The Reincarnated Count's Daughter Is the Strongest as She Is Loved by the Spirits, Though She Is Only Wishing for Regular Romance!

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Author Notes: 

The setting is pretty loose, so I'd appreciate it if you could read it with a relaxed mindset.

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I arranged for the crown prince to request the audience. As a subject, it's impossible to specify such an unreasonable request to meet in two days. But if I insisted on meeting under my name, it would cause a commotion throughout the royal palace.

While there will be some disturbance on the day itself, I didn’t want our movements to be known until then.

On the day of the second prince's tea party, when most of the prominent nobles from the Bantock Marquis faction were attending and the security was thin, we headed to the audience chamber. Moving all at once would attract too much attention, so we each took different routes and staggered our arrival times to gather in front of the chamber’s doors.

The group included the crown prince, the three great border lords, the three major dukes, Jean-sama, Johannes Marquis, Carlyle Marquis, Bliss Count, Myler Count, and their respective aides and attendants—a formidable assembly.

Alan-nii-sama, Patricia-sama and her brother Derrick-sama, Orlandi Marquis and Suzanna-sama, Norland's heir and Monica-sama, and Regan Count and Irene-sama were not present because they were attending the tea party. We had their guardians attend the tea party to be ready to act if the Bantock Marquis faction noticed our movements.

With such a distinguished group gathering in front of the audience chamber, the officials and guards stationed at the door would certainly be suspicious. So I asked everyone to act as normally as possible, and when the official looked at us curiously, I put my finger to my lips and winked.

"We're planning a little surprise for Mother," the crown prince said with a smile, making the official misunderstand and think it was a surprise event.

"Alright, shall we begin?" 

"Indeed, time is precious." 

"What is going on here...?"

Jean-sama and Rampling Duke looked puzzled but decided to observe for now.

"Excuse us," I said as the aide from the Spirit Ministry opened the doors on my signal, causing the official to rush over in a panic.

"But the previous group is still..."

"It's fine, it's the Prime Minister, correct?"

"Indeed, stand down," the crown prince ordered.

The official, looking around for guidance, found none. The guards were unsure how to react, faced with such a prominent assembly. The presence of Duke Paolo Rampling, the captain of the royal guard, also prevented them from acting rashly. With many of the Bantock Marquis faction's knights attending the tea party, the palace guards, consisting mostly of noble sons unused to quick decisions, were at a loss. 

We entered the audience chamber with ease.

The Prime Minister, who was in the middle of an audience, closed his leather-bound notebook and bowed to the emperor before stepping back. Ministers, the chief mage, their aides, and the guards lined the sides of the chamber. As the crown prince and I walked forward to the emperor’s feet, our spirits set up physical and magical protection barriers as planned. The hallways around the chamber and waiting rooms were also sealed to prevent anyone from leaving.

Due to an oversight by the second prince, we had been allowed to use the transfer chamber for hours under the guise of preparing the ladies for the tea party. During that time, we brought in elite units with spirit beasts from the nobles' territories here. They were now ready to act within the royal palace and the Bantock Marquis faction's townhouses in the capital.

"What is the meaning of this?"

At the far end of the audience chamber, the wall was a deep blue, with its upper part and the ceiling decorated flamboyantly in gold. On a dais three steps up were two large black chairs, where the general and the emperor sat.

The general, even in his simple formal military uniform, was a magnificent figure befitting his heroic reputation. The emperor, in a light dress reaching her ankles with a richly embroidered large-collared jacket, sat gracefully, legs crossed, exuding elegance and nobility.

After the previous emperor's death, the young and beautiful empress and the hero who scattered the invading neighboring countries' forces amidst the turmoil united the country. Foreign emissaries, standing where I was now, might see these young leaders and decide it was unwise to make enemies of the empire.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, General. Today, I come not as the daughter of the Berisario border lord, but as the fairy princess backed by the Spirit King."

Can you understand the embarrassment of calling myself the fairy princess?

While I inwardly cringed, those behind me, except for the crown prince, knelt simultaneously. My spirits appeared in their compact forms, surrounding us protectively.

Today, I will fully play the villainous noble lady. No, since what I’m doing is for the country, I am the heroine. And anyone calling me the Demon King will find themselves at the bottom of Ruri’s lake with weights tied to them.

"I have a few things to discuss and some questions to ask."

The emperor stared at me for a while before shifting her gaze to the crown prince.

"What is the meaning of this, Andrew?"

"With all due respect, can you afford to ignore the words of the fairy princess?"

The crown prince, maintaining a perfect poker face, stepped back, signaling that I was the central figure here.

"It’s fine if you ignore me. I’ll start anyway as time is short. I’ve been studying history, and I’ve learned about Your Majesty and the General. The records say that Your Majesty noticed the movements of foreign countries trying to expand their borders during the imperial succession turmoil, declared yourself the empress, and united the country by removing those with old ways of thinking and demonstrating strong leadership."

Referencing Wiki-kun. Probably, the history textbooks say similar things.

"But from my personal encounters with Your Majesty, my impression was of a quiet, unremarkable person..."

My blunt words caused murmurs among those lined up in the room. The emperor and the general frowned.

"I think I am a troublesome existence. If I make a wrong move, this country could be destroyed. Normally, you’d want to know what kind of child I am. But the only ones who approached me were the crown prince and Jean-sama with his strange letter. I expected someone to be sent to the castle, but no one came."

