Part 1 Chapter 9. Dollhouse

「<Pepe: Day 77XX since birth!>

※This regime propaganda novel contains smoking scenes and other content inappropriate for children.

※Names of characters other than the Little Lord and family are marked as XX.

※Please note that some dialogue is marked with **.

Around the time I was getting used to royal life, my friend XX came to visit the palace. General XX nearly fainted like a soldier facing the enemy when he heard she had arrived.

— How can His Highness’s former fiancée be freely coming and going from the palace!

— But XX is my friend!

— What will people say! Please send her away immediately!

No matter how many times I saw General XX jumping up and down like a frog, I couldn’t get used to it.

The nearly 70-year-old man looked even more vigorous than my father. (By the way, does this person have nothing else to do? Even though he’s a retired soldier, he seems to spend more time in the palace than Viett, who’s actually royalty!)

— Enough, Sir XX! She’s not only Pepe’s friend, but also my childhood friend!

Princess Rosemary, unable to stand it anymore, scolded the general harshly. Emboldened by her protection, I nodded my head vigorously.

The general once again rambled on about Amelia this and that, comparing her to me, before finally leaving.

— Now that Father has let him get away with it a few times, he’s become completely arrogant.

Princess Rosemary muttered while glaring at the back of the general, who was as thin as a skewer.

— He was already desperate to torment my brother, and now Pepe too……

— Long time no see.

At that moment, my friend XX walked into the reception room. Surprisingly, Viett was with her.

He greeted me with his eyes while keeping about three steps away from XX. (I thought the general’s concerns were excessive, but seeing them side by side did make me feel a bit strange……)

— Just to be clear, I only happened to run into His Highness in the corridor just now?

XX snorted and got ahead of any assumptions. Viett nodded in agreement with her statement. He approached behind the sofa where I was sitting and placed both hands on the backrest. Then he bent down and whispered in my ear.

— Did General XX upset you again?

— Hmm……. No?

I shook my head, as strictly speaking I wasn’t upset, but Princess Rosemary frowned at the sight.

— After all that fuss he made before leaving, you’re not upset?

— I wasn’t upset. I was just a bit amazed to see him hopping around like a frog……

Both siblings’ expressions turned peculiar at the same time. My friend XX burst into laughter as she sat down next to Rosemary.

— Crown Princess Pepe has been trained by her father since childhood, so she’s quite immune to cranky old men’s **.

— You really!

Rosemary slapped XX’s thigh and grimaced.

— **? You’ve really given up on your reputation and everything else, haven’t you?

— What does it matter? I’m not a prospective princess anymore.

**? She definitely just said **? ** is one of the profanities Amelia uses most often, but somehow it feels different……

I quietly murmured the curse word my friend XX had uttered.

— **……. as in **……

— That’s not something that should come out of my wife’s mouth.

Viett pressed his thumb firmly against my lips with a troubled expression. I complained to him in muffled tones with my lips still pressed.

— But you say , ** every chance you get!

— Spend all day with the men at Desfield Military Academy like I did. You’ll end up like me within months.

— See, you just said ** again.

He chuckled with a “you got me” expression, then bent down and briefly kissed my cheek.

— I just came to see your face. See you tonight.

— I hope we actually get to see each other tonight!

— That’s rich coming from you. Lately you’ve been avoiding me and only hanging out with my father……

Viett left the reception room, grumbling with a face full of discontent. My friend XX, who had been quietly watching him walk away, muttered in a small voice.

— What love is……

— Huh? What did you say?

— Nothing.

She made a mischievous face and shrugged.

— How is it, Your Highness the Crown Princess? Is palace life bearable?

— Well……

I blankly recalled my recent life. Since being given a studio by His Majesty the King to create a sculpture of the queen, my life had regained a certain vitality.

I only learned later that His Majesty had commissioned the sculpture as a considerate gesture to give me time for a hobby. (He pretends to be strict, but he’s really such a kind person!)

As I found a proper balance between state duties (which mostly consisted of smiling sweetly for cameras!), nursing, and hobbies, palace life gradually became more enjoyable.

It was a very satisfying life, except for the fact that Viett was so busy we couldn’t even find time to eat together, and the reality that each day was filled with tension due to the expected large-scale air raids.

And one more thing.

— It would be perfect if Amelia didn’t keep appearing at every opportunity to intimidate me.

