Akuyaku Reijō (Kari) No Funtō

Chapter 14: What You See is Just a Portion

 Please be careful of Fushigi-chan's disgusting behavior (fake crying, shifting the blame away from herself).

 

 

 

　Miss Charlotte looks very fragile as she spills tears saying that it wasn’t her fault.

　In a previous life, she died while still in high school.
　She was not blessed with good looks, was compared to her older, more talented sister, and was betrayed by her boyfriend.
　If she had been beautiful, everything would have been different.
This may have been the thought that consumed Miss Charlotte's mind for so long.

　In fact, when she was reincarnated with beauty that was the envy of everyone, her parents doted on her like a butterfly with a flower, and even if she behaved selfishly, no one would blame her for it.
　That’s probably why Miss Charlotte came to believe that she would be loved unconditionally if she was beautiful.

The circumstance that condoned this behavior was because of your parents' biased educational practices that are highly problematic.
　I hope that this is an opportunity for you to face reality properly and make the best of your life in the future.

　I hope that these tears are not a ploy to turn things to her advantage…

　I pray and reprimand them one by one.

“No one told you that … really?”

　Miss Charlotte looked at me with damp eyes.

“His Royal Highness Garrett repeatedly corrected you for your misbehavior.
He is not a very eloquent man, and he is kind, so he was very restrained in his expressions.
　But did you think that he was not sincere in his complaints?
　Do you think that he was just saying, “I'm glad you are jealous of me, I don't mind, it's not true …” and then he would just let it slide?”

　These were all words uttered by Miss Charlotte at one point.
Perhaps because they were being brought back up, her expression was faulting.

“Besides, I didn't say all those things to you because I'm a villainess.
　You've called me mean and a bully, but all I’ve done is warn you about your absurd behavior.
　The system of status is not to be taken lightly.
You may be an aristocrat, but you are a baroness.
The people who are registered at the school are of equal or higher status than you.
Sooner or later, you would have been ruined.”

　Miss Charlotte flinched at the word “ruined”.
The tears have already stopped and she is cautiously watching me.
She seems to be desperately trying to figure out if this is just a threat or not.

“Ruined…?”

“The only way to get rid of you is to get you kicked out of the school.
    His Highness' marriage would have also been the subject of much publicity.
Even more so if it’s His Royal Highness Prince Garrett.
Royal marriages are not free from political issues.
Love is not the only thing involved.
　There are so many ways to destroy a person, mentally and physically, as long as it’s not peaceful …”

　Mentally and physically.

　At these words, Miss Charlotte's face contorted.
She seemed to think that I was being sarcastic after the stunt she pulled to try and lead me into the “humiliation end”.

“But, it's not my fault.
This is a game, and it's … Yes, even Rebecca admitted that this world was made for me.
So it's not my fault!”

　I observed her with cold eyes as she began to make excuses, again, based on such a nonsensical theory.

　She was hungry and tired.
Even now, she’s in this state because things are not going the way she wanted them to.
There should’ve been any number of opportunities to recognize the reality of the situation, but even here, she is still talking like that.

　Pushing down my feelings of mild resignation, I continued.

“You are teetering on the edge right now.
If you don't want to fall into sin upon awakening, you're going to have to change your mind and improve yourself desperately.”

“What?”

　I was so shocked that I wondered if she had ever taken her classes properly.

“The saint candidates don't always awaken as saints.
I'm sure you learned that in the course on controlling magic.
　This is not generally known, but what do you think happens to former saint candidates who are … captured by demons? They are widely used as human pillars for curses used on people.”

　Miss Charlotte's eyes widened and she looked frightened, as if she finally realized the danger she was in and murmured, “That's not true, you're trying to trick me.”

　In the first place, there was no way someone would pay such a high amount for a job that would involve a princess-consort candidate.
In other words, there is more to this story—there is someone who is thinking of corrupting the saint candidate and using her as a human sacrifice by forcing her to commit an irreversible evil.
　And the person they want to curse is someone important enough to make a human pillar … such as, for example, a member of the royal family …

　When I realized this possibility, my body shivered with shock.
　We cannot let such people go unchecked.
　With the help of father, all the “darkness” and “shadows” were mobilized, and somehow we managed to catch the tail of the family that had been commissioned to carry out the curse.
　They must have been captured by now.
The rest of the crimes will be revealed in a “hot-potato” fashion*.

　To be honest, this series of responses, while appearing to be a rescue for Miss Charlotte, is actually not.

　I encouraged her to commit the crime without taking steps to avoid the incident itself.
　I used this incident as an opportunity to destroy the crime family and end the curse.
This was the best way to protect my loved ones.

　Since I used Miss Charlotte, I should pay back the debt— even if she does not realize that she owes me.

　That is why I made it a condition that I would suppress Miss Charlotte's involvement in this criminal organization when I entrusted the rest to Father.
As long as he promised me that, I would not care how she was used, whether to curry favor with the royal family, to enhance his reputation at court, or to keep her in the dark in secret.

　When I said that I wanted Miss Charlotte to become a saint, Father gave me a strange look, but … in the end, he bet on the possibility of a new saint in the kingdom.
　Even though he did say something like, “If you get caught by a demon, all you have to do is kill it.”

　Still, I wouldn't be doing this I didn't have either love or a sense of duty to nag her even knowing that she wouldn't like it.
　Compatriots, elders, character in the game.
These were the roles I took on myself as reasons to preach to Miss Charlotte.

　Now I was feeling so helpless that I was on the verge of abandoning this role after being hit with the double punch of crocodile tears and shifting the blame.
In this situation, I had no choice but to push her forward and if that didn't work, I had no choice but to step back and ignore her.

“If you think I'm lying, then have it your way.”

　If there is a saint, the kingdom will receive God's blessing for that alone.
But her absence is not a disadvantage.

“I've tried to keep this matter out of the open, so you can tell the merchant that you have a healthy relationship with me.
　Personally, I hope that you will work hard on your physical and mental training and awaken as a saint.
　But it is your life.
You can think for yourself and act accordingly.”

　As I sent Miss Charlotte on her way, I let out a deep sigh.
　I explained the current critical situation and showed her the future worst-case scenario and its solution.
If she still falls, there is nothing more I can do.

　From now on, Miss Charlotte will always be guarded by a watchman who will also serve as her escort, so that she will not be aware of our presence.
If anything goes wrong, we will be contacted immediately.

　Emma's face was red and trembling with anger.

“Why …?
　Of course such people would return the favor!
　I don't mean to disagree with the young lady's decision, but I think it's too lenient!”

　It is not easy to forgive someone who has tried to bring you down.
Moreover, to hide the crime and give them a chance for rehabilitation when you know that if you let them go, they will destroy themselves…

　I am not going to reveal that I also had a previous life.
　Since I used it to dispose of the unwanted people nestled in the kingdom—right, but why it led to this outcome is still related to my previous life.

“I know … I have her to thank for.”

　Thanks to Miss Charlotte, I remembered my previous life—as well as my beloved husband.

　But at the same time, I resent her.

　I realized that I could never live with him again.

“I am neither kind nor sweet.
I have set her through an ordeal along with the path to salvation.
　I want her to be a blessing to this kingdom.
I hope she does, but from the looks of things … the road to her awakening as a saint is going to be a difficult one.”

　— Perhaps to the point that I feel it would have been easier to let her fall into evil without knowing what was going on.

 

(Kimura-sensei's Note)
Thank you for joining us.

This is the end of the heavyweight development.
By the way, Fushigi-chan won't appear in the (planned) future, but I'm going to give her a surprise.
 

 

 *As in, their other crimes will be uncovered as things are investigated

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