広い部屋に華美なベッドや家具がある。どれ一つ取っても、最高級な品であることが分かる。それは装飾品というわけではなく、この部屋の主が実際に使用しているものだ。床に敷かれている絨毯ですら、いくらするのか想像もできない高級品。
庶民なら誰もが羨むだろうその部屋のベッドに、少女が頭を抱えて座っていた。どうして、なんで、という言葉ばかりが小さな声で繰り返されている。その顔は絶望に染まり、目元にはくっきりと隈が浮かんでいた。彼女の自慢の長い金髪は、手入れをしていないのが一目で分かる有様となっている。
彼女の想い人はこの国の王子だ。その王子が気に掛けている少女がいると聞いて、彼女は貴族が通う学校でその少女を見に行った。儚げな印象を持つ、物静かな少女だ。王子があんな女を気に入るはずがない、と鼻で笑おうとしたが、彼女の目の前で王子は少女に話しかけていた。それも、彼女が見たこともないほどの満面の笑顔で。
それから彼女は、少女に対して嫌がらせを行うようになった。少女は抵抗せずに、彼女とその取り巻きによる執拗な嫌がらせを受けていた。彼女の立場故に、誰も助けようとはしなかった。王子なら助けることもできただろうが、彼女は王子の目にだけは触れないように立ち回っていた。
ただ、いつまでもそんなことが続くわけがない。王子に嫌がらせの現場を、しかも彼女が自ら手を出したところをはっきりと見られた。王子は当然ながら激怒し、彼女を責め立て、そして言い放った。
――私はお前とはもう関わらない。父上に進言して、婚約の話も白紙に戻してもらおう。
彼女は絶望した。王子の足下にすがりつき、何度も謝罪を口にした。思えばその時が、挽回の最初で最後の機会だったのかもしれない。
――謝る相手が違うだろう。
王子はそれだけ言い残すと、彼女の手を振り払い、少女を連れてその場を立ち去っていった。
それが一週間前のことだ。それ以来、彼女はずっと屋敷の自室に閉じこもっている。
意味もなく流れていく時間。何かをしなければと思うが、どうすることもできない。少女にはもう、何かをする気力というものが無くなっていた。
今日も無駄な一日が終わる。夜も更けたところで、少女はそんなことを頭の片隅で考え、そして、
――はろーおはようこんばんは。お久しぶり、リリア。
突然頭に響いた声に、リリアと呼ばれた女は勢いよく顔を上げた。周囲を見てみるが、誰もいない。静まりかえった自分の部屋だ。
――あはは。どこを探しているの?
若い女の声に、リリアは二年前の記憶を思い出していた。以前も聞いた同じ声。そして、王子の逆鱗に触れるだろうと予言したあの声を。
「どこにいるの......?」
――私はここにいるけどここにいない。私は貴方の心の側に! 貴方に幸せを運ぶために遣わされた天使ちゃんです!
「私を笑いにきたの?」
――ありゃりゃ、ご機嫌斜め。まあでも、仕方ないかな。ごめんね、変なテンションで。
最後の方は本当に落ち込んだような、しょんぼりとした声だった。その落差にリリアはわずかに笑みを浮かべる。落ち込むなら最初からしなければいいのに、と思いながら口を開く。
「貴方の予言の通りになったわね。あの時に貴方の言葉をちゃんと聞いていたら、この事態を回避できたのかしら?」
――意味のない仮定だね。あの時の貴方は私の言葉を聞くつもりがなかった。だからこれは必要な過程だったんだよ。
「貴方を信じる代償があまりにも大きいわね......」
リリアが重いため息をついた。反応に困っているのか、声はしばらく聞こえなかった。
しばらく静かな時間が流れ、もういなくなったのかなとリリアが不安に思うと、
――ごめんね、私じゃ気の利いたことは言えないよ。
悲しげなその声に、リリアは少しだけ目を見開いた。もとより自分の自業自得なのに、何を気にしているのだろうか。
――リリア。私は貴方を助けたい。だから少し、私の話を聞いてくれないかな?
