CH 37

Translator: Blushy

Editor: delishnoodles

Sure enough, both the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies readily agreed to pay for the tour, then they began discussing my tour. Since my first destination had already been decided, they only had to work out the details such as which specific road I would take and who would accompany me. They will probably make their decisions soon.

My guess is that it will take a month.

… One month is actually quick, and it was terrifying.

Now then, there’s something I have to do in the meantime.

Of course, I wouldn’t be packing or anything since it would look suspicious.

“Phew.”

I took a deep breath and slowly made my way down to the tower balcony. I looked up to see emerald eyes.

“Sorry, Vera. I have something to tell you.”

Vera-Sylvie, who had been smiling happily, looked at me vacantly.

“What is it?”

“Ah… I’m sorry, I won’t be able to keep my promise to come here every full moon.”

Promises made to girls shouldn’t be broken. If you break it, then you must explain the situation and apologise sincerely. The memories of my previous life have been fading day by day, but for some reason, this one thing has been calling out to me like a warning bell.

… What the fuck happened to me in my previous life?

“Will I… never see you again?”

Vera-Sylvie’s eyes shook anxiously, and I felt like her voice was more frail than usual. I broke out in a cold sweat.

“No, I just won’t be able to make it for a few months. I’ll at least be able to visit in winter, I promise.”

“I see…”

With that, she looked down… It was hard to read her expression from earlier because of the dim light of the lamp. Is she…. Unhappy?

“Ah… please, wait, a minute?”

Vera seemed to have remembered something. She moved away from the barred windows.

She took an accessory out from the drawer.

“Hmm… this…”

“Emerald… earrings?”

“Yup.”

As expected of an aristocrat, the size of the jewel was probably something I had never seen in my previous life before… Well, I’m used to seeing them in my room and in other places now though.

She handed me one of the earrings.

“You can… channel magic into this and…”

Vera then channelled magic into the earring. She had a hard time doing this the first time, but now she could do it easily.

『… talk』

『I see, it’s a magic tool?』

『Yeah!』

So, she wants to use this to talk to me since we can’t see each other for a while?

“Alright. I’ll take it, thanks. But I can’t talk to you every day, alright?”

“I know… I’ll give you this one.”

Vera did as she’s told, then she gave me an earring.

“Does this only work one way?”

“No, it’s a bit different… You can always talk on this one… but you can’t on this.”

Oh, so she’s saying that she can’t call me from the one she has, but if I call her from the one I have then we can talk.

“You’re saying I can call whenever I want?”

“Yeah… Since it seems like you’ll be busy.”

Ah, thanks for being considerate.

“Thanks. At any rate… I’m surprised you still have this.”

“Father told me to… give it to someone I trust… when I went to the capital. But I thought I couldn’t use it in the tower.”

Was it given to her when she got married?

“Then shouldn’t you have given it to the Count?”

“No. Father… is always being watched… so I can’t give it to him.”

… Always?

Count Chamneaux is in the Chancellor’s faction. The area around his fief is surrounded by people in the Regent faction, but it’s unlikely that the rival faction would be able to get into his mansion. Does that mean that Count Chamneaux is being surveyed by the Chancellor faction?

So, Vera-Sylvie is the Chancellor faction’s hostage.

… It seems highly possible to make him an ally.

“I see… I’m sorry, but I’ll be going back now. I’ll make sure to use the earring.”

“Yeah. Be careful… alright?”

“I will. See you later.”

Just as I was about to leave the scaffolding, Vera added.

“And if you see him, tell him I’m well.”

“… I will.”

You know who I am, don’t you Vera-san?

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

I invited Rosalia to go horseback riding the next day after breakfast. I heard Rosalia could do everything, including ride a horse. She’s a talented person.

But well, my goal wasn’t to hang out with Roalisa.

When I headed to the stables with the Regent’s guards in tow, Nadine was there. I heard that she has been practicing horseback riding zealously lately.

“Oh my, who is this?”

Rosalia asked me when she noticed Nadine. I’m glad she’s so perceptive.

“Oh, this is Lady Nadine. Nadine, this is my fiancée, Rosalia. Introduce yourself.”

