Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life as a Noblewoman: Volume 2 Part 2 (eBook)

Kamihara (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-2568-5 (ISBN)

Infos

The king of Falkrum is dead, and in a matter of days, his nation finds itself under imperial rule. Behind the seizure is Reinald, who beat his sister Wilhelmina to the punch, asserting himself as a new competitor for heir to the emperor himself.

With the situation at home now unpredictable, and rumors spreading about her chosen allegiances, Karen and the Conrad family's survivors move to the imperial capital to build a new base of operations. But intriguing mysteries of the past wait for them at the border...

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8: The End of a Nation

I was brought to a room in which tea was already being prepared by a young man with tanned skin, while a girl kept watch over the door. Nika arrived soon afterward. She looked flustered and apologized before putting her sword down.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I invited you to tea only to arrive late myself.”

“I only just got here,” I replied. “But I’m sure you must be rushed off your feet. Are you quite sure it’s okay to make time for me like this?”

“With Moritz overseeing proceedings, I doubt I’ll be needed for anything pressing. More importantly, the place you call home is now practically overflowing with our people. Haring hasn’t been particularly attentive, has he? I was worried that perhaps you all found yourselves under pressure.”

“Oh, well... I mean, everybody was just doing their jobs...”

“I knew it. I apologize. It was completely out of my hands...”

“It’s nothing for you to be apologizing about.”

Nika, too, was under pressure, I could tell just by looking at her. Her shoulders seemed to shrink with her apology, and it made me feel awful.

“I’m sure it’s all been quite hard on you,” Nika said, “and while I’m aware it will take some time for you to truly be at ease, I hope you’ll accept some of the food and drink we’ve prepared.”

In the middle of the rounded table were plates of cheese and bread perfect for a light meal. Nika took a seat while tea and cutlery were placed before us.

“It’ll be just the two of us,” Nika said. “I’m not particularly well versed in matters of etiquette, so I do apologize in advance if I do anything unbecoming.”

“I’m not particularly comfortable in formal settings myself,” I replied, “and so I’m happy just to be able to eat casually like this.”

Having skipped breakfast, I was starving. We ate bread, sipped at tea, and quite naturally our conversation went to the topic of the empire.

“Wilhelmina is the name of the imperial princess, yes?” I said. “Today was the first time I’ve ever seen her. She cuts quite the dashing figure. Does she always dress like that?”

“She prefers the men’s uniform for comfort and ease of movement,” replied Nika. “Naturally most people are surprised when they first meet her. She’s much less about jewelry and silk, and much more about horse riding.”

Wilhelmina was twenty-three and still single. No marriage plans, and no hint of any lovers to speak of. But somehow she was never at a loss for suitors, and rumor had it they were always sending her gifts. One of the more interesting of these rumors concerned comments she’d made upon receiving jewelry from an imperial noble seeking her good graces. The noble had given the princess diamonds of considerable size, and the princess had accepted them with thanks. The noble was overjoyed. He felt he’d made a good investment in future developments only to discover a distressing truth some months later.

“The story goes that the nobleman discovered that the diamonds he’d given to the princess had ended up in the hands of a jewelry merchant,” explained Nik, “who had bought them for quite a considerable amount of coin. The princess had taken the proceedings and funneled it straight into the salaries of her personal guard.”

“Oh... So that’s how she deals with gifts, is it?”

“A few days later the nobleman approached the princess to complain about her behavior, at which point she promptly told him that a gift received was a gift to use as she liked. He was then summarily dumped.”

Given her entrance, I hadn’t imagined for a second that Wilhelmina was a noblewoman of the silver-spoon-in-mouth variety. In fact, I was somewhat envious of what appeared to be an indomitable spirit.

“I suppose her stalwart nature is a given seeing as she’s the only heir to the imperial throne, though...I can’t help thinking that she’d be exactly the same regardless of that fact,” commented Nika.

“She’s quite the woman, then, I take it.”

“Indeed. She leads by example when it comes to pushing for governmental reform, and she’s very popular among women too. Given her own extensive military experience, she’s well aware of the hardships women suffer in the military. Her work has been a blessing to all of us.”

