"Your highness, may I have some pastries?"
"Do as you like."
"Then, I will help myself."
I started breaking the madeleine which had been placed in front of me into bite-sized pieces.
Truly, I can't stand not eating sweet things.
Because I didn't want things to end up like this, I refused to meet with the second prince.
Being nervous, being surprised, I didn't slip up in my acting even once.
Yet…
That sly tanuki… I mean, because of Father I got found out by the blackhearted prince.
カードは捨ててって言ったのに。
Even though I told him to throw away the card.
That's right, I am the real identity of 'Lia' who Prince Edward has been looking for.
Seven years ago, it was when I had started performing outside.
His highness had been in town without having taken guards.
That appearance had definitely been that of 'first time travelling incognito'. He was in disguise but those who knew what to look for would know that he was a boy of high social status.
Although I am not particularly patriotic, still, one couldn't expose one's own country's prince to danger.
I got close to the prince with the character of an innkeeper's daughter from the capital and stayed with him until the knights who had been looking for him arrived.
Of course, I hid the fact that I was a marquis' daughter.
At the time, I played poker with the prince, and I lost.
'As compensation for losing, I will do one thing of whatever you say' was what was popular in those days.
"I don't have anything I want you to do as I say" is what the prince said, and I, with a feeling of it can't be helped, gave him a signed 'I will do anything you say' voucher.
The me at the time was a novice, and the reason I lost at poker originated in the fact that I had spoke one word of conversation to the prince.
After parting with the prince, I felt intense regret.
At any rate, the me after worked hard to the best of my abilities.
I decided to each time I was to socialise to hide my real self and become the perfect lady.
The few years my acting skills were still amateurish, I made sure I stayed away from the prince so as to not have my real self seen through.
So that I wouldn't be found out from my handwriting, I threw away all sorts of things with my handwriting since birth and changed my handwriting.
But those efforts were to no avail, and I lost to the prince's tenacity and a family member's treachery.
Washing down the sweets with some slightly cool black tea, my stomach tied itself into knots.
Scowled at by Prince Edward, I stopped the act of 'the Perfect Lady' I had performed for many years.
The me right now is the 'Original Julianna'.
"Certainly, I am the 'Lia' who Prince Edward has been looking for. It's been a long time hasn't it, how would you like me to greet you?"
"That's not necessary, the courtesy from before was enough. And, call me Edward."
"Then, Edward. About that scrap of paper… the signature is Lia's. Not, I, Julianna's. Which is why, that scrap of paper is just a scrap of paper with some words written on it.
"Just then, you acknowledged you were Lia. So, don't you think Julianna is also Lia?"
"That scrap of paper doesn't have an expiration date written on it. Seven years have passed. After all, it is nothing more than something written by a child, isn't it already expired?"
"Even a child, don't you think they should take responsibility for the things they've done? The fact that there is no expiration date means that this scrap of paper's time limit is indefinite."
As I thought, I wasn't able to invalidate it… it was completely unapproachable.
Seeing my attitude suddenly change, Lord Silas and Captain Kiel both had expressions of surprise on their faced.
I, who had stopped acting as a perfect lady, didn't follow up with anything and left it alone.
Without hiding my big sigh, I closed in on the heart of Edward's speech.
"And, what does Edward desire of someone like a marquis' daughter?"
After all, it's probably nothing good, I added internally.
Edward gave me a beautiful, praised as the 'Ideal Prince's', smile.
It's glittering pitch black.
I couldn't see anything but the smile of a demon.
"Become my pawn, Julianna."
His tone and face were that of 'the Ideal Prince's,' but his words were that of a fiend's.
"No."
"You don't have the right to deny me. You know this, don't you?"
No matter how I struggle, I can't escape… I wonder if it is important to give up my life, haa.
But it's only once that I have to do what he says.
Then… with my pride as the stakes I will perfectly act as a pawn and show him.
"And so, exactly what do you want me to do as a pawn?"
The me who was now in despair continued to eat sweets.