“… It is nice to meet you. My name is Nadine, Rosalia-sama.”

Nadine glared at me for a second before greeting Rosalia. Well, she’s also well-educated.

When Nadine heard that I was going to tour the nation, she vehemently objected with the Lord of Treasury, “I can’t believe you’re going to tour the nation without studying!”, but Timona brushed her off by saying, “This is also a part of his official duties.” Since then, she has been glaring at me every time we meet.

“Please call me Rosalia. I don’t have many friends my age. I would be happy if you would become my friend.”

“R-really? You can call me Nadine too.”

“Okay!”

… Eh, you’re coaxing her already? Simple-minded… Well, there’s nothing better than the two of you being friends.

“Oh yes! Will you also be coming on the tour?”

“Eh?!”

Nadine said in surprise, but then she seemed to be pondering on what to do.

… Hey, idiot, notice already. It would be bad if you agree. I’m begging you, don’t agree!

“Ah… I’ll have to ask Father first…”

That’s good… I was breaking out in cold sweat because I thought she would agree.

Nadine didn’t have the freedom to decide her own actions since she is only the daughter of an aristocrat. Well, it would be a different story if Lord Warung told her to, “Do what you want.” In that case, Nadine would be free to act as she pleased in the palace. That would mean that she would be free to negotiate with the factions. That would only be a burden to her now.

“I see. Then ask Lord Warung. Good day.”

Now then, how would Lord Warung react when he hears about this from his daughter…? He will probably demand that Nadine come with me. I am leaving the place. This will be the only chance for him to get in touch with me since he keeps his distance from the palace. But I don’t think the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies would approve of my going to Lord Warung’s fief. The best way to settle this would be for us to have a meeting… in the fiefs of one of the factions. Well, that’s good enough for now.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

Then we strolled around the palace grounds on horseback for a while… There’s always someone watching, so I have to keep the act up.

“What is that building over there?”

“That is… what is it, Timona?”

“This is the palace of the Third Emperor and the Late Emperor, Your Majesty.”

“Oh my, it is?”

The palace built by the Third Emperor was located at the far end of the palace and was surrounded by walls on all sides. The Late Emperor reused this building. I think it shows well the distrustful nature of both emperors towards their subjects.

“Oh yeah, Grandfather’s grave is around here somewhere, isn’t it? Let’s visit him.”

“As you wish. I will show you the way.”

Timona led the way to the cemetery. The mausoleums of the emperors became smaller and smaller with each passing generation. Incidentally, the mausoleum of the Sixth Emperor is the only one that doesn’t exist. To be precise, he had a mausoleum built that was bigger than the First Emperor’s, but he wasn’t buried there after his death, and it was destroyed. Of course, no one objected to it being destroyed.

The Late Emperor’s mausoleum was quite small and only a few people were allowed inside. In fact, there is a proper custom for visiting the emperors of the past. One of them was to do with people of different statuses entering at the same time. The person with the highest status stands in the front while the person with the lowest status goes to the back. But the Late Emperor’s mausoleum was so small that it was impossible to have several rows of people inside. So, only Rosalia and I were allowed to enter. Rosalia is the Emperor’s fiancée, so she was standing in the front row like me.

… The plot itself is quite large, so I guess he was buried in the largest space possible. I personally think it would be nice if they didn’t do this, but that’s just my personal opinion.

Rosalia and I prayed to him as per custom. This was a culture from the Bungdalto people, not the Lothar Empire, but it seems that she had studied it properly beforehand.

… I really appreciate this.

Unfortunately, not many people visit the mausoleum of the Late Emperor. Honestly, my father was more popular among the people but not among the aristocrats.

I would have to utilise a lot of things in order not to be assassinated like the Late Emperor, and of course, that includes using Rosalia.

“… I’ll be troubling you from here on out too.”

I whispered and Rosalia also muttered a small reply.

“It’s my pleasure, Your Majesty.”

… Maybe I had acquired a certain amount of karma in my previous life.

“Is it? Thanks.”

I decided that I wouldn’t complain anymore and we left the mausoleum.