I Will Abandon My Family! - v3 Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12 (Patreon)

v3, Chapter 10

His Majesty's Thoughts (1)
My name is Arios Sheriran.
I am the king of the Sheriran Kingdom, but I am going through a melancholic time.

The reason for that is the man in front of me!

"You truly were truly magnificent, Your Majesty."

"Oh~ is that so?"

Ignoring his words, I let the Prime Minister's flattery flow past me.
He's such a sarcastic man.

"Please listen to what others are saying."

"Then don't say it with a smirk!"

The other day at the ball, I made a blunder.
Little did I know it was the social debut of my close friend's daughter.

"I never expected Dee to attend on that day."

"I knew about it, though."

"Was it all just to torment me?"

He must have chosen that day on purpose knowing that I would be there to inspect the event.

"In case Your Majesty attended, Dee would be bothered."

"Gngh..."

It was because of my inability to maintain a proper distance that Dee had to endure hardships for a while.

Back when we were in school, we had a fateful encounter and became close friends, planning to work together after graduation.
However, fate was cruel.

The Crown Prince died of an illness, and the foolish rival relatives vying for the throne ended up destroying each other, leaving me as the last candidate to become king.

I never wanted the throne.
I didn't desire it at all; in fact, I thought of becoming king as if I were thrown into a prison.

On the other hand, Dee was so capable that he was sought after to be adopted as the son-in-law of a Viscount family.
But that path became the divergence between us.

"I didn't become a king willingly."

"However, to save our debt-ridden homeland from this corrupt noble society, it was necessary."

"You also didn't want to become the Prime Minister, right?"

"Yeah."

Though we cared about the country, we despised the aristocratic society more than anyone else, even distrusting our own families.
In fact, our families were our enemies, leaving us feeling isolated.

Dee was the one who rescued us from that loneliness.

"Dee said he wants to protect this country and the future of our children."

"To prevent people like us from increasing... and it's also a promise to our benefactor and friend."

We were once treated as trash.
Considered unnecessary beings in this world, we were ridiculed, insulted, and oppressed.

But we never reached the point of death.
Though people around us treated us as unwanted, we were foolish to believe them back then.

We didn't try to change our situation or make an effort.
We convinced ourselves that everything we did was futile.

Dee was the one who shattered those days of self-doubt and hopelessness.

"When I was alone in the classroom with no hope, Dee was the one who taught me."

"I felt the same way too."

So, I decided to break free from my unfortunate circumstances.
We used to talk about changing this country someday.

But life wasn't so kind.
A year before I graduated from school, an incident occurred.

As a result, the fate of many people changed.

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v3, Chapter 11

His Majesty's Thoughts (2)
Poor harvests and poverty-stricken citizens.
Even with significant reforms, it felt like the nation was bound to fail.

After graduating, Dee, who had been ordered to marry into the Ranford family, left the Capital.

As the third son of a baronial family, Dee had hoped to pursue a career in the bureaucracy but couldn't refuse the marriage proposal.

"If I had stopped it back then, would things have turned out differently?"

"No, if you had refused the former Viscount Ranford’s request..."

Former Viscount Ranford, a remarkable man despite being from a viscount family, was loyal to the royal family.
Dee's presence was crucial to saving him, and the guild residing in Ranford territory, known for their excellence, couldn't afford to lose him.

However, because of that, Dee suffered greatly.

"At that time, I was still powerless."

"I had no power either."

"But when Dee left the Capital, he pleaded with me to protect the future."

So, I worked desperately for his return to the Capital someday.
I crushed the relatives opposing my designation as Crown Prince by any means necessary, but in return, malice was directed towards Dee.

I wanted to help Dee, who was mistreated by his mother-in-law and wife and ridiculed by incompetent nobles.
It was not just my selfish desire.

I know how exceptional and talented Dee is.
But the accomplishments Dee achieved were undermined by his foolish mother-in-law and wife.

They had no idea what they were doing when they insulted and disrespected their husband.

"I wanted to kill them so many times."

"Indeed, but just killing them wouldn’t be enough. That’s why we decided to assign Dee work."

During a period when our territory was struggling, we sought to undertake a new business, so we secretly collaborated with a merchant from a neighboring country.
We concealed Dee's true identity in the process.

That merchant was actually a merchant noble.
When he saw Dee's work, he immediately noticed his exceptional abilities.

"I wanted to somehow ruin that fool... and throw him into hell."

"But finding a way to ruin them without showing our hands was quite challenging. So, it was a good idea to make his son take responsibility."

That's right.
His son, who looked exactly like that malicious woman.
I used him as a tool.

"His daughter, on the other hand, is a kindhearted soul, much like Dee."

"Yes, Miss Marie, right?"

My enemies are that woman and that foolish son.

"However, the other girl, on the other hand, had surprisingly agreed to cooperate willingly, didn't she?"

"Yes, at first, I was unsure if it would work..."

To bring those two to ruin, it was necessary to drive them out of the Ranford family before the plan was executed.

For that purpose, she took the initiative to make it happen.

Mirial Felt.

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v3, Chapter 12

Missed Gold (1)
The engagement with Count Felt’s family was broken off several months ago.
Unable to afford hiring many servants, only cheap maids remained.

"This is bad. What is this?"

"It's not our usual tea."

"Yes, we don't have money to buy tea leaves."

What are you talking about?
That can't be right.

Tea leaves were supposed to be a special product of the Ranford family.

"Lately, due to poor harvests, the quality of tea leaves has declined, and they have been returned."

"What are you saying?"

"The trading company we had a contract with is claiming damages."

The maid spoke dispassionately, which irritated me.

"How insulting! You should report properly!"

"The other party is a merchant noble, after all."

She really is useless.
Even if they are merchant nobles, they used to be commoners.

The maid in front of me was also a former noblewoman who fell into poverty.

"If you can't do the job, there's no point in paying you."

"Yeah, anyone can do your job. Even that worthless Marie."

Though she had no particular talent, she could at least brew tea.
But even commoners' children can do that, yet the noblewomen in the Ladies' Association overrated Marie skills.

Oh, how delicious Marie's tea is.

The blend is exquisite.

Comparable to that of an herbalist.

I thought we must have hired a terribly inept handmaid.

"This room smells musty."

"Are they not cleaning properly? They are slacking off completely."

I had Marie take care of cleaning the mansion.
She can only handle menial tasks, and it was just right to reduce the number of maids.

The new maid cleans, but it's not thorough.

"Also, the bedsheets aren't crisp."

The bedding was disheveled.
The garden's flowers have withered, cracks have appeared on the mansion's walls, and the old mansion was showing signs of wear.

And the worst of all was the dress.

"Lady Ranford, your back..."

"The zipper is digging into my body..."

At the recent ball, my corset didn't fit properly, and the reflection in the mirror showed an unsightly backside.

How dreadful!

"Your back flesh is bulging."

"How unsightly."

The noblewomen who opposed me laughed scornfully.

"What on earth happened to you?"

"It can’t be helped. After all, she drove a respectable husband out of the mansion and disowned her talented daughter."

"When Lady Marie, who had such a great sense of fashion, was here, she looked so beautiful in her dresses."

"Lady Ranford lacks any sense of fashion."

"So the one with a great sense of fashion was Lady Marie.”

What is this?

Everyone is mocking me!
There's no way a useless girl like that is better than me.

"But now, Lady Marie is the belle of the social scene in the Capital."

What?

"And Lord Diaz has obtained the title of Count and is now... you know?"

What are you saying?
Marie, who is plain and useless, and that incompetent man?

Next chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/87260289