Vol 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)

OKOBORE HIME TO ENTAKU NO KIshi+

The Leftover Princess and the Knights of the Round

Book II: A Queen’s Conditions

Story by: Riine Ishi+da

Art by: Ichiko Okiya

Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi+

iii

Characters:

Duke Barchet

Knight of Sixth Rank of the Royal Chivalric Order

Rumored to have the best skills within the Order

The receiving end of Leti's high-handed invitation

Leticia

“Leftover Princess”

First Princess of Sommevesle, heir to the throne

Already knew that she would be the next queen

Leonhardt

Leti's younger brother

Third Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle

An eccentric historian

iv

Friedhelm

First Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle

Leti's eldest half brother

A prince of charm and charisma

Astrid Gale

Knight of Tenth Rank of the Royal Chivalric Order

Duke’s junior

Guido

Second Prince of the Kingdom of Sommevesle

Leti’s second oldest half brother

A Prime Minister-type of prince with his detailed

planning and organized executions

Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi+

v

Brought to you by:

AQUA Scans

Credits:

 Raws: Icarus Bride

 Translation: Crystal Hikari

 Proofreading: Scylla

 Quality Checking: Mizuouji

Translator’s notes:

 The japanese honorifics were kept in the translation of the

dialogues of the characters to show the respect or adoration

shown by the characters Footnotes were provided upon the

first appearance of the honorific in the chapter to explain it

 Thoughts are signified by italics

 The titles for this volume are all based on chess terms

vi

CHAPTER I OPENING

Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi+: A Queen’s Conditions

- 7 -

The Knight King Christian, the first king of Sommevesle, and

his knights were said to have always congregated at a round table,

sy equality for all the members This was passed on from

one generation to another and was believed to be the origin of the

Twelve Knights of the Round

A knight king, Knights of the Round – these were clear

representations of Sommevesle’s particular fascination with

knights And in a country such as this, a Martial Arts Tournament,

where knights fought against each other under a set of rules, was

not so to be surprised of

“An invitation to the Martial Arts Tournament?”

“Yes I know you have never joined it, but at least you do

know about it, do you not?”

Sommevesle’s first princess, Leticia, brashly threw the

invitation at her knight, Duke Barchet, whom she had just recently

succeeded in recruiting aftera scene Her un-princess-like

action clearly showed her dislike for the invitation

“To participate in the tournaht – not

just a sihtful master In

other words, only honorary knights can take part in it”

Knight has two s in Sommevesle

- 8 -

One is Royal Knight This refers to the members of the Royal

Chivalric Order The Order was established to protect the peace

and order of the kingdom Duke was one of them

The other ht This, on the other hand,

is the title given to anyone who has sworn loyalty to their one

chosen ht, there are several reasons why they

choose to become one Some choose to be one in order to protect

their hts by name alone and

there are those who simply want to use their master’s name and

connections

Duke was a Royal Knight and was also Leti's Honorary Knight

and the Knight of the First Seat of the future Knights of the

Round The invitation for the tournament was sent due to the

second position he currently held

“They say it is for friendly competition and a chance for

interaction between the knights, but this is actually nothing but a

place for hts Men,” punctuated Leti

“But since I already have you as ht, we have to

participate in it I am certain that you have wide connections

aht

Academy but your connections as a nobleman are limited Better

use this opportunity to expand them”

“So you’re saying that that is oal and not to win?”

- 9 -

“Seventh Heaven and Valkyrie will also be co in it I

do not have any intentions of de the impossible from you”

“Demand the impossible, huh”

True, first prince Friedhelm’s “Seventh Heaven” and second

prince Guido’s “Valkyrie” were cohts in

the kingdom So for Leti to ask Duke to win the competition was

synonyht in

Sommevesle

“Anyway, the real problehts are the only

ones alloithin the tournarounds so there will be no

one there to stand asyour matches If it were for

me, I do not mind that at all, but I have my position as a princess

to consider”

Leti was perfectly capable of protecting herself from any form

of danger but since she was known to the world as a defenceless,

sweet princess, it would not be acceptable for her to not have a

knight by her side for the duration of the tournament

“I was planning to borrow one knight from Father’s Round,

but truthfully, I do not want to show people that I rely on him

However, that was the only way I could think of without worrying

about the political balance between the factions”

The political balance had been a long-standing problem for the

current king, Leti's father In order to keep this balance, he

selected his First Queen from the royal family This action would

- 10 -

serve as a restraint for the Three Grand Marquises But time

passed and they did not have children so he decided to take two

more queen consorts at the same time The Second Queen was

fro and the Third Queen was from Lauenstein, in

order to show that he was impartial Leti inferred this notion had

been made to keep the balance even before she was chosen as the

crown princess

“…I think I know someone who can be your temporary

knight for the tournament,” said Duke

“Someone?”