Princess Rosemary burst into laughter at my honest answer. XX also giggled as if she had expected it.

— Ah, the power struggle between the former and current crown princesses? All the newspapers are excitedly gossiping about it.

— There’s no power struggle!

— People say the reason Amelia acts particularly vicious in front of you is to express her dissatisfaction at having lost the crown princess position.

I fell into deep thought. Does Amelia really want power?

Is she in an irrational state due to Minute’s sudden death, venting her anger at not becoming queen on her employees? (Since she can’t openly torment me, her sister-in-law.)

But that doesn’t make sense either……

I tilted my head and frowned. The expressions and looks that Amelia showed from moment to moment didn’t seem at all like those of a malicious woman. Someone so vicious couldn’t have such innocent eyes.

— XX.

— Yes?

XX looked up, pausing as she was about to put a cigarette in her mouth. I decided to seek her advice and pulled out a paper I had been diligently scribbling on for days from inside my bodice.

— Could you curse at me?

— Yes. I’d be happy to, Your Highness.

XX readily agreed.

— If I start cursing without any reason, I might be arrested for insulting royalty, so could you set up some kind of scenario for me… I mean, for you, Your Highness……

XX glanced at the blue-faced guards standing around and corrected her speech.

— Just read what’s written here.

I showed XX what I called “Amelia’s Quotations.” It was a paper where I had recorded the curses Amelia had hurled at the maids.

Princess Rosemary read through the terrifying words densely written on the paper with incredulous eyes.

— What is this? Don’t tell me it’s a script? What kind of script is filled with so many curses?

— Why are you carrying something like this around?

My friend XX clicked her tongue as she took the quotations with an unimpressed face. XX quickly scanned the quotations, took a deep breath, and began hurling curses into the air with a frightening expression.

— You **ing **! Didn’t I ** tell you to throw all these ** cookies out the window, you **!

XX cursed with a naturalness that couldn’t even be compared to Amelia.

The combination of loudly spat curses and terrifying expressions was so fierce that a maid who happened to be entering the reception room with desserts turned pale with fright.

— Oh……. You’re really good at this, XX. Even better than at the academy.

— XX. You really have given up on all dignity, haven’t you?

Princess Rosemary and I clapped simultaneously.

— Hmph, this is nothing.

XX smiled contentedly and shrugged. Then she handed me the quotations.

— Want to try it too, Pepe? I mean, would you like to try, Your Highness?

— I tried it in front of Viett! He said I looked too awkward when cursing.

— You imitated this in front of your husband?

Princess Rosemary was startled.

— I can do it now too!

I cleared my throat and imitated one of the quotations.

— **. If you make another mistake, I’ll ** that ** face of yours, got it?

— Wow, you’re really bad at this, Pepe.

— Cursing definitely doesn’t suit you, Pepe.

XX and Princess Rosemary simultaneously grimaced and shook their heads.

— I see. So that’s how it is……

I drooped my shoulders in disappointment. XX laughed at my dejected appearance.

— Cursing gets better with practice. It’s bound to be awkward when someone who doesn’t usually curse tries it.

Awkward? That’s it!

The suspicion I had vaguely harbored since first meeting Amelia finally became clear. The strange discomfort I felt whenever I saw her jumping around in anger.

Those embarrassing moments that felt like watching a poorly scripted and directed silent film. Now I understood why I had felt that way.

— I get it now. This is about Amelia, isn’t it?

XX looked at me with narrowed eyes and asked. I swallowed the “Eureka!” I was about to blurt out and opened my eyes wide in surprise.

— How… how did you know?

— These are all things Amelia said when catching maids like they were mice.

XX waved the quotations and lowered her voice to a whisper.

— You suspect something, don’t you?

— Everyone out.

The quick-witted Princess Rosemary signaled to the chief chamberlain and the guards. While they withdrew from the reception room, I recalled what Viett had told me before.

The story of how he had accidentally seen Amelia stamping her feet while reading a newspaper. What’s more, the person with her was a young maid she had tormented mercilessly, and the newspaper even contained articles defending Amelia. In that situation, making a sad face while reading such articles made no sense.

— Well……

After much deliberation, I finally spoke with difficulty.

— I think Amelia might be… deliberately acting nasty only in front of me to ruin her own reputation.

— Hmm. So the foul-mouthed, inconsiderate noblewoman is actually just an act?