Chapter 21

Chapter 21 : I Will Annul the Engagement (4)

It was the attendant responsible for serving drinks at today’s banquet. Legina, looking at his bloodless face and rapidly darting eyes, immediately realized that Theore had caused some kind of trouble.

“What’s wrong?”

“His Highness Theore approached where the drinks were prepared…”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes? Ah, yes! I will escort you!”

No sooner had the word ‘drinks’ left the attendant’s lips than Legina, grasping the situation, stiffened her face and spoke urgently. It seemed the instruction she had given before the banquet—to alert her if Theore appeared near the champagne—had been well conveyed among the attendants assigned to today’s event.

Legina, excusing herself to Aaron for a moment, quickly walked towards the drink booth. The first thing she saw was Theore, pointing his finger at a bowing attendant. Watching him stomp his feet, furiously and indiscriminately enraged, with a face flushed crimson, made a sigh escape her lips. And she also had a small realization: ‘Yes, I chose a troublemaker when I gave up on a pushover…’

“I! Said I would drink it! Who are you to tell me what to do or not to do?!”

“B-But, Your Highness…”

“Shut up! Shut up! Who told you to talk back?!”

“…”

“Why aren’t you answering?! Why not?! Do you dare ignore the Imperial Family’s words?!”

“Th-That’s not it.”

“SHUT UP!!!”

“…”

“Why aren’t you answering?! You were talking back so well just now, why are you silent?!”

…This is driving me crazy. Legina clutched her throbbing head with one hand and gritted her teeth. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that she was still sane enough not to break into a sword dance, or to be dismayed that he had started raising his voice even in the Emperor’s presence, meaning he would soon become a troublemaker with absolutely no sense of hierarchy.

“Theore.”

“Who dares call my name?!”

“It’s me.”

“Who’s me… Gasp!”

Theore, who had furiously snapped his head around, froze in that exact position. He had finally spotted Legina. It was Legina who had, all morning, talked herself hoarse telling him that since today was his birthday celebration, he had to behave quietly, obediently, and nicely, and who had finally resorted to bringing out the club. The moment he realized she was looking at him with the same posture and the same smile as this morning, a chill ran down his spine, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The only fortunate thing was that she didn’t have the club in her hand, but the presence of enough plates or tables nearby to throw offered little comfort.

“Did my brother forget what I told him, even sacrificing my morning dressing time?”

“Ah, no. That’s n-not it…”

“Hmm? Theore? Did you forget?”

“…N-No, I didn’t.”

“That’s right. My clever brother wouldn’t forget. So, you’re saying you remember everything your sister told you, and yet you caused this commotion?”

Legina’s smile grew deeper as she advanced one step at a time, keeping pace with Theore, who was stumbling backward.

“Hey, ev-everyone’s watching, you know?”

“Who was it who caused a commotion for everyone to watch?”

“No, that’s just, that person was trying to stop me from doing what I wanted…”

“That’s champagne. It’s alcohol. You’re underage, so you can’t drink it; of course, they should stop you.”

“B-But I’m an Imperial Prince…”

“Even an Imperial Prince is a minor. And besides, I was the one who prevented you from accessing the champagne in the first place. That attendant was just following my orders.”

“Oh, why?!”

“Why, you ask? If you get drunk and start a sword dance, I’ll have to clean up the entire mess… Do you think I want to do something so troublesome, bothersome, and irritating?”

“Who’s going to do a sword dance?!”

“You are.”

“No, I’m not!”

No, he does dance. A crazy sword dance that draws blood. It hadn’t happened to Theore yet, so he might feel it was unfair, but for Legina, who had already experienced it, it was something she never wanted to go through again.

“If I say you do, you do. So come here right now.”

“W-What are you going to do?!”

“You’re the one who’s already done something.”

“Y-You’re going to hit me here?!”

“What do you think I’ll do?”

Theore’s face grew increasingly pale as he watched Legina clench and unclench her fist, loosening her hand. He was certain that if he approached obediently, his crazy sister, who had abandoned all pretense of royal dignity, would definitely hit his bottom. And running away meant fearing the clubbing that would come after the banquet.

“Theore?”

“N-No!”

Ah, he’s running away. If he runs away like that, he’ll get hit with his special club later, won’t he? Is that okay? Legina looked at Theore’s retreating back and recalled the beautiful form of the club, safely kept in her room.

Ah…

Thinking only of it brought her peace of mind; it was very effective, she thought, and Legina smiled faintly, turning towards the nobles who were peeking at her.

