The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Cover

  Character Page

  Character Page 2

  Chapter 1: Awakened and Abandoned

  Chapter 2: A Craving for Ice Cream

  Chapter 3: Campground Pot-au-feu and the Land of Fuzzy Friends

  Chapter 4: Chiffon Cake and the Troubled Chef

  Chapter 5: The Gardener Cat and Strawberry Jam

  Chapter 6: The Birthday Party Plot

  Chapter 7: A New Fluffy Friend Arrives at the Villa

  Side Story 1 Prequel: It Seemed Like Such a Waste

  Side Story 2 The New Pup

  Afterword

  Other Series Pt. 1

  Other Series Pt. 2

  Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace Volume 1

  Yu Sakurai

  Translation by Emma Schumacker

  Illustration by Kasumi Nagi

  Title Design by Elisabet Lopez Pons

  Editing by Nicole Brugger-Dethmers

  Proofreading by Charis Messier

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace Volume 1

  ©Yu Sakurai 2019

  First published in Japan in 2019 by

  Futabasha Publishers Ltd.

  English translation rights arranged with

  Futabasha Publishers Ltd.

  English translation ©2021 Cross Infinite World

  All rights reserved. In accordance with U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email below.

  Cross Infinite World

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  Published in the United States of America

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  First Digital Edition: April 2021

  ISBN-13: 978-1-945341-55-7

  Chapter 1: Awakened and Abandoned

  “LAETITIA, as of today, our engagement is over.”

  With those words, my future came screeching to a halt.

  This man—the crown prince, Fritz—left me dumbfounded with his sudden declaration.

  “How cold…”

  My whole body shivered as I spoke.

  But what chilled me to my core wasn’t just the gaze my fiancé Fritz cast down upon me.

  Drops of water formed from my wet bangs and fell before my eyes.

  I’d been completely soaked in cold water, and my body trembled violently from the drastic change in temperature.

  “How cruel… What did I do to deserve being pushed into the fountain…?”

  “Are you really going to play dumb? I know all about you harassing Sumia.”

  That’s not true. I never meant to cause her harm.

  When I raised my head to object, I was met with the sight of Sumia clinging to Fritz.

  Sumia was a young girl with soft chestnut hair and round green eyes.

  Her charming face was clouded in fear as she looked at me. I could even see her trembling.

  “Don’t you see how frightened she is? Have you no sympathy for the poor girl? You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  “…I haven’t done anything to be ashamed of,” I asserted.

  I was certain I had nothing to apologize for.

  When Fritz had informed me that he was ending our engagement, and with Sumia standing there by his side, all I did was approach the two of them to ask what was going on.

  But one of Fritz’s followers had pushed me back, sending me tumbling into the water.

  “Still trying to worm your way out of admitting guilt, are you? The dip in the fountain didn’t manage to wake you up?”

  “…Wake me…up…?”

  The words slipped quietly from my lips.

  In a way, I was completely awake now.

  My eyes had been opened.

  Rattled by the shock of losing my fiancé and being pushed into a fountain, I realized that I’d regained the memories of my past life.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “JIRO, are you ready to go on a walk?”

  “Arf!!”

  When I peeked under the red roof of his doghouse, Jiro, my Shiba Inu, sauntered toward me.

  After a quick stretch of his front legs, followed by the back ones, Jiro was ready for his walk.

  I couldn’t help but smile fondly as I watched him sprawl out in front of me. Then I reached over to grab his harness.

  Jiro knew the process by heart. He turned toward me and raised his head up eagerly. I pulled the harness over his head, observing the patches of gray around his muzzle as I did.

  They say dogs go gray with age just like humans do.

  We adopted Jiro when I was still in high school, and now, after many years, he’d grown into a little old man.

  “~~~~♬”

  Spring was in the air. It was the perfect weather for a walk.

  I hummed a tune to myself as the two of us strode along the countryside roads outside of my parents’ home.

  Trot. Trot. Trot.

  I kept an eye on Jiro’s ailing legs as we walked, and my thoughts drifted to the kitchen back at home.

  Homemade strawberry ice cream was waiting for me in the freezer, and it would be ready to eat when I finished walking Jiro. The craving for that delicate yet fruity flavor was vivid in my mind, bringing a smile to my face. I couldn’t wait to feel those thick chunks of strawberry on my tongue.

  I’d left lots of strawberry seeds in the mixture too. The ice cream itself was soft and airy—my favorite treat to whip up when spring arrived each year.

  Though it was an annual tradition of mine to make strawberry ice cream, the first time I tried my hand at the recipe, I accidentally misread the amount of water to add. The result wasn’t pretty.

