Akuyaku Reijō (Kari) No Funtō

Chapter 27: It's a Secret Conversation

　The terrace of a royal palace is not a good place for private talks or encounters.
　Stories tell of benches by a fountain or hiding in an overgrown hedge, but the reality is far from romantic.
If you do it in an open space like this, you are asking people to witness it.

　We were, unwillingly, the center of attention of the day, and it was known that we had moved to the terrace.
We had to act as if our actions were being monitored and our conversation was being listened to.

　We walked side by side, reading between the lines of each other's words under the guise of harmless conversation.

“The moon is really beautiful today, isn't it? Ever since I was born, I have made it my sole purpose in life to capture the moon.”

“I am sure the moon would love to be captured by His Highness Ethan.
　In fact, it was the day before the school’s graduation ceremony that I realized the beauty of the moon.
I regretted overlooking such a lovely thing until then.”

“Oh? What happened?”

“There was a young lady who was a saint candidate, she was my junior.
It seems we had something unexpected in common a long time ago.
One word she murmured to me was the catalyst.”

“I should be grateful to her.
I have to thank the young lady.”

“Yes, she is a lovely woman.
But unfortunately, on the day of the graduation ceremony, we had a bit of trouble, and … I had to break off our friendship.”

—I love you.
I've had memories of my past life since the day I was born, so I've been looking for you for a long time.
—I love you too.
In fact, it was the day before the graduation ceremony at the school that I remembered that I loved you.
I can't believe I forgot about you until then.

—How did you remember?
—Miss Charlotte was a reincarnated person.
One word from her and it all came back to me.
—Oh, well.
Thank God for that girl.
—She's a bit of a peculiar girl.
As you probably know, there was a bit of a ruckus.
That's why I broke off my engagement to His Highness Garrett…

　As a result of this play on words, I learned that His Royal Highness Ethan had memories of his previous life since birth, and that he had been searching for me while being educated as the Crown Prince.
　When I was introduced to him as Prince Garrett's fiancée, he regretted assuming that we were the same age in this world and had excluded younger people from his target.
　At the time, I had no memory of my previous life, and we were already engaged to others, so he said that he couldn't do anything about it immediately.
There were other factors as well, but due to the limitations of time and phrasing, he couldn't go into any more detail.

　Incidentally, it seems that His Highness Ethan had asked the queen to escort me to the ball hosted by the queen today.
He said that if anyone knew in advance, the entire Howard family would surely interfere, so he prepared a fan for me without mentioning his name.
　When I casually showed him the fan, he stopped to look at the part that read “Longs for you” after the part “A Man of the Royal Family” and gulped.
Apparently, it was the Queen's addition.

　The matter of Viscount Zhangou's curse, which was reported to His Majesty the King and His Highness Ethan by my father, is of great concern to Princess Aaliyah, who is engaged to His Highness Ethan.
It was the thing I wanted to talk about the most at the moment, but it was not something I could talk about here.

　Someone is planning to use Miss Charlotte as a human sacrifice.
When I thought of this, all I could think of was His Highness, Prince Ethan.
　Even if the target was other members of the royal family, let alone if he himself was the target, I was sure that this conspiracy would be crushed.
I would not allow anyone to hurt Prince Ethan himself, or even leave him with sorrow in his heart—this thought was the true reason why I used Miss Charlotte to hunt down the culprits.

　A few days after the incident, my father called me to his study.
　He told me that he had compiled a series of statements and gave me a summary.
I was quite surprised because I had told him that I would leave everything to him, and I had not expected to hear from him.

　He told me that Viscount Zhangou's target was Princess Aaliyah, and that Princess Aaliyah's stepmother, Queen Consort Kimberly, the current Queen of Xium, was behind the plot.
　He then asked me.

“How would you handle this, Rebecca?”

“If it were me …”

　I don't deny that I was relieved to learn that His Highness Ethan was not the target.