I'm eating macarons now. The exquisite sourness of raspberries is delicious.
"Do you like sweets?"
"Yes, I do. So, are you not going to answer my question?"
I shot Edward a look telling him to hurry and speak, and he shrugged.
The office fell into silence
I didn't have any intentions of being considerate and continued to eat macarons.
Unexpectedly, Captain Kiel who had been standing behind Edward was the one who broke the silence.
"Fuhahahahaha, this is funny. Young lady and Ed are both interesting-"
"It's no laughing matter, Kiel."
"I mean Silas, a young lady who has seen Ed's true character and replies with sarcasm and cynicism is amazing! Moreover, it's that 'Perfect Lady'. I can't not laugh!"
Captain Kiel continued to laugh. Lord Silas held in head in his hands, troubled.
It somehow feels like I'm being made fun of.
I raised my eyebrows.
Lord Silas, who had noticed me, bowed his head.
"My apologies, Lady Julianna. Without thinking that you are the person who Prince Edward was looking for, Kiel and I have behaved impolitely. And, I apologise one more time for making sure that you have the abilities to be our collaborator."
This person seems quite decent… He gets points for calling me a collaborator and not a pawn.
Or perhaps I should say he is a worldly individual. I wonder if his position is that of a guardian.
It's a well-known fact among the young ladies that the three are childhood friends.
Also, Lord Silas is the husband of Edward's older sister - the first princess Shelly. Incidentally, they're also newlyweds.
In other words, the two are brothers-in-law.
For me, I consider Lord Silas as the guardian of the other two problem children.
"And, did everyone find me satisfactory?"
"Beyond expectations. It was worth it to search for you."
"I think so too. There isn't anyone more suitable than you, young lady!"
"I also don't have any objections, as one would expect of a daughter of House Lewis."
Edward, Captain Kiel and Lord Silas replied to my question in order.
It seems that their assessment of me is quite good… Which doesn't make me happy at all.
"Then, I shall explain from the beginning to the end. Are you aware that at present, the nobility is split into the royalist faction and the church faction?"
"Yes, I have a general idea."
At present, the royalist faction and the church faction are the most politically problematic burden in the Kingdom of Rowlands.
First, exactly as its name suggests, the royalist faction is made up of nobles that have sworn allegiance to the king.
My House Lewis, as one of the Royal Family's Three Pillars, of course belongs to the royalist faction.
Next the church faction, is a faction that has rapidly grown in authority recently.
The Kingdom of Rowlands' national religion is the Luwell faith.
The Luwell faith is a religion that treats greed as evil and devotion as virtuous and worships the pure goddess Luwell.
It's a rather vague faith that states the goddess is affectionately watching over you.
And just based on that, goddess-bestowed freedom can also be exchanged.
And this Luwell faith has grown in popularity in my country.
It can be understood from the fact that the current queen consort of the Kingdom of Rowlands was a princess of Olivallel, a country of gods with sacred lands
Why has the Luwell faith created political faction?
That would be related to the royal church.
The royal church has already become an independent existence within the Luwell faith.
For many years, the non-heir sons of nobility have donated large sums of money and have become clergymen.
Thereupon the upper echelons of the church are the very pictures of depravity.
Brandishing authority and with bribery running rampant, the royal church became an isolated existence apart from the other churches.
The depraved were mainly those of the upper echelons, but many of the zealots were genuine believers too.
And, because it is the institution that trains doctors and nurses, the king has had trouble dealing with it.
And the royal church saw that opening, creating a political faction and increasing its aristocratic supports, strengthening its political right of speech.
それが教会派である。
That is the church faction.
"That's right. Although apart from the royal church faction and the church faction there is also a neutral faction… They have no sense of impending crisis and are indifferent fence-sitters. And, side consort Lady Bianca has sided with the church faction."
"Lady Bianca has!?"
I was unable to conceal my shock at Lord Silas's words.
At present the king has three consorts.
The queen consort Lady Dahlia, and the side consorts Lady Bianca and Lady Claudia.
