371 - Alfred's Perspective: Various Marriage Talks
"If Alf is going to inherit the throne, then send back Erald, the one I sent as additional guard for Christina."
If she did not have to be the royal consort, she would take that person as her husband, Felicia smiled. It was Christina's assessment, but it seemed Felicia's favorite silver-white knight had volunteered for Christina's guard, claiming he could never be a royal spouse. He had apparently tried to physically distance himself from Felicia to escape, but now that the constraint of becoming king was gone, Felicia did not seem inclined to let her favorite knight get away. She was scheming that with Erald, who had a face as lovely as a maiden's, her own somewhat sharp features would be neutralized, and she would bear a cute child.
"Then, when Erald arrives in Grenore, I will send him back to the capital as Anselm's guard."
It would reduce Christina's guards, but Christina was currently missing, so there was no helping it. Present-day Grenore could neither afford to keep idle guards who had lost sight of their charge nor spare knights to escort Anselm to the capital as his guards. If she demanded him sent back, I would entrust Erald with the duty of guarding Anselm and send him back.
"In exchange for sending Erald back to the capital, please give me Karl and Reinart."
"Those two have lost their spirit since their winter blunder. Even if you send them to Grenore now, they will not be of much use."
Karl and Reinart were the silver-white knights who had guarded Rannvald. I had heard from Alf that they had been thoroughly outwitted by their charge, Rannvald, and were so dispirited by their own incompetence in allowing him to escape a second time that they had become useless. However, even if they had lost their spirit and become useless, it was not that they lacked ability as knights. Rather, they seemed to be punishing themselves by throwing themselves into their work, and apparently they had not even been contacting their families properly. Whether they had spirit or not, if they worked, there was no problem. Or rather, those two should be taken in by Grenore. If they were summoned to Grenore, their motivation would recover.
"This will be a separate report from the matter of Christina."
I hedged my words and reported that we had captured Rannvald in the city of Grenore. As could be understood from the fact that Karl and Reinart were still depressed, Alf, who had returned to the capital as Alfred, had not reported about Rannvald. If he had, the silver-white knight who volunteered as Christina's guard would have been Karl and Reinart, not Erald. They could have openly moved to the city of Grenore as Christina's guards. There was no way they would have missed that opportunity.
"...That would certainly restore those two's spirit as well."
"I will send three of my knights to Grenore, so send those ones back to the capital."
This time I will make them reflect, Felicia said, her smile growing even more radiant. Felicia had been furious at the missing Rannvald, her face so demonic that Christina had lost her memories, but even after over half a year had passed, her anger seemed to still be ongoing. She was wearing a goddess's smile that captivated all who saw it, but I could not hand Rannvald over to Felicia as she wished. Even if I did, I could only see a future where that uncle would outwit her again, and it was easy to imagine it would only pour oil on the fire.
"That person has a use, so I cannot hand him over to you, elder sister Felicia."
"Oh my, that person has a use? At best he only improves Father's mood."
"He is useful to me even just in the sense of absorbing all of Father's annoying affection, but I intend to use him differently."
Christoph had three wives and fifteen children, so his affection was distributed among them, but he had only one younger brother, Rannvald. The love directed at Rannvald alone was heavier than that directed at each of his own children by blood. Christina served as a shield in the sense of maintaining Christoph's public image, but Rannvald was a shield in the sense of bearing the brunt of Christoph's annoying desire to fuss over someone.
However, when it came to how I wanted to use Rannvald in the city of Grenore, Christoph's affection had nothing to do with it. What Rannvald could be used for in the city of Grenore was his appearance, which resembled Leonardo's. From a distance, he was indistinguishable from Leonardo.
In the worst-case scenario, if Christina was taken abroad, there was no way Leonardo would stay quiet. He would surely move to retrieve Christina himself.
That was where Rannvald would be useful.
For Leonardo, who was touted as the incarnation of the War God Herkeles, crossing the border through straightforward means was difficult. It would arouse suspicion that there must be some hidden intention. For Leonardo to cross the border quietly, some sort of covert work was absolutely necessary. That was where Rannvald, indistinguishable from Leonardo at a distance, could be used. By stationing Rannvald at Grenore Fortress, he would serve in the covert effort to make it appear that Leonardo was definitely at the fortress.
"I will entrust Karl and Reinart with guarding and watching that person."
"Those two have let him escape once already, have they not? They will keep a close watch now, I am sure, but will he not slip away again when they let their guard down?"
"I have heard from Christina about what that person is searching for. Using that information as bait, I will show you how to handle him well."
I smiled at Felicia, who still looked somewhat dissatisfied, and changed the topic to the matter of the search. Since I had come all the way to the capital, I wanted to investigate everything I could before returning.
"I may have found a blood relative of Leonardo."
