Chapter 98 – Imperial Palace ~ Ball and Decision 6
Because it was a large ball attended by most of the nobles, the number of gorgeous carriages lined up in front of the imperial palace formed a very long procession.
Of course, it meant nothing to us.
As soon as the guard knight running ahead of the procession reached the castle gate first, the wide central gate, which only allowed the imperial carriage to pass through, opened, allowing the carriage to continue running without stopping.
The private carriage, which could run at high speed even within the imperial palace, stopped in front of the cherry blossom palace where Natsuki was staying. This was thanks to the announcement in advance that I would rest here until the time was right.
It seemed like good news to the knights of the royal guard to be able to rest in the Cherry Blossom Palace, which was quite inside the palace rather than outside the palace, which had a lot to worry about. Although their faces were covered by helmets, they seemed to be urging themselves that if they finished as quickly as possible, they would be able to rest for a long time.
Until the night of the prom, I took a nap in Natsuki’s room, carefully leaning my back against the wall so as not to mess up my clothes.
When I woke up from a short sleep, I saw the happy sight of lovers coming around me, clinging to various parts of my body and taking a nap together.
As I felt the happiness tingling in my chest and my heart, which had been beating slowly, began to beat rapidly, the lovers who had been pressing their ears to their chests as if listening to the heartbeat opened their eyes first.
When our eyes met reflexively, we gave him a short kiss, just touching our lips, and then checked our grooming and went out to the yard of the cherry blossom palace.
It was about the time when the high sun was setting and the fatigue of the nobles who came in the carriage had eased off.
From the Cherry Blossom Palace, we moved to the palace where the emperor was staying, and from there we walked to the ballroom.
For the first time, I stood close to the emperor, who had always been behind a thin cloth, and the emperor smiled and looked around me.
“Okay. “Have all the plans been properly prepared?”
“Yes. For now, I think it’s enough to shake people’s minds and break existing common sense.”
“It’s relaxing.”
“If you try to change it to Bovim Kingdom in a hurry, there will be severe backlash. First, take one step. “We are targeting the perception of the ruling class, the nobility.”
“You’re putting the great cause of reconciliation between nobles at stake.”
“Yes. All you have to do is just quietly watch. Oh, it’s okay if Natsuki and Fuyuki hold hands and hand them to me when they come out.”
“It’s not a wedding. “Stupid.”
While the emperor did not deny that there could be no wedding, he laughed. It didn’t take long before he was standing right in front of the ballroom door. Inside, I could hear the nobles who had arrived earlier talking back and forth about the new banquet method.
“I’m going in.”
At the emperor’s brief words, the guard knight guarding the entrance announced the emperor’s position inside.
There was a throne on a slightly high platform and a slightly smaller chair on each side for Natsuki and Fuyuki. Sophia, Ain, and I, who followed the three people who naturally took their seats, sat on the smaller chairs behind them.
The family heads and ordinary nobles seemed to be concerned about us following them, but the women we had already seen several times in the lez village smiled slightly and waved.
At the gesture of the emperor’s hand, the orchestra started playing again, the story that had stopped blossomed again, and the most senior nobles came out first and had an audience with the emperor.
When the nobles who belong to the emperor’s advisory group, such as the chancellor and treasurer, passed by, and it was another noble’s turn. Mariana’s family appeared. She spoke normally, talked about the peace of her home, and left. Mariana did not immediately leave her family, but stayed nearby, receiving a new glass of wine.
Next, the Abril family comes to greet us, and they also leave after greeting us according to etiquette. Abril did not back down but stood still with a nervous expression.
The matriarch asked Abril what was going on and told her to come over quickly, but before she did that, Mariana, who had been waiting, finished greeting her and stood next to Abril.
The orchestra’s music did not stop, but I could feel that all the eyes of the nobles who were talking to each other were focused on this direction.
The emperor gave me a quick glance at me, who was sitting behind me, as if telling me to come out and do my own thing, so I got up. As I woke up, Avril and Mariana held each other’s hands and looked at the emperor.
“Your majesty. “I would like to apply for the Royal Guard, so I ask for the opportunity to show my skills!”
My prediction is that we will get married, so please help! However, I thought it was unexpected and moved forward. The two people held each other’s hands tightly until they turned white, so he lightly wrapped them.