The queen consort Lady Dahlia is known as 'the Consort Who Supports the Country', and the side consort Lady Claudia is known as 'the Consort Who Supports the People.'"
And side consort Lady Bianca is called 'the Arrogant Ex-Beloved Mistress'.
Lady Bianca is formerly a daughter of a viscount. When employed at the royal palace as a maid, the king fell in love with her at first sight.
Despite being a little selfish, the beautiful Lady Bianca received much favour from the king.
Soon enough, from a beloved mistress she became a side consort.
From then onwards, Lady Bianca's selfishness began to escalate.
She had large quantities of dresses and jewelleries made and opened parties every night to show those off.
Naturally, the public finances were impoverished, and the national treasury was going in the direction of being eaten out of house and home.
And, after giving birth to the first prince, she starting slighting the queen consort who, originally, she was supposed to work together with to aid the king.
Even though it is customary in the Kingdom of Rowlands that the male child born to the queen consort be made king.
It is a famous story that Lady Bianca would insult the queen consort every day by saying things such as she is only the princess of a small country after all… this woman who can only birth daughters…
Despite that, as queen consort Lady Dahlia is an individual with a resilient disposition, she did not suffer from things such as illness.
As one would expect, the news of Lady Bianca behaving as she pleased naturally reached the ears of the king.
As a result, Lady Bianca lost all favour.
The king who now avoided Lady Bianca sought solace in Lady Claudia, a daughter of a baron and a pious believer of the Luwell faith.
Lady Claudia is not particularly beautiful but has a kind temperament and is a sincere character.
She proactively carries out philanthropic work and hates excessive extravagance. She is truly the complete opposite of Lady Bianca.
After Lady Claudia officially became a side consort and Lady Dahlia gave birth to Prince Edward, the first in the line of succession to the throne, Lady Bianca's standing fell.
Taking into account the fact that she is the mother to the first prince, she was not given into marriage to a royal subject, but as she is ridiculed as 'the Arrogant Ex-Beloved Mistress', she is not recognised as a consort.
"From the fact that instead of the pious believer of the Luwell faith Lady Claudia, it is Lady Bianca who is following the church faction, I can conclude the royal's church faction's state of depravity but… now for the real issue at hand."
"Yes."
"The other day, I received information from an intelligence operative who had infiltrated the royal church that 'a sabbath was being performed in the royal church's underground.'"
"A sabbath… that's a ceremony of demon worship right?"
"That's correct. The intelligence operative who brought the information… was dealt with. It seems that the royal church has strengthened its precautions.
From Lord Silas's words, I am starting to see what they want me to do but… I'm honestly hoping I'm wrong.
Suddenly I had something I wanted to know so I raised a query.
"By chance, the one who the royal church is most cautious of is it… Prince Edward?"
After I said that, Edward and Captain Kiel looked my way as if they had seen something interesting.
I'd like them to stop looking at me like that, it's uncomfortable.
"That's right, I'm who they are the most cautious of. Even so, how did you think of that, Julianna?"
"Before, when Lord Silas told the maids to leave, one maid turned around to look over here before leaving. I thought she was a maid who liked to gossip but… after hearing what Lord Silas had to say I thought she might be a spy for the church faction. And, she… the way she looked at her master was suspicious."
"Hmm"
Servants become one with their surroundings! Referred to as such, they must not do anything unnecessary that would make them conspicuous.
And observing the master who they should be serving is inexcusable.
From how Edward and the other two looked, it seems that I was correct in saying that the maid was the church faction's spy.
Despite knowing and leaving it be, does that mean that they intend to let her go free,
I wonder if I should be happy that the quality of the royal palace's maids hasn't fallen.
"That's amazing, young lady. Even though I didn't notice until Silas pointed it out."
Captain Kiel said with a carefree smile. It makes me a little happy.
When I smiled along, Edward's face had a dubious look on it.
Does my smile not suit your tastes? I see.
"So, Julianna. I want you to infiltrate the royal church and gather information."
"That… as compensation for losing poker, it's considerably heavy."
