Prologue — The Journey of the Prince and Princess

The Kingdom of Capua was a huge country that reigned over much of the western reaches of Randlion, most often known simply as the Southern Continent.

The kingdom’s location meant that much of the trade in the west was done by sea and the land to the east.

Still, things weren’t quite so cut-and-dry, and there was no small amount of trading done by land in the west or vice versa along the rivers in the east. In line with the overall trends, however, the roads in the east had far more time and effort spent on them than those in the west.

Capua was famed for having the best roads on the continent, and one of those roads was currently playing host to two large carriages drawn by drakes. The two young royals within them were from the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle. Three hundred men from their country’s unified army were escorting them, and the party came to a temporary halt on a large plain to the side of the road.

The river flowing nearby suggested that this was an area that had specifically been set aside for rest stops. While it meant a slightly more circuitous route, if they had taken another route, failing to secure water as they traveled, both the travelers and drakes would have eventually run out. Therefore, the more remote roads had been plotted in such a way as to periodically approach water sources throughout the journey, even if it did require detours.

The drakes that had been pulling the carriages had been unhitched and were currently lined up with the knights’ mounts, all of them focused entirely on drinking from the river. As their mounts sated their thirst, the knights kept watch over the perimeter. The river could host freshwater drakes, crocodiles, or even carnivorous fish, and the plains might be the hunting grounds of wild drakes.

That said, their surroundings were flat plains as far as the eye could see, with little cover available. The water was also clear, so spotting anything that might be lurking within would be easy enough. Even the knights on guard duty were relaxed in their own way, stroking their drakes’ necks and praising them for their efforts on the road. While there was still a sense of wariness in the air, the overall mood was one of tranquility.

The bigger carriage’s door opened, and a figure came into view.

“Phew... Good work, everyone. Aha ha, my shoulders are killing me.”

The young man’s words and tone were slightly at odds with his status, and he rolled his shoulders as he spoke as if to lend credence to the statement.

“Our apologies for the discomfort, Prince Francesco. We shall remain here for some time while the drakes rehydrate, so if you wish to stretch your legs for a while, please do so.”

“Sure thing. You’re heading up the itinerary, so just do what you need to,” the blond, green-eyed man—eldest son of the first prince of the Sharou family—told the commander with a brilliant smile.

Both his actions and words were in line with what one would expect from a royal, but the somewhat lackadaisical impression he gave off remained. In fact, the lack of excessive nervousness in the soldiers was almost certainly due to his personality in spite of him being the future king’s eldest son.

His fine features always had an amiable smile, so he looked younger than his years. Then again, the presence of so many soldiers guaranteeing his safety was simply taken as a fact of life for him, which was perhaps what one would expect from his royal-born status.

Francesco walked around with an utterly relaxed expression as the soldiers watched over him. He stretched out the stiffness from his long hours spent in the carriage.

“Prince Francesco,” came a female voice from behind him.

Francesco turned to see a familiar girl. “Hey, Bona,” he answered with a smile. “Good to see you out of the carriage as well. The west’s a fair bit warmer than the central regions, but it’s still refreshing by the water. Come and enjoy the breeze.”

“Ah, my thanks for the concern, Prince,” the young woman—Bona—replied with a somewhat surprised nod.

Princess Bona was also of the Sharou royal family. Of course, a lower noble like her, having been inducted into the royal family only because she happened to possess their bloodline magic, could hardly be classified as “a royal” in the same way Francesco (the king’s own grandson) was. Her interactions with him were far less like one royal speaking to another and more like a noble following a royal’s commands.

That difference was shown in numerous ways. While Francesco had an enormous carriage drawn by eight drakes, Bona had a smaller one, pulled by only six. However, while there might have been a clear difference between them, Princess Bona was still a member of the royal family, so she was considerably closer in status to him than the soldiers were. Therefore, it fell to her to question his actions.

“Prince Francesco, pardon my presumption, but were you the one to dress yourself?”

The meaning behind her words should have been obvious, but Francesco displayed no hint of realization as he answered her with a bright smile.

“I did, well spotted. There are fewer maids here than at the palace, so I decided to do what I could to ease their burden.”

He puffed his chest up so much as he spoke that one could practically hear his claims of thoughtfulness and requests for praise. Bona felt tremendously guilty when she saw his expression, but she had to press on. She was the only one present who could directly inform him of a personal problem without causing an issue.

Resolving herself, she cleared her throat before speaking again. “Your Highness, your socks are unmatched,” she told him as frankly as she could.

“Huh? Oh, so they are,” he answered, looking at his feet in surprise. Bona was quite correct. There was a red sock on his right foot and a blue one on his left.

