Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

=== Part 3 ===

Pulling back the hands of time a bit, there was Garbera’s Third Princess Vileena Owell on the other side.

As she headed along the passage through the cliffs, the same as with Orba, many different people were directing their gazes at her. There were some among them who gave deep lamenting sighs. Vileena, who was almost girlishly indifferent to them, was lending her ears to the music that the musicians played as she walked the way leading up to the hall.

“Well, I suppose they show at least some signs of civilization,” Theresia, walking next to her, said as she bowed her head in assent. 

Feeling the same, Vileena also slightly tucked her jaw and nodded slightly. And then, she added with an afterthought,

“But, princess. Please be discreet with what you say. At most, call them something like ‘troglodyte apes bearing wisdom’ or ‘remnants of ogres that love to kill each other’.”

“As long as Theresia’s close to me,” Vileena laughed, “If it’s Mephius, a remote snowfield, or anywhere, I’ll surely never get bored.”

Theresia, who had been close to her since she was born, had always acted as her guardian. Although her hair was beginning to get mixed with white, if she was in high spirits, she could also use these kinds of dangerous jokes.

When they entered the hall, Vileena gave a tactful smile as several nobles of the Mephius Empire approached in order to greet her, and Theresia took an obligatory step backward, nestling up behind her mistress.

Although it was of course not the first time for her to exchange words with the Mephian nobility, it had always been of a belligerent nature. So the shallow manner at which they forcibly put on the air of cultured people sickened her. When the nobles took their leave, Vileena lethargically relaxed her shoulders.

“Even so, they seem to want strangely traditional types for their women. When the first delegation that did the marriage proposal mentioned my pleasure in riding airships, their eyes all became, well, big and round. In Mephius, they’re not allowed to ride horses or dragons, and it seems women can’t wear clothes that don’t cover their legs either.”

“Well, then I’m sure the princess looks quite manly to them. I feel sorry for your partner, Prince Gil of Mephius. They value ‘pride and history’ among the imperial family, but they must accept that Garbera’s tomboy princess – the person who will stand next to the heir of their imperial throne – must be made an empress of all people.”

“It’s mutual, we’re two of a kind,” Vileena said, giving a laugh that held no joy, as she fixed her hair ornament with her hand. “I may be such a manly tomboy, but the partner I have to keep company is the first prince Gil Mephius, of the Mephius Empire. I have never heard a single good word about him. Even though their delegation spoke well of him, trying to glorify their prince with frantic flattery, it was nothing but a pitiable sight. Because whatever they said sounded hypocritical to the ears, and because it looked like they didn’t believe any of it themselves.”

Gil Mephius. Although now a youth of seventeen, he was the first heir to the imperial throne, slated to take over the Mephius Empire. This person, who she’d only seen on portraits, was to be Vileena’s husband.

They would meet face to face for the first time now. And the next day, in accordance to the Mephian customs, the marriage ritual would be held on the altar atop the valley. Then, on the third day, they would head for the imperial capital of Mephius, where a grand reception was going to be held.

It wasn’t only the marriage that would be consummated. More importantly, with this, the peace and alliance between Mephius and Garbera would be established. The battles that had been flourishing over the span of ten years would finally come to an end.

Of course, even Vileena longed for that, but there weren’t any good rumours at all relating to the imperial prince that would be her partner. They said he was a coward, not even close to his father – the current emperor, Guhl Mephius – that he hung around with his young friends, partying about night after night, and that he exhibited some eccentric habits.

“They say he’s a ''fool'',” Vileena had declared in front of her father when he’d told her about the engagement.

Originally, a man named Ryucown was to be her fiancé. He was a general with an air carrier under his command. He had dauntless courage and was given credit for performing a most distinguished service in the war against Mephius. And so, his betrothal with the third princess Vileena had been decided during the times of war.

Vileena had also met the person in question. Although, frankly, their first encounter was something so dramatic that even now it was talked about in the country, she was only nine years old back then. When they met again four years later, when their engagement had been arranged, Vileena did not have a proper impression of what kind of man he was supposed to be. 

And so, when they met again, Ryucown was an unbelievably shy person, compared to the fierce success stories from the battlefield. He couldn’t think of one story to tell the kingdom’s princess, and his smile, as if making a mockery of himself, was awkward. She didn’t know whether to like him or to hate him. Only that it seemed a suitable argument that their marriage would be for the sake of the whole nation.

However, for several months the war front had fallen into a stalemate. Mephius and Garbera were secretly making progress on peace negotiations. And only two months ago, they decided on betrothing the Crown Prince Gil and Princess Vileena.

Vileena held mixed feelings about it. For over ten years they’d fought with Mephius, and she knew from experience how much it had exhausted the soldiers and their people. Some citizens and local lords had appealed for a resistance to the bitter end but, although there were also some knights among them, they were a minority.

