“Dammit! She’s embarrassing me!” Rocheford spat in disgust, stomping around the lake behind the main building. He was supposed to be in class, but he’d been extremely irritated since his humiliation at school the other day and wasn’t calm enough to attend. “If it weren’t for Drossell, I could have gotten engaged to Christa. Why is someone like her my fiancée?!” he shouted while kicking a pebble. The pebble flew with great force into the lake, creating ripples on the water’s surface.
Rocheford and Drossell’s engagement had been a direct order from the king. On that day three years ago, the king had summoned Rocheford and announced the matter without any preamble. “I decree that you shall be engaged to Drossell, the daughter of Duke Filiaregis.”
Drossell’s reputation hadn’t been that bad back then. It was known that her family treated her coldly behind closed doors, and though some nobles praised her high level of education, most of them mocked her for her lack of magical power.
It was true that Drossell had outstanding abilities. However, Rocheford had always felt that she was unfit to join the royal family simply considering her lack of magical power.
That wasn’t the only reason, though. Rocheford had had a horrible impression of Drossell ever since he visited the duke’s manor for their matchmaking. At the matchmaking meeting, she’d barely spoken and was expressionless. She was so beautiful that she looked like a creepy doll.
In the Platina kingdom, there were five ducal houses known as the Five Great Dukes, which meant there were plenty of other ducal daughters to choose from if the prince was looking for a fiancée. Yet the king had assigned him a girl without magical power.
That was why that one sentence from the king had made Rocheford realize that his father didn’t expect anything from him.
“They’re all making fun of me!”
He was told that one of the reasons Drossell was chosen was because she had red eyes.
Red eyes were extremely rare in Platina. It was said that those with red eyes would have a drastic change in their life path by the time they reached the age of 13. It was roughly divided into two paths; one that would bring misfortune to the world and one that would bring salvation to the world.
The king had chosen Drossell over an ordinary young lady in the hopes that she would change his son. However, Rocheford didn’t believe in unfounded legends. To him, it was just an excuse his father had used.
If his father didn’t have any expectations for him, then there was no need for Rocheford to live up to his standards. From then on, Rocheford began to do as he pleased more than ever before. He continued to date Drossel out of obligation, but her attitude did not change even after they became engaged, and their relationship cooled.
That was why Rocheford’s affections had shifted to Christa. He had inevitably seen her every time he made his obligatory visits to the duke’s manor. He’d been interested in Christa ever since his arranged marriage meeting with Drossell, so it was only natural that the two grew closer.
Drossell’s personality changed drastically right around that time. She would yell, throw items, and become violent over the smallest of matters. But once she calmed down, she would cling to him and whisper in a creepily coy voice.
Rocheford had always disliked Drossell, but her actions made him distance himself from her even more, focusing instead on his affair with Christa.
“I’m the first prince, you know!”
Drossell had never once defied Rocheford, before or after her drastic personality change. And yet, she had used magic to rebel against him and even…
“Wait a minute,” he suddenly thought, feeling like something was off. “She doesn’t have any magical power.”
Drossell had definitely used magic back then, even though it rationally should have been impossible for her. “Plus, she’s been acting strange for the past month. Almost like she’s a completely different person…”
Once he noticed one discrepancy, various doubts rose to meet it.
Drossell had stopped throwing tantrums lately. At the same time, she’d stopped attending the lessons she’d participated in before, and now she didn’t even spare Rocheford and Christa a glance despite how much she used to cling to them.
It almost seemed as if she had reverted to her original personality, but that wasn’t it. Before, she had always been worried about the reactions of those around her. Now, she didn’t show any signs of caring at all. In fact, she seemed to have forgotten that she was the daughter of a duke.
After much consideration, Rocheford arrived at a singular conclusion. “I get it. She’s a witch!”
Her sudden change of personality, her lack of awareness as a noble lady, and the fact that she had used magic when she shouldn’t have been able to… None of it could be explained by common logic. Plus, it was Drossell’s fault that he, Platina’s first prince, was so miserable. He was convinced that she was a curse who brought misfortune to those who came in contact with her.
“I’m pretty sure there’s a sword in the museum that was used to kill witches,” he mused. Since he loved weapons, he was familiar with the weapons and armor in the museum. He knew how strong Drossell was from the incident the other day and planned to use the power of a witch-killing sword, which was said to have been blessed by a saint, to defeat her.
Having made his decision, Rocheford immediately headed to the museum. He had to defeat the witch as soon as possible.
“Hey, you there! Get me the holy witch-killing sword kept here in this museum!” he demanded, catching a curator in the entrance hall.
“Huh? Uh, p-please allow me to ask the director first…”
“There’s no need for that! Get it out right now!” Forced to follow the prince’s orders, the curator led the first prince to the storage room.
“Here is the holy witch-killing sword,” the curator said timidly, holding up the sword.
Rocheford snatched the rapier-like long sword right out of his hands. “Hey, I’ll have the saint’s blessing as long as I have this sword in hand, right?” he asked.
“W-Well, if you want protection, you’ll need this spell…”
“Hurry up and show it to me!” Rocheford quickly skimmed through the small scroll he took from the curator. The corners of his mouth raised into a fearless smile. “Hmph! All I need is this sword and this spell!”
Rocheford had no doubt that he could get revenge on Drossell for insulting him.