Chapter 7

“So a command to participate in the Crown Princess selection has arrived at our house as well.”

“…”

My father and mother’s silence was more eloquent than any reply.

It carried the meaning of affirmation.

“I understand. As a rule, the Crown Princess selection requires everyone to participate.”

It goes without saying that I have no magical power.

Who would ever think that someone like me would travel to the heart of the magic-supremacist Spiritual Kingdom and be chosen as the Crown Princess, standing by its apex?

…Though my past self actually thought she would.

Let’s look only forward without dwelling on the past.

“I am also eighteen years old this year. Considering just our ages, I am a match for the Crown Prince, who is turning twenty-three. If we are merely talking about possibilities, it’s a possibility.”

Though there was only a possibility, and it would never lead to certainty.

“For the Crown Princess selection, virtually all unmarried noble women across the country will likely be summoned. This is to ensure that no one blessed with exceptional magical power—the kind that strengthens the royal bloodline—is missed. That is probably why they are telling me, someone who has long been known to be ‘one with no magic’, to show my face as well.”

“To drag you back to the royal capital just for that… to a place that is nothing more than a cesspool of people who only care about magic!”

Mother said with a trembling voice.

“And you’re telling me Elt will be made a laughingstock once more, my own daughter! Look, my dear, let’s simply decline. All we need to do is write a letter of refusal to the royal family!”

“M-Mm, indeed, that is true…!”

“What is there to hesitate about?! They surely know and are probing us anyway. Word about Elt having no magic spread through the royal capital with abnormal speed!”

Mother was genuinely furious.

Mother had also changed after returning to the territory. In the past, she was frail and rarely asserted herself, but ever since Acheron was born, she seemed all the more robust.

“Elt in the royal capital… watching her truly broke my heart. Looked down upon by every single person she met. Because of that, Elt grew completely hardened and lashed out at everything…!”

So that was how my childhood appeared to others.

“After returning to the territory, she grew bright and kind…! Elt as she is right here is the real Elt. I don’t want a hardened Elt to come back from going to the royal capital again…!!”

As she said that, Mother wiped the corner of her eye with a handkerchief.

The fact that she was crying so deeply was purely because she cared for me, and I felt genuinely happy about it.

Father, receiving those feelings as well…

“Indeed. The other side surely doesn’t harbor a single thought that Elt, who is known to lack magic, will be chosen as Crown Princess. Though it leaves a bad taste in our mouths…”

“That’s right! Elt is fully worthy of being Crown Princess even without any magic! She is a well-educated, good-natured duke’s daughter!!”

“However, in this country, nothing is valued beyond the presence or absence of magic. I have no intention of marrying my daughter off to a man who fails to recognize Elt’s greatness. Even if that man were the Crown Prince!”

The two of them were getting rather worked up.

Should I stop them?

“If they are already aware of it, there shouldn’t be any discourtesy. Let us reply that our family is declining the Crown Princess selection.”

“Please wait.”

Just as Father and Mother were about to settle on it, I intervened.

“I will participate in the Crown Princess selection. Please give the royal family that reply.”

“Elt?!”

Both of my parents widened their eyes at my declaration.

“W-What do you mean by this, Elt?! Could it be that you want to become Crown Princess? Are you infatuated with Prince Kistihart?!”

“I have never even met Crown Prince Kistihart.”

At least not in this life.

“Therefore, I have never seen his face nor do I know his character, so I have no reason to be infatuated with him. As for the position of Crown Princess… I know full well it is far too grand for me.”

My past self had desired it with all her heart, though.

When a summons like this arrived, she would have leaped at it without a second thought.

Even so, I forced my reluctant parents to agree and cheerfully headed off to the royal castle.

The summons had even been received at our residence in the royal capital, rather than in the territory.

I never imagined I would end up doing the same thing in this second life. But only the action itself was the same; the reasons behind it and the way I persuaded them were completely different.

“I will never, under any circumstances, become Crown Princess. Even so, refusing the royal family’s summons would still be considered disrespectful.”

The royal family had ordered me to “come.”

Since serving the King is a noble’s greatest duty, refusing the royal family’s command—regardless of the reason—would amount to a denial of my own existence.

“As it is, our Eldenvalk family is already facing a difficult standing. All because someone like me, ‘one with no magic’, was born.”

“You shouldn’t worry about such things…!”

“I don’t want to push our house into a corner any further because of me.”

