Chapter 1 — The Prince Consort Far From Home

When the message arrived from Valentia, Aura was in her office, faced with a most vexing dilemma with her secretary Fabio.

“Mrgh...”

She was seated in a wicker chair, slumped over the wooden table and holding herself up by her elbows.

“Your Majesty,” the secretary told her evenly, “however much you glare, the numbers will remain the same.”

“I am aware,” she answered, understandably sharply. In her hands were documents concerning the expenses of the raptor extermination and its reinforcements, but they were higher than she had ever expected.

It wasn’t so bad that the greatest ordinal was different, but the second was significantly higher than she had thought, and it was a painful sight regardless of how one attempted to gloss it over.

The document had been produced by the officials who worked directly for the royal family, so it was denoted in Arabic numerals. While the system was currently only in use in the departments that reported directly to her, the numerals were well-liked among those familiar with them. Once they had learned the digits, a single glance was enough to tell them the value of something. However, that ease of reading was now its downfall, as the number she wanted to forget merely leaped out at her.

“Provisions aside, I expected there to be a glut of military goods being sold cheaply,” she admitted.

“Said glut appears to have long since dried up. The merchants always react more quickly than we expect.”

The conversation between queen and secretary was less of an actual discussion and more a series of complaints and cold truths.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door, and a young soldier called out, “Excuse me, an urgent dwarf wyvern has arrived from Valentia.”

Aura had no memory of anything happening that could prompt such a thing, and a brief inquiring glance at Fabio was answered with a silent shake of his head. If such a talented, dedicated secretary had no idea, it really must have been an unexpected urgent message.

A coiling sensation was winding its way through her gut, but she would not have been fit to stand as monarch if she couldn’t deal with this type of happenstance.

“Enter,” she commanded, betraying no surprise or shock in her voice.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Approximately an hour later, Aura was leading an urgent, unofficial meeting in a small room of the palace. In attendance were Fabio, Espiridion, and Zenjirou.

While she often consulted with the first two in the case of an unexpected occurrence, Zenjirou would ordinarily never attend such a meeting. Other than public ceremonies that required multiple royals to attend, Zenjirou normally only came to the royal palace to act as her representative. As a result, it was exceedingly rare for them to see each other in the royal palace. The fact that such an unusual occurrence was taking place was plenty of evidence of the urgency of the matter.

Meetings attended by royalty were usually much more bombastic, but this was an extremely private meeting between only her closest confidants.

Aura tossed the sheet of drake parchment onto the table and immediately started with the main topic.

“A little earlier, a dwarf wyvern arrived from Valentia. Only one has come so far, so there are few specifics, but the contents themselves caused me to summon you all here now.”

Ordinarily, when sending information by dwarf wyvern, one would send several wyverns with the same message to increase the chances of a reliable delivery. Those receiving the message would also not treat it as official information until there were at least three copies saying the same thing, in order to guard against enemy forces intercepting and controlling information.

To ignore the normal procedure, even unofficially, and share the information like this only underlined how urgent the situation was. Once Aura was sure from her confidants’ solemn expressions that her message had been understood, she continued in a low, carrying voice.

“The day before yesterday, a large, four-masted ship docked in Valentia. The ship belongs to the Kingdom of Uppasala and is captained by Freya Uppasala, a young woman who calls herself the country’s first princess. The governor determined that this was above their station and brought it to my attention, requesting that personnel be sent.”

Her secretary’s eyebrow rose at the description of the ship, his lip twisting as the elderly mage’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

The only one to remain blank-faced was Zenjirou, but his lack of surprise wasn’t due to strong nerves; he was simply unaware of the meaning of it all.

Recognizing that, Fabio said to the queen, “Four-masted ships are rare even on the Northern Continent. They are state of the art, and if the report is true, it lends credence to the girl’s claims of being a princess.”

Understanding his goal, Aura nodded. “Indeed, such ships are the domain of the biggest countries, and even three-masted vessels are only privately owned by wealthy merchants. Therefore it is almost inevitable that the captain of such a ship would be royalty. Naturally, I am unsure of the validity of it being such a young woman.”

The mix of agreement and explication complete, Aura turned to the elderly mage and asked him the most pressing question.

“I am unfortunately unaware of a country by this name. Espiridion, are you?”

The other two men turned their attention to the mage as well. There was a general image of skilled mages being wise, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. There were sages who were not blessed with deep pools of mana or innate talent in its manipulation, and also mages who could do as they willed with mana, but due to dedicating themselves solely to magic, knew surprisingly little about anything else.

Fortunately, Espiridion fit the world’s classic image of a wise mage. He frowned, making his long eyebrows quiver, before replying consideringly.

“Let me see... Unfortunately, I lack the detailed knowledge you wish for, but if my memory is correct, the country is situated far to the north of the continent,” he informed her with an apologetic incline of his head, only able to give her a rough idea of the country’s location.

However, it was impressive he knew even that much. Considering both the volume of information and the size of the world, it was hardly surprising. It was like asking someone during Sakoku in Japan about a country in Southeast Asia. Simply knowing the name was a sign of extensive knowledge.

“A northern country in the Northern Continent. It is hardly surprising not to have heard of it, then. The question of why they would come here still remains.”

Despite Aura’s question, there was no one there who could answer her. Trade between the two continents was not particularly profitable. On top of that, the countries that did do so were the northern countries of the Southern Continent and the southern countries of the Northern Continent.

