The Hated Ducal Lady – Chapter 4

I am already hated anyway.

 That day, I was also indulging in my loner life. Although hearing the surrounding’s ill gossips about me is still displeasing, no one would ever dare to harass a ducal lady so I was still seizing my day at my own pace.

By the way, a couple of months have passed since the first day of the school year. My friends and followers still remain zero of course.

One of the other ducal ladies, Dojita, who is widely recognized to become the fiancée of the 2^nd prince on the other hand, seemed to have acquired many lady followers and is acting like the queen of the academy. I really find those kinds of cliques rather scary.

That being said, it’s amazing just how much gap there is between us even though we are both ducal ladies.


「You are terribly impertinent for a mere commoner」

「To think that you would dare――」

While I was thinking that, a seemingly detestable conversation came to my ears. As I peeked to the direction it came from, I saw a commoner lady being surrounded by many noble ladies.

This is very likely to be harassment. In this academy, there are still illustrious and wealthy commoners who are allowed to attend their curriculums. Still, this academic society that is tailored to cater to higher nobilities is still a very dire place to live in for them.

Be that as it may, for noble to brandish their political influence in order to pressure the commoners like this. Just what are they thinking? As a noble lady who aims to become a commoner in the future, it makes me wonder just where did their noble pride went to.

 

I can just let it pass like nothing.

But frankly speaking, ignoring things like this taking place would place a huge burden on my guilt. Although it may make my infamy even worse than they are, I guess there’s not much choice in the matter. Thinking so, I put my foot forward and confronted them.

「What do you think you’re doing？」

「……Othily Chevincourt.」

「This has nothing to do with you, Miss Chevincourt.」

「Goodness, you are from a count house are you not? To think that you would dare to utter my name without regard nor respect. In the first place, this has everything to do with myself. That commoner lady over there is one of our peers who pursue the same educational endeavors as ours. I do not know, what you are trying to do but yelling at a commoner like that isn’t a beautiful thing, don’t you see? 」

 

Honestly, speaking in noble tone is too tiring.

 

My comfortable speaking tone has already been dyed by the commoner speak. Nevertheless, I am still in the academy so I don’t have any other choice. At any rate, I maybe hated in the noble society but peerage still reigns supreme in these kinds of situation so I hope that they just behave and leave.

 

「――But this isn’t Lady Othily’s business at all!」

 「But I recognize it  as my business. Do you not know how much displeasure it causes seeing such unsightly endeavors happening in front of you? The academy itself does not desire such acts that emphasizes the difference in social standings to take place. Leave at once, and I will pretend I saw nothing.」

 One of the principle missions of this academy is for its students to interact with one another disregarding the disparity in social statuses. But that being the case, it’s not as though their peerage are thrown in the gutter.

 It is merely stating that behaviors that uses one’s own peerage in order to undermine the well-being of the commoners like this should be avoided. The academy itself emphasizes on protecting those who have lower social status.

Of course, this kinds of behaviors would not totally stop with just that kind of thing which shows just how cruel and spiteful the society of nobles are.

As I said that, the noble ladies had dispersed away. For the time being, I am relieved that they have stopped with just a single verbal warning.

 

 

「……Are you well?」

「Huh、A-Ah, yes。Thank you very much!」

The commoner lady was seemingly petrified and her face is pale. Perhaps, because she recognized that I am the deplorable Othily Chevincourt.


「I only did the right thing. Are you often subjected in these kinds of acts? Why is that? 」

「A-Apparently, I… stood out too much in class……」

 

「Goodness, they resorted to such unsightly acts with such a petty reason. I believe that you would be better of consulting these to your instructors. If they ever damaged your personal belongings, the academy would likely give compensation once you raise the issue to them.」

「……I-I can’t. If I do such a thing they…」

「Do you fear that they will get back at you? If that’s the case then why don’t you use my name instead? Although it is rather rotten in infamy, I am still a lady of a ducal house. If you use my name every time, those ladies will likely stop these harassment on their own.」

「B-But if I do that, Lady Chevincourt will be……」

 

「I am fine by myself. It is a little too late for me to be bothered by trifling rumors. After all, just as you know, I am severely hated.」

 

 

As I said that, the commoner lady was seemingly surprised.

 

However, I left immediately right after that.

 

Associating with me further can possibly put her at a troublesome position. If she uses my name however, the harassments will surely stop. Rather, those noble ladies would likely put all the blame on me, fearing that their reputations will be damaged. I couldn’t careless either way.

I have long been hated and my name’s infamy could not possibly go any lower. It’s a little too late so no matter what they add to the list, it will hardly matter at all. Rather than that, I would be grateful if this decreases the instances of such harassments happening. I do not want these kinds of deplorable acts to happen in this academy after all.

 

After that, sure enough, rumors flew around that I have harassed a commoner, although the victim herself had vehemently denied it, it was still widely considered as the truth nonetheless.  As a matter of fact, the 2^nd prince even said to the commoner that she must be denying it in threat, and that was also added to the story.

When I met her again the commoner lady profusely bowed her head towards me, but I signaled her that I do not particularly mind.



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Vouivre Corner:

That concludes this week’s update, I think. As this is a very short novel of only 32 chapters, I will likely go between 5-10 chapters bulk updates in a weekly basis. The author seems to use French names for his/her characters and some of them are hard to read in katakana so I’ll probably make polls for those.

Just a note, I will take much more laxed approach when it comes to my editing boundaries as I am also an aspiring writer and this serves as a good.. internship? Either way, although I exercise utmost care, my editing can range from sentence reconstruction to moving one line to another place in order to improve reading experience.

If you notice any line seeming to be missing, it’s very likely because of shitty wordpress post functions which makes it terribly hard to edit so I would appreciate it if you comment which line is it so I can check my archive. The same goes for any typos, or misused words that you noticed.

These comments may not show as I will not approve them but be assured that I see and will address them as soon as I see them in the notif. I mere do not approve them in order to keep the comments related to the material.

That’s about it.