Conrad In Love (Part 1)
「Sebastian, is there not a precedent somewhere?!」
This was the first time Conrad had raised his voice towards Sebastian, who was the most senior of the ministers within the Ministry of Central Affairs. Conrad, who had just returned from his escape in the middle of the night, made several unreasonable demands to his accompanying va.s.sal.
「By precedent, do you mean whether an imperial grant permitting the use of the prohibited vanilla has been given to a pub?」
「No, that"s not it. That"s not it at all, Sebastian. This is about refusing the marriage interview.」
Sebastian shook his head like he had heard something absurd.
He was a long-time retainer and a university graduate from a family of lawyers, and had been granted a n.o.ble t.i.tle, rather than inheriting it from previous generation. He claimed to remember all kinds of precedent events that had happened in the Empire.
Although he was known as the previous Emperor"s right-hand man, his position by the emperor had been transferred with the throne. He was also a member of the bureaucracy who had made his name known to the neighbouring countries.
「Your Majesty, this isn"t a matter involving one person alone. It concerns the whole Empire.」
「That"s right. The problem of the Empire is the Emperor"s problem, and the Emperor"s problem is the problem of the Empire.」
「Please stop quibbling unreasonably like a child. If you refuse the marriage interview with the Princess Regent carelessly, it will result in a war.」
Hugh, who was the present king of the Eastern Kingdom, was still young. The real power was held by the Princess Regent and the bureaucrats.
In other words, refusing the marriage interview with the Princess Regent, Celestine de Oiria, was the same thing as insulting the Eastern Kingdom itself.
「Could we win..?」
「We will not lose a war, but this topic is pointless.」
It seemed that Sebastian could not glean Conrad"s true meaning from his words alone. He did not know what had caused this, though he believed that Conrad would not start a war just to avoid the marriage interview.
Still, he probably never would have guessed that it was because Conrad had fallen in love at first sight with an unknown n.o.ble"s daughter he had just met yesterday.
To Sebastian, whom was born in the law, raised by the law, and lived for the law, the word "love" was impossible to guess.
However, Conrad could only rely on Sebastian.
He wanted to see Celes again, rather than going to a marriage interview.
「Sebastian, I want you to listen without laughing.」
「Please rest a.s.sured, Your Majesty. I have never laughed once in the past 30 years.」
「That"s true.」
Conrad ordered Sebastian, who cracked a joke with a straight face, to clear out the room.
「Sebastian… I am in love.」
When Conrad confessed, he noticed Sebastian"s aquiline nose twitch, as if the man were enduring something.
「Is that so? Congratulations, Your Majesty.」
「What are you congratulating me for?」
「It"s better to have loved than to not have loved. Life without love is like a painting without colour.」
「You sound like a solemn scholar. I thought I would get scolded.」
「You see, Your Majesty, this Sebastian you see now was once a handsome young man with a nice smile, and he deepened his knowledge about the secrets of the world, as well as the world of women, until 31 years ago.」
Conrad could not tell whether that was a joke or not, but his mouth relaxed.
Come to think of it, he felt like he had been angry the whole day.
「So, Your Majesty, love is love, even though it is too late. We will manage it somehow.」
「Are you going to help me?」
「Of course not. I am here to make the marriage interview a success. Though, even if you attend the marriage interview, with how you are feeling right now, it will only hurt the other party"s feelings. Wouldn"t it be better if you calmed down before the first meeting?」
「Is that so?」
「That it is. After all, the other party is the Princess Regent, Celestine de Oiria. A political monster born out of that "Hero King". Even if you can compete with her as the usual intellectual Emperor Conrad V, you definitely cannot be her opponent as Conrad-in-love.」
After Sebastian had said his piece, he smiled for the first time in 30 years.
「So, what is the name of the woman who holds the key to His Majesty"s heart, which was stubbornly closed for 37 years? Please confide in your faithful servant, Sebastian von Hoenbach.」
「Her name is… Celes.」
When Conrad mustered his courage to confess, Sebastian"s aquiline nose twitched again. He has been wondering for a while, but was Sebastian holding in his laughter?
「The first is a Celes, and this girl is also a Celes? If it"s the same person, we can save the trouble of finding her.」
「That won"t happen. This isn"t a love story.」
「I can also say, "Reality is often stranger than fiction."」
「By Bedegger, right?」
「Unfortunately, it"s by Crowvinkel.」
Sebastian took out an almanac of n.o.bles from a trunk as he quoted the wise minstrel.
It was an annual almanac issued by the Imperial College of Heralds, which compiled a list of people who belonged to n.o.ble families in the Empire. Although the names of sons and daughters were fundamentally included as well, there was no index for them.
「The name Celes is not so common in the Empire because it is an Eastern Kingdom name, Even if I say that, I cannot narrow it down with just that. Oh, I found one… My apologies, she is 59 years old.」
「I think she"s about 17 to 20 years old.」
Sebastian froze in the middle of turning the page stopped.
「The first Celes is 19 years old.」
「Like I said, Sebastian, you should stop talking about that Celes. Or are you going to make a name not only as a lawyer, but as a love minstrel as well?」
「I dabbled twice or thrice during my poor student days. Something like making counterfeits of Crowvinkel"s love poems.」
「Crowvinkel doesn"t sing love poems.」
「That"s why it was a rarity. The parchment was exactly like the ones he used, so they might still be out there.」
Conrad was confused, since he didn"t know whether it was a truth or a lie, while Sebastian"s hands continued moving. Dozens of Celes candidates were listed in a blink of an eye, and Conrad examined each and every one of them.
However, there was not enough information to narrow it down, since the almanac did not have portraits.
「The mother of this Celes had fiery red hair.」
「I think the father"s heredity also plays a role, so how about that?」
「…When I met him for the first time, his head had already turned bald.」
The candidates for the silver-rimmed gla.s.ses Celes were narrowed down from dozens to ten, then five, and then three. In the end, there was no one left.
「There are potential candidates, but their territories are far from AItheria.」
「No more options, huh.」
Conrad wondered whether the premise of her being a n.o.ble was wrong.
He wouldn"t be able to find her through this method if she was a merchant or something similar, or maybe even a n.o.ble from a country that was not listed in the almanac.
「There must be a way. It"s still too early to give up.」