The Distance to the Sun
The law of universal gravitation, supposedly discovered after watching an apple fall. That was all a lie, wasn't it? These days, when people hear "universal gravitation," they think of Newton. Newton makes them think of apples. And even a man like that supposedly lost everything in the stock market. No, that wasn't the important part. Anyway, what Princess Amelia was sharing with me was knowledge whose true value was difficult to measure in this society. Especially since most of what the princess described was rough and incomplete; even the Bachnia clan probably hadn't developed it into a solid theory. The heliocentric model was nothing more than a vague guess that the land might revolve around the sun, just like in actual history. While speaking, Princess Amelia kept emphasizing that I should only treat it as a reference and that keeping an open mind was what truly mattered. Sharing such precious knowledge was genuinely dangerous. If the Bachnia royal family found out, even a princess would struggle to escape unscathed. The fact that she told me anyway meant she was sincerely trying to repay me. Honestly, it left quite an impression. I might be overthinking it, but while I had helped her, I hadn't expected a reward of this magnitude.
The problem was—
"...Has Franz been conducting this kind of research as well? I knew Franz's magic power symbolized gold itself, but I never imagined you were researching anything related to the sun. Still, seeing you manifest a sun of that scale already proves your talent is extraordinary, so perhaps it's only natural."
The princess looked sullen. It really was a dangerous and priceless treasure. If I were an ordinary noble whose magic rank was just beginning to exceed Count or even Marquis level, and if I happened to be researching the sun... No, even without the sun, knowledge of this caliber was worth that much.
"That's not it, Your Highness."
"...It is. I can tell just by looking. Don't underestimate me. You already knew this."
Damn it, she wasn't buying it. I scratched my head. When she'd first offered to give me something valuable, she'd been genuinely excited. Her usually expressionless face had lit up, her eyes sparkling as she spoke with a visible smile. But the real issue was that this was common sense to a modern person... or maybe not. Even in my time, there were people who believed the Earth was flat, right? So what did it say about modern common sense if it was inferior to a princess's? In any case, the real problem was that, as an ordinary person from South Korea, I possessed knowledge at the level taught in schools—knowledge that, by this world's standards, was treated as a closely guarded secret passed down within the royal bloodline that ruled the nation.
"Well... no matter how much of a genius you are, maintaining a sun of that enormous size for nearly half a day already defies common sense. No matter how talented you are or how much awe your sun inspires, there are limits. Thinking about it that way, the time it took for its effects to manifest was far too short."
"Hmm."
She was right. Even though I'd come up with the technique and actually realized the Artificial Sun, I'd only shown it to a handful of people. Even if that had gathered faith, loyalty, or any other kind of mental energy from them, obtaining the sun's power in such a short time wasn't a matter of mere days. At minimum it would take a person's entire lifespan, and usually it was a generational problem. It was the kind of research a family had to continue across bloodlines.
"...I apologize for the rudeness, Princess. I'll take my leave."
"Wait, hold on."
Princess Amelia, looking as though she'd suffered a tremendous shock, nearly in tears, tried to stand and leave. I reached out and caught her arm. Still in the posture of trying to depart, she froze with her arm in my grasp, staring at the door.
"I-It's really not like that. I did conduct some personal research, but there was helpful information as well."
"...Liar."
"It's true. I even feel like I've found clues to things I've always been curious about!"
Seeing her slumped shoulders made me feel guilty. While comforting her, a thought occurred to me. I hadn't been particularly studious, and after graduating high school, books had meant nothing but novels and manga to me. Even those, I'd barely touched as I got older. All I really knew was general common knowledge. By this world's standards, that was clearly extraordinary. For example, atoms, elements, quantum mechanics that only ever got plausible explanations in movies, or DNA—I only knew it was a twisted double-helix shape. As for the sun? It was the center of the solar system, one of countless galaxies in the universe. I only knew that the Earth orbited it. That the Earth happened to be at just the right distance from the sun for life to emerge, that the sun created day and night, and that solar energy was immensely beneficial to the planet. And that it was the only star in the solar system that shone with its own light. Would knowledge like that be enough to obtain magic power carrying the sun's properties? Maybe now, but what about in the distant future, once science had advanced further? I still didn't know.
I drew magic power to my fingertips.
"Hmm. As expected."
"As expected?"
"The color is changing."
