Fake Cinderella

"... tee, I wonder how much you know about yourself"

"About me, is it?

Suddenly, I was surprised to be asked about myself.

"Yes, it is."

"I don't know that much because I don't remember... only that my mother is His Majesty's half-sister and my father is the Duke of Elsevelt..."

And, needless to say, that my husband is His Highness Nadir.

"So what about your mother?

"I heard he was the half-sister at the end of His Majesty's birth between His Majesty the previous King, His Majesty Raglas III, and His Highness the Fourth Queen Eleanor... and that His Highness Nadir was someone with a place where he was his wife..."

"Prince Wang?

"Yes. We've talked about a lot of things"

The figure of my mother in His Highness's story was an active girl.

He said he liked music, he liked animals, he really liked long rides.

I preferred the story of His Highness's spoken mother to that of her mother, the protagonist of the tragedy in the rumors of the samurai. Because properly in His Highness Nadir's memory, she was alive.

"You resemble Princess Elfina so much as a living copy. And to Lady Eleanor, who was the mother of Princess Elfina."

"Queen Eleanor..."

I've only heard the name many times. When I say "beautiful woman of the world" in this country, the name of the former Fourth Queen, Her Highness Eleanor, will be honored first.

A woman who was a princess of a small country famous for her fine workmanship called Leafid, bordered by the northwest of Dardinia, and who has died shortly after giving birth to my mother.

(but the actual image is ambiguous)

Known for her beauty and wholeheartedly loved by Her Majesty the King, she became a princess of a small country named Reefid, but an unprecedented righteous queen who had ever been of another country in this country.

Everyone says that this is an unparalleled and rare event in the Dardinian royal family, with little marital diplomacy, and that, in a sense, Her Royal Highness's marriage to Her Majesty was allowed because of this presence.

"My daughter, Arienol, has received your name from Queen Eleanor. His Majesty put it on."

Says Her Royal Highness with a faceless mask.

In my head, I'll think behind those words.

Dardinian reading of Eleanor, "Arienol".

It is not unusual to give the royal princess the name of a queen known for her beauty. And of course it's normal for a father to name it.

But does what Her Royal Highness says on purpose like this mean something unusual?

If you dare to assume that there is something there, doesn't that mean His Majesty had some kind of thought there?

"Your Majesty has always loved Queen Eleanor."

Though the words contained no emotions at all, Her Royal Highness shook her gaze slightly.

It seemed, above all, to represent in her mind.

I had predicted, but I didn't know what to say.

To Her Majesty Queen Eleanor should be the Queen of the Father King and Mother in Law.

Well, it doesn't matter how much I love you in my heart, but is it a famous story that Her Royal Highness Lady Euria knows?

I'm probably more oblivious to rumors, so that's it, but that's the first story I've ever heard.

(It's not a nuance of respect or anything, is it, in this mouthful of Her Highness)

Though my mother-in-law, maybe, there shouldn't be a lot of difference in years.

Because my mother and His Royal Highness Nadir, who are children to each other, are barely the same age.

"Queen Eleanor's fatherland, Reefid, and my fatherland, Darhal, were equally small nations, with as much national territory. Sometimes neighboring countries were one another, and they had been married repeatedly for a long time. In both countries, it was customary for the spouses of the main Grand Duke to be welcomed from each other's countries.... Do you know what that means?

I shook my head honestly to the side.

The meaning of the fact that public households in both countries have both stacked blood over generations, even though they say so, is not pinned.

"The two Grand Dukes are very close to each other, and when one of the public houses has stopped that blood, it means they have so much blood intensity that there was a covenant to inherit from the other.... my mother and Master Eleanor's father were brothers and sisters"

I wait quietly for His Highness's next words.

It was a quiet space as if it were an ocean.

Because this is the cathedral, in some harsh air, I took a deep breath and gently held my chest from the top of my coat.

I heard a razor and a small piece of paper. That's just strangely calming my mind.

And Her Royal Highness Lady Euria spoke of a completely different question.

"Thie, do you know anything about my country?

