New Cogs (1)
When they returned to the castle with the knights, Baron Vidor, who jumped out before anyone else, welcomed the party.
“Are you here, Your Highness?”
“hmm.”
I tried to ignore the baron’s emaciated face. It was because I was the cause of that emaciated face.
From noble mtl dot com.
However, the baron seemed to have lost his mind, and started reporting while proudly dyeing his bizarre appearance.
“hahahaha, I’ve done all the work Your Highness entrusted to me.”
“… … is it?”
“We’ve made sure it’s taken care of so you don’t have to worry while you’re there.”
“… … .”
At this point, I didn’t know if he was serious or if he was protesting against me.
Therefore, for me, it was best to praise first.
“… … Good job.”
“thank you.”
George’s gaze, looking at this, was also directed into the distance.
After passing through the twists and turns and arriving at the front of the office, I suddenly felt that the baron’s behavior was strangely rigid.
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes.
“Something happened.”
“hahahaha… … that is.”
That awkward laugh was never something that could come from an innocent person.
Before I could hear the answer, I opened the door to my office, and soon a feast of countless letters greeted me.
“… … .”
“Wow, how many of these are there?”
George smirked at the letters he could see through the gap between me and the baron.
It had been a while since I had been to the slash-and-burn village, and it was quite a few hundred sheets.
I suppressed the sigh that was about to come out and murmured quietly.
“… … Yes, it was also a protest.”
“That, that… … .”
The gifts that arrived with the letters were also scattered everywhere.
Even more speculative was the fact that even the letters George had put away before he left were still there.
At this point, it didn’t make sense unless you were a malicious protester.
rustle- rustle-
I heard the awkward voice of the baron behind me as I pushed aside gifts and correspondence.
“Unfortunately, didn’t your birthday pass while Your Highness was away? Even so, you can’t help but celebrate it, so you should prepare for the banquet and even make a list of nobles to send invitations to.”
“There is no banquet. So there is no need to prepare.”
“Me, Your Highness?!”
At that stern answer, the baron jumped up as if frightened.
“The day of Your Highness’ birth is a royal anniversary that everyone deserves to celebrate! How can you say that you will not hold a banquet on such a day?”
“What is the royal anniversary? If anyone sees it, they’ll think it’s an enthronement ceremony.”
“that… … .”
“Moreover, there is no need for banquets from days past.”
“… … .”
I waved my hand in the air and interrupted the baron’s further words.
Flatulence was the word I hated the most after ascending the throne. And the next thing I hate is meaningless waste.
Didn’t I even conduct the coronation ceremony before returning as briefly as possible?
And the trend was the same even after returning.
In that sense, the banquet to commemorate the birthday could be said to be a collection of elements that I extremely dislike, which I visit every year.
“Destroy those useless correspondence immediately. It would be suitable for use as kindling.”
“… … All right.”
With such a sullen look on his face, the baron began sorting out the letters.
Before long, my gaze turned to the presents on the floor.
“Were those sent by nobles together?”
“yes? Oh yes. It was probably a gift from nobles who were tired of waiting for the banquet.”
“As expected, nobles like meaningless things.”
From behind, George quietly muttered, ‘I don’t think that’s what your Highness, who is at the top of the nobility, will say,’ but he ignored it and roughly checked the piled up items.
… … Even if you wait anyway, the banquet won’t happen, so there won’t be any meaning, but if it’s to check the public interest, the story is different.
Then he said to George, who was rummaging through the presents with curious eyes.
“Gather them together and organize them.”
“If you ask me to organize… … You mean the warehouse?”
“okay.”
“Yes, what. All right.”
George nodded as if he understood.
Usually, the word storage means the storage of the royal family, but at least he should have known that I wasn’t talking about the storage of the royal family.
The boy shrugged and said.
“Stuff is piling up.”
… … okay.
Items from Asus recovered a year ago. And items taken from the Federation Empire’s recovery plan.
All of them were quietly sleeping in a private ‘warehouse’.
I sat down in the chair, ignoring his smirk.
‘The more riches the better.’
As if Esteban was spending a huge budget to prepare for war. If I had a lot of money, it was natural that even I, who was still the first prince, would have a wider range of motion.
Money was like that. A mysterious element that gains power the more you have it.
Of course, I haven’t had a lot of personal money to spend yet. However, it was obvious that as time went on, more and more things would require money.
‘To prepare for the future.’
I thought so and leaned lightly on the backrest.
At that moment, one of the gifts revealed with my eyes caught my eye.
“… … what is that?”
“Oh, is this?”
What caught my attention was a transparent stone with a strange atmosphere.
I don’t know why it caught my attention, but I was unknowingly asking what it was.
George recalled his experience at the top and guessed the identity of the stone.
“Probably a gem called amber.”
“A pumpkin? That is?”
“Well, it’s the first time I’ve seen something so neat and big… … I wouldn’t be wrong.”
Somewhere between yellow and purple.
The name of the jewel that shines transparently with light was Amber.
Only then did I realize at once why it had caught my attention and why I had forgotten what it was.
“Bring it here.”
“hmm? The sender is not listed?”
“Does not matter.”
It was as if the people to send such a thing had already been decided.
My eyes were calmly sinking as I accepted the small jewel.