「もともとその約束だったじゃないの。貴方の言葉は全面的に信じるわ。でも、こんな私を助けられるの? 殿下と仲直りができるの?」
――えっと。その質問の答えの代わりに、また一つ予言をいいかな。
リリアは訝しげに目を細めながら、どうぞ、と続きを促した。
――ではでは......。こほん。貴方は一週間、落ち込みました。この後の一週間、考えます。何を間違ったのか、どうすればいいのか、と。そして貴方は結論を出します。自分は何も悪くはない、と。悪いのは周囲の方だと。
「なっ......! いくら私でもそんな......!」
――うん。冷静になってる今だからそう言えるんだよ。続きね。貴方は学園に戻ります。普段通りに、普段以上に周囲を振り回します。その結果......。
声がそこで言葉を止める。リリアは生唾を呑み込み、続きを待つ。
――貴方は王子どころか王の、国の逆鱗に触れるでしょう。そうなれば、公爵家といえどもただでは済みません。爵位を剥奪され、貴方の家族は平民の世界へと投げ出されます。
なんだそれは、と思う。確かにこの国の王にはそれだけの権限があるが、実際に爵位が剥奪された公爵など存在しない。しない、はずだ。
――さあ、想像して、リリア。ずっと貴族として生きてきた公爵家の家族が、突然平民の世界に放り出されるところを。......って、想像できないか。
声の言う通り、リリアも平民がどんな暮らしをしているのか分からない。ただ、今みたいな贅沢は間違いなくできないだろう。この生活に慣れきった家族では、耐えられないはずだ。もしかすると、自殺まであるかもしれない。
そこまで考えて、ふとリリアは疑問に思った。今のはリリアの家族の話であり、なぜリリア本人には触れないのだろう、と。それを察したのだろう、声は楽しげな、けれど悲しげな不思議な声で言った。
――貴方自身のことは気にしなくていいよ。だって、処刑されるから。
――何をしたのか、は黙っておくね。知る必要もないから。
顔面蒼白になったリリアをいたわるような、優しい声音だった。
――さて、リリア。本題だよ。私は貴方を死なせるつもりはないよ。貴方が道を踏み外さないように、貴方に助言を与えてあげる。ただ、私も人生経験が豊かってわけでもないから、一緒に考えていくことになるだろうけど......。どうかな、リリア。
リリアは少し考えて、そしてすぐに結論を出した。
「お願い......助けて......」
消え入りそうな、弱々しい声。リリアのその声を聞いて、
――うん......。任せて、リリア! 助けてあげる!
力強いその声に、リリアは静かに涙をこぼした。
The large room was furnished with an extravagant bed and various other furniture. No matter where you looked, only items of the highest grade could be found here. All of these weren't simply decorations either, and were all things actually used by the owner of the room. Even the carpet spread under the bed was a product of unimaginable value.
And in that room which could draw the envy of any commoner, sat a very troubled looking girl. Words such as "why", and "how did this happen" were the only things that came from the girl, quietly mumbling to herself in distress. Her face dyed in despair, dark shadows could be clearly seen around her eyes. The long blonde hair she took pride in lay in severe disarray from the obvious lack of care.
The person on her mind right now was none other than this country's crown prince. When she had heard that the prince had showed interest in another woman, she went to the school for n.o.bles to see the woman for herself. Bearing an ephemeral image, the woman turned out to be a quiet-looking girl. She had scoffed at the idea that such a girl could draw the interest of the prince, but experienced first hand the impossible sight of the prince calling out to speak with the girl, even showing the girl a smile of his that she herself never had the privilege to see before.
And so she began her hara.s.sment of the girl. Without putting up any form of resistance, the girl quietly received the persistent bullying of her and her followers. As a consequence of her high position as a duke's daughter, the girl seemed doomed to suffer without anyone being able to come to her aid. The prince certainly could have saved her from the situation, but it seemed as if the prince was trying to avoid this duke's daughter.
However, such a situation could not hope to last forever. The prince had happened upon a scene during her hara.s.sment, and what's more even witnessed the moment she raised her hand against the girl. The prince was as a result enraged by the scene, and furiously condemned her behaviour, thus saying this.
--I will have nothing further to do with you. I will get my father's approval, and wipe away our engagement.
She despaired. She clung to the prince's feet, and begged for her forgiveness. Thinking back on it, that was probably the first and final chance of her redemption.
--The target of your apologies should be someone else, no?
With those words, the prince shook her off, and left taking the girl with him.
Those were the events of the previous week. Since then, she had secluded herself inside her room.
The hours were pointlessly wasted away. Even though she felt that she had to do something, she could only sit in despair. For her, the willpower to do anything had long left her body.
Today similarly ended without anything having been accomplished. As the night dragged on, something stirred from a corner of her memory,
--Bonjour~ Gooood morning good evening! It's been a while hasn't it, Lilia.
At the sudden voice ringing throughout her head, Lilia threw up her face in surprise. Though she look all around, not a soul could be seen in her surroundings. All there was was her room which had returned to silence.
--Ahaha, where are you looking?
At the sound of the young woman's voice, Lilia's memories from two years ago surfaced. It was a voice she was familiar with in the past. And it was this voice that had actually predicted the prince's wrath.
"Where are you...?"
--I'm both here and not here. I've always been by your side! Your very own guardian angel, here to lead you down the path to happiness!