Very faintly, the color had begun to fade. Of course, it still shone with a golden light. Even among those who possessed the Franz bloodline, not everyone's magic was exactly the same shade of gold. It varied depending on individual traits and aptitude, so this level of change wasn't particularly unusual. Besides, the shift was so slight that even I, the owner of the magic power, had only noticed it belatedly.
"Magic power of the sun, huh."
"The sun is that much of a mysterious existence. Countless bloodlines, including ours, have explored and researched it, yet there is still far too much we haven't uncovered. One clan even attempted to fly into the sky toward the sun, but they failed."
"Hahaha. That must have been difficult."
The story of Icarus from Greek and Roman mythology came to mind. Wouldn't their magic power have run out before they even got close?
"...You really..."
At that moment, Princess Amelia spoke in a trembling voice.
"You truly believe it's impossible to reach the sun."
"Huh?"
I stared at her blankly. Well, of course it was impossible. How far away was it? ...Ah, crap.
"Do you know how far the sun actually is?"
I was done for. I shut my mouth and glanced at Princess Amelia's expression. Her eyes were trembling as she looked at me.
"Well, I mean, obviously it's far away, right?"
"Obviously... is it...?"
I averted my gaze from the princess's stare. I'd just have to pretend I didn't know. Fortunately, the princess didn't press the matter. A brief, heavy silence filled the room. That had been my mistake. By my common sense, the distance between the sun and Earth was so vast that no human could reach it alone—so vast that it even had its own unit of measurement. That common sense had led to this slip-up. I'd have to be more careful with my words from now on.
"...But this can't really be called a gift, can it? It wasn't particularly important information to you."
"That's not true. I'm more surprised that you would share something like this with me. Are you sure this is all right? If the Bachn Kingdom finds out, this won't be something that can be overlooked."
"I trust you."
Wait, what? I was momentarily at a loss for words. She trusted me? Did she understand what would happen to her position if I reported this to the Bachn Kingdom? Under my gaze, Princess Amelia gave a faint smile.
"Because you wouldn't tell them, not even for my sake."
The look in her eyes as she said that carried a strange sense of trust. Faced with that gaze, I couldn't find my voice. I mean... I was a noble too, and a foreign one at that. We'd only just met. Tch. If she was going to say that much, I'd keep the secret, but that overly pure gaze left me strangely unsettled.
"That aside, this is troublesome. I have nothing left to give you as a gift."
"That's not true. This is more than enough. I felt Your Highness's sincerity."
I hoped the sincerity came across. Any more and it would be overwhelming. With that thought, I tightly grasped the princess's slender hand and met her eyes, adjusting the atmosphere.
"...How unfair."
"Pardon?"
Princess Amelia turned her head away. The eyes that had briefly met mine fled to a corner.
"...But now I have no choice but to prepare a different gift."
After a moment of hesitation, she approached. Closer. And closer still.
"Wait, Your Highness?"
The arm I'd been holding trembled slightly.
"Why... why are you stopping me?!"
"H-Hold on!"
Both our arms trembled. I used the hand gripping her to forcibly hold back the princess's body as she tried to draw nearer. No, did this kid even realize what she was about to do?
"Y-Your Highness! If you climb any higher, you'll end up on the bed! Are you aware of that?!"
"Don't... underestimate the women of Bachn! Once I've set my sights on prey, I never... let it... escape!"
"Am I prey?! Wait, you're not even an adult yet!"
"Soon! I will be!"
"Don't lie!"
What was this, some nomadic tribe?! Come to think of it, she'd mentioned her older sister running away from home over a love issue. Was this a clan trait?!
"What exactly... are you trying to...! Aack! Wait, using magic power is cheating!"
"The victor claims the spoils! Magic power began to rise from Princess Amelia's body. It was only a tiny amount, but the problem was that my own magic power was nearly depleted, and with the barrier set up around the room, I had no strength left to reinforce my body. I was finished.
"The barrier is on you!"
"Wait, Princess Amelia!"
Thud!
The princess pushed forward with sheer force and we both tumbled onto the bed. She was practically half on top of me. Having finally pinned me down, she straddled me and stared. I hadn't expected to end up like this. I didn't know what she was planning, but watching the princess silently gazing down at me from above, I finally gave up. If I resisted and caused a commotion, and someone overheard...
Click!
"Lord Leoric! I haven't heard a word from you since earlier—!"
"Mmph!"
Smack!
Along with the sound of the door opening, Princess Amelia kissed me.