, but as adults they understood. Rosin had been inconsolable. He could not understand why both of his sisters were going away and demanded to be allowed to come with us. He only calmed down when my father promised him that they would visit me in the summer.

There’s Sana too, I haven’t seen her in a while… I wonder how she’s doing? Also Edith and Sarala as well… I’ve got a lot more acquaintances than I thought, huh. At least in contrast with my last life, my circle of friends was rather large. I’ll have to make sure to plan around that when it comes time for me to start taking actions that go directly against the kingdom. I wouldn’t want to drag anyone down by association. The greatest risk with that course of action was to my family. Hell, we even had a history of treason in the eyes of the kingdom. Reconnecting with them the way I had, fighting to protect my home, all of it had made me realize exactly what I was risking.

I really had only two options, and one of them required the political connections I could obtain by remaining with the Francois family. The first option would be to break off ties with the Francois and ally to another house. The Claurence Dukedom came to mind, who I had a connection to via Edith. But that would mean dragging my friend into my political schemes. The second option was to put up with Dominic and leverage the Francois connections to begin gathering information and making arrangements. Not being allied with a larger house was simply not an option, I had no political capital of my own.

Dealing with Dominic… now that I’ve managed to find a solution to his charm ability, I’ll be able to see him for what he really is, though considering he’s basically mind-controlling women, he probably isn’t that great… Though I still don’t know if he’s doing it intentionally or not… Or is that just the lingering charm effect talking? I’m still gaining charm resistance experience every few minutes, so there is still some small effect…

In short, my feelings towards Dominic were conflicted, but I thought it was perhaps to a lesser degree than it had been previously. Either way, I would see how I felt in a short while longer when I met him. The issue with aligning myself to another house was how to go about doing that. With my own house’s lack of political capital, I had very few cards I could play. My best card that was my abilities, was limited by my gender.

I could leverage that, and try to navigate my way into literally joining a different house… Realizing what I had just thought my heart skipped a beat. It’s not a bad idea in theory… but why would I think of that? Just a few years ago, I was hell-bent on getting out of the engagement with Dominic, and that was before I knew about his charm skill. Yet, I came up with the idea of entering another engagement as a way out of the first…

Of course, even if I was to go that route, there was a serious issue that would be extremely difficult to overcome; my engagement to Dominic was sanctioned by one of the three princes. It would take a significant effort to get that overturned. Another Count household wouldn’t work unless I were to approach one that’s in the first or second prince’s faction… but then I would be treated as a faction traitor. It would complicate things for my father as a member of the third prince’s faction, not to mention place me under a great deal of scrutiny.

No, jumping to another faction wasn’t an option. That left the neutral nobles but even in that case, there was no way the third prince would approve of the absolution of my engagement to Dominic; it would basically be guaranteeing his faction wouldn’t obtain me. I would still have to rely on one of the other princes, and play up the idea of “well at least she’s not in my rival’s faction.” But that still leaves me in the dilemma of having betrayed the third prince’s faction, which causes issues for my father and puts me under increased scrutiny. Maybe not as much as if I directly joined another faction, but still too much.

So, the only option was to remain in the third prince’s faction. In that case, I was really limited. The other counts in the faction were weaker than the Francois, so I wouldn’t be able to play the angle that I was trying to increase my father’s standing. There was the Lawrence Ducal house, but they had assumed the seat after my late uncle and the downfall of the Despita Ducal house, my family’s old name. There was basically no chance of me being able to join that house, the political stir it would create…

Politics is seriously irritating but what the hell? I just spent the better part of an hour trying to come up with a way to get married to someone other than Dominic. That kind of defeats the purpose of breaking off our engagement, doesn’t it…? It would seem that at some point, my attitude towards marriage itself had changed, and now I was merely being picky about the partner. I’ll take it as a sign that the lingering charm is weakening since I’m actually trying to figure out how I can get out of the marriage to him… though I have to think of a better way to do it, than just marrying someone else.

Well, we’re about to arrive. I’m sure he’ll be there to greet me. Time to see how effective [Charm Resistance II] is at counteracting the lingering poison. My carriage had just passed the gates of the Francois estate, and I could see Dominic, Nikolaus, Margeritte, and Elienor waiting for me, along with Frieda. Hmm… the whole family is lined up… I only had a few seconds left before I would need to get off the carriage.

I hurriedly shoved mana into my eyes, aspecting it with the Divine Element and engaged my divine eyes. I did have to say, it had become a bit easier to do this since I had evolved Jacqueline’s talent; prior to doing that, I wouldn’t have been able to activate them so quickly. It was probably something to do with the “lack of Divine Element” mentioned by the system notification, right before I had burned some of my lifespan.

