Whenever she read this particular letter, Mirika Hughlia’s face inevitably twisted up with complex emotion.
“Unclothed…”
It was probably no big deal. There was likely nothing more to it than what was written on the page.
“…Unclothed…”
Whether she meant to or not, however, she always ended up wondering what in the world Kunon was up to.
This letter from her fiancé had arrived at the height of winter.
Sometimes at night, when Mirika missed Kunon or was feeling down, she would reread this letter in the privacy of her room. Kunon had sent it from Dirashik, where he had gone abroad to study magic.
She wasn’t reading the letter tonight because she felt lonely or sad, though.
Today, she needed courage. That was why she was reading it.
Most of Kunon’s letters irritated her somewhat when she reread them because they were full of anecdotes about women. Nevertheless, they let her feel closer to Kunon, so she endured the irritation to read them again.
Then this letter arrived.
Kunon wrote that a teacher leaving him unclothed was “amazing,” and that a boy one year older than him was so “intense” and “passionate” that he had stripped Kunon bare.
She had no idea why he was reporting these things to her, of course. Still, this particular letter was her favorite one.
No women were mentioned, so she could read through it without feeling troubled. And above all, she enjoyed its contents.
It evoked the image of masculine interactions between men that felt, in some way, a bit scintillating perhaps?
Mirika was a girl, after all. The idea of cute boys roughhousing together…certainly appealed to her.
Apparently, some girls wished to be caught in the middle of such a scene. But Mirika was the type who just wanted to play the part of quiet observer.
Even so—she did wonder what in the world Kunon was up to.
“Princess Mirika, it’s almost time.”
“Yes.”
Stuffing the letter back into its envelope, Mirika handed it to her private maid, Laura.
“Keep it somewhere secure,” she said.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
This was a safety precaution.
If someone rummaged through Mirika’s rooms while she wasn’t there, they wouldn’t find anything important. It was no longer safe to leave any information connected to Kunon in her chambers. After reaching that conclusion, Mirika had begun entrusting the letters to Laura.
Mirika increasingly felt she was walking around in a powder keg—like there was no longer a private space in the castle. Whether that was actually true, it was the conclusion she’d reached in her heightened state of wariness. That was how perilous her situation was of late.
Just before the senior school for nobles closed for winter break, the environment around Mirika had grown rather turbulent. That would all end tonight, however.
If things went to plan, that was. If they didn’t—she’d be in trouble.
“It’s here at last,” said Laura. “A lot has happened recently.”
She was right. Lately, it had been… Well, just thinking about it was enough to make Mirika’s stomach churn.
Her older brothers and sisters with designs on the throne had begun to make their moves.
They must have heard about the achievements Kunon was racking up in the far-off magic city, and they wanted Kunon as a member of their own factions. To make that happen, they had to somehow deal with his fiancée, Mirika, and gather all the information about him that they could.
Surrounded on all sides in the royal castle, Ninth Princess Mirika had no hope of besting her siblings. They had been aiming for the throne since she was an infant, so no matter how hard she tried, she would never match them in terms of the quantity and quality of their allies.
And that meant Mirika had to play the game from somewhere outside the castle. Even if she could simply avoid being dragged into the fight, that would be enough. And she had been preparing for exactly that. It all depended on tonight.
To calm her nerves, Mirika lifted a cup of tea to her mouth and blew on it.
As much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t help but replay recent events in her head.
She was sure that on this day, this night, everything was going to change.
All the more reason for reminiscing, she supposed.
One day, out of nowhere, Mirika received a summons from her elder brother, First Prince Quill.
“Mirika, what sort of man is your fiancé?”
She’d gone to meet him in the central courtyard. This was the pride of the royal palace, and it was always stunning. The seasonal flowers were in full bloom. Though it appeared wild and disorganized, the garden was actually designed for people to explore and enjoy.
First Prince Quill was there.
Despite his title of prince, he was already middle-aged; he could have been Mirika’s father. In addition, since she was much further down the line of succession, Mirika had only ever exchanged greetings with him. They’d never spoken at length.
Naturally, this was also the first time he had summoned her.
“My fiancé?” she asked.
“Yes. The second son of the Gurion family.”
Just as one would expect from the crown prince. He leveled a sharp gaze at Mirika that practically dared her to tell some foolish lie. Though he had yet to inherit the throne, Quill had the intimidating air of a king.
“Well… It is indeed true that the second son of the Gurion family is my fiancé, but what is it you want to know?”