Capua was situated almost exactly in the middle in terms of its north/south location, so the kingdom rarely dealt with the Northern Continent’s ships directly. Any intercontinental trade that took place was done through intermediary ports to the north. Even those northern countries on this continent that did trade intercontinentally rarely came as far south as Capua, yet a country from even farther north had sent a four-masted ship.

“Direct trade with the Northern Continent is one of our ambitions, and we cannot let such a chance slip by, but they must have their own agenda,” Fabio added. “I imagine that pushing our own hopes through will be a difficult piece of negotiation indeed.”

Aura nodded at the secretary’s words before answering. “True. We must first ascertain their identity. I cannot discount the possibility of someone posing as royalty, but if we do not treat them as such, it will be most impolite if they truly are. We must avoid treating them impolitely whilst also not taking everything they say at face value. It will be a difficult balance to strike.”

“Your Majesty, if I may add something?” Espiridion interjected. “In the case of the Northern Continent, royals with no lineal magic of their own are not uncommon. In fact, I have heard that many of their royal families have no lineal magic to begin with.”

“Hmm, I see,” she answered with a furrowed brow at his warning.

Capua’s only ties with the Northern Continent were slight, borne through trade, so they knew little of the culture and practices there. It was like the daimyo carrying out the Nanban trade during the Warring States period being aware of which countries were Protestant and which were Catholic.

The concept of royalty being incapable of using lineal magic in the Northern Continent was unthinkable to Aura. In the Southern Continent, lineal magic was seen as the quickest way to prove one’s royal status. However, without that tactic, proving royal lineage would be an endeavor in itself.

“The negotiator will need to be even more highly skilled than usual. Who can we entrust such a burden to? Your Majesty, have you any thoughts?” Fabio asked, speaking his mind plainly for once.

“I do,” Aura nodded. “If there are no objections, I intend to appoint Rafaello Márquez to the role.”

The three men all started at the name.

“Lord Rafaello?” Fabio asked. “There are certainly no concerns about his capability, but he is part of the Márquez family, is he not?”

The statement was simple, but the meaning behind it was vast. There were two problems with his appointment: the fact that Marquis Márquez possessed his own lands and the fact that Valentia was under the direct control of the royal family.

The governor was emplaced to act on behalf of the monarchy and as a general rule was a noble of the robe, with no lands of their own. The exceptions were ministers of the royal palace and generals in the army who would have a direct influence on statecraft.

Naturally, it was a cultural norm, not a law, and the monarch’s decision could overturn it, but that would also lead to rebellion from said nobles of the cloth.

Aura herself was aware of that fact. She remained upright in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“I know. Rafaello will not be the envoy himself but rather an assistant to the envoy. Publicly, the envoy will be sent on my own expense, which should avoid provoking the nobles of the cloth. Of course, the bulk of the duties will be on Rafaello,” she declared confidently.

“I see. However, such an envoy must be sufficient, at least in name, to convey the weight of such a position, must they not?” Fabio asked, although he was already near-certain of her intent, shooting a glance at Zenjirou, who had remained silent thus far.

Regardless of his wisdom, or lack thereof, Zenjirou could see where the discussion was going as well. Ah, I wondered why I’d been summoned to an unofficial meeting. That’s how it’s going down, then.

Aura intended to install Rafaello Márquez as an assistant envoy, which was not an official position. This had the advantage of not contravening unwritten laws by allowing him to command freely, but it was also a rather unstable position.

To put it another way, it was like being a private secretary. Such a role would not be enough to tempt the Márquez heir, even temporarily, into taking the post, but depending on whose secretary it was, the worth of the position changed.

In terms of people who would have no complaint about the heir being a secretary, the Márquez family was important enough that only royalty would be sufficient. Disregarding Aura, the only adult royal in Capua was Zenjirou.

He had been able to see exactly where things were heading, but that was why he had remained silent. While the only people there were Aura’s confidants, it was still better for him to avoid proactively nominating himself for the job. The kindly old man aside, the narrow-faced secretary had been sending purposeful glances his way the entire time, and he would definitely not overlook any carelessness on Zenjirou’s part.

Whether she was aware of his considerations or not, Aura looked directly at him for the first time and slowly spoke. “The only people that Rafaello Márquez would have no complaints about assisting would-be royals. I could feasibly take command myself, but even with teleportation magic making it only a day’s trip, I am wary of cutting myself off from the capital.”

Even with her teleportation magic, working so far from home would lead to information from the capital not reaching her quickly. Although they were not at war, it was only recently that the last war had ended, so there was no guarantee that nothing unforeseen would come up.

Besides, Aura was an accomplished stateswoman and negotiator, so if she was going herself, there would be no need for an assistant. No matter how one looked at it, this was all moving towards giving Zenjirou the role.

Ordinarily, Aura would never have been so indirect during an unofficial meeting with her confidants, nor during a conversation in the inner palace with her husband, but with both of these matters coming together, she needed to talk along the subject itself to gain their understanding.

Without taking her eyes off Zenjirou, she offered her conclusion. “Thus, you are all that is left, Zenjirou.”

When his name was called, he had managed to ready himself enough to avoid being shocked. “I am?” he asked. “Of course, if you order it then I have no objection.”

The queen gave a slightly exaggerated frown at his preprepared answer. “Oh? Do you have concerns? Speak them.”

They were most definitely a harmonious pairing of husband and wife. There had been no meeting or planning, but their conversation was almost scripted.

