Chapter 9 – Childhood (4)
Childhood (4)
“Okay! I’ve been talking for a long time. Let’s start the royal meeting now. Prime Minister? What’s on today’s agenda?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. First, the Baronies of Nikana and Baron Tesida, who are in charge of the left and right defenses in the center of the Monster Mountain Range, have requested additional military support.”
“Hmm~ That’s right… The situation there seems to be very bad these days. But can’t we take out the capital defense forces anymore? If we do that, there will be a shortage of reserves on the Tesseito Front.”
The Minister of Justice, Count Redburg, answered the Emperor’s question.
“That’s right, Your Majesty. So, first, we are pursuing a policy of sending prisoners from each region to serve their sentences instead of their sentences. If you offer to give the prisoners a half-term reduction in their sentences, they will follow.”
“If that happens, won’t the morale in the military drop? The soldiers might misunderstand that they are being treated the same as prisoners.”
The Minister of Military Affairs, Marquis Seidlitz, answered that question.
“In order to prevent that, the prisoners are trying to form a unit made up of only prisoners. We are going to name it a punishment unit and have the commander be a former officer who committed a crime to lead them.”
“Hmm… Are you not worried about rebellion or desertion?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It is a reasonable question. However, they will be shackled with magic. These are shackles that will explode if the commander does not enter a specific password once a week. The commander will set the period a bit longer, and the lord of the territory to which they are dispatched will be held. We plan to receive input from.”
“Hmm, good! Let’s handle it like that! What’s next on the agenda?”
The emperor and his ministers processed various agendas at an incredible speed. Even to Yuno, the appearance that seemed remarkable was that of the administrative head of the current Emperor Karl III, who protected the territory expanded by the previous emperor and made it even wealthier.
But since there was nothing to say to Yuno and nothing to do, Yuno had to chase away the drowsiness that was coming by pinching his thighs.
“Here is your Majesty’s final agenda. The three princesses of the Kingdom of Leon, who were sent to our country’s imperial family for her studies, arrived today at 15:00 through the capital’s magic circle.”
“Hmm, was there anything unusual? I heard that an assassin arrived at the magic circle together?”
To ease the emperor’s concerns, Count Liechtenauer, commander of the Knights of the Guard, answered directly.
“Your Majesty! Viscount Speyer, vice-captain of the Knights of the Guard, personally went out to meet you, but it is said that the Three Princesses of the Kingdom of Leon arrived alone without any attendant.”
‘Roaring roar’
‘No matter how much the Kingdom of Leon was destroyed by our Empire in the war… You sent her princess alone?’
‘Honestly, studying abroad is an excuse and a pawn… But shouldn’t we send an escort and an attendant or two to protect us?’
Bang bang bang!!
“Quiet, quiet! Let’s break the habit of making such a loud noise in front of the royal family whenever something is said!”
“Oh, Prime Minister! Don’t be like that. Don’t you think good policies come out in such a free atmosphere? Anyone can see that the Prime Minister handles all the work alone. Haha.”
“Puhahahaha”
Several nobles burst into laughter at the emperor’s joke.
The face of the chancellor, Marquis Marc, turned red, but he did not forget to glare at the various senior officials and pledged to discipline his juniors after the emperor’s retreat.
“Anyway, after the royal meeting, we have prepared a welcome party in the banquet hall on the second floor of the main palace, so I hope everyone enjoys it. Oh! And I think your Majesty can leave the palace immediately after receiving the greetings from the princess of the Kingdom of Leon.”
“Haha, as expected, the Prime Minister knows very well about Jim’s feelings. The new concubine he brought in this time is so pretty that he can’t control himself even at this age. Chuckle.”
Seeing the emperor like that, bitter smiles appeared on the faces of the imperial family and nobles, including the empress.
Karl III was the only son of the previous emperor, and he played a major role as the crown prince in the Battle of Zenon Plain, which created the current Balkan Empire, so he had almost omnipotent imperial power.
However, the emperor did not treat his subjects haphazardly, was not particularly extravagant, and often inspected the public sentiment, observing the people’s behavior and making policies, showing himself as a perfect monarch.
However, he also had one flaw: the emperor was an extremely lewd person.
Still, if it had been a normal case of lewdness, it would have been an issue that could have been overlooked, saying, ‘The emperor could reveal a bit about women,’ but the problem was that he was a terrible pedophilia who did not consider women over the age of 16 to be women.
After Empress Yuria gave birth to Marie at the age of 16, she never slept with the emperor, and the same was true for the concubines the emperor took in after Empress Yuria.
After the last concubine’s birthday turned 16, the emperor went out to inspect the people’s livelihood and took in a 10-year-old lower-class girl who caught his eye as a new concubine.