“Yeah Soet to

keep the political balance”

Duke knew the perfect person as unaffiliated and would

be glad to be Leti's knight But Duke himself was not really fond

of the idea of asking that person Ask him why he felt that way and

he would probably ansith, “I don’t know”



The Knight King’s space here the consciousness of the

reincarnations of So

Christian, could gather together The room was decorated with a

grand wooden chandelier and the floor was lined with lush carpet

- 11 -

erain

In the middle of the room was a beautiful patina table made of

evergreen oak and around it were ornate chairs made out of the

sa come to this

place during their dreams

Leti had no plans to visit the Knight King’s space tonight but

she soon found herself seated in one of the chairs Tonight it was

particularly crowded and she decided to start the conversation with

the other four kings

“Martial Arts Tourna my

ti Alexander as

surprised to hear that the tournaain

“What did you do that forced King Julius to prohibit it?” asked

Leti

“I challenged the winner to fight uess he

got fed up with ether”

Just as expected of the hot-headed king, Leti thought

“The tournament is a lively affair in my time I remember

secretly betting with hts on ould be the winner”

“If the historians of the future learned that the celebrated,

incorruptible, and clean Ad Karlheinz did such a

thing, I aht be shocked out of their minds

- 12 -

Please do the it

with you to your grave,” commented Leti

Leti’s great-grandfather, the seventeenth king, The

Adranddaughter

to overlook the deed The bet was only over a

bottle of wine

“…I do not have it in mine…we do not have the time nor the

resources anyway…” said The One-Ar Oswald, a

reincarnation after Leti's time He was currently in the middle of a

dire hich in a sense, was like having a tournament every day

“…Yes, of course…Anyway, try to think about it as

entertainment for the future,” Leti said to cheer him up

“Is that so? Challenges are already banned in my time Or

rather the notion of a knight itself is unclear,” said the

Heartbroken King Ludgar

“Do the Knights of the Round still exist?” asked Leti

“Well, that is the collective terenerals”

Ludgar was a reincarnation from a later future than Oswald

He was called the ‘Heartbroken King’ because he was famous for

the number of heartbreaks he had to endure, but he had a proper

title and the word did not exist yet in Leti's time

- 13 -

“…A peaceful time, is it not? Queen Leticia’s time,” Oswald

said He was living in a time of endless war and was probably

envious of Leti’s era

“Indeed I soe why a reincarnation of the

Knight King is needed There is not even a chance to use the

Knight King’s power at all,” agreed Leti

“No A day will come when you will have to use it You will…”

A loud crash cut Oswald’s words Alexander, as seated

beside Leti, kicked the table where he had been resting his feet a

while ago

“Oi, King Oswald! Telling the future to someone who doesn’t

wanna hear it is against the rules! Do you want me to shut your

mouth, huh?”

“But sos will be better if she knew about it…I know

I wanted to”

“So you’re saying that’s how it is for others because that’s how

it was for you? You kept on yapping on things like that so your

ar!” called out

Alexander

The atmosphere had turned dark and intense Leti stood up to

control the situation

“Stop that, you two! ‘A slip of the tongue’ exists in both times,

does it not? If this becoument, I shall

- 14 -

take things into my own hands and force you both to calm down

If you think you can win against me who has eleven of the Swords

of Promise, then step up!”

