Bang bang.

Someone pounded on Jens’s door while he was deep in thought. He quickly stuffed the letter he was holding into his bag and snapped it shut.

“You stubborn fool. You’re really going through with this?”

“The decision has already been made, sir.”

Jens hastily gathered his belongings, trying his best not to look at the person who had entered. But a cane firmly blocked his path.

“Grandfather.”

“That ship is meaningless. It’s not involved with foreign affairs, nor will it help you build connections. You’ll only be risking your life on a vessel where you can gain neither achievements nor experience. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”

The retired “Star of the Navy,” Hurst Will, current head of the Will family, glared at his grandson with fierce eyes. His grandson maintained the outward appearance of a soldier, but inside he was a mess.

But what could he do? He was the first to recognize that brilliant talent. If the boy weren’t his grandson, he could have used his authority to keep him attached to the military, but ironically, their blood relation made it difficult.

He had barely managed to get him through the naval academy, and with great effort, placed him on the Nautile when he insisted on staying on land. Thanks to that, his abilities had become widely known, but then he caused a scene in the presence of the President and the Chief of Staff.

If the Chief of Staff hadn’t been that Sol fellow, things wouldn’t have gone this far, but Sol eagerly pushed his grandson into this dead-end position he had requested.

“If you’re so displeased with my assignment to that ship, you could just discharge me. I’d gladly take off this uniform.”

An impossible request. If that happened, not only the President but also Admiral Sol, despite his poor relationship with the Will family, would be up in arms.

Hurst clicked his tongue. Reading the answer in that gesture, Jens smiled and gave a slight bow.

Despite Hurst insisting that once a navy man, always a navy man, even in retirement, Jens stubbornly refused to salute his grandfather properly, despite being an active Lieutenant Commander himself.

Hurst raised his cane to strike his grandson but managed to restrain himself. After all, it was his first day reporting to a new post.

“My heart isn’t well.”

“You said the same thing ten years ago, and five years ago.”

“Damn you. Fine. I’ll accept that you’ve been singing about not wanting to serve on the Nautile for ages, but why did you break off your engagement with Schedel? The number of marriage proposals flooding in because of that has become unbearable.”

Jens shrugged.

“An engagement that would naturally dissolve while I’m buried at sea—it’s better this way than making a perfectly good young lady miss her chance at marriage.”

“I know you don’t care about public opinion, but that poor girl is now facing unnecessary scrutiny because of you. Lüse has been gleefully shoving his daughter’s photos in my face. I can hardly show my face at the club these days.”

Jens clicked his tongue.

“At your age, shouldn’t you be cutting back on drinking anyway?”

“If you’re so concerned about my age, bring a bride before you ship out. Don’t you feel sorry for your grandfather living alone in this vast mansion?”

“Why would I subject some poor girl to caring for an old man? That sort of thing earns you criticism these days.”

Hurst finally struck his grandson’s waist with his cane.

“You insolent boy! Who said anything about caring for an old man? I just want to see my great-grandchild’s face before I die, you fool!”

“Isn’t the sea your child and grandchild? Why not catch a cute dolphin and make it your great-grandchild? I’ll adopt it as my son.”

Watching Jens rub his waist in exaggerated pain, Hurst shook his head.

“Bring that girl here. Just introduce her to me. Don’t worry about anything else.”

“…Who are you talking about?”

Looking at the puzzled Jens, Hurst deliberately put on a solemn expression.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve seen you exchanging letters with someone. You’ve been having Kle do this and that too, haven’t you? I won’t make a fuss. I just want to see her face once before you ship out.”

“Ha…”

Jens sighed, covering his face with his hands. But Hurst wasn’t finished.

“But a cadet? A cadet? You’re still young, I suppose, but to go after such a green youngster. You haven’t touched her, have you?”

“I dislike military personnel.”

Jens reiterated his long-standing preference. As always, Hurst only heard what he wanted to hear.

“Yes, yes. Still, there’s a mandatory service period, so don’t touch her for five years after graduation. Just keep exchanging letters. It’s all too easy to be misunderstood as an abuse of power. And after her mandatory service ends, you can convince her to leave the military or—”

“She’s sixteen.”

“Well, I suppose it would be a shame to make her leave after she just became a cadet. Marriage would be better. That way there’d be no misunderstandings. No need to wait five years—marry her right after graduation. When does she graduate? This year? Or next year?”

“I said she’s sixteen. I’m seriously concerned about your health. I should consult with your doctor.”

Jens spoke through gritted teeth. Hurst blinked.

“What?”

“I told you she’s sixteen. The person we’re discussing.”

Hurst looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“You had that kind of preference?”

“Grandfather.”

“Sixteen, you say.”

With his hand on his chin, Hurst thought for a moment, then raised his cane again to strike the other side of his grandson’s waist.

“You wretched boy! Did you get her parents’ permission?”

