Speech
I drink up my tea that has cooled, I look around the delicate atmosphere in this place and say;
「Maa, because of that. Royalty, so to say, I can’t respect them. Of course, I’ll respect the people worth respecting.」
「In other words, I’m not yet deserving of your respect, is what you’re saying?」
The King asks while expressing a wry smile.
「I can’t say I don’t completely respect you but. At least I don’t currently know about you as a king… If I had to say, my impression of you as『Prince Lantis』is stronger.」
「In other words, it’s just begun, is what you’re saying?」
He murmurs out a sigh.
「If that’s the case, what does this prince need to do to gain your respect?1」 (needs editing)
The Prince calls out with a teasing tone.
「Let me see. The Prince only needs a little bit more, behave yourself towards women, if you can remember that, then I might be able to respect you, you see?2」
I remember yesterday, he teased me like this too3.
「That would be difficult. Even though it appears this way, I’m putting in great effort into it. Something like the inner workings of women, it might be impossible for me to understand it.」
With the sense of giving up, he raises both hands up in the air then returns them.
「Maa, even though I’m royalty, I enjoy the feeling of being carefree and moving around as I please as a knight. It’s been decided that my older brother will be the next king. It would help us if Sakura-san were to help him out. However, my brother is a bit troublesome so it’s best to be careful. I wouldn’t worry about Mother or Aria.」
Aria? I’ve heard that name not long ago right?
「Aria, you mean?」
「Ahh, Aria is my younger sister. Aria Isa Sobule. The first princess.」
A princess huh?
And the first prince is this family is quite unusual, it seems he’s slightly obstinate. I should remember that.
Maa, I probably won’t meet them though.
I don’t know if you’re aware but, every n.o.ble in this world possess a middle name.
Although I say that, it’s not like a Christian name, what it signifies is the child’s rank.
「Il」 is for the eldest son, 「Al」 is for the second son, and 「Ol」 is for the third son.
In the case for girls, it’s 「Isa」 for the eldest daughter, 「Asa」 for the second daughter, and the third daughter is 「Osa」.
For example, 「Sedrim Al Sobule」’s case would mean, 「Sobule」’s family’s 「second son」, 「Sedrim」.
It seems this middle name is like a self introduction for which ranked child you are.
All members from a n.o.ble family will possess a middle name, those who don’t have a middle name are commoners.
By the way, in the situation where those who get married, leave their homes or change their family name, their middle name will be changed as well.
In the situation for those who get married, for males their middle name will be changed to 「Somur」, for females their middle name will be changed to 「Limsa」. In the case of the King, his name 「Lantis Il Sobule」 was from the period when he was still a prince, currently, 「Lantis Somur Sobule」 would be his proper name.
For those who leave home and are single, a 「Ro」 would be added to the end of their middle name. In the situation where Prince Sedrim leaves home, his name would become 「Sedrim Alro Sobule」.
For the retired grandpas and grandmas, they would become 「Caral」 and 「Corsa」 respectively.
「Your att.i.tude towards royalty, would be because of Lyle-shi, I understand it as an influence
from Sakura-san’s previous life but, I wonder is your tone(speech) also influenced from your previous life? From your tone, it somehow feels like I’m talking to Lyle-shi…」(shi = master/mentor/teacher)
Hearing about the behaviour of a former royalty, Len-san hesitantly asks.
「That’s right, I underwent some influence. I speak like this in most situations. My forced smile and this tone can even deceive those unpleasant physiognomy types4. It’s quite convenient you know.」 (physiognomy is a way to judge a person’s character from their face)
Amongst my previous life’s memories, there were sorcerers who used their powers on people, and malicious n.o.bles. Because I was aware of the dark parts of human beings when I was a child, for a period of time I lost my trust in others, with the exception of my family. I came across this method of talking and a way to fake a smile at that time. Whenever I did it, adults would always say;「What a courteous child」, that’s how I came to a realisation5. Although my master immediately exposed me.
I improved quite a bit when I was 7 years old but, this manner of speaking had already became a habit, even when I talked to my family and friends.
By the way, the foundation of my way of speaking came from polite speech. Expressing honorific speech is troublesome, in the first place, there’s not many people who I respect.
「I see… If it’s possible, could you stop with that tone? I don’t mind if you talk to me normally.」
It seems I’m making Len-san uncomfortable.
「Another way of speaking, I think because I’ve always done it this way, it’s difficult. Besides, even Len-san addresses me in polite speech. Rather, shouldn’t Len-san be the one who changes their way of speaking?」
「Uu, you can’t change? My tone of speaking, maa, how do I say it, because of Sakura-san’s tone of speaking, no matter what I keep thinking that I’m talking to Lyle-shi… I know you’re a different person, but no matter what…」
He scratches his head while speaking.
Is this like a conditioned reflex because of his trauma?
「Please get used to it. Maa, after this we won’t have an opportunity to talk so I don’t think you should worry about it.」
「That reminds me, Sakura-san is planning to becoming an adventurer. If that’s the case then the chance of us meeting will decrease…」
Rather than an adventurer and a royal court mage’s chances of meeting decreasing, it’s possible that we’ll never meet again.
While talking, a considerable amount of time has pa.s.sed.
Since the bell rang for 5 koku a little while ago, right now it should be 5.1 koku, or half past 10 right?
With this our discussion has ended, since I’ll be called at 6.2 koku, I separated in order to head back to my room.