In the far west of the Gran Chaos Empire was the capital, Valois. It was
larger in scale than the capital of the Kingdom of Friedonia, and atop the
neighboring hill was the residence of the dignified Empress Maria, Valois
Castle.
Because it stood atop a mountain, it was difficult for an enemy to
attack, but it had been built with too much of a focus on design to really
call it functional. It was said this was to demonstrate to other countries that
they were the largest and most powerful among the nations of mankind.
In one room of Valois Castle, the office of Jeanne Euphoria, a man and
woman were sitting across from each other.
The one at the desk was Jeanne, the master of this room and a general
who was also the younger sister of Empress Maria. Before her stood the
ambassador dispatched from Friedonia to reside in the Empire, Piltory
Saracen.
Jeanne spoke. "Oh, right. You were set to return today, weren't you?"
"Yes." Piltory saluted. "For my wife's sake, I will be taking a
temporary leave of absence."
Piltory was sent to be the resident ambassador to the Empire, but before
leaving, he had taken the two beautiful sister slaves, Anzu and Shiho, to be
his wives, and brought them to the Empire with him. He'd gotten them
from Ginger, who was still a slave trader at the time.
Eventually the elder sister, Anzu, had gotten pregnant. It was decided
that, rather than give birth in an unfamiliar country, she would be better off
giving birth at the home of Piltory's family, the House of Saracen.
In order to deliver Anzu back to the kingdom, Piltory would return for
a time, then immediately return once he left her in his family's care.
Piltory said, "In my absence, Shiho will remain here to serve as your
liaison with the kingdom."
"I'm sorry," said Jeanne. "I'm sure your wife would prefer to go with
you, too."
"No... My wife understands the importance of my duties."
There was a secret alliance between the kingdom and the Empire. The
permanent ambassadors who served as liaisons were indispensable to both
sides, and it was a secret that was known only to a select few.
Ever since the kingdom and the Empire formed their secret pact, they
had a system in place that allowed them to use the Jewel Voice Broadcast
and simple receivers to hold the equivalent of teleconferences at any time.
For critical matters, Souma and Maria would hold talks personally, but
for matters of lesser importance (such as the exchange of information),
their intermediaries, Hakuya and Jeanne, would talk instead. Piltory's role
was primarily to schedule their meetings.
"Oh, right," said Jeanne. "Since you'll be returning to your country, I
wanted to ask a favor of you..."
"A favor?"
Jeanne opened a drawer in her desk, and pulled out a pretty wooden
box of some sort. "Please, give this to Sir Hakuya, your Prime Minister."
With that, Jeanne opened the box. Inside was an expensive looking
bottle of wine with a fancy label, packed with wood chips that were likely
intended to absorb any impacts.
"I happened to obtain two fine bottles of wine, so I thought I would
send one to him."
"This is for the prime minister?" Piltory asked.
"It's not poisoned, I assure you. If you're concerned, you can have a
poison taster test it."
"Oh, no! It's not that we suspect you of that!"
While watching Piltory rush to apologize, Jeanne let out a jolly laugh.
"Hahaha! I know that. The second-in-command of the Empire is sending a
gift to the second-in-command of the kingdom. I can understand why you
might want to probe my intentions. But this is just a small thanks to Sir
Hakuya for always listening to me complain about my sister."
"O-Oh... If that's all..."
When Piltory accepted the bottle, that was when it happened.
There was a sudden rush of footsteps outside the room, and then the
doors to the office were thrown open with a loud bang. The woman who
had barged into the room held a red dress in one hand and a blue dress in
the other. It was none other than the empress of this nation, Maria
Euphoria.
"Hey, Jeanne! Which dress do you think would be better for today's
broadcast?" Maria cried. She thrust both dresses out toward her sister.
Those dresses were both frilly, had short skirts, exposed the belly, and
accentuated the chest. The kind that, if Souma were to see them, would
make him say, "Serious idol costumes?" and tilt his head in confusion.
Jeanne pounded her hands on the desk. "Sister! I'm seeing a visitor!"
"Oh, my. If it isn't Sir Piltory. Welcome," Maria said with a soft smile,
unperturbed by Jeanne's shouting.
Faced with the sudden appearance of the Empire's head of state,
Piltory's mind locked up for a moment, but when he came to his senses, he
stood up straight and saluted her.
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty! It is my most humble pleasure... to find
myself in your... esteemed company?"
Having encountered the bizarre intrusion of an empress carrying two
idol dresses, Piltory's response was a mess, and delivered with too many
pauses.
Seeing Piltory's reaction, Maria giggled and smiled. "No need to be so
tense. You're one of Sir Souma's vassals, so you don't have to be so
formal with me. Come on, relax, relax."
With that said, Maria gave him a smile that would make the heart of
anyone who saw it melt.
Meanwhile, Jeanne had a look on her face like she just bit into
something unpleasant. "You're too lax! What does the empress of this
nation think she's doing, running through the halls carrying such gaudy
outfits!"
"Oh, but this is work I'm doing for the people, you know?" Maria said
with a teasing smile. "It's for the broadcast of entertainment programs
using the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Providing a moment of rest to the people
who work so hard every day... I think it's a wonderful idea that Sir
Souma's come up with."
Hearing the master he served being complimented, Piltory stood up
straight once again. "I-I'm glad to hear that."