The voice is slightly sweet.

I don't know if that's what you want or if it's love for your hometown.

"I hear that before I was born, I was invaded and annexed by the Empire"

Her Royal Highness looked away at the universe and said proudly to me.

"Yeah, that's right. It was a small country in the mountains… I was the heir princess of that small country, Darhal"

Her Royal Highness speaks of the name 'Darhal' as if it were dear.

"I still have two young sisters... I was the eldest"

The heart of His Highness the Mumbling Queen was not on this occasion, and in the darkness of wonder and tranquillity, we were not looking at each other as we were facing each other in this way.

Her Royal Highness gave her heart to the nostalgic fatherland in Her Majesty's memory, and I thought of Her Highness Nadir as I blurred His Highness's appearance.

(His Highness Nadir, I'm sure you knew this from the beginning too...)

About Her Highness. And more than that.

(Because Your Highness knows everything)

I guess I'm just twitching on the palm of His Highness's hand. Sometimes I'm a little upset, but more than that, my chest hurts.

Just one person, I think of His Highness's solitude at high altitude.

"My father didn't have a boy... but my father didn't take the side room... because he loved my mother. So, my oldest daughter, I had decided to take a son-in-law sooner or later and become a lady. That's why I've been educated since I was a child."

Her Royal Highness spills a secret grin. That's a grin I've never seen...... I thought it would be much more beautiful. That usual grin makes me feel pregnant with something scary.

"I thought I was going to be a lady lord and protect Darhal. I never doubted that future."

I once heard that in a time when His Majesty was still His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince, the family decree had asked His Royal Highness all questions.

I wondered when I heard that.

Lilia and Phil Lynn, who told me the rumors, gave me as an example that His Majesty has no interest in politics or superficial things at all, but then, why would Her Highness make such a decision... yeah, I wonder if I could make a decision.

I also have a possession as the Crown Princess.

But I haven't done anything.

The truth is, as much as I wanted to take care of my own possession, I tried to do something myself.

Truth, I was young. Unlike Altirier, I'm an adult with over a decade of social experience, so I guess I can handle it if I try.

But I was wrong.

At first, I thought running a territory was like running a company. The Lords are presidents, and the Lords are employees.

But, you know, this is totally different. Seems similar and completely different.

It's a polar theory, but if you put it plainly, that it's the salaries of employees that the president is responsible for, and that it's the lives of the inhabitants that the lords are responsible for.

Life... it means living better, all of it.

Pay is food for life, but not all of it.

That means that's all the responsibility.

With one Lord's decision, one command, the people live, or die.

In this world, that was normal and normal.

And I couldn't make such a serious decision.

I'm not prepared enough to say with my heart that it was the best way to go if someone died or was in a terrible way because of what I decided to do...... still that wasn't wrong.

But Her Royal Highness has done it.

I mean, that means Her Royal Highness had all that readiness and qualities... and I think I've figured out one end of the reason for that.

Her Royal Highness the Queen of Euria was raised as ruler of the country… so now Her Royal Highness is there.

"I was Darhal and thought I was the country itself called Darhal. A pride born as the daughter of a grand duchess who has ruled Darhal since the days of the Unified Empire... I am a little child whose pride is stronger than that of men... than anyone in the public house, no, it was something that often troubled your father by saying that I love Darhal more than anyone in the people"

Light green eyes seek further afield.

The fever that dwells in Her Royal Highness's words. That touches something in me.

I think it's something different but its strong thoughts...... I feel the fever.

"I was still young, stupid, ignorant, and arrogant. For me, dearly raised as the first princess of the Grand Duke, the heir princess, the center of the world was Darhar. That couldn't have happened."

A similar look to a crying laugh.

"The turning point came when I, for three years, welcomed the flower crown ritual… yes, my son-in-law search was in full swing"

A turning point… a turning point in Her Majesty's destiny. That... I know that too.

Meet Your Majesty, or, marry Your Majesty.

