Arc 24: The King is Busy in Many Ways
Chapter 231: The Theater, and a Starry Sky Confession
「Uwaa-a-a」
I held in my arms prince Yamato who was reaching out his hands while muttering ambiguous words.
「He has become quite heavy, hasn’t he?」(Touya)
「That’s because he’ll be one year old soon. After this, he’ll be growing up a lot quicker」(Trystwin)
The King of Belfast smiled widely as he looked at his giggling son whom I was holding in my arms. Seeing this, Queen Yuel, who was sitting next to him, made a wry smile as well.
He certainly looked adorable when I was holding him like this. There had been quite a number of people who had become my brothers and sisters-in-law via my engagement, but this child was the only younger sibling among them.
There were a lot of younger children at the place where Elzie and Linzie grew up though, but strictly speaking, those kids were their cousins in the end.
「He’s cute~. I also want a younger brother or sister」(Suu)
Suu muttered while looking at Yamato next to the king, but her parents, Duke Ortlinde and Ellen-san, just averted their eyes awkwardly from behind her. They say innocence is cruel sometimes.
I pa.s.sed prince Yamato whom I was holding to Yumina, who in turn, was lying in wait. Having received her younger brother, Yumina cuddled him as she started rocking him slightly.
「Yamato~. It’s me, your Onee-san」(Yumina)
It seemed like she had been worrying whether her brother would forget her since we didn’t come to Belfast very much, but it was an unnecessary worry apparently. He looked even more delighted than when he was with me.
「I wonder if Yumina will cuddle her child like this in a few more years」(Trystwin)
「So Yamato will become an uncle in no time, right? Oh well, it’s something I wish to happen though」(Yuel)
「Right~」(Touya)
I eluded what the royal couple said while expressing a stiff smile. If only they thought about what they’re talking about. Yumina also pretended not to understand it and turned the other way, but I understood that she became bright red till her ears.
「I will also bear Touya’s child! If she is a girl, it will be fine for her to marry Yamato too!」(Suu)
Suu hugged me while making that kind of undaunted declaration as always. Wait, what is this kid saying? You can’t decide the marriage partner of her kid that’s not even born yet!
「…Hmmm. Surprisingly, it may not be bad. That means that Touya-dono’s lineage will be included into Belfast. …It’s possible」(Trystwin)
His Majesty the King muttered as if pondering over it. Eh? Are you saying it’s okay?!
In that case, I wonder what their relations.h.i.+p will be. Yamato is Suu’s cousin. Therefore, does this imply that he’ll marry his cousin’s child? There may be marriages between fellow cousins, but doesn’t anyone find that strange?
I’ll see it as a marriage between my daughter and my brother-in-law, and the king will see it as a marriage between his son and younger brother’s grandchild. How complicated…
There’s a tentative arrangement that I’ll be marrying once I become 18 years old, but I’m still considering what to do with Suu. Receiving a 12 year old wife is a bit… Well, I’ll still do it since I’ve promised that I’ll marry her, but it’ll be postponed by several years though.
However, leaving the only one person out is kinda…
「It’ll still be four to five years until Suu grows up to be capable of giving birth to a child. It won’t be a problem having that much age difference… Hmmm」(Trystwin)
「Dear, how about you put an end to this talk? It’s no use even if you think about it this early, don’t you agree? 」(Yuel)
「Sorry, ha-ha-ha. It’s a joke, a joke」(Trystwin)
His Majesty The King laughed as if trying to smooth things, having been rebuked by Queen Yuel.
No, that was definitely not a joke, wasn’t it? He was serious. Absolutely.
「Fuaaaa, fuuu…」(Yamato)
「Ara? I wonder if Yamato is a sleepyhead… Mother」(Yumina)
「Let me see… Aah, it looks like it. There-there, let’s go sleepity-sleep~」(Yuel)
The Queen-sama, having received her son from Yumina, took him to a bed in a separate room. Moreover, Yumina, Ellen, and Suu were accompanying her.
In a room where only the male camp remained, Duke lowered his voice and addressed me.
「Now then, Touya-dono. What about the aforementioned article?」(Alfred)
「Its safety has been properly confirmed as well just in case, so it’ll be okay. You need to take a pill per day since it’s considerably powerful, okay? Also, the effectiveness of the pills won’t change even if you consume a lot of them. It’ll just excessively absorb your magic power the next day and you will be attacked by a terrible fatigue. Do you understand?」(Touya)
I handed over a small bottle filled with pills to the Duke while cautioning him. I still didn’t think he should rely on something like this though, but the Duke just answered that “youth is reproachful” when I’d said that. What did he mean by that?
「What’s that thing?」(Trystwin)
The king asked us since he’s being puzzled when he’s looking our actions. It’s not a talk which we needed to hide since we all were fellow men, but I was a bit reluctant to speak about it honestly.