Jeanne, on the other hand, pressed on her forehead, shaking her head as
if to say, "Oh, good grief..."
"Even if that's true, surely there's no need for you to become a lorelei
yourself."
"But there were a large number of requests for me to sing, weren't
there?" Maria asked.
"Well... yes, but..."
The concept of a lorelei was something Souma brought to this world.
To explain quickly, what was called an idol on Earth was called a lorelei
here.
Now, if you were to ask what an idol needs, it would be a pretty face
and charisma. Singing and dancing ability were nice to have, too, but if
someone had an above average appearance (this had to be categorized as a
natural gift), and the charm to draw people in, that was enough to be an
idol.
Now, if you were to ask who in the Empire had the prettiest face and
the greatest charisma, the first response you would get, without a doubt,
would have been Maria Euphoria. And Maria was an accomplished singer
and dancer, too, so she was so overflowing with potential that even
becoming a top class idol could be more than just a dream for her. Her
talent even rivaled Juna's.
Because of that, there were many requests from the people to hear her
sing, and recently Maria's popular name, "the Saint of the Empire," started
to have "Singing and Dancing" added to it.
"They call you the Singing and Dancing Saint of the Empire..." Jeanne
said in exasperation. "Are you okay with that?!"
"As far as I'm concerned, the 'Saint' part is the one I could do without.
If I have to be called something, I'd like it to be the Singing and Dancing
Empress Maria."
"This isn't a matter of taste, you know..." Jeanne slumped her
shoulders.
While looking at Jeanne, Oh, I see. So these are the sorts of things the
prime minister listens to her vent about... Piltory thought, finding himself
oddly satisfied with that answer.
—Some days later, around the time Souma was taken to the Star
Dragon Mountain Range—
Piltory was back in Parnam, the capital of the Kingdom of Friedonia,
inside Prime Minister Hakuya Kwonmin's study at Parnam Castle.
Having left his pregnant wife Anzu with his family, he had come to the
castle for a courtesy call before returning to the Empire. However, right
now, it turned out Souma was on a diplomatic visit to the Star Dragon
Mountain Range, so he had come to visit Hakuya, who was taking care of
things in Souma's absence.
Piltory stood in front of the desk where Hakuya was seated with a
salute. "Now then, Prime Minister, I will be departing for the Empire once
more."
"Thank you for your service. Though, I'm sure you would rather be at
your wife's side..." Hakuya said with an expression that betrayed little
emotion.
It may have sounded curt, but Hakuya was the one who recommended
he return to the kingdom when he learned his wife was pregnant in the first
place.
Souma had been addressing the issue of urban hygiene, and was
currently carrying out medical reforms centered around Hilde and Brad, so
this country had now become "the best country on the continent to give
birth in."
Hakuya also arranged for Hilde and her people to look at the pregnant
Anzu. What was more, he also considerately provided transportation by
wyvern gondola to and from the new city, Venetinova, where Hilde was.
So even if he was curt, Hakuya was treating him well, and Piltory was
thankful for that.
"No... I'm well aware of the importance of my duties," replied Piltory,
thinking, I had a similar conversation with Madam Jeanne just the other
day.
Then Hakuya rose from his seat and headed over to a shelf. He took a
wooden box from it, placing it on the desk. "Since you'll be traveling to
the Empire, I have an item I'd like delivered to Madam Jeanne."
"You want something delivered?" Piltory tilted his head to the side
questioningly.
Hakuya opened the box's lid. Inside, there was an expensive looking
glass with striking designs carved into it.
There was a hole next to the glass into which another glass of the same
type would fit, showing that this glass was one of a two-glass set. I
received a fine wine the other day, so I'm sending this gift in return. It is
my small token of appreciation to Madam Jeanne for always listening to
me complain about His Majesty."
"Complaining... You, too, Prime Minister?"
Jeanne said she complained to Hakuya about her elder sister. Was
Hakuya complaining to Jeanne, too?
While Piltory was pondering that, there was a rush of footsteps down
the hall, then a perfunctory knock before the door to the room was thrown
open. The one who came in was the daughter of the former king, and the
candidate to become Souma's first primary queen.
When she came into the room, Princess Liscia paid no attention to
Piltory as she hurriedly handed a letter to Hakuya. "Hakuya, we got
another messenger kui from Carla! 'It will be difficult for the three of us to
stop the target! Requesting immediate backup!' it says!"
"Urgh... Again?" Hakuya's cool expression slipped slightly. "Very
well. I'd rather not increase the number of witnesses, so I can't send
reinforcements, but I will have the National Defense Force work to seal off
the area. I'll place a gag order on the region, too. If this goes any further...
it could lead to poor opinions of the future second primary queen, after
all."
"I'll leave that to you." With that, Princess Liscia left the room as fast
as she had come.
As Hakuya put a hand on his head, and leaned back in his chair, Piltory
hesitantly asked, "Um... What happened?"
Hakuya gave him a dry smile. "Oh, nothing... Just another thing I can
complain to Mama Jeanne about."
From the way he said it, there had likely been some problem involving
King Souma.
Piltory had a sort of premonition.
Sometime in the near future, Hakuya and Jeanne would be drinking the
same brand of wine, from identical glasses, together through their Jewel
Voice Broadcast screens. They would commence complaints about their
respective masters, Souma and Maria, to go with the drink.
Piltory imagined that scene as he returned to the Empire.