Stubbornness (1)

Seeing how the Emperor let it slide without a word even after I caused such a disaster in the diplomatic arena, he must have genuinely thought it didn't matter if I caused that kind of havoc.

Either that, or the Empire's power was simply overwhelming enough that the other nations were already cowed, afraid one wrong word would get them smashed.

In the original story, the Emperor eventually tries to wage an insane war against the entire world and actually gets to the verge of doing so before the protagonist's party stops him. From that, you can tell the Kingdom and the Holy State are at least managing to respond reasonably wisely for now. As things stand, no single nation can win a war against the Empire unless the Empire fractures from within or every country outside the Empire unites against it.

Even if a war did break out, whichever side struck the Empire first would absolutely never come out intact.

... And I happened to be one of the most central figures in that Empire. At fourteen years old.

Was I going to become a war criminal?

Well, I still had a few years before that, so I could take my time thinking it over. If it came down to it, I could simply erase every scrap of that mess from existence and assassinate the Emperor, and that would be the end of it.

I was also planning to do my utmost to prevent that sort of thing from happening in the first place.

Anyway, the fact that my insolent behavior didn't cause any particular trouble wasn't much of a surprise.

The truly surprising thing was something else entirely.

"You mean you spoke with the princess?"

"Why? Am I not allowed to? You were there as the imperial representative at a summit where all three nations gathered."

"No, that isn't what I meant."

Alice's face as she said that to me literally radiated "pride."

She had every reason to be proud. Alice normally did almost nothing but study and train inside the imperial palace. Accomplishing something at all would be a source of pride for her. And this wasn't some trivial matter either. She had cultivated a friendship with the sole princess of the Kingdom.

I didn't know exactly what sort of person the king was. He appeared only a few times with a handful of lines in the game.

But his daughter Charlotte was a good person. She was absolutely not the type to put on a hypocritical act in front of anyone. She was one of the obtainable heroines to begin with; if she'd been written as a character with a black heart, she wouldn't have been nearly that popular.

If Alice had spoken with someone else, I might have been suspicious of that person, but Charlotte was unlikely to cause any great problems. We were scheduled to meet at the academy next year anyway. The king would send Charlotte as an exchange student.

There was clearly a reason the Emperor hadn't harshly reprimanded Alice this time.

Part of it was that I'd personally pleaded with him not to.

"You spent your time fruitfully."

When I said that, Alice lifted her chin as if showing off.

Honestly, the impression she gave was more cute than lofty.

*

Afterward, nothing especially eventful happened. The Emperor didn't summon me separately to interrogate me about this or that, nor did he issue any new orders to assassinate someone else.

I'd assumed it was because I was scheduled to attend the academy the following year. It would be troublesome if unsavory rumors about me spread through the school I was to enter as a student. Besides, if the Emperor was sending me to the academy, it would not be to study diligently but to investigate nobles destined for important posts and capable commoners.

Claire's role in the original had been exactly that. Moreover, Claire hadn't attended the academy from the start; she had transferred in midway through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the Emperor's bidding. Even though she herself had expressed no particular desire to enter the academy.

So I naturally thought that I, having studied hard with the aim of enrolling from the start and having faithfully attended every practice exam, would of course be able to enter the academy right away.

But—

"There is a place you must go."

What?

I had to exert tremendous effort to keep those words from bursting out.

No, really, if something like this was already decided, you should tell me well in advance.

"It appears the time has come to deal with the warlords in the Empire's north. The Riklant Autonomous State has finally requested our Empire's help. I will give you information on the warlord leaders who must be eliminated—go and take care of them."

Ah, so it was a military matter.

Ordering people here and there, then discussing the job only when it was upon them, made the military in this world thoroughly military.

"... Understood."

Of course, I had no grounds to refuse here. The best I could have managed was, "I want to attend school instead of going to the battlefield," but the Emperor hadn't raised me here in order to send me to school in the first place.

However, being dispatched to the battlefield didn't mean I was barred from attending school at all.

I could take the entrance exam in the city nearest to the front, and there was still quite a bit of time left until next April.

... If this world followed the model of the European nations that inspired the game, the academic year should properly begin in August or September. But Aetherna Chronicles was a Japanese game. Even though it was exported overseas, it had basically been the best-selling game within Japan, and naturally the game's content was tailored to suit the tastes of Japanese players.

And Japanese gamers who bought a game hoping for an academy story wouldn't particularly want a European-style semester system.

So the Imperial Rondarium Academy likewise followed the Japanese-style system: enrollment in early April, three terms. That way you could include the Japanese-anime-style summer break and winter break episodes.

Incidentally, despite the European background motif, there was also a Valentine's Day event. Which heroine gave you chocolate changed depending on which character you'd spent the year with.

"Are you perhaps disappointed?"

"...."

When the Emperor asked that, I raised my head and looked at him. He was quietly looking down at me with the same expression as always—faintly smiling yet revealing no particular emotion.

"No. I will follow your command."

I knew perfectly well what he was asking. He too was well aware that I had been studying for the entrance exams together with Alice.

Perhaps this order was meant to make unmistakably clear that I occupied a different position from Alice, the true imperial princess.

This was my first assassination assignment since the count. And it was in the north, where all manner of warlords were in revolt. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had heard that some insolent warlords had even crossed the borders the Empire had established.

The Emperor seemed to be planning to clean them up while he was at it.

"Hm."

The Emperor made that inscrutable sound, then said,

"Understood. You may go now. Your departure will be in one week. Someone from the military will come directly and inform you of the details shortly."

The Emperor said.

...If that was what the Emperor intended, enrolling next April was probably impossible.

What a shame.

*

"Are you really going to the battlefield?"

I was packing my luggage in my room when the door burst open and Alice demanded that.