「Aah, this is one of the so-called… health medicines… Oh well, to put things plainly, it’s a vigour enhancement pill」(Touya)
「Wha-at ?!」(Trystwin)
「Shh-h-h! Brother, you’re loud!」(Alfred)
The duke held down the king’s mouth. It’s natural. He would be embarra.s.sed if this subject had been heard by the female camp, especially when his daughter is there too.
「The other day, the duke said that he wants the drug no matter what after I blabbed about it to him. That’s why I asked Flora from our household to make it. We then offered it to the brothel for a test run, and it seemed to have a tremendous effect once they’d asked their guests to use it. We were told something about them being able to go on for several rounds even…」(Touya)
「I-Is that how it is…? Wait! Share this thing with me as well!」(Trystwin)
「Brother has no need for it, aren’t you?! I’m doing it for a child that will succeed the Ortlinde house!」(Alfred)
「Be quiet! Be q-u-i-e-t! There is one more bottle after all! 」(Touya)
「「「「You’re noisy!!」」」」(Female camp)
Angry voices came flying from the next room. See, we’ve been scolded.
However, both people were still smiling after they’d nervously received the small bottles.
As for me, I still don’t understand these two.
===============================================
「It’s really been a long time since we’ve been to the royal capital of Belfast」(Yumina)
I walked along with Yumina through the castle town. We didn’t live here even for a year, but I still have an attachment as it is. Also, there’s the fact that I’ve purchased this all-resistance coat here.
Yumina walked next to me while she’s dressed casually. Or perhaps I should say, she was in an adventurer-style clothing. It’s more carefree than normal, and there’s also the fact wherein she got used to it since she didn’t dress up that much in Brunhild.
There are no such things as n.o.bles in our place. I’m being referred to as the king though, but I have to say that I feel more like a chairman of a neighborhood a.s.sociation rather than a king.
(TLC: Wow! Fact check:
He’s going to marry
1 – four princesses,
2 – an elder of the Fairy Clan of Misumido who looks like a teenager for who knows how many centuries,
3 – the daughter of a retainer for the Shogun who controls Ishen,
4 – another n.o.ble from Belfast,
5 – a pair of twins,
6 – He has enough power to conquer the world,
7 – He controls the four divine beasts,
8 – He’s a dependent of Kami-sama,
9 – A few G.o.ds consider him as their brother,
10 – He has the most dangerous erobo on the world who in turn has ancient knowledge,
11 – Almost all of the countries in the world are either a part of his alliance or friends with him, and there are just five countries left who aren’t either of the two, and
12 – He’s a friend of the tribes in the sea of trees.
Yup. He’s just the chairman of a neighborhood a.s.sociation called “the whole wide world” alright.)
「It has been a long time since I went out together with Touya-san as well」(Yumina)
「Is that true? Oh well. I have been busy recently after all」(Touya)
With me being embarra.s.sed a little for linking arms with Yumina, we walked the streets of the castle town.
I guess I can say that I’ve been busy in a lot of ways recently with going to Ishen and defeating a subordinate G.o.d, going to Ferzen and constructing a bridge, and lastly, going to Zenoasu and getting involved with the demon king
「Flying around the world this much, Touya-san is probably the only one who can do it. I’m a little lonely though」(Yumina)
「I’m sorry. I’m also thinking about wanting to be with you guys as much as possible」(Touya)
「I understand. Therefore, I’ll have you all for myself today even if it’s bad of me toward the others」(Yumina)
Having said that, there’s still one more matter I needed to attend after this.
I caught glimpses of several people riding bicycles as we walked the streets.
It looked like the bicycle was spreading quite naturally in the royal capital. However, it appeared to be fetching a good price so only some of the rich people could buy them yet.
I saw our destination at the corner of the main street. The Reading Cafe [Tsukuyomi]. The voice of Wendy, one of the employees, called out when we entered inside.
「Welco… Ah, owner! Long time no see!」(Wendy)
「He-hey, Wendy! It’s not “owner”. I thought I told you that he’s the sovereign king-sama, right?!」(Sylvie)
Sylvie the store manager was prudent, but I didn’t mind being called “owner” so I permitted it. Besides, being called the Sovereign King at a place like this is bad.
「I’ve entrusted the delivery of the new books to Alba-san’s firm, but is there any problem?」(Touya)
「It will take some time for the new goods to arrive, but there are no problems. I’ll just properly enchant all of them with the anti-theft [Paralysis]」(Sylvie)
Sylvie-san said that and pointed to the object that looked like a copier at the back of the counter. That machine had [Program] casted in it to grant [Paralysis] to the books that had been placed on it.
「The sales are excellent as well, and even the food has a good reputation」(Wendy)
Wendy said so. [Tsukuyomi] seemed to be popular. Honestly speaking, I wouldn’t be troubled even if there were no sales here since half of it was something like a hobby of mine, but I was still happy if it’s flouris.h.i.+ng.
「Oops, those are the new books. I’ve chosen famous tales from Ferzen, Rodomea, Restia, and Lail. These should be hard to come by in these parts」(Touya)
「Waah! Thank you very much！」(Sylvie)
I piled up the books taken from [Storage] one after another on the counter. As usual, a lot of [Female oriented] books had been prepared as well.