Presumably, that lifespan had been converted into Divine Element, and that somehow had made my body more familiar with using it. But I had no way to test this without burning more lifespan, which I wasn’t about to do unless I had to. Even if I was inclined to experiment, the accelerated aging and falling into a coma made it difficult to do so, as I would have a lot of explaining to do.

Even if it was faster to activate, I still couldn’t do much else while the divine eyes were active. Moving too much or focusing on something else for too long would cause me to lose my focus thus turning them off. Well, let’s see. It’s a shame that neither of Dominic’s brothers are here, but I can at least check the rest of his immediate family.

Dominic was standing next to Elienor, but I skipped him for obvious reasons and started with Elienor. I was actually quite fond of her. Not as a friend, but she had a fun personality, and I enjoyed watching her play with Felicity. So Elienor’s mana is red. Assuming my theory about the color having to do with the elemental alignment of the individual, that makes sense for her; she has a very fiery independent personality. I was glad that she seemed normal, as I was personally quite fond of her company. Even if she was a bit irritating at times.

Alright… Margeritte… she’s a soft yellow. Somewhat bright, so she has a few levels. Otherwise, she’s normal. I moved my eyes to Nikolaus Francois. What the hell? I couldn’t see Count Francois’ mana light. He was seemingly invisible to my divine eyes. I could still make out his physical form, but he was seemingly devoid of light. But if the light is mana, this would imply that he has none whatsoever? That should be impossible, the lowest letter you can have is E, which from what I understand, grants one point of mana per level.

Stil had a few stats that were E, and I had used those to try and calculate the numbers each letter would give. Having zero mana… even if he had a skill that gave a minus to the mana improvement grade, like my [Finesse Fighting] does to strength, he should still have some mana from before he acquired it… Before I could think too much further about it, Dominic approached the carriage.

I hurriedly composed myself and stood so that I could get this over with. Honestly, I’m really nervous right now… I don’t know what to expect from this… He knocked on the carriage door and Jacqueline opened it for him. I took a deep breath to psyche myself up and then approached him. Dominic looked up at me, and bared his teeth in a smile, “Welcome back, Stahlia.”

I frowned, watching him now was odd. Like half of me found his mannerism extremely appealing, while the other half just found it strange. That smile, it’s really self-assured, isn’t it? As he was standing less than a meter away from me, he obviously noticed my frown, and his smile twitched. Oh shit, yea I need to still act my role, for now. I replaced my frown with a polite smile and extended my hand to take his, “It is good to be back, thank you for welcoming me, Dominic.”

Dominic gave me a scrutinizing look as he gripped my hand and helped me down from the carriage. I quickly adjusted my smile, widening it, and tilted my head slightly. As we walked, Dominic continued to study me closely. What the hell, all I did was frown? Is he really that suspicious…? We were almost to his parents when he finally spoke, “Stahlia, you’ve grown since the last time I saw you have you not?”

The hell!? THAT’s what you were staring at me for? I suppose I need to answer him, “You think so? Well, I suppose I might have, it has been half a year after all.”

Dominic nodded, “Indeed, you’re starting to become a woman.”

I blinked incredulously. Was that supposed to be a compliment…? The worst part was that some nagging sensation was telling me that he was incredibly charming just now, but I was nearly certain that that was the charm talking. Holy shit, has he always talked like that? I looked back through a few of my memories, picking the ones where I had become flustered or embarrassed. Without fail, every time I did, it was after Dominic had either done something physical, like kissing my hand, or tried to force through some inane “compliment”.

That’s… really kind of sad. He probably has gotten so used to relying on the [Incubus Eye] skill, that he can’t even tell how unattractive he sounds when he talks… We arrived at Count Francois and Margeritte, and I curtsied to the two of them, “Lord Francois, Lady Margeritte, I am honored to see you again after so long. I will be in your care.” For now.

Count Francois gave me a long stare, that lasted just long enough to be slightly uncomfortable before he spoke, “Indeed. Welcome back.”

Contrary to her husband, Margeritte was kinder, though irritating in her own way, “Come now Stahlia, ‘Lady Margeritte’? I’ve told you, you can call me ‘Mother’ already.”

I felt my eye twitch at that, but I knew from experience that she wasn’t going to relent until I did what she wanted, it would be faster if I simply gave in so as to get back to my rooms sooner, “A slip of my tongue, do forgive me… mother…”

Margeritte smiled, “See, was that so hard?” No, it wasn’t hard, just a bit sickening.

Finally, I turned to Elienor. Once I had greeted her, I would be able to go to my side building and escape from this. I already had an appointment, established via letter, to visit Edith and Sarala tomorrow. I was very much looking forward to that one and just wanted this greeting to be over. I need to find an excuse to visit Sana as well, I’m sure she’ll want to know about how Ris is doing, since she never got to go back.

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“Lady Elienor, it is good to see you again.” I gave a half curtsy, then froze in shock.

Elienor curtsied to me and returned my greeting, “Indeed Lady Stahlia, the pleasure is mine.”

