Magic revolution of a Young Noblewoman Starting Over ~ The Executed Villainess restores her Ruined Family ~ Restraint? Prudence? I'm more interested in magic tools than that! - Chapter 20
To the royal palace
☆
That day came in a flash.
Together with my father, we rode in the Countdom’s carriage, headed to the royal castle.
Anna wanted to come along too, but as expected, she’ll have to stay home today.
Everything is ready.
A modest dress.[1]
A small shoulder bag with Coco and Mel in it.
The magic rifle is polished, and sits on my lap in a dedicated leather-covered storage case which had been made from what was originally a musical instrument case.
Yep.
It’s got quite a stylish finish.
And, it’s light!
This rifle, which was made with everyone working together.
Made in limited time with limited technology, we did our best producing our finest weapon.
Today I, with this rifle, will change the future.
I’ll have my value as a magic-toolmaker acknowledged, and crush the king’s order for an engagement with the second prince, which will benefit no one.
Shivering with anticipation, I placed both of my shaking hands on top of the case.[2]
”You ok?”
As I’m shaking, Otou-sama opposite me asks me so worriedly.
”If you’re scared, I can take over for you, ok?”
I’m glad for Otou-sama’s consideration.
But still, this is something that I have to do.
As the designer.
As the one in charge of its development.
And then, as a daughter of the Ainsworth Family.
With my own hands, I will prove my own worth.
”Thank you, Otou-sama. But it’s alright. I will surely have His Majesty recognise my worth.”
The process starting from the item presentation right up to the peerage succession suggestion, I’ve gone over it with my father many times.
I already practised shooting so much that I thought [won’t I be able to hit it with my eyes closed?].
All that’s left is to show them my pride.
My value.
And, our Ainsworth’s value.
”… I see. You’ve become reliable, Letty.”
Under the watchful gaze of my father, I looked out of the window and stared at the royal palace.
☆
The carriage passed through the gates and continued on within the castle walls, eventually coming to a stop in one of the carriage porches.[3]
”Alright, let’s go. Letty.”
When I got out of the carriage with my father’s help, a single chamberlain came before the carriage to greet us.
”Your Excellency Count Owleyes, Lady Leticia, we have been waiting for you. I shall guide you to today’s venue for the audience, the second training grounds.”
Saying so, the young chamberlain who bowed respectfully led us.
When we came to the palace a month ago, we went through inside the building, but today we were guided along a semi open passageway along the perimeter.
”Today, it seems we’re walking along the corridor outside.”
At my words, the chamberlain looks over his shoulder.
”Yes. The other time you came, you were seen in the audience hall, however, I have been told that today you are to be seen at the outside training grounds behind the main castle. It is a bit of a distance, but I would be grateful for your forgiveness.”
”No problem. We were the ones who proposed the experiment demonstration. I thank His Majesty for making the arrangements.”
We had such an exchange as we walked.
The open-air test-firing was something we had brought up.
From the beginning, we were bound to not have had any complaints and such.
Rather, the king gladly went along with our proposal, is what I think.
(——— even if the engagement wasn’t what I’d originally wanted, the current king did still treat me well in the previous life.)
The present king is the one who led me to my deathly fate in the previous life, but he was also the one who was considerate towards me in various ways, and was also the one to always talk with me.
That summary trial and even our executions, if the current king had been alive and well, I’m sure that none of that would’ve happened.
Right. If he’d been alive and well.
A short time after the first prince passed away in war, the king came down with an unknown illness.
Despite the fact that he could just barely have his meals with the help of an assistant, his consciousness was so clouded, that he couldn’t even tell who it was he was speaking to.
Shortly after, the second prince, who became the crown prince, installed a regency.[4]
The one to obtain true political authority, was the second prince’s uncle on his mother’s side, who was also the current prime minister, the Duke of Oswell.
(Come to think of it, it feels as if it kept being extremely convenient developments for the Royalist Faction.)
The frist prince’s death in battle.
The king’s illness.
The second prince’s regency installation.
From then on, the pressure on the Senate Faction by the Royalist Faction continued both openly and in the background.
Our Ainsworth House’s misfortunes too, they seem to be in line with this.
Brother Graham’s death in battle.
The appearance of the second prince’s [sweetheart].
And then, the arrest and execution of me and my father for the failed bombing of the crown prince.
If I think back, there’s a weird degree of coincidence.
In the first place, my eldest brother died on the battlefield trying to protect the first prince.
(No way…)
A chill ran down my spine.
”Thank you for taking the trouble of coming. This here is the Second Order’s training grounds.”
The words of the chamberlain guiding us brought me back with a start.
Spread before me was a training ground the size of a primary school playground, where a great number of knights struck against one another with long rods being treated as wooden swords and spears.
The knights who possessed magic power were firing fireballs and ice balls at a target 10 metres away.
Of course, it’s within the grounds of the royal castle, so it is surrounded by castle walls, yet even so, it is still quite spacious.