After that, I greeted the rest, adjusted the reclining seats in the shop, and then we left [Tsukuyomi].
For now, my errands were done, and I now aimlessly walked the streets with Yumina.
「It’s really big compared to Brunhild after all」(Touya)
「That’s can’t be helped. But if the town grows bigger, there are going to be a lot of places where that can’t be seen which makes it an issue」(Yumina)
Certainly. In the places where the watchful eyes of the guards don’t reach, the risk of crimes and dangers waiting behind the corners will increase. With that in mind, should I increase the number of recruits in our country’s knight order… ha?
「What’s wrong?」(Yumina)
Yumina called out to me who had stopped in front of a certain store. There’s a poster sticking on the window of the shop in front of me.
「「A Spectacle of Love and Adventure. The adventure of a Hero named Tooya who challenges the black dragon in order to rescue Princess Yuina… Played on a grand scale, Reefrees’s greatest hit finally arrives at Belfast」…? Touya-san, say that…」(Yumina)
The poster itself was nothing other than an advertising poster for a theatrical play. I’d been thinking whether it was just my imagination, but I had found the full name of a writer on it, making me convince myself that it wasn’t my imagination.
「Yumina, look here」(Touya)
「What is it? 「The script made by the famous [Knight Order of Rose] Lil Refles」…Ah！」(Yumina)
Yumina became speechless. Lil Refles. The real ident.i.ty of the writer with that pen name was the first princess of Reefrees Empire, Liliel Reem Reefrees, the rotten princess (fujos.h.i.+).
「That’s b.a.s.t.a.r.d… Making a work of someone’s story without their permission…」(Touya)
「Say, is this about me and Touya-san? Given from what I can see what’s written in here, this work seems to be a decent story though…」(Yumina)
I wonder about that. It’s doubtful. Won’t someone like a beautiful knight or dandi duke come out? It may be necessary to watch the play to confirm that thought. I may need to implement a public cancellation if a scene like that is in there.
Let me see. Apparently, the play will start 20 minutes from now in the central theater, I think?
「Alright, let’s go watch it」(Touya)
「Sure. Why not? It’s a bit strange, but it looks interesting」(Yumina)
Well, it’s obviously interesting because she’s the basis for the role. As for me, I don’t really care for a bit whether the story is interesting or boring as long as I’m not being given a disgraceful treatment.
Afterwards, I watched a play with Yumina in the central theater which easily lasted for two hours, but there’s nothing to worry about. It was a story that quite much like a royal road. Of course, it was very much different from what had actually happened.
I didn’t fight against the black dragon one-on-one, and Yumina evacuated to the royal palace of Belfast at that time. Instead of calling it a dramatization, it’s more of a story that was created from the ground-up. It could probably be considered as a story of a different hero who has no relation to me. The actor playing Tooya was a terribly handsome actor. The actress playing Yuina was cute as well, but Yumina was cuter than her.
It was quite the worth seeing this story of a heart-throbbing love and a thrilling adventure. The audience clapped and cheered when it was over. Maybe that rotten princess can write a proper story, after all. How unexpected. I will say it once more. It’s surprising.
The area already became dark when we left the theater grounds with the stars twinkling in the sky.
「It was interesting~! I was especially moved by the scene where he confessed his love to the princess before challenging the black dragon!」(Yumina)
Since Yumina said something like that, I then kneeled in front of her and took her small hand, mimicking the hero of the play. Yumina was surprised at this sudden behavior of mine.
「『No matter when happens, I will protect you, becoming your sword and s.h.i.+eld. Therefore, please smile. If you smile beside me, there’s no happiness superior to this for me. I love you. Until now and from now on till forever』」(Touya)
I spoke the lines of the hero from before. There might have been some slight differences, but those lines were somehow similar to what I’d said if I was not mistaken.
Suddenly, I looked up to Yumina and tears were falling down like rain. H-huh!? Have I done something unpleasant!? I panicked and stood up immediately to apologize, having seen her like that, but she shook her head side-to-side and wiped her tears.
「It’s different. I was happy when Touya-san said that to me…」(Yumina)
A-aaa. I see. I am glad. I almost lost my mind.
Still, making her happy by saying lines from a drama is also pathetic of me. I must properly convey my feelings to her.
「…They were only drama lines, but they were also my true feelings. I want Yumina to always smile. I was uncertain of those feelings at the beginning, but I can say them clearly now. I know that I love Yumina. I want us to walk now and forever together. I want us to always smile side-by-side. I really think I’m happy that I’ve met you. Thank you」(Touya)
「Touya-san…」(Yumina)
Yumina comes hugging me. I gently hugged her small body and felt happy. These girls are my treasure. I won’t allow anyone no matter who he is to hurt them. I’ll definitely protect them.
After embracing each other for a while, both of us went for a kiss and smiled.
「Shall we go back?」(Touya)
「Yes」(Yumina)
We started walking slowly under the night sky while holding hands.