Chapter 1 — The General’s Marriage

Chapter 1 — The General’s Marriage

The current season was the active season, analogous to autumn and winter in Japan. It comprised half the year and, in keeping with its name, was the season that saw the most activity from the people.

The active season was used to make up for the losses in the rainy season, where one day in every three was rainy, and the blazing season, which made standing outside for long periods of time a health hazard. People worked more vigorously during the active season.

Even the bulk of the fighting in the recent war had taken place during the active season. While there had been several surprise attacks at other times of the year, the other two seasons were almost a long-term ceasefire.

The same held true in times of peace. There were obviously people, merchants in particular, who saw others’ lack of work as an opportunity, and there were natural disasters or drake attacks that didn’t take humanity’s preferences into account, so activity didn’t simply stop in either the blazing or rainy seasons. However, when there was a choice, events were generally planned for the active season.

Chief among these were marriages. Weddings were huge events, not only for the couple being wed but also for their families. Heirs or heiresses, nobles and commoners alike would see their entire families gather to celebrate the pair’s new life and meet their new relatives. It was therefore almost inevitable that such gatherings took place in the active season, with its lighter toll on the body during travel. It had been an exception for Aura and Zenjirou’s wedding to be held in the blazing season.

This all meant that there were endless weddings during this time of year. Aura herself was not removed from the fact. After all, for high-ranking nobles, there was a domestic law that her permission must be obtained.

Naturally, the majority of these marriages were merely pro forma signatures from Aura on documents prepared by her secretary, but the sheer amount of them meant that it was still a significant amount of work. Further, when it came to marriages between leading nobles, Aura had to pen her own congratulations to them.

Depending on the circumstances, it might require a gift of money from the royal family as well. Extravagance was forbidden, but it needed to be an amount that wouldn’t shame the royal family, so deciding on a sufficient number was quite involved.

All of that could be dealt with in various ways, but there were two circumstances that were the absolute worst. The first was when the noble was of such a rank that the royal family needed to attend the wedding personally. The other was when the wedding involved such influential figures that it could not be allowed without consideration.

Currently in front of Aura was a request that was the absolute worst option—one that fulfilled both conditions. It was a request for a marriage between Pujol Guillén of the Guillén family and the eldest daughter of Margrave Gaziel.

The queen was seated on a sofa, holding the document, while two men sat on the opposite couch. Pujol Guillén and Xavier Gaziel.

Even seated, the general was as tall as a slight woman, while the young margrave-to-be was rather short for a man. The contrasts didn’t end with their appearances. While Pujol was composed almost to the point of impudence, Xavier was clearly nervous as he sat next to him, his shoulders held tautly.

Despite finding the young noble’s unease somewhat charming, Aura showed no sign of those thoughts on her face as she spoke, keeping her voice and face purposefully expressionless.

“Well met, General Pujol, Lord Xavier. I apologize for the haste, but let us move directly to our main topic for the day. I hold here a request for marriage between you, General Pujol, and Lady Lucinda of the Gaziel family. Is this the consensus of both of your families?”

“It is,” Pujol said calmly.

“Indeed, Your Majesty. I, Xavier Gaziel can confirm that in place of my father, the current head of the family,” Xavier added, unable to hide the nerves from his voice.

Aura gave a slightly exaggerated nod before continuing.

“Very well. So you will be marrying, Pujol Guillén? I can certainly agree that it would be to the country’s detriment for you to be the head of your family and still unwed.”

“I am grateful for your understanding,” the general said, placing his right fist on his left shoulder and giving a seated bow. His manners were perfect.

However, the impression the huge warrior gave was most certainly one of impudence. It was unavoidable, considering the man’s disposition. Aura did her utmost to ensure that her face remained expressionless and didn’t show her displeasure as she continued her checks.

“Your partner is to be Lucinda from the Gaziel family. Judging from Lord Xavier’s presence, this is related to the recent drake subjugation?”

Pujol broke into a wide smile at her question while Xavier shook with nerves.

“Indeed. I formed a friendship with Lord Xavier during those events. Afterwards, circumstances dictated that he head for the capital alone, so I escorted his forces back to the march,” Pujol explained placidly.

“Yes, the general was exceptionally helpful on that occasion!” Xavier gabbled, almost naively.

The prior year had seen uproar in Capua due to an invasion by swarm raptors around the salt road. The incident had finally been solved in a port town far from said road called Valentia. The developments from that campaign had led to Xavier, initially in charge of his men, needing to strike out alone, so Pujol had taken responsibility for ensuring the army returned home.

Even as a commander to the royal army, he couldn’t just take them to the border and call it a day. He had to go to the lord’s estate (in the case of border regions, since said estate would be closer to a fortress) and officially hand over command of the army to the person responsible for the territory. It was entirely plausible for him to have met the woman in question—Lucinda Gaziel—while doing just that.

Aura looked at both of them evenly as she considered what the preliminary investigations had revealed.

Lucinda Gaziel, the eldest daughter of the Gaziel family. She took the place of her father and eldest brother when they went to war and defended her younger brother and the region. In exchange, she lost the entirety of her chance to marry and is still a spinster. That hits rather close to home.

Women in this world were usually able to marry from about fifteen years old until they were twenty. But due to the way Capua calculated age, it was different from how Zenjirou would see it. To him, it would be akin to calling a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old “of age” and a nineteen- or twenty-year-old as “past their prime.”

However, that precious time in Lucinda’s life had been entirely devoted to protecting her family. The woman was already twenty-six and therefore well past maturity, practically a matron. No matter how hard her family tried, it would be close to impossible for her to find a suitable line to marry into.

“Has this already been discussed with the margrave?” Aura asked just to be certain, but she was half sure she knew what Pujol’s response would be.

“I have. Fortunately, he was entirely in agreement. While it may be somewhat early days, Lord Xavier here has already started to call me brother.”

“B-Brother! Please don’t reveal that in front of Her Majesty!”

Pujol’s answer was exactly what she had expected, while Xavier was in a panic. She let out an internal sigh at the answer. It was easy to imagine how much of a concern Lucinda’s marriage was for her family. After all, having been so focused on protecting their lands, she had lost her chance at marriage. She had also acted as a surrogate parent for Xavier, so he would be worried about her as well.

Then along came General Pujol’s offer. Of course, while Xavier was innocent and young and wouldn’t necessarily realize it, Margrave Gaziel would certainly have noticed the general’s ulterior motives. The Guillén and Gaziel families would be joined in marriage, consolidating the military and financial assets of the Gaziel family under the famous general. The goal was clear, but all nobles had similar ambitions to some extent. Avoiding such things would make marriage impossible.

Besides, Margrave Gaziel was a rural noble, and while he had a strong foundation of might and wealth, he lacked a direct voice at the center of the country. With that taken into account, friendly relations with the Guillén family, who had strong ties to Capua’s seat of power, was by no means a disadvantage.