“Yes, I am currently appointed to entertain Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdoms. I am merely concerned about what is to happen there.”

“Indeed, it does do them a slight disservice. I will take up the mantle on that front. While I will not be able to meet with them as frequently as you have, we will need to compromise.”

“Very well, then I shall offer my apologies to them directly.”

“I would appreciate that.”

The tone of their discussion was very different from their normal conversations in the inner palace—this was a discussion between superior and subordinate. Still, conversations changed, even when they were between the same people, depending on whether it was a private or official conversation, so it didn’t feel particularly out of place to Zenjirou.

“However, if I am the envoy, will that not also cause the nobles of the cloth to rebel? Is there no one suitable among them?”

Zenjirou had initially had no interest in official affairs and shut himself away in the inner palace. However, recently, he had been spending more time in the royal palace, meeting with Francesco and Bona. If he were to act as Aura’s representative and go to one of the royal holdings, it would likely lead to many distrustful people speaking out.

Aura shook her head bluntly in answer. “There is no need to worry about that. Strictly speaking, there are people with suitable abilities, but they are already in positions those abilities are suitable for. To put it another way, you are the only one who can be away from the royal palace for an extended period without having too deleterious an effect on any business.”

Put more bluntly, it was akin to saying that he did the least work. It was a position he had intentionally taken up, but it was still a shock to hear it directly from his wife.

“I see...” he said, a momentary flash of pain on his face. Nevertheless, excluding emotional concerns, all of his issues had been addressed, so he quickly marshaled himself and bowed from his seat, following the lessons in manners he had been given. “Very well, then, I shall exert my meager talents to their fullest to carry out your orders.”

“I am counting on it,” the queen answered with a grand nod, accepting her husband’s loyalty.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“I’m sorry!” were the first words out of Aura’s mouth as they returned to their living room in the inner palace that evening.

The words themselves were a blunt apology utterly without context, but Zenjirou knew what she was apologizing for.

“It’s fine. You couldn’t avoid making the decision without giving me any warning about it, right? I do want an explanation, though,” he answered with his normal smile, sitting on the sofa.

He had been called up to the royal palace out of the blue and immediately told he would be moved to one of their remote properties for a time without his family. He didn’t doubt her faithfulness to him, but he still needed to hear the details. However much you trusted someone, having them arbitrarily decide your future was not a pleasant feeling.

“I will, of course, explain,” she told him, taking a seat opposite her husband. Her posture as she sat was very different than usual; she had her hands resting in her lap in what could be described as a somewhat apologetic, meek position. It even seemed like she was ever so slightly hunched over.

Zenjirou didn’t particularly think the topic warranted such behavior but kept his thoughts to himself as he asked his question. “So, honestly, is it Rafaello Márquez or me that you want to send?”

The question wasn’t based on a new feeling of doubt; it was something that had come to mind after an in-depth consideration of the conversation. She hadn’t expected him to bring the topic up, and her eyes widened in surprise before she answered.

“You.”

“I figured,” Zenjirou said with a nod and sigh. “I thought it was strange once I’d considered it. If they’re royalty from the Northern Continent, I’d have expected you to invite them to the capital and welcome them, yet you’re saying that we’re short of manpower and sending both a man talented enough to be considered for your husband and one of only two adult royals.”

With the almost illogical distribution of people, while there was certainly a simpler method, even Zenjirou could tell there was more to the story than there appeared to be.

“Indeed, my first consideration when I became aware was to head to Valentia myself and personally take command of the situation.”

“My, Your Majesty! Think of your position!” he couldn’t help but quip at the unexpected statement.

His reaction was roughly what she had expected, as she simply nodded once. “It is, of course, impossible. Therefore, I consider sending you to be the next best option,” she replied, some of her usual tone coming back into her voice.

“Well, I can tell how important it is to you from your passion, but why didn’t you want to invite the so-called princess and her retinue to the capital?”

“Well, before I explain, I need to ensure you have the necessary background knowledge. Zenjirou, do you know who the person currently responsible for Valentia is?”

“Umm...” he began, dredging up the memories of his lessons from Octavia where he had learned about the general state of the country. “I’m pretty sure it’s the Duke or Duchess of Valentia, which is you right now, yeah?”

She nodded in satisfaction at his answer. “Indeed. Areas under the royal family’s direct control are commonly referred to as the crown lands. However, the only lands actually defined as royal territory outside of the capital are several small resorts. The other “crown lands” are individual demesnes with their own attached ranks, and anyone who inherits the rank will become the lord of that area. The only difference from normal territories is that the right to name the successor lies not with the holder of the rank themselves, but with the monarch.”

In essence, while a normal fiefdom would pass from father to son through the generations, these “crown lands” and their related ranks would be assigned by the reigning monarch. Therefore, that monarch could install a close relative as the next lord. Naturally, they could also select themselves, and that was how strategic locations like Valentia were often held by the ruler in addition to their royal rank.

Zenjirou was aware of the circumstances but didn’t quite see how it linked to not inviting the group to the capital. Seeing the puzzlement on his face, Aura offered a more detailed explanation.

“In this case, the important factor is that the capital is part of the kingdom itself, while Valentia is a full fiefdom under my direct control. Individual fiefs have significant independence, and as long as they pay their taxes to the crown, they are free from interference from the country itself under most circumstances.”

