Girls' Conversation
Girls' Conversation
The next day.
After waking in my lodging, I washed my face and checked my outfit.
It was only the standard Academy uniform, but I couldn't afford to give anyone a reason to criticize me.
On top of that, starting today, I had to meet people inside the royal palace.
The reason I was staying in the royal palace was that, officially, I was the Princess's escort knight.
For that reason, even though it didn't quite fit the purpose of the dispatch class, I had to diligently accompany the Princess starting today.
No, since others would assume I'd become the Princess's escort knight after graduating from the Academy, perhaps it would seem perfectly fitting after all.
"Besides, today is the day I get to meet the Princess's cousin for the first time."
Even if I was only an escort, there was no reason to give anyone grounds to nitpick.
After checking everything in the mirror, I finally buckled my Academy Standard Sword to my waist and stepped out of the room.
Under the pretext of serving as the Princess's escort, I was allowed to carry a sword even inside the royal palace.
The nobles of this world were formidable in their own right, even without weapons, so they didn't think much of a sword like this anyway.
I had no intention of walking around with just this single sword.
I wore a necklace around my neck and a ring on my finger.
On top of that, an artifact pouch was concealed in my breast pocket.
Inside the artifact pouch were both my greatsword and dagger.
Strictly speaking, apart from the lack of armor, I was practically fully armed right now.
The Princess's room was close to mine.
Since I had to protect her, there was no way our rooms would be far apart.
Thanks to that, I was able to sleep in a luxurious room far beyond my station.
"Balea, whom I met in front of the Princess's room, was dressed in a gown and seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood."
Don't tell me she was drunk?
"It's my first time sleeping in a royal palace! I can't believe such a wonderful room exists. I was so overwhelmed I didn't know what to do! I tossed and turned for a long time before I fell asleep. Though I slept soundly after that, of course. And to wear such a magnificent dress!"
She caught hold of the skirt of her dress and twirled on the spot in front of me.
Honestly, she was stunningly beautiful. But knowing her true personality, I felt not the slightest stir of anything strange.
After making a fuss that contradicted her usual behavior for a moment, she quickly returned to her usual self.
"Mhm, mhm, I knew following Young Lord was the right choice. I wonder what'll happen today?"
The behavior she usually showed me wasn't exactly normal either.
A moment later, the Princess stepped outside.
The Princess was dressed in a gown, too. Unlike Balea, she looked just like a doll.
Balea instantly slipped back into her fake, high-society persona.
"Oh my goodness, Princess, you are absolutely gorgeous."
She held her skirt, bowed gracefully, and greeted the Princess with a string of compliments.
What was this, some kind of three-stage transformation today?
I let out a silent sigh and greeted the Princess. Placing my hand over my chest, I offered a polite, proper greeting.
"Greetings, Princess. I will begin your escort duties from now on."
At my words, the Princess pouted.
Balea glared at me, too, but my goal today was to be a proper escort knight.
I had a mountain of work ahead of me, so I couldn't afford to give anyone even the slightest reason to find fault with me.
Once the Princess emerged, the maid waiting outside led us along.
The Princess, Balea, and I followed the maid down the royal palace hallway.
Though this was only my second time walking through the palace halls, the atmosphere in the royal palace of the Kingdom was quite different from that of the Duchy.
Should I say it felt livelier and a bit freer? It had the carefree air of a nation that hadn't been established for very long.
If the Kingdom's nobles saw this, they'd probably call it impolite and disorderly.
There was another difference, too. The sculptures, patterns, and even people's attire were somewhat different from those in the Kingdom.
They were Empire-style.
It was natural, since the Duchy had traded with the Empire for a long time because of their shared border, but even so, I hadn't expected the styles to be blended together to this degree.
Without a doubt, this palace had been built anew after the Duchy was established.
For a palace built by the Grand Prince, who had come from the Kingdom, to have so much Empire influence...
Had the people of the Duchy insisted on it? Or had the Grand Prince himself ordered it built this way?
It was a little puzzling, but not particularly important.
Instead, I kept my ears open. Since it was difficult to ask directly, I had to gather as many rumors as possible.
I had subtly questioned both the maid who showed me to my room yesterday and the one who served breakfast this morning, but I hadn't heard a single thing about the Duke's retainer who could repair artifacts.
It was only natural that I hadn't. Even if they knew more palace rumors than others, they wouldn't spill them to a guest from the Kingdom.
'I might need to get help from the seniors who went to other locations.'
Though explaining my situation would be awkward, I couldn't come all this way and go back empty-handed.
During the two weeks of dispatch classes, I had to find even the smallest clue.
I also needed to investigate matters tied to the Empire, like the mercenaries behind the incident at the Marquisate or the Organization that created the necklace. But since those were such large-scale matters, I planned to stick to general rumors for now.
As I walked along, listening intently, we arrived at our destination before I knew it.
"Her Highness Princess Aisha de Carlos has arrived."
When the knight standing in front of the door spoke with mana infused in his voice, the reception room doors opened.
The maids on either side of the door bowed, and the Princess and Balea went inside.
"Escorts are not allowed to enter."
As I tried to follow them in, the knight guarding the door blocked my path.
Huh, is that how it goes?
Come to think of it, it was only natural for an escort to guard outside the door.
"It's fine. Let him in. He came not as an escort, but as Aisha's friend."
A soft voice rang out from inside the room.
For a cousin close in age to the Princess, her voice sounded a bit mature.
