I Didn't Mean for Them to Come to My House - 2
Tears began to tremble at the corners of my eyes, and my hands and feet turned ice-cold. The wicked superiors showed not the slightest hesitation in mercilessly tearing into their pitiful subordinate.
"Forcing honored guests who came for the purpose of travel to stay in the Imperial Palace would be an excessive measure. We can hardly skip the entry procedures for the palace either—wouldn't that become tiresome every single time?"
The Palace Minister, who had just called it a brilliant idea and backed the Crown Prince's words, now piled on unwelcome additions to make the argument more persuasive. But hadn't the Palace Minister been the first one to suggest preparing rooms in the Imperial Palace? Now he was ruthlessly striking the palace from the list of options. His skill at flipping his palm was nothing short of artistry.
Of course, the Imperial Palace was no neighborhood inn, so in a way the "excessive" label was fair. Even official diplomats had to jump through every hoop just to enter, and once inside they could only move within strictly defined bounds.
Purely in terms of hospitality, nowhere could entertain distinguished guests more splendidly than the Imperial Palace. Locking travelers inside it, however, would be mutually awkward and annoying. A lodging where you couldn't freely leave or wander about—didn't that sound a little off?
"Even if this is not an Academy schedule, the fact remains that they hold the status of students and belong to the Baking Club."
At the Palace Minister's continuing remarks, the Minister of Internal Affairs's expression twitched. In a meeting that was earnestly discussing how to receive a prince and the next Holy Son, the quaint little phrase "Baking Club" had nearly made him burst out laughing. He was the sort who laughed easily to begin with.
"Fortunately the Audit Department Chief is their advisor, is he not? There is nothing strange about an advisor staying with his club members. I hear the Audit Department Chief has already built amicable relations with them."
Amicable? Me, with those guys? What exactly was the standard for "amicable"?
"Quite right. Since this is not an official visit, it would be awkward for an administrative official to step forward—but the Audit Department Chief can."
"Indeed. The Audit Department Chief is, after all, someone who has known them face-to-face since the Academy."
The Minister of Justice and the Foreign Minister both nodded at the Palace Minister's impassioned speech. The moment the two ministers in charge of precedent and diplomacy threw their support behind the idea, even the faintest escape route was sealed shut.
Still clinging to a sliver of hope, I glanced at the Mayor. The Mayor was the one person who would instinctively dislike the idea of the club members lingering in the Imperial Capital.
It's over.
The instant I read the Mayor's face, I felt my doom. That loyal old man who had spent his entire life as a limb of the imperial house might look startled by the Crown Prince's opinion, but he showed no intention of opposing it.
Well, truthfully, the Mayor was unlikely to suffer much. There would be a bit of fuss on the day they first entered the capital, but the one stuck managing the club members at the closest range would be me. As long as I held out, the Mayor would have nothing to be annoyed about.
"Yes. No one is closer to the honored guests than the Audit Department Chief."
Once the ministers' agreement—or their silence dressed up as support—had piled up, the Crown Prince gave a small smile and turned his gaze on me.
"Don't overthink it. Just consider it the same work you did at the Academy, only now in the capital."
Easy for him to say when it wasn't his problem, the bastard.
My teeth ground, but there was nothing I could do. Not only the Crown Prince but the other ministers as well seemed to have no objection. From the ministers' standpoint, the welcoming process itself was what mattered; where the club members stayed afterward was irrelevant.
In fact they were already in a "You're the advisor, so of course you're responsible for the club members on their trip, right?" frame of mind. If I threw a fit, they would join hands and beat me down together.
"Still, it would be troublesome if the Audit Department Chief lacked the means to entertain the guests properly. Minister of Finance, see that he receives generous support."
"Yes, Your Highness."
At least the other support looked solid—small mercies.
Anyway, I was lucky. I had to keep telling myself that if I wanted my insides to settle at all.
The meeting ended uneventfully, except for one department chief's tears. The real headache had been the unusual situation of royalty touring the capital; protocol itself was nothing difficult. If the Empire, center of the continent, couldn't handle a simple reception properly, that would be the stranger thing.
Once the ministers and the Mayor had withdrawn, the grand conference room was left empty save for the Crown Prince and me.
"I never realized how reassuring it is to have the Audit Department Chief around."
"Your Highness flatters me."
I had intended to leave without a backward glance the second the meeting finished, but the bastard had held me back, saying he had something more to discuss.
"I worry I may have needlessly troubled the already overworked Audit Department Chief by bringing the matter up."
= Hey, you sulking?
"It is a subject's duty to obey Your Highness's commands."
= Then shut up if you already know.
To shove a fresh pile of crap into my mouth and then say something like that was pure teabagging. Teabagging from the Crown Prince—where was I even supposed to go complain? Advisor or not, sacrificing my own mansion was going too far.
When he said it would be better for them to stay in the capital rather than the Academy, I had naturally assumed rooms would be prepared in the Imperial Palace. Even that seasoned Palace Minister had first thought of the palace. If they were just going to stick them with me, why drag the whole party all the way to the capital?
