Royal Palace (2)
Royal Palace (2)
In any case, when Katrin apologized with a sheepish look, she seemed remarkably feminine and at ease—nothing like she had been in her mercenary days. It was almost as if this had been her true self all along.
What was more, the way she treated the Queen seemed less like how a sister would treat her and more like a daughter whining to her mother.
She looked as relaxed as if she were simply having tea and refreshments with her family.
Perhaps she was a little too at ease, because the Queen lightly scolded her.
"You brat, how old are you to act like that in front of a guest?"
Despite the Queen's scolding, she didn't care in the slightest.
"It's fine. He's not a guest; he's a comrade I fought alongside."
"Hmm, it seems you two are closer than I thought."
The Queen tilted her head and examined me again.
Thanks to that, my nerves, which had just begun to relax, instantly tightened again.
Drawing the Queen's interest was extremely troublesome in itself.
It would be wonderful if this ended with simple sponsorship, but from the looks of things, it didn't seem like it would end so easily.
Honestly, I would feel more at ease in a fierce battle.
If my neck were severed by a blade, I could just start over. But if I made a misstep in political relationships like this, I wouldn't even be able to start over. I'd only end up suffering endlessly.
"I already told you everything that happened back then."
"I'm saying it's not something one can understand so easily, dear."
The Queen looked at me with a subtle smile, still seeming young.
Granted, given my appearance, it might indeed be hard to believe what had happened.
But wouldn't that make me all the more worthy of sponsorship?
"That doesn't mean I disbelieve Katrin. I am deeply grateful to you, Young Lord, for helping Katrin. You were a great help not only to Katrin but to the Rattenhamar Count Family as well. As a member of the Count family, I offer you my thanks."
Certainly, since I had helped find the relic left behind by her ancestor, it was only natural for her to be grateful.
But since I had also received quite a substantial reward for it, her gratitude didn't feel entirely warranted to me.
I'd even received that pretty strange dagger.
Tsk. That strange dagger had spoken as though it were something grand, but it had been completely silent ever since.
I didn't know whether it had only been meant to speak once or needed a new catalyst, but quite some time had passed without anything changing.
Fortunately, the dagger's abilities hadn't disappeared, so it wasn't a major problem.
"Not at all. I have already received sufficient compensation from Katrin—no, Lady Katrin."
"Oh, Katrin, is it? It seems she really took a liking to you, Young Lord."
The Queen looked at her younger sister with an amused expression. Katrin shrugged.
Still, we were in the royal palace, right in front of the Queen. Was it really all right for the atmosphere to be so relaxed? I was worried because my tension kept ebbing away.
"That was the compensation from Katrin and the family. You can think of this sponsorship as a separate reward from me. There's no need to feel burdened."
I feel even more burdened, though. In fact, I was more worried about becoming entangled in politics than about the reward itself.
But I couldn't say that in front of the Queen. I had no choice but to thank her.
And then came the small talk.
We chatted about the Duke's estate and my adventures with Katrin. The Queen was an excellent listener.
"So that happened. The story Katrin gave me was so rigid, I thought I was listening to an official report!"
It turned out I was quite a decent storyteller.
As our conversation was coming to an end, the Queen asked me a question.
"May I ask what you plan to do after graduating from the Academy?"
Suddenly asking about my plans after graduation felt like being stabbed by a sword out of nowhere.
This was tricky.
Frankly, I'd come up with several plans, but I couldn't bring them up here.
The Queen's lips were still curved in a smile as she asked, but her eyes gleamed sharply.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn't a sponsor asking out of concern for her beneficiary's future.
It was unmistakably a question laden with political intent.
Katrin, standing nearby, wore a slightly awkward expression.
It seemed they'd thoroughly investigated my background. Perhaps I'd shown Katrin too much of what I could do.
I was still just a 14-year-old boy, but the way the two women looked at me was clearly the way one would look at an adult.
It seemed acting like a kid was no longer an option.
I sighed inwardly and opened my mouth.
"After graduating..."
Knock, knock.
Before I could finish my sentence, someone knocked on the door.
Was this good fortune? But who would knock while the Queen was speaking? Who could it be?
"Her Royal Highness the Princess has arrived."
At the maid's words, the door opened.
As it swung open, a little lady appeared—a doll-like girl of about ten.
Her face lit up with a radiant smile when she saw Katrin in the room, but the moment she noticed me, her expression stiffened.
She clasped her hands together and walked in slowly.
"Mother, Aisha is here."
She offered the Queen a polite greeting, and the Queen spoke to her.
"Welcome, dear. I called you because there's someone I'd like you to meet."
The maid had definitely said the Princess was coming, and the Queen's daughter's name was Aisha.
The person who had entered the room was undoubtedly Princess Aisha—the precious third child of this nation's King and third in line to the throne.
Introducing me to the Princess? Why on earth? I could only blink in utter disbelief at this unexpected turn of events.
The Princess seemed bewildered as well.
But with the Queen speaking, I couldn't just stand there doing nothing.
I rose from my seat and greeted the Princess in the manner of a knight.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Royal Highness. I am Alex De Gracia."
Mm, I didn't stutter this time.
"I am Aisha De Carlos. Nice to meet you."