"His Majesty... At the time, His Highness Vidal, the fifth prince of Dardinia, visited Darhal. The public palace was a fuss. But it had nothing to do with me or my sisters... The Duchess Eleanor was already married to Dardinia at the time, but I never thought that would happen to us."

"Why is that?

Queen Euria is still such a beautiful person, even though I think she was a beautiful girl at a very young age.

"My mother was a beautiful person, so I was pretty confident in my appearance, too. But, you know, I also thought it had nothing to do with that. Royalty, royalty and nobility are more or less beautiful looks. Is that why you know?

"... because I seek a beautiful companion. Or because that's allowed."

"Yeah. That's right. In other words, in such houses, the blood of the beautiful is drawn from generation to generation, so in a certain sense, it is natural to be born beautiful."

There will be a lot of swings over generations of preferences, but nevertheless, genetic elements contain aesthetic traits, which are superimposed. The chances of having a beautiful child do increase.

"So while I was quite confident in my appearance, I didn't even think it was worth it as much as it was.

Above all...... I knew. Unlike Reefids, which are on the course of continental roads and produce a wealth of precious stones, Darhar was only a small mountain farming country. When I looked at the map, Darhal and Leafid were both small countries that were not as different in area, but their contents were completely different. Dardinia had no need to marry such a small country… Your grandmother, Her Royal Highness Lady Eleanor, is the exception. "

"Exceptions in Exceptions…"

"The Duchess Eleanor had been ordained to be married to Dardinia since before she was born."

"... why?

Something caught me.

My mother and I… some factor that we are treated as exceptions by His Majesty and at the same time common to the special nature of our marriage.

I think that's probably starting with Duchess Eleanor.

"Lady Eleanor's mother, because you were the princess of Elsevelt."

"Elzevelt......"

"Yeah, yeah.... It's your home, Thie."

Elzevelt. I was a little surprised and convinced that his name came out here.

My biological home...... the eastern Elzevelt, sometimes called in the spares and shadows of the royal family.

"Apart from the fine circumstances, the fact that Duchess Eleanor married the Dardinian royal family set one precedent: she could be queen even if she was not the princess of the Four Houses. In fact, this didn't happen at all."

Dardinian marital policy is very special.

Particularly characteristic is that the princess has no daughter-in-law outside the country first. And the queen of kings will always come from within the country if she looks at two exceptions: Her Royal Highness Queen Eleanor and Her Royal Highness Queen Euria… that is also what the Four Dukes are asking for.

However, given the meaning of Her Royal Highness's words, I feel that Queen Eleanor is not considered an exception.

"As everyone was convinced by the words of His Majesty the Predecessor, the title of Lady Eleanor is Duchess Leafid, because it was essentially the treatment of the princess of the Duke of Elzevelt family"

I fall for the word. Somehow I felt like a lot of things had only been done.

Her Majesty the Queen is the only true exception.

"... Anyway, since there was an example of His Highness Eleanor, it was permissible for me to be the Queen of the Fifth Prince... I had no shards, such as the blood of the Four Dukes, because His Majesty was not supposed to be associated with the right to inherit the throne"

The serenity of Her Royal Highness Lady Euria accidentally brought hard air.

"It didn't have to be forgiven. I wish there had been no precedent!

The voice turns into a similar sound to a scream.

"I didn't want to be Princess of Dardinia. I wanted to be the Duchess of Darhal and protect Darhal.... Hey, you know what? When Darhal was lost, someone told me. Her Royal Highness has the best of luck."

Her Royal Highness flickers a grin that resembles self-derision on its splendid face.

"What's the luck? That I was the only one who survived because I was married to another country? To be the queen of the prince of the great kingdom? Or that the man who became my husband became king? That the child I had was smart enough to be said to be a rare genius? That I could be queen because of that?... I never wanted to take any of them. Not a single thing I ever wanted came true!!

"Her Royal Highness Lady Euria..."

Emotions gush. Something you can't even hold back. Something similar to passion.

I felt like I saw a blue-white flame rising loosely behind Her Highness.

