TSIMG 16

Chapter 16

At the muttering, Histein impiously snatched the letter from his superior’s hand and read it.

The contents of the letter were brief.

The main point was that the Second Prince of Cheda, who had been in marriage talks with Astrid, the only legitimate daughter of the House of Chester, Heint’s royal family, and the next Queen, would be visiting.

Histein was dumbfounded. They had no intention of preserving the name of the former royal family, the House of Chester, before the next generation arrived. Yet they were arrogantly prattling on about the ‘only legitimate daughter of the House of Chester’ and the ‘next Queen.’ Who gave them permission?

“It’s clear this isn’t for any normal reason. If they had nothing to hide, they wouldn’t be moving this secretly, would they?”

“Don’t you know? This plan didn’t come from former Queen Chatrine’s head.”

Alisis said with a cold face. As soon as she became the Second Chancellor, she had cut the pension given to the former royal family, the House of Chester, in half.

The current government was in its sixth year of the republic. It was close to a provisional constitutional monarchy, with a republic in name only, as former royals still remained. As such, this was the most precarious time for the current government. If they showed even the slightest weakness, the House of Chester could overturn the situation.

So she gave them nothing and tightened her grip on their lifeline. She erased their royal titles, forbade them from using purple wax, and placed spies to report on the House of Chester’s every move. Cutting the pension in half was also a measure devised to prevent them from having cash they could freely use.

Yet now they were saying they would create a source of income using the former Princess’s marriage as leverage.

“That old fox knows well how damaging this could be for them if it goes wrong. This is the former Princess’s doing. I’m certain of it.”

“……”

“Ha, now that it’s come to this, we’ll have to receive them as state guests. The nerve of those who sneaked into another’s home, and now we have to hold a welcome banquet for them. Honestly.”

She spoke as if it were absurd, then swiftly turned her gaze to Histein.

“Histein, you’ll prepare it, won’t you?”

“Prepare what?”

“The welcome banquet.”

His eyebrow twitched.

“Why would I do that?”

“With your aesthetic sense, it’s possible. I have no talent for that sort of thing.”

Alisis grinned in response.

“…Understood.”

Seeing Histein’s expression as if he had eaten something inedible, Alisis laughed heartily.

“Oh, right. Speaking of banquets, you need a partner, of course.”

“Pardon?”

“All attendees must be accompanied by a partner of the opposite sex. Dress code is formal, blue.”

She smiled slyly.

“Don’t forget. Our goal at this banquet is to break off the former Princess’s marriage with Cheda. Understood?”

—

* * *

“This place is freezing too.”

A well-built man disembarked, shivering as he spoke. Given his noble status, a scarf made of white sable fur, not easily found in the Southern Continent, was wrapped around his neck.

There was another person disembarking with him. A gaunt man nervously smoothed his thin mustache. Then, with a displeased look, he asked the plump man.

“Count Bailerent. Weren’t we supposed to enter Heint ‘secretly’?”

“Th-that’s correct.”

The plump, trembling man before him was Count Bailerent. The gaunt man, Duke Filemer, the Chancellor of Cheda, furrowed his brow at the answer.

“Then would you care to explain why the delegation’s lodging is the Magnificent Hotel?”

“Well…”

“If you can’t explain properly, be prepared to become shark food.”

It was a threat to throw him into the winter sea. Count Bailerent reflexively inhaled at the words.

“Why didn’t you just go to Alisis Fedelov and announce that the Chancellor of Cheda had entered the country escorting the Second Prince?”

“It wasn’t intentional…”

“It had better not have been intentional!”

The Duke shouted.

“Secret entry, my foot! Before my feet even touched this ground, the whole of Parnue is probably buzzing that Duke Filemer has come from Cheda! Histein Roatt, the Chancellor’s aide! Didn’t you know he was the owner of Magnificent?”

He shouted nervously.

The Second Prince, listening from the side, frowned. It was the kind of face that would have told him to be quiet long ago if the Duke weren’t his uncle.

“Such a stupid mistake! What will they think of us? Eh?”

The Second Prince covered his ears and looked around. The delegation was preoccupied with the Duke’s nagging, and the guards and servants who had come with them were busy unloading things from the ship.

After a moment’s deliberation, the Second Prince stealthily glanced at the Duke again. He looked ready to grab Count Bailerent by the collar and throw him into the sea.

The Prince continued to watch their movements, inching sideways little by little.

“Ugh, this is so frustrating… Let’s go, Your Highness the Pr… Huh? Eh? Your Highness? Your Highness! Huh!?”

By the time Duke Filemer, who had been about to devour Count Bailerent, came to his senses and looked for the Prince, the Prince in question was already far from that spot, right in the middle of Parnue’s market.

