The 17th Princess Just Wants to Live

A moment of hellish silence passed.

I had expected the atmosphere to be tense. After all, I had openly declared that I would pit them against each other, so it was natural for them to be upset. In the worst-case scenario, they could both refuse.

It was not like I couldn’t do the task without them, but if that were to happen, the difficulty would rise significantly.

If things went really wrong, and both Richard and Rudolph turned against me, my life would be like a candle in the wind.

So, I’d be glad if at least one of them would step up. And it would be even better if both decided to join.

“First, I’d like to hear what this matter is about.”

Rudolph spoke.

I was about to answer but hesitated, glancing around. That was all it took for Rudolph to smile softly, as if he had read my mind.

“I’ve already set up a soundproofing spell. No need to worry.”

It wasn’t a matter of offering to cast it; he had already done so. While they had different approaches, both Richard and Rudolph shared the same vigilance. Indeed, there was something strangely similar about the two of them.

In any case, with Rudolph’s magic in place, I could be at ease. I nodded and finally spoke my true objective.

“I want to bring down the Aschenbach Duchy.”

After finishing that statement and before speaking further, I took a brief moment to observe their reactions. Both Richard and Rudolph seemed genuinely surprised.

“I don’t want to completely eliminate them. It will suffice if the current duke’s family is wiped out, a part of the duchy’s key territory is confiscated, and some of their rights and assets are seized. The seized assets would go to the imperial family, and in such cases, it’s common for the person who made significant contributions to be rewarded with a portion. So, if there’s anything you particularly desire, the two of you can discuss and divide it between yourselves. I have no interest in the duchy’s wealth.”

After saying that much, I paused to catch my breath.

Putting aside the chances of success, it was quite an enticing proposal. The rivalry between the imperial family and the Aschenbach family ran deep in history.

Back when the unification wars of Esperusa were nearing their end, the King of the Northeast, Aschenbach, had submitted to the Esperusa Empire in exchange for autonomy over his land.

It was said that both Esperusa and Aschenbach were satisfied with this agreement, prioritizing pragmatism over conflict.

However, as time passed and the empire stabilized, tensions began to grow between the imperial family and Aschenbach.

The imperial family saw the autonomous Aschenbach territory as a thorn in the side of the unified empire, while the Aschenbach Duchy struggled with the imperial family’s expectation of loyalty from the nobles.

In the original story, the fall of the Aschenbach Duchy was merely a plot device to give the male protagonist a tragic backstory, but in reality, it was a complex situation interwoven with politics and history.

Although Rudolph and Richard were rivals, their ultimate goal was to ascend to the throne.

For both of them, the proposal to bring down Aschenbach, a threat to imperial authority, while taking a portion of their wealth, was certainly tempting.

So tempting, in fact, that they might wonder if I had some ulterior motive, but my claim of having no interest in the duchy’s wealth was entirely true.

“All I want is one thing, for Tristan Aschenbach, the duke’s illegitimate child, to become the next Duke of Aschenbach.”

What I desired was simply for Tristan to escape his hellish life and find happiness. That was my only goal.

Having said everything, I watched the two of them closely.

Their initial reaction was this.

“Are you crazy?”

Richard spoke to me in a dumbfounded voice.

“Are you unwell? Did you ingest some kind of poison at the celebration? If so, I know a good doctor.”

I’ve heard that there’s a drug that makes people dumber… Richard mumbled as he studied my expression.

I couldn’t decide whether to be offended at being treated like a fool or to feel grateful since he seemed genuinely concerned.

“I’ve never heard of Duke Aschenbach having an illegitimate child.”

At least Rudolph seemed to be taking my story seriously. When I turned to look at him, he spoke in a gentle tone.

“It won’t be easy to make an illegitimate child the duke, especially when it’s not even the second son, Anton. The backlash from the nobles who support the duchy would be considerable. So, your plan is to weaken Aschenbach and its supporters, reducing the resistance to the succession issue?”

“Exactly!”

Rudolph had pinpointed my intention. I nodded enthusiastically with a bright expression.

Maybe it was easier to communicate with Rudolph than with Richard? This approach likely meant he was positive about my plan, right?

“But Lucilia, bringing down the duchy is no simple task. If I were to give my personal opinion, the scale of the plan seems excessively large for the goal.”

“Sorry?”

But then, Rudolph suddenly said something I couldn’t understand.

My goal was to make Tristan the duke. How could the scale be too big for that goal?

I couldn’t think of any other way to make Tristan the duke. Surely, he was not suggesting that the current duke would acknowledge Tristan? That was impossible, even if the sky split in two.

