My Sister Took My Fiancé and Now I’m Forced to Marry the Ugly Duke

Falcon and Eating Strange Food

On a starry night, Rosa took a carriage to the Rai Kingdom.

A party was to be held there tonight.

Today, she wore a pile of jewelry left behind by her sister, Lucrezia. From the buckles on her shoes to her hair ornament, she was covered in diamonds.

‘It’s amazing! My whole body is sparkling.’

The large, drop-shaped diamond earrings were a particular favorite, especially against Rosa’s pretty strawberry blonde hair.

And finally, serving as her escort was Rosa’s proud fiancé.

Falco had his blonde hair tied back with a contemporary ribbon and was wearing tight-fitting trousers that showed off his slender legs. He was so manly that Rosa couldn’t help but admire him.

“Rosa, you look exceptionally beautiful today. I feel like I want to make love to you right now.”

“Oh my, Falco-sama!”

‘I’m so blessed to be able to marry such a wonderful person!’

After she greeted Lord and Madam Waja, the ambassador of the Rai Kingdom, who welcomed her, she suddenly noticed a man behind them.

The man, like a person from the Rai Kingdom, had an exceptionally tall, stout, muscular physique, and sharp eyes. His skin was white and his hair was black.

“Please allow me to escort you to the dining room instead. I am Reisch, Crown Prince of Rai.”

He smiled at her, and Rosa gasped. He was as cool as Falco-sama.

“Hello.”

The Crown Prince of Rai was pleased when Rosa performed the greeting of Rai, which she had just learned.

“You are very good.”

She smiled back at him and inwardly boasted of her victory.

‘See, it’s easy enough for me to do what sister can do.’

She was annoyed that Lucrezia was asserting her superiority over her in any way. She wanted to overwrite all of Lucrezia’s good reputation that was left in the court by getting everyone to like her here.

Rosa finished dinner without a hitch, showing off what she had studied beforehand.

Afterward, they moved to the common room.

Rosa felt a faint stirring in her heart when she met Crown Prince Reisch again. Right now, she would rather have a conversation with Reisch than with Falco next to her.

Rosa went straight to Reisch and spoke to him.

“Thank you for inviting us. It was very delicious.”

Reisch looked a little dubious, but eventually smiled at her.

“Thank you. I’m glad to hear that. But―I wonder if it’s all right? I think it was Madam Waja who invited you.”

She looked over and saw Madam Waja staring at Rosa’s face as if she had just seen something incredible.

‘What is it?’

Rosa was a little concerned, but didn’t think too much about it.

‘She was probably getting jealous, anyway.’

The lovely Rosa was the object of jealousy wherever she went, and when she spoke to men, she was often scowled at by women like this.

Rosa knew that in her country, it is basically male-dominated, and it’s a major breach of etiquette for women to talk to men on their own, but Rosa, who had admired the heroines in romance novels who aggressively talked to various men, assumed that it was a mere old-fashioned manner.

‘What’s so outrageous about talking to a guy yourself? It’s old-fashioned thinking.’

She thinks that such things were excuses for unpopular women. At most, it was probably an excuse for unattractive women who feared that they won’t be taken seriously.

Rosa knew it was a religious-based mindset, but she didn’t know that the Kingdom of Rai had even stricter norms than the Illuminati.

It was a country where if you tarnish your family name with ugly rumors, your relatives will kill you.

That was the Kingdom of Rai.

She was completely unaware that her behavior was taken more seriously than she thought.

“I want to talk to Your Highness Reisch more. Can’t I?”

When she spoke to him in a friendly casual speech, behaving like a spoiled child, Reisch laughed.

Madam Waja looked at Rosa with a stabbing look in her eyes…. as expected she must be jealous.

Because there wasn’t a man in the world who wouldn’t be delighted to be spoken to by the lovely Rosa in a friendly manner, as if they were friends.

‘I feel sorry for those who aren’t cute.’

Rosa smiled and asked, “What were you all talking about?”. Falco casually stood next to her, showing his willingness to join in the conversation.

