I don't want to be a heroic spirit

When "Alice" said this, "Nero"'s eyes lit up.

"No, no, no, isn't this a bad idea?"

"...I almost forgot, Youyouru is also a good kid who follows the rules too much."

Alice turned to look at the flustered Youyou and said, "To me, part of the reason you've never been able to make friends is because you're too well-behaved."

"Ehhhh?!"

It was the first time Youyou heard that being “well-behaved” could also be a mistake.

"No, being well-behaved certainly isn't wrong." "Alice" spoke, as if hearing Youyou's inner voice. "Your mistake was being 'different.' After all, humans are notoriously repulsive. The slightest difference will be magnified, then excluded, devalued, and ridiculed, creating a false sense of superiority for yourself and enjoying it. When everyone else is gray, and you alone are pure white, then your existence becomes a mistake, a sin."

"Your Highness Alice?"

There was an urging voice from outside the door.

"That's it. I'll go to class in Alice's place, and Alice will go out with Yunyun. Although you two often hang out together in Axel, this is your first time in the capital, right? Enjoy it, opportunities like this don't come around often."

Alice said, "This is my first time filling in for someone else. I'm suddenly feeling a little excited and looking forward to it."

"Since...sister said so." "Nero" grabbed the hem of her skirt and whispered, "But...but! Sister, please don't do anything weird with my body!"

Alice didn't take this seriously.

They are all girls, what weird things can she do?

…………

"What's wrong? Claire, you look weird."

Walking down the castle corridor with Claire.

Everyone they met on the road would bow to her and Claire, and "Alice" would nod in response gracefully.

"No, how should I put it... I just feel that there has been a slight change in Her Highness Alice."

Claire's cheeks flushed slightly as she stared intently at "Alice"'s faint smile that seemed to show that she could handle everything with ease.

"I have a feeling... Your Highness has become even more dazzling."

Alice nodded and smiled brightly, as if she was very satisfied with Claire's evaluation.

"Hmm! Isn't this a good thing?"

Chapter 315 Alice’s fiancé?

"...Your Highness Alice, you seem very happy."

"Yes, after all... I get to see Nero-san and Yun-yun again... And Satou Kazuma-san and Aqua-san are both very interesting. It's strange that Lalatina, who is always calm and reliable, would show such panic in front of so many people."

"That's true. I didn't expect Sir Dustinis to act like a little girl... Looks like she's found some pretty good teammates."

Her acting seemed perfect.

Even Claire, Alice's personal guard, only noticed something a little unusual, but she didn't raise any suspicions.

Originally, he wanted to avoid embarrassing Alice, so he tried to be perfect in everything he said and did... but in the end, Claire became confused because he was too perfect.

This is probably because he tried too hard when acting?

Besides this, there is one more thing...

"... Your Highness Alice, I know you have a deep admiration, perhaps even a longing, for Nero-sama. After all, she is a powerful warrior who was able to defeat four leaders of the Demon King's army. I've heard from many people that Nero-sama may one day become a hero who defeats the Demon King. Even in the capital, there are many who admire her."

Claire spoke in a complex tone, as if she was holding something back. "There's nothing wrong with learning from such a person. Even I can't find fault with him, but... but... Your Highness, you can't even learn Nero's quirks, can you?"

"Hmm?"

Claire's advice is extremely pertinent, but... it's really a bit too much to ask.

Even "Alice" did not expect that even after exchanging bodies, her "hmm" habit would still exist.

What a strange thing...

When "Alice" raised her hand, she suddenly touched the necklace around her neck.

It was this thing that caused the current situation...

Should I say it's a divine weapon, right? Her [Magic Resistance] skill is completely useless.

She had been planning to destroy this thing directly, but was stopped by Alice, and then Claire suddenly appeared and interrupted her.

Speaking of which...

"Claire, do you remember who presented this necklace to my brother?"

"Alice" looked up at Claire. "Nero" hadn't been able to answer this question before, which made her inexplicably concerned, so she asked Claire the same question again this time.

"Hmm? Why does Her Highness Alice ask this?" Claire was stunned for a moment. "The person who presented this necklace is...eh? Strange?"

Claire showed the same confused expression as "Nero" before, but "Alice" was not surprised at all.

Sure enough, something is wrong...

If you think about it carefully, it was obvious that this suspicious magic item of unknown function was handed over to the royal family, but not even one person felt that it was wrong, so the necklace was handed over to Alice so smoothly, and she even wore it without any suspicion.