“If what you want is to become the next Duchess of Aschenbach, Lucilia, why would you need to marry a bastard? When I become emperor, I’ll arrange a marriage with Ludwig Aschenbach for you. Or would you prefer Anton? He might be easier to control.”

My mouth slowly fell open, but no words came out.

Haha. When something was too absurd, your mind just went blank for a moment.

So, Rudolph… did he think that my goal was to become the duchess?

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

I glanced over at Richard because his voice sounded unusually harsh, and I nearly screamed.

He had picked up the butter knife in front of him and was pointing it at Rudolph. And there was a faint red gleam at the tip of the knife.

“Ludwig is 20. He’s ten years older than Lucilia. You want to marry her off to that old man? Are you insane?”

As much as I wanted to applaud Richard’s stance on marriage, more than that…

“Brother, I’m 12 years old.”

“So, what! Are you saying you want to marry Ludwig?!”

“What a horrible thing to say!”

I screamed. I’d rather sell my soul to the devil than marry a man who abused his younger sibling.

I glared at Rudolph and shouted, nearly at the top of my lungs.

“Do you seriously think I’ve been planning all this just to get married?! Are you actually that foolish, Brother?!”

Rudolph’s face showed signs of confusion.

“Pfft!”

Richard burst into laughter. Maybe calling him foolish was a bit harsh, but Rudolph had said something so utterly ridiculous that I felt it was self-defense.

“But Lucilia.”

Rudolf said, still looking perplexed.

“Everyone acts in their own interest, but you said you weren’t interested in the wealth of the duchy. And it’s not like you have a grudge against the Aschenbach — you only met the duke for the first time at the birthday celebration…”

Rudolph trailed off.

“That night, you asked the duke where his youngest son was.”

Now it was my turn to flinch.

This was my first conversation with Rudolph since that night. He still didn’t know why I had asked the duke such a strange question.

“Did you already know about the duke’s illegitimate child?”

“That’s right! Tell us about that kid!”

Richard suddenly pointed the butter knife, which had been aimed at Rudolph, at me. I flinched and looked at him, and he quickly lowered the knife with a sheepish expression.

“It’s the first I’ve heard of Duke Aschenbach having an illegitimate child. Is it true? How old is he? Is he a boy?”

“He’s a boy. His name is Tristan, and he’s fifteen.”

I answered Richard’s barrage of questions one by one, then added an explanation I had prepared.

“He works as a servant in the duke’s household… and he’s being mistreated. I saw Ludwig beating him on the night of the birthday celebration.”

The expressions on their faces changed at my words.

Richard couldn’t hide his shock, while Rudolph wore a smile reminiscent of a doting mother, though it was obviously fake.

I thought Richard, if not Rudolph, would understand when I explained it like this. But perhaps saying I was planning to bring down the duchy to save Tristan might sound ridiculous.

If I wanted to persuade them, I would have to do it right. I decided to change my approach and target them one by one.

“Brother.”

I said, reaching out to take Richard’s hand on the table. Richard flinched.

The gesture was so similar to last time that it made me remember the day I first held Richard’s hand.

Yes, that day, Richard killed someone in front of me… how could I forget the vivid scene of the severed head rolling to my feet?

If I hadn’t managed to calm Richard down that day, how many of my servants would have survived? I remembered soothing him that day and tried to smile in a similar way.

“I want to save Tristan. Just like you saved me.”

His red eyes wavered intensely.

“What?”

“I saw him being beaten with my own eyes. And I heard from a reliable source. They said Ludwig regularly beats him, and everyone else in the household knows about it but just lets it happen.”

I met Richard’s gaze and spoke firmly.

“We can’t just leave it like that.”

Richard frowned.

“So, what if we do? He has nothing to do with you.”

He was not someone I had no connection with. Tristan was the protagonist of the book I loved. Even if his circumstances had changed a bit from what I knew, my feelings for him hadn’t vanished.

Of course, I couldn’t say this to Richard, nor did I want to.

“The same goes for you, Brother.”

In fact, I had been smiling since he made that comment.

“When you first met me in the forest, you thought I was a maid, didn’t you? Just a maid from another palace — someone completely unrelated to you. So why did you come looking for me all the way to the Opal Palace?”

Richard had no answer.

I thought to myself.

Just as Tristan was the protagonist of the original story, Richard was its villain. But like Tristan, who was a bit different from the original, so was Richard.

“You just couldn’t leave me alone, right? That’s why you came to save me.”

Of course, it was a very self-centered kind of rescue, and it completely ruined my plans to follow the original storyline.

But the feeling behind it — Richard’s anger over what happened to me, and his desire to help —remained a deep memory for me.

“Just like you did, I want to save him too.”