PWSHCB 09

Chapter 09 ….

I Won’t Allow Myself to Lose

(I can’t believe it… everything is so spotless and shining… It’s nothing like our old castle, where cold drafts used to creep in everywhere.)

The pillars were decorated with intricate carvings, and the chandelier hanging from the ceiling was so dazzling it almost blinded her.

Looking down, Elze could even see her own reflection in the polished marble floor.

Everything was refined, beautiful, and overwhelmingly elegant.

Suppressing the urge to shrink back, Elze lifted her chest and stepped forward with determination.

(If I start feeling inferior just because I’m from the countryside, it’s over. Even if I’m dressed in rags, my spirit will be noble!)

She absolutely could not afford to lose this competition.

No matter what, she had to win the imperial bride selection for Prince Richardt.

“This is the room where Princess Elze will be staying.”

“Wow, it’s very lovely!”

The room she was shown was slightly too small to be called a princess’s private chamber.

Even so, it was furnished with the bare essentials such as a bed.

There would be no major inconvenience staying here.

While Elze looked around the room, the lady-in-waiting spoke in an impersonal tone.

“Since all the bride candidates have not yet arrived, please wait a little longer until the selection begins.”

“That’s perfectly fine. I’m actually looking forward to meeting everyone.”

When Elze smiled, the lady-in-waiting made an openly displeased expression.

…As expected, she clearly did not think highly of her.

“If you need anything, please ring this bell to call a servant. Also… until we give further instructions, we kindly ask that you do not leave this room under any circumstances.”

“Eh!?”

Elze raised her voice in surprise, completely unprepared for the idea that she would be placed under what was essentially confinement.

“You mean I’m not allowed to leave this room…? Not even to walk in the hallway?”

“Yes, that is correct. Meals will be served here, and you will dine inside your room. We believe that should not cause any inconvenience.”

“…I understand.”

She was not entirely satisfied, but objecting here would only worsen the lady-in-waiting’s impression of her.

Judging that, Elze reluctantly agreed.

After the lady-in-waiting left and she was alone in the room, a sigh escaped her.

(…Is there a reason they’re not allowed outside? To prevent the bride candidates from forming alliances, maybe—)

As she was thinking this, cheerful voices drifted in from outside the window.

She quietly opened it and looked down.

Below was a beautiful garden.

Several young women were gathered there, chatting lively, their laughter reaching all the way up to her room.

(Are those women… bride candidates? …No, that can’t be right…)

The bride candidates were supposed to be confined in their rooms just like her.

Still, Elze strained her ears to listen.

…When she was young, Elze had always been concerned that she did not possess the ability of “Precognition.”

Even now, she tended to slack off in her training, but in the past she had taken it far more seriously.

Seeing her earnest effort, the bishop once told her:

—“Your Highness, the power of ‘Precognition’ is still not fully understood, and even I cannot say anything for certain. However… it is said that ‘Precognition’ is a power that stands in opposition to the world itself.”

Elze interpreted those words in her own way.

By understanding the world, perhaps the dormant power of “Precognition” within her would awaken.

She lay down on a hill and watched as the dawn sky turned into a star-filled night.

She listened closely to the sounds of insects and the wind, learning the music of nature.

She ran through fields alongside rabbits and deer, intoxicated by the scent of wildflowers.

As a result—

(I never did awaken the power of precognition, but my senses became ridiculously sharp.)

Sounds far beyond what ordinary people could hear were now distinguishable if she focused.

Thanks to that, she could even overhear the conversations of the noble ladies relaxing in the garden.

Focusing her senses, Elze caught their words—

“It seems more and more bride candidates are arriving from all over the region.”

“But they’re all just insignificant country girls! Did you see that princess who entered earlier? She looked so unsophisticated it was almost laughable!”

“In the end, there is no one but Lady Gloria who can become Prince Richardt’s empress!”

“Please rest assured, Lady Gloria. We will infiltrate the selection as bride candidates and thoroughly sabotage the other competitors!”

(They’re completely in league with each other!)

What she had assumed to be a system preventing alliances was clearly not working at all.

The elegant young lady seated in the center was being flattered endlessly by the others.

(And more importantly… they’re also bride candidates, right? Yet they seem free to move around outside…)

It appeared that the “stay in your room until instructed otherwise” rule was likely just a form of harassment directed at Elze, a princess from a small and weak country.

“…I knew it. Something like this was bound to happen.”

If the rules had been fair, she would have followed them without complaint.

But if that was not the case, then she would act freely.

(I won’t allow myself to lose.)

Listening to the noble ladies’ voices like birds chirping outside, Elze began forming her plan for what was to come.