TL: (WARNING: short rant, please skip if you want.) Hello everyone! Just a tiny rant before I start this chapter. There have been a few readers who have asked me if I really am picking up this project, and so I wanted to properly confirm that I am planning to translate until the end of Volume 2, if circumstances allow so I hope that makes y’all happy.

Also, I apologize for the slow update. The past 4 weeks, I’ve been intermittently getting sick, and because I don’t use MTL, I’m literally translating from scratch, in bed, with 2 dictionary apps and a Thesaurus. I’m all better now, so I should be able to bring out chapters quicker. Hopefully >_<

Lastly, this chapter marks the end of where the teasers stopped. (shout out to my translator senpais: Blushy, Kainan, and Vanilla Muse!) So, from the next release onwards will be unchartered territory for me. I’m so nervous-excited about it. To those who were like me and despaired over the unfinished state of this novel, then this is our time to rejoice! Haha

That being said, here’s your chapter~

Enjoy! ^_^

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The place where Mari was brought to was an unbelievably large castle that boasted a majestic appearance. When she entered this castle, that reminded her of old castles from Medieval Europe, she was immediately surrounded by a crowd of retainers. They followed Mari around, fawned on her, and praised her on her victory.

Annoyed, Mari had them guide her to her own room and told them she was going to take a bath in an attempt to make them withdraw. When she did so, young pretty boys hurriedly came close to her saying they will wash her hair and body. As Mari flusteredly yelled, “Get out!” everyone scurried in all directions like a baby spiders as they ran away.

Whatever. Mari just needed some time alone.

In the bathtub of the luxurious bathroom, similar to that in Western films, she submerged herself up to her neck.

“Haaah…..” a sigh was all she could let out.

(How exactly did I end up in this mess?)

If those who saw the “Queen” in the battlefield met this “Queen” right now, they might not recognize her as the same person. The Queen-like Mari who subdued the knights with an imposing air is not how Mari is originally like.

(I mean, I thought it was a dream….)

Of course, that is not the only reason. In the battlefield, there was a unique atmosphere. And Mari was swallowed up by that atmosphere.

After returning to the castle, when she came back to her senses, she was disgusted by her blood-covered, mud-splashed state. Unless she can escape and take refuge in a bath, she won’t be able to take it anymore.

Although it had a conspicuous amount of bleeding, Mari’s wounds were relatively shallow. There were nothing but scratches, it was to the point where the healer who rushed over was puzzled as to what should be healed. When she informed him that she vomited blood, he decided to cast the skill on her whole body saying there might be a possibility that her internal organs were injured.

She was grateful that it did not sting when she went into the bath because her wounds were healed. From what she heard, healers were those with the power to boost a living being’s natural self-healing abilities. When those men held their hand out to Alware’s leg wound, it closed up right before her very eyes.

(I knew it, this must be another world)

It may sound absurd, but she cannot run away from the happenings that are taking place right in before her eyes.

(And what’s more, I even became the Evil Queen.)

Mari dejectedly dropped her shoulders once again. She even thought of wanting to drown to death in the bath in this state.

When she raised her eyes, reflected on the mirror that spanned the walls, was the miserable face of a beautiful woman with black hair and black eyes. When Mari put her hand on her head, the beauty in the mirror put her hand on her head as well; when she covered her face, the woman also covered her face.

Originally, for a Japanese person, Mari was already fair-skinned and had a face with a distinct set of features. Even so, she did not have skin this white or this smooth; nor was her face this neat or beautiful. This body unmistakably belonged to Her Highness, the Evil Queen, and is also the vessel for her current self.

The words that the rebels and Marquis Mydal threw at her came back to her ears.

(Did she truly do something that terrible?)

The battle took place exactly because she did those things. And Mari ended up taking control of that battle.

(Aaaahh! At that time, why….. When I remembered Marquis Mydal, why did I not properly think about it?)

Mari shed tears from the bottom of her heart. She sobbed while trying to hold her voice down. Even though she tried to think of why or how, the answer never came out. How long did she stay that way? Her head felt dizzy. It’s only natural, since she unstintingly used the bath and cried. She might have felt dizzy from the long hot bath.

Mari slowly lifted her face. Then, she gently got out of the bathtub, and washed her face with cold water. Wiping the water off, she clapped on her cheeks, ‘pan! pan!’ (TL: SFX >_<)

(Crying won’t help.)

