13. [The Ceremony of Recognition]
The audience chamber.
A long, narrow room with a heavy stone floor and thick pillars.
Stained-glass windows, majestic in several places, including above the throne, provided light, but due to the nature of the castle, there weren’t many windows, and the overcast sky made the room dim.
The [Ceremony of Recognition] began.
A ceremony to formally acknowledge my sister as a noble.
I was accustomed to such ceremonies, having been raised as a ducal daughter and now being the head of the family, but it was my sister’s first time, and I felt as nervous as if it were my own.
We walked together on the red carpet laid out to the throne, located at the far end of the room on a raised dais.
Ten steps before the throne, I stopped. After watching my sister curtsy, holding the hem of her dress, I followed suit.
Leticia seemed a bit awkward, but only a ‘Villainous Sister’ would criticize her for that… probably.
If there were such a person… I’d like to grind them into mincemeat, but they would surely turn pale when my sister eventually rose to prominence, so I’d overlook it for now.
Leticia looked up at the King of Eustasia, seated on the elevated throne, and bowed her head.
“…Your Majesty, my name is Leticia.”
“…Indeed.”
About a dozen nobles were present, but they were scattered sparsely, creating a somewhat desolate atmosphere.
The Prime Minister stood beside the throne, and the prince stood on the other side. I wished he had been late.
This ceremony was a rare occurrence.
The King approved the application submitted by the head of a noble family—in the Kingdom’s law, noble status was granted by His Majesty. There was nothing wrong with that.
However, nobility was a privileged class, and a suitable reason was required.
In this case, I claimed she was my half-sister, and that was accepted.
If this wasn’t a setting to force the scenario of [Moonlight Liberium] to progress, I suspected it was a system from the early days of the kingdom, used to elevate favorites to nobility…
Noble families typically rose to prominence through military service or wealth. Some families gained recognition through art or industry.
And the family that shed the most blood, amassed the most wealth… and left the most corpses in the fields… was Eustasia.
The most noble and most barbaric bloodline, uniting the feudal lords and building the great nation of Eustasia through profit and fear.
That being said, the Kingdom of Eustasia was also a peaceful nation that hadn’t engaged in a full-scale war for a hundred years.
The days when it reigned supreme as the continent’s strongest military power were long gone.
However, it remained the strongest nation on the continent, both in name and reality.
Its national power was immense, and its knights were highly skilled. The exploits of the Eustasia Kingdom Knights, dispatched to mediate small-scale conflicts, were legendary.
And this country had the “Coldhearted Vanderwaals.”
A rumor, likely embellished by some poet, circulated both domestically and internationally, depicting us as wall lizards with countless eyes and ears, eliminating any and all threats to Eustasia, with cold, unfeeling gazes and warm, beating hearts.
While similar organizations existed elsewhere, I hadn’t heard of any other country granting such authority to one of its highest-ranking noble families—one of only three ducal families.
…Officially, our family only held territories around the royal capital, in the north, and a few scattered exclaves.
However, the Eustasia family always relied on the Vanderwaals, and our family always answered their call.
In an age of endless war, peace was a distant dream.
However, the future envisioned by our ancestors was now a reality in this country.
…The founding king of Eustasia seemed to have aimed for continental conquest, but if he had succeeded, the Vanderwaals would have died from overwork. I couldn’t thank the second king enough for halting territorial expansion and not inheriting the founding king’s policy.
While reigning as one of the four great powers of the continent, Eustasia supported the separation and independence of numerous small nations, and maintained friendly relations with them.
It was more convenient for us if they remained divided.
Currently, the political climate of the various countries was stable.
Deep-rooted territorial disputes had mostly ended, and while there were trade issues, the complex web of alliances—if maintained—would prevent immediate escalation to all-out war.
Even if it was troublesome, dialogue was preferred over war.
No one wanted to turn back the clock and plunge the continent back into an era of conflict—
That was the setting of [Moonlight Liberium].