“Two minutes. You’re so nervous. Please relax and answer my questions.”
Even so, the tension did not go away all at once. Behind them, many nobles were looking at those women, wondering what they were doing, and next to them, family members were putting their hands on their foreheads, so it was natural.
“First. Why do you two want to apply for the Royal Guard?”
“As you know. Me and Avril. “The two families have harbored bad feelings toward each other for a long time, and it has been passed down through generations to us.”
“But that is the hatred of our ancestors, not the hatred created by us living today. So, we want to prove that we do not have to continue the hatred of our ancestors, where we can come out of our clans and face each other as equals in the Royal Guard.”
I nodded and looked around. Among the nobles who talked about how we suddenly became close friends and how things were no different from usual, the people from the lez village could be seen staring at us with concentration in silence, holding their breath, wondering what we were going to do.
“Then, wouldn’t there have been a way for the two of you to run away from your family and live together as commoners?”
When I asked the obvious question, Avril took the place of Mariana, who had been speaking so far.
“In addition to us, many nobles are still fighting due to hostility that has been passed down through generations. If you think about us, that’s right. Just live as a commoner. Because I have the ability to protect my own body.”
In my opinion, Mariana is good at swordsmanship. Abril didn’t know how to do magic, so if he gave up the things he enjoyed as a noble, he could live well.
“But, as Mariana said. “If we wanted to show that we don’t have to perpetuate hatred, we thought it would be a good idea to demonstrate our abilities in a royal guard unit that is not influenced by our families.”
I’m nodding my head. Mariana took out a wad of paper from her arms with a nervous expression, as if she had decided something.
“What is this?”
“… Please unfold it.”
When I opened the paper Mariana gave me, I saw how much money the nobles were spending on criminal organizations that carried out assassinations, kidnappings, and sabotage. They gave it to Abril and Mariana knowing that if it were revealed that they had handed it over, they would naturally become targets.
Looking at the places that were underlined as if to emphasize them, I saw that the assassination attempt against Natsuki was written as a representative incident. I was talking about the incident I prevented with Aiko.
She nodded, trying to keep her expression.
“You are right. If we continue to attack each other with endless hatred, we will both eventually reach destruction.”
Of course, I had no intention of accepting the idea of reconciliation only on the surface. I planned to conduct a thorough investigation based on this evidence and completely prevent any opportunity to harm my lovers, including Natsuki.
“I talked to him. First, I think it would be better to give them a chance to take a test to see if they can join the Royal Guard. “Your Majesty.”
The emperor spoke briefly. He answered and nodded. And as I was about to talk about what was written on the paper, the emperor stroked his chin with his hand and asked a question.
“So. What will the two do after proving that they can resolve their hatred? Is it marriage?”
“Chaff, bran… “
“Marriage… !”
It is surprising that the emperor was asked whether women should marry each other, but when the two people involved blushed and could not easily answer, it was the onlookers who were incensed.
They say it’s ridiculous for women to marry each other. Is that why the number of women looking at each other affectionately has increased recently? Long live the lily, etc…
No, who is the last one?
I tried to find out who said that, but everyone was raising their voices, so it was impossible.
The emperor seemed to have no intention of calming down the erupting conversation, laughing as if it was amusing and continuing to urge Mariana and Avril to answer.
No matter how noisy the surroundings were, they felt that the emperor would listen to them. After gaining peace of mind, the two people put their joined hands forward and nodded.
“First of all, let’s start with dating… “I decided to get started.”
“… Yes, both. First… Because of the relationship… “
The voice was small enough to creep in compared to his bold actions, but he could hear it clearly because he was close.
As I was calming the twitching of the corners of my mouth, the heads of the families that Mariana and Abril belonged to approached me from both sides.
They say it doesn’t make sense. They say that they don’t know much because they are still young, but the emperor listened with one ear and clapped his hands to attract everyone’s attention.
“The reason I asked this is that I heard a similar story first.”
Then the emperor looked at me and smiled sinisterly, as if telling me to speak to some angry nobles.
“This woman. “She is the woman who will bigamy my two daughters.”
The ballroom became noisy as if an explosion had occurred.