And that’s why I would normally never be able to allow this marriage.

It would lead to an influential local noble family joining a powerful rural noble with lands of their own. It went without saying that this was an immense risk to the royal family. It was entirely possible that such a joining could lead to the birth of a faction that had both more strength and influence than the royals.

That said, it would prove difficult to halt the marriage. Well aware of that, she forced a laugh as she answered.

“Ha ha ha, hasty indeed. However, Lady Lucinda was brought up entirely within her family’s march, was she not? Will she be able to adapt to life in the capital?”

“You need not worry. Lady Lucinda will be able to adapt anywhere if she is with me. Truly, the fact that she remains unwed simply shows the lack of discernment my countrymen are capable of.”

“Broth—I mean General, it shows all her efforts were worth it for you to say that.”

While Xavier was innocently joyous, his phrasing was a confirmation that things had been discussed with the woman in question as well.

The queen kept her smile on her face even as she felt a muscle twitch in her cheek. “Oh? Already falling for her? Well, this just will not do. I cannot have the pillar of my country’s military starting to crack. Hm, perhaps I should swallow my tears and give a callous answer.”

It was mostly just a joke with a hint of a warning, but the youth in the room was in such a state that he missed the underlying meaning of her words.

“I-In which case, Your Majesty! I, Xavier Gaziel, request permission as my reward for my modest exploits of late!”

A chagrined look flashed over the huge general’s face at the boy’s rushed request. However, the words couldn’t be taken back. Especially when the monarch they had been spoken to didn’t feel like letting the opportunity slide.

Having found the first chance for a counterattack, the queen’s smile deepened a little as she spoke. “Oh? Do you realize just what it is you are asking, Lord Xavier?”

“I do!” he affirmed reflexively. However, her meaning wasn’t something that could be agreed to so quickly.

Being granted permission to marry in exchange for military gains was not, in itself, a rarity. The issue was that it meant the normal payment for their services would not be given.

During the subjugation, Xavier Gaziel had led his territory’s army himself. The pay for those men, along with the provisions for soldiers and dash drakes alike, consumed and broken ammunition and weapons, and even compensation for the few fatalities, would normally be summed up and presented as an estimate to the royal family. That would then be added to the reward they paid.

However, if he were to ask for a marriage to be allowed in exchange for those gains, then none of that money would be paid. The sum wasn’t enough to pauper a major family like the Gaziels, but it was a rather painful sum for them to shoulder in its entirety.

The next head of the family would not be allowed to make arbitrary decisions with regard to such a reward. Thus the margrave must have already agreed to it. They must truly be desperate to marry her off.

If Aura were to crush the proposal, she would earn the ire of not only General Pujol but Margrave Gaziel as well. Recognizing that, she knew that she would have to allow it. However, she would have to ensure that permitting it would be as beneficial to the royal family as possible.

Growing serious, she let out a purposeful sigh with a stern expression as she spoke to the two men across from her. “Very well. I am not so heartless that I remain unmoved. In light of Lord Xavier’s feelings for his sister, I shall make an exception and allow the marriage between Pujol Guillén and Lucinda Gaziel.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Aura blinked at the youth as he jumped up in joy, but she soon shifted her gaze to the general.

“Frankly, I am the reason you have remained a bachelor for so long. An exception among exceptions though it may be, I am pleased that you are able to finally marry,” she added casually.

The fact that General Pujol, head of the distinguished Guillén family was still single despite being over thirty, was simply that he had been a candidate to become Aura’s husband. Due to that, any marriage involving him had been a potential detriment to her.

Stressing the exceptional nature of it now was her way of making sure that he understood that by doing so, she was offsetting the restrictions the prior circumstances had placed upon him as a candidate, which would nullify any debt. It meant that the Gaziel family would have to shoulder the entire burden of the swarm raptor subjugation while the Guillén family would be owed nothing for their prior restrictions.

It would have been difficult to halt the marriage, so this slight benefit to the royal family was the result of a significant amount of thought on Aura’s part. While the young lord was one thing, Pujol Guillén was not the kind of man to withdraw so easily from a clash.

“I cannot offer enough thanks for your kind consideration. Therefore, I would like to offer you an invitation to our ceremony to be held in the Gaziel march. While I would not ask you to attend personally with your schedule as busy as it is, I can think of nothing that would please me more than to receive your blessing on the day itself.”

One of Aura’s eyebrows rose at his statement.

“Oh...you plan to hold the wedding in the march?”

“Father and sister both said the capital would be fine, but General Pujol insisted. That means my sister will be able to have her big moment at home,” Xavier explained cheerfully, not noticing the queen’s change in demeanor.

The custom in Capua was for the ceremony itself to be held in the hometown of the person marrying into the family. If the wife was marrying into the husband’s family then it would be held in the wife’s home region, and vice versa. It was meant to symbolize that they would be cutting ties with their home and family to enter another family, and also allowed them to have a final event at their own home.

That said, it was just a general tendency, and exceptions were common, particularly in cases like this one, where one party hailed from the capital. When that happened, it was fairly common for the capital to be chosen.

Logically, it was easier to gather more people in the capital than on the borders of the country, and with the location also allowing guests to sightsee in the capital, the Gaziel side wouldn’t have been particularly opposed. There was a reason the general had insisted it be held in the march rather than the capital, of course. And Aura could immediately pick out his reasoning.

In my position, I cannot simply offer my congratulations. I have to at least send a representative or even attend personally.

Pujol was a prior candidate for her hand in marriage. If she restricted herself to curt formalities, it could be taken as her still having some form of emotional attachment to him. That could not be allowed. While it was called “adaptability” for a man to have eyes for women other than his wife, it was seen as adultery for a woman to make advances on a man other than her husband and would lead to a scandal without equal.

Aura could understand that. Naturally, so could the general, and that was why he had decided to have the ceremony in the march.

So I shall either have to attend myself or request that my husband attend in my stead.

Both her own attendance and sending her husband to offer their blessings would work just as well to avoid scandal. Essentially, as husband and wife, Aura and Zenjirou would give the appearance of wholeheartedly favoring the general’s marriage. After all, a royal would be going out of their way to attend the ceremony all the way in the border march. That fact would be a considerable benefit to the general.

Aura had two choices, but realistically, she would be unable to remove herself from the capital for an extended period of time in that fashion. Therefore, she was left with a single option.

I shall have to prevail upon my husband once more.

Aura felt that she had been doing nothing but breaking her word as of late, but she needed to gain at least some benefit for the royal family with her decision.

“I see. You are a man of strong principles. Of course, our royal family would never miss the marriage of a man such as yourself. One who has served as both the country’s shield and spear. However, my husband and I are immensely busy, and a total of three royals from two countries are currently staying in our lands.”

