The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life as a Noblewoman: Volume 3 Part 2 (eBook)

Kamihara (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-2572-2 (ISBN)

Infos

The emperor's birthday has finally arrived, and upon putting herself through the hell of getting ready, Karen now needs to steel herself for a number of intimidating encounters at his party-among them the ever obsessed Lubeck, Princess Wilhelmina, Reinald's stunning date, the evil of the dance floor, and, of course, the emperor himself. However, the emperor is about to shock Karen in ways she never could have imagined, and she's also about to discover that Ern's attempts to adopt modern technology in this world have gone far beyond anything she could have expected...

Textauszug

10: I Don’t Want to Hear It

“Well, would you look at that, Teddy. The queen deigns to leave her castle.”

“Ah! Instructor! Instructor!” cried Teddy.

Teddy rushed for Ern the moment he saw her. Her response was instantaneous. Even though she was facing away from me, the almost imperceptible slouch in her back straightened as the air around her shifted to match her overbearing presence. When she spoke to her assistants, there was no visible emotion on her face. Teddy grew noticeably nervous, but Samuel couldn’t have cared less.

“What about the meeting?” Ern asked.

“Well, the results already spoke for themselves,” said Samuel. “What more was there to say? Things have already wrapped up.”

“Huh? What did you do?”

“Don’t give us your exasperated sighs; we didn’t have a choice. If you’ve complaints, please take them up with the others. Measly assistants like ourselves don’t have the authority to go bossing people around.”

“Samuel!” cried Teddy. “How many times have I told you to watch your tongue?!”

“Yes, yes, you have my humblest of apologies. Now let’s put the topic to re— Oh, speak of the devil, look...”

Samuel spun to gaze at the far end of the long corridor. It was empty up until the moment everyone’s focus was there, at which point a man appeared, and one I happened to have met. When our gazes locked, the looks on our faces said the same thing—“Oh.”—though one side was an irritated variation and the other intrigued.

Yes, that’s right, I was on the irritated side.

The man smiled as he made his way directly to my person; there was simply no avoiding him.

“Lady Karen, what a coincidence, bumping into you at the House of Magic like this,” he said.

“Er, indeed... Hello...”

Lubeck was the last person I had expected to run into here. But I also happened to notice somebody else nearby. Another familiar face.

You there. Yes, you, Moritz! Save me! No, don’t just ignore me! Say something! You can’t just pretend you haven’t noticed me at all and head on home! That’s far too cruel!

“Ah! Sir Moritz!” I exclaimed. “You’re here. My apologies, Sir Lubeck, but you’ll have to excuse me. I have a matter to discuss with Sir Moritz.”

I took Ern by the hand and strode over to Moritz, who was still doing his utmost to ignore us entirely as he headed for the doors. Well, I wasn’t going to let that stand. I barged through his baffled aides and made my presence unavoidable.

“So even you visit the House of Magic on occasion!” I said. “What a surprise to see you here.”

“Lady Conrad,” he replied. “Can I help you with something?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘help’ exactly, but I couldn’t just ignore a familiar face, could I? Especially not when it belongs to you, Sir Moritz. We’re friends, after all. Right?”

“That is news to me.”

I could tell by the flicker of his glance in my direction that he was not especially pleased by the situation, but I had come to see this as his default expression. On this particular occasion, he wore his feelings on his sleeve—but that was no reason for me to back down. I knew he had his secrets, but all in all, I liked the man.

“If it’s small talk you’re after, then might I recommend Vice Captain Lubeck?” said Moritz.

“The two of you are out together today, I take it? What brought you here?”

“Ah, Sir Abelein,” said Lubeck, who’d now caught up to us. “I see you and Lady Conrad are already well acquainted.”

Why won’t he just give up?

I nodded so as to politely answer the question with minimal interaction. Moritz offered an entirely different reaction.

“Nothing of the sort,” he said. “We meet occasionally for matters of work. Nothing more.”

“I see. She seems to flee at the mere sight of me. I couldn’t help feeling a little envious of you.”

“It would seem you are letting your imagination get the better of you. Perhaps a touch disrespectful, no? One might consider your comment a slight against my person.”

Saying as much is a slight against my person, Moritz.

“Disrespectful? I meant no such thing. I said I was envious, Sir Abelein. Why, Lady Conrad has yet to even voice my name, and yet she called yours the way one would a friend.”

