OKOBORE HIME TO ENTAKU NO KIs.h.i.+

The Leftover Princess and the Knights of the Round

Book II: A Queen’s Conditions

Story by: Riine Is.h.i.+da

Art by: Ichiko Okiya

Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kis.h.i.+

iii

Characters:

Duke Barchet

Knight of Sixth Rank of the Royal Chivalric Order

Rumored to have the best skills within the Order

The receiving end of Leti's high-handed invitation

Leticia

“Leftover Princess”

First Princess of Sommevesle, heir to the throne

Already knew that she would be the next queen

Leonhardt

Leti's younger brother

Third Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle

An eccentric historian

iv

Friedhelm

First Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle

Leti's eldest half brother

A prince of charm and charisma

Astrid Gale

Knight of Tenth Rank of the Royal Chivalric Order

Duke’s junior

Guido

Second Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle

Leti’s second oldest half brother

A Prime Minister-type of prince with his detailed

planning and organized executions

v

Brought to you by: AQUA Scans

Credits:

 Raws: Icarus Bride

 Translation: Crystal Hikari

 Proofreading: Scylla

 Quality Checking: Mizuouji

Translator’s notes:

The j.a.panese honorifics were kept in the translation of the dialogues of

the characters to show the respect or adoration shown by the characters.

Footnotes were provided upon the first appearance of the honorific in the

chapter to explain it.

Thoughts are signified by ‘italics’.

PROLOGUE 

- 8 -

It was a stormy night. Strong, howling winds shook the windows

and the sound of slas.h.i.+ng rain mixed with the roaring thunder.

Bright lightning lit up the room for a moment despite the heavy

curtains draped over the window.

Sommevesle’s Second Prince, Guido, was ten years old that

night. Though old enough to handle the storm, the unpredictable

thunder and lightning still startled the young prince, making it

difficult for him to sleep. He simply lay down on his bed, kept his

eyes shut, waiting for the storm to subside.

He knew not how much time had pa.s.sed when he heard a soft

knock on his door. Guido woke up and turned his head towards the

door, wondering who it might be. Then another knock came,

though the sound lacked the sharpness for an intended knock.

“…Who is it?”

“I’ve got my hands full here. Guido, open the door.”

On the other side of the door was his older half-brother of two

years, Friedhelm, the First Prince of Sommevesle. Guido followed

his brother’s order and found his younger half-sister, Leticia, on

Friedhelm’s back. The reason behind the soft knock was because

Friedhelm knocked using his feet.

Leticia, or Leti, was the First Princess and was four years

younger than Guido. She was wrapping her dainty hands around

Friedhelm’s neck and her eyes were tightly shut, probably because

she was scared of thunder.

- 9 -

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, I can’t allow Leti to sleep alone on a night like this. She’s

still young. Besides, I was also worried you might be scared of the

thunder.”

Leti has a full younger brother, Leonhardt. He was born a year

after Leti and their mother was probably staying with him all night,

leaving Leti alone.

“Alright, let’s all sleep together! The bed may be a bit small for

the three of us but bear with it for tonight. Leti will sleep in the

middle.”

Guido thought he was no match for his older brother, who was,

in all sense of the name, an “Older Brother”. Friedhelm did not

forget to check on Leti and on him even on a night like this.

“Guido Onii-sama1 will also be sleeping with Leti?”

“Yeah, so everything is all right, no need to be scared.”

Guido gently said to Leti and helped her get down from

Friedhelm’s back and up to the bed. Guido’s bed was not small for

a ten year old child to sleep alone but it was a bit narrow for three

children to sleep in. But he thought the closer they snuggled, the

safer would Leti feel.

1 Onii-sama: Onii =Older Brother | Sama = formal honorific for a high person

- 10 -

Leti fell asleep after a while, but Guido could not. The thunder

gradually became softer and Guido was thinking about the

a.s.signment given to him this afternoon.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Yeah. I was thinking about my a.s.signment.”

Guido heard Friedhelm sigh about him being too serious.

