The story about Duke Chaudgal having obtained the latest golems spread in no time before summer vacations were actually over. After all, he took the golem, which had nothing but a moving carriage’s loading tray, everywhere he went. Additionally, rumors about the duchess herself driving around on a weird two-wheeled golem propagated at lightning speed.
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――At the start of the new term, that appeared amidst the coming and leaving carriages. An unknown golem. It possessed a pretty, glossy frame and a high-class driver’s seat. Running next to other carriages which noisily clattered and creaked as they shook along the road, this particular golem seemed to glide across the ground without so much as a single sway.
And right behind followed a two-wheeled golem with a floating load-tray next to it. A woman in protective clothing sat on the two-wheeled golem, and the floating load-tray was manned by a bow-holding guard who scanned the vicinity with a piercing look.
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As soon as the golem stopped at the academy’s parking lot for carriages, the driver stepped down from his seat and opened the golem’s door. Immediately a staircase unfolded automatically and Scarlet used it to gracefully disembark.
“…Aww, damn it, I want to stay in ChaNon for the rest of my life… It’s way too comfortable…,” she muttered, sorrow dyeing her face.
“I can fully understand your feelings on this, but His Lordship and the Madam have taken a liking to ChaNon, so they would interfere if you were to monopolize it, Milady.”
Scarlet became sullen at her maid’s, Ann’s, words.
“In the first place, it was me who begged Lady Indra to make this, and yet…! Both of them are awful!”
But, even though she bickered about it, the duke had bragged too much about ChaNon, resulting in the golem becoming a 『Public Representation of House Chaudgal』. As such, Scarlet had no choice but to give up on owning it personally.
“See you later, ChaNon,” Scarlet called out to the golem.
“I’ll come pick you up later, Scarlet!” were the words echoing from the golem into the surroundings.
ChaNon was also capable of speech. Indra had installed an AI so that it could make its own judgments within certain boundaries. It’d answer if you spoke to it, and it’d also act as an assistant in driving.
Being used to this from her previous world, Scarlet wasn’t overly surprised, merely answering, “Oh my, it comes with an audio assistant?”, but in the eyes of the people around her, this golem seemed to be a work of god as it was way too innovative.
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As she walked while gathering the attention of all the people, she encountered Prince Elias and Genius who were frozen solid out of sheer surprise.
“Oh my, nice to meet you, Prince Elias, Lord Genius.”
In response to her refined greeting, the prince absentmindedly muttered, “………What…is that?”
No greeting whatsoever, huh? I must re-educate him from now on, I suppose, Scarlet assessed while gracefully smiling.
“Are you possibly talking about our family’s latest golem? We have been using it instead of a carriage. Its guard is yet another new golem… Oh, if I remember correctly, it is described as 『Two-Wheeled Golemmobile』. It is called 【Bronko】, so I have been using that name. Hohoho,” she laughed boastfully.
After all, it’s a golem only our family, except for its creator, possesses! Other nobles won’t ever be able to get their hands on one of those! I mean, even His Majesty gave up on obtaining one when he heard about its origin! I can only praise my own foresight for having become friends with Lady Indra! Scarlet thought triumphantly. It comes with a full array of ridiculous features such as not shaking during operation, not hurting your bum thanks to its fluffy and comfy seats, and the possibility to sleep and shower inside.
It was such an outstanding creation that Scarlet and Gerard quarreled over who would be driving it as they went camping, and even Ally, who got angry and harshly reprimanded those two, quickly fell in love with it as soon as she experienced the comfort of its interior design, immediately enjoying it together with her husband and daughter.
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After casting a glare at Scarlet, Prince Elias shifted his eyes back to ChaNon. He closely scrutinized it, before suddenly blurting out, “You were my fiancée, weren’t you?”
“Oh, you finally feel like approving of it?”
Scarlet immediately had an inkling where this conversation was headed, but she answered while pretending to be ignorant.
Prince Elias laughed scornfully, “Personally, I don’t approve of you. …I bid farewell to Rose, but that doesn’t change you being a decorative fiancée.”
Scarlet shrugged her shoulders, “If I had to say, I feel like calling you a decorative prince, though. …Since I have been told so by everyone, I did not ease up on my training as queen, and I also plan to relentlessly train you from now on, you know?”
Once she rebutted right away, the prince glared at her again.
“Watch your tone with me, cheeky lass! You really don’t have any charm whatsoever! …But, whatever. No matter what I might think, you’re still my fiancée. So, give that to me.”
I thought you’d say that, and you sure didn’t disappoint in that regard, Scarlet thought while acting dumbstruck with her mouth gaping, but then she put on a sweet smile, “The king also told my father to give it to him when he was bragging all about it.”
“What?”
The prince immediately started to become tense.
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――The present king had been recognized for his abilities, and moreover enjoyed a high popularity among the populace. Even back when he was but a royal prince, he had gone out into the city and carefreely chatted with commoners. On top of having the achievement of having fought side-by-side with the hero in the capital’s defense, he had worked towards rebuilding and slowly developing the capital, which was as good as destroyed after the attack. Nowadays, he was hailed as a wise king.
Prince Elias, who was supposed to succeed the crown in a few years, didn’t have such a reputation, and many voices called for the current king to remain in power. Of course, some nobles, who plotted to use Prince Elias as a convenient puppet, opted for him to take the throne, but many nobles, not to mention the commoners, didn’t harbor much expectations towards the current prince.
Rather, everyone would likely become worried if Prince Elias should become king.
……And Prince Elias knew all of that.
It’d have been his salvation if only he was a dimwitted puppet prince, but because he was excellent in his own right, he could tell the parts he was lacking in comparison to the current king, and envied the king for them.
For this reason, rage and jealousy welled up in him when he heard about the king having demanded something he wanted for himself.
