Chapter 15

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Shimmering Sea
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―WHOOSH!

An Alloje naturally has the advantage near water.

As if to prove that simple fact, the wave that had been rushing toward the shore soared high into the air, as if it had struck an invisible wall.

“I’ll block the water!”

As she spread her hand once more, the savage wave that had been ravaging the coastline was visibly suppressed into a mere ripple.

“…Ah.”

Diello let out a short gasp of admiration.

Right, Croire was an Alloje.

An Alloje, who could control water at will.

A being who grew powerful, especially at the seaside.

…But for that very reason, she was an Alloje who had no need to risk her life in the middle of an Argenta sea battle.

If her loyalties had truly lain with the Alloje family, that would have been the case.

But she had willingly thrown herself into the heart of the battlefield for Argenta.

Seawater, raining down like a shower, trickled from the ends of her deep violet hair and sparkled.

―Flash!

The surrounding water reacted to her blue mana and subsided.

―Flash!

The area lit up again and again with her mana.

Once the water stopped surging in, the tide of the battle turned in an instant.

“Diello!”

He had to charge forward now. He had to kill the monsters.

But Diello couldn’t tear his eyes away from Croire Alloje.

The Argentas wielded fire.

For them, water was a fearsome thing, and the sea was no different from the realm of death.

But not now.

For the first time, Diello saw the sea shimmer.

Not a sea of death, littered with the blood of monsters and men, but a shimmering sea.

In that moment, to him, the sea, the water, and she—all of it glittered with a brilliant, dazzling light.

* * *

Before departing for the battlefield.

I was practicing my ability to control water again.

It was to get even more used to it.

―Splash!

The more I used the ability, the easier it was to handle water.

The original novel never mentioned Croire Alloje possessing such an outstanding ability to control water.

As far as I knew, the Croire from the novel was someone who struggled with even a single teacup.

My possession must have changed her abilities.

This was a good thing for me.

―Splash!

I shaped the water from my canteen into a sharp blade, then let it disperse.

It was a strange power, the way the water around me moved with just a thought.

It all felt as natural as breathing.

“Preparations are complete. Your order to march.”

Just then, the knight commander approached and bowed his head.

With Diello away from the estate, I was the only one who could give the order to sortie.

I looked around at the Argenta knights.

As elite troops, they were all Argentas from the fourth floor.

*‘You can trust anyone from Argenta who comes and goes from the fourth floor.’*

That’s what Diello had said.

According to his carefree words, that meant at least those who frequented the fourth floor of this estate knew I was a fake Pero.

Did that mean there wasn’t a single spy in this estate?

Did the servants of the fourth floor have no interaction with those on the third floor and below?

What if the plan leaks?

…At least, that’s what I’d thought until now.

“…”

I looked at the knight bowing his head silently before me.

He, too, was an Argenta of the fourth floor.

What I realized while preparing for this expedition was that the people of the fourth floor were far more tight-lipped than I could have imagined.

So Diello didn’t trust them for nothing?

Unlike them, the servants on the third floor and below, who didn’t know about my contract marriage, tried to treat me as if I weren’t there.

*‘What? You’re going to the battlefield yourself?’*

But right after I announced I would go to the battlefield myself, the servants’ attitudes began to change little by little.

That was true regardless of which floor they were from.

The change was so radical it was hard to believe it happened in less than half a day; they became polite and kind to me.

As a result, the expressions of the servants from the third floor and below who saw us off were quite favorable.

How strange.

I glanced back at the knights lined up in perfect order behind me.

Since they’re all knights from the fourth floor, I should be able to use my Alloje abilities to some extent in front of them without drawing the attention of other families.

“All troops, march to the fourth sector!”

I raised my sword for the order of knights who were awaiting my command.

It was a heavy sword, one I would never use, but there was nothing better for setting the mood for a sortie.

“Hooah!”

―Neigh!

With my horse in the lead, countless knights set off for the fourth sector.

Normally, less than half this number would have gone to the fourth sector.

*‘Assign personnel to escort me as well.’*

But with my participation in the battle, the number swelled.

In any other family, they would have been horrified at the notion of the lady of the house joining a battle.

But this was Argenta, guardians of the ‘Infinite Sea,’ and I was the only Alloje here who could control water.

The decisive key that could turn the tide of battle in an instant.

The knights who realized this seemed tempted.