This independence was an inconvenience to the royal family, so Aura was working on methods to decrease the influence of the various nobles at the heads of those regions, although in this particular instance, it was something of a boon.

“Oh, is it something like the group entering the capital brings them under the jurisdiction of the kingdom, while them staying in Valentia means they are only under the royal family’s?” Zenjirou asked, clapping his hands in realization.

“Precisely,” she said, nodding. “Ordinarily a feudal lord would be strictly forbidden from engaging in diplomacy with foreign powers without the consent of the crown, but as royalty, we are exceptions. In essence, dealing with this self-proclaimed princess as the Duchess of Valentia would enable me to build relations while keeping domestic interference to a minimum.”

“I get it,” Zenjirou answered, finally feeling that he had a general understanding of the situation.

The monarch placing the benefits to the royal family over the benefits to the country was not a particularly appropriate act, but there were occasions when such things were unavoidable. A feudalistic kingdom was formed in large part through a power balance between the royal family and each feudal lord. Simply strengthening the nation as a whole could lead to a relative decrease in the monarch’s power and ultimately spell rebellion. The monarch had to enable their country to prosper while still maintaining the power to suppress the powerful nobles if need be.

“Got it, then. I can see why you want to deal with them there in Valentia. I guess you see a lot of potential for a beneficial negotiation with them.”

“I can, and it’s more than just the potential, it is practically inevitable. As we said earlier, it is extremely rare that boats come directly to us from the Northern Continent. Despite that, they have done so, and they will either have a specific goal to accomplish with us or else they have had some unfortunate accident.”

“Huh? It’s not possible they just felt like it? Like they didn’t come directly to us but stopped at a more northern port and then came down here as well?”

“No, it is not possible. While we are not necessarily allies with the northern countries, we maintain friendly or at least neutral relations with them. If the ship had decided to come here after visiting one of their ports, there would have been a report from that country before its arrival.”

“I see,” Zenjirou replied before she continued.

“If they arrived purposefully then there will be plenty of scope for diplomacy, and if it was accidental, the day is ours. An accident will likely have damaged the ship sufficiently to require repairs. Four-masted ship or not, they will be unlikely to have sufficient shipwrights to do so under their own power. Therefore, we will certainly be offering manpower to repair the vessel, which provides a unique chance to gain insight into the cutting-edge shipbuilding of their continent.”

As she spoke, a wide smile befitting the ruler of such a large country made its way onto her lips, and she wet them with her tongue.

“So your main goal is improving our ships?”

“It is. There are other areas in which they have advanced further than us as well, such as mass production of furnaces for the smelting of metal on a large scale, but the initial goal is larger ships. Once we have those, we can send our own traders to the Northern Continent.”

The royal ambition shone in her eyes as Zenjirou rained on her parade. “Buuut, will it go that well? I don’t know the details, but reproducing the results of long-time innovation like larger ships must also have other techniques that are prerequisites.”

Progress wasn’t so easy that getting their hands on a single example would immediately allow them to be able to replicate it. For example, an intelligent person might be able to disassemble a carriage and understand its structure. However, even with that knowledge, they would not be able to create the carriage from scratch. The carriage was an amalgamation of many techniques. The wheels needed to be built uniformly, the axles needed to be straight and round and connected to the carriage in such a way that they wouldn’t slide but would still freely rotate. All of those techniques also had to be learned before one could put a carriage together from the raw materials, and ships were much the same.

“Your concerns are valid, but we do have a certain quality of shipwright domestically. I would like to think that the technology is neither irreplicable nor unintelligible,” Aura answered after giving it some thought.

“All right, I get the general gist of it. I won’t be able to get in contact with you easily once I’m there, though, so I’d like you to make notes on our exact priorities and what I can promise them, and so on. Is that okay?”

“It is. Ordinarily, I would hesitate to allow such secret information to remain in written form, but in your case, no one else will be able to read your writing so there should be no issue.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep the numbers in kanji too, just in case.”

Writing things down normally meant it was possible for one’s negotiations to be seen by a third party or even the target of those negotiations themselves. Arabic numerals were gradually becoming known among the officials who worked in the palace, so a slight risk existed there, but there was no one else in the world who could read Japanese.

“In that case, what would I prioritize?”

“Naturally, when considering the boats...”

The two of them put their heads together and talked for a long time, filling around a dozen sheets of copy paper with an ordered list of what Aura wanted from the talks and what Zenjirou could promise on his own.

Naturally, the norm was for negotiations to stray significantly from such preparations, but going in with a plan still made a surprising amount of difference. Zenjirou in particular had a tendency borne from his past employment to create detailed plans, given his lack of ad-libbing skills and cautious disposition.

“Right, that’s about all I can think of for now,” he finally said, stretching in his seat with a crack of his joints as he returned his ballpoint to the table.

Aura couldn’t resist a smile at the sight of her husband’s satisfaction with having finished their work when she realized there was something she needed to tell him and corrected her posture. “Zenjirou,” she prompted.

“Hm? What?”

“I need to apologize. I have burdened you once again with the national interest,” she told him with a slight inclination of her head in his direction. It was certainly somewhat late for her to tell him that, but all she could do was lower her head.

Aura had originally promised him that as long as it did not harm the national interest, she would grant him all that she could. She hadn’t exactly broken that promise, but she couldn’t help but feel apologetic for constantly shifting the burden of national interest onto him.