* * *
clap-
“Your Highness, I have found what you said.”
Baron Vidor returned with a book from the palace library.
I accepted it and nodded my head slightly.
“Let’s go out and see.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Unfortunately, it started raining in the afternoon. On the day when they should have celebrated their return and enjoyed rest, early spring rain and dark clouds took their place.
I looked at the raindrops outside the window that were falling in pursuit, recalling the history of that day that had already passed dozens of years.
‘February 18th.’
A story that doesn’t even remain in one side of memory.
Blessings and tragedies befell the royal family. That nightmarish day when the king’s beloved woman left with a new life.
maybe. The rain of late spring must have come like this on that day, which is now only left in history.
“… … .”
I stopped thinking and flipped through the history books George had brought with me.
softly-
So, time went back quickly, and I finally found the moment I wanted.
I silently read the moment and traced the remaining scenes in history.
[…] … Concerns regarding the birth of His Highness had been raised several times, so the King, who was in danger, reluctantly allowed it at His Highness’ request.]
[Even in the midst of severe colic, the concerns of the lawmakers continued. Even while the priests who came from the temple were using their divine power, the pain showed no signs of getting better, and His Highness gradually exhausted his energy and reduced his words.]
[But soon… … .]
“… … Right.”
widely-
I closed the book with a noise and pushed it lightly.
It didn’t matter if I didn’t read more. Because what I was curious about was just the course of history.
Before long, my gaze reached the ‘jewel’ placed on the desk in the office.
“Twenty-one years. No, after all, forty-one years.”
The jewel hadn’t reached the royal family since the queen’s death.
It was the same even before the return when my father passed away and I ascended the throne, and even after ten years have passed since then.
Thus, as if the queen had been sent away in vain, the ties between the two powers were no different from being severed.
However, the jewel was presented to the royal family again.
In the midst of forgetting that existence, they revealed their existence as if they were saying that they were interested in me.
“… … That’s an interesting story.”
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
In other words, it also sounded like my movements over the past year were not in vain.
However, it was only shining transparently as if suggesting a new wind to come soon.
Swoop-
I stroked the crystal ball for invocation.
Then, oddly enough, the baron seemed to have been waiting outside the door and came straight into the office.
“Yes, Your Highness. Please speak.”
“I will go to the royal grave.”
“yes? Are you talking now?”
The raindrops outside the window were getting stronger.
It seemed strange to go to such a place in such weather.
“… … ah.”
However, the baron sighed and lowered his head urgently, as if he had remembered something before long.
“I will prepare it right away.”
“hmm.”
It didn’t take long for the baron to finish preparing the drink and return.
“Let’s go.”
“All right.”
The place where members of the former royal family are buried… … .
The royal tombs were easily found in the backyard of the palace.
Each of these tombs was dignified and orphaned, but to me, who had already gone through death, it was nothing more and nothing less than a luxurious treatment.
jerk- jerk-
Eventually, the place where my blunt steps headed was the most sunny place among them.
I whispered inaudibly as I looked at the name written on the graveyard.
“… … It’s been a while.”
It’s been a really long time since I came here.
Before returning, I had memories of visiting this place from time to time, but at some point, my steps slowed down and I stopped coming at all.
‘Perhaps, it was around the time I started to hate ostentation.’
After a weak boy suddenly put a nation on his shoulders.
voice too. Just like the existence of a mother she doesn’t even know her face, she completely disappeared from her memory.
It’s been a long time of decades like that, but after seeing it in front of my eyes again like this, the feeling was new.
any… … I also felt a sense of longing.
‘Is it a remnant of the days of the first prince who was weak?’
I smiled and gently touched the tombstone. The drizzling raindrops began to wet his coat.
Then, suddenly, my gaze caught sight of something under the tombstone.
“… … This?”
A finely crafted letter.
It was raining, but it looked like it had been placed just before, and it wasn’t completely ruined.
I picked it up and asked the baron who was covering it with an umbrella.
“Are there a lot of people who usually come here?”
From noble mtl dot com.
“… … Probably not.”
“I guess so.”
Then there was someone who thought the same as me.
There was no need to look far away, the fact that it was my father was a natural fact.
Because the packaging of the letter revealed my father’s blunt personality.
After unwrapping the letter, I read the contents.
“… … .”
After a while, he shrugged and put down the letter again.
The baron asked with a puzzled expression.
“Is it a letter from His Highness the King?”
“okay.”
“Um… … .”
However, he seemed to have no intention of asking the details, so he just quietly nodded his head in agreement.
I looked at it and said.
“You won’t have to stay long in this weather. go back.”
If you look at the contents, it seems to have been there every year, but in the past, I always went right back, so I had no idea that such a thing existed.
Did I know this because I went through a regression?
My gaze landed on the letter once more, then it fell.
There was a subtle smile on his lips.
* * *
It was a day full of satisfaction.
The moment I returned to the office with the baron after shaking off the moisture from my outerwear, I sensed the movement of a familiar energy and twisted the corners of my mouth.
“long time no see. majesty.”
A person who can suddenly appear in this place where no one else was. And this turbulent wave of magical power.
And next to the familiar figure of the mage tower owner,
“I am here to keep my promise to see results within five months.”
There was a small figure wearing a robe.