The face of Mari’s uncle, who was also her foster parent, came to mind. Her uncle, who was her mother’s younger brother, was a monk from a strictly religious sect. Her uncle became her foster parent, not because her parents died or got divorced. They were not impoverished to the point of being unable to raise children either….. Anyway, Mari was raised strictly in her uncle’s temple.

Be that as it may, her uncle never forced the Buddhist teachings upon Mari. As long as she did not stray from what’s humane, better yet, it can be said that the permissible range was quite wide.

“Do not stray from being humane.”

This was the teaching that her uncle thoroughly pounded into her.

(And yet, right now, I have awfully strayed…..)

Mari shook her head as she was about to feel down again.

“If you have strayed from the path, then you just have to return to the right path.”

She recalled her uncle’s words. He said this to Mari in her middle school days, when she had inadvertently participated in bullying.

(Let’s return to the right path.)

Mari made this resolution and began to think of what she can do for it to happen. In the battlefield, she thought she was dreaming, so she never told anybody that she is not the Queen. However, if this situation was bound to continue, then it might be better to honestly tell someone about it. On the other hand, she also thought, who would believe something so absurd? If she’s careless, it will not be strange if they said she is lying just to shift the blame from herself.

(If they knew I was not the Queen, what kind of treatment would I get? ……… They won’t need to fear the Queen who did nothing but terrible things. I don’t even know what those people, who held and endured their dissatisfaction towards the Queen, would do to her. In the worst case scenario, if they take revenge in order to vent their anger……..)

After careful consideration, Mari decided to pose as the Queen. And so, she arrived at the conclusion that she had no choice but to take on the misgovernment conducted by the Queen and put things back on the right track, even if by just a little. That seems to be the best and only path.

—— However, it seems like Mari’s resolution might crumble in the blink of an eye. Awaiting the freshly-bathed Mari were, once again, the pretty boys. This time, Mari froze from embarrassment and was unable to oppose. Her body was wiped down, and her hair was dried. On top of that, even putting on a luxurious dress and the grooming of her hair was done for her. They excessively touched her all over and even tried to do something like a massage, so Mari let out a shriek-like voice and ordered them to exit the room.

(What on earth is happening? Moreover, why is it men? Normally, something like that would be done by a maid or a lady attendant…… Anyway, isn’t that something that should be done by women?)

She still did not want to have that done to her even by women but, Mari could only think of this after-bath riot as nothing but insanity.

Exhausted, Mari sat down on her room’s sofa and went limp. The interior design of this room of hers was also another thing that made her tired. Anything and everything is gaudy. The furniture were inlaid with extravagant decorations and jewels to the point that she was scared of what to do if she scratched them. With this room full of expensive-looking, gaudy ornaments, she felt dizzy.

(How much does this room cost in total?)

A commoner like herself cannot even estimate it. With a room like this, there’s no way she can calm her mind. While deciding to sell everything, Mari looked around the interior of the room. As she did so, she noticed a lone young boy buried by documents, sitting behind a splendid desk that seemed to be meant for performing official duties. The boy, who is around 12 to 13 years old, worked with his utmost effort.

“What are you doing?” At Mari’s query, he directed a surprised look towards her. He is a cute boy with a trace of innocence.

“Ah, ahh! Pardon me! With the chaos from Her Majesty’s return to the castle, the imperial report on the documents was delayed…… I will finish it immediately!” the boy was flustered to the point of looking pitiful.

Mari was at her wits’ end thinking, is her ‘self’ —– the Queen, really that scary of an existence?

“What are you doing?”

The boy blinked in surprise.

“Eh? Ah, yes. Just as Her Majesty commanded, I am stamping on the imperial seal.”

(Imperial seal? Imperial seal, isn’t that the one used for the King’s approval? Why is this child the one stamping that on?)

“Why are you the one stamping that on?”

In order not to frighten the boy, Mari tried to ask as gently as possible.

“Like I said, Her Majesty was the one who told me to…..”

“I did?” She had a feeling her head will begin to ache. Seeing Mari place her fingers on her temples, the boy vehemently reasoned out in a panic.

“I…. I was originally in charge of carrying in the documents. B-but, before, when I came to bring documents in. ‘It’s troublesome, so you do it’……. Her Majesty, t-t-told me so, did you not?”

At his story, Mari sighed. She pacified the young boy that looked like he was on the verge of tears, “It’s alright. I am not sighing because of you.”

