We walked away from Archiam’s estate, walking side by side.
“…I’m sure you can meet her if I ask for it strongly enough.”
“I’ve been having so much fun in the Dolknes territory that I’d forgotten about it. The Hillrose house was gone.”
Eleanora is not at all sad that the dukedom has been demolished. Compared to her previous lifestyle, she now enjoys her modest life. Even without the ball, she can find new pleasures for herself.
However, the loss of her nobility has deprived Eleanora of her friends.
I have been thinking about not saying this for a long time, but I simply said it out loud.
“There are many ways to become a noble again.”
This is true. The simplest way to do this is through adoption by the Dolknes house. Creating a new noble family would be more challenging, but it could be achieved if we were willing to do so.
The procedure was too cumbersome, and I wasn’t going to tell Eleanora unless she really couldn’t stand the idea of it.
She didn’t take me up on my suggestion,
“When I was part of the Duke’s house and what I am now… what was the difference?”
There is no difference. They are both Eleanora.
I had no desire to say something to gloss over the situation after her friends cut her off.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to answer correctly. In times when I don’t know, I tend to deceive or pretend to know, but for this moment, I thought I should tell the truth without any falsehoods.
I told the truth about current and former Eleanora without any falsehoods.
“I like you now, but I didn’t like Eleanora that much in the past. At school, I used to think that we could spend our time without speaking to each other at all. It’s not that I hate you… We didn’t match? Yeah, I don’t like you.”
“Eh? Ehh?!”
Eleanora stopped and looked at me, confused.
“Is it because… I don’t understand myself, and I’ve changed?”
“No, nothing like that. My impression has changed from what it was at first, but from about the end of the first year at the school, my impression hasn’t changed at all.”
Ever since Prince Edwin’s misguided warning to back off at the academy, I have felt that her inner self has not changed to this day. But I didn’t like the idea of getting close to her.
As we talked, I began to think. This is when I told Eleanora in person what I didn’t like about her.
“It was because you were the daughter of the Duke Hillrose. I avoided you because I didn’t want to get involved in a politically sensitive situation. However, you came at me so aggressively and without question that I gradually gave up, and here we are today.”
“Because I was the Duke’s daughter? And now I’m not; you don’t dislike me?”
“Uh, in terms of getting involved in political strife, it’s more dangerous now. Irrespective of our positions, I think we would be in the relationship we are in now.”
I continued further because the words seemed short.
“Now that I already love what’s inside, I want to be friends with you, whether you are a Duke’s daughter or a commoner, no matter how troublesome your situation may be.”
No matter how nice they are, I didn’t want to get close to anyone from the Hillrose family, I thought at the time. …Even now. I made an exception for Eleanora, and I still don’t want to get close to anyone who might get me into trouble involving nobility.
In the end, for the sake of self-preservation, I alienated Eleanora. I revealed this to her.
Now we are close friends, and Eleanora is kind. I think she will forgive me. But will she be a little angry? When I checked on her, she laughed as if relieved.
“It’s good to know. I was wondering what I would do if Yumiela hated me….”
“Well, that’s how strong the influence of the title of Duke’s daughter is. The title comes before the person’s personality.”
I did it; I was forgiven.
We stood around and talked for a long time. When the conversation took a positive turn, it was time to head back home.
That reminds me that there is a path ahead that I can’t take due to my circumstances. To inform her that I was stopping, I turned around and faced Eleanora again.
Then she looked at me with a sad look in her eyes.
“Yumiela’s words have convinced me that Dorothea doesn’t want to see me now that I’m no longer the Duke’s daughter.”
“…That’s something you have to ask her.”
“Ah, that’s the beginning of how the title affects me. So, Dorothea wanted to be friends with me… because I was a Duke’s daughter?”
This time, I had nothing to say.
Every noble decides with whom to associate based on their family background. Such things that I had accepted as common sense were now a very cruel fact.
How should I deal with this? All I could do was take action through brute force.
“What are you going to do now? Are you going to storm into Archiam’s estate? Or do we secure the noble status for you?”
“Either one is fine with me. But I don’t want to cause trouble for Dorothea and return to the nobility.”
“I can’t revive Duke Hillrose’s house… but I can do something close to that if I try.”
