LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 5 - First Meeting (1)
Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: TempWane
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Two years had passed since my reincarnation into this world.
To be honest, I wasn’t exactly someone who was considered to live a very ‘lady-like’ life before. Not that I grew up as a boy, but I certainly wasn’t from some noble family either. I was born a female and, in my own way, I thought I’d grown up fairly feminine.
However, I wasn’t as feminine as what this world seemed to expect of me. The world I’d lived in before wasn’t a medieval romance fantasy world; it was a modern society where no one cared if a woman learned kendo or taekwondo, or if a man took up embroidery. I didn’t learn kendo or taekwondo, but neither did I have any traditionally feminine hobbies like embroidery or cross-sticking.
So, you can imagine how difficult it must have been for me to be to be born as the daughter of a duke and to learn proper etiquette.
I mean, what could they possibly expect from a five-year-old child?
It might have been easier to adapt if I didn’t have memories of my past life. Then, I could have just thought, “Well, that’s how the world is,” and lived accordingly, without any habits from my previous life lingering on.
Well… even so, I managed pretty well.
I had been a big fan of romance fantasy web novels in my previous life, so I’d read quite a few of them. Among those, I especially liked certain novels, which I read multiple times until I knew the stories inside and out.
Although mastering etiquette was a bit overwhelming, I was able to do pretty well in areas that required general social awareness.
“Amelia.”
Thanks to that, at this young age, I could already learn about the important political matters of the Grand Ducal House.
“What kind of place did I say we were going to now?”
My current father, the Grand Duke of Grattanmount, asked me that.
Even when the two of us sat facing each other in the carriage, our knees didn’t touch. The large carriage seats were covered with plush wool. The Grand Duchy of Grattanmount was already a cold place, but the location we were heading to was even colder. It was the Barony of Delkis, a place where the snow never melted year-round.
“We’re heading to the Barony of Delkis.”
“Yes. And what’s that family’s motto?”
“‘Nature does not lie.’”
“Excellent.”
My father—the Grand Duke of Grattanmount—stroked his short, well-groomed beard as he spoke. Black with patches of gray, his beard was a mixture of dark and light.
“Exactly. When we’re in Delkis, you must ‘never’ lie to the people there. Do you understand?”
He had already told me this several times before we departed.
It was also something I’d read in the novel.
“The reason those people, each as strong as ten or even a hundred soldiers, don’t rebel is that they trust us. Just as nature doesn’t lie, we also never lie to them and treat them as equals. Even if there’s something uncomfortable to say, it’s better to be open about it. To them, that’s respect.”
“I understand.”
However, ‘Amelia’ didn’t do that.
In the first part of the story, even after all her misdeeds were exposed, she wasn’t sentenced to death due to her status as the eldest daughter of the Grand Ducal House. Nor could they exile her overseas; if they did, noble parents might have to face similar punishments for their own children’s transgressions.
So, the Grand Duke of Grattanmount chose to banish Amelia to the Barony of Delkis, the northernmost region within the North.
In the first part of the novel, Amelia wasn’t exceptionally capable, and it was assumed that she wouldn’t manage well in the harsh natural environment of the Barony of Delkis.
And Amelia herself knew that all too well.
Therefore, Amelia led a life of repentance and reflection there—
—though it was all an act.
When Amelia realized that her previous methods wasn’t working, she would change her strategy.
The people of the barony were extremely powerful, so much so that even the Grand Ducal House, with all its forces, feared them.
Yet, despite their strength, the people of the Barony were surprisingly straightforward and unpretentious.
The only one who had directly witnessed Amelia’s evil deeds was Harvey Delkis, one of the main male protagonists.
Before Harvey Delkis, Amelia only repeatedly apologized. Struggling to adapt to the ways of Delkis with her untrained body, she gradually improved her image, slowly creating a rift between the Grand Ducal House and the people of Delkis.
In time, the people of Delkis trusted Amelia, who was nearby, more than the distant Grand Ducal House.
Besides, Amelia had never actually lied before. Although she had a vicious temper and committed wrongdoings, she didn’t do them behind people’s backs but right in front of them. And when she admitted to everything without hiding anything in the Barony of Delkis, her method turned out to align perfectly with the Delkis way.