Her sigh was of course, because of the Queen.

(Just because it’s troublesome, she’ll leave the approval to others? And what’s more, to a child like this? There has to be a limit to being irresponsible, right?)

Mari stood up from the sofa, and headed to the desk. She made the boy stand and she took a seat. Even though it was a soft chair, it felt extremely uncomfortable to sit on. Her eyes fell on the document, she was relieved that she could read it. Of course it was not in Japanese, but mysteriously, she could understand what it meant. However——

(……… Mmm?)

Even though she could read the words, the contents were incomprehensible. For the mean time, she tried to look over the one at the topmost of the mountain of documents, but——–

“This is a project plan document, right?” Mari asked the blue-faced boy. The boy shook his head from side to side.

“I-I, do not know the contents.”

“Hiii!” he shrieked when he saw the crease in Mari’s brow. Mari dropped her eyes on the document once again.

(Even though it is a project proposal, how come the operation objective and overview are not even stated?)

A while back, Mari and a friend from her college circle had to work as volunteers and needed to make a corporate entity and start up a NPO (Non-Profit Organization). During that time, they had an extremely hard time with things like project plan proposals and income-expenditure estimations. And yet, what lay before her eyes now was something that seemed to sneer at their hardships of that time. Just the heading was awfully conspicuous. The project schedule and estimated budget were perfunctory; it was a project proposal with no real content.

(Moreover, the calculations are even wrong…..)

The simple estimated budget had calculation mistakes that were obvious at a glance even without an electronic calculator.

(How did something like this make it to the Queen’s approval desk?)

Thinking it got mixed up with the other documents by mistake, she tried to flip through the others. However, every one of them were pretty much the same. While smoothing out the crease between her brows with her finger, Mari called out to the young boy, “Somebody —– can you call somebody who understands the contents of these documents?”

“Ye-yes!!” As the boy jumped up to respond and went out with lightning-speed. Mari had a bad premonition and she glared at the documents piled up into a mountain on top of the desk. And thus, she waited for whoever it is that could give herself a clear explanation.

The one the boy dragged along with him was an elderly person.

(Is he alright? This grandpa…..)

Not betraying her expectations, he panicked to the point of looking like he might have a heart attack when he heard Mari’s question. The old man swapped with another person without even attempting to give some sort of explanation.

The next one who came was a middle-aged, red-skinned man with a plump face. While beads of sweat flowed on him, he could only let out the sounds like, “Eh?” and “Uhh?” He did nothing but drench the handkerchief he used to wipe off sweat, and swapped with the next person.

Mari was finally able to meet a person who could answer her question on the third person after the red-faced man.

(Uwaa….)

The person who stood across the work desk from her made Mari look on in fascination.

Silver hair that seemed to flow down, and azure eyes, like a deep ocean. His facial features were in such immaculate order, that it made one think that it had long reached the realm of the gods. Even though his age appeared close to Mari’s, she did not have any feeling of affinity.

His tall, slender figure was elegantly bent as he bowed towards Mari.

“Hearing your summons, I have come to visit,” his low voice reverberated charmingly. However, at the same time, an unpleasant feeling spread out within Mari’s heart.

(Isn’t this the same feeling of hatred I had with Darius? …… No, no, how come? Even though he’s such a beauty. What’s more, it’s just the two of us in this room, you know? In this heart-throbbing kind of scene, for the tension to go down this much means…..)

Mari forcibly placed a lid on the unpleasant feelings within herself.

(I don’t want to think about it…..)

Thinking ‘rather than that,‘ she held out the problematic document as if to seek an explanation from him.

But when the beautiful, young man glanced at the document, he clicked his tongue as if to say, ‘tsk! Of all the things!’

(Ehh?)

“Even though I said that much about not mixing in anything that has not gone through me….” he muttered as Mari’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

“It seems it has reached your hands by mistake. It shall be torn up and discarded immediately,” his tone was polite, but he seemed clearly displeased.

“Ah, if that’s the case then, this and this……” Mari handed him the documents with issues, which she had gathered after a cursory check during her waiting time.

“……. These are the documents that are not well in order.”

The young man blinked his pretty eyes as he silently accepted the documents.

“Also, this one is…..”

She showed the young man a document that had a well-prepared format but she could not comprehend its contents.

“What is this ‘Imperial Summer Palace Construction’?”

