Chapter 71

“Yes. That is correct.”

“Oh……. Yes. I definitely want to try it once. Since dinner is over, let us go do it right away.”

At Elan’s eager words, Gisle too wore a smile. As a researcher, there was no way he would not be pleased by an experimental collaborator who had come to him of his own accord. Reinel watched the two, who seemed likely to get along well, then slowly rose from her seat.

Prince Elan had been absorbed in speaking with Gisle, but when she stood, he turned his gaze and looked up at Reinel. Thus, Reinel said with a smile,

“Since you will now be spending some time with Gisle, Your Highness, I am going to go take care of my own work as well. I also manage the Reinel merchant group, so there are likely documents piled up. I cannot leave everything to Brother Seiden, so I will go do what I need to do.”

“I see. That is true. Thank you for guiding me all this time, Lady Estrid.”

“It is nothing at all. And please call me Reinel comfortably. That is easier for me too.”

“Then, Reinel, would you call me Elan as well?”

Seiden remained calm, but Keiden, who was watching from the side, was inwardly surprised. It was because he found Elan’s attitude, prioritizing ease over pressing others down as a prince, newly remarkable.

‘That aside……. seeing that he speaks like that only to Reinel, my youngest sister may truly have a charm that encompasses both royal and imperial blood.’

Even Kalix, the Second Prince, had liked Reinel enough to want to make her his fiancée.

For a moment the thought of Kalix left a bitter taste in his mouth, but while Keiden was staring blankly, Reinel was already answering.

“Yes, all right. Then, Elan, please take care of me.”

At those words, Elan’s golden eyes curved vividly, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Then we are friends, right?”

“Yes, we are friends.”

Reinel and Elan faced each other with smiles. Suddenly thinking this scene felt familiar, Reinel realized where she had experienced something similar before.

‘It felt like this with Alpen too…….’

If there was one slight difference, it was that Alpen had been rather more cautious than Elan. Should she say he had been delicate, the way he had hesitated shyly had been cute. Reinel thought of Alpen, who was traveling through the lands where the Spirit King could be summoned, and looked at Elan with gentle eyes.

Elan appeared about four years older than Alpen. In the Yurud Kingdom, sixteen was counted as the age of adulthood, so it differed from the Visrod Empire, where twenty, like Reinel’s age, was regarded as adulthood. Since this child too was treated as an adult, he must possess mature qualities. That was what Reinel thought.

“Then I will see you again tomorrow.”

“Yes. See you again tomorrow.”

Watching Elan’s back as he left the dining room and disappeared down the corridor with Gisle, Reinel turned toward her office. Keiden had said he would escort her there, so she was going with him, and in front of her office he spoke.

“Reinel, did you know that recently the Sansha Kingdom has been sending tribute to our Visrod side, asking us to stop the Monster Wave?”

“What? I had no idea at all. Our side’s Monster Wave was suppressed together with the Levias Duchy, and now magical beasts do not appear at all anymore.”

“Well, that is true on our side, but it seems a Monster Wave occurred on the side of the Sansha Kingdom, which lies opposite Levias. Since it was wiped out on the Visrod side, they are no longer gathering here and instead keep invading the Sansha Kingdom side, so it seems the losses in both people and supplies are enormous.”

“Ah…….”

Reinel’s eyes filled with sympathy. Just hearing it was enough to imagine the damage suffered by the Sansha Kingdom.

“How did you find out, Brother? Did the Emperor tell you?”

“Yes. He gathered those who had previously defeated the Monster Wave and told us……. It seems that a delegation-c*m-subjugation force will likely be sent to the Sansha Kingdom side, and it seems both Luin and I will be participating.”

Keiden shrugged, then curled his hand into a fist and brought it to his mouth.

“Luin was curious about the Demon King……. He said that the reason he took part in the Monster Wave in the first place was because he wondered whether the appearance of magical beasts might be caused by the Demon King, so he probably will not mind participating this time either, but I have to leave my territory behind, so I am worried whether the territory will continue running properly.”

Reinel thought of Seiden. As the one who would become the next head of Estrid and who already handled half of the territory’s affairs, it would surely be easy enough for him to govern Keiden’s territory in his stead.