Francesco and Bona from the Twin Kingdoms were two of those royals, of course, but it had been decided that Freya from Uppasala would also be coming to the capital. Aura had originally wanted to finish things in Valentia in order to keep the intercontinental trade within the royal family, but that hadn’t been possible. After all, one of Freya’s subordinates had taken down the alpha of the swarm raptors in one-on-one combat. Songs of her deeds were already being sung in the capital. With everything being so public, the queen had no choice but to invite their visitors to the capital to thank them.

The plan was for the princess and her retinue to arrive in the next few days. There were rumors that they would be entering the capital with the beast’s skull at the head of their procession, so the area around the castle would probably end up hosting much merrymaking.

“Thus we are unlikely to be entirely free. If the next budgetary meeting were to finish quickly, however, it would be a different matter.”

“I see,” Pujol said. This time, it was his turn to keep his expression from his face in silent thought.

Her statement was a simple thing. She was essentially saying that either she or Zenjirou would attend their wedding if he threw in his lot with her during the budgetary meeting. The agenda of that meeting included where the budget for the recent subjugation would come from.

With the last war being relatively recent, there was by no means a great amount of slack in the country’s treasury. Therefore, unforeseen expenses needed to be mitigated by drawing from different departments, and the heads of those departments would naturally oppose the shift. If Aura forced the changes through, their displeasure would fall on her, but if Pujol took the stage, it would fall on him instead. Essentially, Pujol would accept their ire rather than the queen.

However, such a stance wasn’t entirely bad for him. The general was ambitious by nature and therefore had many enemies. A little anger directed his way wouldn’t have much effect. If anything, he could spin it as being willing to take the noble’s displeasure if it benefited his country, gaining him even more renown within the military.

The costs and benefits of such actions flashed through the man’s mind in an instant before he answered.

“I understand. If those are the circumstances, then I shall do my utmost to aid you,” he agreed.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Once Pujol Guillén and Xavier Gaziel had left her office, the queen turned to her thus-far silent confidant and spoke.

“Fabio, things are as you saw. I would hear your unvarnished opinion.”

The middle-aged secretary rested his narrow chin in his right hand and thought for a while before answering.

“Very well. In essence, you will send Sir Zenjirou to General Pujol and Lady Lucinda’s wedding to give it weight. In exchange, you will gain the general’s complete cooperation in the conference to be held.”

“Indeed.”

A smile made its way onto the secretary’s face, visible only in a softening around his eyes as he gave a short nod and continued. “I would say it was a good result. Whatever the case, the general’s marriage will be a significant weakness for the royal family, so it was somewhat inevitable. In which case, arranging an annulment of debts between the general and royal family and even passing off the cost of the swarm raptor subjugation can, I believe, be said to be a sufficient benefit for the royal family.”

“I see.”

The queen’s shoulders relaxed at his answer. However, the secretary had some harsher words to say, which rather betrayed her expectations.

“Representing you will be somewhat of a burden on Sir Zenjirou, but it should not be a concern. With such a string of logic to the decision, I highly doubt he will refuse. In fact, he will obey any order without even wishing for recompense. Above all, it seems almost impossible for him to betray you. My, my, Your Majesty, you certainly have found an almost irreplaceable loyal piece on your board.”

The queen slammed her hands onto the table in front of her and stood up in response to her retainer’s cynicism but almost immediately managed to recompose herself.

“Does it really appear that I am treating my husband as a piece on the board?” she asked eventually as she returned to her seat with a sigh. Her voice was slightly weak as she made her inquiry.

“To be completely honest, I find it hard to describe in any other way after seeing your recent interactions.”

“I see...”

Aura heaved another deep sigh at her confidant’s statement, then leaned back into her chair and shook her head several times with her eyes tightly closed.

Her rage and exhaustion were because she had been feeling similarly. She had started to naturally assume that for little things, she could simply have Zenjirou act as her representative without issue. The realization that her assumptions had changed so much that the idea of Zenjirou following her without question was something she saw as a given sent a chill through her body.

“What seems to be the problem?” Fabio asked disinterestedly, taking in his liege’s state. “If I may speak without censure, Sir Zenjirou seems to hold no ill will over decisions such as this. Frankly, your guilt seems pointless and ridiculous.”

“You speak as bluntly as ever,” the queen murmured, looking at the secretary with a mix of pain and anger but not giving any orders to stop. One reason she associated with the man was because he could deliver these painful truths so easily.

However, she couldn’t just let the words pass without comment. She took in a deep breath and let it out, making her shoulders rise and fall before she refuted him with a firm expression on her face.

“What you say has logic to it, but it is a sign of excessive reliance on my husband. If I do not maintain my awareness of that, it runs the risk of expanding without end.”

“I believe that to be a good intention. However, you and Sir Zenjirou are husband and wife. I would say it is more unnatural for a wife not to rely on her husband at all. Do you perhaps think that you are restraining yourself too much and therefore see it as unnatural to rely on him instead?”

“Hm...” She was at a loss for words in response to that statement. A married relationship of constant restraint would indeed be discomfiting.

As a matter of fact, Aura had been concerned about Zenjirou’s lack of desire for things herself. Not burdening other people was a fine way of living, but when those others started to include people close to you, it began to feel standoffish.

The secretary kept his slim face expressionless as he gave more advice to the conflicted queen. “With all that said, this may indeed offend Sir Zenjirou, so perhaps I cannot necessarily call your concerns unfounded. If he is to attend the ceremony without you, he shall need to take another partner.”

“I-Indeed. He...shall.”

Her face twisted as the jab of her confidant’s point hit home. In Capua, it was the norm and considered polite for adults to attend weddings in pairs of both a man and woman if possible. An already wed man could bring his wife without issue, and if the wife’s circumstances precluded her attendance, he would ask a relative. If an unwed man were to say, “I will be attending a wedding; please be my partner,” it would normally be taken as a declaration of love.

Zenjirou was indeed wed, but on top of attending as Aura’s representative on this occasion, she herself would not be able to serve as his partner. Therefore, he would have to choose another woman to bring in her stead. That would in turn lead to any woman he chose leaping forward in the running to become his concubine.

Regardless of anything else, Zenjirou had clearly rejected the idea of taking a concubine, so informing him of that would weigh heavily on Aura.

“We have no choice. It will be a burden, but perhaps we should request that Lady Pasquala attend.”

Pasquala was the wife of the head court mage, Espiridion, and she was close to seventy years of age. Bringing a married, older woman as his partner would obviously not be taken as a sign of taking a concubine.

“Will the other nobles accept that? It is such a good opportunity for them, after all,” Fabio mentioned.

“Acceptance is unlikely. All we can do is evade and push the matter through. If we cannot do so...perhaps he really will need to take a concubine. I could possibly get him to accept it somehow.” She let out a gloomy sigh.

Fabio’s voice took on a tinge of amusement as he looked upon his saddened queen. “Truly, when it comes to Sir Zenjirou, you grow so timid, Your Majesty. It is a rather new sight in our long association.”

