Rejoice, the Imperial Grandchild Has Arrived! - 4
I sipped the tea Mar had prepared herself and felt my nerves settle. The tension over tomorrow’s appointment ceremony for the Imperial Grandchild seemed to ease, if only a little.
"Congratulations, Karl. Tomorrow you’ll be His Highness the Imperial Grandchild’s godfather."
It was a pity that Mar’s remark sent the tension surging right back up again.
"No matter how I look at it, the honor is far more than I deserve."
"But it also means His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince hold you in the highest regard."
I forced a smile and shook my head, yet Mar’s face was the very picture of pure delight; she was even humming under her breath.
Is she really that happy about it?
Despite my mixed feelings, a smile slipped out of me unbidden. The official announcement of the godfather was supposed to wait until the appointment ceremony itself, so I had planned to keep quiet until then. Still, I had let my family and fiancées in on the secret. All of them knew how to keep their mouths shut; there was no risk of the news leaking.
They had all congratulated me, and that had been the end of it. Spreading gossip about the imperial family before the Emperor’s formal proclamation was something they understood to be the height of impropriety.
Mar, however, was different. She hadn’t gone around broadcasting it, but her reaction had been the most intense of anyone’s.
She’s also the one most sensitive to high society.
The rest of the family had little interest in social circles. Beatrix was detached from human relationships altogether. Luise and Irina were still innocent young ladies who didn’t know much about such things. Erzebet simply didn’t care. Penelia was too busy celebrating to think of anything else.
In that miraculous lineup, Mar was almost the only one fluent in the ways of high society—the only one who had immediately calculated what the title “godfather to the Imperial Grandchild most likely to become the next Emperor after next” would mean in those circles. Of course she was happier than the others.
In truth, Mar’s reaction was the normal one. The prestige and authority that came with being the Imperial Grandchild’s godfather were immense; any amount of celebration would have been appropriate when one’s beloved received it.
The fatal problem was simply that the person in question—me—didn’t want the job.
"Even though Sister Erzebet is already close to Her Highness the Crown Princess, if you become the Imperial Grandchild’s godfather we’ll be drawn even closer to the imperial family. That will be a great help to our children as well."
"I’m sure it will. They would never slight a godfather’s family."
Yet when Mar spoke not only of my honor but of our children’s future safety, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything disagreeable.
Yes—if I became godfather, it would be good for the children who would one day be born as well. It was unthinkable for the Imperial Grandchild’s godfather to stand opposed to the imperial family, and the reverse was equally true. Unless I committed some truly catastrophic blunder, the blade of purge and suspicion would never fall on my children.
I had been a little worried, to be honest. History was full of cases in which a meritorious subject too awkward to touch was left alone until he grew old and died, after which his children were beaten down by the monarch.
Even I have to admit it’s an insane combination.
Three ducal houses bound by blood, plus a marquisate, a countship, and a barony for good measure. From the imperial family’s perspective it was a lineup that would make them nervous even if we all just sat quietly breathing.
That was why becoming godfather was a good thing. The imperial family itself would be guaranteeing my children’s safety; it was truly cause for rejoicing.
I decided to think of it that way. I was going to become godfather whether I liked it or not, so I might as well spin some happy circuits while I was at it.
The venue for the Imperial Grandchild’s appointment ceremony had been set as the same place where the Emperor had delivered his New Year’s address during the New Year’s Audience. I could feel the Emperor’s determination to invest the child with every scrap of legitimacy and authority he could muster.
Even the dukes who had been enjoying peaceful days in their territories had all been dragged—ah, rather, they would all be attending. It wasn’t a gathering of every titled noble the way the New Year’s Audience was, but the presence of all five dukes was more than enough to give the ceremony weight. In the Empire, after all, one duke was worth more than ten or twenty counts.
While the dukes and other high nobles and senior officials gathered one by one, I headed to the Imperial Palace for my own modest preparations.
"I pay my respects to the Imperial Grandchild. I am Karl Crassius of Wiridia, who has the honor of becoming Your Highness’s godfather."
My “preparations” consisted of nothing more than greeting a baby who had been born barely a week ago.
The Imperial Grandchild, eyes closed in the Crown Princess’s arms, slowly opened them at my greeting. Opened them, at least—tiny slits that didn’t even show the pupils properly—but opened them nonetheless.
"It seems the Imperial Grandchild is glad to meet the godfather."
"It is truly an honor."
Of course I hadn’t expected an answer from a newborn; the Crown Princess merely smiled faintly and spoke.
At least the child hadn’t burst into tears at the sight of a stranger, so that was a relief—
"Ah—"
?
What was that?
Who made that sound?
I was startled by the sudden noise, but the Crown Princess holding the Imperial Grandchild looked even more surprised; her eyes went round as she stared down at the baby in her arms.
…Could it be the child?
"Is Your Highness already babbling?"
"I-it would seem so."
"Ah—"
As if answering the Crown Princess, the Imperial Grandchild babbled softly again. It was the sort of sound that came from breath escaping a mouth that couldn’t yet form proper syllables, but there was no doubt it had come from the child.
Did babies really start babbling at one week old? Or were people in this world simply different?
"Trying to speak just to welcome the godfather—how precious."
Watching the Crown Princess carefully stroke the Imperial Grandchild’s cheek with eyes full of affection, I decided this must simply be average for this world. Mana and divine power existed here, after all; a little early babbling was nothing. Even if the Imperial Grandchild started crawling right now I would just shrug and accept it.
The Crown Prince arrived later, grew excited when he heard the child had babbled—and the Imperial Grandchild refused to open its mouth again.
Seeing the Crown Prince’s expression of utter desolation improved my mood considerably.
