"Marriage...?!"
Michael reacted sharply, unexpectedly. I was so surprised that I opened my eyes wide.
“Michael?”
He looked at me with his eyes shaking violently. Then he spoke desperately as if appealing to me.
“Marriage...That’s not possible. You’re not ready yet..."
“Yes?”
I blinked, but Michael who was busy privately finding reasons to oppose the marriage, did not pay much attention.
Finally, his head seemed to have squeezed something out, although it wasn't for a proper reason.
He said it as if he was going to pick it up in a hurry.
“You haven’t even received premarital education yet. You’re not ready for marriage at all.”
It was a very blunt statement to hear out of the blue. I was taken aback and immediately
I blushed.
“Hey, why is premarital education suddenly coming up here?”
"But..."
“Yes. I didn’t say I was the one getting married. I was talking about Euclid, not me.”
“Oh, I see.”
Michael quickly regained his composure and returned to his expressionless face. He didn't care at all as long as it wasn't Eve.
I quickly calmed down, but my face was still red. I fanned myself diligently.
“I’ll tell you the details later when I get back to my quarters. It’s a bit too much to say outside..."
That was when.
“Shh, Princess.”
Suddenly Michael put his index finger to his lips and stopped me from speaking.
“Someone is hiding.”
Michael pointed to the crooked corner of the shaded ledge. I nodded.
I cast a spell of invisibility and sneakily turned the golden corner.
What came into view was a honey-blond pretty boy squatting down.
'Isn't that Euclid?'
The sight of the 8th Prince with his head buried between his knees was unusual.
It was possible.
'I see what's going on now.'
I swallowed a sigh of regret. And then I made up my mind.
'I guess I'll have to postpone my plans to go to my father.'
I released my invisibility spell and slowly approached Euclid.
The shock was so great that the child, who was supposedly training in swordsmanship, did not notice the movement.
“Found you, Euclid.”
“Kwaaak!”
Euclid's body jumped up with a scream.
“Hey, surprise! Sis! What is it, Sis?!”
“Weren’t you playing hide and seek?”
“No!”
Euclid's face, which was walking along the street, was covered with tear stains. I pretended not to notice.
“It’s hot outside. Why don’t you go to my place and have some sherbet?”
“No, why should I..."
The useless rebellion was quite expected. I quickly cut it off.
"Let's go."
I grabbed Euclid's hand. As expected, Euclid opened his mouth wide and said nothing.
“Let’s go, Your Highness the 8th Prince.”
"Ugh"
Michael's addition was more effective. Somehow, an inexplicable sense of oppression firmly suppressed Euclid's will to rebel.
As it turned out, I was also the one who knew the secret that Euclid was secretly training in swordsmanship in the palace.
Euclid wonders why Eve and Michael come out so aggressively from both sides.
There was only one guess. It was clear that she was finally trying to use his weakness to threaten him in earnest.
'What did I do wrong that everyone is only picking on me?'
While Euclid was crying, I smiled and pulled his hand back again.
“Let’s go.”
Just seeing her smile made her overflow with a kind spirit as if she were trying to help him, but Euclid was never fooled.
I had to avoid Lemieux's tea party location, so I returned to my quarters via a different route than I came.
The servants were puzzled by my early return home and the unexpected guest.
“Your Highness? Didn’t you go to see His Majesty the Emperor?”
“I think it’s a better day to share the love between siblings than the information about the woman.”
"Yes?"
“Well, that’s what happened. I need to talk quietly with Euclid, so prepare some orange sherbet.”
Soon, sherbet and cookies were prepared on the reception table. The servants, except for the escort Michael, stepped back as soon as they heard it.
“Sit down, Euclid.”
Euclid was struck by the beautiful drawing room of the verdant chamber he had only heard of.
He sat down timidly.
I, sitting across from him, stirred my sherbet with a spoon and slurped.
In fact, even at this time, Euclid was preparing for the threat. But what Eve brought up was a somewhat unexpected topic of politics.
“After the martial arts competition, there is a lot of movement going on to transform the knight into a legion. The situation is completely different from when we just set up the homunculus as a folding screen.”
