“Your Majesty! You’ve finally come!”
Zofie-san spotted me and called out. Her brightness and big hand gestures are like a puppy wagging its short tail.
This is moving, you know? In modern Japan, she absolutely wouldn’t even sit next to me on the train. Well, I’d be more grateful for that though. Being told “There was this gross old guy sitting next to me this morning—” would be painful.
With her navy blue dress fluttering, Zofie-san approaches at a speed that’s more like a light jog than quick steps, and behind her, the other two approach with calm gaits.
Picture-perfect.
Ah—to put it in an easy-to-understand way, you know those film festivals and such? Popular teenage idols or actresses in their twenties walk the red carpet grouped by their projects. That.
“If Gaillou-dono extends an invitation, I must show my face no matter what. I can’t miss an opportunity to see Zofie-dono.”
I return such a line with a clear addition of dry laughter. They need to understand it’s a joke or things will get bad. Zofie-san’s father is right next to me. No, I get it. I fully understand that both positionally and given domestic circumstances, he wants to match me up with his daughter. But I can also feel Father is a bit irritated. The aura of murderous intent.
“For Santeneri’s proud famous flowers to grow so densely in one place, even I am dazzled by such lovely splendor. To think such a supreme location existed in my domain—”
I learned this kind of phrasing recently. I read it in a book. Oh, and I’ve also been drinking. An alcoholic beverage made by fermenting grapes and adding carbonation. Basically champagne, you know, just a bit. Obviously. Sober would be too harsh.
“My, Your Majesty. Since when did you learn such flattery? That’s no good. You’ll make the flowers conceited.”
Says Braune-san.
Braune-san is one more trial given by God. I guess it’s Santeneri custom, but evening ball dresses have, you know, exposure. A bit. Since men have their chests covered with this thing called a carule scarf, I think women should wear them too. Otherwise, where to look becomes, you know.
This is actually quite scary, not a joke. Despite being a matter of biology, the moment the other person senses it, it becomes a social problem. Time for Labor Standards. Even if Labor Standards doesn’t come, I feel bad about making them uncomfortable personally. Also, I really don’t like that it’ll definitely become a topic at the secretarial department drinking party, in a low-key way.
“No, Braune-dono. It’s not flattery. The king does not lie. —Ah, have I interrupted your pleasant conversation?”
I am lying though. Thanks to that, I’m always apologizing to someone.
“Not at all! We were just all talking about Your Majesty!”
Zofie-san, that’s the type of topic I least want to hear about. Even if you give me a face like “Do you want to hear it?” I’m troubled. Judging from their expressions, both Braune-san and Mary-san seem surprisingly willing.
I can read how this will go. Nothing too bad should be said. Like “We were all saying Your Majesty’s big cloth necktie has pretty good taste.” That makes sense. No working adult would openly mock their boss to their face.
“How honored. To think my name would appear on the lips of such peerless noblewomen! However, for a man to intrude into the world of maidens would also be tactless…”
Hey Gaillou-san?
When I look to the side seeking agreement, the Grand Duke is already talking with someone else at a slight distance. Rather than someone else, it’s our Chief Steward/seneschal…
“Your Majesty, does our company not please you?”
Mary-san says in a slightly low voice that matches her appearance. Her black dress has exposure that reads the room better than Braune-san’s, so I’m grateful.
But her tone. It sounds like “Are you dissatisfied with this amount? (There are plenty of replacements.)” They really haggle pretty hard, don’t they, big companies? The super beautiful buildings in Marunouchi are made from the blood and tears of us subcontractor SMEs.
“No, that’s not it. I just feel bad for those around us if I monopolize you all. So…”
Zofie-san starts looking down dejectedly. This one, if I make her cry, it’s over. The type that gets you criticized for generations.
“Poor Zofie-sama! She was looking forward to showing Your Majesty her special necklace!”
Braune-san presses me too.
“Is that so? Zofie-dono, did I express a desire for that previously?”
A little while ago when I had a tea party with Zofie-san, she talked about buying a new necklace. I have a fair amount of working experience, so I’m relatively good at reading the room. I lightly said something like “Show me next time.” It’s called social courtesy. And she apparently wore it here. That’s nice.
“Yes! This is it!”
Zofie-san (age fourteen), who instantly regained her energy, reaches behind her neck and skillfully unfastens the necklace clasp. You do that yourself? Isn’t that what attending maids are for? I have a dignified old gentleman tie this big cloth necktie for me every day.
Zofie-san holds out the bird necklace with both hands. As I tried to carefully pinch the chain part to avoid touching her skin, Zofie-san suddenly wrapped both her hands around mine.
Ah—this is arrest material. Not ordinances or anything. Arrest.
“Um… because you might drop it!”
“Ah, Zofie-dono’s treasure, it would certainly be terrible if I dropped it.”
While hiding my inner turmoil, I glance at Mary-san. The career woman Mary-san is the type who wouldn’t tolerate this kind of thing. Surely.
But surprisingly, despite her usually expressionless demeanor, she has a slight smile. Just to be sure, I check Braune-san too. She’s also watching with a gentle smile.
That can’t be right. Their eyes aren’t smiling.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
You know that expression “indulging in wine and women,” right? The stock phrase used to describe terrible kings throughout history. If you ask me now, don’t put wine and women on the same level.