"How regrettable that the Audit Department Chief, already busy with Audit Department affairs, will not even be able to rest at his own residence."
That question was answered the moment the Crown Prince spoke. Because I couldn't commute to the Audit Department while I was stuck at the Academy, he had hauled me into the capital. From the start the goal hadn't been the club members—it had been me. Fuck, are you even human? Son of the Emperor, so maybe not.
"Still, I shall do what I can to lighten your burden, so do not worry overmuch."
While I was inventing ways to feed the Crown Prince a steaming pile of retribution, he casually tossed out a hopeful remark. Even by the standards of his remaining shred of conscience, this whole business must have looked a little much.
"I hear the Ministry of Special Affairs has spare hands at the moment. Surely they have enough leeway to assist the Audit Department Chief."
"I am grateful for such generous consideration."
At the Crown Prince's blunt guarantee of support from the Ministry of Special Affairs, my mind raced. I had found the Special Affairs Minister's silence throughout the meeting strange; he must already have coordinated with the Crown Prince to some degree. They had decided before the meeting even began to attach Special Affairs assets to me.
My going to the Academy alone had been because of the three kingdoms' agreement, but the Imperial Capital was not the Academy. Imperial forces roaming the capital was only natural. And if those same forces happened to be seen frequently near my mansion, well—that would be pure coincidence.
Not a bad package of support. Better to have plenty of eyes and hands ready to intervene in an emergency than to watch over the club members by myself.
"And it would be awkward if the Audit Department Chief himself were constantly away from the guests, would it not?"
"Your Highness is quite right."
I nodded vigorously. I had even received permission not to report to the Audit Department every day. In other words: don't bother showing up every morning and getting chained there until late; stay at the mansion most of the time and just poke your face in when convenient.
I had already steeled myself for remote approvals while at the Academy. If I could commute from the capital, skipping daily attendance was perfectly fine. Even sparse attendance was far more efficient than pure remote work.
But wait—the terms were better than expected. Material support from the Ministry of Finance, manpower support from the Ministry of Special Affairs, and no need to clock in at the Audit Department every day. For the price of offering up one mansion, the deal was surprisingly decent.
Why is it decent?
As if reading my thoughts, the Crown Prince let out a soft snort of laughter.
"This is a matter of receiving honored guests in the name of the Empire, after all."
Meaning it also concerned the Empire's prestige, so he would look after it. With those final words the Crown Prince rose and left first.
"A gift from His Highness."
The Crown Prince's secretary approached and handed me a small pouch. When I opened it, ten glittering gold coins shone inside—exactly twice the sum I had offered at the casino in Boyar.
Truly, His Highness the Crown Prince never turns a blind eye to a subject's labors and wraps him in warmth. The very qualities of a sage king. In truth I had trusted the Crown Prince all along.
You son of a bitch.
The support was better than expected, so I would let it slide this once.
After the unscheduled meeting I returned to my office.
What a nuisance.
I massaged the stiff nape of my neck and sat down. Father's advancing age had already piled more work onto my plate; suddenly hearing that royalty was coming to the capital left me wondering what on earth was going on.
Part of me wanted to block their entry or simply ignore them, but this was a matter of imperial prestige. After two years of being tormented by that Heaven-Defier, the Empire had quietly become the object of suspicion and challenge from every nation on the continent.
Only recently had we managed to wipe away most of those unpleasant gazes. To botch the reception of foreign royalty—even unofficially—might invite those same stares to rise again. An irritating prospect to the extreme.
Ainter, at least, need not concern me.
Still, the affair had confirmed one thing. Ainter had no desire for the throne. Had he harbored such ambition, this situation would never have arisen.
No matter how friendly he was with a foreign prince and the next Holy Son, what of it? Father's support and the nobles' support both rested with me. The proper move would have been to keep his head low and wait for an opening—not to parade the friendship so openly and stroll into the capital. He would have no excuse even if he died on the spot.
He is not the sort who fails to make that calculation.
Ainter was quick-witted and had decent instincts. Had he been entertaining other thoughts, he would never have come to the capital. Even if he had, the present situation proved he was no threat—because it had been demonstrated that Ainter could not control the princes.
A royal visit was a somewhat bothersome and annoying event, yet it had allowed me to reconfirm Ainter's true intentions, so it was not entirely bad. In any case I only needed to show my face briefly and shake a few hands.
Only the Audit Department Chief is suffering.
The memory of the Audit Department Chief's face—as if he had just chewed a bug—drew an involuntary laugh from me. Regrettable, but what else could be done? That had been the best method available. Had there been another, I would have considered it more carefully, but there simply wasn't.
Besides, whenever I ordered him to do something, he would grumble with his mouth yet still deliver results well above average. How could I not trust him? Sprinkle on a little support and grease, and his expression would smooth out and he would move again.
It would be stranger not to work him hard.
Capable, diligent, no lingering grudges—and young to boot. Anyone sitting in my seat would have worked him harder than I did, never less.
At the very least I was more of a gentleman than that bastard Dorgos, who was currently rotting in hell.