"Excuse me, Your Highness Alice... I'll check when I get back. There should be records of magical tools like this presented to the royal family."

"Well, I'll leave it to you, Claire."

Although she said that... Alice didn't actually have any expectations for this.

It was as if a pair of big hands were controlling everything, moving all the abnormalities away from people's sight.

Super-large-scale mental control... I always feel that it is not something that is so simple and superficial, but rather plucking the strings of fate and manipulating the established reality.

There is no doubt that it transcends the realm of magic, that is, it belongs to the scope of [concepts] and [power], which is the realm of God.

It was hard to imagine that this incident would involve a god... or perhaps a great demon.

"Your Highness Alice?"

Brought back to her senses by the gentle call, Alice looked up and met Claire's eyes.

"...Ah, Claire... Sorry, I was thinking about something and got distracted for a moment... Did you say anything just now?"

She raised her hand and massaged her swollen head, which slightly relaxed the tension in her heart. Then, "Alice" heard Claire speak.

"Well, I was just talking about the neighboring country, Elrod, suddenly refusing to provide financial support, and about your fiancé."

"……What did you say?"

"Alice" looked at Claire with an expression that said, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"What's wrong with you, Your Highness Alice? Didn't I discuss this with you before? Regarding Elrod's sudden refusal to continue providing financial support to our country, and his resolute attitude, Princess, you even said you would personally inquire about the situation. Part of the reason for inviting Lord Nero and Miss Youyou here this time was to have them take responsibility for protecting your safety during this process..."

"This is the first time I've heard of this... No, this question is important, after all, I know how war is a gluttonous waste of money, resources, and manpower. It's no exaggeration to say it's an insatiable bottomless pit... But! Hmm! I think I just heard something even more worrying than this."

Her eyes became deep and her expression was extremely serious. "Alice" exuded an aura that was difficult to ignore.

"Fiancé...tell me in detail."

She didn't care if she was exposed... Now she couldn't wait to know what this so-called "fiancé" was.

"Alice... Your Highness?" Claire's brain processor raced for about three seconds before she spoke, "No... Your Excellency Nero?"

"Put aside who I am for now."

Taking two steps towards Claire, "Alice" grabbed Claire's collar, forcing her to bend down and look at her.

"Tell me, what's going on with the fiancé? Alice is only 12 years old, right? Where did such a fiancé come from?"

…………

The country where Nero is currently located is the ancient Kingdom of Belzer, which has the highest military power among all countries and is also the closest to the Demon King's Castle.

Due to the geographical conditions, the war between the ancient Kingdom of Belzer and the Demon King's army has never stopped. Once the ancient Kingdom of Belzer cannot withstand the invasion of the Demon King's army and its defense line is broken, the other fragile countries will basically have no resistance.

Therefore, although other countries do not have strong combat power, their support for the ancient Kingdom of Belzer has always existed, because they all understand the principle of "lips and teeth are cold".

The Kingdom of Elrod, a neighboring country of the ancient Kingdom of Belzer, is known as a gambling powerhouse. The entire country can be said to be supported by the gambling industry. It is not wrong to describe the national conditions of the Kingdom of Elrod as "so poor that only money is left."

The Ancient Kingdom of Belzer and the Kingdom of Elrod have always maintained friendly relations. The Kingdom of Elrod provides financial support to the Ancient Kingdom of Belzer, and the Ancient Kingdom of Belzer provides military assistance to the Kingdom of Elrod, maintaining a friendly atmosphere of "you are good, I am good, and everyone is good."

Until a while ago, the Kingdom of Elrod suddenly announced that it would cut off financial support to the ancient Kingdom of Belzer.

The reasons given were things like "the treasury is empty and finances are tight", and the speech sounded insincere.

Then there is Alice’s fiancé…who is actually the first prince of the Elrod Kingdom and the current ruler of the Elrod Kingdom.

Chapter 316 Political Marriage

"To put it bluntly...isn't this a political marriage?"

Thanks to Claire's detailed explanation, "Alice" also understood the basic situation... and then made this evaluation.

"Hmm! If it were just a political marriage, it would be fine. After all, there are examples of political marriages that can lead to happiness in this world... But Alice and that prince haven't even met once, right? How old are Alice's brother and father? They've become so confused? They've thrown away Alice's future and happiness so easily?"

