“I don’t understand.”
“The phrase ‘～なのだ’ is supposed to be a normal expression.”
Even the clever Kuro uses ‘no da’ sometimes.
There shouldn’t be anything wrong with it.
What exactly does my sister think is strange?
I look at Kuro’s face.
‘…’
Kuro quickly averts his eyes as if trying to hide something.
Maybe there’s something wrong with it. I’m starting to feel that way.
“…I wasn’t going to comment on Luria’s strange way of speaking, but…”
“Is it strange?”
“It sounds strange no matter how I hear it.”
“I see… So that was it…”
It was a bit of a shock. It shouldn’t have been strange.
While I was taken aback, my sister placed a tray with snacks on the table.
“Come over here.”
“Mm!”
I get up from my bed and run toward the table.
“Darw and the others, come too. I’ve prepared something.”
Saying that, my sister placed Darw ‘s plate on the floor. There was a large bone for Darw , and vegetable scraps for Carro and Koruko.
Including the servants, there are a lot of people in the mansion.
So, a lot of vegetable peels, scraps, and bones from pigs and cows come up during cooking.
I’ve heard that they also bring vegetable scraps three times a day to the chicken coop.
“You’re Koruko, right? Luria, would it be okay to pet you?”
“Of course!”
My sister pets Koruko’s back while he pecks at the snacks.
“I’m Luria’s sister, nice to meet you, Koruko.”
“Cluck.”
While watching that scene, I also eat my snacks.
Today’s snack is cookies. They’re really delicious.
“To think something so delicious exists in this world…”
This is something I never could have imagined in my past life.
I glance at the snacks Carro and Koruko are eating.
“Quack?” “Cluck?”
“It’s fine, just eat properly, okay? Is it tasty?”
“Quack, quack!” “Cluck!”
Both Carro and Koruko say they’re enjoying it.
In my past life, even the vegetable scraps Carro and Koruko are eating were considered a treat.
I used to get vegetable scraps mixed with the goats’ feed.
“You’re saying weird things again. You’ve eaten cookies before, right?”
“Yes, I’ve eaten them.”
“Again with the ‘no da’… Well, I guess it’s okay?”
While petting Koruko, my sister thinks for a moment.
Just doing that, she looks like a painting.
She could be in a painting titled “The Chicken and the Saint,” hanging on the wall.
“Father and Mother seem to be raising Luria freely, so no one will comment on your way of speaking, but… at least I should say something.”
“Hmm…”
I vaguely felt that my father and mother were letting me be freely, in a good way.
Even when I said I wanted to raise goats, they never said no.
In fact, they bought me a book about goats.
If my father had been an ordinary royal, and I asked for a book on goats, he would probably have been astonished.
Raising goats would probably be something for the servants to do, and he would have laughed at me.
“Your sister won’t say you should behave like a royal, but…”
“I see… I had a feeling, but Luria doesn’t seem very royal, does she?”
“Not even a noble lady. It’s understandable since you’re only five, though.”
“…I see. I’ll be careful… Ah!”
I suddenly had a brilliant idea.
“What’s wrong?”
“If this continues, Luria might never find someone to marry.”
“…There might be people who say things like that, yes.”
My sister carefully selects her words.
I’m sure she’s thinking, “Of course,” but she’s probably being considerate not to hurt my feelings by saying it directly.
I’m grateful for my sister’s kindness, but I speak honestly.
“I don’t want to get married.”
“Really? Why not? Will you tell me, Luria?”
It’s common for royal daughters to marry.
I know that much, even I do.
“Because I’ll lose my freedom and be unhappy.”
“Hmm… Does Mother seem like she’s lacking freedom and unhappy?”
“…Hmm? Now that you mention it, maybe she doesn’t seem that way?”
Mother isn’t completely free, but I think she has some freedom.
In the first place, no one is entirely free.
Besides, she seems happy. I don’t want to believe she’s only pretending to be happy in front of us.
“But Luria’s situation is different from Mother’s.”
“That’s true.”
“Do you think you could live with goats in the mountains after getting married?”
“…That might be difficult.”
“I thought so.”
I seriously began to think about my feelings.
Maybe I’m afraid that a marriage ring might become like a collar of enslavement, just like in my past life.
“Hey, sis!”
“What is it?”
“Luria won’t get married, so I’ll speak however I want, without worrying about how I speak!”
“…That might be just like you, Luria.”
“Yep!”
Anyone who says I don’t act like a noble lady is someone I don’t want to deal with.
“Sis! Let’s eat cookies together. They’re delicious!”
“Oh? Are you sharing? You can eat them all, you know?”
“I’ll eat them with you!”
“Thank you, Luria.”
My sister sat down next to me and took a bite of the cookie.
She eats so elegantly and beautifully.
This must be what it means to act like a noble lady… or a royal princess.
“Sis, are you going to get married?”
“Yes, I probably will.”
Whoever marries my sister is a lucky person.
She’s so cute and kind.
“Will Father decide who you marry?”
“Maybe. But Father is the second prince, so it might be the King who decides.”
“The King, huh?”
By the way, I’ve only met my grandfather, the King, once.
That was when I had just turned one.
If my sister’s marriage is decided before my grandfather passes away or abdicates, it might be my uncle, the new king, who will decide who she marries.
“Hmm…”
By that logic, even if Father decides not to marry, my grandfather or my uncle might force him into marriage.
Royal families don’t have the freedom to choose their marriages.
“…I have no choice but to act strangely, do I?”
If I ruin my reputation, people of the same rank or higher might avoid me as a marriage partner.
That would lower the status of potential marriage partners.
If they are of a lower status, it will be easier to ruin the engagement.
Of course, I shouldn’t cause trouble for the other person.
I should be the one who causes trouble, and they should be the victim.
“A noble lady who’s not really noble… or a villainous noble lady…”
I recalled a story that my sister had lent me to read.
It was about a bad noblewoman named Louisa, who bullies the commoner protagonist.
In the end, it turns out that the protagonist’s real father is a duke, and Louisa suffers for her actions.
Then, the protagonist marries the kind prince, and everything ends happily.
It’s wrong to bully others like Louisa did.
But I think it’s possible to be a noble lady like a villain without actually bullying anyone.
If rumors spread that I’m an impossible daughter, they might send me to the countryside for “rest.”
Father, even though he’s the second prince, holds a duke’s title and land.
If I get a small piece of land with a shabby house at the edge of that territory, that’s enough for me.
Then, I can live with goats.
“A villainous noble lady… that’s the only way. Luria… this is my strategy.”
“Are you thinking something strange again?”
“N-No, I’m not.”
“Really? Well, that’s good.”
I decided that I wouldn’t cause any real trouble until my sister gets married.
