Cruel King and the Princess of Prophecy Chapter 3

Nicolette  Do  Roware, received a prophecy of parricide at the time of her birth, and confined in a monastery, by her own father, the King of Roware ...or so it seems.

Saying 'so it seems' is because Nicolette herself only heard of that story from her mother. The time that she became aware of such things that happened around her, she was already living inside a monastery, and so she never thought living there was a strange thing. After all, that was norm the for her.

As a parent that gave birth to a baby that will kill her own father, her mother also left together with her. Perhaps, that was a grace for her. She thought that her own mother was not really mother-like at all. Though she actually didn't really know since there was no one to compare with, but etiquette, study, and prognostication were all taught by her mother. (ED: Foretelling a Prophecy) 　

Nicolette respected that mother of hers, and loved her.

Her mother was the closest person to her. Though they lived a simple life, she thought that the life in the monastery was not that bad. Though there was lot of restrictions, for her who lived at that place from the beginning, she didn't mind any of it.

Her mother who was unusual, but also loved her. The Head un also loved Nicolette just like her own daughter. Though sometimes they said some sarcasm, all of the nuns would come to her aid when she was in trouble. Sometimes they quarrelled, but also learnt together with her. All of the nun apprentices were always laughing together with her.

At first, Nicolette's mother never left her side. She was gone however when Nicolette turned 14 years old. Though everyone from the monastery said, “She won't die.” But, she did indeed die at a young age because of an epidemic. And Nicolette at that time started crying without minding what others think.

From then on, the Head nun also became an important mother figure for her. Nicolette, who spent most of her time helping others together with the Head nun and apprentice nuns, one day, meet with her real father. Of course, it was the King of Roware.

King Roware, after he forced the first queen who was also Nicolette's mother into custody, he married the Second Queen. She was a woman who was already his mistress for quite some time. The First Princess who was Nicolette's step sister, seemed to be a kid that was born when the Second Queen was still the mistress of the King.

The female monastery was closed to men. While she was enlisted in the monastery, Nicolette who wasn't a nun was allowed to leave the monastery to meet her father, thus she went toward the a.s.signed n.o.bles mansion that was not too far away.

At that place, being in front of her father who had neglected his own daughter for nineteen years, he said.

“.....What a thin daughter you are.”

Even Nicolette who was normally a talkative person, at that time, just fell into silence. She didn't know whether it was okay for her to rebut that comment. If it was okay for her to give a reb.u.t.tal, she had confidence to confute (ED: Prove a person to be wrong) him.

The King Roware muttered, “Well, it's okay. I think you look fine.”, facing Nicolette he ordered.

“Go marry the Emperor of Hainzel Kingdom.”

With that one word, it was decided that Nicolette will go to his kingdom. Of course she did ask, “Is it okay for a girl that was raised in a monastery to get married ?”, but then she was answered with, Are you trying to defy my order, or something along such lines, and thus she forced to obey. If she got on the bad side of the king, it was still better if only she was executed, but she didn't want to bring any trouble to everyone at the monastery who she was indebted to.

With hard feelings, Nicolette parted from the Head nun and all of the other apprentice nuns, Nicolette started her journey toward the Hainzel Kingdom.

On the way, she was checked for her mannerisms and knowledge, there was no problem except for her dancing skills, they were evaluated to be lacking. The one who gave the judgements are the maids that were accompanying her until they reached Hainzel Kingdom. Nicolette already learned etiquette and studying from her mother, and since she was rather free in the monastery she spent most of her time studying, so she was uselessly smart.

It can't be helped that she couldn’t dance. Perhaps, her mother can do it, but since the dancing opponent is male, she couldn’t practice.

On the way, most of the maids that were accompanying Nicolette felt pity for her. Since in the monastery she dressed herself, she couldn’t get comfortable by getting dressed by other people, but they said that after her marriage she will get the same treatment every day, and thus she gave up and left it to them.

Even though there was no one there to see it, Nicolette got dressed up and put on makeup everyday.

Though she was wondering what was the meaning of doing all of these thing even though she wouldn't showed it to anyone, but thanks to that, Nicolette gred used to wearing gaudy clothes. In the monastery she always wore a one piece that was easy to wear after all.

Furthermore, when she touched on the subject in a casual manner, they even told Nicolette about her marriage this time. The being called woman, if the listener role changed, they will talk about anything. Thus, at the moment, Nicolette thought that. She came to know about the fact that her little step sister is the 3rd Princess Alexandrine.