The young man was at a loss for words at Mari’s statement.

“…… This is the construction plan for an imperial villa that Her M Majesty has requested to stay in during the summer season?”

At that answer Mari wanted to look up at the ceiling.

(I knew it. It was the Queen, wasn’t it?) she was flabbergasted at the Queen’s deeds.

“‘Summer’ means that there are already Spring or Autumn ones?”

“You also have a Winter one.”

She seriously wanted to hold her head. Mari threw back the ‘Imperial Summer Palace Construction Plan’ document to the young man as if to vent her anger.

“What are the losses in the event that this project plan is ceased?”

“Since we have only done a small initial survey for possible site selection, I believe it will not be that heavy of a loss.”

“In that case, please discontinue it immediately. As for the other villas, do a review towards minimizing expenses incurred on unnecessary thing,s by either abolishing or selling them off. Of course, the workers and involved parties must not be placed at a disadvantage. Please do so at their convenience,” Mari said with irritation.

(Having four villas, isn’t that just inconceivable? Just constructing public buildings and the maintenance thereof already costs a staggering amount of money, you know. It’s because of things like this that rebellions happen!)

The heartbreaking voice of the man who said his son died of starvation came back to Mari’s ears.

“In the first place, why have I not heard of any talk of post-war procedures? Are procedures progressing? Instead of something like this, is that not more of a priority!?” She unconsciously vented out the displeasure that has been gloomily piling up ever since seeing the document.

It was not like this beautiful man was at fault, but somehow, she could not stop.

“It is exactly as Her Majesty says,” the young man, who had remained silent up to that point, said quietly.

Sensing something disquieting in the air, Mari’s agitation instantly cooled down.

“However, it was because I believed Her Majesty would not hold any interest for such things as Post-war Procedures,” his azure eyes stared at Mari.

Mari could not respond. She realized her own mistake. Indeed, the Queen before was not supposed to have any interest in something like this. After all, even stamping on the imperial seal was entrusted to others.

Slowly, the young man went around the work desk and closed in on Mari—— soon enough, he stood beside her.

“…… ‘Your Majesty.’ Who are you?” With an absurdly beautiful smile floating up, the young man placed his hands on Mari’s shoulders.

Chills ran down her back, “Eh?…… Uhm, what do you mean by ‘who’?”

When she shamelessly asked him back, he added more strength into its hands, and Mari’s heart jumped. Even though she had this transcendental beauty up close, the kind of heart-pounding she felt was different.

“In the first place, Her Majesty would never speak with me in such a way. She was prejudiced against me, after all. Being called to this room, in and of itself, is inconceivable.”

When he said this with an alluring voice, Mari was convinced while thinking, ‘Ah, I knew it.’ What she felt a while ago really were feelings of hatred towards him.

“Who are ‘you’?”

Being asked once more, Mari raised a white flag. At any rate, a fault in her pretense was bound to come out. In the first place, she felt it was better to honestly tell someone at the start. It was just that she thought no one would believe her, and the Queen was too much of a person that she could not say it.

If it was this person who was certain that Mari was not the Queen, he might believe her.

(Besides, the Queen having unpleasant feelings towards him means the possibility that he’s a proper person is……)

Dwelling on the thought of how pathetic that judgment criteria is, Mari opened her mouth, “My name is Toujou Mari.”

While feeling relieved somewhere within her heart at not needing to lie, Mari spoke out. Of how her original self was not a Queen, and was nothing but an ordinary person, and how this place was probably a different world from the one she came from. About how she suddenly woke up in the battlefield, and how she fought in that condition of not knowing what’s going on.

Gaining someone to talk to, Mari blurted out everything she could not say even when she wanted to up until now.

“I have no idea where this place, or your name as well—— I don’t even know the Queen’s name!”

(After all, everyone calls me, “Your Majesty.” They won’t even call me by name!)

At the end of her story, Mari exclaimed in desperation.

The beautiful young man tilted his head to the side while pondering, and finally relesed Mari’s shoulders.

“My name is Freyas von Calvan, heir to the Duke Calvan, one of those allowed to carry the name ‘Cal’, which belongs, only to this Calculla Kingdom. I am an Assistant Prime Minister by profession. Second cousin of the Queen.”

“Second cousin?”

“My grandmother and the king before the previous king, in other words, the queen’s grandfather were siblings. My face and yours look similar, right?”