　Besides, I could not believe that the first princess of Xium, where the idea of equal rights between men and women is strong, would prefer to marry into the Kingdom of Lendor.
　Even though royal marriages are political maneuvers, the system of mistresses allowed to the King and Crown Prince of Lendor is unacceptable.

　I love this country, but whether it was due to the memories of my previous life that had been submerged in my consciousness, or whether it was a thought that had been engraved in my soul—either way, I had a feeling of disgust about this matter that surprised even myself.

　His Majesty the current King and the Queen have been engaged to each other since childhood.
The Queen had a wonderful anecdote about how, when he proposed to her again at an older age even though they were already engaged, she burst into tears, forgetting about her education.
　Therefore, Their Majesties have publicly declared that it was a love match.
Even so, the adoption agreement was drawn up.

　It irks me that they give the excuse that if it was a love match, the adoption agreement is just a formality, and it would be fine if it was never used.
If that were the case, why didn't they just abandon such a thing?
　It was difficult for me to hate Princess Aaliyah just because she was engaged to His Highness Prince Ethan, considering that she might have felt the same way.

　I refocused my mind and expressed my opinion about the treatment of the scum who were trying to kill innocent women for money.

“I don't think it's right to just let it go on like this.
　But he is not a son of the state, and he is a curmudgeon, so if we let him get away with it, it will only lead to disaster.
　If it were up to me, I would investigate Viscount Zhangou's lineage, and if necessary, I would hand him over to His Majesty the King with advice for the process.

　I am sorry, I did not expect this to happen, and I am very sorry … for the trouble I have caused your father.”

　He patted my shaky head, and the father said, “Yes, that's a reasonable point,” and nodded his head in satisfaction.

　After that, my father said that it was too much trouble to get involved … that it was a matter of great importance to the kingdom, so he threw the matter to His Majesty the King … made a report and left the rest to him.
I can only say that I'm impressed that he has promised to permanently decline a political marriage with the Howard family “Incidentally,” and that he has also called off my engagement.
　I am sure His Majesty the King will take care of the rest.

　As I talked with His Highness Ethan, I was struck by a strange feeling.
　We all have a past life.
Our one and only, our half of ourselves, one half of our soul.
We were such beings.
　The memories are vivid, clearly rooted in my present and influencing my thoughts.
And yet, it also feels like a dream I have always had.
In other words, it was as if I was watching my experience as Rebecca, the subject of this world, but her soul stored her life as Saki.

　If I were asked, “Who are you?” I would answer without hesitation, “Rebecca.” If I were asked, “Who is your one and only loved one?” I would answer, “it is His Highness, Prince Ethan.”
　Shu and Saki were us in a previous life, but we are not the same people as we are now.
　So we must look for happiness in this world, not a continuation of the happiness of our previous life.

“You cannot escape, and I have no intention of letting you escape.”

　His Highness Ethan spoke.
　But you know that I am not the kind of woman who would accept the position of mistress.
　I was curious to know what he was going to do, but I thought it would be best to discuss his engagement to Princess Aaliyah in a secluded place.
I had no choice but to give up for today.

　As expected, it is against my principles to have the person I love say, “I won't let you go,” and then not express any intention from me.
　Perhaps His Highness Ethan will make every effort to fulfill my request.
I must also tell him that I will wait for as long as it takes.

“I have recently developed an interest in mystery novels.”

　His Highness Ethan seemed puzzled by my sudden mention of books.

“Mystery novels?”

“Yes, the kind where the reader has to imagine things from the clues given to him or her.
　I am very interested in it, but I don't want to be misled by half-information and jump to wrong conclusions.”

“I see…”

“That's why … I'm going to wait until the conclusion edition of my favorite author's book, which I'm keeping close attention to, comes out.”

—There are so many things I really want to know.
But I don't want to be misled by you with half-baked information.
So I'm going to wait until you, my dear, come for me—.

“If the writer knows that you are waiting for him, he will be dying to finish his book.”

　His Highness Ethan said this in a serious tone of voice, but his eyes were shining with happiness.
　I put a little pressure on the tips of our joined fingers, and he squeezed them back in response.