I was glad it wasn’t set during the era of the founding.
I wondered if the war-torn past was necessary for a romance story… but perhaps in the world where the unseen playwright who wrote the scenario was born, people also continued to fight.
And… perhaps it had become peaceful enough for them to enjoy love stories.
Although it wouldn’t be a conflict on the scale of the founding war, this country would be thrown into chaos within a year.
And the Vanderwaals’ work hadn’t changed one bit since the founding.
Peace for Eustasia.
Even if it meant using my own sister.
Even if it meant my head being separated from my body on the guillotine.
――The Vanderwaals’ mission remained unchanged.
I would even believe in this dubious fate. The information it provided was fairly accurate.
Though I was wary, as it was suspicious in many ways.
His Majesty addressed my sister from the elevated dais.
“――Leticia. Do you swear to accept the title of ‘von,’ pledge allegiance to Eustasia, and fulfill your duties?”
His resounding voice caused the attendees to straighten their postures.
I remained unchanged, focused on my sister’s momentous occasion.
On paper, my sister was already a noble.
So, this was just a ceremony.
An event to publicly declare the country’s recognition of my sister as a noble.
…Outside, the heavy clouds seemed to have parted, revealing a patch of blue sky. The largest stained-glass window above the throne began to shine, bathing Leticia in a cascade of vibrant, multicolored light.
“――Yes, I swear. Your Majesty.”
My sister declared in a firm voice and bowed her head.
The practice had paid off.
As expected of the future head of the Vanderwaals family.
…This blood had bound me from the moment I was born.
There was something I thought immediately after learning I had a sister.
Was it truly necessary for us to fight each other…?
And when I finally finished processing the massive amount of information that had been forced into my mind… when I finished reading the entire scenario of [Moonlight Liberium] like a long novel…
…I felt relieved.
I was just a minor villain.
And my sister was a pure, innocent girl.
I would be beheaded on the guillotine—that was ‘all.’
I didn’t have to kill my sister.
And I didn’t have to die at her hands.
…It was a strange fate.
But my path in life had been determined long ago.
I didn’t have the selfishness… the strength… to abandon everything I had learned… to discard the pride I had cultivated, the duties I had to fulfill, the promise I made to Ciel, and live as a free individual.
I was born a noble.
I should die a noble.
Perhaps the ‘me in the game,’ while fulfilling the Vanderwaals’ duties, had become slightly… mentally unstable.
…Or perhaps, like me now, she had chosen to thoroughly embrace the role of the villain.
The story was told from the protagonist’s perspective, so the ‘Villainous Sister’s’ feelings were never revealed.
I didn’t even understand my own heart.
“Leticia von Vanderwaals. In the name of the King of the Kingdom of Eustasia, I recognize you as a noble. —Duty and loyalty.”
“—Duty and loyalty.”
My sister repeated His Majesty’s words.
It was the customary phrase.
…Ah, what a wonderful event.
The text alone couldn’t convey its magnificence.
The joy of witnessing my sister’s triumph from the best seat in the house.
If I had to say, I wished I could have taken His Majesty’s place, just for a moment.
That was the true best seat.
…Was that disrespectful?
My sister stood and curtsied, holding the hem of her violet dress.
Although hastily learned, combined with her loveliness, it looked… presentable.
It was a shame I could only see her back from my position.
…Prince Konrad, standing next to His Majesty, began to applaud.
The sound of a single person clapping, clap, clap…, was swallowed by the vast space of the audience chamber.
However, though hesitant at first, everyone followed the First Prince’s lead, and the sound of applause filled the room.
I, too.
I, too, applauded.
Kneeling behind Leticia, I watched her back.
My sister had done well.
After confirming that His Majesty had settled back onto his throne, I stood up.
My sister turned and smiled when she saw me.
Then, she ran towards me—
And tripped spectacularly.
The audience chamber fell silent.
My sister had done well.
It would have been better if she hadn’t fallen.
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