The reincarnations of The Knight King had the “Knight

Sword” and the “Twelve Swords of Promise”, a total of thirteen

swords created to protect the Knight King, sealed inside their

bodies

Leti recently granted the Sword of White Light, one of the

Twelve Swords of Promise, to save a particular lad so she now

only had a total of twelve swords in her

“…I will go now I doubt I can ith only three swords

left,” said Oswald He probably chose to go either because he

decided he would be the one to leave or because he was truly

offended by what Alexander said

“I shall go back as well I cannot stand more of this

atmosphere,” Leti said and left



Leti woke up in a foul mood due to what had happened in the

Knight King’s space

- 15 -

Leti declared before to the other Kings that she had no desire

to know the future However, The One-Ar slipped his

tongue so Leti's informal title,

“Heartbreaker Queen”

“No Definitely not That will absolutely not happen”

I aained such a title and

not because I have many lovers No Definitely not I want to believe that of

my future self Leti convinced herself

“I have ignored the ru

about it…But

if I or Duke deny it, it would just backfire on usus even

more suspicious”

Leti continued pondering on how to deal with this particular

probleet dressed Afterwards, another

ether with the

teht he had prepared for her for the Martial Arts

Tournament

“Your highness! I’ll work hard today!” greeted the rookie

knight of the Royal Chivalric Order with his head bowing down to

Leti

Astrid Gale was considered a top-class knight due to his

unusual skills despite being a newbie He was a commoner but he

was already rumoured to have the potential to be the next

Commander of the Royal Chivalric Order

- 16 -

“So you were the person Duke had in mind for my temporary

knight Well, you are indeed unaffiliated,” but wholly unexpected,

finished Leti in her mind

Further consideration of the idea made Leti realize that he was

indeed a likely candidate and simply became unexpected because

she was the one who consciously removed him from the likely

candidates Duke would have in mind It seemed like she and

Astrid were strangely connected

Astrid – one of Duke’s juniors – actually had a dark past

despite his see

ht and was

ju with joy when he said, “Yes Yes sir! I will, I will, I will! I

will give hness!”

Whether his joy was because he could gaze up close to the

beautiful Princess Leticia or because this was the perfect chance

for hiht, Duke did not

know

Duke had previously tried covertly asking Astrid as his

desired ed the topic every time,

intentionally or not

Leti as the most likely candidate for Astrid’s chosen

ht

“You do not have to do much All you have to do is to stand

behind o then”

- 17 -

- 18 -

So Leti, together with Astrid acting as her knight in place of

Duke, went to the Royal Chivalric Order’s training grounds where

the tournament would be held

There were tents put up to serve as a place for the audience to

stay An elaborate tent stood out ast the simple ones and

inside it where three equally elaborate chairs Friedhelm claimed

one chair on the side and Guido filled up the other one on the

opposite side and the middle seat was open The two princes

would never sit beside each other on friendly terms This was their

public stance; this as expected of them

“Well, well, well A pleasant day to you, your royal highness”

“Good day” Leti curtly returned Friedhel

with a perfect princess smile

“Oh, Astrid? Since when did you becoht?”

Friedhel

behind Leti instead of the tall Duke

“Duke prepared hiht for the

tournament Duke will be busy with his own matches and he will

also be assisting the Knights of the Round for the ement of

the tournament so he cannot stay by my side at all You may use

this time to recruit Astrid to your Seventh Heaven,” explained Leti

“Then I’ll do just that Hey, Astrid, be ht!”

- 19 -

“I will think about it, your highness,” replied Astrid This had

been his usual answer for a while but Friedhelm noticed that his

eyes were now different

Te already I let

another good one slip out of ht Friedhelm He did not

knohen Astrid had come to his decision but he knew that

those eyes would not even look back at him no matter how much

he invited him Leti took Duke first, and sooner or later, she

would be taking in Astrid

I guess, just as expected of my sister, mused Friedhelm

“Knights are weak against beautiful princesses, right?”

Friedhelave him a

yes, saying that ladies were creatures naturally to be protected

Friedhel like a child when

he heard them say this

Leti acted coolly and disregarded Friedhelm’s sarcastic remarks,

but she was truly fu inside

A knight-charht to tell me that! Leti fumed

“Astrid, why don’t we make a bet on who’ll win this

tournament?” Friedhelm asked

“Bet?” Astrid asked curiously with his head tilted to one side

- 20 -

“Yeah Who do you think it will be? If you win, I’ll give you

the best wine in ht What d’

you say?”

