【New 8】

The moment I saw my older brother, who had safely returned after capturing Isla and the others, I collapsed into his arms and cried.

Finally, everything was resolved with a happy ending.

The bombing incident was completely prevented, with no casualties or injuries.

…Last night, we truly risked our lives.

To locate the bomb, I even acted as bait, luring the bandits in, which was quite dangerous.

It was my older brother and the knights of the Gasstark family who pressured the bandits and made them confess the location of the bomb.

In the dead of night, I barged into the home of my former schoolmate, Viscount Isaac Olson, and together we figured out how to deactivate the bombs.

Isaac is one of the characters in the game, and now he’s a chemist at the Royal Research Institute.

On the Isaac route, there’s an event called “Bomb Incident Resolution,” where Isaac neutralizes the bombs planted by spies from a neighboring country.

But…

We managed to devise a way to deactivate the bombs in this world too, with the help of my knowledge of the game.

However, even if we knew how to deactivate them, safely retrieving and neutralizing dozens of bombs requires a significant number of personnel.

Plus, capturing the hiding bandits is no easy task.

So, besides Isaac, I also sought help from the Prime Minister’s son, Claude Cromwell, and the Knight Commander’s son, Guile Reveille, who are characters in the game.

I’m truly grateful to them for welcoming me sincerely when I visited them unannounced in the middle of the night.

Thanks to the arrangements made by Prime Minister Cromwell, the audience with His Majesty the King was granted despite the late hour.

As a result, we were able to inform the King of Judrich’s scheming early on and request the mobilization of the kingdom’s knights.

Guile, who was once a delinquent youth, is now a fine knight of the kingdom, and he has a perfect trust relationship with his father, Knight Commander Reveille.

Thanks to their excellent coordination, we were able to progress with bomb removal and bandit suppression, which was a huge relief.

Knight Commander Reveille. is also the leader of one of the three major factions within the country, the “Progressive Faction,” and he graciously lent us his elite private army.

In addition to these three, I sought help from my “distant friend of many years,” Duchess Camilla Meldel, from my student days.

Duchess Camilla kindly mobilized the Meldel family’s knight order, allowing us to deploy a mixed force of 2,000 people and employ swarm tactics.

As a result, the three major noble families, the “Progressive Orchid of House Reveille.,” the “Conservative Gladiolus of House Meldel,” and the “Moderate Nerlke of House Gasstark,” gathered, and the royal family and the three major noble families joined hands to avert the national crisis—so it ended up.

…Yeah.

It couldn’t have been better.

Despite the limited time and pulling an all-nighter, it feels like everything came together neatly.

“Brother. I’m glad you’re safe…!”

“It’s over, Mireille. Thanks to you.”

As I clung to my brother, crying, the feeling of accomplishment and the exhaustion of sleepless nights overwhelmed me, and I fell asleep in my brother’s arms…

When I woke up, I found myself in a room in the royal palace. Right next to me, on a fluffy bed, my brother and Noel were watching over me. It seemed I had slept for a whole day.

My brother informed me that Judrich and Isla were imprisoned in the dungeon.

“If they commit such serious crimes, the death penalty is almost certain.”

“Yeah…”

It’s probably true that there’s no other option this time besides the death penalty. I nodded deeply.

(…Ah. But maybe talking about the death penalty in front of Noel was too much stimulation. I might have scared such a small child a lot. …What if it becomes traumatic?)

Feeling anxious, I glanced at Noel.

Noel, however, said something like, “Evil deserves it!!

They should be utterly destroyed!” and gave a thumbs-up sign.

As expected of my favorite character, Noel has quite a tough personality.

By the way, the 60 bandits from the Jorn Empire who were in collusion with Judrich were apparently not immediately executed but are being used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the neighboring country.

…Relations with the neighboring country are quite complicated, after all.

(Come to think of it, do I have the blood of the princess of the neighboring country and the prince of this country running through me…?)

Although my memory was quite foggy, Noel mentioned something like that before the bombing incident. It’s a terrifyingly hybrid lineage, but why was I raised as a daughter of the Gasstark family?

(Oh brother, wouldn’t you tell me soon?)

As I looked at my brother with a questioning gaze, he returned my gaze with a look that seemed to convey something.

“Mireille. While you were asleep, I had several discussions with Their Majesties. …Regarding that matter, they have instructed us that once you wake up, we are to go together as siblings to Their Majesties, the King and Queen.”

“To Their Majesties?”

“Yes. There’s an important matter. It’s about your past and your future.”

***

After preparing myself, I was led by my brother to the king’s office.

The Queen was also present in the office, and after being seated, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy as I sat on the sofa next to my brother.

Their Majesties, seated opposite us, wore serious expressions and offered me words of apology and gratitude.

“Mireille, you are a hero who saved the country from behind the scenes. You splendidly resolved the state treason Judrich was attempting. Thank you very much.”

The King promised to reward me at a later date.

“Mireille. Your wit and initiative must undoubtedly have been inherited from your father. It’s truly remarkable.”

“My father…?”

(I guess that ‘father’ probably doesn’t refer to the previous Marquis Gasstark…)

From the flow of the conversation, I vaguely hoped that I would be told about my origins.

“In truth, there is a secret to your birth. It’s an important secret that has been kept hidden by the authority of the king. I will now reveal it to you. Please listen carefully.”

The content His Majesty spoke of was exactly as Noel had told me.

My father is General Theodore Rudolus, the younger brother of His Majesty the King.

My mother is the second princess of the neighboring country, the Jorn Empire.

Due to an illicit love affair, they were both executed within the Jorn Empire.