“Ah ha ha, what a blunder. Thanks for telling me, Bona; now I won’t expose my shame,” he said gratefully to the young princess.

“It was an honor. While I would never dare to be presumptuous, perhaps it would be best to return to the carriage and change them?” she suggested, relieved. It would seem he’s willing to listen, she thought to herself.

There were some who would grow ill-tempered if they were shamed, even if the statement was correct. It was fortunate for the people around him that Francesco was not so rigid. The prince’s problems lay elsewhere.

“Hm? If I’ve been wearing a red and a blue sock then the others will be in the carriage. So if I go back and change, wouldn’t I end up with a blue sock on my right foot and a red sock on my left?”

The problem...is that he won’t understand what he hears, she lamented, feeling a dull ache around her temples as she listened to the prince—a man who was nearly a decade older than her.

The words of the first prince, Francesco’s father, suddenly came to mind. She had never expected his request to “take care of Francesco” to mean literally taking care of him in this way.

This was the Sharou family’s first official visit abroad in over a century. Furthermore, their destination was the Kingdom of Capua, a country that even the Twin Kingdoms didn’t want to face in a direct confrontation. What was the Sharou family thinking, sending the lowest of the low (as far as royals went) with her?

His Majesty and the first prince are both wise people. There must be some reason it needed to be Francesco...

She wished they’d have told her, but that was more than she could hope for as a fringe royal.

If I’d known it would end up like this, I wouldn’t have put my name forward... Actually, no, I’d have hesitated, worried about it, and then put my name forward regardless, she decided, unable to lie to herself.

Her fate had probably been sealed the moment she’d set eyes on the rings that Princess Isabella of the Gilbelle family had brought back from Capua. The three diamonds were perfectly matched in everything from size to shape, all within a setting so finely detailed it made her eyes water.

It was more than enough to draw the attention of someone walking the path of a jeweler. Many of the lower-ranked members of the family strove to become creators of magic tools, so many of them took up jewelling or smithing. Princess Bona was such a person and was seen as a preeminent jeweler despite her young age.

I couldn’t enchant either of those rings, but if I could visit the kingdom itself and approach Her Majesty and her husband...

Bona had put her name forward in pursuit of that, an ulterior motive too charming to simply be called ambition. But given the request from the king and his successor to watch over their descendant, she had no other choice but to do all she could to meet those expectations.

“Your Highness, there is no need to change both socks; simply change one or the other to make both feet match.”

“Ah, I see! There’s that lateral thinking. You’ve got quite a flexible mind, Bona; nicely done.”

“You honor me,” she answered after a long pause, fighting against the dull pain assailing her head as she began to regret her decision to come on this journey.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Several days had passed, and Aura was examining miscellaneous documents in her office when a wyvern from the eastern border reached her just as the sun was starting to set.

“Ah, so they’ve arrived,” she murmured after reading the message it carried.

“The delegation from the Twin Kingdoms has reached the eastern border. The delegates are Prince Francesco and Princess Bona. They plan to leave after several days of rest, accompanied by a thousand knights from the fortress as an escort.”

She sighed at the missive’s contents. She had known about this visit well in advance and was aware that it offered both advantages and disadvantages. Still, considering the gravity of the matter, along with the other burdens she could imagine it bringing, she couldn’t help but groan.

Regardless, given her position as the country’s queen, she had to do more than that.

“Fabio, how go the preparations for receiving our visitors?” she asked the secretary behind her, remaining seated with her gaze still on the documents.

“They proceed without incident. Three buildings in the south wing of the palace have been prepared and staffed for their use,” the slender-faced man replied in his customary even voice.

“Three buildings? Is that sufficient? They are royals from a large country, after all,” Aura noted, turning her head to survey the secretary where he stood off to the side as she raised an eyebrow.

“It is. It seems their escort is smaller than we first assumed. The buildings are connected in such a way that to access the first and second, you must pass through the third, so the delegation should have no complaints if we assign the first to Prince Francesco, the second to Princess Bona, and the third to their guards.”

“Hmm...”

She felt the need to verify the details and beckoned him closer before continuing her questioning. “What of their armaments? Being knights of the Twin Kingdoms, and directly under the Sharou family at that, I would imagine they all carry magic tools fit for combat.”

“Without a doubt. We can, of course, not allow them to roam the palace with magic tools and no restrictions. However, they are charged with protecting two royals with a limited number of people, so I highly doubt they would be willing to surrender their tools if told to do so.”

“Perhaps we will treat the buildings they are borrowing extraterritorially, and they will be allowed to be fully armed within them. But while outside of those buildings, they will only be allowed to carry defensive tools that we have verified the functionality of.”