"... during a welcome feast at the public palace in Darhal, Prince Vidal, the star of the feast, kept an eye on me. In the bard song, the prince is supposed to have fallen in love with me at a glance. But that didn't happen at all. Because His Royal Highness Vidal came to Darhal to see me from the beginning."

I tilt my neck because I don't know what that means.

"But I didn't know that. And without knowing it, I even held a pale thought... but, you know, it was like a slight fever, something that was no different than a kid admiring a prince in a picture book. Because I was Darhal's heir. Nothing was more important than that."

I understood His Highness's feelings for his country too well.

I'm not saying I understood, but I think it's a little like the thoughts I have about the world over there.

But something more intense than me, and I was a little scared.

This fever is not in me. I've never loved anything this way.

The thought of His Highness Nadir in this breast is kind, embarrassing and ticklish, hot but softer, like wanting to blush something just to remember.

I didn't have this, like, contagious heat.

"Do you hate your majesty?

"No...... no"

Her Royal Highness shook her head to the side violently.

"It was pale, but I did fall in love with His Majesty... and even the most important thing, there was a moment when I thought it didn't matter. His Royal Highness Vidal was so sweet...... so I was happy when His Highness asked me to marry him. I knew it was impossible to enter into marriage, but I was glad you said so"

Her Royal Highness says she was happy that she was proposed, whilst shouting that she didn't want to be a queen.

That apparent contradiction.

But maybe, they're both true. Neither of Her Royal Highness's words are lies, which is why Her Royal Highness regrets a past that cannot be reclaimed and tries to turn away from the present by thinking of a future that she did not choose.

(Though...... you really should know)

"'I can't be Your Highness's Ladyship because I have to take my son-in-law and inherit the country, but I was happy,' I even practiced telling you so... and I could say well. It was decided that there wasn't."

"What do you mean you didn't?

"His Royal Highness never seemed to think about being turned down, etc. And you laughed and you said to me. 'Euria, you may not know very well, but this is more a matter of decision than I want and my father has accepted it'. And the fact that I declined is gone."

……………

"I didn't know what that meant.... but the result was certainly what His Highness said. You should have declined, but the next day it was a decision for me to marry His Highness. Nobody heard my word that I didn't like it...... rather, it's what they said each time." Just kidding, "he said."

I could imagine.

People tend to judge things by their own standards. And I think that just because I thought so is what others think the same way again.

"Did your family say the same thing?

"No. My father listened to me properly. But that didn't mean the results would change.... My father told me to listen. Because in Dardinia, there is not a single small country like Darhal. and"

You're absolutely right.

Dardinia is one of the leading powers on the continent. Its national power and the breadth of its territory were out of digits, and, above all, the strength of Dardinian armies was ringing on the continent.

Given that Darhal, who was later attacked by the Empire, fell in only three days, the words of his father would have been natural, too.

"I sued. I can't marry a country outside because I'm an heir princess... but my father said. Even my sisters can succeed Darhal. And. You are the only one who can be Princess of Dardinia and protect Darhal from the outside, not from the inside. So he asked me to listen up.... I nodded.... Now I can tell you, in the end, I was just looking for a reason. I need a reason to marry my first love."

And I became the queen of His Highness Vidal, and Her Highness laughed mockingly.

"Even though I was married that way, I couldn't save my country. Even though my father asked me to protect him from the outside, I couldn't do anything to help my country..."

Did that laugh seem self-derisive because I know what happened ahead?

I'm sure no matter how gently they smile ahead of me, I wouldn't think this man is just a calm... loving man.

"I was happy at first when I was married... because I didn't know why His Highness was so obsessed with me"

"Obsession, is it?

"Yes.... my despair began when I found out why His Highness was obsessed"

"... is that because I love you?

To my words, Her Highness leaks a sigh that she could not see.

"How far do you know? Thie."

There was nothing in the eye directed at me.

There was no mercy, no hostility, no sharpness to challenge.

It's just that there was a woman there like she gave up everything.

"There's not so much I know. Because I don't remember."

I pushed and killed different thoughts in my heart and made me laugh.

innocently, and to look more beautiful than anyone else.

Because now I understood that was my weapon.