“The rabbit in today’s dish tastes superb. Everyone was praising it.”

“’The Crown Prince caught it on a falconry trip.”

Rosa cheered, saying that it was amazing, as the explanation came from the side.

‘Falconry. What a surprise, men talk about the same things everywhere.’

If it’s falconry, Rosa had an ironclad story to get excited about.

“So, Your Highness is good at falconry! My dad is too.”

Rosa’s easygoing tone caused the men around her to scrunch up their faces.

However, it was only for a moment, and the conversation soon continued in a friendly manner.

“I wonder if Falco-dono was named after your father’s hobby in falconry?”

The Crown Prince spoke to Falco.

“Yes, my father also likes falconry. But how did you know my name?”

“I’ve heard of you before. It is an honor to meet you.”

The conversation was stopped because Falco was flabbergasted.

‘Jeez, Falco-sama really isn’t experienced in this kind of thing, is he?’

It was always Rosa’s role to make sure the conversation wasn’t interrupted.

“I know everyone here like falcons, but…. has anyone here ever eaten a falcon?”

At Rosa’s subsequent question, the room fell completely silent at once.

They only glanced at each other, and none of them answered anything.

‘Huh? Normally, the response would be something like, “There’s no way.”’

“….. I’ve heard of such a story in one of the classics of your country. Was it about a man who cooked and served a falcon he cared for like a friend to his beloved lady?”

Reisch said as if to mediate.

“Oh really? I didn’t know there was such a story.”

At Rosa’s nonchalant reply, Reisch laughed as if caught off guard.

“Hahaha, it’s a story in your country, why don’t you know about it?”

“I’ve never heard of it before. Jeez, you don’t have to laugh so much about it.”

Reisch laughed and said a little teasingly.

“If that’s not what you’re talking about….., perhaps you’d like to tell us the story of how you ate Falco-dono?”

“Eee?! Y-you’re wrong! I’m not talking about such an obscene story!”

Hearing their exchange, the surroundings began to laugh again, as if relieved.

“My dad was once in so much financial trouble that he was at a loss so he roasted some and ate it as his own food!”

The ensuing conversation silenced the room once again.

‘Jeez, what is it?’

Every time Rosa said something, it seemed as if the atmosphere became subdued. Normally, they would have been curious to know if they could believe it or what it tasted like.

“My dad says falcons taste like rotten food and aren’t very edible. Since then, I’ve hated falcons too.”

“Hahaha, that’s interesting.”

As Reisch laughed amiably, Rosa’s story was accepted by the people around her.

‘Just as I thought, men would be excited to talk about eating falcons​.’

Rosa was in a good mood.

“By the way, I’d love to hear your story about eating Falco-dono. What did he taste like?”[1]

Rosa laughed appropriately to avoid answering. Although Crown Prince Reisch’s looks are to her liking, as expected, she didn’t feel like talking that much at their first meeting.

“If your family has eaten strange food for generations, why don’t I also give it a try?”

“You jest all the time.”

Rosa laughed it off.

‘The fact that they’re so quick to be interested in a pretty girl when they see her is also universal.’

“Hey, Rosa…..”

Next to her, Falco was looking kind of blue. Rosa felt even better.

‘Is he being jealous?’

Falco pulled Rosa along a little too forcefully, and when they came to a deserted corner of the room, he started whispering.

“I learned this from the person beside me just now. I heard that the Crown Prince’s family uses ‘falcon’ as a symbol. That could be pretty bad.”

“Why’s that bad?”

“Don’t you understand? You said to them, “It’s inedible” and “I hate it”. It’s nothing short of disrespectful, if you ask me.”

“…. Eee?!”

Rosa, who had no intention of being disrespectful, turned a little blue.

Translator Notes:

1. Yes, you didn’t read it wrong  I read the raws a few times to make sure I didn’t falsely translate it, it says “Falco-dono” rather than “Falcon”  ↵

2. I changed “Rye” to “Rai” because it fits more with the Crown Prince’s name. I already fixed it in Chapter 12, too.