Who are you, and what did you do with Elienor!? I fixed my eyes on Elienor and looked her up and down. She looked a bit older than I remembered. Though unlike myself, I was fairly sure she had aged normally and not all at once. As far as I could tell, this was Elienor. I should have checked her mana color before I left, so that I could have compared it to what it looks like now…

“Fufufu, I was hopin’ you might react like that Stali! Didja forget, I’m going to the academy this year, I gotta talk and act proper and all in public ya?” She had adopted a smirk, pleased with herself for having pulled off a successful practical joke.

I glared at her, and was about to say something to the effect that she should be acting properly at all times, when a knight came running through the gate without stopping to announce himself. There must be an emergency going on… The knight looked around those assembled, and then approached Count Francois.

The count glanced at the knight before stepping away. I feel like I’ve seen this exact scene before… Since we were all watching, I took the opportunity to closely examine the knight. He’s wearing the crest of the Royal Order of Knights, the ones who protect the royal family… After a few minutes Count Francois nodded, and the knight dashed off leaving the estate behind.

Count Francois rejoined the rest of us. He looked irritated for some reason. Glancing around at his family, he thankfully didn’t stare at me for an extended period this time. Count Francois closed his eyes and took a deep breath, likely to calm himself. Opening his eyes, he spoke, “That was a messenger from the royal castle. The Second Prince Percival has been killed. He was murdered in his countryside manor.”

★★★★★★

A state of nationwide mourning was declared following the public announcement of Prince Percival’s death. His funeral would be held in the capital the week of the school entrance ceremonies, which had been pushed back to allow for the ceremonies and the grieving of the people. Fortunately, I was still able to go to my meeting with Edith and Sarala, though it was likely going to be much more somber than I had originally intended.

As a noblewoman of the kingdom, I was equipped with a black veil; even if I was nominally in a separate faction, there were certain customs that must still be observed. I was on my way to the Claurence’s capital estate at the moment, and thinking about the possible implications of this death.

This should basically confirm the first prince as the murderer, though I doubt there will be enough evidence to do anything about it. The third prince’s faction is the smallest of the three, so he wasn’t really a contender for the throne. As far as I’m aware, the first and second princes were basically neck and neck, with the first having a slight edge. I wonder how the second prince’s faction will shakedown after this though…

I sighed and gazed out the window of the carriage. The streets were largely devoid of people, only a few were out and about as I was. All of them were dressed in black, as I was, and the women wore a black veil, as I did. I had only gotten permission from Count Francois to still attend my appointment with Edith after pointing out that I could try to inquire about how the neutral faction would be reacting; information that would be highly useful for one of the leading members of the Third Prince Faction.

I arrived at the Claurence estate, and a butler helped me down from the carriage before leading me into the building. As the nation was in a state of mourning, neither of us spoke a word to each other, and he simply gave a polite bow after letting me into the room where Edith was waiting. Lucy took up a post behind me to serve my tea. I had left Jacqueline at the Francois Estate to monitor Dominic. Now that she was free of his influence, I wanted her to try and see if she could find anything since her search proved fruitless the first time.

Sarala and Edith were both seated at the tea table, though when I entered the room Sarala quickly stood up; Edith’s higher status than mine dictated that she remained seated. As I thought, the second prince’s death is going to force us to stand on ceremony here, isn’t it. Already starting to feel a bit frustrated, I curtsied towards Edith and then half curtsied towards Sarala. Edith inclined her head towards me, and Sarala curtsied.

Haaaa… “I regret that our long-awaited reunion must follow such saddening events, Lady Edith. Lady Sarala, I am likewise glad to see you again, and saddened by the heavy state of affairs.”

Sarala bowed her head, “Indeed, your safe return brings peace to my heart in these dark times.”

Only once Sarala had finished did Edith finally speak, “Please, sit Lady Stahlia, Sarala. While Mortis may have touched the royal family with his presence, we should rest assured in the fact that the future of the kingdom is still secure.”

Her voice was suitably melancholic, if I didn’t know any better, I would say she was actually grieving. But I did know better, Edith was incredibly adept at politics for her age. She was most certainly acting for the benefit of the servants who had likely been placed by her parents to observe our tea. I took my seat when asked to, and Sarala sat back down once I had done so.

A servant appeared out of the side room with a tea kettle and leaves that I recognized as being from the Sele Fern. It was brewed into a very bitter black tea, and while it had no notable medicinal properties, it was often drunk ceremonially during times of mourning or loss. She’s really laying it on thick, her parents must be more concerned about the coming faction shift than I thought. Personally, I didn’t care for tea this bitter, but given the position Edith was likely in, I accepted the cup without letting my distaste show on my face.