“Uh, oh yeah,” he answered. He was going to continue with comments about it not being her fault and there being no other choice, but he had a sudden thought.

Hm, now that I think about it, haven’t I been saying exactly that for ages and yet my workload gradually gets heavier and heavier?

It was nothing worth actively complaining about, though. He might have had various duties in the royal palace during the day, but he always had the leeway in his schedule to return to the inner palace at lunchtime, and he had at least one day in every five to laze around doing nothing.

Above all, with the lack of nighttime illumination in this world, there was no concept of late-night overtime. Once the sun set, more or less, that was the end of work, so from Zenjirou’s perspective, there were no great demands on his time.

However, while at home, he could always spend time with his beloved wife in the inner palace after work, surrounded by his household comforts. Leaving for Valentia on his own meant that he would be separated from both his appliances and wife, as well as his son, Carlos Zenkichi. That was something he could bear for a short period, but he had the feeling that if he waved it off with the excuse of there being no choice, it would have a bigger influence on how things went in the future.

Maintaining as gentle an expression as he could, he replied with words chosen to be as far from harsh as he could manage. “Well, I get that you didn’t have a choice with your position, but this is a little much. I couldn’t refuse before I even knew about it; it was a real surprise.”

With his usual responses being variations on “don’t worry about it,” the change in his answer was a significant shock to her. A moment later, she noticed her own train of thought, and her cheeks were dyed red with shame.

I truly am despicable, doing this whilst expecting unconditional forgiveness with a simple apology, she thought to herself. If her husband were anyone else, the incident facing them would have likely been dealt with by inviting the self-proclaimed princess’s group to the capital. Despite that, Aura had instantly decided upon seeing the contents of the missive that she would deal with it all in Valentia and reap the benefits for the royal family.

She didn’t think that the decision itself was a mistake, but it meant that she had come to see it as a given that Zenjirou would go along with anything she said without question.

Otherwise, this would not be such a shock, she told herself, deep regret pulling at her expression as she faced him.

“Indeed. I truly do apologize. I erred greatly on this occasion. While things are going in the best direction they can, that is due to you answering my hopes despite saying nothing to you until the last moment. Thank you, truly. I cannot promise that similar situations will not happen in the future, but I shall discuss things with you as much as I am able to. Additionally, once this incident is laid to rest, I wish to reward you in some tangible way. You do not need to decide immediately, but would you think of something?”

“Ah, yeah, I will,” he agreed, albeit haltingly.

One of the reasons for the acceleration of her coming to depend on him was certainly due to him accepting no reward. It was only now that Zenjirou was starting to understand that, and he thought briefly.

“Something I want... Hmm...”

But even considering how many times Aura had asked him that, nothing came to mind. Zenjirou had never been a particularly material person, and the fact that after only a few years of office work he had amassed savings of three million yen only proved that.

Part of it was that he had been too busy working to actually spend his money but being so busy also meant that he hadn’t had the time to cook for himself either. The vast majority of his diet had consisted of ready meals or takeout. Managing to save so much despite the outgoings on even a second-hand car and his lifestyle was because he had no other hobbies that would use up money.

Now this was a whole other world, and Zenjirou mostly spent his time in the inner and royal palaces, so he didn’t even know about enough things to want them, and that was certainly due to his current lifestyle not feeling like too much of a burden.

At a loss, he replied to her with a question instead. “Hey, actually, what’s the normal thing you would give in this kind of situation?”

The queen looked up in thought at his question. “Let me see. The easiest would be money. Middle- and lower-class nobles would often be paid directly with gold or silver, while higher-class nobles and royalty would generally land either a title or residence, along with a guarantee of periodic income,” she answered smoothly.

Zenjirou’s reaction, however, was not enthusiastic. “Hmm, money, huh? Honestly, it’s probably better if I don’t have money that I can use without going through you.”

He didn’t have a particularly good opinion of his own abilities, but he also didn’t evaluate his personality too well either. He wasn’t sure that if he made some mistake in the future that could be smoothed over with money, he wouldn’t give in to the temptation.

In addition to money not being something he had any real desire for, it was also risky. At the very least, it wasn’t something he wanted to leap for at this exact moment. He postponed his decision and asked for more information.

“Anything else?”

“There is also the gift of an object directly. Ordinarily, it would be something related to the individual’s achievement. Someone who had great martial achievements might receive an excellent bow or spear. A civil official might receive an engraved drake-bone pen or a beautiful set of calculating stones.”

A drake-bone pen was exactly as the name implied, a pen carved from the bone of a drake. It was a type of dip-pen and shaped, so a cavity in the bone would take in a supply of ink. Structurally, it was similar to a Japanese glass pen.

The calculating stones were also, as the name implied, a primitive calculation tool. Ten ridges were engraved across the fronts and backs of flat stones like those used in the game of Go, and depending on how they were placed, you could represent the numbers one to ten. The highly educated in this world could use multiple stones to carry out the four basic arithmetic operations, but Zenjirou didn’t know how. It had been the subject of one of his lessons with Octavia, but he barely remembered.

“Pens or stones, huh? Not exactly something I’m into.”

His lack of interest was no real surprise. From a purely utilitarian perspective, those drake-bone pens were inferior to ballpoints, and calculating stones hardly measured up to a calculator or the spreadsheet app on his PC. The objects would naturally have their own worth as finely sculpted works of art, but Zenjirou didn’t have much aesthetic sense and wasn’t much of a collector, so his reaction would just be along the lines of, “Huh, that’s pretty.”

