The young man put a hand on his hip, then turned to the children and said, "Sorry
for the wait, children! Now, move your bodies with me!"
He was a young man who spoke passionate words with a passionate smile.
Liscia watched the young man, her mouth agape, and whispered, "...Who is that?"
◇ ◇ ◇
Earlier, in the middle of the 12th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar.
On that especially cold day...
"We've changed the way we produce grain in our territory. It's greatly increased
our food self-sufficiency rate," the man told me. "Thanks to your transportation
network, sire, my domain is more prosperous than ever."
"Oh, ho," I said. "I see..."
I was standing next to a burly, middle-aged man and smiling along as he rambled
on endlessly. The man's name was Moltov Juniro. He was the head of one of the ten
most influential noble houses in the country, the House of Juniro. Today I had been
invited to a banquet they were hosting.
These days, I was being invited to a banquet held by some influential noble or
other nearly every day. It seemed that in this country, in the middle and towards the
end of the twelfth month, the nobles would invite guests they were close to and hold
a banquet. There they would thank them for their interactions throughout the year,
and express their hope to remain just as close in the next one.
Well, basically, it was an end-of-year party.
In addition, it seemed that the number and level of the guests they could attract
was used as a barometer of the noble's power and influence. That was why, at this
time of year, the nobles invited as many people as they could, especially those of
high stature.
Now, if you asked who the person of highest stature in this country was, that
would have to be me, the guy who was currently holding on to the throne. Naturally,
even if they wanted to, no ordinary noble could invite the king without having any
special ties to him. I wasn't overly fond of these banquets myself, after all. Normally,
even if I received an invitation, I turned it down because I was busy.
So if I still had to attend someone's banquet, that meant they were no ordinary
noble. While they might not be on the level of Excel, there were still powerful nobles
in this country. It was difficult to turn down invitations from those sorts of people.
It's a superior's duty to socialize with those who serve under them.
Because I'd turned down so many of them, Hakuya had told me, "Please, at least
attend the year end banquets." Because of that, for the past few days in a row, I had
been forced to attend the powerful nobles' banquets.
While getting even more dressed up than usual for the banquet (It was a very
noble-y outfit. Even my sleeves had frills.), I would groan, "Ugh, what a pain," or, "I
don't wanna go," or, "This is such a hassle," and Liscia, who was helping me get
changed, would reproach me for it.
"This is your duty as king," she would say. "As your fiancées, we'll be there, too,
so shape up, would you?"
Like she'd said, Liscia and my other partners were in attendance, too. Even so,
they didn't have it as bad as I did. My fiancées, Juna excluded, were taking turns and
each accompanying me one at a time. I, on the other hand, was being forced to
attend every single time.
"As you can see, my domain is in excellent shape..." Moltov was droning.
"..."
If you asked what I didn't like about banquets, it was having to play along with
my host's "hospitality" which consisted of them going on at length about this or that.
Even if the food looked luxurious, I didn't have any time for eating or drinking. What
was more, the nobles all tended to talk about the same things.
First was boasting about how they managed their domain. That was no doubt
largely because I had added the management of their domains into their
performance evaluations. Most nobles tried to show there were no issues in their
governance, and the more capable ones took the chance to express exactly how
wonderful their managerial skills were.
The evaluations were done by inspectors dispatched for that express purpose,
and they would get proper input from the people living in the domain. That made
trying to convince me at a banquet all but meaningless, but it was human nature to
want to take every chance they could get. If they thought the king was keeping a
close eye on them, and it led to an improvement in their people's lives, that was a
good thing. Still, I got sick of having to hear similar accounts at every banquet.
"Sire, allow me to go get a drink for you," Aisha, my partner for the day, offered in
a small voice. The silver dress she'd also worn for the music program she'd helped
me host in Amidonia looked good on her now. She must have sensed my exhaustion
and was trying to be considerate.
I had just been feeling a bit parched, so I asked her to please do so, and Aisha
silently left.
The moment Aisha departed, there was a sudden change in the talkative Moltov's
demeanor.
"...By the way, sire."
His eyes were sharp, like a snake that had found its prey.
In that instant, I realized I had just screwed up. I'd been through this pattern a
number of times already. When the king's partner left his side, they saw that as their
moment of opportunity.
"Would you mind if we talked somewhere else for a little while?"
"...Aisha isn't back yet, you realize," I said.
"It won't take long. I'm sure the two of you will be able to meet back up in no
time."
Having said that, Moltov took my hand and half-dragged me away from there.
Yeah... This was definitely that pattern.
I don't like this... Moltov may think this is his big chance, but I feel like I'm on pins
and needles here...
While I was thinking that, as I had anticipated, there was a single young lady
waiting for me when we arrived at our destination. She was somewhere around
sixteen years old. She was clearly a lovely young lady of good upbringing.
