The Executed Saint Reincarnates as a Princess and is Loved by Her Older Brothers - Episode 40

“No way!”

With a loud bang on the desk, Michelle’s voice of rejection echoed.

“Wha… what’s wrong?”

As Angela became flustered and confused, Raphael sighed, and Gabriel firmly denied it.

“What do you mean, everything is wrong.”

“Even if it’s for diplomatic reasons, going to another country is not allowed, and getting engaged to a man, even if it’s just temporary, is definitely not allowed.”

“I want to be engaged to Duke Rochelle in a contract marriage.”

After the dinner party. What Angela received after making that offer again was, as expected, a decisive and uncompromising response from her brothers.

Usually, it is the father’s role to oppose his daughter’s engagement, but the emperor said nothing. The father is not only thinning on top but also lacks interest in Angela.

Instead, the brothers’ backlash was anything but ordinary.

With a loud bang on the desk once again, Michelle firmly rejected it.

“Absolutely not! I won’t allow you to get engaged to a man you’ve just met!”

No, they are acquaintances older than you, my brothers.

If you include past lives, Lionel has known his brothers longer than anyone else. Even if I say it, they probably won’t believe me.

“I understand that you feel sorry for the Duke of Rochelle being punished for defying the king’s orders.”

“But, you know, that’s a problem for their country, right? I don’t think Angela has any obligation to help them.”

Raphael and Gabriel shrugged, and Angela retorted, “That’s not true!”

“Listen, everyone! Lord Rochelle saved me in the city!”

Angela recounted how Lionel helped her when she went out incognito in the city.

“The Duke of Rochelle happened to pass by and carried me to the carriage when I suddenly collapsed due to a sudden illness. The maid who was with me was also impressed by his gentlemanly demeanor.”

The knights of the guard also mentioned that they had left the scene at Angela’s request. “Please do not blame us, as it was I who asked them to,” they strongly emphasized.

Angela, with a convincing performance, pretended to cry dramatically.

“Oh… I can’t believe I suddenly got sick… If Lord Rochelle hadn’t been there, what would have happened to me? I might have fallen and hit my head and gotten seriously injured. No, if I had hit it the wrong way, I might have died…?”

To put it dramatically, my brothers’ faces are turning pale before my eyes.

“Gabriel big brother. You must be glad that I didn’t get hurt, right?”

“That’s true, but……”

Gabriel made a face as if to say “Ugh.”

“Brother Raphael, Duke Rochelle is my lifesaver.”

“It might not be entirely untrue, but…”

Raphael made a “gnuh” face.

“Brother Michel, we must repay the kindness we’ve received, or the name of the Vangreim family will be tarnished, won’t it?”

“Grrr…”

As for Michel, she’s saying it with words before even showing her face.

It’s quite rare to actually see someone say “gnnnnn” in real life, and even more so to see it coming from a handsome prince.

When the three older brothers fell silent, Angela pressed on further.

“The Duke of Rochelle has sworn to keep his promise. He understands my desire not to marry the king and has agreed to dissolve the betrothal contract at any time.”

“If that’s the case… n-no! No way!”

Michel almost accepted it when she heard about the broken engagement, but she quickly shook her head.

“How many years do you think you are older than Duke Rochelle? No matter how you look at it, you’re way older than Angela, right?”

“That’s not true at all.”

Angela beamed with a full smile, seizing the moment.

“Prince Rochelle is twenty-five years old. He is with his brother, Michel.”

Michel and Lionel are the same age. They are both ten years older than Angela.

“I really, really love you, Michel-oniichan, so I don’t think of someone my age as being too old.”

While pronouncing the part “daai suki” as strongly as possible, Angela looks up at Michelle with a gaze.

“If you don’t listen to my request, I might… just a little… a tiny bit… start to dislike you all…”

This is a statement akin to a potent drug, so it requires careful handling.

Just a single drop of the possibility of “dislike” and the three of them have faces crushed by despair.

Since it’s a word I’ve never once said to my brothers, it seems to have an incredible effect.

“Hey… that’s why…!”

If Angela were to launch her adorable gaze at her brothers just like that, victory would be within reach.

“Please! My beloved, beloved, beloved older brothers!”

Although the fallen brothers reluctantly agreed, they did so with a very reluctant demeanor.

Thinking that I’m going outside the empire for the first time in my life makes my heart race.

As she was hurriedly preparing to leave the country, the maid assigned to her mother, Josephine, came to summon Angela.

“Your Highness, the Empress is calling for you.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes. It is said that there is an important matter to discuss, so you should come prepared.”

“An important… conversation…?”

Angela paused her packing and headed to her mother’s room.

“Mother. Did you call for me? It’s Angela.”

“Come in.”

The private room of my mother, which I was allowed to enter, was always furnished with tastefully chosen decor.

Josephine looked at Angela and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

“Time flies, doesn’t it? You’re going to be fifteen soon. It feels like just yesterday you were born.”

“Yes, Mother. I feel like I was just a baby not long ago.”

What I actually said was just the first half, “Yes, Mother,” and I kept the second half to myself.

Having memories from when I was a baby, people would just find it creepy if I talked about it.

“Mother, what is the story?”

“I… thought that I would have to talk about it someday…”

Avoiding Angela’s pure gaze, Josephine lowered her long eyelashes.

“Angela, you are not my real daughter.”