There was even what appeared to be a viewing space.
”His Majesty will arrive shortly, so please wait a short while.”
The chamberlain bowed courteously, and returned to the main castle.
Now, where would be good to wait, I wonder?
As I looked around my surroundings restlessly, my father pointed at a spot.
”His Majesty will likely watch from over there.”
At the end of where my father pointed, were the viewing stands.
In the space in the middle of the awning was what seemed to be a temporary throne.
”Where do you think we should wait?”
”Right before His Majesty’s eyes, in that space.”
My father points to the area looking straight down from the throne.
”Although, there should be a preliminary announcement before His Majesty comes. Until then, I guess it’s fine wherever.”
”Understood. In that case, let’s go down a bit…”
It was when I was going to check on the place we’d be doing the test firing.
”Letty, Chichi-ue!”
From behind, a familiar voice called out to us.
”Graham-nii-sama.”
Once we turned around, there were two young men in knights’ uniform before us.
One was my brother, Graham.
And another was a brown-haired and strikingly blue-eyed young man with refreshing eyes.
And, next to me, my father straightened his posture, and bowed his head.
”It has been a long time. Your Highness.”[5]
Hearing these words, I hurriedly held the hem of my skirt with one hand, and assumed a curtsey.
”Please raise your face. Count Owleyes, young lady.”
The brown-haired knight called out to us with a gentle voice.
We raised our faces, and he continued with a wry smile.
”I, who am wearing these clothes, am merely a knight. Not to mention, the Count is also a great pioneer of this Second Knight’s Order. And also, no matter how many times I hear it, the exploits of [The Gale of Blood] still cause me to be filled with emotion.”
”That is… it’s an excessive praise for my trifling self, an undeserving honour.”
Otou-sama became amazed in an instant, and once again bowed his head.
He probably didn’t expect to hear his alias from his younger days coming from the mouth of a prince who was young enough to be his son.
Right.
Meeting for the first time in this life, the man before you is…
”Milady. This appears to be our first time meeting. My name is Gerald Sanaaq Heielland.”
The young man politely gave a standing bow.
In return, I once again greet him with a curtsey.
”My name is Leticia Ainsworth, the eldest daughter of the Count of Owleyes. ———it is an honour to meet you, Your Highness the First Prince.”
TL Notes:
[1]could’ve also been “adult dress”, but I doubt it, and so does MTL. ↩
[2]translation altered for a more sensible phrase. ↩
[3]I had no clue a “carriage porch” was a thing. ↩
[4]A regency is a period when the monarch is still a minor, so someone is appointed to manage the state in their place. More on this in the note below. ↩
[5]Fun fact: you can tell who is a prince. princess, king or queen by the term they’re addressed as. His and Her Majesty for the king and queen, and His and Her Highness for the princes and princesses respectively. ↩
Alright, now then, time for some theorising. As some might view what I’m about to say as potential spoilers, if you’d prefer to not mess with your current understanding of the story, then don’t read this note further, as I’ll be discussing what I suspect happened in the first life.
Ok, so first things first, did you notice that the Owleyes House was called a “declining” House in Chapter 3? This is most likely due to the lack of (current/present) achievements in both military and magic tool development. However, they can’t merely be discredited based on that alone, as they’ve certainly contributed a lot in the past. And the king knows this, so he would prefer to keep them around and in a high standing, as he sees them as a House that holds good potential and loyalty. And so, he can “feed them” an “achievement” by having their daughter marry his son. It’s more than enough reason to have them keep their position even without any other achievements in that same generation. (Not that they don’t have any. This chapter glanced over the fact that MC’s father certainly did make some achievements.)
Another matter is the second prince’s personality. The king must’ve certainly noticed that SOMETHING needs to be done about it, or it would lead to more and more problems the longer he left it. After all, the second prince’s mother is basically the enemy in his own country (to better understand what I mean by this, check what I wrote on the Royalist Faction in chapter 17). And so, by taking the hard-working and just Leticia and pairing her with the second prince, he most likely hoped that the second prince would realise his faults and some of her good traits would rub off onto him. However, we already know that this was too little, too late.
Quite frankly, the Royalist Faction must’ve had the bets on him since a long time ago. It was just too convenient of a pawn for them. And yes, I’m calling him a pawn. They used him as a means to get his uncle to take over, and so long as the second prince is kept content, I’m sure he’d let his uncle do as he pleased. Hence, the arrival of the sweetheart. I still haven’t figured out why they specifically chose a commoner, especially considering that they are “the Royalist Faction”. However, one possibility that stands is that, they actually intend to assassinate the second prince before he comes of age, and his sweetheart along with him. That way, they can get rid of the “usurper king”’s blood completely, without having to sacrifice anyone from their own families. Still, there shouldn’t have been a need to have the sweetheart disappear if she was from one of their families anyways. Maybe the second prince simply didn’t fancy any of them?
There’s more theorising to be had, but any more than this would be blatant spoilers and such. So that’s all, for now…