“What a.s.signment is that, enough to bother Guido, the perfect

and wise child like our great-grandmother?”

“To write a composition about my dream for the future. Have

you written anything like that, Ani’ue2

?”

“Oh, that one. Yeah. I have. But it was something they made

me write to please Grandfather Lauenstein. So it’s probably the

same for you, it’s something to please your Grandfather Eulenberg.

Write that you want to be king. I’m sure that’ll be enough to satisfy

them.”

“I will.” But he noticed something in the way Friedhelm had

said it.

“Do you not want to be king, Ani’ue?”

2 Ani’ue. A j.a.panese honorific referring to one’s older brother (More formal and

old fas.h.i.+oned than the normal Onii-san)

- 11 -

“Who knows? I mean, being a King is something like a future

that is prepared for me rather than being my dream. It’s like being

an adult.”

Hearing the words spoken out loud made Guido realize that

maybe, he was just the same as well.

“Can’t the heir be Leti or Leon? That way, I could be ———

in the future.”

The thunder roared, silencing Guido’s voice for a moment.

Then after the thunder subsided, Friedhelm said, “Me too.”

“—do, Prince Guido.”

Guido opened his eyes when he heard a voice whispering in his

ears. He slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see Leti's

young face grow older. Soon he realized that he had been dreaming

just a moment ago.

“Are you alright? Shall I have a room prepared for you to rest?”

“No, I’m alright.”

“Are you certain? It is strange for you to openly sleep in a place

such as this.”

Today was one of their regular tea parties Leti had suggested to

have. Guido came first and they were waiting for Friedhelm in a 

- 12 -

drawing room in the Royal Villa. Guido unconsciously closed his

eyes and fell asleep when Leti had left him alone for a while.

“Did I…did I say something?”

“No, nothing in particular, but you were frowning quite hard

and I thought you were having a nightmare so…”

A maid came in, informing them of Friedhelm’s arrival. Leti

stood up and left the room to welcome Friedhelm, leaving Guido

behind so she did not hear him say that his dream was, indeed, a

nightmare.

“Hey! Are you doing well?” Friedhelm greeted Leti with

unnecessarily overflowing liveliness and she returned his greeting

with a perfect smile for they were in the presence of other people,

specifically Friedhelm’s knights. After the greetings, Leti ushered

him, alone, to the drawing room where Guido was waiting.

“I am doing fine. But Prince Guido, on the other hand, does not

look so well. He even fell asleep for a few minutes in my, his enemy’s,

room.”

“That’s serious. He ain’t someone who’d let anyone attack him

in his sleep… and here I was, thinking that he was feeling fine since

Queen Sofia’s funeral.”

They were only a few steps from the drawing room but they

stopped. They did not want Guido to hear this conversation.

- 13 -

“Two months have pa.s.sed since Queen Sofia’s death. He is

probably feeling the pain and loneliness now that things have settled

down.”

Two months ago, the bells of mourning rang throughout the

castle. It was about a month after the Ghost Energy incident.

Guido’s mother, the Second Queen Consort Sofia, had been

sick for a while already. Everybody was prepared for her imminent

death. But for her real son, there were still too many memories that

caused hurt and pain.

“Better speak warmly with him today. Do not bite at each

other’s neck,” warned Leti.

Queen Sofia left Guido in Leti's care. Leti understood that she

meant it for her to be cooperative when Guido became King. But

despite that, Leti still could not easily disrespect Queen Sofia’s

request.

“But ain’t this the job of his fiancée, Lady Eleanor?”

“Stop making that obviously troubled face. If he noticed that his

siblings were worried about him, it might become his support,

though I am well aware he is not one who will notice it.”

Guido was both serious and dense. He could not possibly know

anyone who was actually worried about him unless it was plainly

told to his face. But he was also not someone who could easily brush

off anyone who was worried about him. Guido’s rationale for 

- 14 -

controlling his emotions was one his good points, but it was a bad

point as well.

“That is the most we can do for Prince Guido…because we are

not on good terms with each other.”