The Prince found the atmosphere of Heint’s market, so different from Cheda’s, fascinating. People’s faces were full of vitality, and voices hawking goods could be heard from all directions.

“Oh… What fruit is this?”

“What? You’ve never seen an orange before? Let me give you a taste.”

As he was looking curiously at the unfamiliar round orange fruit, the shopkeeper came out, peeled the orange, and handed him a segment.

“Oh-ho, it’s sour.”

It was a fruit with a sweet taste alongside a tangy sourness that pulled at the back of the jaw. Noticing it, the Prince spotted a smaller, round yellow fruit next to the oranges.

“What’s this?”

“This is a yuja— Hey! What do you think you’re doing!”

Before the fruit vendor could finish his sentence, the Second Prince had already half-peeled the yuja’s skin. Yellow juice instantly got under his fingernails.

“Ugh…”

“Y-you crazy bastard! What are you doing to my fruit! At least pay for it!”

“Ah, I’m supposed to pay? I thought I could just eat it since you peeled and gave me that orange thing. Let’s see…”

The Prince rummaged through his clothes. It seemed he was trying to take out money, so the vendor waited for a moment. Then the Prince flicked something with his finger.

“Here, one gold coin.”

“…?”

The fruit vendor reflexively caught what fell toward him and opened his palm. On it lay a gleaming yellow gold coin in a shape he had never seen before.

It was clearly a foreign currency, as its shape differed from the gold coins used in Heint. The fruit vendor’s face slowly contorted. It wasn’t that he expected to be asked to exchange it, but it was absurd that someone would try to pay for fruit with foreign money.

“Is this bastard trying to mess with me now? Hey, who are you? Are you not going to pay properly?”

“What’s wrong? Ah, is this yuja fruit worth more than one gold coin?”

“Ha, I’m speechless. Hey, you bastard, come over here.”

“Huh? Wha?”

The fruit vendor, rolling up his sleeves and stepping out from behind his stall, gestured toward the Second Prince with a menacing face. Seeing that the burly man was bigger than he had thought, the Second Prince looked around and swallowed nervously.

He had snuck out alone, so he had no guards, naturally no Chedan people nearby, and no one who looked like they would help him. The Prince looked at the fruit vendor again.

He was breathing heavily. The Prince felt cold sweat trickle down his temple. For whatever reason, this man was angry.

Then… I should run.

Once he made the decision, the Second Prince’s actions were very quick.

He threw down the fruit he was holding and started running through the market.

“Hey you…! You there! Someone catch that guy! Hey you bastard! Aren’t you going to stop!”

A shoe flew past the Prince’s ear and grazed it. Startled, he twisted his body to the left. Then,

“Oof!?”

Something kicked by his foot flew into the air, then fell to the ground with a crash and shattered.

“Oh my! My flowerpot is all broken!”

The flower shop owner who had been watching outside rushed out. Turning his head to see, the Second Prince bit his lip.

This is strange, this isn’t right! Even as he thought things were getting more tangled, his legs didn’t stop running.

He ran straight, turned right, then left again, and continued running like that for a while.

“Huff, gasp…!”

The Prince, feeling his breath catch up to his throat and unable to go on, twisted his body to the right. And then,

“Ah!”

“Oof!”

He collided with someone and fell over. He landed on his rear on the ground, but quickly sprang up like lightning and glanced back.

Behind him, the fruit vendor, the flower shop owner, and various shopkeepers angry because he had kicked and broken things while fleeing were chasing him.

“Sorry about that!”

The person the Prince collided with—Lodia—was touching her stinging forehead when she saw the man’s back.

People were running toward them, shouting. From what she heard, words like ‘catch’ and ‘thief’ were mixed in, so it was clear they were chasing this man.

She didn’t know the details, but Lodia instantly understood that this person who had bumped into her had caused a major incident.

So she stuck out her leg to trip the man as he tried to run again.

“!?”

The man staggered and toppled forward. As he fell with a loud thud, people rushed over him as if to pounce.

What followed was swift.

The man, grabbed by the scruff of his neck, was dragged away by the people.

“How dare you! You insolent wretches, do you know who I am!”

“Yeah, Mr. Thief? Let’s go have a talk at the security office first?”

“Oh, damn! Hey, you woman! The one with the finger! Yes, you! I’ll kill you next time we meet!”

Even while being dragged away ignominiously, the man struggled and screamed loudly. Lodia stealthily folded her index finger that had been pointing at her.

“Is he crazy?”

She picked up her bag that had fallen on the ground, brushed it off, and headed back to her meeting place.

A man who ate fruit without paying at a fruit shop, caused damage, kicked over a flower vase, broke things in the marketplace while fleeing, and was caught.

That this man was a foreign prince was something Lodia could neither have known nor anticipated.