"Allow me to introduce you, sire. This is my daughter, Siena."
"Greetings, Your Majesty. I am Siena Juniro," she said, curtsying.
...I knew it. They saw this as their opportunity to introduce me to young ladies
they were related to.
In every era, blood ties to the royal house had been a source of pride for the
nobility. If she became my queen, their house would be secure, and she might even
give birth to an heir. On top of that, because my betrothal to Juna hadn't been
announced yet, as far as they were concerned, I only had three fiancées. That
number was, with the exception of special cases like my predecessor, King Albert
(he'd married into the queen's family), considered low. Because of that, every noble
was desperate to sell me on their daughters.
In the mere half year since I had been entrusted with the throne, I had annexed
Amidionia and had a lot of other big, showy achievements, so people had big hopes
for me. There were always a large number of marriage offers coming in to the castle,
and my chamberlain, Marx, was always busy dealing with them.
"It pains me to always refuse them, so could you at least meet some of them?"
Marx had asked me with pleading eyes, but it'd sounded like a pain, so I had taken a
pass on that.
Even so, I still ended up having to deal with nobles who approached me like this,
intent on not missing their chance.
Of course, the nobles weren't brazen enough to bring these sort of talks up when
one of my fiancées was right there, but whether it was Liscia or Roroa or Aisha, they
were always guaranteed to create an opening to do it. My opinion of the nobles' skill
in that went right past exasperation and entered into the realm of admiration
instead.
Not having much other choice, I greeted the girl. "It's nice to meet you, Madam
Siena. I am Souma Kazuya."
"I have heard your great name before, sire," she said. "I had heard you were a
great sovereign, blessed with both bravery and wisdom, but I am relieved to see,
meeting you like this, that you also seem like a kind person."
"The rumors about me haven't just been exaggerated, they've sprouted limbs and
taken on a life of their own."
"My, you make them sound adorable." Siena wore a quiet smile. She seemed like a
simple girl. These types were always the hardest to deal with.
It was easy to brush off someone who was blatantly just trying to marry into
money and status, but I couldn't be so cruel to a pure, innocent girl. I mean, it was
hard to tell if she was even aware this was an attempt at matchmaking. Well,
regardless of how she herself felt about it, her father was definitely trying to marry
her into money and status.
Moltov took me a short distance from Siena and spoke. "What do you think of my
Siena?"
"...She seems like a very pure and simple young lady," I said. "Very cute."
"Oh, I see! If she pleases you, would you consider taking her as your wife?"
"No, I already have three (four, actually) fiancées..."
"Whatever are you saying? You're still young, sire. You should increase the
number of wives you have. For the royal house's sake. If you're reluctant out of a
sense of duty to Princess Liscia, then I wouldn't mind her being a secondary queen..."
Talking as fast as a machine gun, Moltov tried to push things along. Just when I
was thinking, Ugh, seriously, what a pain. Aisha, can you hurry up and get back
already? it happened.
"Hahh, ha, ha, ha! Hahh, ha, ha, ha!"
That passionate laughter suddenly echoed through the hall.
"Ivan?! That idiot!" Moltov, who only a moment before had the face of a pleasant
old man offering his daughter to me, now had a sour look on his face as he glared up
through the open ceiling at the second floor of the banquet hall.
I followed his gaze to find someone standing on the balcony's railing.
He was a man in his mid-twenties, tall and muscular. With his thick eyebrows,
sharp eyes, and shining white teeth, he had a strangely distinctive face. He was a
passionate young man, one who would not soon leave the memories of anyone who
saw him.
...No, seriously, who was this guy?
The man shouted and leapt down from the balcony. The moment he did...
Ba-bam!
There was a big explosion right behind the young man. The flames rose up, and
there was a roaring blast that shook my stomach. For a moment, I thought he was a
terrorist and was about to panic, but for some reason, the other guests around him
just looked at the young man with wry smiles.
Huh? What? What am I supposed to make of this?
"Your Majesty!" Aisha finally found me and rushed to my side. "Sire, this could be
an attack! Please, stay behind me!"
"...No, there's something weird about it."
"Huh? What do you mean, 'something weird'?"
I looked around, but no one seemed all that flustered. The majority of them were
just looking at the young man with wry or mocking smiles. On closer inspection,
despite how much fire there had been, the area where the blast had gone off behind
the young man wasn't even mildly scorched.
"Oh my, silly brother."
When I turned back, Siena was looking on with a troubled look.
"'Brother'?" I repeated.
"Yes, sire. That would be my elder brother, Ivan Juniro."
"Um... It looked like there was an explosion to me," I said.
"That is my brother's ability. It makes for a gaudy display of fire and noise, but it
is something like an illusion. There is no real force behind it. Hee hee. Isn't he cool?"
"Er... Uh, sure..."
If she was able to write that off as just "cool"... in some ways, this girl might be
pretty impressive.