I could tell by the way she spoke that Nika didn’t despise the princess. This surprised me somewhat, and it gave me the courage to ask a more pointed question.

“Just to be clear, the princess did call Reinald ‘brother’ earlier, yes?”

“She did, and that’s something I thought I’d talk to you about.”

“Are you sure? It isn’t a matter of the state?”

“But you want to know, don’t you? That’s why I called you for tea today.”

“How perceptive of you. By all means, then; I’m all ears.”

Nika placed some ham and cheese between slices of bread and put it on her plate. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly how, but Nika was at ease here in a way I’d never seen before. I’d always known her to be the sort of person to be perennially tense; always on guard.

“But assuming that I wasn’t imagining things,” I said, “when Princess Wilhelmina referred to Sir Reinald as brother, it left everybody shocked. What was that, exactly?”

“How perceptive of you, Miss Karen.”

“It was difficult to ignore... You all looked so happy.”

“I tried to hide that,” Nika replied. “I must assume that we all failed.”

She smiled in a way that struck me as bashful. Nika was truly at ease now, and it was then that she relayed to me the facts concerning not just Falkrum but the empire as well.

“Until now, as far as the empire is concerned, Princess Wilhelmina was the only heir to the emperor. However, in capturing Falkrum, His Excellency—no, I suppose I should call him His Highness now—earned himself the right to succession.”

“The princess did say he’d brought about exactly what the emperor wished for, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but before I get into that... How much do you know of the situation with regards to the emperor’s successors?”

“Next to nothing, I’m afraid.”

I had to admit it. Nika, however, did not laugh or smirk, and instead she simply nodded.

“Though Wilhelmina has been the emperor’s only heir until now, the truth is that the emperor has numerous other children.”

“Aside from Sir Reinald, you mean?”

“Yes. Even in his old age the emperor is...sprightly, and he boasts some twenty consorts at present.”

Wilhelmina was the daughter of the queen. She was the only child born between the emperor and empress, but the emperor was a man of many tastes, and as such he took many lovers. It was not uncommon for these women to, for reasons unclear, meet with miscarriages. And yet, some of the children of such relationships—Reinald one of them—survived and were raised to adulthood.

I realized then that what I’d heard from Whateley was not rumor at all, but in fact truth. The emperor was a womanizer and a hedonist, and to his children he’d declared the following:

“If it is my attention you seek, then earn it with achievements worthy of my gaze. If you wish for heirship, then so be it; but bring me an offering of the size of an entire nation. Achieve such heights and I will recognize you as my own and grant you a place among my family.”

Reinald, too, had of course heard these words. As for when Reinald could have met with the emperor, he had apparently gone in secret during military exercises and similar expeditions. It seemed that he had a certain worth—or at least a usefulness—to the emperor, who had given up on Falkrum some thirty-odd years ago. Reinald was, in essence, a spy for his father.

“It was my understanding that it was the emperor who granted heirship,” said Nika, “but Wilhelmina herself referred to Reinald as a sibling. If she has already decided that they stand on even ground, then the emperor will not deny her that judgment.”

“So that was the first time she had ever called Reinald that?”

“Indeed. She usually refers to her half-siblings by their names only. In calling His Highness ‘brother,’ she was acknowledging his achievement.”

With a single world, Wilhelmina had made Reinald an official member of the imperial family. In that sense, it was no surprise that shock was the order of the day, and yet there was more to everyone’s reaction than just shock alone.

“But is it really possible for the princess to simply accept an older sibling like that, when until now she has been the one and only heir to the throne? I can’t imagine her taking such news so placidly...”

“You raise an excellent point, and ordinarily, you’d be right. It is the whim of the emperor that allows such a thing.”

Whim?

But there was no doubting it; it was indeed the word she used.

“I told you that the emperor will recognize his children as his heirs, and true to his word, His Highness will be placed among the emperor’s successors. However, this alone does not make him first in line.”

“You mean to say that Sir Reinald has...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.7.2025
• Reihe/Serie: The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life as a Noblewoman
• Illustrationen: Kamihara
• Übersetzer: Kamihara
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: female protagonist • Intrigue • light mystery • Light Novel • Nobility • Reincarnation • Romance
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-2568-1 / 1718325681
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-2568-5 / 9781718325685