In any case, nature doesn’t lie. And someone who doesn’t lie is considered equal to nature, worthy of equal respect.
And the person who grew close to Amelia was none other than Elsie Delkis. In the setting, she was said to be the first true druid born in 200 years.
Elsie Delkis was a character who, throughout the entire second part of the story, was used by Amelia and eventually discarded. There weren’t many girls her age in the Barony of Delkis. Moreover, as Elsie longed for city life, Amelia, the noble daughter who came from the city, became an object of her admiration.
…
“I will make sure to never lie.”
However, I had no intention of using her.
In fact, I didn’t plan on getting involved with the Delkis family at all. I don’t plan to follow the plot of the second part.
I will just avoid ruin in the first part. Then, I’d continue living comfortably, eating well, and enjoying a happy life.
Besides, in the novel, most of the second part’s settings and events weren’t even mentioned in the first part. To be honest, it seemed like they only wrote a second part because the first part had done so well. Not that I didn’t enjoy reading it.
Someday, far in the future, after avoiding all my ruin flags, I might revisit and befriend them, but the first part alone was already a lot to handle. And given the distance from the capital, it was physically impossible to travel frequently between the Grand Duchy and the Barony of Delkis.
So, this visit would be the first and last one. At least for now.
“Good. Never forget that. Ah, by the way, it seems a true druid has appeared in that family this time. She’s still very young, but with proper training, she could lead an army that would be impossible for humans to resist. She’s about your age, so try to build a rapport with her. She’s technically a distant relative, isn’t she?”
Ah, so she awakened her powers around this time.
Honestly, I was a little curious. Though she was a character that didn’t appear until the second part, her unfortunate fate left a deep impression on me.
…but I still couldn’t see myself visiting this cold place often just to meet a girl my age.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I answered, tightening the thick cloak around my shoulders.
*
It wasn’t long after that I met Elsie Delkis.
The people of Delkis, who trusted the Grand Ducal House completely, hadn’t bothered to set up any posts between the Grand Duchy and the Barony.
However, dangerous beasts often appeared in the forest itself, so there was always a hunter’s squad patrolling the area.
The hunters divided into teams of three or four, and when guests arrived in Delkis, the first squad to encounter them would traditionally greet them politely.
And—
“Oh, is that Elsie? Hmm, she’s a bit small for a Delkis.”
Inside the carriage, the Grand Duke of Grattanmount looked out the window and said that.
…That’s small?
She looked at least twenty centimeters taller than me.
Moreover—the Elsie Delkis before me felt completely different from the character I’d imagined while reading the novel.
In the novel, Elsie Delkis was a proud and stoic character. She had a bit of a girlish heart, but she embodied the exact image one might imagine if the “Northern Grand Duke” archetype from other romance fantasies were gender-swapped.
But the girl standing in front of the carriage now—
Instead of a grand fur-lined armor around her neck, she was instead draped in some kind of sack with improperly cut armholes.
Unlike in the original story, where she had neat bangs, she seemed to have impatiently brushed her hair to one side, exposing her forehead.
Most notably, there was a smudge around her mouth.
As if only just realizing it, she quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
…which only spread the smudge further, making her mouth area even dirtier.
*
Oh no.
I’d completely forgotten that someone from the Grand Duke’s family was coming.
Oh, and I hadn’t even wiped my mouth properly.
The blackened skin of the wild potatoes I’d been roasting and eating over the fire just moments ago had left black stains around my mouth.
I tried wiping it away with my hand, but it only smeared further, so now everything I touched around my mouth was covered in soot.
Great. Just great.
For a second, I considered calling Gray, who was hidden in the woods, to come lick it off, but then I realized that was an even worse idea and gave up.
And at that moment, the carriage door opened with a clack.
The coachman opened the door, and the people inside began to step out.
…
Although I wasn’t sure exactly who they were, considering the huge carriage emblazoned with the Grand Ducal House’s crest, they had to be someone incredibly important—
—Just as I thought that, a girl stepped out.
And the girl’s appearance closely resembled the girl on the cover from the novel I’d read, the one illustrated by AI.
Amelia Grattanmount.
Why was the villainess here all of a sudden?