He kept that for consideration, though. It wasn’t something he would hesitate to take, nor would it cause issues if he did, so it could be a good compromise. Regardless, he asked for more, just in case.

“Anything else?”

“I suppose permission to marry. The highest nobles require the monarch’s permission. In the majority of cases, it is nothing more than a formality, but there are circumstances where it would not be allowed, such as two high noble families merging or when there is a large difference in status between the bride and groom’s families. In that case, the difference in status or the detriment the union would cause to the royal family can be overcome with achievements in either military or civil areas.”

“And that’s definitely not something I want,” Zenjirou replied instantaneously.

Aura couldn’t help a smile at her husband’s immediate reminder. “Well, you say that for now. Another choice would be to simply award you a woman as recompense. The woman, in this case, would not be a titled one to become your wife, but more of a dancer or singer, with beautiful looks and a figure to match.”

Zenjirou gave a slightly aggrieved look at her dispassionate recital before sighing. “I don’t want one.”

The brief phrase completely summed up Zenjirou’s feelings. Naturally, he was a healthy man in mind and body, so there were times when he was attracted to women other than his wife. However, that was more of a temptation than a real desire to bring other women into his “family” in the inner palace.

The queen gave a slightly chagrined smile at his unchanging stubbornness towards the topic. “I see. Well, those are the common rewards that come to mind. So? Did it help?”

Zenjirou scratched at his head with a pinched expression as he answered. “Yeah, well, I guess? Yup, if I can’t think of anything else, I’ll probably take the drake-bone pen or the calculation stones.”

Aura’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Oh-hoh? Did they pique your interest?” she asked.

However, it was not to be, and Zenjirou’s answer was contrary to her expectations. “Nah, it’s more like they’re the least risky,” he told her bluntly.

Aura couldn’t restrain a sigh. “Then it is hardly a reward...”

Her husband was perfectly happy to enable her to fulfill the duty of granting him some visible reward, but it was not something he desired himself. On top of that, he was also taking care that it would be in the way least likely to cause an uproar.

Aura pressed her right index finger and thumb against her temples as if fighting off a headache before speaking somewhat admonishingly. “Zenjirou, there is no need for the recipient to pay any mind to friction the reward would cost. If you truly chose something that would be a problem for the country, I would overrule it. You can simply ask for whatever you want. Is there nothing you desire? You supported yourself when you lived in your original world— what kind of items did you buy there? I doubt you were so destitute that you could afford only the necessities.”

It was Zenjirou’s turn to cast his eyes to the ceiling in thought. “Back when I was in Japan... Hmm. I wasn’t struggling for money, no, but I guess I was destitute in terms of time. I didn’t have a chance to try and really get anything. I guess there were a fair few things I did want, though, maybe?”

In retrospect, when he had transitioned from studying to employment, there had been several things he had wanted. A wristwatch, for example. He owned two, a digital watch for his own time and an analog one that went with his suit, but both were relatively cheap affairs, less than ten thousand yen apiece. He had wanted one with another zero on the price tag at some point. He’d also wanted a new car.

He had bought a used hybrid after about six months at work, but it was a compromise. There were other cars he wanted solely because they were cool or the like, but the overwhelming fuel efficiency had made him compromise with the hybrid.

He commuted to work on the train (there was no parking at the office) and transported his daily necessities on his bike (his rented parking was farther than the stores he used), so the car was practically unused, considering his lifestyle, and yet he was still loath to surrender it, so it was definitely something he cared about.

The only other thing that came to mind was a season ticket for the team in the J league he supported. It wasn’t something that he’d been unable to afford, but the huge levels of overtime meant that he’d not had a chance to go and watch a match, so he hadn’t bothered.

Regardless, although he could think of several things, none of them would be of any use in this world. “Eh, I can’t think of anything. There were things I wanted in my own world, but none of them are things I need, considering my lifestyle here. Honestly, I’ve not seen anything in this world that makes me think I have to have them,” he said with an exaggerated shrug, the palms of his hands facing the ceiling as he gave up.

Even knowing it was said from the heart, it still worried Aura. “Hm... Is there truly nothing? I do not mind if it is realistic or not, I just want to know what you wish for.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I honestly feel pretty free here. I might be a bit busier with work these days, but I still have plenty of free time and plenty of games and DVDs to kill time with. If I had to pick something, I’d love an internet connection, but that’s not going to happen.”

He had talked with Aura about being able to use time reversal and world transfer spells to connect to the internet, even if for only a short time, but she had said it was impossible. Time reversal was an object-targeted rather than an area-targeted spell, and the world transfer was instantaneous rather than sustained, so Zenjirou’s idea of rewinding an area so the stars were right for it and then using the world transfer spell to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot was not feasible.

Honestly, he wasn’t entirely sold on her explanation and had some intuitive feeling that there was some way it could be managed. However, that was something to look into once he had a better understanding of space-time magic. It was far beyond his current abilities, considering he had only just learned his second related spell.

The two of them sat in silence, having nowhere to go in their conversation. Every time the topic came up, the result was the same, both of them lost for words. However, Zenjirou hated the silence and forced the conversation on to another topic.

“Anyway, it’s my first time leaving the royal palace—hell, the capital, even, so I might find something I want there.”