“Enough,” she said, her voice growing sharp as she glared at the man.

Even so, Aura was aware of her cautiousness with respect to Zenjirou. He had directed an unblemished, simple affection towards her, and she had an unconscious, visceral desire to avoid blemishing that affection. She shut her eyes once more in her seat, tapping the table with her right index finger as she thought.

“Still,” she said eventually, “there is no alternative to having him act as my representative. Perhaps I should speak bluntly about this to him.”

“I believe so. If the worst comes to pass and Sir Zenjirou is hurt, something to change his feelings should be arriving in the next few days.”

“That is true.”

Aura’s face brightened now. The “something” in question was nothing other than the goats he had received from Princess Freya. The goats themselves had been given in “celebration of Prince Carlos’s birth,” but that wasn’t to say there would be no other costs. After all, they would be the first mammalian livestock in Capua.

A region within the palace would be created to house them, grass would be grown to act as their food, and people capable of rearing them would be trained. Each of these actions would require a fair amount of money.

They were comfortable eating most grasses, and they had hardy constitutions, so the rearing would be easy enough, but considering no Capuan had experience with mammals until now, it would not be simple. It would be like asking a modern dairy farmer to suddenly care for an iguana. They would need to rely on Freya’s subordinates at the start, and there would be a cost for such cooperation. Overall, it would take money and effort. On top of that, none of it was necessary, so one could consider it Zenjirou being selfish.

“Greeting Princess Freya’s retinue as well as celebrating the triumphant arrival of the woman who slew the alpha in personal combat is something of a pain. It is not impossible, though. Troublesome as it may be, it is for my husband.”

Despite her words, Aura’s mouth opened in an almost unnaturally wide smile. After all, this was the first time her thus-far unassuming husband had actually requested something for his own sake. Being able to give him it meant that she couldn’t avoid the happiness that came with doing so.

Seeing her expression, the secretary said sarcastically, “It is like I am watching an all-too-doting grandmother choose a present for her first grandchild.”

“Couldn’t you at least have said mother?” Aura asked after a moment, her complaint not as hopeful as usual, perhaps due to her awareness of the situation.

“It was somewhat too harsh to call it a mother’s love.”

“Hrmm...”

The queen had no rebuttal for his curt reply and simply held her tongue.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

That night found the royal couple sitting next to each other in the inner palace’s living room, glasses in hand.

The four LED lamps set up to almost surround the wooden table with a sofa on each side made the red and blue faceted glasses sparkle in their hands. They contained almost colorless alcohol. It was distilled as they had grown used to, but it was not the fruit of Zenjirou’s labors. It had been made by craftsmen imitating the still that Zenjirou had brought to this world.

Constructing a still was not particularly complex. Capuan craftsmen were fairly accomplished at working with copper, so they could reproduce it. The issue was that distillation had an optimum temperature that needed to be maintained, and it seemed the craftsmen had managed to arrive at that result through trial and error. It was still inefficient compared to the still that Zenjirou had, with its heating element having single degree increments, but it was certainly usable.

The product of this new still was what had been poured into their glasses. Zenjirou rolled the trial drink carefully over his tongue to taste it, and after swallowing, he gave a nod.

“I think this is fine. It’s just as good as what I made. Well, not like I’ve got a great palate for it, and considering I’m an amateur, it feels a bit weird to call it ‘fine,’ perhaps.”

Aura smiled as she inclined her glass in the same way. “I think so also. Excellent. We can most likely begin mass production of distilled spirits.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure we can. Actual mass production will require us to make bigger stills, and scaling them up might well reveal unforeseen issues.”

Zenjirou always seemed to see the worst potentials, but Aura’s smile didn’t fade.

“We shall deal with that if it occurs. All new projects require trial and error, and we lack the personnel as yet, so we will progress cautiously.”

Capua still hadn’t entirely recovered from the war, and establishing new industries was rather difficult considering the lack of manpower, even for the queen.

However, spirits had already been given to nobles during nights at the palace, and they had been well received. Aura believed that establishing mass production meant recouping the initial investment was only a matter of time.

“Regardless, we need not discuss the distillation any further. Instead, Zenjirou...”

“Hm?” he answered. His wife’s smile had vanished and she was looking steadily at him, so he naturally straightened as he looked back at her curiously.

“I wish to speak to you about something that is a little—actually, quite serious and is weighing on me. May I?”

“Got it,” he answered, putting his blue glass of alcohol onto the table before moving to sit opposite his wife.

“I have a report first. Pujol Guillén will be marrying the eldest daughter of the Gaziel family, Lucinda. I would like for you to attend the ceremony in the border march as my representative.”

“I understand.” He nodded in response to the queen’s grave expression as she spoke. “Uh...that’s it?”

The almost exaggerated preface to the statement had put Zenjirou on his guard, but it didn’t sound like anything major to him, so it was something of a letdown.

For her part, Aura let out a slight sigh at his reaction and smiled ruefully. “I see. Galling though it is, Fabio was correct. Will this not cause problems for you?”

“Problems?”

Zenjirou grew even more confused and Aura relaxed, beginning a kind, thorough explanation. “Both when you went to Valentia, and now again in the Gaziel march, I decided your actions before consulting you. Fabio said that I am treating you as a piece on the board, and honestly, I cannot refute him.”

“Ah, I get it,” he said, bringing his hands together in understanding as he watched his wife slump. He remembered the light remonstration he had given her when she had unilaterally decided he would be going to Valentia. They were separate things, though. “You’re right, there have been a fair few occasions where you’ve informed me after the fact. I know that a lot of circumstances in politics require a swift decision, though, so as long as you give me an explanation I can accept afterwards, I won’t mind much.”

His answer was much as she had expected. Actually, it was what Fabio had told her to expect earlier in the day. “Sir Zenjirou seems to hold no particular ill will over decisions such as this.”

And it was true. Zenjirou didn’t even look upset about being compared to a piece by her.

“You truly did not anger. Do you feel no dissatisfaction with being treated as a piece on the board?” Aura asked frankly.

There were, of course, many within Capua who would not disagree with being treated as a piece. For example, her loyal knights took pride in it. However, if their compatriots of equal rank treated them in the same way, there would be uproar. Aura could treat them as such due to the clear relationship hierarchy between a queen and knight. Therefore if her husband saw himself as her subordinate, it would be understandable, but the very fact that they sat across from each other like this was proof that he felt they were equals.

Despite his wife’s candor, the question itself didn’t hit the mark, and the otherworldly man simply looked more quizzical as he answered. “Um, well, I’m not really dissatisfied with how things are, I guess? Obviously, I’ll want to know why I’ve got to go to this wedding, and if I can’t agree with the reasoning, I won’t be happy.”

As far as he was concerned, she wasn’t treating him like a piece to maneuver. If anything, he usually regretted how little he could do to help his wife as she did her utmost to carry out her duties as queen.