Vileena’s father, Ainn Owell the Second, didn’t have Guhl Mephius’s bold personality. In front of his daughter, he only said the single word, “Please.” Vileena had only replied with, “I accept.” But she’d known her mother and Theresia were quietly wiping their tears behind her back.

Then, a few days ago, feeling as though her mind and body were being split apart, she went to her favourite grandfather, Jeorg Owell, to say her goodbyes. The proud, commanding princess, who loved horse-riding and airships, whom he even permitted to handle a gun, and who never compromised, had become like a little child in front of her grandfather. She wanted to be forever lifted onto his lap and lean her body against him, so she could listen to the heroic stories he’d always told her.

However, that had been completely brushed aside, and she had to come to this place.

No, one could say it was good that she could protect the memories of her grandfather like this. It was for her country, for her father, and for her grandfather. For them, she had marched into the enemy territory with the fighting spirit of a knight.

''Enemy territory.''

Indeed, this was the enemy. Until just recently, this was the country they’d crossed swords with. Vileena was within that enemy’s territory.

They had killed many people, some of whom she’d even known by face. And of course the opponent thought much of the same thing, but Vileena was not yet mature enough to let bygones be bygones.

“We’ve arrived.”

When Theresia gently whispered into her ear, Vileena calmed down. There were many people of the Mephian nobility staring in their direction. In the middle, stood a young man, wearing white ceremonial clothes.

“That’s Mephius’s First Prince, Gil Mephius.”

“Yes,” Vileena said.
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v01 149.jpg|thumb]]

Her cheeks were womanly pure, but she was still tense. 

The other party also seemed to have noticed, and the fat noble at the prince’s side whispered something in his ear. After that, he approached them with a nervous look on his face.

At a glance, Prince Gil didn’t look like the feeble-minded man the rumours made him out to be. He had a slender face, but it looked like his body figure was unexpectedly sturdy. If he only proudly threw out his chest, he would look like a fearless, handsome man. However,

''That attending noble is sticking so close to him, it’s almost as if he has to lead him by the hand. Is he still just a kid?''

Of course, she didn’t have the slightest idea that he just had the same first impression of her. But to make matters worse, the prince didn’t seem to be able to calm down. His eyes wandered here, his eyes wandered there, as if he was indeed a lost child looking for his parents.

While Vileena was having her tendency to gaze at the other person as if fully appraising him, she received a stealthy elbow from Theresia, and hurriedly corrected her expression.

The prince halted his feet before Vileena’s presence. Vileena lowered her head, as expected of courtesy, and waited for his greeting. However, she clearly heard a single clearing of the throat, and it didn’t sound as if it came from the prince. The fat noble from earlier whispered in a low voice again, and it sounded like he instructed him how to greet her.

At such an occasion, it were the lady’s manners to pretend not to notice, of course, and at least not to make an embarrassment out of him, when meeting her marriage partner for the first time, and not just with the two of them.

“Pleased to meet you for the first time, Prince,” she said.

Theresia opened her mouth in surprise. Unconcerned, Vileena lightly picked up the hem of her dress with both hands and bowed before him.

“I am the daughter of King Ainn Owell the Second of Garbera, Third Princess Vileena. From here on, I’d love to be better acquainted.”

“Ah, yes.”

It was the first thing the prince said. And then he hesitantly, and in a small voice, introduced himself, with his words being more faltering than any kind of greeting Vileena had ever heard.

''Will this man become my husband?''

She had trained her smile, while painstakingly maintaining the slight inclination of her head, extra hard for this day, only to be seen as ‘modest’. An anger gushed forth within Vileena’s heart.

''But on the other hand,''

A colour of intense emotions began to flicker in her slightly lowered eyes.

''If he’s a man like that, I might possibly be able to bend him to my will.''

If she was able to manipulate the crown prince, she could eventually be the one pulling the strings in this country.

''It’s just like grandfather said. This too, is a battle. Without shedding blood, and without taking someone’s life.''

If it was possible to make him do her will, it might be more profitable to her homeland Garbera than if they’d won the war. Although this was far from a fight with airships or guns, which were her speciality, and she would have to fight in a field that she considered her weak point, Vileena believed that, if she was strongly committed to gain victory, she would certainly find a way.

Although this proved Vileena didn’t recognize herself that she would actually be fighting a ‘woman’s battle’, just like she couldn’t see the difference between this and a gunfire exchange, at that moment, there was only one emotion burning fiercely within her.

At that time, Theresia, who had been with her since she was a child, was probably the only one who had realized that the meaning behind the smile on Vileena’s face had changed. Not knowing the woman who would become his bride hid such frightening ideas within her, Prince Gil of Mephius, still filled with a look of tension, continued talking about irrelevant things.


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===References and Translation Notes===
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