  When there’s too much water in the mixture, the ice cream doesn’t crystallize properly in the freezer, and the strawberry flavor comes out much weaker.

  But with all those failed attempts under my belt, my strawberry ice cream was finally turning into a tasty treat that even my family enjoyed.

  “♬ Straaawberries! Straw-berr-iiies! ♬”

  I quietly sang a little tune of my own making, strolling along with the rhythm.

  My song was pretty terrible, but it didn’t matter that day.

  A few years had passed since I graduated from university and started at my current job.

  My company kept me incredibly busy…in fact, I’d even call it downright exploitative. I could count on one hand the number of times I made it home on time. Naturally, we had to come in on holidays too, and as the end of each quarter approached, we were so busy, I don’t know how we even made it out alive.

  But for once, I had an entire Sunday all to myself.

  I used the day to finish up som
e chores I’d been putting off, then got on a train to visit my parents’ house, which was less than an hour away.

  Seeing their smiling faces, playing with Jiro, and eating delicious ice cream—it had the makings of a perfect day off.

  “Jiro, wait.”

  The traffic light in front of us was red.

  Jiro was quick to obey when he heard my voice.

  When we first adopted Jiro as a puppy, I was the one who taught him how to respond to commands.

  …I’d always heard that Shiba Inus were stubborn creatures, and Jiro certainly wasn’t any different. It took quite a while for him to start listening to me even a little.

  “Wait” was the command he struggled with the most. I was only in high school at the time, so it was a real test of patience for me to train him.

  Three seconds, then five. Little by little, Jiro learned to “wait” in longer intervals, even though there were plenty of setbacks along the way.

  But in the end, it just made me all the prouder when Jiro finally started to listen to me, even outside the house. It felt like he’d finally accepted me as his owner.

  “Okay, Jiro. Let’s go.”

  The light was green now.

  We made it halfway across the street, when suddenly…

  “Arf arf!!”

  “What?!”

  With a loud roar, a truck came barreling in our direction, with no regard for the crosswalk or our green light.

  This is bad. I have to move. I have to save Jiro.

  I yanked his harness as hard as I could, letting out a shriek…

  And then I felt the impact.

  The world went fuzzy around me.

  The next thing I felt was a growing pool of warm liquid soaking my body, and I realized I was sprawled out on top of the concrete.

  As my consciousness faded to black, the last thing that “I” made out was the sight of Jiro running toward me.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “JIRO…”

  A single tear rolled down my cheek as old memories of “mine” came rushing back.

  Jiro didn’t seem very hurt, but did he make it out okay?

  Jiro was a clever dog. I wanted to believe that he managed to dodge that speeding truck entirely…

  “Jiro? And who is that? Are you actually crying right now? Your tears won’t change my mind.”

  “…It’s just water from the fountain.”

  Jiro was the one who had moved me to tears. The sting of losing my betrothed may have also been a factor.

  But crying wouldn’t change anything now.

  I felt the tears start to form in my eyes again, so I tensed my muscles to keep them from spilling over.

  Crying in front of Fritz and the others was the greatest shame I’d yet experienced in my seventeen years of life.

  I am Lady Laetitia Gramwell, Duke Gramwell’s daughter. This is the name and title I go by in this world.

  On that day, I was at the Royal Elltoria Academy, where all young nobles throughout the kingdom of Elltoria receive an education.

  When I’d walked through the front doors, past the water fountain in the entryway, I’d been stopped by Fritz, the crown prince of our kingdom. Out of nowhere, he’d told me that he was breaking off our engagement.

  The students around us had fallen into a hush as they took in the shocking scene.

  Now, Fritz’s followers stared down at me in the fountain, their faces cold with judging looks.

  There stood Fritz—the crown prince, and the man who was supposed to by my fiancé.

  Sumia, the baron’s daughter, was clinging to him.

  Ilius, the third son of the prime minister, famed for his intellect, was beside them.

  Finally, there was Dustin—son of the royal army commander and a skilled swordsman himself.

  These were the future leaders of our kingdom, and each one of them glared at me with raw hostility in their eyes.

  I stood up, being careful not to let my guard down around them, and placed both feet on the ground as elegantly as I possibly could, almost as if I were in the presence of the king himself. The shock of losing my fiancé and regaining my past-life memories couldn’t rattle me into losing my cool, or letting me be put into an even more embarrassing situation.

  Since I was soaked to the bone, I decided to use a spell to dry myself.

  “…Hands of red. Cage of fire. Sear my robes until they’re drier.”

  I chanted the spell and felt the air around me turn warm, forcing the water right out of my clothes in the form of steam.

  …It was my first time using magic with all these new memories in my head. I was a bit more excited than usual.

  In my past life, I always adored stories of wizards and spells.

