i will quit the entourage of the villainess

Chap 42

“Father, may I come in?”

“Ah, Cosette. Enter.”

I had come to visit father’s study.
Of course, this was in order to talk about Master Alfred.
I wanted a satisfying explanation for his recent actions.

“There was a duel at the academy, and well…”

He nodded with understanding when I finished telling him what had happened.

“Cosette, did you know that Master Alfred is also a marquis?”

“Yes.”

Master Alfred was a teacher at the academy, but he was also deeply involved with the management of the institution as well.
Therefore, he had no class that he was in charge of, and no one seemed to know what exactly he did as a teacher.
As he had a reputation for being elegant and refined, and he would sometimes instruct the students in dancing and etiquette, but he wasn’t always present at the academy.

It had not been too long since he had replaced his predecessor, and so he was quite young. But it was said that he was brilliant and able to speak boldly of matters of state, even to the prime minister.

“Marquis Granshiel’s actions are…without a doubt, an attempt to push her away from the position of queen. Lady Remy, that is…and you, Cosette.”

“Me…?”

My eyes widened at my father’s words.
Why on earth would my name be brought up here?
I had absolutely no intention of becoming queen.
I do feel like I have been able to become a good friend of His Highness, Leonheart, but this was something completely different.
Who would ever want to be placed in such a tiresome position as queen?
In my past life, I was once chairperson of the Parent-Teacher Association at my daughter’s school. It was the most troublesome thing.

Father saw my surprise, and he opened his mouth with some exasperation.

“The young lady who is the closest to his Royal Highness. That would be you, Cosette. And while you may not have noticed it yourself, your skill and ability to invent has established a trading company and explosive new trends. Taking all of that into account, it is no surprise that some would view you as a prime candidate for queen.”

“But, wasn’t mother credited for the development of Signora?”

“Such things cannot be hidden from everyone. It is already common knowledge that you were deeply involved with it.”

“Oh, no…yes, I see…”

Thinking about it now, it was not too surprising.
I had made myself too visible for someone who was trying to stay hidden. No matter how much you tried to prevent people from talking, mouths tended to become loose.
This was all a result of my own carelessness.
If I really wanted to hide it, I should have tried harder.

“But you are still the preferable candidate of the two. There are some among the nobility who would never accept lady Remy as queen.”

“Some among the nobility…:”

“Remy’s father is Duke Dolanju, the prime minister. If his own daughter became the queen, then his power would be enormous. And he is already considered to be very powerful. And if that were to increase…”

“He would be able to even go against the king…?”

“Indeed. The crown prince would be little more than a puppet.”

Hmmm…I suppose it meant that many nobles did not want Duke Dolanju to dominate everything.
However, if Duke Dolanju were to govern fairly, then was that not a good thing…? As a modern Japanese person, the emperor was more of a symbol.