Esmuer Bistim Tel Nua
Esmuer Bistim Tel Nua
A thousand and one Eldmias had begun convening an unprecedented grand council in the frontal lobe of my cerebrum.
The problem was that these fucking useless things were too busy running around in every direction screaming that we were fucked!
"I shall stake all the achievements and honor I have accumulated thus far, and ensure that the Kingdom of Rudra will not be able to lay a single finger on you for this honorably conducted duel."
Even in the midst of all that, Esmue was continuing her speech, overcoming her embarrassment and maintaining a solemn demeanor. Wait, for real? Not joking... no! This was escapism! What kind of insane person impersonates an imperial princess in the capital of the Empire!
"So, Eldmia, though we have been unable to build proper trust through this brief meeting, I beg you, not in my name but in the name of the Empire..."
That moment. A truly fleeting instant, as if a single second had been split hundreds of times. A single super-genius Eldmia shouted inside my head.
-No! You must not let the princess maintain her composure! You'll be executed! Burned at the stake!
-If she realizes you were trying to turn the princess into a hamster, you'll be dismembered and scattered!
-Attack! The answer is attack! You have to overwhelm her senseless and evade this situation so that the princess, having missed her timing, cannot hold you to account!
The super-genius Eldmia's argument infected all the Eldmias. And they, of course, were me.
Ughaaa! It sounded so fucking correct that my body reacted!
"No, Esmue."
"You trust... me?"
"I will not trust the Empire."
"You, you say you do not trust the Empire?"
Don't... look at me like that... with that face... don't look at me with that expression like a beaver watching its keeper demolish its own home! I'm not that kind of atrocious villain!
"To me, the Empire is actually far more unfamiliar than you are, Esmue. I spent my entire life on the frontier of Itisel and only recently came to the capital."
"Is, is that so? That was a fact I had not known."
"So I trust you, Esmue, more than I trust the Empire."
"Muh?!"
I didn't know why her eyes went round and she panicked, but she definitely seemed to be losing her grip!
"I will trust you, Esmue."
"...W-wait. M-my heart is..."
Esmue stared blankly for a moment with her lips slightly parted, then suddenly clutched her chest. I had no idea what was happening with her heart, but it felt as though all my own insides had dropped at once.
"Huh? Do you... have some chronic illness?"
I nearly let a habitually informal 'What?' slip out without thinking. Please, God, stop throwing more variables into a situation that's already about to spiral out of control because I couldn't cope with the sudden changes!
Was she seriously ill or something? No, if Esmue collapsed right here, it was seriously a guaranteed guillotine for me, wasn't it? As I hastily stood up and tried to approach, her two small hands flailed in the air and Esmue's urgent shout followed.
"Hoo! Hwaa! M-my heart is perfectly healthy! I merely ask that you w-wait just a moment!"
"...If that's the case, then alright. I understand, Esmue. I'm glad you're not ill."
Now even her smooth forehead and the tips of her ears had turned bright red, and I felt my hands and feet trembling over whether she was truly okay, but I maintained my smile with transcendent patience and lifted my teacup to drink as if perfectly composed.
I couldn't taste a thing. Wasn't it enough for the battles to be spectacular? Why did my everyday life have to become this spectacular too? Worried there might be someone around who could report me for insulting the imperial family or something, I darted my eyes around the cafe, but we were the only customers there.
Even the staff and the owner had been hiding somewhere out of sight since earlier, to the point that I couldn't sense another person unless we called out to place an order.
I should have realized faster from that reaction...! These were people who didn't give a single shit even when that bastard Zeke and his party had shown up. Why hadn't I caught on when I saw them stirring up that much of a commotion!
"......You are terribly bad for my heart."
That's my line, really.
"Right. Not the Empire... you mean you trust only me..."
My thousand and one little Eldmias! We survived!
Seeing the corners of Esmue's lips twitch and try to crawl toward her ears, that line which was nothing more than sweet talk had clearly worked! Since she wasn't even trying to hide it, I felt certain that I had somehow smoothed things over well. For someone in the position of the First Princess, she was unexpectedly weak to compliments!
"Is that not a r-rather slick manner of speaking? How impertinent. Just how many women have you been going around seducing?"
