Marie was told to stay in the academy, and then a messenger from the royal came to tell her about what was to be in the future.
The messenger was a government official and spoke in an uninterested manner.
The contents stunned Marie.
“W, wait a minute. W, what do you mean by disinheritance?”
Gathered were Julian, Marie, and the other capture target boys.
Only the messenger was speaking calmly and in a professional manner.
“It’s as you heard. His Highness Julian was disinherited. He is no longer his Highness the crown prince. From today, he is just his Highness. It has also been decided that the other four will be disinherited by their households. His Highness the crown prince…no, his Highness has broken the engagement with Anjelica, but the women engaged to the other four sent letters too.”
Jilk, Brad, Chris, and Greg…the four of them received the letters from their fiancees with a slightly sad expression.
They understood that the contents of the letter would be about their marriages being officially broken off.
Marie objected.
“This is too much for losing a duel! This is too cruel!”
Greg spoke to Marie in a slightly embarrassed manner. Everyone was oddly calm despite losing to Leon.
“This is fine. Marie, this is our resolve.”
“Huh?”
Chris began to speak about something they had hidden from Marie up until that point.
“We made a request to cancel our engagements a little while ago. Our households and fiancees asked us to reconsider, but it seems that they had second thoughts after this recent matter. We had decided to officially break off our engagements. However, this is good. With this, we can properly come to know each other.”
Marie was the only one that didn’t know, but everyone other than Julian was trying to keep it secret.
The result was disinheritance. They were no longer successors of their households.
Julian was the first in line to be the heir to the throne, but he was a prince that could no longer hope for it now that he had dropped considerably.
Even Jilk, who had been guaranteed a baron status after graduation, was now to be a knight. However, now he couldn’t be given an official position since he no longer had a territory he would manage.
The other three had similar situations.
With the recent event, the four couldn’t expect to be supported by their household.
Other than Julian, it seemed that they were judged solely on their utility value in inheriting a royal family. Royal families thought about making use of diplomatic marriages with those from other countries.
Julian hung his head.
“I cannot be by your side anymore, Marie. However, I will always pray for your happiness.”
Marie was attacked by a dizziness.
Marie’s misfortune was the real deal. Simply imitating the protagonist, Olivia, wouldn’t make her story come true.
Her current situation was the result of her outward charm and her experience from her previous life.
Greg laughed to give Julian a peace of mind.
“Hey, you can leave your share of protecting Marie to me. Besides, it’s not fun to lose like this. As an active adventurer, I’ll get revenge of that damn Leon. Maybe I should go on an adventurer to search for armor that’s a lost item?”
Chris made a small smile.
“Right. This may not be that bad.”
Brad seemed to slightly amused. He had an expression that looked quite relieved.
“We’re just four barons in name only. Well, with the four of us, we’ll be able to manage somehow.”
Jilk seemed a little sad.
“Your Highness, I’m sorry. Things wouldn’t have turned out like this if I had stopped him.”
Julian shook his head slightly.
He had faint smile, but seemed gloomy.
“You don’t need to apologize. As long as you guys protect Marie, then I’ll have a peace of mind wherever.”
Kyle put his hands behind his head.
“Everyone has been thinking a lot about you. How nice it must be, master.”
While making a smile as if that’s what she was thinking, Marie had plunged into darkness.
“E, err, right.”
(Huh? Don’t fool around, aren’t you being idiots?! Why would you all throw away your position and fortune like that?! I mean, you’re all without an occupation in the end now, right? How do you plan on living?! As adventurers? I would absolutely hate living meagerly like that! N, now that it has come to this, I need to think of something.)
Marie, who shifted to thinking pragmatically, felt ruined when seeing the boys laughing.
The government official began to depart now that all has been said and done.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
While thinking that the amount of work she would have to do would be more than what the government official was doing, Marie felt that her ideal future was growing distant.
It was liking having four boyfriends who were going to be jobless in the future.
It was too different from the result she desired.
(Why did it turn out like this?! This is not the future I wanted!)
â—‡
The floating island I discovered was better maintained compared to when I had enrolled in the academy.
The robots were doing their best regardless of whether it was day or night, and were in the process of completing the territory.
I thought that sooner or later, I would be independent here, and while the disordered kingdom was in a panic, I would be peacefully watching, but──
“Why do they have to follow me?”
When I came to see how the fields were doing as the robots were looking after them, Olivia and Anjelica followed me here as well.
Anjelica looked at the fields that had been lined up beautifully.
“Isn’t this nice? This is quite refreshing since opportunities like this are rare. After all, baron territories everywhere seem to be hectic while in the middle of development. Even coming to look would be a hindrance.”
My household was busy today due to my investment, and was in the midst of development all throughout. The waterways were being developed to improve the roads, and many various other ordeals were occurring.
The harbor was also being expanded, and was getting crowded as airships were coming and going nonstop.
Olivia looked at the fields with a serious expression.
She crouched down to look at the soil and our surroundings.
