"And so, the two of them turned to Excel, who's five hundred years old and has a
bounty of experience when it comes to romantic affairs," I went on. "'We don't have
a good woman for the job in mind,' they said. When they did..."
"...I have a bad feeling about this."
"...Excel raised her hand and volunteered herself."
"The nerve!" Juna shouted, something she rarely did.
It seemed that, when she imagined her betrothed (even if that was still a secret)
possibly having relations with her grandmother, she couldn't maintain her
composure. She showed a mixture of panic and anger.
She can make expressions like that, too... That's kind of refreshing, I thought.
Incidentally, when Marx had come to her for advice, Excel had said, "Oh my, in
that case, why don't I teach him for you? I have a decent amount of experience in
that field, after all. If you'd like, I can even handle the practical lessons personally,
you know? I come from a long-lived race, so it's not that likely that I would get
pregnant. Hee hee," with a laugh that made it hard to tell just how serious she was.
According to Marx, giving the lie to her mid-twenties appearance, her eyes had
had the glint of a snake that had found its prey.
...I suppose she wasn't from the sea serpent race for nothing.
When I told Juna that, she pressed a finger to her temple, looking worried. "I've
heard about this from Aunt Accela." That was Excel's daughter and Carla's mother.
"When she was still a young girl, Grandmother would tempt the men who fell in love
with my aunt and tease them."
"Wow... That's pretty awful..."
"No, she only did it with the ones my aunt had no feelings for herself. It was to
make them give up on having an illicit affair with her daughter, but... my mother
once told me, with an exhausted look on her face, 'I never wanted to have to see
classmates who had tried to woo my mother and been shot down.'"
Well, no, I don't imagine she would have. Thinking about it, Castor had initially
approached Excel, hadn't he? Had she been cold to him because he'd gone after her
first? It was definitely true that she was a breathtaking beauty. If I hadn't built up a
resistance to that by being around Liscia and the others, I might have been at risk of
falling for her myself.
"So, now that you know what's up, I'd like to ask you to accompany me," I said.
"Can I count on you for that?"
"...I understand. I will do my utmost to protect you, sire." Juna saluted me, her
face filled with resolution.
Protect me from what? ...Yeah, the answer to that went without saying.
Juna looked to me as if she wanted to say something, but she was having a hard
time saying whatever it was and she looked away. I wondered what it could be, so I
waited for her. Juna seemed to resolve herself, then opened her mouth and said,
"Um... About the issue you're having, well... Wouldn't it be solved if you just laid your
hands on one of us? It could be the princess, or Aisha, or Roroa, or even... um... me..."
When she said that with her face looking down and her eyes upturned, it hit me
hard, but I gulped and restrained myself. If Marx had his say, this might be exactly
the problem.
"I'm... uh... not ready to be a father yet," I said. "Listen, I love all of you, of course,
and I'm definitely interested in doing that sort of stuff with you, but... when they tell
me I absolutely have to make a baby, I'm hesitant. With me as I am now, with this
country as it is now, I question if I can make all of you, and the children to be born,
happy."
"I see..." Juna looked a little disappointed, but she quickly covered it with a gentle
smile. "That's very much like you, sire. I can feel how much you care for all of us."
"Of course I do!"
"In that case, I will be looking forward to it when you're ready."
Juna's smile was so wonderful that I hugged her tight. She seemed surprised, but
she didn't resist.
She was soft and smelled good.
I wasn't ready yet, but... I could do this much, at least, I figured.
◇ ◇ ◇
A few days later — Lagoon City
Lagoon City was the central city of the Walter Duchy.
It was located in the northeast of Friedonia, and as the name would lead you to
assume, it was a city built in a lagoon. Because of the high heat and humidity, it was
built much like Venice in Italy, and there were canals running everywhere in the city.
When I looked at this city, it reminded me of a certain iyashikei manga I had read
a long time ago, but unfortunately there were no cute girls acting as gondoliers here.
Instead, I could see burly men loading and unloading cargo from little boats all over
the place.
It was winter now, so the men were bundled up tight; but if this had been
summer, they'd probably have all been practically naked. (Like, wearing nothing but
a loincloth.) Even the thought of it was suffocating.
I was there, watching the scenery of Lagoon City from inside a carriage with Juna.
"Were you born here, Juna?" I asked.
"No, I was born a little further to the northwest, in a small port town near the
border with the Union of Eastern States. It's not as lively as it is here, but we do
catch lots of delicious fish there, you know?"
"Oh, yeah? I'd like to go there someday."
"Yes, I hope you will."
While we were having that pleasant chat, the carriage arrived at Excel's manor.
At Lagoon City, the Navy's stronghold, there was a base, but there was no castle.
That was because they didn't anticipate the city being besieged by a land-based
force. It reflected the fact that the Navy was able to show its fullest power at sea, and
if this land were ever invaded by a foreign enemy, they would simply board the
ships and eliminate the enemy, city and all, with coastal bombardments.