"I merely state simple facts. What remarkable things could there be in the life of a commoner who has lived with eyes fixed solely on a single sword?"
"...A-as I said earlier, status means nothing. The Hero himself is a commoner, yet he can be granted a title whenever appropriate, and such cases are hardly rare in the Empire."
Esmue's face, which had seemed to cool slightly, began to heat up again as she hesitantly continued speaking.
"Th-there have even been rare cases in history of people who rose all the way to duke through wartime merit and formed b-bonds through marriage with the royal family. I believe such people shine with far greater worth than those who merely preserve what they were born with."
"Truly insightful. As I said before, I see now that it was more than a way of thinking worthy of an Imperial noble—it was the dignity of an Imperial Princess."
"Th-that's enough! Hearing you say it like that is unbearably embarrassing!"
Yet even as she said this, the corners of Esmue's mouth were steadily rising.
One thing was certain: I had survived another day.
◈
After chatting pleasantly with Eldmia for several dozen minutes more, Esmue was the first to rise from her seat.
"Then, I shall see you next time, Esmue."
Even after learning that she was an Imperial Princess—and the First Princess, effectively next in line for the throne—Eldmia behaved no differently than before. He still called Esmue by name, still offered her cake and tea, and smiled and chatted as though nothing had changed.
That entire experience was so dreamlike that Esmue still felt her heart beating madly. It pounded so fast she nearly thought her heart might burst and she would die, making it difficult even to breathe.
The reason she had risen first despite wanting to stay longer was precisely that. She felt that if she stayed any longer, she would collapse at any moment.
Though it felt as if they had talked for days and nights, not even a single hour had actually passed.
Still savoring the novelty of a feeling completely unlike the tedium of ordinary work, she stared blankly at the sky until Ollend climbed down from the coachman's seat, approached quietly, and asked.
"Shall we return?"
"...Do you know where Eselua is?"
"She is currently attending a lecture together with the Margrave of Levien. About ten minutes remain."
"I shall go to Eselua's quarters. Send word ahead."
Ollend answered smoothly by bowing and opening the carriage door for her. With his help, Esmue climbed inside, and only once the door closed could she finally let out a long breath. As she listened to the steady rhythm of the carriage wheels, her expression and complexion gradually returned to normal, though her heart continued to beat far faster than normal.
'I should have set a date for when we'd meet next!'
Esmue couldn't contain her frustration at having made a mistake she would never normally make, and punched the cushion beside her. Yet even while doing so, she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from repeatedly curling toward her ears.
The whole world looked like a flower garden, and an absurd happiness spread through her. She couldn't even remember how many years it had been since she'd had such an enjoyable and comfortable conversation.
She and her siblings were all busy, and outwardly they maintained certain pretenses in their relationships, so meeting properly required one excuse or another just to maybe see each other once. Even the fact that she could go see Eselua now was only possible on the pretext that the duel between the Hero and Eldmia, as well as their first meeting, had not been entirely pleasant in nature.
Aside from her siblings, everyone around her was either a political rival or a subordinate. She had spent her days accepting that this was simply what it meant to stand where the emperor stood, believing it was the fate she had been born to because of her extraordinary talent.
That was, until today's meeting.
As she thus went over her conversation with Eldmia one by one again, grinning to herself, the window connecting to the coachman's seat opened and Ollend inquired.
"Have you decided on the treatment of the informant?"
"Hm?"
Come to think of it, there was that. At first it was a document filled with deeply unpleasant content, but now she didn't care either way.
"The root cause was the strict control of information within Rudra's royal family and noble council. Still, he did the best he could under the circumstances, so I cannot fault him for that. Tell him only that he must improve his methods and gather information from commoners as well."
"...Given his personality, it will not be easy."
"I said to improve. If he is incompetent to the point of not understanding that, he shall merely pay the commensurate price."
"...I shall relay that clearly."
In the brief moment it took to close the wooden window, Ollend caught a glimpse of Esmue's expression, the corners of her lips twitching upward once more, and let out a sigh of relief.
He didn't know what had happened inside the cafe, but his master couldn't have looked happier. Since it hadn't disrupted the way she handled her duties either, Ollend could only feel relieved about the whole thing.