"Did you come to laugh in my face or something?"
--Woah ho ho, someone's in a bad mood. But, well, it couldn't be helped yeah? Sorry 'bout that, being all weird and all.
The latter voice seemed to have actual regret mixed in, a downhearted response. At such a drastic s.h.i.+ft in att.i.tude, Lilia couldn't help but allow a small smile to float onto her face as she relaxed her expression. If you were going to get depressed at your own foolishness, then don't be like that in the first place, Lilia thought as she replied.
"It seems the future has gone down the path you predicted after all. If only I had properly listened to your words back then, I wonder if this situation could have been avoided?"
--It's pretty useless to think about such things now. You had zero intention of listening to what I had to say back then after all. That's why it was actually important to go through all this so that you would finally heed my words.
"In the end the price I had to pay to be able to finally trust you was pretty steep..."
Lilia sighed with deep emotion. Perhaps troubled at how to respond, the voice fell silent for a while.
As some time pa.s.sed in silence, Lilia began to worry if the voice was already gone for good.
--Sorry, I'm not really good at this whole being sensitive and encouraging with my words thing.
Lilia slightly widened her eyes at the sound of that dejected voice. This was originally what I'd brought upon myself, so what is she doing being all considerate now.
--Lilia. I want to help you. That's why, won't you please listen to what I have to say, even a little?
"Wasn't that the original promise? I put my full faith into your words. Though, I wonder if someone like me can really be saved after all? Will I be able to make amends with his highness?"
--Well... Instead of answering such a question, is it okay if I give one more prediction?
Lilia narrowed her eyes slightly in doubt, while urging the voice to go on.
--Well then well then... Ahem. You were depressed for a week. In this following week, you will think about your situation. What you did wrong, what you must do to make things better, and so on. And you will come to a conclusion. That you in fact did nothing wrong. That everyone else was at fault here.
"Wha...! Even for me that's a little...!"
--Yep. The you who's calmed down can certainly say that now. Let me continue. You will return to the academy. On your usual route, you will be even more conceited than usual. And the result of that...
The voiced stopped her words at that point. Lilia gulped in antic.i.p.ation as she waited for the voice to continue.
--You will, let alone the Prince or the King, garner the wrath of the entire country. With that, even being from the duke's family won't allow you to get away with a simple "sorry". Deprived of your peerage, your family will be cast down into the commoner's realm.
"Is that all?" was what she thought. Certainly the King of this country had the authority to do such a thing, but in reality stripping a duke of his peerage was unheard of. Or that's how it was supposed to be.
--There, imagine, Lilia. The duke's family that had known only a n.o.ble's life until then, suddenly cast down into the world of commoners. ...Though, it's probably impossible for you to imagine such a thing huh...
Just as the voice said, for Lilia it was impossible to know about the way commoners lived their lives. Though, what's for certain is that it'd be impossible to lead the life of luxury which you've been living until now. No one in the family would be able to get used to such a life. Perhaps one might even be driven to commit suicide.
With those thoughts, a certain doubt inadvertently began to seep into Lilia. The talk up till now had been about Lilia's family, so why was there no mention of Lilia herself? As one could more or less guess the answer to that, the voice, somehow bearing both a cheerful and compa.s.sionate tone, said thus.
--You don't need to worry about yourself anymore at that point. After all, you'd already have been executed.
--What you had done, well I'll just keep quiet about that part. There's no need for you to know.
At the poor, fragile appearance of Lilia as her face fell ashen, the voice took on a warm, gentle tone.
--Well then, Lilia. Here's the big question. It's not my intention to just let you die, you know. To make sure you don't go down the wrong "route", I'll be here to advise you along the way. Just, it's not like I have that much life experience either, so we should probably do our best and think things through together... What do you say, Lilia?
Sparing but a moment's thought, Lilia immediately came to her conclusion.
"Please...Lend me your strength..."
A weak, faint voice that seemed as if it was disappearing. To that voice from Lilia, came an answer.
--Yep... Leave it to me, Lilia! I'll be sure to save you!
At the sound of that strong, determined voice, Lilia's warm tears streamed silently down her face.
Haunted Duke’s Daughter
取り憑かれた公爵令嬢
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/haunted-dukes-daughter/
Comedy Fantasy Romance School Life Shoujo Slice of Life Supernatural
Broken Engagement Character Growth Determined Protagonist Different Social Status Female Protagonist Friendship Hard-Working Protagonist Heartwarming Loyal Subordinates Maids Nobles Otome Game Possession Royalty Second Chance Servants Sharing A Body Sword And Magic Unrequited Love Villainess Noble Girls
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5708cr/
龍翠