(…….similar? Me, and this transcendental beauty?)

Mari thought she heard it wrong but that was not the case. The current Mari is in the Queen’s image. Freyas has silver hair and blue eyes, and the Queen has black hair and black eyes, their hues were considerably different. However, both of them certainly had divine beauties.

“Your name is Mary Frau Calculla. Queen of this Calculla Kingdom.”

Mary. Within her heart, she muttered the name of this body’s owner which she heard for the first time.

“…… It seems like the Queen used the Revival technique,” said Freyas with a look of conviction.

“Revival technique?” Mari repeated questioningly, seeking an explanation for those words she is not used to hearing.

“That’s right. The Revival technique is a special technique of the direct descendants of the royal line that can only be used under certain conditions. There are three conditions in order to activate this technique. First, the caster must be in a situation where death is inevitable. Secondly, there must be no other direct descendants left other than the caster. And last, a body that had good compatibility to take the place of the caster’s body must exist…. I heard that the Queen was slashed down by the enemy during the fight; that a substantial amount of blood sprayed out of her neck, and that everybody had resigned themselves to her passing away. But you are alive.”

Mari trembled at Freyas’s words.

“Tha-that is because the wound was not as deep as the bleeding let on…..”

Mari’s words were denied on the spot.

“I heard from the healers that your wounds were all just superficial ones. It seems that not a single one of them looked like it could cause a spray of blood. Most probably, the Revival technique that the Queen used at the verge of death, selected your body that happened to be a good match. The technique used your body as a sacrifice to Revive the Queen’s body.”

“……… Sacrifice?”
Mari felt cold sweat flowing down her back.

“The Revival technique exchanges one’s own body’s condition with the condition of the sacrifice’s body condition. In the case of the queen’s wounded body. That wounded state was exchanged with your body’s non-wounded state. Unfortunately, your original body had its neck slashed up and is thought to have died of massive bleeding.”

“….. to have died?” she went pale. Within a room in a narrow apartment, her own dead figure with blood flowing from the neck floated up in Mari’s mind.

(If I remember correctly, the room was locked, wasn’t it? Amazing….. A real-life locked-room mystery murder case?)

Thinking this way was none other than her attempt to escape from reality.

(—– I, died?) thinking so, Mari realized. (Why did I not worry about what has happened to my real body up until now? Normally, shouldn’t that be the first thing to worry about as well as thinking of how to return to my own self?)

At that moment, her head went into chaos.

(Trying to live in this world as the Queen as if it’s normal, what am I? To not even notice until I was told that I can’t go back for the rest of my life…)

Pitch black despair spread out in Mari’s heart. She harbored a preposterous feeling of unease about living in the Queen’s body.

“……. Please, send me back,” a hoarse, small voice finally came out of her throat.

“It’s impossible. Also, did I not say you ‘have died’?”

“You said I am ‘thought to have died’! Quickly, send me back! When I get back, I will call an ambulance right away, so! So if I do that!!”

Freyas responded to the yelling Mari with calm words, “It is useless. How many hours has passed since you came here? Even if that was not the case, it was a wound that causes instant death. There is no way you could stay alive.”

“…….. My Mom, I have to call her! My mom feels guilty that she could not raise me, if I don’t call her every night, she’ll cry….. My younger brother too, maybe because we couldn’t live together, he’s emotionally attached to me like an idiot. Also, Uncle. Because he took in someone like me at a young age, he doesn’t have a wife…. I have to look after him in his old age…..!” Mari did not even know what she, herself, was saying.

“I’m saying it’s impossible. Furthermore, you are actually lucky, you know?”

She was taken aback by Freyas’s calm voice.

“—– lucky?”

“That’s right. Originally, only the Queen was supposed to be revived, and you were supposed to die there without knowing what had happened. But, your spirit is here. This is just a conjecture but, the technique must have judged the Queen’s spirit to be ill. The Revival technique is a technique that completely exchanges the body’s bad conditions,” Freyas said indifferently.

It sounded like there existed neither sorrow nor compassion for the loss of the Queen’s soul, and of course, no sympathy towards Mari who died in the Queen’s place either.

“Since things turned out like this, then it can’t be helped. Please act as the Queen like this. I will do the follow-up.”

“…… What are you saying?” Mari asked, unable to comprehend the meaning of what Freyas is saying.

