Chapter 8: The King’s Shopping
The word “off” is quite profound. Everyone says things like “It’s been a while since I had a day off!” You know, when you’re new, you have relatively many days off. But as your position rises, they gradually decrease. Even if your boss looks idle, that’s really just how it looks. When you become an executive or something, days off become minimal. And when you become president, they disappear.
You might think that’s ridiculous. Department heads and directors are always going golfing or drinking, aren’t they? Their arrival times are arbitrary too. You might think that. Presidents don’t even come to the company in the first place. True. However, while physical restraint certainly decreases, if you define “off” as time when you can banish work-related matters from your head, the more you’re promoted, the less off time you have.
When you become president, it’s no exaggeration—from waking up in the morning to going to bed at night, you’re thinking about work somewhere in your mind. A state where life and work are fused inseparably. This is surprisingly tough. It’s not noble things like business plans. Those you can make by gathering people, setting a time, and doing it all at once.
It’s not that. Anxieties just keep popping up. “Did that go well?” “Will this be okay?” “Will that person handle it well?” There’s no end. Eventually you start thinking things like “What if the sky falls tomorrow? First I’ll put out a notice about store closures…”
The King is exactly the same.
From morning to night it’s “What should I do?” “What should I do?” continuing endlessly. Work intrudes even into trivial daily actions.
To maintain mental equilibrium, you need something to immerse yourself in. In other words, you need a hobby.
So please forgive me. Right now, I’m trying to order a new watch.
The watch I’m currently using was apparently made by a craftsman named Abram Braag-san. My past self had wonderful taste when it comes to watches.
A simple solid gold case with no decoration whatsoever. Open the lid and the dial has beautiful guilloche engraving. Three hands with a small seconds hand. Ah, that’s the small seconds hand at about the 6 o’clock position, you know.
Probably my past self thought not being particular about such personal items was proof of being a hero. So an attendant prepared this, and I—he used it. It seems like my-his aesthetic sense wasn’t involved, but if he hadn’t liked it he would have requested something different, so the fact he used it means he acknowledged this simplicity.
And the current me wants one too. Why can’t I be satisfied with what I have? Because you can’t see the mechanism—the movement—inside this! Impossible!
Braag-san who made this is a watchmaker who supplies to the royal house, so he’s definitely one of the top one or two figures in Santeneri. Moreover, when delivering to the King, there’s no way he’d have an apprentice make it. It’s absolutely made by his own hand.
Can’t see the movement of a masterpiece by such a great watchmaker? That can’t be right.
Expensive watches, you know, even the parts you can’t see are polished and decorated with obsessive thoroughness. I’ll stop before I start talking about types of finishing because I won’t be able to stop, but anyway, it’s a beauty that puts ordinary jewels to shame.
And prices far exceeding jewels. Well, that makes sense. All the cost of monopolizing a craftsman-san like a Living National Treasure for months, sometimes years, is loaded onto it.
So I want to see the movement.
That’s why I couldn’t stand it anymore and summoned Braag-san.
I really wanted to go to his shop, but impossible is impossible. I did try consulting the Chamberlain-san with a thread of hope. The answer that came back was “I’ll arrange it.” Atmosphere-wise, probably the “want to go” part was completely erased from his brain. Arranging, apparently meaning when to summon him.
“Please do,” I answered briefly, then suddenly realized something. He must have been observing me tinkering with watches in my spare time. In other words, he knows I have a “proper” interest in watches.
The time I conveyed my wish was during the evening hours before bed.
Ah, if I leave this alone, Braag-san will come tomorrow—I realized just in the nick of time. That would be seriously problematic. I mean, it’s past 11 PM. From here, I’d have to dispatch a servant to Braag-san’s house to wake him up and tell him, “You have been summoned by His Majesty. Come to the palace at 14:00 tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, the head chamberlain would have to adjust my schedule for the next day and make time. Express horses would fly to all related parties. That would definitely be problematic.
“Ah, it’s not urgent. Just whenever there’s an opening that won’t inconvenience everyone. …Really, okay?”
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And so, today has arrived.
When I entered my usual tea room, a somewhat small-statured middle-aged man was kneeling respectfully in the corner. This room is a needlessly large small room, you know. At first, I thought he was some kind of ornament.
It’s amazing, isn’t it? In modern Japan, a watchmaker of this caliber is truly treated like a god. Even though we’re supposed to be the customers, the positions are completely reversed. Of course that happens—there are plenty of other people who want to buy from him besides me. It’s supply and demand. Such an incredible person is waiting quietly in the corner of the room for my “acknowledgment.” Very Santeneri-like.
Uh, and today we also have special guests. Honestly, they didn’t need to be here.
I want to buy watches in solitude. But here are the special guests I couldn’t refuse.
First, Zofie-san.
She apparently remembered well when I showed her my watch by chance, and later asked to “see it again,” so I showed her. At that time, I carelessly mentioned that I’d be buying a new one. Can’t be helped. People become talkative when it comes to their hobbies.
Then Zofie-san said she’d been thinking about wanting a watch too. I could tell her to ask her father and his employed craftsman would make one. But if she looks down dejectedly again, that would be troublesome.
Also, you know, it really is nice when someone takes an interest in something you like. There are few kindred spirits in a niche hobby field like watches.
“Then, Zofie-dono, you should commission from Braag-shi together with me.”
I said it. The money will work out somehow. The Gaillou family is wealthier than us anyway.
But wait, there’s more.
Braune-san also ended up participating.
Apparently, since seeing the watch I handed her, she’s been drawn to its beauty. I see. That makes me happy! From an outsider’s perspective, she seems like she’d have absolutely no interest in watches though. She even shows signs that once married, she’d be the first to interrogate her husband with “Why do you need dozens of watches when you only have two arms?”
In the first place, how did she even find out I was calling Braag-san? Well, I can imagine. Because Braune-san’s father is the steward of the Lerois family. The steward is effectively Santeneri’s prime minister, but he’s also literally the head servant of the Lerois household. In other words, he’s the head chamberlain’s boss.
And Mary-san is here too.
Probably because I asked to see her stuffed animals. Later, when she asked me in return, “What is Your Majesty’s current hobby?” I answered honestly. Then immediately came her response: “In the military, watches are very important items. I have one myself, but it hasn’t been working well lately. Your Majesty, what should I do?”
No, just ask your employed technician… I was about to say that, but she brilliantly preempted me.
“I’m embarrassed to expose my family’s shame, but the Barois family has been a military house for generations. We have almost no connections for decorative items.”
When she murmured that with a slightly lonely expression, it got to me.
“Then shall we look at it together next time?”
That’s what I ended up saying. If you think about it calmly, it’s strange, right? If watches are important to the military, they’d have employed technicians. Career women are scary. And probably, she also obtained information from somewhere.
Are you all connected behind the scenes? I guess so.
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