Episode 54: Audience
“Oh! Oh my, oh my! Such a handsome gentleman!”
Ugh…
“Princess…!”
“Oh my, how unladylike of me… Ahem. Greetings, Count Missgancia and your friend! I am Lucretia Salian Elroad Argius, the Fourth Princess of this country!”
Here comes another tomboy…
As planned, Count Missgancia and I were to meet with the Fourth Princess who had summoned us.
Seriously, I shouldn’t even be in a position to meet her.
I’ll say it again, in this world, commoners and nobles are different species. Even more so with royalty.
So normally, even meeting at this distance would be disrespectful… but judging from her energy, she must be causing trouble all the time. It’s easy to guess that she’s done something reckless again.
And because she’s so reckless, she seems to have been used by the Aristocrat Faction, or rather, their schemes.
“How lovely, a Changeling, isn’t it? I’ve heard that many beautiful people come from there, but to think it would be to this extent! I would be delighted if there were such handsome men in the Royal Guard…”
The Princess smiles mischievously.
Her face is that of a normal beauty, but you can tell she’s a bit of a wild child. Her future husband is going to have a hard time… Ah, wait, it’s Count Missgancia’s son, isn’t it? I feel for him.
Her hair color is surprisingly a dark, almost black, brown. In this world, blonde hair indicates either Elf blood or descent from the northern people.
This place is probably somewhere around the Mediterranean, so it’s natural that there are many people with black or brown hair.
However, her eyes are blue. This must be inherited from her mother’s side. Blue eyes are also a sign of northern descent. Well, royal families probably marry within a narrow range to the point of hemophilia, right? It wouldn’t be strange if they had northern blood.
Her hair is braided. Or rather, noblewomen generally have long hair and braid it.
It’s a boast… or rather, a display, that they have enough money and people to take care of long hair. Constantly intimidating and showing power everywhere is the duty of those in power.
Her clothing is Rococo style, an extravagant style that doesn’t quite fit in a medieval world. Even though the elements of monsters and Magical Power make it richer than real Medieval Europe, this is truly a type of clothing made with considerable effort. The power of the royal family is indeed great.
That’s right, and… she’s putting effort into fashion, right? That makes sense, with her beautiful white gothic dress adorned with gold thread. White clothes, or rather, clothes with simple colors, are difficult to pull off unless the person is beautiful. The fact that it suits her means she’s quite a beauty.
Overall, she’s likable, but I wouldn’t want to get close to her because she’d be a handful.
“Princess!”
Scolding the Princess is a blonde Elf with a sword.
Is she short? A guard, or rather, a close aide?
But from the looks of it, her swordsmanship isn’t just for show.
What is this woman?
Well, she’s probably a close aide. I’ll ignore her.
“Oh, come on! I’m just joking! Collette, you always get angry so quickly…”
But in reality, having handsome subordinates is nice… it’s pleasing to the eye… the Princess says in a small voice, showing no sign of remorse.
Still in the same mood, she clears her throat lightly.
Then, she speaks to Count Missgancia.
Hmm, she wasn’t so lacking in common sense as to speak to me directly.
From the royal family’s perspective, I’m a retainer. Count Missgancia’s subordinate. In other words, a subordinate’s subordinate.
In this world, basically, sophisticated top-down organizations like those on Earth don’t exist anywhere.
Even the royal family can’t order a subordinate’s subordinate. Or rather, they don’t. It’s a matter of manners.
This is really complicated, and there are things I don’t quite understand… especially the knight relationships, which are a mess.
For example, “I am a vassal of Count A, so I have no obligation to listen to Count B!” or “I am a subordinate of Baron C, but I can’t disobey Count A, so I will listen to him,” or “I have orders from the late Viscount D, so even under Count B’s command, I cannot follow those orders!”
Well, enemy countries are probably the same, so it’s probably fine, but it’s really terrible from a modern person’s perspective.
Anyway, in that sense, even if I receive an order from the royal family over Count Missgancia’s head, I have the right to refuse… Of course, what happens if I refuse is another story.
“Your achievements have reached this Royal Capital. I hear you’ve used people to develop the Unexplored Territory and secured a path to the Northern Sea? That’s wonderful! This will greatly enrich our country and become a source of ‘power’ to repel the threats of enemy countries!”
A series of boring compliments continues for a while.
But this is necessary.
…To praise someone, you need to understand their personality and actions.
In other words, this Princess is saying, “You’ve done these things, right? We’re aware of it.”
It’s a disclosure of how much each side knows about the other, and also a warning about what they’re doing…
It’s like the sarcastic battles of Kyoto people. It’s not good to clearly state your position, so you subtly probe each other, disclosing and exchanging information.
After that continues for a while, the Princess says.
“By the way, Count Missgancia? There’s something I want to ask your retainer…”
She finally speaks to me.
“You… Andrews Midford? You’re selling ‘Soap’ through the Wiyard Family, aren’t you?”
But here, I’m not allowed to answer directly.
Even letting a commoner’s voice be heard by royalty is disrespectful.
That’s why even this direct audience is exceptional. As I’ve said many times…
“The Princess asks if you are selling something called Soap through the Wiyard Family. Answer quickly, Andrews Midford.”
Collette, or whatever she was called, the Princess’s close aide, who was standing next to her, spoke.
I have to answer her.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Of course, my head is still lowered.
“Princess, Andrews Midford says that is correct.”
And conveying that to the Princess is not my voice, but the aide’s voice.
It’s a one-cushion thing.
“This new soap… it smells like ‘Vanilla’. This ‘Vanilla’ is an extremely rare fragrance imported from a country discovered in recent years. Where did you get it?”
Ah.
Oh…
Crap… is that what this is about…?!