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Chapter 54 Part 6 – The second princess of Hydrangea, Margaret, invades.

The damage from the locusts that have devastated Hydrangea in the previous 「108 times」 have been kept to a minimum in this life, thanks to my advice.

This was because I had a complete grasp of the timing and course of the locust infestation and its consequences. I have never felt so grateful for the knowledge of the previous 「108 times」 as I did then. The locust infestation was the first such event in the history of Hydrangea and no one knew what to do about it. Without the knowledge of the previous 「108 times」, I would have had no choice but to move about in confusion. I had the wheat harvested ahead of schedule, stored and sealed it along with the other food supplies in sturdy buildings such as churches, and let the swarms of locusts pass through.

I called it the 「Pretend not to know and leave them alone」 strategy.

Then I also gave strict orders not to touch the locusts and to cover the wells to protect it.
Because I knew that even if we tried to get rid of the swarms of locusts that spread and went through the sky, it would be futile by human power.

Of course there was a chance of success.
Even the swarms of locusts that continued their dreadful flight rested on the ground at night.
I knew from reading the records of this period of time in the previous 「108 times」 that if we endured for about two weeks, a heavy rainstorm covering the entire Hydrangea would occur at night and sweep away the locusts, annihilating them. As the book said, the swarms of locusts that filled the sky were nearly annihilated in just one night of heavy rain. The catastrophe created by nature was easily ended by the power of nature.

The territories under the direct control of the royal family and the territories of the nobles that were favorable to the royal family were spared from starvation since they followed my advice.

…… What was tragic was the territories of the anti-royal nobles who scoffed and did not follow my advice.
They underestimated the locusts as mere insects.
They tried to exterminate the swarms of locusts by burning them. The locusts were covered in flames as they scattered everywhere, creating a huge fire in the territory. Moreover, the greedy locusts also ate poisonous plants, which caused the poison to be concentrated and accumulate in their bodies, turning them into a mass of deadly poisons. The people of those territories that were forced to exterminate the locusts were exposed to the locusts and suffered from the aftereffects of the poison. And it was not only those people. The knights who followed the absurd order to attack the locusts were also affected.
The water wells that the locusts had jumped into were rendered unusable for a long time due to the poison.
Towns and villages that depended on the wells for their water supply were impoverished.
Once that happened, the territory definitely could not operate properly.

Even if they tried to import wheat from other areas, the price of wheat skyrocketed to such an extent that they were unable to do so because everyone was trying to buy wheat with the same idea in mind. This made it impossible to feed the people of those territories, let alone the lords and their vassals. Those territories became impoverished and the desperate people fled to other territories that would accept them.

As a result, the pro-royal family faction gained power and the anti-royal family faction lost power.

The balance of power was completely changed and the royal family regained their former power.
Ironically, the change of power, which normally would have taken more than 20 years to accomplish, was completed in less than a year because of the locusts. For my meritorious deed, I was awarded the exceptional rank of Viscount.

Margaret was angry with the queen and the prince for forgetting the favor that they have received from me.

「Father will not let my older brother take over the throne. But there are a lot of people who want him to succeed the throne because it’s easier to manipulate an idiot. I thought this would be a good opportunity to get rid of them and clean up the royal palace. You will cooperate with me, won’t you? In return, I’ll support your dream of becoming a shut-in in the territory.」

Margaret seemed quite acrimonious. And flexible.
She is the first royalty who took my dream of becoming a shut-in seriously.

Although it’s a bit weird to say it myself, the kingdom’s central power has marked me as a competent and meritorious retainer and also a dangerous person. If I had said that I was going to become a shut-in in the territory, they would have suspected that I was preparing a rebellion. The fact that this did not happen was thanks to Margaret’s efforts to persuade everyone.

That’s why it is difficult for me to refuse Margaret’s request. That was not the only reason, Margaret reminded me of my time as queen, when I struggled to get the kingdom through in the previous 「108 times」. I guess that’s why Bradd said that Margaret and I are similar.

「I see, so that’s why you’re proposing an engagement. But I don’t want to be on the center stage of the nobles. Besides, it would be a blemish on Margaret’s history if my identity changed back to a girl again after the engagement.」

「Are you suffering from the ‘becoming a shut-in’ syndrome again? But if a person as talented and powerful as Scarlet is still in an ambiguous position, you will be offered with a series of political marriages. I think it would be safer for you to be engaged with me since we share many secrets and values. Besides, it will not leave a blemish on my personal history. After all, I will be queen before long and I will be the greatest person in this kingdom. I will not let anyone utter a complaint …… For example, I could change the laws in Hydrangea to allow women to marry each other.」

Margaret smiled slightly and my expression twitched.

「Y-You’re joking, right ……?」

「Well …… What do you think?」

Margaret’s evasive response scared me, so I went back to discussing the engagement topic.
There was still another problem.

「Margaret, you’re going to stir up trouble with the fake engagement to me and flush out the nobles who are in favor of the queen and prince right. But if you get engaged to me, who has the ruby of the True Emperor, you will be targeted by the four princes of the four great kingdoms. Because, Margaret, you are planning to ascend to the throne as the queen, aren’t you?」

For the four princes who are aiming for continental supremacy, this ruby, which is the proof of the successor of the True Emperor who once unified the continent, is something they want to obtain at any cost. However, due to a curse, no one but me can own the ruby. The only way left for them is to marry me as a wife and take ruby along with me. In order to keep them from doing so, I keep pretending to be a guy. But if Margaret, the future queen, marries 「the me with the identity of a guy」, it would mean that the legitimate successor of the True Emperor is Hydrangea.
There is no way they will just sit back and let it happen.

It would be very hard for Hydrangea to make enemies with the four great kingdoms. If it were me, I would never want that to happen.
But Margaret was in high spirits.

「I don’t mind. Anyway even if we leave the four princes alone, they will find a reason to invade Hydrangea. The battle has already begun. The real masterminds pulling the strings behind my mother and older brother’s back are the four princes. I’m sure you have noticed that. There is nothing worse than an enemy within your own family. All the information about our side would be leaked to them. I’ll have to beat the crap out of both of them so they don’t get any funny ideas again.」

Her determination took my breath away.

「Are you sure? That’ll cause you to become enemies with the queen and the prince. Not only that, it might also ……」

I swallowed back the rest of the sentence.
There was no way that Margaret did not foresee the consequences of the worst-case scenario.