Home/The Prince died, so we're starting over!/ch18

Episode 18

"Ah, um... yes. Thank you."

I started to tell him that there was no need to put a handkerchief on an indoor chair, but I stopped myself.

Well... if it makes him that happy, so be it.

After seating me on the sofa, the Third Prince sat down in the chair opposite me.

Then he immediately asked me what he was curious about.

"So, what were you doing hiding here?"

"Hide and—"

"Not that. Honestly. You were the one who said trust is important in an engagement, Lady Lulupel."

My own words from before came back to me, verbatim.

I had no response, so I just let out an awkward laugh.

The Third Prince gazed at me with clear eyes.

"Lady Lulupel, you are truly strange."

"...Me?"

A thought that had been floating in my head suddenly leaped out from between the Third Prince's lips.

Good heavens. Who's the strange one here, really?

I was dumbfounded.

"Why do you distrust me, Lady Lulupel?"

"I never distrusted you..."

My voice grew quieter toward the end. I felt like a mouse caught in a trap.

My mind began to race.

Could this kid... have some kind of mastermind setting?

"There is a spell cast upon me."

Just as I was tensing up and calculating the probability of a new hypothesis, the Third Prince made a shocking statement.

"...Wh-what kind of spell?"

"A spell that dulls others' wariness. My mother devised it to protect me. But it seems it doesn't work very well on you."

"Is th-that so? Haha... Ho-how interesting..."

"It's not a matter of interest. Magic is certainly useful, but it's not perfect. It doesn't work well on someone like you, who is extremely wary of me."

"Wh-when was I ever wary... Hahaha... M-more importantly, is it really okay to tell me something so important?"

I don't want to know...

Sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

I had a gut feeling something was going terribly wrong.

I had only wanted to find out what the Third Prince was hiding, for my own safety. I wasn't curious about his personal secrets.

I was the villainess.

Getting entangled in the main story was not a good idea.

"I'm telling you because it's you, Lady Lulupel."

"Haha... I know I might give off a special vibe, but I'm actually quite ordinary..."

So please don't tell me things you can't tell others.

But unfortunately, it seemed the Third Prince didn't have a spell for reading others' minds either.

"My mother was a witch."

Ignoring my wishes, the Third Prince began to pour out his story.

If only I could just plug both my ears...

"A witch... yes, that makes sense... I like witches too... yes..."

I babbled like a broken radio, saying whatever came to mind.

"...Wait a moment. Did you say witch?"

Then a single word that reached my ears made me startle and jump up from my seat.

Witch? A wi-i-itch?

From what I knew, all descendants of witches were female.

Because witch's blood carried magical power. That was why only daughters were born from witches.

Wait, so he really is a girl?

"...No, I'm not."

"...I haven't said anything yet though?"

"It's written all over your face. I am a man."

The Third Prince asserted firmly, in a clear and steady voice.

But my suspicions didn't fade easily.

Because it was a well-known fact that only daughters were born to witches.

The Third Prince let out a long sigh and added an explanation.

"It's extremely rare, but sometimes a son is born to a witch. Witches call such a child a 'child of misfortune.'"

"...A child of misfortune?"

I couldn't help but furrow my brow and repeat the term.

After all, it was a rather unpleasant word.

Wasn't it a bit much to call someone unfortunate just because they were born different?

Seeing my bewildered face, the Third Prince smiled wryly.

He then explained that the child of misfortune was called that because they could not use magic.

"Witches, who believe they carry special blood, find it disgraceful that a child born from their womb might not be able to use magic. So they try to hide the existence of such children."

"I see..."

"That's also why the Empire's citizens mistakenly believe that only daughters are born to witches."

"I see..."

...This third-rate romance novel has such an elaborate setting?

Did the author even know about this? Maybe they didn't?

Feeling slightly stunned, I nodded quietly.

Undeterred by my reaction, the Third Prince continued.

"Every child of misfortune is abandoned at birth. But my mother refused to abandon me. So she was cast out from the witches' society."