“Hmm...” Aura murmured, not quite able to agree with his answer.

“Anyway, you’re the queen and I’m the consort, so doesn’t it make sense for you to make those decisions?”

He accepted “instruction from someone of equal rank” as simply a difference in position. He’d been in the soccer club back in middle school and had followed his junior’s instructions to run up the left side, and he’d seen plenty of people on a project follow the project leader’s instructions despite them being the same age. Of course, next time, someone else would be the project leader, and the positions would soon be reversed.

His upbringing in modern Japan meant that he saw people as equal generally speaking and also enabled him to understand that for an organization to progress, people needed to both instruct and follow those instructions without it seeming paradoxical.

Aura had been brought up in a world that, barring a few exceptions, had a clear hierarchy and chain of command, so she might have found it difficult to understand.

“I see... As long as you are not unhappy with things, then. However, the situation is far from what I first promised, so I decided it was necessary to speak candidly with you.”

“First promised?”

“Indeed, I first said to you that if you provided me an heir, no more would be asked of you.”

“Oh, that,” he said, clapping in realization. “You don’t need to worry about it. I never expected you to keep it anyway.”

“Phwah?!”

It was the first time Zenjirou had ever seen her so deeply hurt and he panicked as he tried to explain.

“Uh, n-no, that’s not what I mean, not at all. It’s not that I didn’t trust you, I just thought it sounded too good to be true, and realistically even a prince consort is a royal and couldn’t just shut himself away. That’s all!”

His desperate explanation seemed to work as her expression eased just a little. Sighing in relief at that look, he continued.

“So I think your idea of speaking candidly’s a good one, even if it took me a bit to agree. First off we should forget all reserve, consideration, and assumptions and just say what we want.”

“Indeed, let us start from there.” Aura leaned forward on the sofa, in complete agreement.

“I wish to hear your hopes first. Zenjirou, what is it that you desire? How do you want to live?”

He was somewhat overwhelmed by her serious questioning and cleared his throat first before slowly starting.

“Right. It might seem a bit incoherent, but none of this has any real order or anything, it’s just what I want. First, I want to spend time with you. I want to live with Zenkichi with us all lying together. I like sleeping just with you as well, though, even though we don’t just sleep then. On the other hand, I don’t want any other woman but you. The inner palace is my home, so I don’t want anyone but my family to come in. Also, um...right. I miss food from home, and I want to do something about the shampoo before we run out. I want to know how my soccer team in the J league is doing, and I want to play myself, even if it’s just a pickup game. I want to listen to my favorite artists’ new songs, and I want to get an internet connection.”

Then he shifted more to his responsibilities.

“It’s hard having nothing to do all day, so I want to be at least somewhat productive. I enjoyed working on distillation, for example. Diplomacy’s a heavy responsibility and difficult, so I dislike it. Going to parties and refusing all those concubines is just depressing, so I really don’t want to.”

Even Zenjirou had grown at least a little resentful. He started off somewhat hesitantly, but his demands and selfish complaints grew more fluid towards the end of his speech. Aura had listened to the meandering diatribe and kept her expression composed, but she still let out an internal sigh.

I was right to do this, it seems he has grown rather unhappy even without noticing it himself.

Zenjirou was patient and understanding. Even if he wanted to do something, if you gave him a logical reason for why he could not, he would understand. He would even understand needing to do things he didn’t want to, and then do them willingly.

Even he hadn’t recognized the frustration of not doing what he wanted along with the resentment that had built up. It was completely unavoidable. Even if you understood the logic of something, that wouldn’t remove your emotions on the matter. Even without him noticing it himself, those negative emotions had accumulated like a stagnant pool and made it easier for him to get angry about little things, making him speak more cynically.

Fortunately, Zenjirou was relatively resilient, so it hadn’t come to the surface yet, but he was still fairly unhappy if all of that was put into words.

“Ah, I do know that all that’d be selfish, but that’s about the size of it.”

His cheeks had reddened as if he were embarrassed for the almost immature rant, but his expression was much more relaxed now.

It was the first time she had heard his frank desires, and parts of them were things she herself had thought. She didn’t show any reaction to that and started putting her own desires into words.

“There are two main ways I want you. The first is as your wife. The other is as the country’s queen wanting the member of the royal family known as Zenjirou. I have almost no complaints with the former. I too, as an individual, want you as my only spouse, and for us to spend time together with our son. With those wishes, there is nothing that goes against your own. Therefore, I first want you to understand that what I am about to say are my desires as queen.”

“Hm, got you.”

Despite understanding that he should have felt more tense at the moment, he couldn’t help but let his expression slacken. The habitual exchange of “I love you” and similar phrases meant that he understood her feelings at least somewhat. Even if you were sure of your partner’s feelings, having it put into words was special, an almost prickling sense of comfort and embarrassment.

Aura’s own expression softened at the twitching muscle in his cheek before she immediately regained her sober look.

“The thing above all else that I want from you as a royal is to take a concubine. The domestic nobles will only hold their tongue for so long. The Twin Kingdoms are unlikely to remain silent with our agreement, so I would have you take another from them. Our glass manufacturing may make the mass production of magic tools possible in the future, and that will cause upheaval on the continent. Therefore, I wish to foster an archduke line with no land that carries enchantment magic. Likewise, I wish to continue developing our glass production and consult you about it. I would also greatly welcome any ideas such as your modifications to the water wheels or distillation, which will increase the royal family’s assets.”

She then moved on to his issues with royal work.

“Of course, I also wish for you to continue representing me. The only adult royals our country has are the two of us. There are a countless array of events that require a royal, and if you attend those which only require one of us to be present, I can be all the more nimble.”

“Whoa...”

Her honest desires had made his face cramp up as he cried out in dismay. He had expected it, but their desires clashed almost astonishingly. The only points of common ground were in glassmaking and distilling alcohol. The rest were things that he wished to avoid yet his wife wished him to do.

Her queenly expression still on her face, Aura continued.

“The thing I fear most, though, is a definitive break between the two of us. Therefore, you do not need to worry too much. Nor endure it. I will fundamentally prioritize what I just said over your emotions. But please, air out all of your frustrations with me as we are doing so here in the inner palace. I want you to refrain from criticizing my actions within the palace. That would be my utter undoing.”

Zenjirou couldn’t hide his surprise.

“I won’t criticize you, obviously, but are men really so prioritized here?”

Aura shook her head with a stiff expression. “No, it would not cause a significant issue at first. However patriarchal our society is, the weight of the crown is enough to overturn that. Besides, during the war, the country lost four kings in succession over several years with my father, older and younger brothers, and uncle. Taking over during that tumultuous time and leading us to victory does, if I do say so myself, give my reign a rather strong foundation. If, as I had first planned, you simply shut yourself away in the inner palace and had children with me, it would not have been a great concern. However, that was not what you did. You showed people that you had the ability, albeit imperfectly, to carry out diplomatic work and that you are an easy person to talk to.”

