I Thought I Had Married A Poor Knight, But…! - Chapter 22.2

Episode 22 The infiltrating Crown Princess (2)

“If the land becomes too fertile, the pests will become bigger and stronger. In addition, giant monsters will appear by sucking the earth’s energy.

So the dedication of magical power is decided by the emperor, who looks at the balance of pests outbreaks and other factors and decides how much to dedicate. A few years ago, a certain count dedicated more magical power to his territory than necessary in order to enrich it, and as a result, dragons appeared and the capital was burnt to the ground.

So, if I push myself too hard with daily dedications and a dragon appears, and if I were to hunt it down, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone? … But that’s not a good idea, right? I know, I was just thinking out loud.

In my hometown, I didn’t believe in gods at all, but repeating these rituals has made me believe in the existence of gods to some extent. The gods I dedicate to in the rituals are not the almighty deity, but the seasonal gods and the gods of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Unlike the vague and mysterious almighty deity, these gods have clear roles, making them more relatable and approachable.

In the course of my daily socialising, I had a few doubts.

I am the Crown Princess, the highest ranked of the aristocratic women. Therefore, the socials I attend are the highest socials in the society. In other words, the aristocratic women who are allowed to attend are limited to the upper echelons of nobility. Attending a social gathering at which I appear is regarded as a status amongst the aristocratic women, and simply being able to attend means that you have a certain amount of power.

However, I have wondered. I heard that the reason why the Crown Princess conducts social gatherings is to absorb the opinions and requests of noblewomen and convey them to the Crown Prince or Empress, so that they can be reflected in politics. In fact, I have already conveyed requests and suggestions I heard from attendees to Cermiane several times, and he had implemented them.

But if only high-ranking nobles attend the social gatherings I attend, then only high-ranking nobles will be able to convey their requests to me. Only the opinions of the higher nobility would be reflected in politics. Isn’t this unfair?

In the empire, there are many times as many lower nobles as there are higher nobles, and if anything, there are hundreds of times more commoners than nobles below them. How can the opinions of such people be reflected in politics?

When I mentioned this, my youngest sister, Sister Velmaria, looked at me strangely. Sister Velmaria is Countess of Rauch, but as a count, she is from a low-ranking family, and although she is a high-ranking aristocrat, her position is lower-ranking.

“The lower nobles have to form a relationship with a faction created by one of the higher nobles and ask that higher noble to convey their demands to the royal family.”

The lower nobles also have social gatherings held exclusively with the lower nobles, and the opinions gotten there are conveyed to the higher nobles who organize the factions, who then convey their requests to us on the occasion of social gatherings with us royalty.

In reality, it’s more complicated than that, because the lower nobles have their own ranks, so it seems that the opinions that are put together at social gatherings with other nobles of the same rank are conveyed at social gatherings with slightly higher rank, and so on, moving up a little bit at a time. The same is true for commoners, and when you become an influential commoner, you have the opportunity to be invited to the social gatherings of lower-ranked aristocrats, at which time you can express the wishes of the commoners. The most commoners can go, is the lowest social gathering of barons and baronesses, so it must be difficult to move up from there.

By the way, Lady Velmaria participates in social gatherings beyond her rank due to her status as the sister of the Crown Prince’s fiancée. We also have opportunities to have tea together during these gatherings, so it’s easier for her to convey requests to me. Therefore, I receive numerous opinions and requests from nobles with whom I have no close relationship. It seems she had risen to become a leader of a faction. She smiled happily, saying that it’s busy and tough.

However, to ensure that Lady Vermaria doesn’t convey every single request she receives, ultimately only the things the higher-ranked nobles want to communicate reach me. It still seems biased in that sense. I had many commoner acquaintances in my hometown and in the capital, and they constantly expressed their dissatisfaction and requests to the authorities. When I was acting as a deputy magistrate in my hometown, I picked up such voices and managed to bring about improvements a few times.

I wondered if there was any way to directly listen to the voices of the commoners and, if not the commoners, then the lower nobility. After much deliberation, I asked Cermiane for advice. Cermiane was surprised.

“You’re thinking of something quite interesting. It’s very much like you, Ralphene.”

He said that and helped me think of a good method. As a result…

I attended a soirée hosted by a certain viscount. I disguised myself.

I wore a black wig, letting my bangs hang and covering my eyes. I assumed the identity of Cherim, the daughter of a baron from a branch family of Lady Vermaria’s household. It felt a bit uncomfortable to impersonate a young lady while being married, but there was no other choice.

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