"Many spies from nobles across the country did come, but they were thwarted."

"It's not easy to infiltrate a border lord’s castle."

My father's and Chris-nii-sama’s statements made the other border lords and marquises subtly avert their gazes. They must have found me unsettling before we became friends.

"Anyway, that’s what seemed odd to me, so I investigated."

In my mind, dramatic music played like near the climax of a two-hour drama. I felt like a detective exposing the culprit.

"When the previous emperor died, Your Majesty was seventeen, and the General was eighteen. The General was about to graduate. You two were already famous as a couple at the academy, right? But there were already doubts about the emperor’s daughter marrying a marquis’s second son. If the emperor was alive, there’d be no problem. Or if the Bantock Marquis had the power he does now, marrying and creating a new duke family would’ve been fine."

"What are you implying?"

"I’m getting to that."

The imposing general looked slightly surprised at my unwavering response. Have I ever been intimidated by you? I’m not a fox borrowing the tiger’s power but a Diadora borrowing the Spirit King’s power.

"When the emperor died, Jean-sama, who had the rightful claim to the throne, was there. The emperor’s daughter could have married abroad to avoid war or married a powerful noble to have their backing. But an unproven marquis's second son had a weak position. However, if Ephenia became the empress, it was different. The husband would support her, even if it meant taking her brother’s right. You thought this way, didn’t you?"

"..."

Silence can be an answer too. Silence is an admission.

"Duke Powell, please correct me if I’m wrong."

"No, when Her Majesty consulted me, the leader of the main faction at that time, it was as you say."

"Duke Powell."

The emperor’s hand gripped the armrest of her chair tightly, turning white. Everyone in the audience chamber was now intently listening to my story.

"The General became a hero by winning numerous battles to be with his beloved. If it ended there, I wouldn’t bring it up now. But five years later, you didn’t return the throne to Jean-sama. Why?"

Behind me, the Norland and Corquette marquises, tired of kneeling, sat cross-legged on the floor. Even Ifry was poking my leg, seemingly offering to be my chair. But that would be too disrespectful.

"The Marquis of Bantock couldn’t let go of the hero's fame as the emperor's father-in-law, the power of being the emperor’s father-in-law, and the position of the next emperor's grandfather. Then Andrew was born. He was three? Four? At such a cute age, didn’t you want him to inherit the throne?"

Yeah, not something a six-year-old should be saying. My family is used to it, but everyone else is horrified.

"They threatened to kill Jean..."

"Ephenia!"

The General tried to stop her, but it was too late.

"Indeed, Jean-sama has faced many assassination attempts."

"Yeah, it was all in vain. Spirits saved him many times."

"I can testify to that. Despite being under house arrest, they tried every means to kill him. We always felt the gratitude and competence of the spirits."

Even the Rampling Duke, with spirits floating around him, vouched for this. He often visited Jean-sama, who was under house arrest in a remote palace corner.

"And that’s why Duke Powell's faction, which nurtured spirits, was pushed to the countryside. They

 couldn’t kill them. But many of the Dalimore Count faction, who didn’t nurture spirits, were assassinated, and those who went along with the Marquis of Bantock in developing the Spirit Forest were left alone. Dalimore Count was pitiful too. Trying to make Jean-sama emperor but ultimately betrayed and discarded."

"Huh?"

Rampling Duke looked back sharply, but Jean-sama just smiled faintly at me. This man is creepy. Even his letters to me at age four were unsettling.

"By the way, do you know that the crown prince has faced numerous assassination attempts too?"

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

"Surprised? I told you five years ago that letting them hold power would weaken the center and turn it into a desert."

Given the situation and the crown prince's stance, his gaze towards his parents was understandably cold. Five years ago, he was six, the same age as I am now. Too capable.

"You told me to endure, so I consulted Duke Powell."

"Meeting the crown prince finally made me feel like I met a true master among the royals. It’s good we placed comrades in various departments, hoping for this day."

Duke Powell supports the crown prince. I guess everyone involved today is in his faction.

Meanwhile, the Marquis of Bantock wanted to coerce the crown prince and instead invited only their faction to the second prince's birthday party. They might have intended to forcibly betroth someone to him.

"I didn’t know... I didn’t know Jean was under house arrest. I didn’t know about the Spirit Forest, or that Andrew was being targeted for assassination."

"Your Majesty, summarizing what you’re saying means, 'I am incompetent.'"

"You! That’s too disrespectful!"

The General, reacting to my provocation, started to rise, and some guards rushed towards me.

"Well, is there anyone in this world who can claim that this girl is disrespectful?"

With a roaring sound, a pillar of fire rose before the General and the guards, and I felt a hand rest gently on my shoulder.

"Suo, you're here?"

"Seems like you’re having fun. Ruri was worried you might go too far."

As always, a beautiful man laughing and delivering a message from Ruri—it felt like a reward to me.

"I’d like to hear more of this story, so please don't interfere."

The floor tiles between me and the General started bulging, and a head slowly emerged, followed by the back of the head, the neck, shoulders...

Amber! What’s with that entrance?

When Ruri appeared from the lake, it was a shining, ethereal display that was fitting for a spirit. But this! Effects are important!

"Hey Suo, that’s a bit..."

"Indeed. It takes too long."

That's your problem?!

I didn't voice that out, not wanting this to turn into a comedy routine. Sighing in exasperation, I sat down on Ifry.

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Author Notes: 

I’ve arrived. - Amber

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