The secretary sought confirmation of her suggestion. “Then ordinary weapons would be afforded to them even within the palace, without restrictions?”

“Not entirely, but a certain level of allowance will be required.”

“I expect the nobles to dissent.”

“We have no choice. I cannot tell the personal guards of royalty to go completely unarmed,” she answered, another sigh making its way past her lips.

Foreigners armed within the palace, albeit with restrictions... It certainly wasn’t a situation she desired, but it would be hard to deny the necessity of it when she considered the future.

Before long, Zenjirou would learn how to use the teleportation spell, and he wished to visit the Twin Kingdoms. If she required Francesco and Bona’s guards to divest themselves of their weapons, the same could well be required of Zenjirou’s escort when he made his own journey.

Still, allowing uninvited guests absolutely everything they wanted would impinge on Capua’s honor. She grumbled as she crossed her legs beneath her slitted dress. Fabio, having spent a considerable amount of time with her, could divine the direction of her thoughts from her expression.

“Perhaps we could levy a fee for each weapon or tool carried? I cannot imagine they would refuse if the matter could be resolved monetarily,” he suggested.

The queen’s eyebrows drew closer together as she shook her head. “As tempting as it is, no. I have no wish to set the precedent that weaponry is allowed in the palace in exchange for money.”

“Then perhaps the creation of some form of magic tool. It is a price none but the Twin Kingdoms’ royalty can pay, so it should avoid setting any inconvenient precedents.”

“Indeed,” Aura mused. “The question then becomes what type of tool.”

“I imagine you are aware, but while the benefit of a space-time tool would be great, so too would the future risk it represented.”

Using enchantment magic to make a space-time magic tool—magic normally only available to Capuan royalty—would allow outsiders to reproduce those spells. It was true that increasing the number of space-time users in the kingdom would be beneficial to Capua, since Aura was currently the only one capable of using it, but there was also a risk that the magic would fall into another nation’s hands.

“Teleportation is out of the question, and if another spell were to be used, a disposable tool would be safer...”

Having noticed that she’d started counting her chickens before they’d hatched, the queen trailed off and cleared her throat before returning to the main topic.

“Regardless, the specifics will be dealt with once they arrive. Putting lodging and armaments aside, are there sufficient personnel on hand?”

The change of topic was abrupt, but Fabio was used to such things and replied without hesitation. “Yes, we have enlisted young maids from the lower nobility and upper commoners who have sufficient skills to avoid embarrassment in front of our visitors.”

Selecting lower-ranked maids was done out of consideration for the Sharous. The prince and princess would both be bringing a minimal number of their own attendants. The servants on loan from Capua were nothing more than supplementary assistance. If those supplementary staff members were either of higher status or much older than the maids already accompanying their visitors, it would lead to social difficulties.

“Excellent. Enlisting them will not leave their departments short-staffed, will it?”

“It will not; we have a surplus, to an extent, and if it did lead to staffing shortages, we could always temporarily reinstate those who have retired.”

“Very well, then,” Aura decided with a small nod, her concerns addressed for the time being.

There seemed to be no issues with the preliminary preparations. She knew they could well encounter unforeseen problems once the proceedings began in earnest, but anything more was for those on the scene to manage, not something for the monarch to prepare for personally.

Having answered the queen to her satisfaction, it was now her secretary’s turn to question her.

“What of Sir Zenjirou in the inner palace? He will have to attend the welcome ceremony at the very least.”

Zenjirou was currently studying etiquette. This past year had seen him gain some level of mastery in dealing with domestic nobles, but they had postponed his lessons on interacting with foreign royals—people of essentially the same social standing as him. Of course, he had started learning about the correct protocols as soon as they had received an unofficial notification of the impending visit, but his understanding of the subject could hardly be called perfect yet.

Aura felt a prickle of guilt at once again sending her husband into the fray with only superficial knowledge. She answered in an oddly even tone, “Lady Octavia says that he has learned enough to serve him well should nothing unforeseen occur.”

Her evasive answer was exactly what Fabio had expected, and the secretary’s mouth twisted slightly. “Oh, I see. There will be no issues as long as nothing unforeseen occurs?”

“Leave it, Fabio,” the queen chided him eventually, but there was no force behind her words. It went without saying.

The Sharou family were breaking their longstanding silence to seek an audience in another country. Zenjirou’s marbles and bloodline were both likely objectives of theirs. The delegates were the current king’s grandson (who still had no place in the line of succession after twenty years, which suggested there was clearly some sort of issue with him) and a young princess of marriageable age.

The circumstances meant that Aura herself had no illusions that there would be “nothing unforeseen” occurring.