“How amazing. I’ve never seen land this beautiful despite people not being here.”
Anjelica tilted her head.
“Is that so? I thought that it was beautiful because people weren’t here, though.”
Olivia disagreed.
“It’s the opposite. The land can’t be this thoroughly maintained without there being people. Did robots do this? How amazing.”
I nodded. It was a pain to explain, so I just agreed with her while saying “How amazing indeed.”
Anjelica took a good look around.
“Huh? Something smells strange.”
It seems she was curious about the smell that was being carried by the wind.
“Aah, that──”
I guided the two towards where the scent was coming from.
â—‡
There was an outdoor bath prepared on the floating island.
Only the structure had been set in place, letting Anjelica and Olivia looked at the open scenery.
The water was a little hot, which made it feel a little different from the usual bath. There wasn’t anything different to the water, but it felt like it stuck to the skin.
Olivia washed Anjelica’s hair after she let it down.
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“Anjelica, your hair’s quite pretty, isn’t it.”
“…It’s because his Highness said that he liked long, pretty hair. I plan on having it be a bit shorter soon. Grooming it is a bother.”
Olivia rinsed off the bubbles with hot water.
“All things considered, this is a nice place.”
Anjelica looked at the scenery while praising the floating island Leon held. The setting sun was in sight, but it felt luxurious to be in an open bath while watching the scenery.
Olivia felt the same way.
“It seems that he discovered it before enrolling in the academy and it made into his own territory. He plans on being independent here in the future…sorry.”
“You’re fine. His struggles are because of me. I want him to be independent here. It’s irritating that my current self can only hope that things will work out, though.”
They didn’t know how Leon’s independence would result.
Anjelica could only pray that her father would handle things well.
“Even so, the number of adventurers who achieve a success this ideal are few. Anything more than this is in the realm of heroes and adventurers from legends. No, even if he doesn’t do anything else, he might even become a fabled adventurer.”
This time Anjelica washed Olivia’s hair.
“Is it that grand? I had a strong impression that adventurers were people who challenged dungeons…”
“Right. Perhaps that’s the image commoners have since the initial earnings are immense for them. However, rather than earning through dungeons, nobles like to venture with airships. To discover new lands and challenge unknown dungeons. Sometimes lost items from historic ruins will appear. It seems that my father and older brother were mischievous back then and went on reckless adventures, so they hold Leon in high regards.”
Anjelica looked at Olivia’s chest. Her own was big, but now that she thought about it, she remembered that Marie’s were small.
(Perhaps he disliked women with big chests? No, I should forget about this already.)
“Is it impressive that Leon discovered a new island with a small boat?”
Anjelica chuckled.
“Yeah, it’s impressive. With what he did, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had died with just one small misstep. That was the biggest achievement made in several decades.”
The third son of a baron household had made a great success. That enough was immense.
“…I envy you.”
“Huh?”
Anjelica rinsed Olivia’s hair while speaking her true thoughts.
“You’re his lover, right? You’re always together with him, so I thought that you two were getting married. I wanted to be like you two.”
Olivia’s expression turned cloudy.
“…The difference between Leon and me is too great, I’m not suitable for him.”
Despite being in the advanced class, Olivia was a commoner. She couldn’t be a good match for Leon, who was a noble.
To Olivia, Leon was someone in an unreachable position.
Anjelica then remembered that.
“My bad. That’s right. You’re the honor student.”
Thereupon, Olivia spoke.
“I think…Leon likes you, Anjelica.”
“Why do you think so?”
Anjelica waited for Olivia’s response while washing off the bubbles.
“After all, he went that far to defend you. I’m envious of that. My heart aches a little thinking about whether I’ll get my turn.”
“…Liking me? That’s impossible. I’m a terrible woman. Otherwise, his Highness wouldn’t have abandoned me.”
The two soaked in the bathtub after washing themselves, then they gazed at the the beautiful sunset.
â—‡
The two had entered the hot spring.
I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
“…This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!”
My eyes were bloodshot from excitement.
The white steam and nostalgic scent made my soul tremble. This floating island was my field. I was free to do what I wanted.
“The long-awaited event has arrived!”
Luxon floated near me and spoke.
[It was nothing other than a success. Is grilled fish okay for a side dish?]
“Yeah, make it quick!”
On top of a table was the white steam coming from freshly cooked rice.
Since I had no miso yet, I made a soup with something that imitated it.
Grilled and salted river fish.
I’m sure that those two wouldn’t understand, but I’ve been looking forward to this the whole time…
“I’m shedding tears.”
[How nice. Feel free to worship me while chewing in delight.]
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“I’ll forgive you just this once. Now then, shall we dine?”
When I tried eating it, the taste was similar but slightly different. However, it was still rice. After breaking the grilled fish into pieces with my chopsticks and placing it onto the rice, I wolfed it down.
“Ah~, this is bliss.”
[You do indeed look happy. Oh? It seems that an unknown airship is approaching the harbor.]
While I was eating, Luxon detected an airship approaching my household.