In response, Mirika tried her absolute best to play the part of a total idiot. She wanted her expression to make it seem that she simply had no clue why he had called her here. She wanted to look helpless. Stupidly weak even.
“What kind of man is he?” asked Quill.
“Hmm…My fiancé, right? He’s a sorcerer.”
“I’m aware of that, obviously. I’m asking what he’s like.”
“What he’s like…? To me, he’s just an ordinary, adorable boy… Oh, and a sorcerer, of course.”
“…Tch. Enough of this.”
Not even bothering to hide his annoyance, Quill clicked his tongue and left abruptly.
I did it!
Mirika grinned. It was a wicked smile—a far cry from the airheaded expression of only moments before.
The serious, proud crown prince hadn’t been able to bear Mirika’s cluelessness… Or rather, her stupidity.
Quill was a capable man and valued his time accordingly. When he felt someone was not on his level conversationally, he would simply stop talking to them. That was just who he was, and stupid women were the sort of people he despised most.
Mirika was sure that Quill had just come to the following conclusion: “If the girl is this moronic, I’ll be able to get what I want one way or another.”
And he could, with his connections and manpower… But since he now deemed Mirika a total nonthreat, he probably wouldn’t feel the need to take action anytime soon.
Acting rashly could end in disgrace or expose his weaknesses. Thus, Quill preferred to eliminate any obstacles carefully and discreetly. In the case of Mirika, he assumed he had plenty of time to figure something out.
“Phew, that was close,” Mirika muttered, leaving in the opposite direction from her elder brother.
She probably wouldn’t have to worry about Quill for a while.
Sometime later, Mirika’s second eldest brother, Second Prince Illiam, called for her.
“Have you heard from your fiancé recently?”
They were in one of the castle’s parlors.
From what Mirika had heard, this was one of the rooms Illiam reserved for his own personal use, where he entertained.
The complete opposite of their older brother Quill, Illiam was a frivolous, smooth-talking flirt. He was smart, but he was also an incorrigible playboy. In that respect, one might think he and Kunon were quite similar. But in fact, they were nothing alike.
Unlike Kunon, Illiam was a true philanderer. As it happened, he preferred women with fuller figures, so the slender-bodied Mirika was completely beneath his notice. He had summoned her here purely to speak in private.
Just to be safe, though, Mirika had concealed a pen she could use for self-defense on her person. She didn’t think she would need to use it, but she’d brought it just in case. How could she let her guard down, given the person she was dealing with and the place he had called her to? Most likely, nothing would happen, but there was no such thing as being too cautious.
Because Illiam was fond of women, he would chat a bit with Mirika whenever they happened to run into each other, but that was the extent of their connection. He had certainly never called for her specifically before.
“We’ve exchanged letters, though not often,” she replied. “He seems rather busy…”
“Oh?”
“The contents of his letters make me a tad anxious as well.”
“Anxious? What about?”
“He’s quite popular with girls, it appears… He’s always writing about them in his letters. But, you know, my fiancé is still only a twelve-year-old boy, so I…I don’t think he would cheat, but…”
“Indeed…? Well, I’m sure it’s fine. He’s twelve, so what trouble could he really get up to?”
After that, Mirika spent some time asking her brother for advice regarding Kunon, who she wouldn’t be able to see again for a while, and then she left the parlor.
I did it!
Mirika grinned. She looked so sinister that a passing servant flinched at the sight.
She was sure that Illiam was thinking, “Kunon is like me, so it won’t be difficult to win him over. I may even be able to disregard Mirika altogether and contact him directly.”
Her engagement to Kunon had been decided by His Majesty the King. Breaking off an engagement wasn’t easy, but the most expeditious route was for the people involved to ask for it.
If both betrothed parties insisted that they simply could not marry, the king would probably listen. Mirika didn’t know how it was in other countries, but such a precedent existed in Hughlia, which meant there was a high chance of making a successful appeal.
But the truth was not as Illiam imagined it to be.
In reality, Kunon was nothing like him.
It was indeed true that when one heard talk of Kunon, he was most often described as a flirt and a playboy. But Kunon’s regard for women was only a result of his upbringing as a gentleman. There was nothing more to it.
Mirika would be hard up if that turned out to not be true, so she chose to believe it. She simply trusted him. She had no other choice.
In retrospect, Mirika wished her younger self hadn’t gotten carried away alongside her fiancé’s former maid and instilled such ideas in his head. In her mind, those lessons had meant something a little different: “Be kind to women (to me, in other words)” and “Always be an attentive escort to women (that is, to me).”