Tensei Saki ga Shoujo Manga no Shiro Buta Reijou datta Chapter 19

When I was five years old, my cousin Britney was born.

I still remember that black-haired, blue-eyed baby who smiled at me on our first meeting. Britney back then was a really sweet child.

But once my cousin turned three, her parents left the household one after the other. Only two remained behind, Britney and grandfather. (TLN: Sad backstory, kita!)

I wonder if she felt helpless. From that time on, Britney became obsessed with food as if to drive off the loneliness. Even when I went to see her, she was often eating sweets.

I was living with my parents at that time in a different estate from the Earl’s, but when I visited grandfather and saw Britney who was five, I was shocked at how much her figure had changed.

What I found was not a cute little girl, but a self-centered piglet.

Before I knew, grandfather had started spoiling her. The face of former angel was completely gone.

Once I turned thirteen, I went to school in the royal capital for three years.

I am worried about grandfather and Britney, but for the sake of the earldom’s future I had to leave.

The earldom where I live is not very wealthy. In this remote region, nature is the only redeeming feature.

Our produce consisted primarily of livestock ranching, and along the coast we had a fishing industry.

It seems agriculture is difficult here because the land contains many nutrient-poor slopes.

Originally the territory made money by exporting horses, but recently horses haven’t been selling. After the war ended and peace was restored, the demand for horses has gradually diminished.

In the Hakusu Earldom, the horses are swift-footed and strong-willed. However, in this era of peace horses with a calm temperament are preferred.

Until I went to the royal capital I had no clue about such things. Although I was still a child, there were too many things I was ignorant of.

A short time after entering the academy, I became good friends with the crown prince.

We both frequented the campus library, and after some time he began to talk to me.

I was nervous around the refined prince, be he was surprisingly friendly and easy to talk to. After getting on good terms with his followers and forming a strong bond to the prince, I graduated from the academy.

From the start, it was only a place you could attend from the ages of thirteen until sixteen. I wanted to remain in the royal capital for a little longer, but I had something I needed to do. Unlike nobles living in the royal capital, I bore on my shoulders the heavy responsibility to protect our remote territory. This responsibility is too heavy, it’s painful… (TLN: Thirteen, eh? Britney, your school life is approaching fast.)

Returning back to the Hakusu earldom, my cousin had put on even more weight.

Britney at this time was eleven years old. However, the dignity of a noble’s daughter of that age could not be found. (TLN: So, when Ryuze returned home at 16 or 17 years old, Britney was 11. For the present time, Ryuze must be 17 or 18 years old.)

(What in the world happened during these three years I was away?)

The territory, which from the start was not affluent, had become even more destitute.

My grandfather was losing money hand over fist, getting cheated out of money through fraudsters, and being strangled by predatory relatives. After parting with so much money, before I knew it our territory was in debt.

The territory’s citizens are good, but grandfather is not suited for administration.

Returning the topic to Britney, not only had she grown fat, but her personality had become crooked. Before I left a part of her had been self-centered, but now her personality had grown worse.

The quality of the servants had declined, with the exception of the kitchen staff. My parents are just as unsuited to administrate the territory, and have averted their eyes from the situation. They were thinking of nothing but living in luxury.

Upon my return, I was obliged to repay the debts as soon as possible. I stayed at grandfather’s to take up the title of the feudal lord, and ran about doing my best to improve the territory’s financial situation.

Fortunately the neighboring territory’s lord is grandfather’s friend and an upright human being, and supported my back as I fought alone.

He was aware of our house’s poor condition without me asking him.

Despite the poor situation, there were some who continued spending money to maintain their extravagant lifestyle. Chief among them, was Britney.

Every day she requested more sweets than she could possibly eat, stocked up on dresses in bad taste, and bought large amounts of oil for her massages.

I mildly cautioned her, but nothing got through.

Of all things, my cousin began looking at me with eyes of longing.

I had many things I needed to do, with not enough time for it all, and taking care of a stupid cousin was not something I could do. As such, I left her state as it was.

(Quickly, someone please take her as their bride.)

Were the top spendthrift to leave, our money situation would begin to improve.

While I was away, Britney had only done one good thing. That is, the quality of the earldom’s cooks improved greatly.

Britney was a considerable gourmet. Thanks to her speaking out about the cooking, the quality of the Hakusu earldom’s cooking became much more refined. The quality was even better than the royal capital’s. (TLN: And now that you have a reincarnated Japanese with you, the cooking will become even more world-class! As reincarnated Japanese do.)

Even though the quality of the servants was worsening, the skilled kitchen staff remained largely unchanged. Rather, if I’ve heard correctly, the kitchen staff’s skill have improved greatly. It put my cousin in a more positive light.

But, Britney made sure to swiftly destroy that feeling.