  The drying spell I just used was cast by controlling fire. It was a delicate form of magic that couldn’t succeed without an experienced user behind it.

  The students around us stared at me in awe, having just witnessed me pull it off so easily with such a short spell.

  I was dry now, but there was still one question lingering in my mind.

  For some reason, the magical energy coursing through my veins felt more powerful than usual.

  Maybe it’s because I just regained the memories of my past life?

  …I would have to look into it later.

  I combed my fingers through my blonde hair, now that it was no longer wet from the fountain, and felt the long locks rustle the skirt of my uniform below.

  Standing up straight, I turned to look Fritz in the eye, and I could have sworn I saw him flinch ever so slightly.

  “Your Highness, is it true? Do you really mean to end our engagement?”

  “Of course I do. A woman as wicked as you has no place as the queen of this kingdom.” Fritz scowled at me with disgust as he responded bluntly.

  “And why is it that you think I am wicked?”

  “Playing dumb, are you? I know all about how cruelly you’ve been treating Sumia.”

  “Cruelly? If this is about Sumia’s overfamiliarity with Your Highness, all I did was warn her about her behavior.”

  I had every right to take such actions.

  Sumia had made many attempts to cozy up to my fiancé.

  It was nothing as simple as a few friendly chats between them—the two would link arms in front of others and even dine together alone at night. This was completely inappropriate conduct from people of their status.

  “As a noblewoman of this kingdom, I only behave in the most proper manner. Sumia can’t claim to be ignorant of the fact that you had a fiancée.”

  “I… I did know. But I had no idea my friendship with His Highness would garner such terrible scorn…”

  Sumia paled and she shuddered more violently than before.

  Tears formed in her eyes. She was curling up like a small animal, surely activating the protective urges of everyone in the vicinity.

  “You’ve gone too far, Laetitia! Sumia was raised among common folk! Of course she doesn’t understand the ins and outs of high society!”

  “That’s exactly why I warned her whenever her behavior wasn’t acceptable for her class. But she refused to heed my advice and continued making the same mistakes.”

  “Don’t you have any sympathy for the girl? She’s been dragged into a whole new world with hardly any time to settle in.”

  “I respect the choices Sumia has made. But despite her commoner upbringing, she attends this academy as a baron’s daughter, so she must put in the work to carry herself in a way that befits her position.”

  In both this life and the last, I was always taught that decisions come with responsibility.

  Sumia’s circumstances were certainly unique, but that couldn’t excuse her every misstep.

  …Though she was a baron’s daughter, Sumia was the product of her father’s affair.

  From what I’d heard, Sumia had lived alone with her mother as a commoner until her father took her in when she turned thirteen.

  In his wor
ds, he’d seen a latent potential in his daughter.

  “Your Highness, Lady Laetitia’s just jealous of her.”

  A boy with dark hair and glasses emerged from behind Fritz.

  He was Ilius, the third son of the current prime minister.

  “She just made quite the spectacle with that spell of hers…even though it was nothing more than simple Fire Magic.”

  …Well, sorry to disappoint.

  Despite his remarks, Fire Magic has many practical, convenient uses.

  You can dry clothes, warm your body, simmer a pot of soup, grill up a piece of meat to save on fuel for cooking…

  …Wait, no, no.

  With my newly regained memories of my past life, I was starting to think like a member of the lower class.

  I’m a duke’s daughter now.

  The lenses of Ilius’s glasses reflected the light, casting his face in a creepy, sinister glow. I decided to save my speech about the many uses of Fire Magic for another time.

  Glasses Creep continued to lay on his indulgent theories.

  “…And then there’s Sumia, who is one of the very few users of Light Magic in our kingdom. Her powers are so robust, she’s referred to as the second coming of the legendary Goddess of Light. Sumia attends this school so that her tremendous powers can be used in the service of the kingdom. Don’t you find her aspirations to be noble?”

  “I would think it unwise to confuse her motivations with their outcome.”

  “Oh, but there’s been an outcome, all right. She’s exposed the ugly heart inside you, unbefitting of your title and class.”

  “Ugly? You sure sound like you’re trying to sow discord between Sumia and myself. I can confidently say that all the warnings I issued were appropriate.”

  “Well…”

  Glasses Creep fell silent.

  This boy, Ilius, was a gifted student at the very top of his class.

  He seemed to understand he had strayed from the pretense of protecting Sumia.

  “Hey, now. You’ve got a lot to say, Laetitia, but you’re just jealous, aren’t you? Jealous of Sumia’s precious Light Magic, and of the affection she receives from His Highness!”

  Dustin, the redheaded and burly third son of the royal army commander, was next to butt into the conversation.