Edith took the first sip, and then ate a small bite of a cracker to show that she wasn’t planning on poisoning us. Normally at a get-together like this cake would be served, but since sweet things were currently socially unacceptable, we got crackers instead. I feel like I’m four years old, having tea in the temple with Sana. Bitter tea, underwhelming snacks, and exaggerated nearly theatrical etiquette. The fond memories improved my mood somewhat.

After I had taken a sip of my own, and a bite of the cracker, I waved to Lucy. My maid approached and produced the letter Count Francois had drafted for me. As far as I was aware, it was addressed to Duke Claurence, and inquired as to the intentions of his house. I was also fairly certain that Count Francois didn’t actually expect a response to the letter, and it was actually just a veiled way of letting the duke know that I had been instructed to question his daughter. Why letting him know was necessary was beyond me, and I was actually of the opinion that telling him was a stupid idea; it would be a lot smarter for me to simply have asked.

Edith motioned for her own maid to accept the letter, and the maid then passed it to her. Once Edith had confirmed the sender and the addressee, she passed it back to the maid and quietly instructed her to take it to her father. She then turned and addressed me.

“I was wondering what you had done to get permission to still come to tea. So it was like that after all. You can tell Lord Francois that the Claurence house is intending to align with… Prince Rupert and his faction…” Her voice was somewhat sad and broke off a bit at the end. It was no surprise to me that she had been able to deduce the contents of the letter based on who was carrying it, and what names were on it, but her tone was concerning to me.

Wait, does she think I’m abusing our friendship to play faction politics…? I needed to correct that misconception quickly, but I had to be mindful of the ears in the walls at the same time. I frowned slightly, in a way that Edith would notice due to her proximity, but would not be visible from a larger distance, “I am glad to hear that, we will be able to interact even more if that is the case. I consider you, Lady Edith and you, Sarala to be my very dear friends. It is a shame that our reunion must be at such a sad time as this…”

I let my sentence hang, hoping that Edith would pick up on the fact that I was implying that my actions had only been due to the circumstances, and the subtext that I disliked faction politics coming between our friendship. Edith gave a wane smile, so I had seemingly been somewhat successful. Sarala glanced back and forth between us; as a commoner, she was probably familiar with the political games Edith had to play due to their friendship.

Due to that same friendship, as well as her abilities, she had likely been forced to play some political games of her own as well. I decided to change the subject slightly, and volunteer some information of my own as a peace offering, “Sarala, I am sure you heard, but I was involved in something of an incident while I was visiting my village.”

I did an internal fist pump when Edith’s eyes flashed before she fixed her mask; she had picked up on what I was doing. Sarala had either picked up on it as well or was simply curious, as she played along quite well, “Oh yes, an entire Goblin Horde led by a Lord. I hear you were fairly key in the battle. What exactly did you do?”

I see, so Sarala never learned about the Anti-Army magic. Or she has heard and is leading me to say it myself and give confirmation to the rumors… I stole a quick glance at Edith and nodded, she betrayed no sign of whether or not she knew anything. I nodded to Sarala, “Indeed. Thankfully it was the middle of winter and there was plenty of ice around. I was able to cast a fairly large spell and turn the tide of the battle in our favor. Though without the brave guards of my village, I would not have been able to chant without being overrun.”

That should be sufficient to confirm whatever information the Claurence’s spies have managed to gather. By telling them that I had gotten a large discount on the spell, that it had turned the tide of the battle, and that I had needed a not-insignificant amount of time to chant, I had all but confirmed that I had used Anti-Army magic. Especially given how talented Sarala was with magic herself. Edith gave a faint smile towards me, similar to my own earlier, this wouldn’t be something that the walls could tell she had done.

Good, it looks like I got through to her. I picked up my teacup and took a celebratory sip of the bitter concoction. Then Sarala dropped a bombshell on me, “So, Lady Stahlia, do tell, how was your reunion with Lord Dominic…?”

I choked on my mouthful of tea. Why the hell does she care about that!? I looked between the two of them, Sarala was wearing a bit of a smirk. It appeared as if she was fighting the urge to laugh at my reaction; laughing would be a breach of the mourning etiquette so she couldn’t do that. Edith was watching me intently; more so than she had for my earlier information about the battle at Ris.

Wait, why does she care so much…? Are the Claurence family really that keen on learning about my love life, or rather lack of one? I shot Sarala a withering stare, “Sarala, that is hardly an appropriate topic given recent events…”

Sarala managed to wipe the half-smirk off of her face when she heard my tone, but then she ruined it by smugly stating, “I see, so it was a pleasant reunion.” Really? That’s what you got from that?

I caught Edith shaking her head from the corner of my eye. When I focused on her, she looked at me with a sad smile, “I truly, truly envy you, Stahlia.”

Why!? I’m stuck in this engagement! I don’t care for him at all… Of course, I knew why, both of them were still under the effects of Dominic’s charm. God damnit, playing politics is irritating…

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