Misunderstandings #3
Lately, Cecilia has been acting strange. I don’t know how to explain it, but for some reason, the way she looks at me feels a bit... wistful. That’s the only way to describe it.
Sometimes, it’s like this:
“Brother, eat this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s supposed to be good for your health. I had a hard time finding it.”
“‘Hard time finding it,’ you say. How much did you pay for it?”
“I didn’t pay much! ...And even if I did, I went through a lot of trouble to track it down.”
Out of the blue, she’ll feed me all sorts of things, claiming they’re good for my body.
“Brother, are you hurting anywhere?”
“What is this sudden nonsense? What have you been watching, and where? What is going on?”
“No, it’s just... I’m worried you aren’t sleeping well. Take this. They say it’s a rare spirit stone that improves sleep quality and puts the mind at ease.”
“What a bizarre thing.”
Other times, she’ll hand me some strange object, calling it a gift.
“Brother, is there anything else you need?”
“If I needed something, I would have gone to the Imperial Treasury, not asked you. Why are you doing this?”
“Umm, no. Just because.”
Anyway, she’s really acting strange. I have no idea why she’s like this.
Well, I have a rough guess. Cecilia has always been overly sentimental. She probably read some novel with a touching family story somewhere. She’s the type who reads romance novels from time to time, after all.
If that’s the case, she’ll probably get bored and stop soon enough.
If it’s not that?
Well, then I have no clue. The very idea of her worrying about my health is incomprehensible to begin with.
“Lily.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“If I were to fall ill, how do you think you would feel?”
“...Hmm.”
Lily fell into deep thought at my sudden question. After closing her eyes for a long while, she answered hesitantly.
“...Honestly, I can’t really imagine it. Could you explain it a bit more specifically?”
“Assume that I’ve contracted a terminal illness and have become frail.”
“Ummmmm...”
...
“A frail Your Majesty would probably look very beautiful.”
“No.”
That was an unexpected answer.
“...I apologize. Honestly, it’s such an unrealistic scenario that I don’t really feel any sense of crisis. It’s hard to imagine.”
“I asked knowing that would be the case, so never mind...”
There were some variables, but look. Even Lily, who is closer to me than anyone, can’t really picture me being seriously ill.
And Cecilia is worrying about my health? No way, absolutely not.
Anyway.
I don’t know what the reason is, but she’ll stop soon.
That’s what I thought.
Until the day Cecilia suddenly appeared, packed to the brim with luggage.
“Brother.”
Cecilia had shed her usual flashy dress and was wearing an outfit made of simple but high-quality fabric.
Seeing her like that, I thought, *‘Ah, she’s finally leaving.’*
She had been saying she would leave, saying she would leave, but she’d been clinging to me without any real sign of departing. I figured she finally had the heart to go.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes. I originally intended to stay a bit longer.”
She intended to stay longer? This freeloader.
As I furrowed my brow, Cecilia let out a small laugh and suddenly put on a wistful expression.
“You know, Brother.”
“What is it? Why are you suddenly acting all sentimental?”
“I will definitely find it.”
“Find what?”
“I didn’t even know Brother’s heart all this time.”
So, find what? What, what is this all about?
“Don’t worry.”
“What am I supposed to not worry about? I’m more worried about you acting like this all of a sudden...”
“Yes, yes. I know, I know.”
She knows what? She isn’t listening to a word I’m saying.
“Brother is busy, so I’ll do it instead. If I search the entire continent, there’s bound to be at least one.”
“So, find what?”
“Whether it’s a medicine that helps, or a treasure, or anything.”
Medicine? Treasure?
...Suddenly?
“I don’t know if I can find a medicine that actually works on Brother... but if it’s something like a legendary elixir, who knows?”
“Hmm.”
I suppose.
As I’ve said before, most medicinal herbs have no effect on me.
In game terms, it’s like my level is so high that nothing I eat gives me an experience boost. My stats are capped, too.
In that sense, it seems my sister, for some reason, wants to give me a gift born of sisterly affection.
Seeing as she’s looking for medicine that actually works on me.
“...Is it really necessary?”
Honestly, I don’t need it.
“It’ll be hard to find, and even if you do, it won’t have much effect. Don’t do anything useless, and since you’re leaving, just go do what you want and come back.”
“Yes, yes. I know, I know.”
What does she keep saying she knows? I told her it’s unnecessary. Instead of wasting time looking for that, she should be doing something else.
I crossed my arms.
“If you’re talking about rare medicine, there’s already an Elixir in the Imperial Treasury. The only things rarer than that are Soma or Nectar.”
“Aha, Soma or Nectar? Got it. I’ll look for those.”
Is she crazy?
