Chapter 53 – Next time, Ririi does her best

“And then, daddy saved Ririh.”

The girl is telling me her story while sitting on a chair, and with a smile on her face.

About how she was a slave.

How her father took her in.

How her father is very kind, and how she loves him.

…How she wants to be a sorcerer that can help him someday.

She looks happy, sitting here with a sample hat on her head to take measurements. She has no idea that she’s locked in a special space.

And… That she’ll never see her dear father again.

“…Is that so? It sounds like you like humans.”

Obviously, this girl doesn’t feel any hatred towards humans. Humans and elves are generally on friendly terms anyway, and humans are mostly seen favorably even in the elven country.

I’m pretty sure… Only my boss hates humans that much. Miss Ladimerie really does feel a deep hatred towards them.

It all began some years ago, when she was still called the seventh princess of the elven country.

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This fact has been buried in darkness, so people are generally not aware of it, but… There was an internal conflict in the elven country at the time.

Rumors circulated among members of royalty that the second princess, who wanted to be the next queen, sent assassins after the current queen, who was still the first princess at the time.

In reality, there were a few suspicious people around the first princess who were caught. The second princess denied being involved, but no one, including me, believed her.

“I’m worried about my sister…”

Princess Ladimerie, the seventh princess, was particularly close to the first princess.

Being the youngest princess meant that realistically, she had no chance to take the throne, and the first princess could only truly relax when she spoke to Princess Ladimerie. You could say they were very friendly.

Too friendly…

“Big sister… Ah, big sister…”

Ladimerie buried her face in a pillow and flailed her legs. Any night when she met the first princess was guaranteed to be a sleepless one for my boss.

Yes, Princess Ladimerie really loved the first princess. Her affection went past simple sisterly love. She couldn’t hit the first princess with it directly, but as I was in charge of looking after Princess Ladimerie, this was a scene I saw many times.

And then… That time came.

“My sister was attacked!?”

It was on a beautifully clear day.

News that the first princess was attacked as she strolled through the city reached Princess Ladimerie’s ears.

“Is she all right!?”

Asked Princess Ladimerie as she grabbed the soldier who gave her the message. What the soldier said next allowed her to let go of him with shaking hands.

“I see, she’s all right… Thank goodness…”

The first princess was saved by a passing human, which I’m sure kickstarted the positive relationship between humans and elves that lasts to this day.

Surely a lot of people saw this scene that happened in the middle of the street, and I’m sure Princess Ladimerie had positive feelings towards humans at first.

Until the first princess fell in love with that human, that is.

“My sister hasn’t come to visit lately…”

It was some time after the popularity of humans in the elven kingdom skyrocketed.

Ladimerie, who loved the first princess, was lonely ever since. The first princess invited her to have tea all the time, but she hadn’t contacted her in a while.

“I wonder what my sister is doing right now…”

And in the meantime, Princess Ladimerie often looked to the sky with a listless expression.

…I would come to learn later that at the time, the first princess was desperately trying to keep the human that saved her in the country of elves. She wanted that human named We… Wi… Something, to be her husband.

Princess Ladimerie was completely out of the first princess’ heart.

From her point of view, as someone who loved the first princess, the person who was most dearest to her in the whole world was taken away by some human that just showed up.

She was deeply saddened when she learned this… And angry. More than I could imagine.

In the end, this human suddenly vanished, and the first princess spent days crying into her pillow. That probably didn’t help.

After a while, the first princess recovered and became queen, but Princess Ladimerie left the country of elves suddenly, and without their relationship ever recovering.

She wandered into Anheim, and that brings us to the present.

Miss Ladimerie used her high magic energy typical of royalty and her skills to begin a new life as a hat maker, but even as she lives as she pleases as a hat maker, she never forgot her hatred of humans.

And it doesn’t matter to her if the rest of the world only sees it as jealousy.