I paused while attaching a water-bottle pouch to the side of my bag and turned around.

Alice stood in the open doorway, drenched in sweat.

"Yes, that is how it turned out."

"'That is how it turned out'?"

At my answer, Alice strode into the room, speaking as she came.

"Are you just going to say 'that is how it turned out' and brush it off? Didn't you want to attend the academy too? After you studied so hard!"

Mm...

It was true I had wanted to attend the academy. It was also true I had studied hard for that reason. Far harder than Alice imagined. That place was filled with the characters I'd loved. I was curious whether Claire, who had parted from me and must have grown up far happier than in the original story, had actually enrolled in the academy. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was also curious about Charlotte's reaction after having befriended Alice, which was different from the original.

Maybe I could even get entangled in that original story and join the protagonist's party. If something terribly dangerous arose, I could take care of it in advance.

... Honestly, the latter was something I had genuinely intended to do.

But just because I couldn't go right now didn't mean I could never go forever. Even if I weren't a student, several ways to intervene in the protagonist's party's situation came to mind.

"Say something!"

When I stayed silent, lost in thought, Alice seemed to conclude that I'd been struck speechless.

"I have received His Imperial Majesty's command to deal with the warlord forces beyond the northern border and stabilize the political situation in the Riklant Autonomous State."

At the phrase "His Imperial Majesty's command," Alice seemed momentarily at a loss for words, but she promptly lifted her chin and spoke.

"So?"

So?

I blinked a couple of times at Alice's words.

So what? I didn't quite grasp what she meant.

The Emperor's command was absolute in this country. It wasn't for nothing that the Imperial Assembly couldn't assert itself against the Emperor's will. The Assembly was determined entirely by popular vote, and the populace wanted the Assembly to follow the Emperor. The Emperor's hegemonic policies were a way of instilling in the citizens the pride of being "citizens of this Empire." And in practice, the citizens' circumstances had greatly improved thanks to the Emperor.

Though that was mostly thanks to raw materials looted dirt-cheap from the colonies.

And the "citizens" who elected the Imperial Assembly, that is, those with suffrage, were only "pure Imperial adult males."

Minors, perhaps you could set aside... No, really, setting minors aside with a "perhaps" was strange too. In this country, anyone over twelve was practically treated as an adult and crammed wholesale into the factories.

Even if that wasn't official state policy, this country was a chaotic mix of extremes, including extreme capitalism, imperialism, and powerful imperial authority, blended together in a way you couldn't fathom. The Emperor's ultimate goal was to force all of that into one place, fuse it together, and create a single empire.

It sounded plausible in theory, but the method was war, the most brutish form of diplomacy, which made it the wrong answer.

The Emperor was perfectly willing to set in motion that nonsense I'd heard somewhere before: "a war to end all things."

Anyway, children as young as twelve were put to hard labor fourteen hours a day, and no one cared whether those children drank, smoked, or became addicted to opium. Yet the right to vote wasn't granted until they turned twenty-one. It was already fortunate if they survived until then in decent shape, and even if they survived, children who hadn't received a proper education couldn't possibly take a proper interest in politics.

As a result, the military was always overflowing with volunteers. Since people suffering from disabilities or starving from hunger couldn't possibly muster the strength to fight in a war, the army fed them well, housed them well, and even gave them exercise. On top of that, the pay was far better than toiling away in a factory. Occasionally they had to risk their lives fighting, but since the technological advantage was overwhelming, casualty numbers were low relative to the enemy, and compensation was paid out promptly.

... Thinking about it this way, it almost seemed like the situation was being deliberately maintained.

On top of that, women had no suffrage, and people from the colonies who weren't "pure Imperials" had no suffrage either. The same went for those of mixed blood. You had to be at most a quarter non-Imperial to be recognized as a pure Imperial, and even then you could be rejected if you showed too many "colonial traits."

The workers believed that colonials were stealing their jobs, and rumors were circulating in some quarters that foreigners were forming secret societies and scheming behind the nation's back...

Doesn't a lot of this sound vaguely familiar?

Well, it was a joke of a situation, especially considering the historical record also included empresses.

"Aren't you a princess? Didn't you say having the Emperor's power at your back meant you could be bolder? So why are you just obeying that order exactly as given?"

"Even being a princess, not all princesses are the same. I am someone His Imperial Majesty took in because he thought I would be useful. Your Highness is truly a candidate suited to inherit this Empire."

"... So you're saying you're some kind of tool?"

Well, of course.

The Emperor probably did regard me as a tool.

That he loved his children was likely true. The same went for Ruth, Jaden, and his other children. In the story, the Emperor was genuinely grief-stricken every time one of his children died.

But at the same time, to the Emperor, even those children were ultimately tools.

Perhaps it could be explained as the difference between a tool he treasured greatly and a tool he could discard without a second thought.

Naturally, Alice was the most important tool among them.

... But there was no need to say that much to Alice. She was far too young for that.

I turned back toward my rucksack and spoke.

"There is no need to worry. I will carry out my mission there and return. I will not die."

"That's not what I'm—!"

Alice shouted at my back as if in frustration, then stopped. The door was still open. If she shouted here, the maids would hear everything.

Although Alice had often thrown tantrums in the corridors, as she grew older she had learned that such behavior harmed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her image. Not that it stopped her from throwing the occasional tantrum and making people uncomfortable.

"...."

For a while, Alice fumed as though trying to get her emotions under some kind of control. I couldn't see her expression, but I kept hearing harsh breaths, so that was likely the case.

And once she'd finally calmed down—

"...I'm going to Father."

—No, apparently she hadn't calmed down at all.

"Your Highness—"

By the time I turned my head, Alice had already dashed out of the room.

"... Hah."

I let out a light sigh, put down the luggage I'd been packing, and hurried after Alice.