"...Yes?"
“Running a homunculus army is no different from maintaining a human army. There will be a continuous drain on funds here. Father too. He calculated this part and passed the rights and responsibilities to his children.”
“Excuse me, excuse me, sister...?”
Euclid made a mysterious expression on his face, not understanding what was going on. I continued speaking without paying attention.
“Betty’s money man, the Marquis of Chansley, was in chaos due to the buying and selling of magic stones. So Betty intends to secure a political alliance to provide the funds to replace the Marquis.”
I, who had spoken thus far, looked up and looked at Euclid.
“And now, you are being used as a token of the alliance.”
"Ugh."
Euclid immediately understood the meaning of those words. Tears of sorrow welled up in the walls that seemed to have been made by pouring dye.
It seems that the sound of the cold, sober assessment of reality was quite painful.
“Oh. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“Ah, ah, I’m not crying!”
“I’m glad you’re strong. I still have something to say.”
Euclid suddenly looked frightened. But he met my gaze stubbornly as if he thought he needed to know the situation.
“Imperial law does not permit the emperor to have monogamous or polygamous wives, primarily to increase the likelihood of producing a superior heir, but also for political reasons. By not granting a single consort the status of a queen, and by relegating several to the status of concubine or wife, the emperor hopes to keep his in-laws in check.”
“Ugh..."
Euclid was shaking with his fists clenched. He didn't even touch the orange ice pellets were slowly melting before his eyes.
I asked a question to confirm.
“I guess you were briefly called to a tea party to say hello to Baron Anche who had just entered the palace."
“You know everything..."
“Then you would have been warned in advance not to commit any rudeness. When did you find out about the political marriage?”
Euclid hesitated to answer. His mind was not sure whether or not this was information he should not reveal.
However, Eve in front of him shows a very gentle and trustworthy attitude.
This was enough to appease the mentally weakened Euclid and lower his guard.
“Uh, Mom told me last night..."
In the end, Euclid answered with a calm and composed tone. It was a wise choice.
At that time Eve asked the last question.
“You have told Her Majesty the Empress your opinion... Huh?”
Eve was so startled that she almost dropped the spoon she was eating the sherbet with.
The tears burst out of Euclid's eyes, and he did not even get a chance to stop.
Soon a voice filled with sorrow poured out along with the sobs.
“I did it... Ugh, uh, I'm, uh, useless except for my face, huh! Face, Princes, Princesses, it's good to know that they are sold at a high price... Huh!”
It was exactly the same as the rumors from my past life. I let out a long sigh.
'9th Empress Ariadna... You made me think that you were a mother who was worse than the mother I never had.'
The amber eyes darkened.
“Sob. Ugh, sob..."
I was listening to the 13-year-old child cry.
I felt bad. I felt like he was being hurt and crying because I was poking at his own sore spot.
Oh, that was it.
Just as I naturally disarmed Euclid's guard, Euclid also made a very effective choice to win my sympathy, albeit unintentionally.
I took a deep breath and hardened my expression. It had been a long time since then anyway.
I had made up my mind to interfere in Euclid's work. I spoke prepared words.
“Euclid, you don’t plan on letting your mother sell your life like this, do you?”
“Ugh! This isn’t life, this is a face..."
“If you’re going to sell yourself, sell yourself to me.”
"...Huh?"
The question came out as a hiccup. I sat back deeply on the backrest.
I buried my back and placed my hands clasped together on the table. It was a posture suitable for proposing a deal.
“I will buy your life at my price.”
Euclid couldn't understand it so I put the proposal in simpler terms.
“You don’t want to get married?”
“Of course.”
“Do you want to learn swordsmanship?”
There was no answer, but the large, bulging walls spoke a clear and fierce affirmation.
“I will protect you from your mother who making arbitrary decisions. Not just today, but forever. I will also provide an environment where you can learn advanced swordsmanship.”
“Really?!”
"Of course."
The dark walls shone brightly. I smiled and asked with a much more relaxed mind.
“Then what can you give me?”