“Indeed, it may be a good change of pace from that perspective. Valentia is a pleasant place. The sun may shine strongly, but the sea breeze makes it cooler than the capital, and the seafood is superb. Of course, no matter how much you like the place, I can hardly give you the duchy.”

Zenjirou chuckled in response to her joke as well. “Aha ha, I know that. I wouldn’t even suggest it.”

“Also, you are not to bring this self-proclaimed princess back here. Whether her status is true or not, it would be rather troublesome.”

“You don’t need to worry,” he told her, gentle laughter finally starting to sound between them.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Several days later, Zenjirou was meeting with Francesco and Bona in the royal palace. Their chat was progressing as it always did, with bright sunlight filling the room, the two groups sitting opposite each other on sofas as they drank chilled tea and dried fruits.

The difference from the norm was the contents of the conversation: it was a temporary farewell.

“Ah, I heard the rumors. You’re going away from the capital, then, Your Majesty?” the blond prince said as he carefully returned the teacup to the table after Zenjirou personally informed them that he would be going to Valentia.

“It is quite a shock. I will be praying for your safe return,” Bona said, the chestnut-haired princess unable to hide her surprise, her fingers twining unconsciously together on her lap.

Francesco was surprised and yet didn’t show it, while Bona was just as surprised and it was clear on her face.

The difference between them was partially to do with their individual levels of mental resilience, but it was also a matter of the difference in their positions. For Francesco, Zenjirou’s absence was like a fun guy to hang around with being away, while for Bona it meant the loss of her greatest collaborator in minding the prince and was almost a life-and-death situation.

Francesco’s behavior on a daily basis, whether an act or not, was certainly a nuisance. Bona was the one who smoothed over a lot of that nuisance, and Zenjirou had become her greatest ally in doing so. It was no surprise that the princess had teary eyes. The younger girl’s soulful look tugged at his heartstrings for a moment, but he wasn’t rash enough to let that rule him.

“Thank you. It is my first time away as well, so I am truthfully somewhat nervous,” he told them, managing to respond while keeping a gentle expression on his face. Understandably, though, regardless of how good the response was, if the person you were responding to didn’t follow along, it was wasted effort.

“Lucky you, Your Majesty. Make sure to bring souvenirs,” Francesco said, speaking easily like a child wheedling a father going on a business trip.

“Prince Francesco!” Bona scolded, flushing.

It was an everyday occurrence, but Bona still took the bait, either due to her extreme diligence or else simply because she was oversensitive. Still, however familiar the behavior was, it was a breach of etiquette, so it was possibly for the best that the prince constantly had someone rebuking him, although it was almost certainly detrimental to her mental state to be so wary around the clock.

“Well, Princess Bona, this is an informal chat, so you need not be too formal. Very well, I shall endeavor to find something that would be to your liking, Prince Francesco. The city is a port, now that I think of it, so while there may not be a full industry around it, I believe there are fine pieces of coral or well-formed pearls. I will return with one if I am able.”

Francesco smiled joyfully and cheered. “Really?! Please do! Man, I’m looking forward to it already.”

Coral and pearls were both treasures far removed from those available in a landlocked country like the Twin Kingdoms. It was no surprise at all that Francesco, a top-class enchanter and a top-class jeweler, would be excited about new jewels like that.

It was doubly the case for the chestnut-haired princess next to him, who dedicated herself even more to the craft of jeweling.

“Prince Francesco, however informal this is, please refrain from speaking so lightly,” she said out of obligation before turning to Zenjirou, her eyes sparkling with desire. “A-Allow me to add my own thanks, Your Majesty. Coral requires quite a familiarization to work with, and pearls are not suited for acting as magic tools, but their brilliance and shape make them superb for decoration. I am sure Prince Francesco will create something wonderful from them.”

What she said made it sound like it was a simple repetition of Francesco’s thanks, but the gleam in her eyes and how she spoke the words was enough that Zenjirou could hardly miss the implication.

“Indeed, I would be glad to see this creation when it is complete. That is the case for both of your creations, of course,” he answered, making it clear that souvenirs would be forthcoming for both Francesco and Bona.

“Th-Thank you!” the princess exclaimed, lowering her head quickly enough to send the sparkling silver dust scattering from her chestnut hair.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

It was several more days before Zenjirou was to leave for Valentia.

The reason for those extra days was simple: before sending Zenjirou, who would be playing the leading role, they had to send the necessary people to prepare for his arrival.

Aura had sufficient mana to cast teleportation several times in a day, but her mana was also a trump card for the country, and having her without mana, even for a day, was a significant risk.

Therefore, she had used teleportation to send one person each day.

“Are you ready, Zenjirou? I would like to send you immediately.”

Zenjirou put down his rucksack at her question and opened it up.

“Wait a minute. I just want to do a final check,” he told her. “Uhh, hand-cranked flashlight... Check. Multitool... Check. Spirits for a gift...”

The bulk of his luggage was items he had brought from Earth.

He could acquire clothes and other necessities in Valentia if need be, and such things as his full dress uniform that weren’t attainable had already been taken there. If the worst should come to pass, he could simply arrive with nothing but the clothes on his back.

“...check. All right, I’ve got everything,” he said, cinching it up again and letting it hang from his hand.

Zenjirou was currently wearing his third formal dress. He was currently in the inner palace alone with Aura, but when he was teleported, he would be received by several high officials, including the governor, so he needed to look the part.

