“JIRO…”
A single tear rolled down my cheek as old memories of “mine” came rushing back.
Jiro didn’t seem very hurt, but did he make it out okay?
Jiro was a clever dog. I wanted to believe that he managed to dodge that speeding truck entirely…
“Jiro? And who is that? Are you actually crying right now? Your tears won’t change my mind.”
“…It’s just water from the fountain.”
Jiro was the one who had moved me to tears. The sting of losing my betrothed may have also been a factor.
But crying wouldn’t change anything now.
I felt the tears start to form in my eyes again, so I tensed my muscles to keep them from spilling over.
Crying in front of Fritz and the others was the greatest shame I’d yet experienced in my seventeen years of life.
I am Lady Laetitia Gramwell, Duke Gramwell’s daughter. This is the name and title I go by in this world.
On that day, I was at the Royal Elltoria Academy, where all young nobles throughout the kingdom of Elltoria receive an education.
When I’d walked through the front doors, past the water fountain in the entryway, I’d been stopped by Fritz, the crown prince of our kingdom. Out of nowhere, he’d told me that he was breaking off our engagement.
The students around us had fallen into a hush as they took in the shocking scene.
Now, Fritz’s followers stared down at me in the fountain, their faces cold with judging looks.
There stood Fritz—the crown prince, and the man who was supposed to by my fiancé.
Sumia, the baron’s daughter, was clinging to him.
Ilius, the third son of the prime minister, famed for his intellect, was beside them.
Finally, there was Dustin—son of the royal army commander and a skilled swordsman himself.
These were the future leaders of our kingdom, and each one of them glared at me with raw hostility in their eyes.
I stood up, being careful not to let my guard down around them, and placed both feet on the ground as elegantly as I possibly could, almost as if I were in the presence of the king himself. The shock of losing my fiancé and regaining my past-life memories couldn’t rattle me into losing my cool, or letting me be put into an even more embarrassing situation.
Since I was soaked to the bone, I decided to use a spell to dry myself.
“…Hands of red. Cage of fire. Sear my robes until they’re drier.”
I chanted the spell and felt the air around me turn warm, forcing the water right out of my clothes in the form of steam.
…It was my first time using magic with all these new memories in my head. I was a bit more excited than usual.
In my past life, I always adored stories of wizards and spells.
The drying spell I just used was cast by controlling fire. It was a delicate form of magic that couldn’t succeed without an experienced user behind it.
The students around us stared at me in awe, having just witnessed me pull it off so easily with such a short spell.
I was dry now, but there was still one question lingering in my mind.
For some reason, the magical energy coursing through my veins felt more powerful than usual.
Maybe it’s because I just regained the memories of my past life?
…I would have to look into it later.
I combed my fingers through my blonde hair, now that it was no longer wet from the fountain, and felt the long locks rustle the skirt of my uniform below.
Standing up straight, I turned to look Fritz in the eye, and I could have sworn I saw him flinch ever so slightly.
“Your Highness, is it true? Do you really mean to end our engagement?”
“Of course I do. A woman as wicked as you has no place as the queen of this kingdom.” Fritz scowled at me with disgust as he responded bluntly.
“And why is it that you think I am wicked?”
“Playing dumb, are you? I know all about how cruelly you’ve been treating Sumia.”
“Cruelly? If this is about Sumia’s overfamiliarity with Your Highness, all I did was warn her about her behavior.”
I had every right to take such actions.
Sumia had made many attempts to cozy up to my fiancé.
It was nothing as simple as a few friendly chats between them—the two would link arms in front of others and even dine together alone at night. This was completely inappropriate conduct from people of their status.
“As a noblewoman of this kingdom, I only behave in the most proper manner. Sumia can’t claim to be ignorant of the fact that you had a fiancée.”
“I… I did know. But I had no idea my friendship with His Highness would garner such terrible scorn…”
Sumia paled and she shuddered more violently than before.
Tears formed in her eyes. She was curling up like a small animal, surely activating the protective urges of everyone in the vicinity.
“You’ve gone too far, Laetitia! Sumia was raised among common folk! Of course she doesn’t understand the ins and outs of high society!”
“That’s exactly why I warned her whenever her behavior wasn’t acceptable for her class. But she refused to heed my advice and continued making the same mistakes.”
“Don’t you have any sympathy for the girl? She’s been dragged into a whole new world with hardly any time to settle in.”