“I’hness, but I don’t drink”

“Humph You’re no fun at all Darn it I lost because I do not

have any sweet treats to lure a kid” Friedhelrumbled in his seat,

co at Astrid’s refusal

Astrid clearly said that he does not drink rather than he cannot

drink This clearly showed that he did not even want to bet his

knighthood with Friedhelm And no one knew if Astrid did it

intentionally or if he was just naturally clueless

While Friedhel about Astrid, Astrid himself had

a big question inside hie to ask it

“Uhm…Please pardon me, but what is this tournament in the

first place?”

Astrid’s question was truly out of place Leti unintentionally

slipped out of her facade and Friedhelly let out an

exasperated, “Eh?”

It seemed like Duke only told Astrid that he wanted him to be

a te less

“The tournament, or officially, the Martial Arts Tournament is

a codom

Though it is called a tournaet is

- 21 -

honour and being branded as the strongest knight in Sommevesle,”

explained Leti

“Are they going to fight?”

“Yes They will fight as knights –

using the same sithin a time limit as shown by the

hourglass over there The judges are the present Knights of the

Round as they are not participating in the tournament”

“A fight between knights, using the same sword…then…”

Astrid said glancing at the busy Duke as helping in the

preparations for the tournament

“…it shall be Duke-senpai1

”

Leti's reaction was delayed due to her surprise at Astrid’s

answer Before Leti could even ask Astrid for an explanation,

Friedhellared at Astrid

“A-S-T-R-I-D! You bloke! You said the one thing no one

dared to utter despite knowing it!”

“E-h!? Is that so? Please forgive ized

despite not understanding what he did wrong

1 Senpai – a japanese honorific used in addressing one’s senior

- 22 -

Then Friedhelm smiled at Leti, as still at a lost on what

Astrid had meant

“I won’t be recruiting Duke to Seventh Heaven just because

he is my friend I have my reasons, and of course, he does as well”

Friedhelm said as he pointed his head towards Guido’s direction

Leti knew that Guido had recruited Duke before but Duke

never mentioned it to her The only reason she could think of was

that Guido wanted to prevent Duke, someone from his faction,

froht, but based on Friedhelm’s

words, it was not the only reason

“Well then, why don’t we take a seat and enjoy the

perforhts of the

Round”

And then the tournament commenced

The matches proceeded one by one Some were close and

entertaining fights and so

Duke fro the

out as a future Knight of the Round and learning from the

incumbent ones

After a long wait, it was now Duke’s turn

- 23 -

“Your highness, please watch carefully Duke-senpai’s match

will be over in three moves” Astrid said to Leti, his voice was

oozing with pride for his respected senior

“Three moves?” asked Leti

“What? Did he get even better? Unbelievable…” said a

surprised Friedhelm

“They say that it is the hts

but Senpai is the only one I knoho can do it”

Leti detereniusassassin

Astrid, so if this genius was so sure that Duke would win,

maybe he really would

I have heard that his skills were one of if not the best in the Order but…,

thought Leti

Leti decided to focus on watching the match of her own

knight and measure his true abilities

An incunal

to start the battle As soon as the sign was given, Duke quickly

made his move

The best fighting ht is composed of these three

moves

One, cross swords with the opponent and charge forcefully to

break the opponent’s stance

- 24 -

Two, strongly wield the sword, forcing the opponent to lose

his grip on his oord,him defenceless

And three, thrust the sword and point it towards the

opponent’s neck to signal his defeat and the end of the match with

a lot of sand still left in the hourglass

Everyone was in aith Duke’s skilful, precise, and wellexecuted

three-move attack Even the referee was rendered

speechless for a moment before he announced Duke’s win

He is…He really is strong, thought an amazed Leti That

deh for her to know that Duke’s

skills were far beyond the skills than that of a regular first-rate

knight

“So, hoas it?” Friedhel face to Leti

and he gave a detailed coht

“For a knight battle fought fair and square, there are only three

factors to consider: technique, power and speed And as you’ve

seen, Duke is way above the others for all of those factors No one

comes close”

“But I re that he was on par with

Duke during their Acadeain?”

