As the Villainess Who Was Dumped, I Am Saved by My Childhood Friend from a Noble Family and Spoiled in the Frontier - Chapter 23

The ceremony concluded without incident, and we returned to our daily lives.

I was gradually getting used to assisting Lord Franz with his work, and I’d even started to enjoy the administrative tasks. There’s more depth to office work than one might think.

I’m often entrusted with research duties, and reading books from foreign countries frequently surprises Lord Franz, I find that quite rewarding.

Moreover, this job allows me to meet so many people I never would have encountered in the royal capital!

Just the other day, a mining engineer came to petition Lord Franz, and I was asked, “They’re struggling with technical books in Wolfsburg language. Could you help them out, Nina?” So, I worked on deciphering the specialized texts.

Admittedly, the content was too technical, and there was much I didn’t understand, but that’s where the expert mining engineers came in. After I roughly explained the meanings of words and the nuances of sentences, they’d say things like, “Ah, that probably refers to lead,” and we pooled our knowledge to translate the entire book. It was incredibly fulfilling.

The book summarized issues with the cupellation method used for mineral extraction in mines and the health hazards of dust. It introduced procedures that, using the knowledge from the book, could allow mine workers to operate in a safer environment.

Apparently, it involves some method using lightning-attribute magic.

I was delighted that my language skills could be useful even in such situations.

Then one day.

I was summoned by Lord Franz. Wondering what it could be about, I visited his room.

“Thank you for coming, Nina. Actually, I’ve received important news from the royal capital.”

Hearing those words made me anxious.

Could it be that my punishment has been formally decided?

The crown prince did say something about exiling me from the country back then.

Just when I was starting to feel like I’d found my place.

I don’t want to be separated from Lord Franz and Maria.

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing that serious. It’s a letter of apology from His Majesty the Emperor. Addressed to you.”

“Eh? An apology!?”

“Yes. Even for royalty, publicly denouncing you like that was going too far. He wants to apologize on his son’s behalf. He says he’ll do everything possible to restore your honor, and your punishment of house arrest will be retroactively nullified. Regarding both the broken engagement and this illegal punishment, he’ll offer an apology and pay compensation.”

“But wouldn’t that damage the imperial family’s prestige!?”

“I thought so too, but according to His Majesty, ‘If prestige can be damaged by apologizing, then it wasn’t prestige to begin with.'”

“That’s truly worthy of His Majesty.”

The Emperor has the reputation of being a brilliant leader who’s managed to stand equal with the continent’s major powers despite leading an empire that’s militarily inferior. How is it that the crown prince, despite being the offspring of such an admirable Emperor?

No, it’s not my place to say.

“So, His Majesty wishes to apologize to you directly, and he wants you to come to the royal capital with me next weekend.”

And so, the gears of my fate began to turn.