After my second showdown with Charlotte-jou, boredom settled back in.
The usual bouquets with pleading notes kept arriving from Garrett-dono. So many that my room was starting to feel cramped. Not that I could blame the sender. I was the one using them for magic control training, healing wilting flowers back to life. Combined with my past-life knowledge, I had even turned some into preserved flowers. That only made the pile grow faster.
For now, I decided to send the preserved flowers to my trend-chasing aunt. If the Duchess approved, commercializing them would be an almost certain hit. I would look into launching that as a new industry once I returned to my territory.
I had two life plans in mind.
Option one: stay single, live in my father’s territory, and enjoy a peaceful countryside life. Option two: emigrate to the Kingdom of Shium and start a business from scratch.
My father, Marquis Howard, held multiple titles. One of them was Viscount Clay. A modest but prosperous viscountcy. In fact, I had been managing Clay Viscountcy for a few years now, working with the locals to produce and sell original products.
Our first product was a cushion. I had taken a byproduct from my magic control training, refined it, and made it available to the public.
It all started when I ran out of ideas for disposing of mana beads I had made during basic practice. I combined them with embroidery, a proper lady’s pastime. The finished cushion was fluffy and soft, and with a touch of healing magic mixed in, it became a household sensation. We called it the “ruin-your-productivity cushion.”
Then my aunt put in an order for use as gifts. She had apparently gained three kilograms in a month, though, so she requested a regular beanbag. No mana involved.
The recipients loved it, and orders kept piling up.
Business was booming, but my actual job was being a student. I did not have time to fulfill orders myself, so I decided to turn it into a real business.
It was the agricultural off-season, so I hired local women to manufacture the cushion’s bead fillings. We branded the product with strict quality control and distribution, and it became an instant hit. Thanks to that, Clay Viscountcy was thriving. We were pulling in serious revenue.
Sooner or later, I planned to emigrate to the neighboring Kingdom of Shium using my personal assets. Once David inherited the family, staying in the viscountcy would feel awkward. I intended to shed my title eventually, move abroad, and build a business.
Why Shium? Simple: women there had more opportunities. The succession laws favored the eldest child regardless of gender. Women were active in every field, and female entrepreneurs were everywhere.
My plan was to commercialize the newly developed “Repel Bear-chan” and this “preserved flower” project to make a living.
Discussions with my parents were already progressing. Setting aside my reluctance to marry, they were not opposed. They seemed to prefer Option One, the quiet viscountcy life, but they had vetoed my immediate move to Shium for now.
One day, I received an invitation to tea from Her Majesty the Queen.
”Invitation” is generous. My mother dressed me up and dragged me to the palace. Kidnapping would be more accurate.
Queen Margarette and my mother were close friends. I assumed the topic would be the engagement annulment, which was finally reaching its conclusion.
I had been invited to the Queen’s private tea parties before, as Garrett-dono’s fiancée. It had been about six months since I had last seen her, over the long school break.
Her Majesty smiled gently, her honey-blond hair gleaming, her lovely face and deep blue eyes the spitting image of Garrett-dono. Though she was mother to both princes, she was the kind of timeless beauty who looked like she had not aged a day in years.
”Thank you for this invitation, Your Majesty. Queen Margarette, you look radiant.”
I lowered myself into a formal bow, but the Queen laughed lightly and cut straight to business.
”Oh, do not be so formal. Since this is private, call me Mother-in-law.”
”Lady Margarette…”
My mother shot me a reproachful look. Skipping the pleasantries meant this really was an informal setting.
”Oh, but I was so looking forward to being Rebecca’s mother-in-law. I simply had to know if it would actually happen.”
The Queen brushed off my mother’s gaze and pressed me for an answer. Her soft smile was beautiful, but the hard look in her eyes reminded me that she was the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom.
Even with her insistence that this was a private affair, she was still royalty. One wrong word could be treason. Still, I had no intention of compromising on my life plan.
”Your words are too kind. I am sure Your Majesty has heard about the Graduation Party incident. But I am simply not qualified to support Garrett-dono. Many people witnessed what happened that night. After that, I cannot in good conscience remain by his side,” I said.