Seeing the emperor like that, Yuno also shook his head and looked at the emperor.
‘I guess I should consider it fortunate for my brother that all of his concubines are from commoners and there will be no interference from his maternal relatives… He has no children… Well, it doesn’t really matter to me…’
As Yuno was thinking about this and that for a while, a trumpet sounded, announcing the position of the princess of the Kingdom of Leon.
Tap, tap, tap, tap
The sound of her military boots, unbecoming of a princess, echoed through her hallway, and soon the princess appeared. Her brilliant blonde hair, her bulging breasts that did not match her age, and a military uniform that was definitely not suitable for the title of princess were wrapped around her body.
“I salute your Majesty, Emperor Karl III, the only absolute ruler of the Balkan Empire. I am the third princess of the Kingdom of Leon. My name is Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart.
Eliza, the three princesses of the Kingdom of Leon, bowed to the emperor with her small body.
“Yes. She is welcome to study in the empire. Princess Eliza. She had a hard time coming all the way.”
“No, Your Majesty. I came to the space magic circle and Vice-Captain Speyer, who was in charge of my escort, treated me well, so I didn’t experience any inconvenience.”
After completing her greetings, Princess Eliza delivered an official letter from the Kingdom of Leon to the Emperor. When the secretary Marquis García took over the letter and delivered it to the emperor, the emperor roughly read the letter and then handed it back to the chancellor and said:
“Hmm~ The Kingdom of Leon is asking for an increase in trade goods. Increased trade in rubber, steel, and glue. And since farmland was destroyed in the war, they are asking for some wheat. What do you think, Prime Minister?”
“Rubber is possible enough, but glue, a strategic material, seems a bit difficult. First, just using it to arm our imperial army will likely consume all of this year’s production. Instead, we will discuss with the ambassador of the Kingdom of Leon to send more wheat. “Your Majesty”
“Well, I think the prime minister can handle that problem on his own.”
After saying that, the emperor ordered the Minister of Finance to consult with her chancellor and then turned his attention to Princess Eliza again.
“Ah. I’m sorry I made the princess wait while I was talking about the Kingdom of Leon’s proposal.”
“It’s okay, Your Majesty”
“Okay. How old is she, the princess? I heard she was still young, but looking at her now, she doesn’t look that young.”
“I am now eleven years old, Your Majesty.”
Eliza continued to maintain her rigid attitude, befitting her outfit, and the emperor’s lust, which had been slightly aroused at first when he was curious when he heard that the young princess was coming, was completely killed thanks to Eliza’s attitude and her large breasts.
“He’s the same age as our Yuno. Hmm,~ I heard he didn’t bring any bodyguards or attendants. Is there a reason?”
“Even if I bring a bodyguard, it wouldn’t be a big deal for the empire to kill me if it wanted to. Would a bodyguard be of help to my personal safety? And I don’t think the empire is so petty that it wouldn’t give one or two to the princess who came as a hostage. And Since the purpose is to study abroad, I think they will give me a similar education as the prince and princess.”
“What. What? What do you think of our empire now!!”
“Hostages!! Are you saying that the Kingdom of Leon expects the Balkan Empire to take hostages?”
The nobles were in an uproar at Princess Eliza’s rude remarks. However, the emperor himself calmed them down by drawing his hand, and the emperor burst into laughter.
It was the laugh of an old man over 80 years old, but the power of that laugh made many nobles hold their breath as they watched it.
Haha, she’s a bold princess. Haha. It looks like Charles gave his daughter a good education. She looks exactly like him in that she doesn’t have any hair. That’s right! You’re right. She’s a hostage. And our empire It’s not that shabby”
“The Emperor comes to you, Your Majesty”
“But if you made such a statement, you will have to take responsibility! Yuno!!”
Yuno was taken aback by the emperor’s sudden search for her, but soon calmed down and stood up to wait for the emperor’s orders.
“Yes, Your Majesty, please give your order.”
“From now on, you will spend all of your educational schedule with Princess Eliza. It will include your physical training and military studies classes!”
Then the Minister of Military Affairs stood up and refuted.
“Your Majesty! Military studies also include information on military operations, which are confidential to the empire… Wouldn’t that be difficult?”
“Tsk! Even the Kingdom of Leon probably already understands the level of military operation contained in the basic military science that the prince learned! Our empire isn’t the only one running an intelligence department, right?”
“That’s right, Your Majesty.”
“Looking at the princess’s attitude, attire, and needs, it would be good to give her an education similar to Yuno’s. That child also seems to want that. So, let’s leave basic confidentiality to the generosity of the great country.”
