The Legendary Villainess Who Vanished on the Guillotine, in Her Second Life She Wishes for Peace as

Chapter 5: Academy’s popular people come gushing in—Part 1

“I used the long-distance communication magic to contact Marquis Benito yesterday.”

Alania Academy is a boarding school, but with magic, you can communicate with people who are far away. It’s a method where you speak into a specialized crystal ball, which is installed in each dormitory. However, I’m not good at magic, so I can’t use it yet.

Camilo probably has his own crystal ball.

“…Camilo contacted Father? What for?”

I had a really bad feeling, so I asked with fear in my voice.

“I said I want to have a relationship with Leticia with the intention of marriage. Then Marquis Benito asked me if that was the reason she refused to marry Prince Agustin. He was happy and said I should have spoken up sooner.”

“You’re talking too fast. ‼︎!”

What the heck! Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!

My father is a highly respected politician and holds a ministerial position, but when it comes to his beloved daughter, he becomes a pushover.

He must have been delighted that his daughter, who boasted of having no intention of getting married, had found a boyfriend.

Otoo-sama, you’re jumping to conclusions.

While it’s true that Camilo said he “wants to be in a relationship,” it wasn’t a mutual agreement. And we definitely haven’t talked about engagement or anything like that!

“Why did you do something like this?!”

I shouted in confusion.

This is strange. He was supposed to have a straightforward and refreshing personality like the protagonist of an adventure novel.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would block someone’s retreat and corner them like this…right?

“I said it earlier, didn’t I? Let’s get married because I love you.”

I was caught by his outstretched arm again, and I found myself staring into his young grass-colored eyes at close range.

If you look at that straightforward brilliance, you’ll immediately understand that Camilo isn’t lying.

Prompted by his sincere words, I remembered the kiss from earlier and my confused mind felt like it was about to explode in the distance.

What on earth is happening?

I just wanted to be a plain and unremarkable nerd with glasses, atoning for my first life and living my second life.

Camilo is a friend, right? He’s my important friend who was the only one who cared for me when I was alone in the royal castle.

No, this won’t do.

I feel like my consciousness is drifting away…

❂❂❂

I was aimlessly strolling around inside the royal castle when I ran into Camilo and my face lit up.

He must be on duty. The crimson uniform of the dragon knights suits Camilo with his red hair.

“Camilo, welcome back.”

“Princess Leticia, you look as lovely as ever today.”

“Oh, don’t be so formal. Camilo, you’re being weird.”

Knowing his usual casual attitude, I laughed off his friendly joke to lift my mood. Camilo also chuckled mischievously, and our feet naturally headed towards the courtyard.

It feels good to be surrounded by greenery.

It seems that Camilo feels the same way, and we’ve come to the courtyard frequently when we talk together.

It’s a place where there are people around, so there won’t be any rumors about us secretly meeting.

“Prince Agustin and Yserra-sama went on a trip to the sea using teleportation magic early this morning.”

After chatting about various topics, I ended up blurting out about a sad incident that happened this morning.

Yserra-sama is the openly acknowledged mistress of my husband, Prince Agustin.

She transferred to the Academy after my engagement with the prince was decided, and even as an illegitimate child, she was easygoing and had a lovely smile that matched her beauty, so it didn’t take long for her to become involved with Prince Agustin.

I think it was a natural development, especially since the prince didn’t seem to like me from the beginning.

“What? Those two, always trying to rub it in your face…!”

Camilo furrowed his eyebrows and spoke with a rough tone. Nowadays, there are only my parents and Camilo who get angry at the behavior of Prince Agustin and Yserra-sama.

“Rubbing it in your face? It just looks like they love each other to me. At least, that’s how I see it.”

As if to disguise my loneliness, I laughed and Camilo squinted his eyes as if seeing something painful. To not worry him any further, I put on a nonchalant front and self-deprecatingly joked around with a bright attitude.

“I’m so naive that I’ve never even seen the sea before. Has Camilo seen it?”

“Well, I have, during a mission.”

“Well, that’s just great! I’m jealous. What was it like?”