For example, all the ladies I met today are daughters of some of the most powerful people in the country. We were all chatting amicably together. Braune-san jokingly exposed Mary-san’s girly hobbies, and Zofie-san was having the wrinkles in her dress straightened by Mary-san. Despite their age differences, they looked like close friends, or even sisters.
But it’s probably not that simple a story.
Whether male or female, it’s rare for people to direct clear hostility toward someone in public. Of course, it’s different when there’s a large gap in position or power. From boss to subordinate, from senior to junior, from bully to victim. If you ask me, that kind of thing isn’t “hostility.” Because they’re just getting pleasure from tormenting a weaker opponent.
Hostility is much heavier than that.
There’s no pleasure in it. Being in the midst of battle must be very painful. Conflict is exhausting no matter how you look at it. Nevertheless, there are various reasons why people deliberately force it upon others. Jealousy and envy, clashes of beliefs, or feuds between families inherited from ancestors. I could go on forever. However, in any case, once you make your hostility clear, you have no choice but to see it through to the end. That’s why everyone avoids showing it as much as possible. I wonder what’s really in their hearts?
Conflicts rarely end simply as one-on-one affairs. They generally become group battles. Whoever pulls more and stronger people to their side wins.
There are many varied methods for winning people to your side, but if you put it in extreme terms, there’s only one.
Giving benefits to the other party.
You can give concrete things like money or status. Or you can provide favorable reactions and words. But either way, it must be something the other party perceives as a benefit—something they want. There’s no point in offering money to someone who seeks honor. The reverse is also true.
This means it becomes important to know accurately what the other party desires.
In this Santeneri, the person being probed the most is probably me. While it’s somewhat weak to describe as “absolute,” I’m currently the person with the most power in Santeneri by institutional design. In other words, I’m the most delicious existence to have as an ally.
Therefore, I’m constantly being probed. By my retainers and by the young ladies. Because they’re all players moving for their own interests, rivals to each other. The pie is small and those who desire it are many. So a struggle occurs. And to win that struggle, they desire my favor.
I can’t tell anyone such twisted thoughts. If I were to tell someone, it would only be when the person I absolutely want as an ally desires my vulnerability.
Naturally, I also desire allies.
That’s the only way to survive on the throne. Both the company and the country are too large; it’s impossible for my small brain to grasp the whole picture. If I can’t win over people who’ll work hard in each field, before long both the company and the country will collapse. Five years for a company, ten years for a country.
People have it rough. If you don’t engage in endless probing and endless alliance-building, you’re not even allowed to exist.
There’s only one way to escape from this karmic world.
Become an ornament.
Become an existence that’s insignificant, doesn’t matter whether as ally or enemy, but should probably be around anyway. Becoming an insignificant existence is surprisingly easy. Just handle everything with “do as you see fit.” What’s maximum difficulty is that last part—getting people to think “they should probably be around anyway.” If you keep repeating “do as you see fit,” someone will inevitably say “isn’t this guy unnecessary?” Then your insignificant self gets easily kicked out. Physically from this world.
To avoid that, I need to become a punching bag. A faintly valuable existence that can be blamed with “It’s this guy’s fault” when the results of having done as they saw fit turn out poorly.
That’s why “wine” and “women” aren’t on the same level. Being infatuated with women—that is, being in a state where a woman endlessly provides me with what I desire, including her body. So why would she do that? Because having me as an ally is beneficial. Why is it beneficial? Because I’m not an ornament. Conversely, when I’m complete as an “ornament that could be there or not,” the advantage of having me as an ally disappears.
What I’m aiming for is, as I said earlier, being an “existence that doesn’t matter.” An ornament that’s convenient to keep around to shoulder responsibility. If there’s a woman who gets stuck with such a boring thing, I think that would be very pitiful. On the other hand, wine requires no such consideration. You drink, feel good, and it’s over. No lingering issues, no guilt. That’s why I love wine.
For now, I’m working hard to cancel out the accumulated negatives of my previous self. Working hard to increase my allies. But that’s merely a process toward becoming an ornament.
Maybe that’s why, deep in my heart, I envy my previous self. He was reckless and didn’t know reality, but he had the courage to fight without overthinking. He had the spirit to trample over everyone and do what he wanted, without caring about others’ intentions.
Such battles usually end in defeat, but very rarely they succeed spectacularly. My previous self must have had a non-zero chance of success too. Unlike me, the former company president who feared battle and ran away.
My face reflects on the surface of the wine.
A face that doesn’t feel like mine at all. This “he” was a man who might have become a great monarch.
I want to offer prayers of gratitude to this body that shows no damage at all the day after heavy drinking. Maybe my liver is naturally strong, or perhaps it’s youth.
While thinking such things as I attended the regular meeting, an unexpected development came out of nowhere. Well, actually the capable people including the Chief Steward had been considering it for quite some time.
For me, it’s the worst possible event. A wild princess candidate has sprouted. From the wilderness of the “Empire,” the longtime enemy of House Leroi that shares a long eastern border.
My liver is fine, but somehow my stomach hurts.
A bride is coming, how wonderful? This isn’t a fairy tale.
It comes as a package deal with war.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
