Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

The High Priest Malavova, who had been missing, was alive and well. It was said that he was left for dead in a garbage dump at the temple, and would have died if he had been discovered a little later.

High Priestess Malavova was used by High Priest Leppe and almost killed by Leppe and Knot, the eldest son of the Coltrezis House, so he had a deep grudge against the Coltrezis family.

For this reason, it appears that he was using his position as the person responsible for that duel trial to send false information to Coltrezis House’s side. I hate to say this, but there were not many groups as good at agitation as religious groups. It was probably something like the Order of Knights having suffered heavy losses.

There was a hint that Earl Yerring had been trying to make connections with Coltrezis House for some time, and it was likely that false information was being spread from Yerring’s side as well. It was not difficult to understand why the previous Earl Yerring would have wanted to cooperate when his family was on the verge of being ruined because of his son’s misdeeds.

Although Lord Anshelm may appear to be a villainous character, that would not necessarily apply to the rest of the family, who may not all be ambitious. Wouldn’t they hesitate to spread false information to avoid being ruined?

“Besides, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors from our neighboring country of Farlitz.” (Crown Prince)

The one about me being Laura’s potential fiancé? Indeed, if Laura and I were to become fiancées, it certainly would appear that Mazell and Lily would be without partners. Was that why the Coltrezis House suggested sending those two to their place?

“I think there is also information about the Bain kingdom leaking to Farlitz.” (Welner)

“We’re leaking information to Coltrezis House to make it seem like we barely managed to repel the Demon Army’s attack and are now putting up a front so that we simply didn’t want to show weakness in diplomacy. People will believe the information they want to believe, after all.” (Crown Prince)

Your Highness, that’s pretty harsh. You didn’t deny the rumors about me and Laura, did you?

So Coltrezis was deluding itself into thinking that it would be fine to be aggressive because the Bain kingdom was in chaos due to the Demon Army’s attack.

“The Marquis Family took pride in their title. That’s why they believed that a relationship between the princess and the heir of the Count’s family would be accepted, and probably thought that the Hearthing siblings, who were simply commoners, were not a big deal.” (Crown Prince)

[T/N: The main family is Marquis, but they don’t have any marriageable children left that are close in age to the Princess Laura, that’s why they plan to use the lesser count family to make the connection. And yes, that’s also part of their demand.]

“So the criteria they are using is simply their status?” (Welner)

“That’s why they think that they, as a Marquis family, should be given preferential treatment.” (Prime Minister)

I agree with the Prime Minister’s supplementary comment. There were certainly people who changed the way they treated others depending on the title they had.

Anyway…

“So you were waiting for this moment to spread the word about the truth behind that duel trial?” (Welner)

“I apologize for the trouble I caused you, Viscount.” (Crown Prince)

The Prime Minister indirectly agreed.

The Crown Prince then continued, “Normally, there would be opposition to sending troops out so soon after the attack on the royal capital.”

“I see.” (Welner)

Certainly, that would be the case. The scars of the damage still remained in various places in the royal capital. It would not be surprising if there were dissenting opinions. However, currently, it appears that the Coltrezis House’s side was going too far even according to the residents of the royal capital.

“The residents of the royal capital have now personally witnessed the great strength of the Four Heavenly Kings, so they now better know the importance of the Hero Party. We will announce that the main culprit behind the attempt to bring a trial against Mazell, the hero who is supposed to be fighting the Four Heavenly Kings, was the Coltrezis House.” (Crown Prince)

“At the same time, we are also making people hear that the Coltrezis House is trying to take the fiancée of Sir Welner, who was a hero in the defense of the royal capital and who asked for Lady Lily as his wife as a reward for his service, by force using his title of Marquis.” (Prime Minister)

Your Excellency, were you not making a preposterous statement with a composed expression? However, I felt embarrassed when he told me directly, but the gist of it was that they were painting the Marquis-class noble Coltrezis House as someone who was attempting to use their power to tear apart the young lovers who were trying to overcome the differences in their social status as a noble and a commoner.

Wow, thinking about it again from a third-person perspective, Coltrezis House would really be quite loathsome.

In reality, it was not uncommon for commoners and nobles to marry in this world. But regardless of that notion, when looking at it from the public’s perspective, this love affair between two people of different social classes was always an interesting topic.

Furthermore, Lily was made a half-public spectacle in that duel trial, and what followed was the current situation after the duel trial. I think it was likely that she would become the subject of a play, although I hope that didn’t happen. Was this the reason why they made me mention my engagement to Lily as a reward in that place?

It seemed that Father’s reason for sending Lily and me out into the city the other day was for this purpose. If the residents of the royal capital were made aware of my good relationship with Lily, Coltrezis House’s bad reputation would spread easily.

My father really was a nobleman through and through to be able to think something like this.

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