“I didn’t mean for you to go find those. In the first place, those aren’t things you can just find because you want to.”
“That means you *have* tried to find them before, right?”
That is true. If I could have obtained them, I would have. It’s just that they weren’t fixed hidden pieces, so I had to come back just licking my lips.
“As I thought.”
What is she satisfied about?
“Don’t worry. I will definitely find them. Brother, just wait for me.”
No, seriously, find what?
What does she keep telling me not to worry about?
Before I could even voice my question, Cecilia smiled wistfully.
“Then, I’ll be going!”
This is driving me crazy.
*
Cecilia left.
Leaving behind only words I couldn’t understand.
That girl, she isn’t really going to try and find Soma or Nectar, is she?
If my memory serves me right, the rewards you get while searching for those two are quite sweet, so I didn’t stop her on purpose.
I didn’t stop her, but...
Soma or Nectar. It might have been different back when I was collecting hidden pieces for the first time, but for me now, it’s just... unnecessary.
...
Well, it can’t be helped. Cecilia isn’t a child. She’ll handle it herself. I gave her plenty of useful items from the Imperial Treasury, anyway.
I pushed aside my thoughts about Cecilia and sat on the throne.
“Is everyone here?”
I have work to do.
“Then, let us begin the meeting, Your Majesty.”
The first topic was the recovery from the damage left behind by the Leviathan.
“Thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, the urgent food shortages in most of the affected territories have been resolved.”
“In particular, thanks to Your Majesty using the Imperial private funds first, other nobles with means have also dipped into their own pockets to provide support.”
“It’s because they felt pressured to act since Your Majesty took the lead.”
It was just as Elizabeth said. That hadn’t been my intention, but still. The Emperor had emptied his private coffers to support flood victims, and they were supposed to just sit still?
Hmm. It’s not easy to have the guts for that.
It hasn’t been years since I swung the blade of the purge, after all.
Some of them probably still wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Especially those who feel they only narrowly survived.
“Still, since they dipped into their own pockets to support the effort, I cannot help but commend them. Proxy?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How much of the Water Essence we received last time do we have in surplus?”
“We have quite a bit left even after prioritizing the nobles who stepped up. Shall we proceed with that?”
I nodded. Even if they only followed suit after seeing me do it, if they spent their own money, they deserve a reward.
“Then, next...”
A few topics passed by.
When I picked up the next report, a familiar place name caught my eye.
“Lucilla Plains?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
If it’s the Lucilla Plains, that’s a place I mentioned quite a while ago. Before I recruited Elizabeth.
“According to the report, the leader of the Great Plains Beastman Tribe Alliance has been replaced. The reason is rebellion. The name of the leader who has newly come to rule the Great Plains is—.”
“Groom. Is that correct?”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
I grinned and put down the report.
A considerable amount of time has passed since I began restructuring the Empire.
While I sat high upon the throne, focusing on the internal affairs of the Empire.
Stories from outside the Empire had also progressed quite a bit.
“...Is that a name you know?”
Elizabeth asked quietly.
“I do.”
Among the countless events of the original work.
I had prevented several things before they even happened. The situation in the Trier Kingdom is an example of that.
Conversely, there were times when I encountered future events earlier than expected.
Even without my intervention.
It means the events of the original work don’t necessarily flow exactly as scripted.
So, where is my current position?
How far have I progressed through the story? There were times when I couldn’t gauge it, but...
Now I roughly understand.
“It’s about time to have a conversation with the Great Plains.”
The Great Plains event.
It’s an event that occurs randomly once the flow of the original story reaches roughly the midpoint.
It’s also a notoriously hard event that makes players vent their frustration if it happens early in the mid-game.
That’s because it usually happens when you haven’t finished farming items for affection-building or branching paths.
That’s a story that has nothing to do with me now.
Preparation?
Why would I need that?
“Ah, just in case, I’ll say this. I won’t be going to the Great Plains myself this time, so don’t worry.”
A look of relief flashed across the ministers’ faces.
Were they that worried? What should I do about this? I said I wouldn’t go to the Great Plains, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t move at all.
“...Then, we will prepare a delegation.”
“In that case, I, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, shall take the role of the delegation’s representative—”
“No.”
I raised my hand, cutting off the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“There is someone else meant for this task.”
“As you wish. If you tell us who will take the role of the representative, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide support.”
Even though his domain had been encroached upon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs didn’t change his expression and nodded.
It’s a good thing the Minister of Foreign Affairs conceded so easily. It’s not that he’s incompetent. On the contrary, he’s an elite among elites who rose to the position of minister at a quite young age.
However, there is someone else who is the right person for this job.
“Summon Theodore.”