The Biggest Argument of Personal Feelings (Part 1) The morning silence of AItheria was broken by the sudden hustle and bustle of carriages.
Normally, Aitheria"s main gate would be closed at this time, yet more than 30 carriages could be seen rus.h.i.+ng about on the streets.
Half of the people were still sleepy, but had been shaken wide awake from the surprise they felt when they saw that the crest that decorated some of the carriages belonged to the Imperial family. As for the other half, they received an even bigger shock once they saw that the crest of the neighbouring enemy country, the Eastern Kingdom, was engraved on some of the other carriages.
「What a huge commotion, Sebastian.」
Conrad stretched in the carriage as he stifled a yawn.
He had drunk a lot, but was no longer intoxicated. He would not be fit to be an Emperor if he was still drunk from the liquor.
Even Sebastian, who had drunk a lot more than Conrad, was alright.
It seemed that he had taken a liking to a colourless and transparent foreign liquor called Tengumai. It was to the point that he even requested a bottle of it from the shop owner. He probably liked unusual liquors, as he was always drinking alcohol from neighbouring countries.
It was a well-known fact that he had sent spies to various countries on the pretext of buying liquor.
The 15 carriages from the Empire"s side glided to a stop at the designated inn.
This was a predetermined procedure.
Both Emperor Conrad V and the Princess Regent, Celestine de Oiria, played leading roles in today"s marriage interview. They were also politicians who had many enemies.
Although it was an informal marriage interview, it was an open secret, so there was a fear of being attacked by their enemies. As a precaution, both countries and Aitheria"s city council cooperated, and preparations were arranged to hide where the marriage interview would be held until the last minute.
「As someone once said, “I will not listen to the excuses of the unprepared.”」
「Do you think the information has been leaked?」
Sebastian laughed scornfully and shrugged lightly.
「Nothing has been leaked. The Collector of Mysterious Tales in the Eastern Kingdom was under Celestine"s direct control. Usually, information travels from the bottom to the top, but today, it will be from the top to the bottom.」
「That is true.」
The Saltpeter Gathering Department had grasped the various activities carried out by the Collector of Mysterious Tales and its subsidiaries. It was fair to say that the people sent to the United Kingdoms had been transferred to the Empire.
Even in the present Aitheria, it had been reported that a servant by the name of Damien had been working under Celestine"s instructions.
He wondered what could possibly be the Princess Regent"s goal from this marriage interview.
If it were Conrad, it would be impossible for him to put on an att.i.tude of marrying into an enemy nation just to sabotage it from the inside. He could not understand what she was thinking.
Could this be a trick?
That possibility could very well exist. If she were to plant herself deep inside the Empire, she would be able to infiltrate and become a blade that could chop up the nation from the inside. Given the reputation of the Princess Regent, it was wise to be wary of her.
「We have enough security forces, but no information on the number of opponents we have. Please be careful.」
「It might be pointless for me to do anything when we"re already being this careful.」
「Just being prepared itself is important.」
Conrad absentmindedly answered, "Yes," as he combed his hair with his hands.
What bothered him was his grandfather, the former Emperor.
He understood the benefits of marrying the princess of the Eastern Kingdom. In the future, the Empire would have a valuable hand in intervening with the Eastern Kingdom"s succession problem.
However, the other party was the Princess Regent. It could be said that it was a case of "Lending the stable to have the inn robbed."
(TL note: A similar English idiom would be "Give someone an inch and they"ll take a mile.")
He wondered why his grandfather had accepted this ridiculous marriage interview.
The more he thought about it, the less he understood.
It was not due to him being senile. That was certain. Conrad understood the former Emperor, who was the object of reverence, more than anyone else.
「This meeting… Should I confirm its true purpose?」
「That would be good, Your Majesty.」
Although it was morning, the sign curtain fluttered outside of Izakaya n.o.bu.
s.h.i.+n.o.bu tilted her head again as she swept the front of the shop.
The reason they decided to open the shop at such a strange time was because of a request made by Reinhold.
He had wanted them to open the shop in the morning no matter what.
It was hard to refuse when a regular was lowering his head to them. Although reservations were troubling, such things had been open to negotiations since her time in Yukitsuna.
The snow that had fallen since midnight had stopped, and a pleasant, sunny sky had spread across Aitheria today.
It was peaceful.
When she saw a two-tailed cat walking leisurely in front of the shop, she wanted to stow away the sign curtain and go back to sleep.
「Hey, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-chan.」
n.o.buyuki"s head popped out from the gap between the gla.s.s door. Although they had kept the shop open till midnight, he was strangely energetic, since he had found something interesting.
「What do you think was the relations.h.i.+p between those two people yesterday, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-chan?」
He asked with a lively voice, and s.h.i.+n.o.bu loudly sighed.
「Hey, Taisho. I can"t believe you"re prying into a customer"s life…」
「Well yeah, but…」
n.o.buyuki scratched his head and retreated back inside the shop as s.h.i.+n.o.bu continued to sweep the front. The clear morning winter air was pleasant.
It would be a lie if she said she was not interested at all.
She was interested in the man called Conrad.
Last night had been her first time seeing him, but he resembled another customer.
However, she had heard that that customer had extremely few relatives.
It couldn"t possibly be the same Conrad.
As she thought about it, she saw a carriage pa.s.s the entrance of the street. A second carriage that had come from the other side was also approaching.
The two carriages pulled up just in front of the shop.
Conrad and the aquiline-nosed man came down from one carriage.
From the other carriage, the customer that s.h.i.+n.o.bu had been thinking about came down, along with an attendant.
「Good morning, Grandfather.」
「Morning, my grandchild.」
The person who had answered Conrad"s greeting was undoubtedly the former Emperor, and he was calling Conrad his grandchild.
「Let us go, Conrad. Or should I call you, Your Majesty?」