“Ah, did I overstep?” he asked, his face tightened even though the events had long since passed.

“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “You truly did well. This is all my own failure. I had originally intended for you to attend only the bare minimum of functions, but you were more ‘useful’ than I expected, so I found myself depending on you more without realizing.”

The spark for all of that had been her pregnancy. Until then, Zenjirou’s duties had indeed been the bare minimum. Once she fell pregnant, however, it had impacted her body more than expected, and not even she had been able to continue her duties without issue.

There was no one but Zenjirou who could act as her proxy during such a time, and he had proven to have sufficient talents to do so. That was, in some ways, unfortunate.

Zenjirou had supported his wife while she was incapable of working during her recovery after the birth, and Aura had grown used to that and continued to have him do so as a matter of course once she recuperated. The definitive moment came when Valentia was attacked by the swarm raptors. The three who had distinguished themselves in the subjugation were Xavier Gaziel, Rafaello Márquez, and the Uppasalan woman Victoria Kronkvist, but Zenjirou had been the supreme commander on paper.

In other words, over the past year and a half Zenjirou had shown both domestically and internationally the bare minimum of competence to navigate the royal court along with the courage to stand on the battlefield if the time came. It would be no exaggeration to say that he could create his own faction within the palace if he felt like it.

Hearing that explanation from his wife confused him and he felt he had been almost unfairly evaluated, but he understood the position he was in and nodded with a grave expression.

“I get it. I’d meant to act carefully even in the past, but I’ll pay even more attention to my actions outside the inner palace. There’s a possibility such rumors could spread even without my own wish for them to.”

“Please do.”

Aura breathed a sigh of relief at his ever-present understanding before she had a sudden realization.

Curses, I simply meant to listen to his desires, and yet I pushed things towards my own convenience yet again. If I let my guard down, taking advantage of his forbearance and kindness will become a habit.

Admonishing herself, the queen rallied and spoke to her husband once again. “Well, keep those things in mind. Outside of those matters, though, I want to do all I can to grant your desires. First, your focus on creation such as with distillation is a benefit to me as well, so I would like you to go about that proactively.”

“Sure. I want to finish making magnets first. After that, I’d like to make cheese and butter once the goats arrive. It sounds like those things exist in Uppasala, so it might be better to ask Princess Freya rather than relying on my trial and error.”

“Oh, I haven’t told you, now that I think of it. Princess Freya and her retinue have left Valentia. Your gift of the goats is with them, and they should reach the capital within a few days.”

“Oh, I’ll look forward to it,” he answered with a smile.

With dairy products like cheese, butter, and cream, he would be able to reach for the kind of confections they had not yet been able to reproduce. Increasing the number of luxuries increased quality of life.

Now that the atmosphere had relaxed with a more pleasant topic, Aura moved on to the next, more difficult one. “Next, then. You said that you dislike diplomacy and being present in high society and would rather avoid it as much as possible, correct?”

“Yeah, if I’m being honest. Still, I think of it as my job since I became royalty, so even if I don’t like it, I feel like I have to,” he answered, glaring up at the ceiling as he leaned back into the seat.

His job, or royal duty.

“So you mean that if you can avoid doing it, you would prefer not to?” she queried.

He paused, thinking over as if examining himself, then shook his head. “No, that’s not it. It’s annoying to do, but not doing my job weighs on me in its own way. If I had no job, that’d be great, but having it and not running away from it is different.”

“Hm? Could you explain a little more in detail? I do not quite understand.”

Zenjirou sank back into thought and explained, getting lost several times himself. “Well, how to put it? I do hate diplomacy and societal events. But I have a duty as royalty to carry out my job. If I closed my eyes to those duties and ignored them, I’d feel even worse.”

Essentially, it was like the difference between a school closure for a student and playing hooky. Going to school each day was annoying, and students loved days when the school was closed and they could do as they pleased. However, playing hooky was wrong, so they wouldn’t do so and would prefer going to class instead. It was being somewhat diligent, somewhat hardworking, and yet still finding it all somewhat bothersome. It wasn’t a particularly rare mentality for the average Japanese citizen.

Zenjirou’s clumsy but careful explanation let Aura get the gist of what he wanted to say. “I see. It is essentially that turning your back on your duties, even if you hate them, would give you a guilty conscience, and if you were to feel that anyway, carrying out the work you hate would be less mentally taxing.”

“Yeah, that’s about the size of it. It’s all a matter of scale, though, you know? I’m fine now, but it feels like my workload increased a bunch recently. If that continues, it’ll get to be too much.”

“Hm, I see. My apologies. I shall take care from now on,” she said, apologizing honestly at his warning.

“Thanks. You don’t need to worry about urgent things like the wedding or the thing with Valentia, though.”

“I see,” she murmured, pulling together her observations. In other words, I can continue as I have been with emergencies, allocating work to Zenjirou without concern. Decreasing the amount of diplomatic and societal obligations he has on a day-to-day level would be for the best, though.

As far as those diplomatic duties went, there were people such as Francesco, Bona, and when she arrived in a few days, Freya, who he would need to interact with. Most diplomats and nobles did not necessarily need to be dealt with by royalty; things simply went more smoothly if they were.

“I understand. I shall endeavor to keep your diplomatic and societal obligations to a reasonable limit.”

It was a slight disappointment to not be able to make the most use of the consort piece on the board, but she decided that she needed to make the sacrifice here.

“Also,” she continued, “you mentioned several things that you desire. I could not understand the specifics, so I assume you were speaking of your origins, but are they utterly unobtainable here? You need not consider the money or effort that would be required. Simply tell me if they are possible or not.”

Once she told him he didn’t have to consider the monetary or practical costs, Zenjirou’s gaze moved to the ceiling as he thought it over. “Hmm, well, watching the J League matches is a no-go. Playing soccer here might be possible if we gathered people together and explained the rules, but I don’t want it enough to have to deal with even more people. Listening to new songs is probably impossible too, and I honestly can’t think of a way to do it. The food from home... We should be able to make more of that when the goats arrive. The main thing that comes to mind with goat’s milk is sweets. Also, I’ve already started working on a shampoo substitute. Since it’s a consumable, I knew we’d need to make it here. I’ve got instructions on my computer for things like soap, shampoo, and conditioner made from mixing seaweed ash and citrus fruits.”

“Hm, I am not uninterested in soap and shampoo either. If it is simply a matter of ordering materials, it should not be a burden,” she nodded, allowing just a little of herself as a woman to shine through.

As far as the soap and shampoo went, Aura and Zenjirou both used it. After all, they slept in the same bed, so even if Zenjirou kept himself neat and tidy, there would be no point if Aura didn’t do the same.

By that metric, Aura was already making significant concessions for her husband. While hot baths had spread a fair way throughout Capua, even royalty would not ordinarily take one each day. They also had perfumed oils to get rid of the smells from their hair and bodies and covered themselves with them as a matter of course. Zenjirou didn’t like the smells or sensation of the oils, though, so Aura never used them in the inner palace.

