Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain: Volume 4 (eBook)

Ageha Sakura (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-5174-5 (ISBN)

Infos

With Nazelbart's responsibilities as the margrave growing by the day, Agnes decides that she wants to help him out as much as possible. To that end, she takes the plunge into the world of high society and all the complicated interactions that come with it. Her first step in that endeavor entails a trip to the capital to attend a tea party held by her dear friend Queen Latriche. But Agnes will soon come to learn that high society gatherings aren't just pleasant pastimes: they're battlefields. The road ahead seems rough. Not only does she need to contend with passive-aggressive remarks from other noblewomen, she'll also have to deal with the press, as an ambitious reporter begins to take an unhealthy interest in her.

Textauszug

I never agreed to do an interview, though. I felt a little uneasy, wondering what she was going to ask me.

Desnim had a high literacy rate compared to other countries, and many people read the newspaper, particularly in cities. The printing technique introduced from abroad had become widespread by now. However, newspapers were often filled with questionable contents, since they were nothing but rumors or were highly influenced by the reporters’ own ideas. The House of Evantail had called newspapers “vulgar fiction,” and my brother Paul and I hadn’t been allowed to read them. In light of my upbringing, I was understandably cautious when it came to an interview.

“Despite being known as Lady Bumpkin in high society, you are now married to Lord Nazelbart Florescruz, the man who can even influence His Majesty himself. Could you tell me how you feel about marrying into money?! Is your life all nice and comfortable now?”

“Huh...?”

“Or are you perhaps fed up with life in your rural domain? Is that why you came to the capital?”

“No, that’s not the reason. Sutrena is a wonderful—”

But Olce interrupted me yet again to fire off her next question.

“Do you have any thoughts on the exiled Princess Mia, Lady Agnes? Something like ‘Serves her right!’ perhaps? By the way, have you forsaken your bumpkinly ways?”

What was her deal with all of these tricky, awkward questions?

Just like the noblewomen at the tea party, her every word has thorns in it.

It was true that, as Lady Bumpkin, I had gotten married to Lord Nazel by pure happenstance, but I had no intention of showing off about it, and I liked the peaceful Sutrena. And though I had been angry at Princess Mia for the terrible way she’d treated Lord Nazel, these days I didn’t give her any thought at all. And as for my “bumpkinly ways,” I’d rid myself of them long ago thanks to Kelly.

I was about to tell Olce all of that, but Lord Julian showed up in front of the gate before I could, and one of his servants started driving Olce away.

“It’s terribly inconvenient for us to have people acting as they please in front of our estate. I ask you to take your leave.”

“Wha—”

While the servant was dealing with Olce, Kelly took the opportunity to shut the carriage’s window. The driver drove us through the gate, and we left Olce behind.

Ugh, I feel pathetic. I couldn’t speak my mind. I’d been unable to handle the reporter, just like I’d been helpless at the tea party. I’m sure that Lord Nazel would have evaded her flawlessly. I couldn’t help feeling a bit dejected.

“Lady Agnes, there is no reason for you to feel troubled by the vulgar questions of people who don’t consider the inconvenience they cause to others. That woman insulted you so much yet didn’t even realize it; she was extremely insensitive.” Kelly’s quiet rage was clear to me.

“Kelly... Thank you for saving me by closing the window. I need to thank Lord Julian later too.”

From that absurd tea party to the unsolicited reporter, my social activities in the capital were one challenge after another. But I had many kind allies like Queen Latriche, Kelly, and Lord Julian.

I’ll try a little harder!

When I returned to my room, I got close to the large window and looked toward Sutrena. Naturally, it was too far for me to be able to see any of its scenery, but it still calmed me down.

I miss Lord Nazel. It was still too early to go home, and I also wanted to achieve more here. Nevertheless, the absence of the man who was always next to me was disheartening. No, I can’t think like that! I’m the margravine! I’ll do my best in my social activities, even alone! Today’s tea party had taught me that Sutrena was still misunderstood. I couldn’t just stay quiet while people were bad-mouthing it like that. I’ll spread the word of Sutrena’s positive qualities! I steeled my determination as I looked toward the southern sky.

But the next day’s newspaper almost shattered my determination into pieces. The article was titled “Passionate Affair Comes to Light! Madam Bumpkin Is Cheating with Her Brother-in-Law?! She Left Her Husband Behind to Indulge in Debauchery in the Capital!”