"That's right! What on earth are His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness thinking? The First Prince of the Elrod Kingdom is nothing but a spoiled brat who's become willful! His innate fighting talent is utterly lacking, and his looks are nothing compared to the cutest, most beautiful, and most well-behaved Princess Alice in the world! Princess Alice will never be happy marrying a brat like that!"

Claire was also furious that they dared to make up stories about the royal family.

When I introduced the first prince of the Elrod Kingdom to "Alice" before, I brought a lot of personal emotions into the introduction.

If there hadn't been a third person present where the two were talking, Claire might have been in danger of her life.

"Hey, Nero!" Claire excitedly said to "Alice": "You think so too, don't you? You think Her Highness Alice shouldn't marry that brat!"

"Alice" did not speak, but stood up from the chair silently.

"Claire, the king and prince of this country should be fighting the Demon King's army at the fortress on the front line, right?"

"That's right... Where are you going, Lord Nero?"

Looking at "Alice's" back, Claire subconsciously asked the doubts in her heart.

"Need I ask? Of course, we'll give those two idiots who traded Alice's happiness for the nation's support a surprise... Like locking them up and playing the heavenly music I carefully prepared on a surround sound system for three days and three nights!"

"No! Lord Nero! It'll kill people! Even though I can't remember anything and don't know why listening to music can kill people, and I don't know what that stereo is, but I'm sure it will kill people!!"

Claire's face looked frighteningly ugly, as if the "singing" mentioned by "Alice" had evoked some bad memories that had been buried in her mind. Every cell in her body refused to recall that cruel nightmare.

Claire grabbed Alice's waist and frantically tried to stop her, saying, "His Majesty the King is the pillar of this country. This country cannot do without His Majesty, and His Royal Highness the Prince is the future king. He's also very important. Nothing can happen to them! If you really want to take action... you only need to kill the First Prince of the Elrod Kingdom!"

"How rude! I'm not planning on killing anyone, I just want to invite everyone to listen to my singing!"

I might as well die than listen to you singing, it’s just a matter of a moment anyway… Claire couldn’t help but complain in her heart.

"A political marriage...it's such a familiar, yet complicated term."

Alice showed a melancholy expression.

"By sacrificing just one person's happiness and future, one can profit for a nation, secure welfare for the people, and bring peace to the future... If you think about it carefully, it's truly a sure-win deal. If you were to place a person and a nation on opposite ends of a scale, weighing, comparing, and choosing, wouldn't it be immediately clear which is more important? This is based on rational thinking."

Political marriage was certainly not unfamiliar to Nero.

In order to make Nero the emperor, Nero's mother Agrippina the Younger did many things that seemed extremely absurd to ordinary people.

Nero's mother poisoned her second husband and then married the emperor at the time, his uncle Claudius. After obtaining the status of empress, she continued to accumulate power for Nero, forcing Claudius to make Nero the heir to the throne. At the same time, she continued to assassinate other heirs, and even in order to consolidate Nero's power, she made Nero marry Claudius' daughter, Nero's sister Octavia.

Octavia was Nero's wife, but Nero did not love her. However, Nero could do nothing because she was very aware of her identity at that time and she was just a pawn of her mother.

In a simple theater, a puppet was dancing, with countless tiny strings wrapped around her body. Her words and actions never revealed herself, because for a puppet, the self was the most redundant thing.

The other end of the line is under the control of her mother. The performance in the theater is only performed by her and for her alone. She is the only director of the performance and also the only audience.

Behind the curtain, the pile of bones had already begun to stink, and the blood that soaked the wooden floor had long since dried up.

It was not until Nero used the same trick his mother had used countless times - assassinating her mother with poison - that she finally got rid of her identity as a "puppet" and a "chess piece". Then... she did not hesitate to burn down the rotten theater that buried countless corpses... along with the body of her mother, Agrippina the Younger.

"...It brought back some bad memories."

"Alice" came back to her senses... She was clearly using Alice's body now, but she still felt a severe headache... Maybe it was an illusion?

She subconsciously wanted to raise her hand. In the past, when she had a headache, she would always massage her head. Although it didn't have much effect, but... at least it gave her some psychological comfort, right?

But... he didn't lift it up.

"...Claire."

"Hmm? What's going on, Mr. Nero?"

"...Don't you think you've been holding me for a bit too long?"