Of course, she was the country’s queen, so when she was in the main palace carrying out her duties, she had to follow society’s norms, and the perfumes were indispensable. Therefore, she would repeat the cycle of washing off the painstakingly applied oil from her skin and hair whenever she returned to the inner palace, sometimes several times per day.

She had changed in accordance to her husband’s preferences, and the act could, in a certain light, be taken as a sign that the patriarchal nature of Capuan women was still present within her.

Whether he knew of his wife’s devotion in that way or not, Zenjirou smiled and gave a nod. “Thanks. Honestly, baths are one thing I almost can’t do without. Well, considering the current temperature, I could bear just washing the sweat off, but when the weather turns humid in the rainy season and sweltering in the blazing season, I need a proper bath.” Realizing he was being somewhat selfish with what he was saying, his face grew a bit ashamed as he spoke.

“Indeed. The rainy season aside, I cannot quite understand your desire for a hot bath in the heat of the blazing season, but if they are that important to you then I shall join you.”

She was the queen, the most important person in the country, and she was changing her lifestyle for him. In fact, even keeping the maids out of the living room most of the time was due to his own preferences. Aura had been brought up as royalty and saw their constant presence as a given. Keeping them out of their personal areas in accordance with his wishes and dealing with most of her needs on her own, including simple clothing changes and the like, was stressful for her, and he recognized it.

“Thanks, Aura,” he told her seriously, realizing how devoted to him she was. Since she had taken him—a man from another world—as her husband, Aura had to deal with hardships she ordinarily would not.

I need to make sure I keep that in mind, he thought to himself. If I forget that and just assume I’m the only one making sacrifices, who knows how arrogant I’d become?

“I do not believe I have done anything that requires thanks. Was there anything else?”

He smiled ruefully at his wife’s resilience before continuing. “There was the internet, I guess. You said it wasn’t possible last time, but I think several magic tools should be able to get this world connected, somehow. Summoning depends on the positions of the stars, so if you applied time reversal or acceleration to a small area, could you not get the stars to the correct position and use the spell right then? If you could, I think a small connection between our worlds would be possible.”

What he wanted was to create a connection near a free wireless network and get his computer hooked up to the internet. There would be no need to create an opening as large as a person for that—if wireless signals could travel through, it could be as small as a pinprick.

However, after hearing his plan, she shook her head regretfully. “No, as I told you before, that is impossible. First, time reversal is a spell that is cast on a specific item, not an area. If you were to do that, the incantation would need to be adjusted, which would in turn change the mana required. It would essentially be creating a new incantation.”

“You can do that? Create a new spell, I mean?”

Aura smiled at his surprise. “Of course. While I am not a specialist like the court mages, I can adjust an existing spell. Lineal magic is a concealed skill of the royal family, so they are the only ones who can develop it.”

Aura had specialized in politics and military matters, so she wasn’t particularly ardent about developing magic. However, she knew that passing on the lineal magic was a duty of the royal family and possessed a minimum of the knowledge and techniques required.

In fact, the spell she had used to first summon him had been altered by her. Originally, it had been limited to summoning a person the caster had formed a clear mental image of, but she had changed it into something that would summon a completely unknown person with the only requirement being that they be a man from another world who had inherited the basics of space-time magic.

Of course, most of it had been developed by the famed king Carlos II, and Aura had only made the fine adjustments.

She continued, “Besides, the summoning itself is an issue. The spell is nothing more than the transferring of a specific person or thing from another world. It sounds like to accomplish your goal, we would need to form an ongoing connection, no? It would be a completely different spell to ‘connect’ rather than ‘summon.’ Modifying a spell takes a year at the best, and I cannot estimate how long it would take to create a new one.”

“Hmm...”

The numerous issues made him crinkle his lips together and remain silent. While he didn’t have much knowledge of magic, he had a vague understanding of the fact that both modifying time reversal and creating this new spell would be exceptionally difficult. It might even be quicker for Zenjirou, who had more time, relatively speaking, to study magic and focus on it himself rather than Aura taking charge of it. He understood that but still refused to let go of it and questioned her further.

“I knew realistically it’d be impossible to do right away. What about theoretically, though? If we modified time reversal to act on an area and created a connection, would I be able to do what I want? Are those kinds of modifications and spell creation even realistic?”

Aura folded her arms under her full chest, considering his question. “I believe they are. I am not a proud specialist in magic, so I cannot say for sure, but the modification and development should both be possible, as they fall under the scope of space-time. However, what you wish to do is exceedingly difficult. Reversing time in an area so that the conditions are correct while forming a connection between our two worlds will require vast quantities of mana. I would say that without using future compensation, it would be impossible to withstand.”

That made learning future compensation doubly important. It could end up requiring five months of Aura’s magic to simply connect to the internet for five minutes.

“Whoa, it’d take that much? I guess using the magic tool version of future compensation that Prince Francesco made would—”

Aura heartlessly shook her head at the joy on Zenjirou’s face at his apparent breakthrough. “I cannot allow that. That mana has already been allocated. You stated the items you brought have a finite lifespan. The mana is to cast time reversal on them at periodic intervals.”

The items Aura spoke of mainly consisted of their household appliances. The LED lamps, fridge, AC, TV, computer, and so on. Each was guaranteed by the manufacturer for five to ten years. Even the foundation of their electricity, the hydroelectric generator, would work for only fifteen to twenty years. And this wasn’t Japan—the temperature and humidity were higher in this world. Each of the appliances could very well break before the manufacturer indicated.

“Yeah, that’s definitely more important than an internet connection. Keeping the fridge and AC going would be the best,” he agreed with another clap. They had originally been brought as training wheels for him to get used to life in Capua, but if the spell could extend their lives, that would be even better.

The two items he had named—the fridge and AC—were irreplaceable treasures in the sweltering heat of the Southern Continent. Their charm was such that even Aura agreed for a moment, tempted by them, but she soon shook it off and then shook her head.

“Indeed so... Ah, no. I would like to keep those as well, but the most important thing is something else. That computer you use is what I would most like to keep.”

Zenjirou hadn’t expected that and looked at her in puzzlement. “The computer? But you can’t use it, right? How come?”

It went without saying, but his computer only had a Japanese operating system and programs. Aura had not studied either Japanese or English, so it was like a chocolate teapot to her, he would have thought. However, she replied with a supremely confident expression.

“You must use it to confirm the yearly taxes. You doing that makes a world of difference to our annual income.”

So far, Zenjirou had put each year’s taxes into a spreadsheet program to recalculate them. Aura then used those numbers as a weapon to point out tax evasion by regional nobles and increase the amount of tax she could gain. The benefits of having an individual she could trust to do a final check on the taxes alone and with no mistakes could not be overstated. Because of it, the word was quickly spreading that Capua could not be fooled by false summations on documentation.