The sea serpent race loved this land more than anyone, and if they couldn't have
it, no one could. They were pretty yandere when it came to their feelings for this
land.
When we rode onto the grounds in our carriage, I saw that Excel was standing in
front of the manor, awaiting our arrival. Her blue hair shone in the sun, her beautiful
face peering out from behind it.
Like always, Excel was so beautiful, you could tell even from a distance. You could
really tell she was Juna's grandmother. (Though there were few people whom the
word "grandmother" would have suited less.) The blue outfit she was wearing that
was like a kimono crossed with a dress looked good on her.
When I looked over, Juna had a grim look on her face.
"Juna? What's wrong?" I asked.
"That kimono..."
"The kimono?"
"It's Grandmother's favorite. It seems... caution may indeed be warranted."
"Um... Technically, my only goal here is to survey a military facility..."
When I said that, alarmed, Juna wrapped her arm around mine, holding it tight,
then looked at me with a serious expression. "Sire, when you are in front of a sea
snake, you never show an opening to strike. If you do..."
"If I do?"
"You'll be gobbled up."
"..."
...I didn't know exactly what that was supposed to mean, but I made a mental
note to be careful.
◇ ◇ ◇
When we disembarked from the carriage, Excel met us with a smile.
"It's been too long, Your Majesty. Welcome to Lagoon City."
I knew what Juna had said, but for now, she didn't seem any different from usual.
I tried not to make my wariness evident, responding in a friendly tone. "We haven't
seen each other since I appointed you as Supreme Commander of the National
Defense Force, right? I'm glad to see you're in good health."
"Hee hee! Oh, sire, you do love pushing off major duties onto this old lady." (She
seemed to be fine with calling herself that.) "But thank you. I hope you've been well,
Juna."
"It's good to see again, Sea Princess." Next to me, Juna gave a graceful bow.
Excel had been called "Sea Princess" in the former Navy. It was probably similar
to addressing her as "ma'am" for them.
But Excel shook her head. "Juna, you've been discharged from the Navy. You will
be marrying His Majesty, even if it is as a secondary queen. The only positions we
have relative to one another now are the ones we have as family."
"Sea... No, I understand. Grandmother."
Yeah. This was a good scene, one that brought across their bonds as family... or so
I thought.
"Hee hee hee. So, Juna, that means you and I are equals now."
...What was that? Had I imagined that she'd stressed the word "equals" there?
Also, when she heard the word "equals," I thought I noticed a vein rise on Juna's
temple. "...Hee hee hee. Whatever do you mean by that, Grandmother?"
"You see, the key to not getting tired with a life that goes on for too long is to
always take an interest in someone or other."
"Is it now?" Juna asked. "By the way, do you have an interest in His Highness?"
"He's the first hero we've had since the first king, after all. I find him fascinating."
Excel was smiling. But I sensed a strange pressure behind that smile. Juna was
responding with a similar smile of her own.
...What was this atmosphere? I really wanted to get out of there.
"A-Anyway, do you mind if we go inside?" I suggested. "There's no need to stand
out here, surely."
"Hee hee! I'm sorry about that," said Excel. "Please, come right this way."
In any case, with the formalities (?) out of the way, we were led into the building.
Inside it was like a classy Western-style manor. The furniture on display wasn't
excessively gaudy, instead melting into the relaxed atmosphere. Even I, who was by
no means artistic, could appreciate Excel's good aesthetic sense.
Eventually we were led to a room bearing a plate that identified it as the parlor.
There was already one person in the parlor, standing at attention.
That tall man, who was wearing the uniform of a non-commissioned officer in the
Friedonia National Naval Defense Force, had bat-like wings and a lizard-like tail. The
man saluted me, then began preparing tea.
Even once we had seated ourselves and he'd finished distributing tea to
everyone, that man continued to stand behind Excel, waiting for orders.
I massaged my temples. "If he's just going to stand there, it's going to bother me
too much not to think about it."
"I did tell him he could just act like normal," Excel said with a wry smile.
The man standing behind her was Castor. He had formerly been one of the three
dukes and the General of the Air Force. He was also Carla's father.
Having been held responsible for defying his king and stripped of his post, he had
been forced to retire and leave the family headship to his young son Carl, while he
himself had been put in Excel's custody.
Incidentally, the one acting as Carl's aide was, at the man's own request, the
former steward of the House of Vargas and current General of the National Air
Defense Force, Tolman.
Anyway, from what Excel had told me, she was working Castor hard as a rank
and file soldier of the National Naval Defense Force.
Perhaps becoming a defeated general had stripped him of his stubborn pride and
made him more meek. Or perhaps he was simply making a show of acting only as a
rank and file soldier of the National Naval Defense Force out of stubbornness.
If he met them on the streets, he bowed even to those who had been ranked far
beneath him until just recently, and when it was his day on cleaning duty, he cleaned
all of the toilets on the ship.