(…The heroine Candy-sama approached Lloyd? And, even offered him a deal?)
I don’t think there was such an event in the otome game. At least, I didn’t hear about it from my sister before. She told me most of the important events, even if I didn’t ask her to, so I was inclined to believe her.
(…Looking back, a lot of Candy-sama’s actions seemed like ‘she could see the future.’)
I pulled out a memory during Anastasia’s time. The heroine, Candy Shaidle, somehow acted as if she could see the future. Furthermore, she was able to resolve other people’s sufferings with amazing accuracy. Perhaps if I hadn’t had luck on my side, I would have been the one who had met a bad end.
(That meant that the heroine knew about otome games too, right?)
Now that I think about it, her behavior had too many strange aspects to them. Did that mean she was a reincarnated heroine or something like that? And, she tried to go down William-sama’s route and failed. Such a thing like that was playing with fire, right?
“…To be honest, when I heard that Anastasia-sama was poisoned, that woman was the first person that came to mind… Because that woman was always trying to harm you, Anastasia-sama.”
Lloyd said this and stressfully bit his lower lip. Thinking about this now, Candy-sama used to stare at me with hate-filled eyes. Moreover, Candy-sama also screamed ‘something’ to Anastasia when she was convicted, though I don’t remember what it was.
“But Candy-sama is supposed to be locked away right now. She shouldn’t be able to touch me.”
“…That woman is so much more vindictive than she looks. Then, there is… her ability to capture people’s hearts with ease, that means she can also manipulate others.”
“Yes, the possibility of that is not zero percent.”
Lloyd’s eyes didn’t seem to be lying as he stared dead straight at me while saying this. Come to think of it, there were always people around Candy-sama. Some of them even worshipped her… So, someone was trying to kill me to avenge Candy-sama. Well, if I thought about it, I believe the possibility was pretty high. It’s not at all surprising that they have a one-sided hatred towards me.
“Lloyd, did you tell my brother about this?”
I asked Lloyd this, and he blatantly averted his gaze. Oh… he hasn’t told him. The relationship between Lloyd and my brother was a delicate one. Yes… my brother didn’t like the fact that the man closest to me was Lloyd and not himself, while Lloyd wasn’t a fan of my brother’s personality. I think he acknowledged my brother’s management skills and his abilities as a duke, but the two of them were always arguing about something.
“…I can’t tell Matheus-sama that.”
“Of course, I understand… I’ll tell him.”
“…What?”
Lloyd blinked his eyes as he uttered a word of astonishment. Yes, yes, I thought so. At the very least, the Anastasia of the past would not have reacted as calmly when she was about to find out who had tried to kill her. But, then I thought… just like how a bug was happening to me, I thought people in this world were also experiencing a bug. Well, it was a bit different. These people were not characters in an otome game, they were real people who lived in this world. They were not just some characters that have been pre-programmed, they were all alive and aware of what they were doing.
“Ah, Anastasia-sama? I think… you’ve somewhat changed?”
“Y-Yes, I guess. It seems that the poison has changed my personality…”
Come to think of it, I was trying to hide the fact that I’ve changed from Lloyd. But well, so much information was crammed into my brain for such a short time that I had forgotten. I’ll just pretend that the poisoning affected my personality.
“But there are more important things right now. About Candy-sama…”
Candy-sama was more important right now. I stared into Lloyd’s eyes as I said this in my mind. Anastasia has always liked Lloyd’s eyes. I think that they’re also beautiful, now that I’ve seen them up close…
“If Candy-sama is up to something, it definitely needs to be stopped. I’ve been chosen as this kingdom’s saint this year, and I am the crown princess as well. Even if I’ll give this position up eventually… I have these positions now.”
As I said this, I took a few steps forward and gazed into Lloyd’s eyes.
“And… since she almost got me killed, she should suffer accordingly. That’s just who I am… Anastasia.”
I wasn’t looking for revenge, but… I was sure that that’s what Anastasia would have said. When I thought this, these words naturally came out of my mouth.
(The heroine’s shadow was creeping up to me.)
I didn’t hold a grudge against her for trying to kill me. I really didn’t. But, this was a world where people lived. It’s not a world where people could selfishly mess themselves up.
(I’m sorry, but even though I’m a villainess, I was still this nation’s crown princess and saint… Wasn’t it also my mission to protect this kingdom?)
I subconsciously raised the corners of my mouth as I thought this. I have to manage my territory and have to keep track of the heroine’s actions. I’ve got a lot of work to do… This was all for the sake of having a slow life later on, so I just have to be patient. This was what I kept telling myself.
T/N: Still in hiatus!!