“Ah! Then, I..."
The child who was always impudent actually reflected deeply on himself.
It seemed like the sense of excitement had completely disappeared.
But could Ariadna's verbal abuse have been a momentary mistake?
The original mind, which had been steadily built up, would have eaten away at Euclid a long time ago.
I gave a hint.
“Tell me what your future self can give me, not your present self.”
Just before asking the question, Eve was talking about swordsmanship. At this point, something seemed to be coming to Euclid's mind. He jumped up and shouted.
“I will become your knight!”
"Good."
That was exactly the answer I had hoped for. I smiled contentedly.
And then I immediately turned to the door leading outside the reception room and shouted.
“Everyone, come in.”
The servants, including Cedella, gave examples. I gave instructions one by one.
“Cedella, check out the Gnosis Academy admissions process, and add Euclid’s name to my scholarship list.”
“I will obey your command, Your Highness.”
“Peony, the mandragora you’ve been growing on your balcony finally has a use. Plant it in the most luxurious flower pot.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Rian, Put a message to Her Majesty the Third Empress Filinelli that I will visit now.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
The three maids began to move in unison.
I noticed that the young servant, Hugh, was looking sullen and slightly neglected.
I gave Hugh an important order after a long time.
"Hugh."
“Ah! Yes, Your Highness!”
“Starting today, play with the 8th Prince and help him develop his social skills.”
“Yes! Oh, no... Yes?!”
“If you want to have good relationships with your classmates at the Academy, you need to completely change your personality right now.”
“I, uh, no, I’ll try!”
In the meantime, Euclid must have regained his energy and started to fight.
“What about my personality! And why is that guy trying to fix my personality?”
“You must not spit like that, Your Highness. Our Highness is always right.”
It seemed like character education had just begun.
Michael reacted sharply, unexpectedly. I was so surprised that I opened my eyes wide.
“Michael?”
He looked at me with his eyes shaking violently. Then he spoke desperately as if appealing to me.
“Marriage...That’s not possible. You’re not ready yet..."
“Yes?”
I blinked, but Michael who was busy privately finding reasons to oppose the marriage, did not pay much attention.
Finally, his head seemed to have squeezed something out, although it wasn't for a proper reason.
He said it as if he was going to pick it up in a hurry.
“You haven’t even received premarital education yet. You’re not ready for marriage at all.”
It was a very blunt statement to hear out of the blue. I was taken aback and immediately
I blushed.
“Hey, why is premarital education suddenly coming up here?”
"But..."
“Yes. I didn’t say I was the one getting married. I was talking about Euclid, not me.”
“Oh, I see.”
Michael quickly regained his composure and returned to his expressionless face. He didn't care at all as long as it wasn't Eve.
I quickly calmed down, but my face was still red. I fanned myself diligently.
“I’ll tell you the details later when I get back to my quarters. It’s a bit too much to say outside..."
That was when.
“Shh, Princess.”
Suddenly Michael put his index finger to his lips and stopped me from speaking.
“Someone is hiding.”
Michael pointed to the crooked corner of the shaded ledge. I nodded.
I cast a spell of invisibility and sneakily turned the golden corner.
What came into view was a honey-blond pretty boy squatting down.
'Isn't that Euclid?'
The sight of the 8th Prince with his head buried between his knees was unusual.
The reason for the normally cheerful child's depression was the encounter with Lemieux and her guests earlier.
'I see what's going on now.'
I swallowed a sigh of regret. And then I made up my mind.
'I guess I'll have to postpone my plans to go to my father.'
I released my invisibility spell and slowly approached Euclid.
The shock was so great that the child, who was supposedly training in swordsmanship, did not notice the movement.
“Found you, Euclid.”
“Kwaaak!”
Euclid's body jumped up with a scream.
“Hey, surprise! Sis! What is it, Sis?!”
“Weren’t you playing hide and seek?”
“No!”
Euclid's face, which was walking along the street, was covered with tear stains. I pretended not to notice.
“It’s hot outside. Why don’t you go to my place and have some sherbet?”
“No, why should I..."