I looked down at the nobles from the dais. The scene was familiar, yet today a different exaltation filled me.
At last.
At last this day had come. Unlike me, who would have worn the shackles of a collateral line my whole life, unlike the Crown Prince who carried the weakness of being a bastard— a being whom no one could refuse to acknowledge had been born into the imperial family.
Truly, I had achieved everything. After walking in silence through darkness that seemed to have no end, I had reached the light. I had cast aside everything that had been the man Corvus and, as Emperor Eimanka XVI, had restored the imperial family and the Empire.
It was long.
Yes, it had been a long time. Decades that felt like centuries. Every time I saw the Empire ruined by foolish emperors and the collapsed authority of the imperial house, the urge to give up had risen, yet in the end I had overcome it.
…My role was finished now. The moment I appointed the Imperial Grandchild in this place, I would have accomplished everything I could.
"Hear me, my lords."
And so I opened my mouth with pride. This was the final command I would issue as Emperor.
"The imperial house that once prospered under the name of the Great Emperor lost its way at some point and failed to heed the Mandate of Heaven and the will of the people—a matter that would have filled the Great Emperor with sorrow."
The nobles stirred at an admission of the imperial house’s failures and incompetence, but I paid them no mind. Having borne those failures and that incompetence alone and pressed forward, I had every right to speak these words. My illustrious ancestors would acknowledge it as well.
"Yet the many nobles and subjects never withdrew their reverence for the Libnoman line. Thus the imperial house was able to rise once more and achieve the prosperity of this day."
When the direct Libnoman line was severed, the nobles had not founded a new imperial house; they had sought out a collateral branch. As a result the Empire of the Libnomans had flourished again—proof that Heaven itself smiled upon the name of Libnoman.
"Therefore the Great Emperor rejoices once more and has bestowed a great blessing upon the Libnoman line."
With those words I turned my head. The Crown Princess stepped forward, the Imperial Grandchild held in her arms.
She could have left the holding to the ladies-in-waiting, yet she had insisted on doing it herself. I had allowed it; it, too, would demonstrate that the Imperial Grandchild was cherished by the imperial family and that the House of Duke Nuren, the child’s maternal family, stood firmly in support.
"By the Great Emperor’s protection, an Imperial Grandchild has been born. This is proof of the imperial house’s prosperity. I shall name the Imperial Grandchild Charlotte, after the first Empress."
The Great Emperor’s consort and mistress of the imperial household, the central figure who had guided its prosperity—that glorious name was truly worthy of being passed to the Imperial Grandchild.
And from this child, the imperial house would once more reclaim the glory of the Great Emperor’s age.
A glory greater than the glory I myself had achieved.
A glory more radiant still.
After the announcement of the Imperial Grandchild’s name came the baptism performed by Cardinal Lisiuko, Archbishop of Ausen.
A baptism conducted by the highest-ranking cleric of the Dawn Church within the Empire. With it, religious authority also settled upon the Imperial Grandchild. To deny the authority of an Imperial Grandchild baptized by a cardinal was to oppose the will of the cardinal—and, by extension, of the Pope who had appointed him.
"—Under the protection of Enen and the blessing of the Great Emperor, I hereby invest Charlotte Libnoman, the sole Imperial Grandchild, as Crown Princess."
And the Emperor, as though nothing now stood in his way, swiftly completed even the investiture of the Crown Princess.
"Long live the Empire! Long live the Libnoman line!"
"Great Emperor, protect Her Highness the Crown Princess!"
One might have expected shock at the rare spectacle of a one-week-old infant becoming Crown Princess, yet the nobles’ cheers rose at once. They had probably anticipated this the moment the Emperor summoned all five dukes.
No—given how imminent the Emperor’s abdication was, he would have forced the matter through even if the dukes had been absent. The route of Crown Princess–Crown Princess Consort–Emperor was simply superior to that of Imperial Grandchild–Crown Princess–Emperor.
"May light shine upon Her Highness the Crown Princess!"
Amid the endless cheers, the Crown Princess wriggled quietly in her swaddling.
Magic really is convenient.
I let out a breath of relief without meaning to.
Adults the child had never seen were roaring “Long live!” at the top of their lungs. Any baby would have been startled enough to burst into tears—yet a Crown Princess crying at her own appointment ceremony would have been an awkward disaster. The nobles would suddenly have become traitors who made the Crown Princess cry.
That was why the mages had cast a noise-dampening spell on the child. Completely silencing everything would only have made the baby cry for different reasons, so the spell merely reduced even the loudest shouts to the level of ordinary everyday noise.
Is she asleep?
The spell was working almost too well; the child seemed to have fallen asleep in the middle of all this uproar.
"Surrounded by the blessings of many loyal and capable subjects, the Imperial Grandchild has become Crown Princess. This is the Crown Princess’s good fortune."
When the cheers at last began to subside, the Emperor spoke in a quiet voice.
"Therefore I intend to choose one among the lords who witnessed the Crown Princess’s baptism and make him the Crown Princess’s godfather."
At those words the Crown Princess Consort approached me.
Then she carefully placed the Crown Princess into my arms.
Whoa.
The instant I took the child, I felt countless gazes. If stares had physical force, my body would have been shredded to pieces.
"I name Audit Department Chief Karl Crassius of Wiridia as the Crown Princess’s godfather."
He went on at length explaining the reasons for choosing me, but honestly I didn’t hear a word. The other nobles were probably the same.
What did the reasons matter? The fact that I had become godfather was what mattered.
"Ah—"
In the middle of it all, the Crown Princess began to babble again.
If that little sound seemed like a request that I take good care of her, it was probably just my imagination.