"Seven years have passed. Naturally there has been a growth in interest."
Are you loansharking?
Although no matter how I struggle I have no right to refuse.
"I'd like to confirm something. I am, after all, a daughter of House Lewis. I must discuss this with my father."
"If it's Prime Minister Lewis, we have already acquired his consent."
"We received an immediate reply of consent?"
"I see…"
That patriotic sly tanuki.
My father Gerald Lewis is a dyed-in-the-wool patriot.
He's a diligent worker but a good-for-nothing father.
Most likely, he concluded that I was capable of infiltrating the royal church.
Hiding away and selling off his own daughter… I won't be having any parent-child conversations with him for a good while.
"In the event of infiltration, would it be correct in assuming that I won't be receiving any support from Edward or you two?"
"Aa, we want to avoid being guarded against by the church faction."
"In other words, separate from Edward and you two… I will be infiltrating the royal church with my personal resources and retrieving information… don't you think that's unreasonable?"
"You can't do it?"
Edward laughed at me through his nose.
This jer… ahem. I am a little irritated but let's regroup and calming consider this.
I closed my eyes and got lost in my thoughts.
Edward and those two can't make any big movements.
Which is why the fact that, as a third party, me becoming a pawn is outside the church faction's expectations.
Not only the preparations for infiltration, the means of gathering information, escape in the worst-case scenario… I'm not sure if it's possible with the pawns in my hand…
"I can do it. Provided that, the infiltration plan as well as real-time judgements would be carried out by myself."
"That's fine."
Edward agreed with what looked like a satisfied expression.
Now, all I can see is the face of a villain.
"Is investigating the sabbath situation sufficient?"
"Yes, as the focus we will be counting on you. And, if time allows, where the profit from the 'indulgences' the church has been forcefully selling to its believers is going to would be greatly appreciated, Lady Julianna."
"Understood."
"When will the infiltration likely be?"
"I have to match my roles to the infiltration preparations so… maybe in two weeks if I'm quick."
"Understood. We will also prepare a means of communication on our end."
"Thank you."
I stood up and bowed my head to Edward.
"For the disrespect I have shown towards your highness, my deepest apologies. As for my punishment, please treat it as just some mischief."
"It was I who told you to stop acting. The Perfect Lady and the true you were both very enjoyable, which is why I won't be punishing you. From now on too, if it's not a public location, I want you to be your true self in front of me."
Thank you for your forgiveness. Well then, I would be suspected by the spies if I stay for too long, so allow me to take my leave."
"Aa, I'll be counting on you for the infiltration then."
"Do you best, young lady!"
"Lady Julianna… I am truly sorry. Please do you best, I will also do as much as I can so…"
"Y,Yes."
Only Lord Silas who spoke last had an extremely serious look on his face but… was it just my imagination?
I stopped in front of the door and turned around with a smile.
"Prince Edward, I have performed a variety of roles up until now. But, among those I have not performed the so-called role of 'the Tragic Heroine'."
Edward and Captain Kiel inclined their heads to the side as if waiting for me to continue with the words, but someday I want to perform it.
Lord Silas, who had guessed from my unsettling mood, turned pale.
Fufu, it's too late.
With a bang, I open the door with all my strength and ran out.
And then, the maid who had been in the corridor rushed over with a 'what's happened!?'
"E, Prince Edward has… He mistook me for another woman… Compared to that… I-, even though I adore him… What should I…"
While bewildered by the me, who had broken down crying and was trembling, the maid held out her hand and supported me.
I can see looks of sympathy in the maid's eyes.
"Are you alright, Lady Julianna!? For the time being, I will show you to a separate room."
Supported by the maid, I acted as if I had a hard time walking.
With this, there wouldn't be any who would discover the connection of cooperation between the daughter of Marquis Lewis and the second prince.
Well, I had other ways but… This was the quickest and easiest.
I chuckled to myself in my mind.
I will be stepping up onto a life-threatening stage so, this amount of revenge will be forgiven, right?