One day, Britney’s engagement to the second son of the neighboring territory’s Astaru earldom was decided.

In exchange for his son’s engagement to my cousin, the Earl of Astaru would provide aid to our territory. Those were the terms of the engagement.

His close friend, grandfather, was delighted to hear this. However, the crucial Britney was apathetic.

I prepared a flawless personal history for her, and began secretly preparing for Britney’s engagement announcement. (TLN: This is the marriage candidate letter he had, where it lied and said Britney was thin and of good personality.)

However, after a little while something beyond my expectations happened.

The second son of the Earl himself, the engagement partner, informed us that he would like to annul the engagement. Instead, he would prepare a large amount of consolation fees and other various things.

As a result of examining the cause, I found that he had come to our estate personally to confirm what he saw in her personal history.

In spite of the big announcement, I had planned to not let him and Britney meet until he could not escape… Ojii-sama, why did you let them meet!?

Later the Earl of Astaru himself came by and said that his sons declaration to break off the engagement was invalid, but in the end that declaration was ineffective.

The consolation fee was quite splendid, but the spendthrift Britney remained at our estate. Somebody, anybody, please take her.

A letter from the crown prince arrived for the troubled me. Its contents mentioned he was looking for companions for his younger sister.

(… This is it.)

The moment I saw it, I immediately thought of using it to drive off my troublesome cousin.

Speaking of Britney, my cousin… Lately, her state has been strange.

The amount of food she eats at dinner changed drastically, she has quit eating between meals altogether, and she has tempered her extravagant spending. Moreover, she has even begun running around the garden.

Perhaps, she had received a greater shock than I thought from the broken off engagement. The contents of her conversations have become more decent and upright as well.

(Did you eat something bad?)

Along with her going outside, the amount of time it takes to prepare her clothes has changed greatly.

Although Britney used to leave everything up to the maids, recently she has begun dressing herself.

Talking about hot springs and health issues, she really is an entirely different person from before. I wonder what strange thing caused her to change so drastically…?

I talked to her about how the crown prince’s younger sister was recruiting companions. Until now I was worried that sending Britney to the capital would be a huge embarrassment for our earldom, but if she remains as she is now, it should be alright…

All of a sudden, Britney’s expression changed.

“Onii-sama, I… I don’t want to go to the royal capital! If I need to leave the house, I would like to leave some other way!”

See looked frightened of something. I wonder, are you afraid of the royal capital?

In deference to my cousin who looks so terrified of going to the royal capital, I will put this topic on hold.

If Britney remains possessed by whatever has hold of her, and continues to not spend extravagantly, she won’t be a burden to this territory.

However, that is only for a short while.

In order to succeed the Earl, the existence of Britney is an obstacle. As long as she remains here, grandfather will not relinquish his position as lord.

He dotes on Britney from the bottom of his heart.

My social position is low, so it is difficult to vie for the position as lord. I need to succeed grandfather before he changes his mind.

Sooner or later, I will need my cousin to leave the earldom.

Thus, I told Britney that within three years she needs to find a fiancé.

I know that is a tough condition for my cousin as she is now. But, I also have hopes that she will be able to do it.

As much as possible, I would like to be kind to my family.

If, for some reason Britney becomes a spendthrift once more, I will swiftly send her off to the royal capital.

From there after, Britney remained possessed by something.

She continued losing weight, earnestly attended her tutor’s lessons, and before I knew she had built a hot spring in the garden.

As well, she began to manufacture “soap” using the kitchen. According to Britney, this “soap” is something that causes dirt and fungus to fall off the body. It seems to be useful for laundry and dish-washing as well.

After I got a hold of my cousin’s invention, I immediately tried to sell it at the royal capital. There, I quickly got a response from the crown prince. He would like to purchase a large quantity of soap from our territory.

Telling this success to Britney, she was incredibly surprised, but said she would cooperate with the soap’s production and research.

As otherwise production would not be able to catch up to demand, I will receive recipes from Britney and build facilities to make soap. Of course, I will only hire those I can trust, and can maintain secrecy about the soap’s production.

When I introduced the soap to the royal capital, it seems it can be sold for a substantial price. Since the amount being circulated is presently insufficient, the primary buyers are nobility and wealthy merchants.

The Hakusu earldom’s debt is likely to be repaid in full due to Britney’s invention.

As I now had leeway to reform the residence, I purged the estate of the poor quality servants.

In the kitchen, the chefs who have newly awakened to healthy dishes, are improving their skills every day.

Sometimes, Britney seems to slip out of her room around midnight to search for food. Eating solely healthy food every day seems to have made her hungry.

Recently she has said she wants to be skinnier, but since I know how much she loves to eat, I will continue to turn a blind eye to her weight.

Finally we see Britney from Ryuze’s point of view. He had a lot to say (long chapter, kusu kusu T_T).

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Chapter end