”That was just Garrett being foolish,” she said. “He should have set his pride aside and worked with you. Instead, he insisted on protecting women, or handling his duties alone. How childish. And now he has handed you an excuse to escape. For my own son, I am truly ashamed.”
”Your Majesty! That is not true. Garrett-dono takes his royal duties very seriously. I simply failed to build a relationship of trust. A failure that proves my own inadequacy,” I protested.
The Queen raised a hand, cutting me off.
”Oh, do not mind me. I just wanted to be a little mean. This whole affair started with Garrett’s immaturity, and the royal family now owes the Howards a great debt,” she said.
In the recent incident, the Howard family had prevented a curse targeting royalty and preserved the hope for a new Saintess. The curse attempt had been handled in secret, since it would have escalated into a national crisis. But that is a long story I will skip for now.
The point was, the Howards had put the royal family in their debt. And with the Graduation Party incident, dissolving the engagement, from our side at least, would be easy.
”Your Majesty. I have come to know my own heart. It may be unbecoming of a noble, but I am a stubborn fool who can only marry the one she loves. Please allow me to return to my territory and live quietly. If my rudeness offends you, I swear I will give up my title, leave the country, and never trouble your sight again.”
I pleaded with all sincerity. The Queen smiled. And then she casually dismantled my entire life plan.
”Oh my. Retreat to your territory? Leave the country? What are you saying? I will not allow it.”
My mother nodded vigorously and chimed in, a little too excited.
”You said you wanted to stay single forever, and I thought that was fine. But oh my, you actually want to marry someone you love?”
…Wait. Your Majesty? Mother? Is this not going in a strange direction?
”Exactly! You are too good for Garrett anyway. Pushing this marriage would only end badly. And honestly, it does not have to be him. There are plenty of promising young royal relatives. I am sure you will find someone you love.”
Just because my engagement to Garrett-dono was ending did not mean I was shopping for a replacement. I never expected them to twist my words like this. I had let my guard down!
”Ah. Your Majesty.”
”The debutante ball I am hosting after the social season. Leave your partner to me!”
Faced with the Queen and my mother gushing like schoolgirls, I slumped in defeat.
And, for what it is worth, not that it matters now, but Garrett-dono and I had our engagement dissolved that same day. Just like that.
Summary:
Rebecca receives a royal summons from Queen Margarette, who demands she call her “Mother-in-law” and pressures her about the engagement annulment. When Rebecca admits she can only marry for love, the Queen and her mother seize on this confession to push her into finding a new noble partner instead of retreating to her territory. Despite successfully dissolving her engagement to Garrett, Rebecca realizes she is now trapped in an even worse matchmaking scheme.
Trivia:
Rebecca’s “ruin-your-productivity cushion” was originally a byproduct of her magic control training and became a household sensation.
The cushion business made Clay Viscountcy so profitable that Rebecca is now independently wealthy.
Rebecca’s aunt gained three kilograms from the original mana-infused cushion and requested a regular version.
Rebecca plans to emigrate to Shium Kingdom specifically because women have more opportunities there.
Queen Margarette and Rebecca’s mother are close childhood friends.
The curse attempt incident was handled in secret and involved the Howard family preventing an attack on royalty.
Rebecca is the one who turned some flowers into preserved flowers using past-life knowledge.
Garrett-dono sent pleading notes with his bouquets, but Rebecca’s room is cramped because she keeps healing them.
Rebecca’s parents vetoed her immediate Shium move but are open to her staying single in the viscountcy.
Queen Margarette’s ageless appearance is noted as a “miracle” by Rebecca.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A play on the Japanese phrase meaning “a cushion that ruins people” – localized as “ruin-your-productivity cushion” to capture the humorous implication that it is so comfortable you will never get anything done.
2 ↩ Literally “Repel Bear-chan” – a product name with a cute mascot suffix. Kept “-chan” to preserve the branding and light novel flavor.
3 ↩ “Mother-in-law” – a deliberate boundary-crossing intimacy demand from the Queen, who is forcing a familial relationship despite being royalty.
4 ↩ “Can only marry the one she loves” – Rebecca’s confession that she wants a love match, which the Queen and her mother interpret as romantic desire rather than defiance.
5 ↩ “Twist my words” – Rebecca realizes her phrasing has been used against her; she admitted to wanting love, so now she is being matchmade.