I, who was secretly born, was smuggled away by servants and attendants and brought to this country at the end of a perilous journey…

(Thanks to Noel’s prior warning, I was barely mentally prepared. If I had been told suddenly, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to keep my sanity. …But why does the villainess character have such a tremendous backstory? Isn’t it strange that the regular route is to condemn a noble daughter with such state secrets?)

Both their Majesties looked at me with pity as I stood there dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry, Mireille. It’s only natural for you to be confused when hearing such a story abruptly. I intended to reveal it to you after your marriage to Judrich…”

“Um… Why was I raised in the Gasstark family? I’m not an adopted child, but according to the family register, I’m supposed to be a real child.”

The King nodded.

“It was all my decision… I wanted to make Mireille, who inherits the blood of both royal families, a symbol of reconciliation between the two countries. Therefore, until the time was right, I kept her origins hidden, planning to use her as a symbol of diplomatic reconciliation after she became the Crown Princess.”

But, as reality would have it, things didn’t go as planned. The king muttered with a bitter expression.

“We must reconsider our relationship with the Jorn Empire. The recent turmoil, orchestrated by some extremists within the Jorn Empire in collusion with Judrich, demands a strict response from our country.”

“Will it lead to war…?”

I couldn’t help but furrow my brows and ask.

I didn’t want war. It’s something I instinctively felt.

Probably a remnant of values from my past life.

After a brief silence, the king responded.

“No, I do not desire war… Yesterday, the Jorn Imperial Family publicly expressed their intention to apologize. They also expressed their sincere intention to respond to compensation claims. While the Jorn Empire is a deeply intertwined nation, the current Emperor is highly esteemed for his wisdom. We intend to convene for discussions and seek a path to peace.”

As I breathed a sigh of relief, the king smiled at me.

“And thanks to Mireille’s actions this time, the tensions among the domestic nobility have decreased. This should facilitate communication within the parliament when considering our diplomatic stance towards the Jorn Empire. I commend you, Mireille.”

“……Huh?”

I didn’t quite understand what I was being praised for.

Seeing my confusion, the Queen added an explanation.

“You intervened with both the conservative Meldel Ducal House and the progressive Marquis de Reveille to avert the national crisis for the defense of the capital. This is truly remarkable.”

Most of the domestic nobility belong to the three major factions of conservatism, progressivism, and moderation, and conflicts between these factions are quite common.

However, the fact that the leaders of each faction cooperated to defend the capital has led to an expectation of increased cooperation beyond factional boundaries in the future—this was the gist of Their Majesties’ discussion.

“Mireille has strengthened the unity of the domestic nobility. This, too, is a great achievement on your part!”

“Oh, I’m truly honored. I just reached out to my friends from our school days for help…”

What I did seems so trivial.

I simply went around asking for everyone’s help.

Isaac, who devised a way to deactivate the bombs, Claude, who conveyed my requests to the Prime Minister, Guile, who excelled in the mobility of the Kingdom’s Knights, and the always-caring Camilla.

And there were many others who helped, and Noel’s cheats were a great support too.

And—.

I gently took the arm of my brother, who was sitting next to me.

“Before you praise me, could you commend my brother instead? Mireld has saved me countless times. Not just in this incident, but since childhood.”

It was my brother who skillfully organized the mixed unit we hastily assembled.

Before Noel turned back time, it was my brother who saved me from Judrich’s blade.

Even back in my school days.

It was thanks to my brother’s help that I escaped condemnation at our graduation party.

If I go back further, my brother has always been there for me since we were children.

“If I am of use to the country now, it’s all thanks to my brother,” I thought from the bottom of my heart.

My brother seemed to be at a loss for words, and Their Majesties looked at us with amused smiles.

Eventually, the Queen spoke up.

“Your Majesty, isn’t it time to have that conversation with Mireille?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

That conversation?

“Mireille, I’m thinking of abandoning the plan to have you serve as a bridge for diplomatic relations as a symbol of reconciliation between the two countries.”

…What does that mean?

“Due to the defense of the capital this time, the domestic nobility has strengthened its unity, and we are now in a position to propose peace to the Jorn Empire from a position of advantage. Both domestically and in terms of foreign relations, we are in an ideal state, and there’s no need to bring up the matter of being the ‘symbol’ anymore… It’s also a kind of scandal to be the hidden child of the executed princess and the prince. Exposing it to the public now could be a double-edged sword.”

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I nodded silently.

“So, Mireille, we will recognize your freedom in marriage.”

Huh, marriage?

I was a little surprised at the sudden mention of marriage.

“Until now, I have been determined to arrange a marriage with royalty for you to provide support in diplomatic matters. But I’m stopping that now. From now on, the royal family will not interfere in your marriage in any way.”

“…Huh.”

Despite being in the presence of Their Majesties, a lax response slipped out of my mouth. After all, I didn’t quite understand what was being said…

The Queen said, “Congratulations, Mireille,” and smiled very brightly.

“Y-Yes…”

“There is nothing happier than when two people in love are united. I bless you both.”

“Uh…?”

What’s going on? What are they talking about?

There’s this mysterious atmosphere of blessing emanating from Their Majesties, but what’s the situation here??

I instinctively looked to my brother for an explanation.

(…Huh, is that expression from my brother?)

His eyes were filled with warmth as he gazed straight at me. As I met his sincere gaze, my heart inexplicably began to race.

“Mireille,” he said, rising to his feet.

With graceful movements, he kneeled before me.

“Mireille, I have loved you since long ago.”

(Huh?)

“His Majesty has granted me the right to propose to you. He promised this when we announced that we were not blood relatives.”

(Huh!?)

He took my hand and gently kissed the back of it.

“!? …Wait, brother…”

“I love you, Mireille. Please, be my wife.”

―――――――――――――――――!?

There are too many unexpected things happening!

In the face of a confession I never anticipated, I suddenly collapsed on the spot, my nose bleeding uncontrollably…