“You all, did you see anything here?”

“Ah, no!”
“We saw nothing!”
“Yes, th-that’s right! What would we have seen?!”
“Your Highness is excellent!”

She seemed to have heard some nonsense at the end, but Legina casually ignored it and looked in the direction Theore had fled. Whatever the reason, running away was still running away. For a so-called troublemaker of the empire, he certainly lacked spirit! Vowing to teach Theore the posture of a confident troublemaker, in addition to being a competent one, with her beautiful club after the banquet, Legina returned to her seat where Aaron and the Emperor were waiting.

Afterward, a very peaceful and enjoyable banquet continued. Although Theore, today’s protagonist, having left, caused the inconvenience of having to look after his fiancée Gretta, it was a manageable bother, considering Theore’s sword dance from before the regression.

And finally, the last song of the banquet began to play. If nothing had changed from before her regression, it was now time for the assassin to move towards the Emperor. She had already sent Aaron far away on another pretext, in case the assassin chose a different method than before her regression.

Legina subtly rose from her seat and walked towards the Emperor, beginning to carefully observe the servants passing by. It was by chance that Legina’s eyes, scanning her surroundings with a firm grip on the hem of her dress to react immediately to any situation, caught sight of Annetta standing in the corner of the hall. Hermann had disappeared somewhere, and a strange stillness seemed to envelop Annetta, making Legina’s sharp intuition activate the moment she felt the anomaly.

And at the same moment, a servant holding a tray of champagne lunged towards the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, look out!”

At Legina’s cry, the Emperor’s eyes widened. His violet eyes took in the sight of a servant lunging with a sharply glinting dagger and Legina’s back, blocking him.

“Legina!”

At that moment, Legina, unaware of the Emperor’s feelings as he cried her name, stood looking at the assassin. It was a tense situation, but all the assassin’s movements appeared in slow motion to her. The assassin, holding a dagger clearly coated with poison, lunged at Legina, treating her as merely an obstacle in his path.

How insulting to my pride.

Legina was composed. Before her regression, she was the one who had endured until the very end in battles where everything would be over if only she died. Naturally, there had been dozens, hundreds of assassination attempts during that time. But they had failed, and Legina had survived. There was no reason for her to fear a foolish assassin who wasn’t even attacking from a blind spot but merely saw her as an obstacle to be bypassed.

Legina swiftly dodged the lunging assassin, stepping aside, and took cover behind the chair she had just been sitting on, gripping its backrest firmly with both hands. The assassin, now having a clear path to the Emperor thanks to Legina’s movement, shrieked and raised the dagger in his hand high. He was not a typical assassin that everyone was familiar with.

Dangerous!

Everyone who witnessed it thought the same.

CRACK!

BANG!

It was then. The sound of something breaking and something heavy hitting the floor simultaneously rang out. The nobles, who had squeezed their eyes shut, imagining the worst possible scenario, slowly opened them at the loud noise that didn’t match their expectations.

“Did I hit him too hard?”

And they saw it. The Imperial Princess holding the broken backrest of a chair with both hands, and the assassin sprawled on the floor, pinned by the remnants of the broken chair. From his rolled-back eyes, gaping mouth, and subtly spasming body, he didn’t seem dead, but he definitely seemed to have lost consciousness.

“It’s troublesome to carry such dangerous things, my lord.”

Legina, as if swatting away a disgusting insect, poked the dagger the assassin held with her foot, sending it flying far away, then casually threw the broken chair backrest behind her and dusted off her palms. If it weren’t for the fact that an assassination attempt on the Emperor had just occurred, it would have been a perfectly natural and calm sight to behold.

“Uh, well, Your Highness Legina…”
“Her Highness hit that person with a chair… right?”
“If I’m not mistaken…”
“I heard she was taking sword lessons…”
“Did Sir Aaron teach her something like that?”
“Oh, come on, surely not…”

Hearing the growing murmurs of the nobles, Legina immediately knew the time had come. It was the moment when everyone’s attention was focused. She would never find a more perfect timing than this! Thinking so, Legina stepped forward, firmly pressing down on the unconscious assassin’s body. Everyone watched her seemingly trivial action.

“There’s something I want you all to hear. And I hope His Majesty listens closely too.”

Legina, smiling cheerfully, dropped a bombshell into the banquet hall with an exceptionally bright voice.

“I will annul my engagement.”

– Mochinuna.