“There is nothing else we can do. This kingdom could not afford to lose the Queen.”

“….. Why?”

“Calculla’s King inherited the blood of the gods, and holds divine protection from the gods. As long as the King exists, calamities will never occur in this kingdom. Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and typhoons…. Even droughts and cold weather damage are irrelevant to this kingdom.”

Mari blinked her eyes at the reason revealed by Freyas.

(Calamities do not occur?)

“The ones who hold divine protection are the King and his children. The only ones who retain that divine protection on the next era are those who inherited the throne. The Queen had no siblings, the late king, as well, had none. The king before the previous one only had my grandmother alone. It has been long since the king before the previous one as well as my grandmother have passed away. At this point in time, the only existence that holds divine protection is only the Queen.”**

Specifically, what they need is the Queen’s body that has inherited and holds that divine protection.

Mari bit her lip. Her head that has been dulled by the sorrow, gradually cleared up.

She threw a question at Freyas, “Even though her existence was necessary, the Queen still caused a rebellion?”

“Only those of the royal clan and central figures of the government know about the royal family possessing the gods’ divine protection. Everyone else believes that the kingdom itself is the one receiving divine protection. Even the one who was brought up to be the ringleader of this rebellion, Marquis Mydal, does not know about it despite being a key person of the regional borders. The other lords who also participated in the rebellion are of the same standing.

That just goes to show how little the scope of the rebellion is and how overwhelming the difference in war potential was. We thought there would not even be one in a thousand chances that the Queen would be endangered in this rebellion, but….. I guess I could say, as expected of Rion Mydal.”

After finding out the whole story of what happened to her, Mari yelled out unintentionally, “I died just for something like that!?”

“Something like that? Calamities are not just something like that, you know!” Freyas quietly responded to her wild outburst. “If calamity comes, numerous lives will be lost. Are you saying that your life alone is worth more than those countless lives?”

His manner of speaking that sounded more indifferent than calm made Mari even more indignant.

“Then you could have just told everyone that the Queen is special! If you had done that, such a thing as a rebellion would not have occured. No one would have had to die!”

A ridiculing smile projected from Freyas at what Mari pointed out.

“If we did something like that, this kingdom would have lost its king by now. The divine protection is with the king. As long as they obtain the king, any kingdom can receive divine protection. If that truth is made known, many nations will scramble to obtain the king of Calculla. It will surely be a large battle. Due to that battle, Calculla’s royal lineage might even die out.”

“…….. But!”

When Mari still tried to vehemently argue, Freyas yelled all of a sudden, “Silence!—- How much did you think I had to endure the Queen’s violence? Calamities force out a lot of victims from the people. However, having no calamities is something this kingdom’s citizens treat as a norm. They do not even know the horrors of calamities, nor how to deal with them. This kingdom could not afford to lose its King. Even if it was an incompetent king!”

His seemingly cold fury. In that state, Mari finally noticed. That even this man who had this godlike beauty was also human. He was just too calm that Mari thought he felt nothing. But she was wrong. He was lamenting over what had happened. Over the Queen’s violence, the rebellion and its end result. And he blamed himself for being unable to stop all of those things.

Mari’s heart, that was shaken by the news of her own death, calmed down. She recalled her previous resolve.

(Did I not decide to correct my path….)

And yet, Mari’s feelings still wavered. She resented why she had to go through something like this. In such a state, her uncle’s words rose up in Mari’s heart.

“Mari, whenever you do not know what the right thing to do is, please do what you can do at that point in time.”

(Right now, what I can do.)

What that was, Mari knew it well. She could do nothing else but to live as the Queen. But right now, there is some resistance to obediently acknowledging it. That is why, she condescendingly asked Freyas in a domineering way.

“Before you tell me to live as the Queen just because I am necessary, there is something else that you need to say to me, isn’t there? Do you not feel sorry for the me who became a victim to the Queen’s Revival technique?”

Instantly, his azure eyes widened as if he was attacked while unguarded. However, after that, Freyas’s beautiful face grimaced in extreme reluctance.

“I don’t want to say it to ‘Her Majesty‘s’ face though.”

“Is it not the same face as yours?”

Perhaps in resignation, Freyas smiled wryly. His slender and tall figure was bent elegantly as he, once again, bowed to Mari.

“For involving you in my country’s circumstances, I am sorry. Will you please lend us your strength?”

Hearing that, Mari made a wry face.