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What even is this?!” I instinctively screamed when Lord Julian showed me the newspaper during breakfast. It contained a sketch of the ghostlike Lady Bumpkin, as well as an article with preposterous fabrications. According to the paper, I’d gotten sick of how rural Sutrena was and spent every night partying all around the capital’s downtown. Moreover, the article claimed that things weren’t going well between me and Lord Nazel because I was such a bumpkin, so I was trying to make a move on Lord Julian now... It was so horrible that my face went pale, just like the Lady Bumpkin sketch.

It would take a horrible person to go out gallivanting every night, then also cheat on top of that. This is allegedly all talking about me, but...I never said any of the things attributed to me. This article was credited to a reporter named Olce. It was the woman I’d met yesterday. No matter how you look at it, her imagination is absurdly vivid.

I stumbled forward dizzily and somehow managed to open my mouth to speak.

“I don’t recall doing anything to incur that reporter’s ire...” I muttered, feeling dazed.

“People like her don’t need to hold a grudge, elder sister. Once they find their prey, they just publish whatever falsehoods they can come up with. Their goals are money and self-advertisement; the facts are irrelevant to them. But I’m a bit worried about the future...” Lord Julian said with a sour expression on his face.

“I’m sorry for causing you such trouble during my visit.”

“This isn’t your fault. And what I’m worried about is the stress this is causing you, as well as my brother’s reaction when he sees this article. The Geelgog Times Company is a large newspaper company that operates mainly in the capital, but it recently started expanding its market to other areas of Desnim which are starved for entertainment. I doubt this newspaper is widely available in Sutrena, but there’s still a chance my brother will get wind of this article.”

“What should I do if Lord Nazel suspects me of cheating on him?”

“I doubt he would...but I can easily imagine him flying into a fit of rage. In the worst-case scenario, he might even come all the way here.”

“No way. He wouldn’t go that far.” Though I rejected the possibility, Lord Julian didn’t look like he had faith in my words.

“It’s impossible for me to stop my brother, but...for now, let’s send the Geelgog Times Company a complaint asking them to revise that article.”

“I apologize for all the inconvenience...”

I’d come to the capital eager to work hard on my social activities, but what was I even doing? I kept making a fool of myself. I felt gloomy as I left the main residence with heavy steps and headed to my room in the detached building. The breeze was refreshing and the sun was shining bright in the clear sky.

Haah, I can’t go back to Sutrena in such a pathetic state.

Kelly and Torre were worried about me when they saw me return to the detached building and flop onto my bed. I’d thought my infamy as Lady Bumpkin had been mostly wiped out, but that was only true for the people I was close to and the residents of Sutrena. I’d just been reminded that my nickname was still present in high society, and provided gossip fodder for newspapers.

***

Nazelbart was working diligently at the fortress. More than a year had passed since he’d first come to the frontier, but there were still plenty of tasks that required his attention.

“Aaah, I miss Agnes.” He repeated that phrase every single day.

A large envelope was delivered to Nazelbart from the capital via mountbeast postal service. There was no sender listed. Normally, he would have just ignored it and disposed of it, but since Agnes was currently in the capital, he made sure the envelope was safe and opened it. A single newspaper was inside the envelope. It seemed to have been published a few days ago, but he got curious for some reason and decided to look inside.

“What...?” Nazelbart found a ridiculous article claiming that his beloved wife was cheating on him with his younger brother. His hand holding the newspaper trembled. “Agnes is spending extravagant sums in the city every night?! She’s hitting on men? And as if that weren’t enough, she’s also having an affair with Julian and an illegitimate child?!” Nazelbart abruptly closed the newspaper and took deep breaths to calm himself. “There will be hell to pay for this...”

Nazelbart’s eyes were burning with quiet rage after he’d finished reading the article. Of course, his fury wasn’t directed at his wife for her alleged wasteful spending and cheating, but at the reporter who’d written this foul hoax that besmirched Agnes’s name and at the newspaper company that had published such sleazy drivel. Nazelbart was usually seen as a relatively mild-mannered person, but his boiling point dropped to an extreme low when it came to his wife.

“Henry, there isn’t much work left tomorrow...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.6.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain
• Illustrationen: Ageha Sakura
• Übersetzer: Ageha Sakura
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: aristocracy • Fantasy world • female protagonist • Magic • marriage • Romance
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-5174-7 / 1718351747
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-5174-5 / 9781718351745