Carlos Royal Warehouse (1)
Carlos Royal Warehouse (1)
As the day of the Grand Archduchess's visit to the Carlos Royal Warehouse drew near, Viscount Daniel's funeral was held.
It was a simple funeral, little more than a private family service.
Few other nobles attended, and the Second Prince, who had called him his right-hand man, didn't even bother to send a representative, let alone show up himself.
Indeed, once a person dies, friendship and power seem to stop mattering. Or perhaps he simply hadn't been all that respected in life.
In the end, although another noble had died, the Kingdom's capital continued to run smoothly as always.
Meanwhile, I'd been busy trying to avoid the exchange student, Joachim.
"I want to spar with you again."
"No, thank you."
Whenever we crossed paths, he repeatedly asked me to duel him, and I turned him down every time. He even went so far as to crash the Knight Faculty classes.
"Aren't you registered in the Inherited Ability Faculty? This is a Knight Faculty class."
"The purpose of an exchange program is to experience the Kingdom's various educational programs. Experiencing faculties other than the Inherited Ability Faculty would do more to foster exchanges between the Empire and the Kingdom."
He spouted some plausible-sounding excuse in response to my question.
Since he didn't have an ability that sounded plausible—like the ability of a student whose garden had been smashed—it was painfully obvious how absurd his words were.
But neither the other students of the Knight Faculty nor Professor Katrin kicked him out.
"I didn't expect an exchange student from the Empire to be this enthusiastic. Great! Today's a sparring class. Since he wants it so badly, Alex, why don't you take him on as the representative of the Royal Academy's Knight Faculty?"
In fact, Katrin got so excited that she turned the entire lesson into a sparring session.
Joachim was my opponent.
"I've waited a long time for this! I challenge you once again!"
To think that arrogant Imperial boy had changed so much.
"Though your skill falls short of imperial swordsmanship, you are a worthy opponent for me to learn from!"
Actually, he didn't seem to have changed much at all.
He'd merely evolved from a boy made of pure pride into a hot-blooded boy made of pure pride.
Hearing him go on about the Empire made me want to beat him up again.
Perhaps those words were his way of asking to be beaten.
"Here I come!"
At Joachim's energetic shout, I swung my sword with just as much vigor.
Crunch.
After sparring for a while, I struck him hard on the armor with my sword, breaking a few of his ribs.
"Ugh."
Though he rolled across the ground, writhing in pain, Joachim's expression remained bright.
Wasn't that enough to discourage him?
Instead, clutching his side, he got to his feet and gave me a thumbs-up.
"Truly, marvelous skill. Why don't you come to the Empire Academy as the next exchange student? Your talent is too wasted here."
Hey, hey, what was with that ominous suggestion?
Don't tell me the exchange student program required one of our students to go to the Empire, too?
If that ever happened, I swore to myself over and over that I would absolutely back out.
After dealing with Joachim that way, the day to head to the royal palace finally arrived.
Before setting off, I took all the artifacts I had in the Academy Dormitory and put them into a pouch.
The orb, the ring, the necklace, and even the greatsword.
Leaving only the Ego Dagger behind, I put everything else into the pouch and hid it deep inside my room.
Since they would conduct a physical search at the Carlos Royal Warehouse, bringing unnecessary artifacts would likely cause trouble.
That was why I left all my other artifacts behind in the dormitory.
But I had to bring the Firebird Dagger.
To verify the Hero's Artifact, the Ego Dagger was absolutely necessary.
Since I was going with the Grand Archduchess, I figured a single small artifact would be fine.
After checking my academy uniform and the Academy Standard Sword at my waist, I strapped the dagger to my opposite hip and stepped out of the dormitory.
As I headed toward the school gates, I felt other students passing by steal glances at me.
Judging by their collars, they were upperclassmen.
They clearly recognized me. For even upperclassmen to know me—not just my peers...
Whether for better or worse, it seemed I'd become quite famous around the academy in just half a year.
A royal carriage was waiting at the main gate.
The Grand Archduchess was already inside, apparently waiting for me to get in.
Come to think of it, I'd ridden in the royal carriage quite a few times over the past six months.
Even the coachman recognized me, so I returned his greeting and nodded to the Duchy Knights who'd accompanied him.
They were the knights tasked with protecting the Grand Archduchess during her studies abroad, and they'd come today to escort her to the royal palace.
With them there, I hardly needed any protection, but unfortunately, they couldn't escort the Grand Archduchess into the Carlos Royal Warehouse—or rather, into the royal palace itself.
After all, the Duchy was a separate nation, and the Carlos Royal Family had a custom forbidding foreign knights from entering the palace without a special reason.
Once I boarded the carriage and joined the Grand Archduchess, she filled me in on the details.
"I looked into it because it seemed strange, and it turns out to be a defunct custom. They probably dragged out this dusty, dead rule for some other reason."
Was it because we were heading to the royal palace?
The Grand Archduchess was fully dressed up. She wore a beautiful dress, sparkling accessories, and her hair was styled perfectly.
While it wasn't ball attire, she had clearly put an immense amount of effort into her evening gown.
"They said the Kingdom's knights would protect me instead, but honestly, how can I trust people I've never met? They aren't even the knights who accompanied me when I first arrived in the Kingdom."