"Oh dear... That's terrible..."

"That is why I want to learn magic."

"...To restore Lady Ramier's former life?"

"Exactly."

The Third Prince nodded obediently.

"I see... I hope it works out for you..."

I nodded along vigorously as well.

I had no idea what else to say.

I decided to set aside, for now, the question of why such a useless setting was included in a third-rate romance novel.

Because there were other things about the Third Prince's story that didn't add up.

By my common sense, I simply couldn't understand why a mother would be cast out of witches' society just because her child couldn't use magic.

Witches already lived apart from ordinary villages.

If they wanted to hide the child's existence, wouldn't it be safer to keep the child hidden deep within the community?

Expelling the child outside would only increase the risk of the secret being exposed.

Yet they took that risk to drive out the Third Prince and his mother—no matter how I thought about it, it didn't make sense.

That wasn't how one treated a disgraceful existence...

It was more like...

Yes.

It was more like how one treated an ominous or fearsome being.

"Well then... um, I'll be going now... Sorry for disturbing you. Enjoy your reading!"

But instead of trying to resolve all those questions, I chose to leave.

Now that I knew the Third Prince's secrets wouldn't harm me, I didn't need any other information.

Knowing too much could be poison at times.

I didn't want to know more than necessary. That was the fast track to a tiresome life.

A commoner like me just needed to know what was appropriate for my station.

"Where do you think you're going?"

But the Third Prince seemed to have a different idea.

He showed no intention of letting me go easily.

The Third Prince grabbed my wrist.

Wait a minute—didn't you say it was improper to touch a lady's hand without permission?

So wrists are fine then?

I looked down at him with a sour expression.

"...I'm going back to my room. Anna's waiting for me."

"I see. But shouldn't we deal with that thing above your head first?"

"That thing above my head?"

Huh? What's on my head?

I quickly turned my head and scanned my surroundings.

Fortunately, there was a large mirror nearby. I dashed toward it.

Reflected in the mirror, above my head...

"Good heavens! What is that!"

A pale electric spark was crackling and flickering.

"Ouch! That stings!"

I reflexively raised my hand to my head and got a sharp shock.

The moment my finger touched the spark, a crackling static discharge zapped me.

Not just any static—it was the kind of powerful static you get when wearing woolen clothes in winter, magnified tenfold.

"It's lightning."

The Third Prince informed me of the spark's identity with a perfectly composed face.

"Excuse me? Lightning? Why is there lightning above my head?"

"Perhaps because Lady Lulupel didn't keep the contract?"

"Excuse me? When did I ever!"

"Hmm... Here it is. Article 12, Clause 1. Party A and Party B shall respect each other's privacy. It seems the emblem judged that the contract hasn't been properly honored."

The Third Prince pulled the contract from his bosom and smiled.

Then he extended his index finger and began twirling it in the air.

Following the movement of his finger, the lightning above my head grew slightly larger.

"W-wait a minute! This isn't going to fall on me, is it?"

"No. Not unless I give the signal."

Which meant that the moment the Third Prince gave the signal, lightning would strike me on the head.

Ah...

Hariella Something-or-other Lulupel, now only eight years old.

Just a month into my fourth life, and I'm heading straight into my fifth...

Just as I was bidding a vain farewell to the world, I suddenly heard a laugh.

"...Why are you laughing?"

The source of the laugh was, of course, the Third Prince.

He was giggling, as if he'd seen something tremendously amusing.

Even a tiny teardrop hung at the corner of his eye.

"...I'm sorry. It was a joke. Since you joke with me so often, I wanted to try it once myself."

Wiping his tears, the Third Prince lightly opened and closed his palm.

At that, the lightning above my head vanished without a trace.

"Why would I leave Lady Lulupel to be struck by lightning?"

"...You seemed to be having a lot of fun, though."

"It was a little mischief. Don't be too angry. After all, you did break the contract, didn't you?"

I couldn't tell whether he was trying to soothe me or tease me.

Is this really the same boy who was acting so shy just a little while ago?

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