“Ha… I really didn’t want to say this, but old men’s delusions are nothing new, though this is going a bit far.”

Jens shook his head.

“It’s the Emperor.”

“What?”

“Her parent. I mean.”

“…Surely not.”

“You know who she is, Grandfather. She’s the 17th Imperial Princess. Not the kind of person your flowery imagination is conjuring up. Understand?”

“Meeting her parents for introductions would be difficult, I suppose.”

This conversation was going nowhere. Jens gave up and pushed open the door. But Hurst followed, leaning on his cane.

“What do you like about her? Isn’t she too young? Though I suppose marriages with large age gaps still happen, even if they’re less common these days. Still, you’ll have to wait.”

“I have never once viewed her that way. She just happened to become my responsibility, but beyond that, I have absolutely no interest in her, so there’s no need to worry about age differences.”

“An eight-year gap is nothing. Your parents had a thirteen-year difference. That’s perfectly reasonable.”

Jens stopped dead in his tracks. Hurst, who hadn’t stopped walking, momentarily moved ahead and glanced back.

“You’re still mentally immature anyway. And that Imperial Princess is no ordinary girl, so age differences probably don’t matter much.”

“…”

His tall grandson looked down for a long time, eyes lowered. Finally, Jens bit his lip and started walking again.

“Jens.”

“…Yes.”

“Write to her. And stop by to say hello before you ship out.”

“Understood.”

No longer matching his cane-wielding grandfather’s pace, the grandson strode out of the mansion with his long legs.

Hurst returned to his grandson’s room and looked out the window. Loading his luggage onto a rented automatic carriage, his grandson had returned to his usual impassive face, making it difficult for anyone to discern his emotions.

Even Hurst hadn’t seen his genuine expressions in recent years, despite his flippant remarks.

But recently, he had accidentally glimpsed his grandson reading a letter, and his face resembled the one from before he was forced into the naval academy—no, even earlier than that. An honest face with emotions plainly visible.

“Niji.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Find out everything about the 17th Imperial Princess, Aira Merime, starting with information from the Empire. And since she’s enrolled in the naval academy, persuade Kle to investigate that side too.”

“Understood.”

His grandson probably didn’t even know himself how he viewed that princess. But Hurst couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

“Delusions, he says? Damn boy. Does he know how many couples I’ve matched?”

Hurst trudged out of his grandson’s room. The mansion would once again be as quiet as if submerged underwater for several years, but he had a feeling it would become lively again someday.

* * *

It was the night of the new moon.

With no moon and well past lights-out, Conifer was shrouded in deep darkness.

Aira moved carefully amid the occasional flickering lanterns of cadets on duty. She had stuffed pillows in her bed before leaving, and since there were rarely night inspections in the dormitory, she probably wouldn’t be caught.

‘Admiral Nüer. Nüer…’

She had brought a gas lantern in her tracksuit pocket just in case, but didn’t dare light it, so she felt her way forward with her hands.

The dormitory and main building were relatively close, but the training grounds for various naval exercises were quite far.

Since they conducted shooting practice and handled other weapons, the training grounds were kept as far away as possible for safety.

On the path from the dormitory to the training grounds stood statues of historical Republic naval heroes.

Among them was the statue of Admiral Nüer, who established the foundation of the naval training grounds in the coastal town of Conifer in Republic year 51. Those training grounds were the predecessor of the First Naval Academy.

‘Found it!’

Perhaps because he had no major military achievements beyond creating Conifer Port, Admiral Nüer’s statue was located in a remote spot.

Aira caught her breath in the shadow of a building.

‘And…’

Both the Republic and the Empire originated from the ancient kingdom era of the Northwestern Continent. The year numbering system from that time used four digits.

The Republic used this numbering system along with a new calendar that marked the first election day as year one. It was annoyingly complicated.

But the Empire used only the kingdom years that had continued from the past.

3713. That was when the first airship was developed in the Empire.

And one of Nüer’s descendants had died in a crash while boarding a clumsy Republic airship that imitated the Imperial design.

‘Who does he think he’s fooling? Why be so blatantly suspicious?’

The letter Jens sent like a coded message was indeed a kind of code. The question about who built Conifer Port in year 51 was literally asking her to identify Admiral Nüer of the Republic.

Then deliberately asking about the kingdom era year was meant to make her think not about what happened in the Republic then, but what happened in the Empire.

She had deliberately mentioned the training grounds and Republic events in her reply, so Jens would know she had caught on.

Aira sighed and thoroughly examined Admiral Nüer’s statue.

‘Is this it?’

Without light, she couldn’t see, but she felt something near the bottom of the marble statue’s pedestal.

Carefully feeling it with her fingers, she discovered something streamlined carved into it—pointed at the front, swelling toward the middle, then tapering again.

‘An airship.’

Aira frowned.

—

T/N: Jens’ grandfather is HILARIOUS LMAOOOO