“Duke was a fliht”

“So you want to say that he lacked the power before,”

confirmed Leti

- 25 -

What Leti saw in this tournament was a far more polished

fighting style than the one she witnessed before when Duke

fought sonito walks

So why does he prefer using that practical fighting style? He is already

strong as it is, wondered Leti Then she remembered Duke’s

excessively strong junior

Astrid seemed to be the source of Duke’s complex and he

wanted to prove that he was not only strong as a knight

Duke always acted as the understanding, mature adult to Leti

but he was a just a childish man when it came to Astrid

This is why you are just a youngster You should be more assertive,

thought Leti Being strong as a knight was a valuable asset,

especially in this peaceful time She decided to compliment Duke

later and moved on to ask Astrid

“But I heard that you and Duke had equal records in the

Order? Why is that?”

Duke himself told Leti before that he and Astrid were equals,

but Friedhelo that no one came near to Duke so

Leti wanted an explanation

“Yes, we do have equal records because I collect points from

other battles But if it’s a straight swordfight, I hate to admit it, but

it’ll beelse and there

aren’t be any rules, I am certain I can win”

- 26 -

“Do you also have other battles aside from swords in the

Order?” asked a curious Leti

“Yes, we do your highness We hts, but

disputes in town or catching

pickpockets Fighting with swords would be difficult because we

ht accidentally wound innocent people in the area so we also

train in different fighting styles,” explained Astrid

Exa styles were hand-to-hand

combat, knives, and other items that could be considered more

practical Out of all of those styles being taught in the Order,

Astrid’s favourite was “The correct way to stop a drunkard with a

pitcher ~Pub version~”

“Senpai’s so great” Astrid said, as if voicing out Leti's

thoughts

Leti did not openly agree with Astrid but she was forced to

admit to herself that she was elated with Duke’s performance

Duke, on the other hand, was being praised by his seniors in

the Knights of the Round and was told him to keep this

momentum for the rest of the tournament

I see So the ru the next Commander for the Order

were not rumours at all, realized Leti as she sa Duke was

surrounded by his colleagues

- 27 -

A knight with the best swordsmanshi+p, a calm and decisive

attitude, and being fully trusted by the other knights, add to that

his noble blood, were the conditions for the ideal Commander and

Duke satisfied all of these Leti took away from the Royal Chivalric

Order their future perfect Commander

While Leti was feeling a little sorry for the Order for what she

did, so

cold touch her cheek and her surroundings suddenly turned frantic

even before she could react

“Leticia!” said an alarmed Guido

“No! Look up!” shouted Friedhelm and Astrid

Leti followed their words and looked up, and then so

dripped down again, falling onto her hair She touched it, dirtying

her sleeve in the process – dirtying it with blood

“What the…Quick! Call the Knights of the Round! This is

gonna get really complicated…” Friedhelm was the first one to

snap out of shock and gave instructions to Seventh Heaven and

then Guido brought Leti to his side The blood dripping from the

tent’s roof did not look like it would stop at any moment and

everybody just looked up at the bloody sight

“What’s wrong!?” Duke’s voice cut through the heavy

atmosphere and what he saas his bloodied master – her

beautiful blonde hair and white cheeks were stained scarlet

- 28 -

Duke was already dreading the worst when Leti calmly shook

her head and told him to look up “Calm down This is not mine

Look up”

Duke follohat Leti said and sahere the blood was

co from

“A lamp…with blood inside?”

The position of the lamp was not unnatural so probably no

one noticed it until blood started leaking out of it

“I’ll bring it down” Astrid said He stood up on the backrest

of Leti's chair and used it as a springboard to jump up He took

the lamp and landed perfectly on his feet

“Ah! Blood is still leaking out” Astrid’s hand was smeared

with the blood dripping out of the lamp and when he opened it,

the bloody scent filled the training grounds that Leti had to cover

her nose with her clean sleeve

“…a bird’s corpse? Who’d do so like this?” said Astrid

Leti thought this was too much for a simple prank

Sealed inside the lamp was a beheaded bird The lamp was

hanging froaps

in the lamp and dripped down so its existence could be discovered

Or maybe it was meant to be found

- 29 -

“Astrid, go and wash your hands Then bring one wet and one

dry cloth for her highness,” ordered Duke

“Yes Sir! One wet and one dry!” Astrid confirmed the order

and swiftly moved out