But when Keiden heard Reinel’s words, he slowly shook his head.

“Instead of that, would you help me, Reinel? I think it would be enough if you help the way you run the Reinel merchant group.”

“But Brother. I may have experience running a merchant group, but this would be my first time running a territory. I would need a great deal of help from Brother Seiden.”

Would it not be better to receive help from Brother Seiden instead?

When Reinel asked that, Kaiden hesitated for a moment. His youngest sister’s words were not wrong.

But it troubled him to ask everything of Seiden. Seiden already had too much work as it was, and rather than adding the affairs of his own territory on top of that, it seemed far better to entrust them to Reinel, who had newly begun taking on such work.

“Brother Seiden already has far too much work as it is……. How about you managing my territory in my stead, Reinel, and only asking Brother Seiden about the things you do not know? Rather than having someone crushed under work manage it, if you, who still have less to do than Brother, manage it, there may be mistakes at first, but it feels like you would become more and more perfect as time goes on.”

“Then…….”

Reinel hesitated for a short while. It was not as though she had learned nothing at all about territorial management. When she had been at the Academy, she had taken classes on the efficient management of a territory together with practical training, so she was not a complete outsider to it.……But even so, trying to manage her own elder brother’s territory made her feel all the more tense.

“I do not know whether I might fail to do it properly and cause trouble for you, Brother…….”

“No, Reinel. I am a beginner too anyway, so there is nothing much to say about whether you would trouble me or not. At the very least, you learned things at the Academy, so you will do better than I will. That is reassuring enough. Just think of it as helping. You will do well.”

“If you truly say so, Brother……. then I will try.”

Soon Keiden’s face lit with a smile.

“Thank you, Reinel.”

At Keiden reaching out and stroking her head, Reinel could not endure it and ended up laughing. Even the tension that had briefly settled in her body felt as though it gradually loosened beneath that touch.

Like that, Reinel went with Keiden toward the office. The sound of rain, so characteristic of summer, struck the windows. When they opened the office door, the fresh scent of flowers seeped into their noses.

A smile rested at the corners of both Reinel’s lips and Keiden’s.

***

There was one week left until the Grand Duke investiture ceremony. But no good news reached her ears, and so Amarel pressed her lips tightly together.

The folding fan clutched in her trembling hand fell from her slackened grip. This could not be happening. How could the First Prince survive after facing that many assassins?

“Has there been no word from Tailos?”

“My apologies…….”

Amarel ground her teeth, and her face twisted darkly. At that venomous expression, even Duke Gregorius felt a chill in one corner of his heart. But all of this was for the sake of ensuring that Kalix would properly succeed to the imperial throne, so whatever his own feelings were, he had to put them aside.

“What in the world is he trying to do after taking so much money? Tailos suddenly disappears, the assassins sent to the First Prince either completely lose contact or all end up dead……! There is not a single thing that is being handled properly!”

“I am trying my best as well…… but since the First Prince is also a Swordmaster, ordinary assassins are no match for him. Still, Senem will soon step forward and launch a direct attack against the First Prince, so please wait only until then.”

But I do not know whether even Senem, as a Sword Expert, will be able to properly face a Swordmaster. 

He barely held back the words that surged up to his throat. He had treasured Senem so dearly, the only talent in the Duke Gregorius family worthy of pride in the sword……. If he were lost while fighting the First Prince, his heart might ache so much that it could burst. Duke Gregorius hesitated for a moment, but thinking that his daughter Amarel must also have considered that much, he spoke of Senem.

“As you know, Senem is nearly approaching the level of a Swordmaster. If it is that child, he will be able to respond properly no matter what unexpected situation arises, so please try trusting him this once.”

“Hoo……. Very well. If it is Senem, he will handle it properly on his own, so I shall trust him this once.”

Amarel irritably tapped the tabletop. It was a place where teacups had been arranged in perfect order, but today that measured, exact appearance displeased her all the more, to the point that she even felt like overturning everything.

“If we truly cannot properly deal with the First Prince, then it seems we should also consider the method of taking Reinel Estrid hostage.”