“Lady Conrad is right there, should you wish to let her know. Alas, it has nothing to do with me.”

Moritz strode off, with me dragging Ern behind me in close pursuit and the grinning Lubeck following after us. Moritz did not even offer another glance in my direction as we all headed toward the front doors. Lubeck was friendly with Moritz, but he received curt replies to all his questions and comments. That Lubeck remained steadfast in his attempts was a testament to his commitment. Moritz would have denied such a thing outright, but at a glance, they did look to be having quite the exciting conversation. I was working out how best to extricate myself from matters when I noticed Geoff. He was with somebody who simply could not be ignored.

“My apologies for interrupting your most lively conversation,” I said, “but I must take my leave. I’ve just noticed an acquaintance I must speak with.”

“Do ‘lively’ conversations always feel so hostile?” muttered Ern.

An answer to her question didn’t matter. What mattered was that my excuse allowed us a convenient escape. The man accompanying Geoff saw me coming and offered a smile.

“Arno!” I cried. “I never imagined I’d see you here, brother.”

“I should say the same,” he replied. “But that’s not the matter at hand. I apologize for borrowing your guard. I assure you, I didn’t ask him anything strange or unusual. I do hope you’ll believe me.”

It was Arno, my brother, now Wilhelmina’s second secretarial aide. Ern had mentioned that the imperial princess’s faction had reps visiting, and now I knew that Arno was among them. Ern hadn’t known that the representative was Arno, and it surprised her somewhat.

“This is likely our first time speaking like this, isn’t it?” said Ern. “It is nice to make your acquaintance.”

“I hear talk of you everywhere I go,” replied Arno. “As a fellow citizen of Falkrum, your achievements fill me with pride. Though, personally, it’s not your technological achievements so much as your many years of service taking care of my sister that I’m most grateful for.”

“Oh, no...your sister is nothing but a good friend to me.”

I could see in Arno what Marie had already reported to me. He looked far more relaxed and at ease. His expression was bright, and he looked healthy in both body and mind. It turned out he had come to the House of Magic as part of his duties as secretarial aide, but he had not attended the meeting that had been held. He’d heard that I was here and sought to meet me, but when he learned that I was talking with Ern, he called upon Geoff.

“I don’t see Achim anywhere nearby,” I said. “Where’d he go?”

“He’s elsewhere handling a separate matter today,” replied Arno. “It’s unfortunate. I would have brought him had I known that you were going to be here.”

“I was here entirely by chance anyway.”

There was much we had to catch up on, but our reunion was to be short-lived. Arno had not come alone, and he did not want to leave the others waiting.

“I’m sorry, Arno,” I said. “I’m so happy I got to see you, and there’s so much to say, but this just isn’t the place for it.”

“I’m just happy I got to see you at all. Travel safe, and let Emil know I’m expecting him to remain steadfast in his studies.”

“He’ll know as soon as we arrive home. He’s been a little slack of late, and I’m sure your words will provide a much-needed kick in the butt.”

The hug we shared felt as natural as I’d hoped. I got the sense that we were at least capable of conversing and discussing matters with more confidence now, but I wondered if Arno felt likewise.

“Karen, do you mind if I speak to your brother for a moment?” asked Ern.

“Oh, sure, as long as Arno doesn’t mind.”

“I know you are short on time, Sir Arno, so should I arrange for us to meet at a later date?”

“Time can always be made for requests from you, Lady Ern. My partners will have no problems with that, I assure you.”

“It is something of a personal matter, so you need not worry too much. I’ll direct us to a better place to talk. Sorry, Karen, this is where we part.”

“Don’t mind me,” I replied. “Bye.”

I wondered what she was thinking. Arno, too, was clearly surprised at the sudden invitation. Not that he could turn such a request down. Personal or otherwise, it had come directly from a House Elder.

And so Ern and I parted ways. The heated air of our simmering argument was gone, but I was very much of mixed emotions. Not that I had any way of putting voice to my feelings. Geoff and I headed to our carriage. Moritz was nowhere to be seen, but a handsome knight was there in his place, and there...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.12.2025
• Reihe/Serie: The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life as a Noblewoman
• Illustrationen: Shiro46
• Übersetzer: Hengtee Lim
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: female protagonist • Intrigue • light mystery • Light Novel • Nobility • Reincarnation • Romance
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-2572-X / 171832572X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-2572-2 / 9781718325722