“You must have been considerably hated by the Queen. Just now, chills ran down my back.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Freyas also wore a wry face. A laugh slipped out from Mari and she deeply bowed in assent.

“I accept. Freyas von Calvan, heir to the Duke.”

“Mari. Please call me Frey. The Queen who was prejudiced against me called me by that nickname. I can almost see the shocked and panicking figures of the Queen’s lackeys, you know?” Freyas said, as if he’s having fun.

“I understand, Frey, let us cooperate to return this kingdom to the right path.”

There was no other way but to move forward. Telling herself so, Mari placed a lid on her crying and screaming heart.

Moving from the working desk towards the luxurious sofa, Mari and Frey faced each other.

“In the first place, how did the insurrection happen?” Once again, Mari asked the transcendentally beautiful Assistant Prime Minister, with whom she had formed a united front.

“…… Are you unable to speak in a more domineering way?”

But without getting an answer to her question, she received advice on her speech and conduct. It seems like Frey was not pleased with Mari’s plebeian attitude. Even if she is told something like that, Mari could not conduct herself like the Queen does. The feeling of her being not herself that she felt in the battlefield before, was no longer there. What remained here was the ordinary commoner, Mari, who was worried about sullying this expensive-looking dress and was feeling nervous because of the transcendentally beautiful Assistant Prime Minister.

Mari, too, wanted to make Frey stop using a polite tone, but, with a beautiful smile, she was decisively rebuffed. Apparently, it would be lese majeste and he does not want to be sent to prison.

(In other words, there are people who were sent to prison for that kind of reason?)

She was able to adequately understand that the Queen truly conducted misgovernment. Even so, for this time’s rebellion, if one looked at the difference in war potential, they will know without being told that it is a reckless fight. There must have been something that caused the people to decide to rise into action in spite of that.

After advising Mari for a while, Frey finally gave an answer to her question.

“This time’s rebellion is centred around the town called Dousha, the one beside the battlefield. Dousha is close to the Royal Capital, and long ago, it prospered as the Royal Capital’s satellite town.”

Mari nodded. It took around an hour to return to the castle from the battlefield. She was surprised at how it was too close to the Royal Capital.

“Because of how close it is to the Royal Capital, it was easier for the pus of misgovernment to accumulate. The streets overflowed with vagrants and it became a terrible environment. So, the lord who was at a loss as to how to deal with the situation, Earl Outer¹, began an all-out removal of all the vagrants.”

Frey’s face distorted in disgust as he spoke.

“I heard that he used an army to forcibly clear them out, and those who resisted were mercilessly cut down. Without even preparing a place for them to evacuate to, apparently, they were evicted from the town with no possessions whatsoever. Then, there was a report that a mountain of corpses was found of the vagrants, who were thrown out to the wilderness near Dousha without any protection.”

Mari caught her breath.

“How could he get away with that kind of oppression!?”

“….. Earl Outer was a favourite of the Queen, That summer palace just now, was also Earl Outer’s proposal. According to him, it was in order to demonstrate the Queen’s power.”

“He’s the lowest!” Mari’s chest welled up with the feeling of helplessness.

(How did the Queen end up being so mistaken?)

Perhaps guessing how Mari was feeling, Frey gently continued, “It is alright. Because I will make Earl Outer take responsibility for this time’s rebellion. His territory and assets will be confiscated. His court rank will be revoked, and he will be driven out from the political scene forever.”

“You can do something like that?”

“Since he has lost the Queen’s favour, he has no power at all. Because he caused a rebellion this time, he must have panicked and brought up the proposal for the ‘Imperial Summer Palace Construction plan’ in order to bring back her good mood,” Frey laughed wickedly.

No matter how a beauty smiles, they will always be a beauty; Mari was impressed by a strange aspect.

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1. it literally says Outer in the raws. I wrote it as is since it’s just a surname so it’s not too farfetched to actually have a real person with a surname like that. But please let me know what you guys think.

** There might be some that would wonder why our Frey-sama doesn’t have divine protection despite having royal blood. I was confused at first too. the trick is in that only the kids of those who inherit the throne get the goodies. Mary’s grandpa was king so his kids would have the divine protection but he only had Mary’s dad, Frey-sama’s grandma has divine protection because she was a daughter of the king, but because she did not inherit the throne, her kids don’t have it, and naturally, Frey-sama won’t have it too. >_<

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