Naturally, there were methods for tax evasion other than fudging calculations. For example, changing the size of the carriages used, providing false headcounts of one’s citizens, or even underreporting crop yields and reporting nonexistent disasters were possibilities. Therefore, the most obvious forms of evasion that Zenjirou exposed were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, but the fact that such falsehoods were seen through put significant pressure on the feudal lords.

Her explanation let him see where she was coming from, but it also brought up another question. “Hmm, I can understand how valuable the computer is, but aren’t you concerned about incorporating something that only I can use into the running of the country? Or are you intending to learn how to use it?”

She shook her head. “I might well if I have the time, but it will mainly be my daughter,” she answered.

“Your daughter? Excuse me? What do you mean?”

It went without saying that their only child thus far was Prince Carlos Zenkichi, and as the title implied, he was their son.

His wife offered a more thorough explanation upon seeing his confusion. “This is actually a thought I had before. I do not want my generation to be the last to have the use of this computer tool to run final checks on behalf of the royal family. Therefore, why not pass it on? If you and I have children, they will almost certainly inherit space-time magic. If they are female, they can be raised within the inner palace until adulthood. It should not be all that difficult to teach the use of it if one starts from infancy. Of course, it requires you to learn space-time magic, future expense, and time reversal to maintain it as your legacy, but it should be possible to use in perpetuity.”

“Mmmm, I get what you want to say, but...”

His face pinched at her words. It would mean raising a daughter of his that was yet to be born to know how to use and maintain all of their appliances. Given the overall benefit to the royal family, he could see her thought process. Zenjirou had been brought up in a normal household in Japan, though, so deciding his daughter’s fate that way felt like treating her as a replacement part for those appliances and was something he was against.

Of course, such a perspective could also refer to Carlos Zenkichi, the first prince, becoming the next king, so perhaps he should just accept that was how things were for royalty.

“Eventually, it may be a good idea to establish a branch line of the females and entrust that role to the head of the family for generations to come. Of course, entrusting a particular power to a branch family may lead to an increased risk of upheaval, and we cannot go too far, so perhaps having them be united as royalty would also be a good option. What do you think?”

She seemed to realize from his expression that he wasn’t entirely in agreement with the idea.

“Um, let’s see...”

He had a brief moment of wanting to say he would simply leave it up to her, but then he remembered that they had agreed to vocalize everything they wanted here and now. He brought his legs together on the sofa and leaned forward, a slightly nervous expression on his face.

“Will she be able to be happy with her role and life being decided from the moment of her birth?”

The queen could not understand Zenjirou’s perspective. “Hm? Being born into the royal family already does just that. Do you not think that whether they can be happy with that life depends on our love as a family as well as the wet nurse, along with their own efforts, above all else?”

This world had a class system, and generally, children would inherit their parent’s professions, so by local values, a child’s role in life being decided from birth was not a source of misfortune. If anything, the second and third sons would be jealous due to their lack of a guaranteed future.

Zenjirou could understand that logically but emotionally was another matter. There were just too few commonalities between this world, where you had to seek happiness in your predestined profession, and modern Japan, where you chose your own career. The conflict between his logical understanding and emotional lack thereof was too much, and he was unusually irritated as he scratched his head.

“Ah, well, yeah. Still, it feels a bit scary to have everything decided from birth. The appliances are one thing, but she might not be able to learn how to use the spreadsheets.”

Such a thing would be unthinkable in Japan, but the circumstances were completely different here. If the child was born a member of the Capuan royal family, they would learn the local language as their mother tongue, and of course, the written language of the region would be prioritized. It would be rather difficult for such a person to learn from the help files on the PC, which would be entirely in English and Japanese. Moreover, Zenjirou would be teaching them, and he was by no means an expert, so he did not necessarily have the skills to train them well. It was most likely that learning from infancy would enable them to use the software to a minimal degree, but it was not a certainty.

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave written instructions?”

“A good idea. Oral traditions are always distorted as they are passed down. A physical form of the instructions would be extremely heartening.”

Leaving Zenjirou’s knowledge behind would be a significant undertaking, but not actually that difficult. After all, this world had automatic translation in the form of the soul of language. If Aura wrote down what Zenjirou said in the local language, it would be done. Compiling it all would not be easy, but doing a little each evening would make it manageable.

“Whatever else ends up happening, there’s no harm in leaving instructions. By the way?”

“Yes? What is it?” Aura asked, looking curiously at her husband as his gaze wandered and he smiled vaguely.

“You mentioned our daughter earlier, but we don’t have one yet, do we?”

All of this was predicated on them having a daughter they did not yet have. Would that perhaps be a sign that the avoidance of “acts that could produce children” was over?

Aura grinned at her husband as the lust rose from his body and gave the long-awaited answer.

“Oh, that? I believe it to be exactly as you wish. Carlos is growing well, and I can leave much of my duties to you as my representative. I am physically well, so I think now would be a perfect time for our second.”

“Oh hoh,” Zenjirou answered in a low tone, taut like a drawn bow as his grin grew beyond anything it had been.

“You have a lewd look in your eyes,” Aura told him, although even she had to smile ruefully in the face of such blatant lust as it made her shuffle back.

“Oh hoh hoh...” Zenjirou raised his hands next to his face and started wagging his fingers irregularly.

“A lewd movement of your hands as well,” his wife said, shifting to cover her chest with her arms as if sensing danger. However, her thin nightwear and arms could not conceal her voluptuous body. If anything, her putting her arms around herself like that emphasized her cleavage and made the sight even more arousing.

“Heh heh heh heh...” His lewd look and movements continued as he half rose and steadily approached.

“What are you planning like that?” she demanded, pressing herself to the back of the sofa to increase the distance between them.

“Hee hee hee...” Zenjirou didn’t hesitate to put his right foot onto the table between them as he made a beeline for his wife.

“Calm down. You are letting your lust run rampant.”

“Oh, but didn’t you say that we should give form to our desires without holding back?”

“I did not mean it like that! I simply wanted to converse. No one stated that we should start such actions here!”

Despite her words, Aura didn’t move to leave the sofa, so he knew she was going to accept his advances. In the first place, the difference in their physical abilities was comparable to a kitten and tiger. If Aura wanted to refuse him, Zenjirou wouldn’t be able to push the matter.

He continued his slow approach over the table before looming over her. “Aha ha...”

“Wait, at least let us retire to bed.”

“The bedroom is too far.”

“No, it is not; it is right there.”

“That’s way too far for me right now.”

It was rare for him to refuse her, but the situation was something he had been longing for. It was impossible; there would be no stopping him.

“Honestly, you...” She understood that and gave a rueful smile as she opened her arms in welcome.

“Gah he he he!”

“Come now, at least speak like a human,” she said, not forgetting to lightly smack him on the back of the head as he buried his face in her breasts.