The useless rebellion was quite expected. I quickly cut it off.
"Let's go."
I grabbed Euclid's hand. As expected, Euclid opened his mouth wide and said nothing.
“Let’s go, Your Highness the 8th Prince.”
"Ugh"
Michael's addition was more effective. Somehow, an inexplicable sense of oppression firmly suppressed Euclid's will to rebel.
As it turned out, I was also the one who knew the secret that Euclid was secretly training in swordsmanship in the palace.
Euclid wonders why Eve and Michael come out so aggressively from both sides.
There was only one guess. It was clear that she was finally trying to use his weakness to threaten him in earnest.
'What did I do wrong that everyone is only picking on me?'
While Euclid was crying, I smiled and pulled his hand back again.
“Let’s go.”
Just seeing her smile made her overflow with a kind spirit as if she were trying to help him, but Euclid was never fooled.
I had to avoid Lemieux's tea party location, so I returned to my quarters via a different route than I came.
The servants were puzzled by my early return home and the unexpected guest.
“Your Highness? Didn’t you go to see His Majesty the Emperor?”
“I think it’s a better day to share the love between siblings than the information about the woman.”
"Yes?"
“Well, that’s what happened. I need to talk quietly with Euclid, so prepare some orange sherbet.”
Soon, sherbet and cookies were prepared on the reception table. The servants, except for the escort Michael, stepped back as soon as they heard it.
“Sit down, Euclid.”
Euclid was struck by the beautiful drawing room of the verdant chamber he had only heard of.
He sat down timidly.
I, sitting across from him, stirred my sherbet with a spoon and slurped.
In fact, even at this time, Euclid was preparing for the threat. But what Eve brought up was a somewhat unexpected topic of politics.
“After the martial arts competition, there is a lot of movement going on to transform the knight into a legion. The situation is completely different from when we just set up the homunculus as a folding screen.”
"...Yes?"
“Running a homunculus army is no different from maintaining a human army. There will be a continuous drain on funds here. Father too. He calculated this part and passed the rights and responsibilities to his children.”
“Excuse me, excuse me, sister...?”
Euclid made a mysterious expression on his face, not understanding what was going on. I continued speaking without paying attention.
“Betty’s money man, the Marquis of Chansley, was in chaos due to the buying and selling of magic stones. So Betty intends to secure a political alliance to provide the funds to replace the Marquis.”
I, who had spoken thus far, looked up and looked at Euclid.
“And now, you are being used as a token of the alliance.”
"Ugh."
Euclid immediately understood the meaning of those words. Tears of sorrow welled up in the walls that seemed to have been made by pouring dye.
It seems that the sound of the cold, sober assessment of reality was quite painful.
“Oh. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“Ah, ah, I’m not crying!”
“I’m glad you’re strong. I still have something to say.”
Euclid suddenly looked frightened. But he met my gaze stubbornly as if he thought he needed to know the situation.
“Imperial law does not permit the emperor to have monogamous or polygamous wives, primarily to increase the likelihood of producing a superior heir, but also for political reasons. By not granting a single consort the status of a queen, and by relegating several to the status of concubine or wife, the emperor hopes to keep his in-laws in check.”
“So the Emperor and Empress don't have a lot of power, and things that would be handled by the Privy Council in a normal country are handled by the Ministry of Protocol in our Hadelamid. Instead, there is only one area in which the Emperor and Empress can exercise rights that override the emperor's: the marriage of their own children.”
Originally, it was a device to prevent a wicked Emperor who had no paternal or maternal feelings from using his children in an alliance with an indiscriminate marriage.
However, it also had the disadvantage that there was no way to stop an Empress or Empress dowager from selling her children if she decided to do so.
“Ugh..."
Euclid was shaking with his fists clenched. He didn't even touch the orange ice pellets were slowly melting before his eyes.
I asked a question to confirm.
“I guess you were briefly called to a tea party to say hello to Baron Anche who had just entered the palace."
“You know everything..."
“Then you would have been warned in advance not to commit any rudeness. When did you find out about the political marriage?”