Of course, Nicolette knew about the 3rd Princesses existence. Even at the monastery where they were shut out from the outside, information still came in.

Alexandrine is three years younger than Nicolette which made her 16 years old currently. The so called beauty that will even out blossom a flower. Soft blonde hair with transparent blue eyes, she had a striking appearance that was similar to a doll.

However, it seemed that her att.i.tude was the worst.

Since she was pampered by King Roware, she was very selfish. If there was something that troubled her she immediately relied on her parents and if there was anyone that got on her bad side she will hara.s.s them and bring them down.

There was one time when a young lady called a young n.o.ble whom Alexandrine fell in love with. That young lady just called him, but she gave that young lady a scar that was impossible to heal, or so it seems.

High arrogance. Her attendants also had their own share of hardships, the servants impression about her was already breaking through into negative digits. They even said that their impressions toward Nicolette who they had just met was better, considerably so.

And then, the reason that Nicolette's was the one who was to be married to the Emperor is also Alexandrine's fault.

It is said that the Emperor of the Hainzel Empire is called Wolfgang. He was a man of valor that was able to grant victory to the Empire which was in war between several neighboring countries. There was an anecdote that he murdered three of his precious wives, and from that he was an Emperor that was labeled as the ‘Cruel Emperor’. Alexandrine complained to her father that she didn't want to marry such a scary person.

In the first place, Roware got defeated by the Empire in war, and two years ago, the Empire asked for them to give him the Princess of Roware as a hostage. In these two years, Alexandrine didn't stop her complaints, and thus King Roware kept extending his answer to the Emperor. Having heard this, even Nicolette felt amazed.

And then, she didn’t know what she was thinking, but Alexandrine became pregnant. The father of the baby inside her belly is the close aide of her brother who was the crown prince. (He also born from the 2nd queen). The aide was someone with high social status in the Roware kingdom. King Roware thought that it will be no problem for this person to marry his daughter, and decided that Alexandrine was to marry that person.

And so, what would happen to the Princess that was supposedly suppose to be given to the Empire. As the first princess also had already married.

He thought, and the one that came to his mind was Nicolette. The confined 2nd Princess. If he pushed away the Princess who was apart of a  prophecy of parricide to another country, the danger that will fall upon him will also lessen, or perhaps that was what he thought. (ED: Foreshadowing :D)

Then, Nicolette who n.o.body expected, became the bride of the Empire's Emperor. Thank G.o.d that Emperor actually was a person that was easy to talk with, or so Nicolette thought.

By the way, she sent all of the maids that accompanied her to the Empire back to the Roware Kingdom. Those girls, by their sympathy toward Nicolette wanted to become use for her, but their feelings were not strong enough to live in the country was that ruled by the ‘Cruel Emperor’ which was obvious.

Just like the word said, Nicolette alone went to marry the Emperor. Well, perhaps throwing away all of my previous attachments to my homeland, and starting a new live in this new land wasn't necessarily a bad thing, or so Nicolette thought in a daze.

Now, right in front of her wasn't a man that was called the ‘Cruel Emperor’, it was a maid that would help Nicolette get dressed. She did learn the maid's name, it was Maria.

“.....Hey, Maria.”

As she called her, the maid's body which seemed to be 2 or 3 years older than Nicolette, jolted. Even though she seemed to be someone who came from a high cla.s.s family, she was shrinking away. Is it perhaps the rumour that the egoist princess is coming..... if it was Alexandrine perhaps she will go full selfish festival mode.

However, the one right here, right now, is Nicolette.

" Wha, what is it, Empress-sama? Is, there, perhaps something bad I had done....?"

" Ah, uun. Not that. I wish for you to not get that scared though..."

Not good. No matter how talkative Nicolette is,she can’t say what she wanted to say if her opponent was that scared. At this moment, Nicolette's inexperience came to light. For her, who only had conversations with the nuns in the monastery, she didn't know what should she done at this moment.

"You know, Maria. I don't know a lot of things, it would make me happy if you taught me a lot of things you know."

"If, her majesty wished for me, I will do my best, to meet her majesty's expectations..."

Though it seemed like she received a favorable answer, the maid’s voice is about to vanish. For now, thinking that it was impossible to improve their relationship in one go, Nicolette decided to enter a long war.

After getting dressed up, next Nicolette was having breakfast. Depending on the situation, she can get breakfast before being dressed up, but since she wasn’t particularly in a hurry this time, she finished dressing up first.