“Well, yes of course. I am only forced to attend this tea party to

give my recommendations for Princess Leticia’s future husband. I

don’t care about Guido…I don’t care at all.”

“And Prince Guido is attending as well to stop you from your

plans.”

Leti and Friedhelm rea.s.sured each other about where they stood.

“If someone from Kleinschmidt was here, this would be a tea

party with the complete representative of the top of the Kingdom.”

“Then let’s just have one with the three of us. Kleinschmidt has

fallen from grace anyway.”

“Well, I guess you are right,” Leti agreed with Friedhelm.

Inside Sommevesle’s social structure, there were three families

considered to be special among the n.o.ble families, namely, the

Lauensteins – Friedhelm’s faction, the Eulenbergs – Guido’s faction

and the fallen Kleinschmidts. These families were collectively

known as the Three Grand Marquises. They were special even

among the other marquises, despite having the same t.i.tle because

they had descended from the royal family.

- 15 -

So why are they not considered part of the royal family despite

their lineage and simply treated as special n.o.bles?

Leti's great-grandfather, the Administration King Karlheinz,

created a decree that stripped down the three dukedoms of their

eligibility to inherit the throne and dropped their ranks from being

“dukes” to “marquises” as punishment for abusing their power and

using it for their personal gains.

“Great-grandfather left us something troublesome. It might’ve

been a wise decision at the time but now, it’s nothing but a problem

for us.”

Exactly as Friedhelm said, the way things were viewed changed

as time pa.s.sed.

“Wanting to be a royalty again is a frustrating desire. They

reaped what they sowed. They could just be satisfied with the special

treatment they were receiving.”

“Well, as if Your Royal Pureness could understand us.”

Leti, with a King for a father and a royal for a mother was

sometimes referred to as a “pure-blooded Princess”.

“But you are of pure royalty yourself.”

“Half, yes. The other half is the cursed bloodline of the

Lauensteins who lost their right to the throne. Now then, would the

Leftover Princess be kind to show me the room where we shall have

our private tea party?”

- 16 -

Leti coldly glared at Friedhelm for his unfunny joke.

“Say that again and I will scream ‘No! Onii-sama, stop! I am

your sister!’ at the top of my lungs and mess up my hair and dress a

bit to complete the picture.”

“Quit that! That won’t be a joke at all!”

‘Leftover Princess’ was nothing but an unpleasant nickname for

Leti. Her two excellent brothers, both coming from one of the

‘Three Grand Marquises’, made the succession for the throne a

complicated problem. The compet.i.tion between the two princes

grew worse over the years and the King was deeply hurt by it. So to

prevent the strife from getting worse, the King came up with a novel

idea. He selected Leti as the heir to the throne. So in other words,

Leti picked up the crown that fell from the two princes, a leftover

crown, thus, she was the ‘Leftover Princess’.

But despite all of the conflict, Leti knew that her two brothers

cared for each other deeply. They had just become the symbols of

the political war between their families that they had to pretend

otherwise.

“This is the third tea party. I guess it’s about time I get to hear

about what’s running inside the head of our next queen.”

“These tea parties are meant to eradicate all rumors circulating

about an impending civil war. It will be a big problem if the

neighboring countries think of this as an opportunity for them.”

- 17 -

“I agree with that…So, how much on good terms shall we be?”

Right now, Friedhelm and Guido met up with each other out of

obligation and nothing was really different with their relations.h.i.+p.

“Tell me, how does the next queen plan to solve the strife

between the two princes? Will you make the two parties reconcile

with each other? Or will you keep them in check with some

provisions? Or will you step up and intervene with the Three Grand

Marquises problem?”

“Did you think I would tell you, a political enemy, what my

plans are for the future?”

“I know you will. Make that one of your a.s.signments. I’ll wait

for your answer.”

Leti felt Friedhelm was testing her. If she gave him a half-a.s.sed

answer, then this brother of hers, who was more fit to be king,

would undoubtedly stand up to oppose her.

Leti knew, more than anyone, that her most difficult enemy was

just right beside her.