Euclid hesitated to answer. His mind was not sure whether or not this was information he should not reveal.
However, Eve in front of him shows a very gentle and trustworthy attitude.
This was enough to appease the mentally weakened Euclid and lower his guard.
“Uh, Mom told me last night..."
In the end, Euclid answered with a calm and composed tone. It was a wise choice.
At that time Eve asked the last question.
“You have told Her Majesty the Empress your opinion... Huh?”
Eve was so startled that she almost dropped the spoon she was eating the sherbet with.
The tears burst out of Euclid's eyes, and he did not even get a chance to stop.
Soon a voice filled with sorrow poured out along with the sobs.
“I did it... Ugh, uh, I'm, uh, useless except for my face, huh! Face, Princes, Princesses, it's good to know that they are sold at a high price... Huh!”
It was exactly the same as the rumors from my past life. I let out a long sigh.
'9th Empress Ariadna... You made me think that you were a mother who was worse than the mother I never had.'
The amber eyes darkened.
“Sob. Ugh, sob..."
I was listening to the 13-year-old child cry.
I felt bad. I felt like he was being hurt and crying because I was poking at his own sore spot.
Oh, that was it.
Just as I naturally disarmed Euclid's guard, Euclid also made a very effective choice to win my sympathy, albeit unintentionally.
I took a deep breath and hardened my expression. It had been a long time since then anyway.
I had made up my mind to interfere in Euclid's work. I spoke prepared words.
“Euclid, you don’t plan on letting your mother sell your life like this, do you?”
“Ugh! This isn’t life, this is a face..."
“If you’re going to sell yourself, sell yourself to me.”
"...Huh?"
The question came out as a hiccup. I sat back deeply on the backrest.
I buried my back and placed my hands clasped together on the table. It was a posture suitable for proposing a deal.
“I will buy your life at my price.”
Euclid couldn't understand it so I put the proposal in simpler terms.
“You don’t want to get married?”
“Of course.”
“Do you want to learn swordsmanship?”
There was no answer, but the large, bulging walls spoke a clear and fierce affirmation.
“I will protect you from your mother who making arbitrary decisions. Not just today, but forever. I will also provide an environment where you can learn advanced swordsmanship.”
“Really?!”
"Of course."
The dark walls shone brightly. I smiled and asked with a much more relaxed mind.
“Then what can you give me?”
“Ah! Then, I..."
The child who was always impudent actually reflected deeply on himself.
It seemed like the sense of excitement had completely disappeared.
But could Ariadna's verbal abuse have been a momentary mistake?
The original mind, which had been steadily built up, would have eaten away at Euclid a long time ago.
I gave a hint.
“Tell me what your future self can give me, not your present self.”
Just before asking the question, Eve was talking about swordsmanship. At this point, something seemed to be coming to Euclid's mind. He jumped up and shouted.
“I will become your knight!”
"Good."
That was exactly the answer I had hoped for. I smiled contentedly.
And then I immediately turned to the door leading outside the reception room and shouted.
“Everyone, come in.”
The servants, including Cedella, gave examples. I gave instructions one by one.
“Cedella, check out the Gnosis Academy admissions process, and add Euclid’s name to my scholarship list.”
“I will obey your command, Your Highness.”
“Peony, the mandragora you’ve been growing on your balcony finally has a use. Plant it in the most luxurious flower pot.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Rian, Put a message to Her Majesty the Third Empress Filinelli that I will visit now.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
The three maids began to move in unison.
I noticed that the young servant, Hugh, was looking sullen and slightly neglected.
I gave Hugh an important order after a long time.
"Hugh."
“Ah! Yes, Your Highness!”
“Starting today, play with the 8th Prince and help him develop his social skills.”
“Yes! Oh, no... Yes?!”
“If you want to have good relationships with your classmates at the Academy, you need to completely change your personality right now.”
“I, uh, no, I’ll try!”
In the meantime, Euclid must have regained his energy and started to fight.
“What about my personality! And why is that guy trying to fix my personality?”
“You must not spit like that, Your Highness. Our Highness is always right.”
It seemed like character education had just begun.
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