Chapter 9: Poking Around in the Bushes Will Bring Out Snakes

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 　After winning the (tentative) annulment at the dance party, I returned to my room in the girls' dormitory and quickly moved into the townhouse, thanks in part to the good work of Emma, who was quietly preparing to leave the dorm.
　About half a month has passed since the graduation ceremony. I was currently enjoying a leisurely cup of tea at the Howard’s residence in the royal capital.


　The engagement termination was put on hold, since the royal family decided to carefully examine and confirm the facts.

　As for Miss Charlotte's strange behavior and lies, I've written a report to her father in advance. I have physical evidence, and I should be able to get testimony from the royal guards dispatched by the palace, so I won’t have too much trouble proving my innocence.

　Nevertheless, Miss Charlotte’s qualities as a new fiancee are lackluster, affecting the cancelation of the engagement.

　I can only guess as much since I’ve been receiving flower gifts with messages that say, "Can you please go along with the fake engagement for now?” It seems that his parents, His Majesty the King and the Queen, have tightened their grip on him.

　I guess he needs to buy time to re-educate Miss Charlotte, but if the way to do that is to continue the engagement, I am afraid I cannot help.
　In the past, I would have agreed to His Highness Garrett's request, as if I were supporting my brother's love. Now that I remembered … my husband, I didn't want to commit my future to anyone, even if it was fake.

　Fortunately, father is very active in dissolving the engagement. Leaving this matter to him, I was enjoying a graceful vacation---ostensibly.


　I really want to go back to the estate, but until the engagement is officially dissolved, I am the fiancée of the second prince, and I cannot go out too freely.
　For the first week or so, I enjoyed my vacation because of the sense of freedom, but I quickly grew tired of it.

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　When you have too much time on your hands, people tend to want to do … something.


"I'm not very good at offensive magic, you know. Although ‘Shadow’ can keep me safe, I'm afraid I'm defenseless.
　Is there any way I can fight them off … or at least stall them long enough to escape?”

　In order to see if we could make some kind of security product, a laboratory-like facility was currently being set up in a corner of my room.
　Emma and I happily set about researching and creating a prototype of our dubious idea.


　Emma is a maid, but she also has a secret role as ‘Peridot’, a member of ‘Shadow’ who uses the servant network to gather information.
　She also has a special skill in the field of medicine, and when I learned self-healing magic, she said, "A noble must be prepared for poisoning!”- and began poisoning me on a daily basis.
　Thanks to this, I am now able to deal with most poisons unconsciously.

　I understand the response of, “How can she poison her Lady?”
　In fact, this is a tradition that has been carried down in the Howard family from generation to generation. They start taking microtoxins when they are thirteen years old in order to build up their resistance to poison. Apparently, something had happened in the past.
　Of course, it is done under the supervision of a specialized doctor, so it does not harm their health.
　Emma is related to the family doctor, thus, she was recruited by Onyx into Shadow and currently working as my maid.

　Emma has a roundabout way of researching and always tests the medicine on herself before she gives it to me.
　I've told her not to do this everytime she has a day off, but her motivations spiral out of control in a mysterious direction, saying, "It's for my lady’s sake!”

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　To top it all off, she wants to use me as a test subject for her healing magic, so I guess you could say that her love for me is one of the heaviest in "Shadow.

　Incidentally, Emma's position as a maid is based on her special skills, so her duties are somewhat different from those of a regular maid.
　She is exempted from many tasks, although she is not unable to do them - in short, she is not busy.

　This time, the development of security goods was also meant to kill time for Emma and I.






　One day, some time later, Onyx brought me some disturbing information.

"Rebecca, it seems that the saint candidate in question has decided to move to the temple of Alaina. She's going to train there as a saint candidate.”

　Alaiana is a temple of great prestige. It is known as a temple where rare royal saint candidates can study and perfect their magic.

"That's good to hear. She has a bit of an unusual mind, so it will be difficult for her to get along with everyone at the school.
　Especially after what happened to her."

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　In an aristocratic society that values exclusivity and appearances, Miss Charlotte's behavior at the graduation party was an act that significantly lowered her social reputation.
　I'm not sure if there's anyone out there who would still be her friend…
　In the small world of the school, without a single friend, and now that His Highness Garrett, who had protected her, had graduated, there seemed to be no advantage to staying there.


"That's not the point.
　The problem is that the saint candidate is holding a grudge against Lady Rebecca because of the example you gave.
　Essentially, you can't bring any extravagant personal property into the temple.
　It seems that she is planning to attack Lady Rebecca by cashing in the … gifts she ripped off from His Highness the Second Prince.”

　I widened my eyes in amazement.
　The merchant that Miss Charlotte had been acquainted with at the school was a man with a shady background. Otherwise, she would not be involved in such a dangerous business as reselling the belongings of a nobleman. Perhaps he has a knack for rough business.


　I drew on my knowledge of previous games (online novels based on them), and it occurred to me that this might be a flag for the "pleasurable fall and humiliation end". (read note at end)

　I was going to leave Miss Charlotte to His Highness Garrett, but if she was going to mess with me, that was a different story.

"Well … I'll have to take her up on her offer, won't I?"

　After that, "Shadow" did a preliminary investigation, and since the case had become a little larger, I consulted with Father and mobilized all of "Darkness" to uncover the background.

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　As soon as I received the report of the results, I contacted the official guards of the Howard family, who had been dispatched by the royal palace.

"Your daughter will be going out secretly in three days. In order to conduct a small experiment, she would like to have only one escort.
　It is a trial of a new product that is under development … she hopes you can understand.
　Also, there will be a somewhat aggressive performance, but please don't mess with it.”


　When the royal guard heard about it, they were very excited.

“Oh, the rumored Howard family's merchandise ideas! What kind of field is it this time? If the items are targeted at soldiers, I would love to participate!”

“No, this time it's something targeted at women … Please keep what you see and hear confidential, okay?”

　In return, I will not mention here whether there was a secret meeting like a corrupt officer saying, "If we can commercialize it, we will.”



　Three days later, I took a carriage to a nearby forest, and on the way, I was attacked as planned.

 

 (idk how she came to that conclusion but she's talking about the end where the villainess is r@*ed as one of the endings in a game)

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