‘Normally, if the princess was taken as a hostage, she would be the princess’s tea time partner, or put her in a corner of the imperial palace… My father has a secret plan. You asked me to follow my training… That princess will be dead starting tomorrow’
In Yuno’s view, the emperor was looking forward to having tea time with the delicate young princess and taking her for a walk while holding her soft hand, but when the princess, who looked like a hard servant, came and started talking rudely, he seemed a little upset.
‘No matter how much of a pawn you were, she wouldn’t have touched you since she’s the princess of Leon… But you’re clearly upset. That’s giggling.’
Yuno secretly liked the hairless Three Princesses of Leon. And I was already looking forward to tomorrow’s class.
As soon as Princess Eliza’s greeting was over, the emperor left the palace and headed to her concubine, and a grand banquet was held in the imperial palace to welcome the princess of Leon.
However, perhaps because of her flashy appearance at the royal palace just now, the nobles did not approach Princess Eliza, and only Baron Legasota, head of the Imperial Intelligence Department, and Marquis Vello, Minister of Foreign Affairs, remained by her side, asking questions to obtain information.
“Hmm hmmm…”
Yuno walked up behind her, cleared his throat, and asked her two ministers to step aside for a moment.
“Ah! Your Highness Yuno! Please sit here! We didn’t know you were here…”
“We’ll leave for a moment. You two can talk.”
Yuno sat down next to Princess Eliza, who had an empty seat, and said hello.
“Nice to meet you. I am Juno Alexander Windrage von Balkan, Third Prince of Balkan. As you have heard from Your Majesty, we are the same age, so please feel free to call me Juno.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. I am Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart. Please call me Eliza too. Your Highness.”
The conversation between the two stopped here, and Yuno, unable to think of anything to say, began to think about how to get through this awkward atmosphere.
At that time, her older sister Isabella and her younger sister Marie, who appeared like saviors, arrived at the banquet hall and ran to Juno.
“Oppa~~ We’re here!”
“Yuno~ Did you miss your sister?”
“It’s only been 5 hours since I saw you, but what… Wow!!”
Isabella and Marie simultaneously threw themselves into Juno’s arms and hugged him, so much so that even Juno, who had a strong body, was shocked for a moment.
“Oppa! But who is this girl here?”
At Marie’s question, Isabella realized that there was a princess from the Kingdom of Leon in front of her and tidied up her clothes.
“Marie!! After listening to you just now!! I’m sorry. This is Isabella Erica Windrage von Balkan.”
Isabella said her greeting and patted Marie’s side.
“Hey… I’m the only one who has it… I’m Marie Erika Windrage von Balkan. Please just call me Marie. At first, I was mistaken because it was so different from what I thought. Please take care of me, sister. Hehe.”
“Marie!!”
“It’s okay. Your Royal Highness Princess Isabella. My name is Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart. Please feel free to call me Eliza as well. Please take care of me, Princess Marie.”
Seeing Marie’s naturally virtuous appearance brought a smile to Eliza’s mouth for the first time.
As I said earlier, Isabella and Marie were holding Juno’s hands tightly and wouldn’t let go, so Juno forcibly removed their hands and said.
Haha, Princess Eliza. My older sister and my younger sister are immature… So we made a mistake…”
“Hey! Yuno! Do you want to die? Why are you leaving me with Mari? Huh?”
“Well… My sister did the same thing at first, running towards me and clinging to me… But now…”
“That’s right! Oppa! Even so, I’m better than you!”
The three siblings bickered as usual in front of the princess of a foreign country, and this continued until Empress Yuria came and scolded them.
“You guys really!!! What are the princes and princesses doing at official events? I’m sorry, Princess Eliza.”
“Oh… No. Please speak less. Empress Mama.”
Eliza couldn’t bear to sit down and greet the Empress, so she stood up and greeted Yuria politely.
“Hohoho, is that so? From now on, you will be staying at the empress’ palace where I live, so I will treat you comfortably. You must have been in a lot of pain coming to the empire, so come with me and rest quickly. It will only be difficult for you to stay here.”
Yuria said and lifted Eliza up from her seat.
“Mama Empress! If Princess Eliza, the main star of the banquet, wakes up already…”
“Aye! When I looked from above, there was no one around and only the Ministry of Intelligence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were sitting next to me and talking nonsense, so I sent the kids myself! What are they doing to an 11-year-old kid who came here alone? Really!!”
The nobles were embarrassed by the empress’s anger, seeing her for the first time, and bowed their heads.
“I know you will handle it among yourselves even without the children anyway, so I will take Princess Eliza and let her rest for a while. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, please finish the banquet appropriately.”
“Yes! Mama, I will obey your orders.”
Princess Eliza followed Empress Yuria with a puzzled expression, and her three siblings, Isabella, Yuno, and Marie, also headed to the empress’ palace with them.
*Childhood illustration of Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart, 3rd princess of the Kingdom of Leon