She couldn’t get used to the dress she was wearing with the fluffy drape attached to it. It was hard to move in, and failed on basic functionality. The dress that Nicolette was wearing right now hadorange paG.o.da sleeves ,the sleeves  were somewhat becoming a bother.

She ate her breakfast alone. At the time when she woke up, Wolfgang had already gone. It seems that he already went to his government work. As a message, she was told that today there will be a dance lesson for her.

At any rate, for now, breakfast. A basket full of bread accompanied with b.u.t.ter and cheese. There was also; Ham and Egg Dishes, Salad, Fruit, and soup. The drinks consisted of Milk and also some juices made from different kinds of fruit.

......Well, surely they wouldn't expect me to eat all of this, right?

The amount on the table, as expected, exceeded the amount that one normal person could eat. It was surprising amount of food for Nicolette who was e raised at the monastery.

For now, she gave her thanks to G.o.d, then grabbed a bread with her hand. She tore a piece and put it inside her mouth.

" ! Soft " (ED: Like a person in a RPG when being attacked a exclamation mark blinks over their head.)

The food that was eaten in the monastery normally just consisted of black bread. b.u.t.ter and Jam were also something that was luxurious, so they never had a chance to use those kinds of topping on their bread.

After eating half of the bread that she took. She started reaching to taste the Salad and Ham. This is the first time she ate ham, it has a unique texture and an equally unique taste. Since she never ate it until now, she couldn’t give any comment about how it actually tasted compared to the monastery.

At the monastery, it was a must for one to eat everything on their plate, but it doesn't seem so at this place. But, she will hold back, and just take one last different bread to eat. Thus, she took a piece of bread that was in the shape of a crescent moon. Yep, if it's this size it seems I'll be able to finish it.

As she tore a piece with her hand, the outer part of the bread that is crusty, some of the crust fell on the table. As she put the piece of the bread onto her mouth, Nicolette opened her eyes wide.

"What is this! It has a really weird texture...it's crunchy! This is the first time I ate something like this! "

"First time, eh...but this is called a Croissant and it came from her majesty's county"

"Heeh, is that so."

Hearing Nicolette's answer, the middle aged woman that looked to be in her 30’s smiled. She was another of Nicolette's maid’s called Helma. She was tall and strict looking woman, but for Nicolette she was easier to talk to rather than the fragile girl Maria.

"Everything that I eat is delicious~"

As she said that with a absentminded look, it made Helma show a gentle look on her face. Nicolette's  appearance was charming.

But, no matter how delicious it was, for Nicolette who ate only simple food on a daily basis, couldn’t eat that much.Rather than stopping when she was full she stopped before she got a stomach from overeating. Toward Nicolette who looked slightly down, Herma smiled and said "Her majesty can eat this kind of food anytime you like,"

But then again, since the breakfast she had was this delicious, she had great expectations toward lunch. Since she ate too much this morning, she decided to do her best on the dance lesson that was taking place this morning.

"How do you do, Her majesty. My name is Marcus  Romaria. I'll be the one who will manage her majesty’s schedule your  daily necessities and such. Nice to meet you."

"N, nice to meet you too."

Since her opponent was bowing with such a beautiful angle, Nicolette also unconsciously followed with a  bow too. Since politeness in the monastery is very strict. No matter how she looked, Marcus is older than her, and her mom also told her this, You must return politeness with politeness.

Looking at Nicolette who returned his bow, Marcus couldn’t help but snicker.

"Her majesty is interesting. Normally, one wouldn't lower their head to a mere servant."

"Ah, just now was out of reflex, don't mind it."

Nicolette said that while waving her hand.

"Is that so," said Marcus while smiling.

Marcus was a kind looking man with light brown hair and transparent light brown eyes.

"However, It's fine for her majesty to not lower her head but just to his majesty. Please take care so you don’t do this kind of thing in public."

"I, I understand."

Nicolette nodded nervously. As long as she was the Empress of Hainzel Empire, she had to act properly to not bring shame as the Emperor's wife.

"Well then, I'll introduce the dancing teacher. His name is, Lord Aisura."

"How do you do, her majesty. My name is Aisura."

The elder that was standing beside Marcus bowed deeply. A man that would make a picture with his straight back bowed to her. Once again, Nicolette gave a slight bow.

"How do you do. I'm Nicolette. I may be inexperienced, but please treat me well."