He couldn’t actually wear his rucksack on his back with these clothes, as it would make the outfit, similar to a kimono as it was, hang strangely on his frame, and even if it didn’t, it would be rude. On that note, walking around with the bag dangling from his hand wasn’t particularly polite either, but he’d just have to get them to overlook it.

His wife looked at him intently as he hefted the bag and stood in front of her again before slowly beginning to speak. “I shall send you to Valentia now. Rafaello Márquez is already there, so use him for any public business. He lacks decisiveness, but he is exceptionally skilled in carrying out orders.”

Rafaello Márquez was the name of one of the two former candidates for Aura’s hand in marriage. Naturally, Zenjirou wasn’t particularly well-disposed towards him.

“Got it, I’m pretty much a figurehead, so I’m sure all the details will go through Lord Rafaello,” he said expressionlessly.

Seeing him push down the conflicted feelings over having to rely on someone who had originally been a candidate to be his wife’s husband, Aura smiled and gave him a nod.

“That is acceptable. Remember, you are royalty, and he is a retainer, so use him at your convenience.”

“Right, it’s honestly a little beyond what I’m used to, but I’ll do my best.”

When Zenjirou had been employed back home, he had never had subordinates, so making use of other people was outside of his work experience. Aura was right, though; he was royalty now and couldn’t just play it off as not being good at doing so, particularly because he had to play the role of a talentless and unmotivated royal, so “leaving it to others” was likely to become a valuable skill.

“Ines from the maids of the inner palace is also in Valentia. The estate has maids of its own, but I doubt they will be to your standards. Regardless, this is your first sojourn away from the inner palace, so for both your mind and health, stay with Ines as much as possible,” Aura advised.

Zenjirou’s stance towards service staff was, for this world, utterly at odds with the norm. It was unsurprising for most people from a modern society, but Zenjirou could not relax when a servant was waiting wordlessly in the room.

The only people aware of his feelings on this were the maids working in the inner palace. If it was just the maids, he could probably bear with it, but this would be the first time he would have to live without his modern conveniences. The fact that the worst of the heat had passed for the year was his one saving grace, but it would probably be tougher to live without the AC, fridge, and fan than he was prepared for.

“Regardless, stay with Ines, and leave your private requests to her, and nothing bad should happen. Conversely, if Ines says it is not possible, then that is the case. It is likely a needless concern, but I would appreciate you refraining from selfishness.”

If anything, Zenjirou usually went out of his way to demand as little as possible, let alone anything that could be called selfish, so saying that to him felt like a discourtesy, but she did so anyway just to be safe. There would be things he had grown accustomed to from his current lifestyle that would be utterly unattainable in Valentia, and even Zenjirou might unintentionally bother the maids with his requests in those circumstances.

“Got it, I’ll behave as best I can,” he told her, slightly taken aback by the repeated insistence to stay with Ines. But there was no point in probing deeper, so he simply answered in agreement.

This would be his first time truly being cut off from his modern civilization appliances, pushing him into the natural lifestyle of this world, so Zenjirou saw it as her possibly worrying about that.

“You have your notes? If nothing else, ensure that you do not lose them. Once you arrive, there will be almost no way to remain in contact. Even dwarf wyverns cannot deliver a letter within a day.”

The notes Zenjirou had suggested contained what Aura wanted from the self-proclaimed princess and her retinue, along with what Zenjirou himself could promise on his own authority, ordered by priority. It was, of course, all written in Japanese, so even if it should fall into someone else’s hands, it wouldn’t cause an incident.

“Yup, it’s in here,” he told her, patting his rucksack. “I’ve memorized it too, pretty much, just in case.”

The two of them had now run out of words to say and simply stood there watching each other silently. They had said all they needed to, and all that remained was for Aura to send him to Valentia with her teleportation magic. Even so, neither of them said anything for a time, maintaining the silence.

The couple had lived together since Zenjirou’s arrival. Even knowing that they would be reunited when the incident at hand was dealt with, the sorrow of parting remained.

“Aura...” Zenjirou ventured, breaking the silence and stretching an arm out to his red-clad wife, softly embracing her.

“Mm...” Aura replied, understanding his goal with no further prompting and following his hand into his chest.

They touched each other, held each other, and kissed.

Their arms entwined around each other’s backs as they hugged tightly, the kiss continuing.

“Mmm...”

“Mh, mm, mmmm...”

Knowing that he would be unable to savor this feeling for at least a little while, Zenjirou was reluctant to part. The deep kiss and embrace were different from their usual light touches, and eventually, they both slowly separated.

“I’ll be off, then,” he finally said, picking up his bag from where he had dropped it, his expression firm this time. Still, his left hand remained regretfully on her shoulder, clear proof that he would miss her.

Aura’s smile remained on her face as she used her right hand to gently lift his from her shoulder before placing his palm in front of his chest.

“Very well, I shall begin,” she answered, closing her eyes and concentrating deeply.

Immense waves of mana started to come off her body. Zenjirou unconsciously closed his eyes as well and waited for the moment. The chant from his wife’s lips reached his ears as he stood there.

“Send all things in the space that I envision to the place that I desire. As compensation, I offer—”

Force, neither hot nor oppressive but still clearly there engulfed Zenjirou, and a moment later, dizziness assailed him, and he reflexively opened his eyes.

“It is good to see you, Sir Zenjirou.”

The sight that greeted him was not Aura, but unfamiliar men kneeling before him.

“Welcome to Valentia. It is an honor, Your Majesty.”