Camilo looked up at the empty space as if recalling it, then met my gaze and smiled.

“First of all, it’s incredibly vast. Do you know what the horizon is? It’s like the world is cut in half by the sea, stretching out in a straight line. It’s a deep blue, and the surface of the water sparkles. The waves gently roll in at regular intervals.”

“Wow…it must be so beautiful.”

I wish I could go and see it too.

But unless it’s an official business, I can’t leave the royal castle for no reason. I have to bring along a lot of people, from the guards to the maids.

“Alright, Leticia. Then I’ll take you to the sea.”

At the unexpected proposal, I blinked my eyes.

“Camilo will take me there?”

“Yeah, if we ride on the back of a dragon, we’ll be there in no time. Not a bad idea, right?”

Camilo laughed lightly and spoke of the plan as if it were natural. For a moment, I forgot that my husband left me behind and couldn’t contain my excitement, cheering loudly.

“Wow, how great! I’m sure I’ll have a lot of fun with you!”

But there’s no way the Crown Prince’s wife and the son of the king’s brother would go to the sea together. Camilo knows that too, so this must be his joke to comfort me.

Still, I dreamed of the future Camilo described coming true.

His warm consideration made me happy.

If I imagine the sea I haven’t seen yet in my mind, I feel as if we really went there together, and I laugh lightly.

❂❂❂

When I opened my eyes, I saw Camilo’s worried, narrowed, light green eyes peering into mine. I blinked, feeling slightly confused by his slightly younger-looking face than in my dream.

“Leticia…! I’m glad you woke up!”

As soon as our eyes met, Camilo let out a relieved sigh. Judging from the ivory curtains surrounding the simple bed, it seems I was carried to the infirmary after fainting.

“I was so surprised when you suddenly fainted. The teacher said it was because of lack of sleep, but it was because I startled you, right… I’m sorry, Leticia.”

Camilo said in a serious tone, making me blush as I recalled the events before I collapsed.

I must be going crazy from all the surprises. He suddenly kissed me, and yet, I don’t feel any anger bubbling up inside of me.

While I do think it’s not very gentlemanly behavior, it’s not Camilo’s fault that I fainted due to lack of sleep from studying for the test.

I shook my head for now, and Camilo’s eyes widened slightly before he eventually smiled in relief.

“…Did you bring me all the way here?”

“Of course. I even made sure to put your glasses on when I carried you.”

As soon as he mentioned glasses, I felt my consciousness clear up rapidly.

That’s right, Camilo took off my glasses before. I’m not wearing them now, but where is my trusted partner?

“Here are your glasses.”

“Ah…! Thank you, Camilo!”

Camilo took my glasses out of his breast pocket and handed them to me. I felt the most relieved I had all day as my unblemished partner returned to my hands. I sighed before putting my glasses back on.

“You really take good care of it. You didn’t wear them when you were at the royal castle, did you?”

“Yes, they’re fake glasses. They were custom-made with magic to make my eye impression blurry.”

Once I fully understood my memories from my past life, I asked Otoo-sama to have an acquaintance who is a magical tool maker make them for me.

Now, I can’t feel at ease without them, and they have become a part of my body.

“Do you want to hide your face that much?”

“I don’t want to stand out anymore. Not at the Academy, nor after graduation. I don’t want to become a queen, and I can’t trouble my parents in this new life.”

“I see. Well, for my part, I feel more relieved when you’re wearing glasses…”

Camilo murmured something while appearing to be deep in thought and then eventually showed a bright smile, almost as if he were delighted or had obtained some kind of promise.

“So, Leticia doesn’t want to trouble the Marquis couple.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“In that case, would you mind marrying me?”

…Hmm?

Wait a minute, please.

That’s right, he’s talking about an engagement. I’m not convinced at all, and I don’t even understand the situation yet.

“But not getting married in this noble society is a big problem for your parents. So why don’t you get engaged to me and put their minds at ease?”

What should I do?

I can’t keep up with this sudden turn of events, and Camilo’s argument is too logical for me to argue back.