Perhaps because of her change in attire, she, who usually looked as elegant as a lily, now resembled a brilliantly blooming rose.
"Still, I'm glad the Knight Faculty support system exists. I don't know why they're doing this, but Princess Aisha's legendary escort knight is right in front of me. I don't need to worry now, do I?"
"Ah... Yes. You don't have to worry at all."
I was so captivated by the Grand Archduchess's sudden transformation that I nearly missed what she said.
Seeing her chuckle softly, I must have given a rather awkward response.
"Though it's not a formal ball, today is my first debut in the Carlos Kingdom. I was too sick to show my face in high society back in the Duchy, so I suppose this is the very first debut of my life. How do I look? Am I all right?"
Hearing her speak, it felt less like she was bringing me along as an escort knight and more like she'd brought a friend to help ease her nerves.
Well, either way, as long as she took me with her, I was nothing but grateful.
I summoned every flowery adjective in my vocabulary to praise her beauty.
But when she heard what I said, the Grand Archduchess burst out laughing.
"Indeed, just as the Princess said, you are terrible at flattery. But since it makes it easy to tell whether a compliment is genuine or mere brown-nosing, perhaps it's useful for finding out the truth."
That was depressing.
Surely, when I was younger, everyone fell for my acting.
Yet here I was, hearing this.
It seemed I'd paid far too little attention to my acting lately. On top of that, I hadn't even practiced putting on a flattering act.
If there was an acting academy somewhere, I felt like I should carve out some time to enroll.
The royal carriage crossed the city and arrived at the palace.
A crowd was waiting for the Grand Archduchess in front of the palace.
I stepped down from the carriage first, and as I offered her my hand to help her down, a man glared at me, displeasure written all over his face.
At first, I didn't think much of it; plenty of men gave me that same look.
But once I recognized his face, all sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind.
He wore luxurious clothes and had sharp features that could be considered handsome, with a line of knights behind him.
After helping the Grand Archduchess out of the carriage, I quickly bowed to the man.
"I greet Prince Duardo."
Having the Second Prince glare at me was a completely different matter from being stared down by ordinary men.
Things were already precarious enough; if I got on his bad side for no reason, my life would undoubtedly become exhausting.
Fortunately, the moment the Prince laid eyes on the Grand Archduchess, he completely forgot about someone like me.
With a surprised expression, he stepped forward to greet her.
"You've grown so much healthier. It's been a long time, hasn't it, Frida?"
Seeing how he addressed her by her first name, the Second Prince seemed to have been quite close to the Grand Archduchess.
"This is only the second time we've met since childhood, Your Highness."
Wait, they weren't close at all!
Yet the Second Prince seemed to hear only the part where she said she remembered him from childhood.
"Look at this—Frida remembers me from when we were children!"
The Prince turned to his side with a boastful look.
But there was no one beside him.
The people following behind the Prince flinched, while the Grand Archduchess and the others looked utterly bewildered.
Don't tell me he'd forgotten that the Viscount was dead?
Thanks to the Prince's blunder, it felt as if crows were cawing somewhere nearby.
After a brief, awkward silence, the Prince spoke.
"I made a brief slip of the tongue, as my loyal subordinate recently passed away. It seems I got overly excited by the arrival of my beautiful cousin."
He certainly seemed excited. Judging by his behavior, though, he might just get excited whenever he saw a pretty woman.
More importantly, had the Viscount's death even affected the Prince?
Thinking about it, even the Second Prince's decision to come out and greet the Grand Archduchess seemed a bit clumsy.
There were rumors that, unlike the First Prince, he was an incredibly cunning prince...
But the Prince standing before me looked like nothing more than an ordinary playboy trying to impress his female cousin.
Ignoring the awkward atmosphere, the Prince reached his hand out to the Grand Archduchess.
"Come, let me show you around the palace. Follow me."
When he said that, the Grand Archduchess's brow twitched.
I didn't know her that well, but she was definitely angry.
I thought a rumored playboy would at least know how to talk to women, but he had managed to anger the woman he was speaking to so easily...
It seemed his reputation as a playboy rested entirely on his royal title.
The Grand Archduchess took a deep breath and replied to the Prince.
"I am sorry, but I have a tight schedule. I must pay my respects to the King, and there are others waiting for me after I inspect the Carlos Royal Warehouse."
"Tsk, he doesn't even tend to state affairs anymore..."
Had his health deteriorated that much? When I saw him at the Princess's Awakening Ceremony, he still seemed to get around well enough.
Clicking his tongue quietly, the Prince spoke again.
"If the King wishes to see you, then it cannot be helped. More importantly, why did you refuse my escort? I was planning to guide you myself."
At the Second Prince's words, the Grand Archduchess's expression soured once more. This time, unable to hide her displeasure, she even lowered her head.
I could fully sympathize with her feelings.
So that was the only reason they'd dragged up that archaic custom to keep the Duchy Knights out!
I'd worried that some grand conspiracy was hidden behind it, but now that I knew the truth, it was almost laughable.
No matter how I looked at it, this was clearly the fallout from the Viscount's absence.
It seemed I'd dealt a severe blow to the Second Prince's faction.