As we touched upon earlier, in this country, peerage rank and the strength of one’s magic do not necessarily correlate.

And because society prioritizes magical strength over title, peerage ranks can easily shift up or down based on the magical standings at any given time.

For instance, if a baron’s daughter were chosen as Crown Princess due to her overwhelming magic, her family would be promoted to at least an earl for the achievement of producing a mage of immense power.

Then what about our family, which holds a duke’s title yet produced “one with no magic”?

The only reason the Eldenvalk family could still call itself a duke was, first, because both Father and Mother were among the highest-ranking powerful mages in the country.

And second, because rather than merely managing this wealthy port town without any trouble, they governed it exceptionally well, producing record-high revenues.

By doing so, they had managed to protect the duke’s position unchanged for eighteen years since my birth.

Anyone would want a port town that generates immense wealth through trade. The nobles governing the surrounding domains would snatch this city away from the Eldenvalk family at the slightest opening.

The only reason they could not do so was that our head of the household, Duke Eldenvalk—my father—was flawless in both ability and actual power.

The sole opening in that flawless father of mine was his magicless daughter.

This very self.

“I do not want to become a vulnerability for the Eldenvalk family. Therefore, I will obey the royal family’s command and go to the royal capital. And I will participate in the Crown Princess selection.”

Naturally, someone like me without magic would instantly be disqualified.

Unless I used the violent and despicable tactics I had in my previous life to claw my way up.

“I will be eliminated immediately and return here. That way, my obligations will be fulfilled. It will show we strictly complied with the royal family. No one will have any grounds to complain.”

“That is precisely why you don’t need to worry about such things. More than the house, Elt, you are far more precious to us.”

“That’s right, even if you get weeded out of the selection right away, the nobles in the royal capital will use that as fodder to mock you all over again! Can you really endure that?!”

Both Father and Mother joined in to urge me to change my mind.

“As for my pride…”

“No, you are a clever girl. A wise person disciplines themselves regardless of their desires and maintains their dignity. For you, who studied so hard and elevated yourself, to face unprovoked mockery… I simply cannot bear it…!”

Thank you, Mother.

You feel the pain of me being looked down upon as if it were your own.

But it will be alright.

I am already used to being laughed at.

After all, I have the accumulated experiences of a whole past life factored in.

“I was raised with an abundance of affection right here in the Eldenvalk territory. Taught by many people living in this land and exposed to various ideas coming from across the sea, I believe I have matured as a human being.”

That is why I won’t lose my mind just from being looked down upon or laughed at like I did when I was a child.

I will not go off the rails like in my previous life.

The Eldenvalk family will not end with Father’s generation.

Acheron will succeed Father and carry the family forward into an even brighter future. To protect that future, I want to do anything I can.

Because in this life, I love my family—both my parents and my little brother—so dearly.

“I’ll be off to the royal capital. I’ll treat it like a little trip, get rejected by the prince right away, and come right back.”

If that minimizes the blemish on our household even a little bit, I will gladly play the fool and let them laugh.

After all, in this life, I have found something far more important than my own pride.

“Elt… when on earth did you learn to think like that…!”

“You really have grown into a splendid lady…!”

Both of my parents wept together, but knowing that those were not tears of sorrow, but rather tears of joy recognizing my growth, made me genuinely happy.

Thus, after much back-and-forth, my trip to the royal capital was decided.

Thinking about it, it was a rather whimsical twist of fate. Having started a second life, I thought I had completely shaken off my obsession with not being able to use magic.

And yet, I was about to challenge the position of Crown Princess once again—something my former self had tried to seize with all her pride.

Well, the purpose this time was entirely different, though.

Back then, I challenged it to win and become Crown Princess, but this time I was heading to the royal castle precisely to be rejected.

To fulfill my obligations to the royal family.

That made this trip vastly more relaxed.

As for the journey to the royal castle, however, I would have to travel across many days from the territory, unlike my past life where I lived out my entire life in the royal capital.

At first, Father and Mother both said they would accompany me, but Father couldn’t suddenly abandon his duties as lord, and Mother didn’t want to be away from Acheron for long, so I managed to persuade them to stay behind.

Acheron would naturally remain in the territory as well.

It was the first time I would be separated from my little brother for long, and when the time came for my departure, he cried because he didn’t want me to go.

That felt as painful as having my heart carved out.

I am so sorry, Acheron.

Your big sister will get rejected by the prince as quickly as possible and come right back home.