Renner was up to something again. I'd overheard rumours of my sister picking up a kid off the street. It was out of character for a freak like her. There was no way that she did it out of the goodness of her heart. She was going to use this boy for her own twisted schemes. I could only pity him.
I had only met Climb in passing when he first arrived at the palace. He was a scruffy, skinny child who truly fit the description of 'vagrant'. All I saw was a harmless, gullible child.
This was why I was bewildered by the scene presented to me. It appeared that much could happen within a month.
The boy sitting opposite me could've been mistaken for a great noble's child. He radiated an aura of confidence, he held himself in an upright posture and dressed in immaculate, expensive attire. Beside him was Renner, the two of them engaged in a hushed discussion. I was worried. Renner had arranged a conference with me, and I had no idea why.
"Brother, I think this is the first proper meeting between Climb and yourself."
"Ah, yes. We haven't been introduced before."
"Climb," she looked towards him, "please introduce yourself." He nodded at her request. He stood up and performed a flawless bow.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness. I am Climb, princess Renner's acting advisor." If I were drinking tea at this moment, I would have spat it out in shock.
Renner's advisor? What a sick joke. Climb obviously had no idea who she was.
"Renner, you and I both know that you have no need for such an aide. Why are you toying with this boy?" As I gesture to Climb, Renner speaks.
"Brother, I will admit that an ordinary advisor would be pointless," she paused, "though Climb seems to make some rather insightful remarks."
I could not believe my ears. I dreaded the implication of her words.
Renner, a monster in her own right, had found someone worthy enough to offer second opinions? How brilliant must he be to warrant Renner's attention? Why does talent always fall into the wrong hands?!
I curse my misfortune and hold my head between my hands.
My sister views this kingdom as a prison. She had befriended a child from the slums who must hold it in equal contempt. I could guess what their objective was. I could not protect my country from these two working in tandem. From her position as princess, Renner could easily shatter the crumbling foundations we were teetering on. The boy would only speed things up.
"Wh-what are your demands...?" I murmur.
"Demands?" Climb inquires.
Eh?
Renner speaks up. "Climb, I think my brother is misunderstanding us. He believes that we wish to ruin this kingdom."
"What? Oh, that's hilarious!"
Climb struggles to contain his amusement at the situation, covering his mouth giggling quietly to himself. It seemed I really was misunderstanding something.
"I do not understand."
"You do not need to." Renner retorts. "We are simply here to inform you of this: we back your claim to the throne."
What!?
"M-My claim to the throne?! Sister, I really do not underst-" Renner glares at me.
"Do I need to repeat myself? I said that you did not need to understand. Just know that we will not obstruct your little power plays against Barbro. To a degree, we are even willing to lend our assistance."
I could only gape at her words as a shiver makes its way down my spine. Her words seemed innocent enough at first glance. She had announced that she would support me as king. However, I can't shake the feeling that something else is working unseen by me.
I decided to test them.
"Fine. If you support me as king, then I can only be grateful. I need all the support I can get, and I will not pry into your reasons. Though, I must clarify, if I do not request your assistance, would you just stay back and watch?"
"If that is what you want from us." Climb answers.
"And what do you want in return?" I probe.
They remain quiet. I sigh.
"I see. If that's how it is, I'll leave it at that." They were probably hoping for my favour once I become king. "For now, I will not need your assistance in any shape or form. Renner, having you out of the succession race is good enough for me."
Having her watch from the sidelines while I fought my brother for the crown didn't sit right with me. Still, if my coronation advances her hidden agenda, I will not complain.
"Oh, one more thing prince Zanac," Climb added, "if you are searching for some early backers, may I suggest meeting with Marquis Raeven?"
Raeven? That snake? If I remember correctly, he was the opportunist who constantly bounced between the royal and noble factions to his benefit.
"Why him?"
"Ah, just a hunch." He smirks at me. Renner only nodded at his conjecture.
Honestly, if these two wanted, they could bring this kingdom to its knees.
Just where did you find someone like this, Renner?
Sitting in Renner's room after we met with Zanac, I felt a smug sense of satisfaction. Everything went perfectly. Hopefully, we'd be able to install him as Re-Estize's king before Nazarick arrived.
"Well, that went pretty well, didn't it?" I ask Renner.
"Yes. Brother Zanac is not a fool. He understands what we wanted from this deal."
I nod at her confirmation as we both sat in quiet contemplation.
"As per our agreement, you will now continue instructing me in the ways of science."
Renner was becoming rather captivated by my otherworldly knowledge. I made it part of my 'fundamental knowledge' gig. Teaching her of both Yggdrasil (what little I knew of it), and some knowledge from my previous life had become something of a career.
We had regular 15-minute lessons between ourselves. This was an extra lesson as compensation for meeting her brother. I will not proclaim myself as some great scientist, but even some basic 'common sense' would appear revolutionary to these people.
I stand up from my chair and stretch my back. Wheeling a blackboard to the centre of the room, I pick up a stick of dusty chalk from the attached repository.
"Okay, well. Proceeding from yesterday." I scribble a rough sketch of the solar system, with a lonely, singular planet. I could not assume that this solar system was the same as Earth's, it was entirely possible this was the only planet. I drew a ring depicting the New World's orbit, taking care to make it elliptical.
"We discussed the topic of gravity." She nodded in rapt attention.
"Today, I will explain the phenomenon of seasons." I drew some tilted arrows onto the planet "As you can see, the globe's rotation is not perfectly perpendicular to its orbit. This slight tilt causes changes in the amount of sunlight the surface receives." I duplicate the planet 3 more times on the same orbit, with different spin axes illustrating my point. "This creates changes in climate, bringing us the Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water months you know and love. This phenomenon is called axial tilt. And that… is about the extent of my knowledge on it." I feel guilty at the look of disappointment on her face.
"Any questions?" I meekly ask.
"Your sketch. Does the blackboard depict the angle accurately?" I gulp. I had no clue.
"Uh, the axial tilts I drew was for illustration purposes only… Finding the exact angle is an exercise left to the student." I dodge the question.
…
Looking at her, I can see the gears turning in her mind. If it's her, she might be abl-
"Okay, I have some idea how to do it. I'll try it out sometime later."
Huh?
"If you don't have anything else to add, please move onto the next subject."
Renner was an absolute slave driver. One hour of this?! I should've never agreed. She instantly absorbs anything I mention and just breezed through a topic in two minutes. Now I have to move onto a new one. Should I just hit her with some soul-crushing algebra?
That ought to keep her busy.
Have fun deriving the quadratic formula.
What? No, it's not because I can't remember it.
…
Hey, it's been a decade. Give me a break.
Character Sheet: Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself
Race: Human
Job: Princess, Climb's accomplice
Residence: Ro-Lente Castle
Alignment: Neutral
Karma: 0
Job Classes:
[Princess] (lv. 2)
[Actress] (lv. 3)
[Genius] (lv. 3)
[Scientist] (lv. 1)
[Mathematician] (lv. 1)
Total: lv. 10
Birthday: Upper Fire Month 7th Day
Hobby: Learning new things from Climb, performing science experiments
AN: Climb and Renner are scheming to place Zanac on the kingdom's throne. What could possibly go wrong? Renner has found a new passion in studying the natural world. I assume the overreliance on magic had diminished the need for innovation in the NW. Will she keep her discoveries a secret from the world, or profit from them? Thanks for reading!