I was planning to play the role of a proper escort, but...
Since things had turned out this way, I had no choice.
I guess I'll have to be both an escort and a friend just this once.
When I stepped inside, the Princess and Balea looked at me with smiles in their eyes.
"You two seem even closer than you made it sound in your letters. Was there something else that happened that I don't know about?"
A girl sat on the sofa at the back of the reception room.
She looked to be in her mid-to-late teens, though it was hard to pin down her exact age.
If she was sitting in the host's seat and was close to the Princess, there was only one person she could be.
I offered her a greeting.
"I am Alex. It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Your Grace."
"I am Frida."
She returned my greeting with a casual air.
Once we'd exchanged greetings, the three girls began chatting with one another.
Although I had entered as the Princess's friend, joining a conversation among girls wasn't easy.
Balea, who jumped in naturally and chimed in here and there, seemed all the more impressive.
I stepped back and quietly watched them talk.
"Wasn't the journey here exhausting?"
"No, it was really comfortable. More importantly, how is your health? I was so worried when I heard it had gotten worse before."
"I'm fine now. I'm sorry for causing you concern."
"..."
From their conversation, it seemed the Grand Archduchess was a year older than I was.
For pen pals, their age gap was quite noticeable, but when you saw them talking, you couldn't sense any age difference at all.
It made me realize just how mature the Princess was.
And the Princess, who was always on edge, seemed a little more relaxed, too.
Although they'd only met in person once before, they hit it off remarkably well.
"That's thanks to exchanging letters for such a long time."
When Balea asked a similar question, Grand Archduchess Frida answered.
"Both Princess Aisha and I opened up about our innermost thoughts in our letters."
At the Grand Archduchess's words, the Princess looked embarrassed.
Certainly, the Princess's expressions were lively and varied in the Grand Archduchess's presence.
Though she wasn't quite as expressive as when she was with me or Katrin, she still looked far more relaxed than anywhere else.
The girls had a wonderful time sharing stories they'd left out of their letters and talking about the Academy.
But it seemed the Grand Archduchess had been very sick for a long time.
They said she had been ill ever since her mother, the Grand Prince's wife, passed away, but thankfully, she seemed better now.
Unlike King Carlos, the Grand Prince had taken only one wife. That Duchess had given birth to a son and a daughter before passing away several years ago.
There had been suggestions that he take a second wife afterward, but rumor had it that the Grand Prince had turned a completely deaf ear to them, even to this day.
During the conversation, when I asked about the Grand Prince's heir—or rather, the Duchy's Crown Prince—the Grand Archduchess looked apologetic.
"My older brother is extremely busy. As the one who will rule the Duchy next, he has no time to rest even now. I ought to help him, but because my health was poor, I've constantly felt guilty toward him."
I couldn't tell whether she was sorry she couldn't introduce the Crown Prince to us or felt guilty for being unable to help him.
Still, since my question had drawn an apology from the Grand Archduchess, I apologized to her.
When I apologized for asking an unnecessary question, she shook her head.
"I'm really much better now. To the point that Father asked if I'd be interested in studying abroad in the Empire."
"In the Empire?"
At the Grand Archduchess's words, we looked puzzled.
Send her to study in the Empire? Why?
"Do you mean the Empire Academy?"
"Yes. After I recovered my health, Father recommended it several times."
"The Empire is the strongest nation on the continent, but we still have the Royal Academy."
It was just as the Princess said. After all, the Duchy was a nation under the Kingdom.
No one could stop the Grand Archduchess from going to the Empire Academy, but politically, it certainly wouldn't look good.
"To be honest, although my mother was originally from the Empire, after she passed away, I don't know anyone there. So I kept putting it off... but maybe I really should ask to go to the Royal Academy, as the Princess suggested."
"Please come! Everyone will love having you."
Watching the Princess and Balea urge the Grand Archduchess to come to the Royal Academy, I fell into deep thought.
If I considered it rationally, it might simply be a father wanting to send his recovered daughter to study in the place where her late mother had grown up.
Or perhaps he wanted her to study at the finest academy on the continent.
Or maybe he was afraid that if the Grand Archduchess came to the Kingdom, she'd end up as a hostage.
But the Grand Archduchess's words kept lingering in my mind, leaving me with a persistent, uneasy feeling.
No matter how I looked at her, the Grand Archduchess was just an ordinary girl who still appeared frail.
Why try to send her to the Empire? A daughter who had only just recovered her health.
That was what I found hardest to understand.
"Still, Father isn't forcing me to go, so I plan to think about it a bit more."
But I might just be overthinking things. My paranoia might be flaring up again.
The problem was that my paranoia had a distressingly high hit rate.
"Oh, right! Ever since I got healthier, I've gone outside the palace a lot to explore. It's your first time in the Duchy, isn't it? Let me show you around!"
It seemed the Grand Archduchess wanted to show us around the Duchy.
It also seemed she wanted to do all sorts of activities together with us.
The Princess and Balea joyfully accepted her invitation.
And naturally, I had to tag along as an escort, too.
If so, would this count as a dispatch assignment for the Princess to get a grasp of everyday life in the Duchy? As for Balea, there was probably no way to come up with a plausible excuse for her anyway.
But for me, it was time to perform my escort duties properly.
Nothing out of the ordinary was likely to happen, but still, being able to see many people and hear their stories meant I could gather more information.
And so, the first day of dispatch classes—ordinary, if one could call it that—passed, leading into an unusual next day.