“There is no need to be reckless, Yumiela. I love living in the Dolknes territory.”
She certainly seems to be enjoying her days in the Druknes territory. But that could be because Eleanora, with her strong mentality, can find her enjoyment anywhere. I remember her saying that she likes to have fun, but never with the preface that she is more than she used to be.
Although she likes the Dolknes territory, it wouldn’t be surprising if, deep down inside, she is hiding the feeling that she likes the capital even more. Was Eleanora being sincere or considerate when she said that? I felt that she didn’t know.
And it wasn’t just the capital that she loved. I haven’t mentioned Eleanora’s love for him for a long time, but let’s take this opportunity to ask her about him.
“If you stay in the capital, you will be able to meet His Highness Prince Edwin.”
Even after coming to the Dolknes territory, I have heard stories about her memories of the prince. Although it does happen, the frequency is noticeably decreasing. Eleanora repeats the same things so often that I can memorise them even if I don’t listen to them. No doubt it is because there are no new stories to tell.
“I’m no longer a noble, so I can’t marry Prince Edwin.”
“…What?”
Eleanora casually made a serious statement, but I was too surprised to dig any deeper.
Dazed, she said to me, “Let’s go,” and then started to walk away. Then she said as she looked over the streets of the capital.
“There is no way I can stay in the capital. I have some unfinished business in Dolknes territory.”
Her face told me that what she had left to do was a serious matter, not something to be taken lightly. Eleanora continued, her soft fists clenched tightly.
“Until I get back what I lost… I must continue to fight in Puttara.”
“Huh? Puttara…?”
The word was completely unfamiliar to me, and my thoughts came to a halt again. I was listening to Eleanora’s words carefully so I could hear “puttara” clearly, but it sounded strange and unfamiliar to my ears. Under normal circumstances, I would have been like, “P… what?”
Maybe I don’t know the word, but I know the concept. Even though I have lived in this world for quite some time, I often have the phenomenon of understanding the word with a time lag: “Oh, that’s how it’s called in Japanese.”
The context suggests that it wouldn’t be a peaceful word. I listened to Eleanora’s explanation of Puttara, which she began, wondering what kind of battle Eleanora was engaged in without my knowledge.
“Puttara is a game of scrambling for the boards. You put a thin wooden board like this on the ground… Ah, some places use baked clay instead of wood, and the opponent puts the boards… Ah, it is usually played by two people. I like it when a big group of people play, and it becomes a mixed game. Where were we? You put the board down, and if you knock it over with your board, you win. When you slam the board down, it bounces and spins around. The board you flip over is yours. Oops, I forgot to mention that the boards have pictures on them, and collecting the best painted ones is one of the fun parts of the game.”
I try to understand Eleanora’s explanation, which isn’t to the point, without missing a word. …Menko? It’s Menko, right? That sounds like Menko.
I picture the daughter of a family that was once second only to the royal family in power, mingling and playing children’s games, and I feel my body relax. That reminds me of when she was digging for potatoes.
Those are my roles to get into that kind of play, you know… my role.
Oh, no. The worry meter for Eleanora was about to reach zero. Her old friend’s rejection understandably hurts her. But at the same time, she is looking forward to playing Menko in Dolknes’ territory.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Yumiela, why don’t you join me in becoming the Puttara Champion? If we work together, defeating Kai will be a dream come true.”
“No thanks, I’ll pass. Please aim for the championship with your strength, Eleanora. I will be there to support you.”
The power is so different that I would ruin the game if I were to join in. Let’s not ruin the children’s play.
It was enough to dampen my enthusiasm to the point where I stifled my interest and could think maturely. My mental health has been affected more than Elenora’s.
We walk around, discussing a menko-like game called Puttara.
In her wisdom, Eleanora was half a step ahead of me. We took the shortest route toward the Dolknes estate.
Eleanora was the first to sense it. Bringing a pause to Menko’s story, she said in the same tone.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on this street.”
“Oh no!”
I had forgotten to tell her that we would be taking a detour on our return home. We had taken the shortest path, but we got lost. We were in the “Sparkling Street Poison Swamp,” the most dangerous area in the capital.
Casually walking into a exp den