But they didn’t agree to my participation right away.

Partly because my water-controlling ability was known to be weak.

*‘…The order I received from the master was to prioritize the lady’s safety above all else.’*

It seemed they were worried I would be in danger.

I hadn’t expected there to be no opposition at all.

I shut down their rebuttal with a prepared answer.

*‘The center of Argenta is not me, but Diello Argenta, the family head. It weighs heavily on my mind that he had to request reinforcements despite leading the sortie himself.’*

When making a demand, one must be confident.

I held my head high and looked the knights straight in the eye.

*‘If this sortie proves to be pointless, it will end with the lady of the house being judged as rash for unnecessarily mobilizing troops. But if, by some chance, Diello is in danger, Argenta will pay a heavy price.’*

At those words, the knights finally decided to launch a sortie with me at its center.

“Hiyah!”

I and countless other knights followed the one guiding the way at the front.

*‘Redius Argenta must not die.’*

This was the reason I had pushed myself to join this expedition.

Redius Argenta was Diello’s uncle, and now that everyone in the main Argenta family was dead, he was Diello’s only blood relative.

In other words, he was a great asset who had inherited a potent dose of the Argenta ability.

He was someone who, along with Diello’s soon-to-arrive Pero, would become a key part of Argenta’s strength in the coming battle against Alloje.

In the original novel, that same Redius Argenta dies after going berserk during this incident, plunging Argenta into a crisis.

*‘I can’t let that happen.’*

“Hiyah! Hah!”

My urgent heart spurred my horse on.

Fortunately, controlling water wasn’t the only thing Croire Alloje’s body remembered.

She must have had a talent for riding as well; after a moment of awkwardness when I first mounted, I soon had no problem riding at a fast pace.

Thanks to the high speed, the surrounding scenery blurred into horizontal lines behind us.

Meanwhile, I took a moment to think.

*‘There’s no time.’*

According to the novel, Redius Argenta dies shortly before Pero arrives.

Between the wedding, deceiving Alloje, and adjusting to life in Argenta, I’d been so distracted that I almost missed something important.

That the real Pero would arrive two months after the wedding.

Now that Redius Argenta was in danger, there wasn’t much time left until Pero’s arrival.

The original novel was told from a maid’s perspective, so both Croire and the real Pero were nothing more than extras, but there was a reason I remembered the timing of the real Pero’s appearance so clearly.

It was because the real Pero’s personality was no joke.

[They say she has a vicious tongue? That she enjoys inflicting pain on others. I’d rather work under Croire Alloje. And on top of that, she’s supposedly incredibly fussy.]

That’s what the servants in the original novel said, which says it all.

I had no intention of ever meeting a Pero like that.

*‘I need to hurry up and prepare to leave.’*

Of course, I couldn’t leave Argenta until Alloje was completely dealt with, but it would be easier to lay the groundwork for my departure while I was still the lady of the house.

But that was a problem for after I returned safely from this battle.

I knew in my head that my power would grow stronger near its source.

That’s why I came so confidently.

But the thought of controlling it on a vast coastline, one crawling with monsters, filled me with worry.

The most I’d done was freely manipulate the water in a massive bathtub during my spare moments at the estate.

Though it hadn’t left me the least bit out of breath.

But if I’m this capable, just how powerful must Duke Alloje’s control over water be?

Can I really be of any help on the battlefield?

Even as I practiced my ability at every opportunity, confidence didn’t come easily.

But.

―Swoooosh…!

As the distant sea grew closer and filled my vision, I felt it.

The blood in my veins began to boil.

The Alloje blood was reacting to the water.

On water, an Alloje becomes invincible.

“…!”

In the distance, I saw a massive wave about to crash down on the Argentas.

I also saw Diello’s blue eyes, watching me with a surprised expression, as if he hadn’t expected me to come.

They were the color of the sea, just as I’d thought.

―Flash!

Reacting to the water, the Alloje blood gathered a blue power in my hand.

I swung it, seizing control of the surrounding waves.

“…Croire!”

I heard Diello’s shocked cry.

But having entered the battlefield, I couldn’t look back.

―Graaah!

I felt no fear, even as grotesque monsters, half-fish and half-human, charged at me.

Strangely enough, I didn’t.

It must have been the confidence granted by my Alloje blood.

“!”

I swung my hand once more.