TL Note: WE HAVE REACHED OUR CHALLENGE GOAL! Double Feature incoming!
After putting Suzuki and Excella to sleep, Noelle went to Marguerite's tent in the main camp. There, she saw Orneo, who had lost an arm and was bleeding from the upper half of his body.
"D-Did you kill him?...!"
"He had a rebellious spirit."
Marguerite grabbed her sword and headed for Suzuki's tent. Noelle could feel the sa deadly atmosphere she had felt on the battlefield coming from her mother.
"As planned, I gave him a drink containing sleeping powder! No problems!"
"I want to make sure to be on the safe side."
"H-However! You can't kill the Leirune Princess!"
"She's a forr princess. Besides, it's also for the greater good..."
A soldier rushed to the hawk-eyed Marguerite and reported.
"Lady Marguerite. We are ready to launch our attack, ma'am."
"Mother!"
Marguerite paused, remained silent for a mont, then sheathed her sword.
"...The fact that they're incompetent ans they wouldn't be able to cause problems even when they wake up"
Noelle patted her chest. If the preparations for the Leirune offensive had been delayed a tad longer, Suzuki and Excella would have had their necks cut off.
"Let's go, Noelle. We will decimate the special attack force, directly under the control of the Demon Lord's Army, the Thunder-Lance Charge, and use it as a signal of the declaration of mankind's counterattack."
"YES!"
...
The soldiers rode their horses in the moonlight. Noelle reminisced about a distant past as she chased her mother's white horse, which led the soldiers on the way to Leirune.
Marguerite Torino, who was called a genius and appointed as a swordsmanship instructor in the Empire despite her being a woman------ the legitimate heir, the daughter of that genius, Noelle, had no talent for swordsmanship. In addition to this...
"It would have been better if Lady Noelle had been born male, right?"
As a young girl, she overheard the conversations of her handmaidens and understood that her mother had originally wanted a male heir. When Noelle picked flowers to show her or tried to have a conversation with her at the end of the day, her mother would say she was busy without even looking Noelle in the eyes.
Nevertheless, Marguerite's gallant striding through the Empire with her nurous subordinates was the object of Noelle's admiration. Noelle made every effort to win her mother's favor. This was also the reason why she referred to herself as male and acted like a man.
When her younger brother Sam was born, her mother's attitude changed noticeably. Her mother smiled at Sam with a smile she had never seen on her face before.
(I knew it... I'm not needed after all.)
She felt as if all the efforts she had made to gain her mother's favor had gone to waste.
While Noelle was crying in her room without taking als, she heard a knock at her door. Her mother ca to her room uncharacteristically and handed her a silver-haired rabbit mascot. It was the first ti Noelle had ever received anything from her mother.
After wiping away a tear, Noelle moved the rabbit mascot as if it were alive.
"Puu Puu."
"What? Noelle? What's that?"
"It's a rabbit's cry, Mother."
"Rabbits don't have vocal cords. They don't chirp."
"They do, Mother. I, once petted a rabbit. And it cried with a 'Puu Puu'."
Her mother turned up the corners of her mouth just a little bit. Seeing this, Noelle smiled as well.
After that, Noelle continued to work hard. No matter how well Noelle perford in the sword competition or how high she got in the magic examinations, her mother never praised Noelle.
Even so, she knew of her mother's kindness.
"...Noelle."
Noelle's consciousness was brought back to reality by Marguerite's voice. Before she knew it, she was riding alongside her mother's white horse. She may have called out to her several tis, but she did not notice.
"I apologize. I was just lost in thought."
"I heard that there is a village of humans coexisting with demons in Leirune. They are a group of traitors who have given up their human dignity and willingly beca the slaves of the demonic race."
Marguerite turned her sharp eyes on Noelle.
"Kill them without reservation."
"Yes."
Her mother's eyes were sharp and cold. But it was for the greater good.
The Castle of Syness ca into view. While slowing her horse, Marguerite handed Noelle a vial and said with a smile she rarely showed.
"Use it in case sothing cos up."
"This is?"
"Lord Tartanin bestowed upon this elixir to enhance my abilities."
"Thank... Thank you so much."
(Ah! As expected! Mother is!)
It was the sa as when she gave her the rabbit mascot. Right, only she knew. The kindness of her mother... Her true side that she would never show in front of the soldiers.
Noelle held back the tears that were about to flow.
Marguerite's squad was to attack Leirune from the east, and Noelle's from the west. Her mother's company changed course.
"Mother. May you have fortune in war."
Marguerite silently raised one hand and rode away.
.
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