“I respect the choices Sumia has made. But despite her commoner upbringing, she attends this academy as a baron’s daughter, so she must put in the work to carry herself in a way that befits her position.”
In both this life and the last, I was always taught that decisions come with responsibility.
Sumia’s circumstances were certainly unique, but that couldn’t excuse her every misstep.
…Though she was a baron’s daughter, Sumia was the product of her father’s affair.
From what I’d heard, Sumia had lived alone with her mother as a commoner until her father took her in when she turned thirteen.
In his words, he’d seen a latent potential in his daughter.
“Your Highness, Lady Laetitia’s just jealous of her.”
A boy with dark hair and glasses emerged from behind Fritz.
He was Ilius, the third son of the current prime minister.
“She just made quite the spectacle with that spell of hers…even though it was nothing more than simple Fire Magic.”
…Well, sorry to disappoint.
Despite his remarks, Fire Magic has many practical, convenient uses.
You can dry clothes, warm your body, simmer a pot of soup, grill up a piece of meat to save on fuel for cooking…
…Wait, no, no.
With my newly regained memories of my past life, I was starting to think like a member of the lower class.
I’m a duke’s daughter now.
The lenses of Ilius’s glasses reflected the light, casting his face in a creepy, sinister glow. I decided to save my speech about the many uses of Fire Magic for another time.
Glasses Creep continued to lay on his indulgent theories.
“…And then there’s Sumia, who is one of the very few users of Light Magic in our kingdom. Her powers are so robust, she’s referred to as the second coming of the legendary Goddess of Light. Sumia attends this school so that her tremendous powers can be used in the service of the kingdom. Don’t you find her aspirations to be noble?”
“I would think it unwise to confuse her motivations with their outcome.”
“Oh, but there’s been an outcome, all right. She’s exposed the ugly heart inside you, unbefitting of your title and class.”
“Ugly? You sure sound like you’re trying to sow discord between Sumia and myself. I can confidently say that all the warnings I issued were appropriate.”
“Well…”
Glasses Creep fell silent.
This boy, Ilius, was a gifted student at the very top of his class.
He seemed to understand he had strayed from the pretense of protecting Sumia.
“Hey, now. You’ve got a lot to say, Laetitia, but you’re just jealous, aren’t you? Jealous of Sumia’s precious Light Magic, and of the affection she receives from His Highness!”
Dustin, the redheaded and burly third son of the royal army commander, was next to butt into the conversation.
“I’ve always heard that women are jealous creatures, and I guess that’s true after all. You’ve got quite the nerve, using your title as a shield to bully Sumia. Don’t you have any honor?”
He held out his arms to protect the girl.
“Lord Dustin… You have my thanks…”
“I-It’s nothing at all!!”
His face reddened, and he turned away from her. On the inside, I wanted nothing more than to let out a dramatic sigh.
Et Tu, Dustin?
The famous words of Caesar echoed in my mind.
It appeared that Dustin, now in addition to the crown prince, had completely fallen for Sumia.
Dustin is the third son of a duke.
Between his father, a commander, and his three brothers, Dustin spent his entire life being trained in the ways of the sword.
As a result, he’d grown into a brawny man who lacked any experience with women of his own age.
In fact, it invoked a distant memory from my past life in Japan. I’d seen boys who spent their high school days with nothing but sports and athletics in their brain, only to get to college and start hanging out with nasty, manipulative girls.
“Come on, Laetitia. Don’t you have a response? Or do you finally get it now?”
“I have no intention of conversing with a mannerless man who refuses to address me correctly.”
Both the muscle-head and I belonged to families of equal rank.
He’d always referred to me improperly, but that didn’t make it right.
“Y-You just can’t let anything go, can you?!”
“It’s not only about my form of address. Lord Dustin, I have yet to receive an apology for pushing me into the fountain.”
“I did that because you were getting too close to Sumia, Lae— Lady Laetitia!!”
“I only approached her to talk, and nothing more. Did you see me raise a hand against her? You saw no such thing, and you pushed me down before I could get a word in edgewise.”
“How else could I have protected her?!”
“What are those muscles of yours even for, Lord Dustin? You could have just as easily grabbed me by the shoulders with those bulky arms of yours if you really wanted to stop me.”
“…You seriously want me to apologize to you?! Even after what you’ve done?! I know you pushed Sumia down a staircase! You’re completely shameless!!”