Good day, I am the daughter of Earl Talbot, Rururia.

Today again, for some reason, I find myself visiting the royal palace.

What are the circumstances causing the daughter of a mere earl to come to the royal palace so often? Well, that starts with the Crown Prince’s (title pending) declaration to cancel his engagement at our graduation party.

That farce had at first seemed like someone else’s problem. Allegedly, His Highness fiancée, daughter of Duke Emil Dilaver, had pushed the daughter of Baron Rouge, Maria, down the stairs. Maria, who was in love with His Highness, had a witness to this crime. Apparently, it was me.

Of course, I had never seen such an incident so I was honest (I mean of course, right, what else would I do?) and the situation had been settled.

Afterwards, a bunch of men with a ton of power had nearly forced me into a friendship with Irene-sama. Then, I was called to the royal palace and His Majesty, the king, issued an edict proclaiming that I was to become his exclusive ‘venting partner’. What an unprecedented honor (LOL).

Yes, the order came directly from His Majesty…

“I wonder why this happened, big brother.”

Of course, there’s no reply. I’m alone today. How lonely. My hallucination of my elder brother says something terrible – “What goes around comes around.” – which didn’t sound like my brother at all.

I’m walking alone. This seems to be a secret passage for the exclusive use of the royal family and therefore the maid was not allowed to accompany me.

Further, the escort from last time – the knight commander – was also not here. He had said “I’m not free today.” Isn’t that terrible??

As I was thinking this, I was pulled into a hidden room!!

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“Rururia Talbot-sama, right?”

Even in a room as dimly lit as this one, you would surely recognize someone if you had met them just days before.

“…May I help you with something, Your Highness?”

That’s right! This here was someone from the royal family. It made sense! This was, after all, a passage reserved for the royal family. Now I wish I’d taken the regular way!

“Well, for my first question, why are you here, exactly?” As he said this, His Highness pushed me against the wall and boxed me in with both of his arms.

Y-you’re too close!! Get away!! I really want to cut his hair off!!

“I don’t believe I’m obligated to answer that.” I managed to rid myself of the urge to pull out his hair by tightly gripping my fan. My patience is running out. I bet that the older ladies that attend royal functions must also have a deep desire to pluck out his hair!!

“That’s quite some courage you’ve got.” His Highness narrowed his eyes. He was smiling softly, but his eyes didn’t reflect that at all. His face is quite nice though, I bet there are a lot of women in the palace that develop feelings for him.

As I was looking at him, he lifted up my chin!!

“You’re certainly quite cheeky.”

Slap.

O-oh no! My hands, they moved on their own!!

“Eh?” His Highness lets out a slightly silly voice, but I just clasp the fan in my hand. This was legitimate self-defense! I won’t let myself be falsely charged!!

“Then, excuse me!” I felt like I ran the fastest I’d ever had in my life.

---

“You see, even though I’ve disinherited the only Crown Prince and made him a vassal instead, they’re saying that the punishment isn’t harsh enough…” Your Majesty, an uncle past forty isn’t exactly cute when he’s hugging a cushion in his arms and complaining.

His Majesty had arrived soon after I had fled to the designated room. Since then, it’s pretty much been unfolding like this.

To be honest, it’s annoying.

Rather, I’ve heard before an official announcement was made about the disinheritance. God have mercy on His Highness, the Crown Prince.

“My, that’s terrible!”

“It’s it?! I’m still the King, you know?!” His Majesty buried his face into the cushion. Wow, how dignified.

Oh, shortly before His Majesty arrived, Her Majesty, the Queen, also made an appearance. She’d given me a small smile before leaving. Please rest assured, I’m really not interested in power at all. I won’t be competing with you at all.

“Well, it’s okay because I’ve already found a successor.”

Huh? Is that okay? Or rather, what happened to His Majesty’s tears? I feel like I’ve just gotten a glimpse into the darkness inside of the royal family. I want to go home!

His Majesty sighs deeply. It would really be better if you separated from that cushion, though.

“Meanwhile, Irene’s devotees are wandering around causing a fuss and complaining about ridiculous matters…”

His Majesty says that even Her Majesty has become a devotee. Wow, so her charms work on women as well…

“That certainly sounds quite difficult to handle.”

“That’s right, only you can understand me, Rururia-jyou!”

Apparently though, I had replied correctly, as His Majesty’s face shined with a smile as he hugged his cushion.

Hasn’t there been such a partner before?

“Well, until now, I could only talk about this to Lionel, but really, that guy is just too expressionless…”

Huh? Wasn’t the knight commander – Lionel Arestant – part of the harem as well??

Well, if you’re consulting someone then you’d obviously want a reaction. With that iron exterior of his, he would be unlikely to provide something like that.

“That’s why, I’m really looking forward to speaking with you from here on out, Rururia-jyou.”

“Eh, I hate this though.” When I turned him down unintentionally, His Majesty made an incredibly sad face.

“Please don’t say that! If that’s the case then I’ll approve some more subsidy applications!”

“No, if I get a lot of preferential treatment then it’ll annoy those around you.”

His Majesty groans when I refuse again.

“How about gold? Is gold good?! Or jewelry? Such greed! But even a national treasure is alright!”

“Don’t just call people villains. In the first place, national treasures are what I need least of all.”

What would I even do with something like that? I certainly can’t sell it. I suppose I could display it. But why would we want to look at it in our own home?

“Oh, and on my way here, I was confronted by the second prince. Therefore, I’d like to decline out of fear for my own safety.”

“Ah, that guy!! I see, I see.” Your Majesty, why do you look so happy? I’m starting to feel a little murderous. “That guy, he hasn’t said anything since this morning. He looked deep in thought. I see, I see. So, he ended up going directly to you instead?”

Your Majesty, what does that mean?! It’s like I’m a human sacrifice, here!!

Though I glared at him with murderous intent, he only returned it with a big smile.

“Even that guy is a gentleman. He wouldn’t hurt a lady, but I’ll ask Lionel to take you home as a precaution, so be at ease.”

I’m not relieved at all, though?!

From then on, no matter how much I refused the position, His Majesty wouldn’t dismiss me. Instead, I received a jewel, which was equivalent to about one month’s tax income from my territory. Should I stockpile this for a rainy day?

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