She, too, held the sides of her dress and curtsied to me.
The young girl's adorable greeting was immensely cute. Mm. It felt somewhat healing.
"Fufu, what a scene I'd love to capture in a painting."
Watching the Princess and me greet each other, the Queen chuckled softly. Katrin smiled beside her, too.
Mm. Did I look as cute as the Princess to them? A strange feeling washed over me.
"The reason I brought you here is that our Aisha's Awakening Day isn't far off."
Wait, wasn't the Princess ten years old? It seemed the royal family's Awakening Day was different from ours.
No, what did the Princess's awakening have to do with introducing me to her?
The Queen wasn't finished.
"Though her Awakening Day has yet to come and she's still young, she must receive a proper education. That's why Aisha will be entering the Academy this time, too."
"The Academy?"
I blurted out the question before I could stop myself.
This little kid is going to be my classmate? She's just a brat! The age gap between us is...!
Huh, wait, it's actually only a few years.
She's definitely a kid, but... wait, wait, if I really think about it, am I not still a kid, too?
Seen that way, our height difference didn't seem all that great either.
Good grief, everyone around me treated me so much like an adult that I'd gotten confused myself!
Still, was I really going to be taking classes alongside brats like this?
Well, even in my past life, it wasn't at all unusual in non-modern societies for people of various ages to take classes together. But seeing it happen right in front of my eyes was just plain awkward.
Wait, then is my brother Manuel also a fellow freshman alongside this little princess?
Oh! Brother Manuel will have it way worse than me!
"Since you are fellow freshmen, please take good care of our daughter, Young Lord. She is still a young child. Having grown up only inside the royal palace, I am terribly worried about her. As a fellow freshman, I ask you to look after her."
Before I knew it, the Queen had stepped closer and was holding my hands tightly as she spoke.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
I was screwed. Completely screwed.
My post-graduation career plans weren't the problem here. Nor was my political stance on the sponsorship.
Starting right from the day of the entrance ceremony, I was in deep trouble.
This was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the tiger's den.
The Princess gazed at my face with twinkling eyes as half my mind drifted away.
After being shocked by the unexpected encounter, I left the royal palace.
Katrin told me to look forward to the next time we met, but I didn't even have the mental capacity to wonder what she meant by that.
Even after I returned to the mansion, Manuel—curious about my visit to the royal palace—kept snooping around, and the mansion's servants, who hadn't paid me any mind before, looked at me with peculiar expressions. But I lacked the energy to pay attention to any of it.
Time passed quickly.
While I steadied my shaken mind and resumed training, the day of admission to the Royal Academy arrived.
Perhaps thanks to my visit to the royal castle, life at the mansion wasn't too bad either, and I ended up riding in the same carriage as Manuel on the way to the entrance ceremony.
"You carry the name of the Gracia Dukedom, too, so don't do anything that dishonors the Duke's house. If I hear any strange rumors, I'll report it back home immediately, so behave yourself!"
As we rode in the carriage, Manuel spoke to me with an intent glare.
It seemed he'd brought it up to warn me in his own way, but to my eyes, he was just plain adorable.
Still, I must have been the only one who felt that way, since the butler from the capital mansion, who was riding along with us, nodded with a satisfied expression.
The carriage headed toward the south of the capital.
The royal palace stood in the center of the capital, surrounded by various government offices, knight orders, and noble mansions.
And in the south of the capital, occupying a vast area beside the southern outer wall, lay the Royal Academy.
It was a massive educational institution known as either the Royal Institute or the Royal Academy.
This was one of the first national institutions established by the Founding King after he founded the nation in the wake of the Great War.
Though they had brought the Great War to victory, numerous monsters still remained in the world, and there was a need to supply manpower to lay the foundations for the newly established royal family.
It was also necessary to systematically educate individuals in the inherited abilities passed down from the heroes who had led the Great War to victory.
There was another reason, far more important than these plausible ones.
It was precisely to take the children of the new kingdom's nobility and local powerful families hostage.
The method of forming marriage alliances by taking multiple wives was difficult to use because it caused inherited abilities to spread indiscriminately, leaving them no choice but to use the pretext of nurturing talent to take their children hostage.
For that reason, not only the Carlos Kingdom but also the Empire and other kingdoms had been establishing academies in their capitals like mushrooms after rain following the Great War, enrolling noble youths.
The carriage traveled down a side road alongside endless high walls for quite a while before finally arriving at the Royal Academy's main gate.
The broad main gate stood wide open, and luxurious carriages engraved with family crests were entering through it.
These were carriages belonging to nobles or people of great power.
People were entering through a side gate beside it; judging by their attire and the way they glanced around, they were clearly commoners.
Though this was a world and kingdom quite advanced for what one might consider medieval, it was still a strict class society built on the foundation of supernatural powers called inherited abilities, so this scene was natural in its own way.
If I hadn't awakened or had failed to possess a usable ability, I would have walked in with them as well.
Or rather, would I have died before then?
The guards thoroughly inspected each person walking in, one by one, but carriages engraved with family crests passed right through without inspection.
As if recognizing our carriage as belonging to the Gracia Dukedom, the guards let us pass with salutes instead.