When it came to Leonardo's blood relatives, they were a mystery that even the intelligence agency had been unable to uncover. It was not that Leonardo himself was hiding anything. He would divulge whatever information he remembered as far as he was asked, yet for some reason, they had not been found. According to Leonardo's followers, "There is no way the incarnation of the War God Herkeles would have human parents," but Leonardo was human. It was impossible that he had no parents.
"You say 'may have'?"
"I am not certain. Therefore, I would like to confirm several things about it, so please grant me permission to view Leonardo's personal background investigation records. I would like to look through them at the library while I am doing my research."
"Then I will have that arranged."
When Christoph raised one hand, a lady's maid bowed and left the room. By the time she returned, the arrangements would likely be in order. All that remained was to go to the library, and I should be able to view Leonardo's background investigation records.
"Still, Alfred is busy."
"Leonardo is waiting. Like Alf, Leonardo is one of my few friends. Since his little sister has been taken away, I must retrieve her quickly."
Even without Leonardo, Christina was a child that Aurelia had cherished. If she was in dire straits, I had to use all the power I could muster to save her. Even if the result was that I ended up bearing a heavy burden, I would have no regrets. That was how important Leonardo and Aurelia were to me.
After finishing breakfast, which had been filled with nothing but heavy reports, I left the dining hall to find Dietfried standing in the middle of the corridor. He was not wearing his cat headpiece today, so his face, which was rather lovely for a boy, was fully visible.
"Uncle, I heard that Alf has returned from Grenore..."
"You have already started learning to gather information, have you? Alf returned yesterday afternoon... so the fact that you made it to the dining hall this morning means you are quite capable."
Try to get invited inside the dining hall next time, I said, patting the head of my nephew, who had begun receiving education in the Royal Peerage. It was my first time patting Dietfried's head as his uncle. I heard that Alf, when acting as Alfred, had patted it several times, but Dietfried's fluffy hair had a nice texture.
"Did something happen in the city of Grenore?"
He said "in the city of Grenore," but that was probably not what Dietfried wanted to ask about. What Dietfried wanted to ask was surely about Christina. Unfortunately, I could not tell him about that.
"Dietfried, if you pester a girl too persistently, you will be disliked, you know?"
"I was only asking about the city of Grenore. I said nothing about Tina!"
"Is that so?"
"It is!"
Good, I have your word, I thought, a malicious smile spreading across my face. Since Dietfried himself had declared that he had not come to ask about Christina, there should be no problem in not mentioning anything about her at all. I handed Dietfried over to Alf to deal with appropriately. Meanwhile, I ordered a different lady's maid to prepare a carriage for the library.
"Congratulations on your marriage, Your Highness."
"It is still a year away. You are too hasty."
As I boarded the carriage heading for the library, Alf, who had been dealing with Dietfried, climbed in after me, delayed. When I heard what he had to say, it was an unexpected blessing. I was exasperated at how premature it was. Christoph, who had decided that I would marry immediately upon deciding to inherit the throne, was also hasty, but Alf, spouting congratulations when I was not even married yet, was just as bad.
"So the prince is finally getting married."
"I have kept my fiancee waiting terribly. I will send her an apology of some sort later."
Now that Chadwick, who had been a thorn in my side, was eliminated, I had intended to go greet her soon, but it was an unforeseen development that I needed to prepare her for becoming queen at the same time. It was not Christoph's words, but I was a little anxious that she might reject me on these grounds.
"It is too late for that now. If she were the kind of girl who would balk at something like that, she would have switched to another man long ago."
Rather, Alf said, since she was such an extraordinary person who had waited this long, she would not be shaken by a change from prince's bride-to-be to king's bride-to-be. That girl would not give up over a minor change in plans. She would bear it with grace.
"If Ariel runs away, I will have no bride prospects."
"In that case, why not take Christina?"
Since inheriting the throne was in part due to Christina in a roundabout way, if Ariel, my bride candidate, ran away, Christina could take responsibility and become my bride. Taking a Japanese-reading reincarnator into the royal family, as well as the fact that she was a favorite of Christoph and the others, there was significance in welcoming Christina as my wife. At Alf's composed face as he continued, I suddenly felt like being mean.
"I would take Solana too, you know."
"...If the prince desires Solana, then please, take her."
Hand over your precious Solana. I said it as a joke, but Alf offered Solana with a straight face. He cherished Solana to some extent, but it seemed her priority still fell below mine. Alf's devotion like this made me feel complicated, both happy and not quite happy. Although he did have a slight exception in Solana, it seemed Alf's special affections still belonged only to Alfred. Because of Chadwick's interference during their childhood, Alf's perspective had become extremely narrow. In Alf's mind, there was a division between me, Alfred, and everything that was not me, Alfred. Solana was the only rare person who had obtained a tiny frame called Solana from within that division of "not me." She was also someone I could never take away from Alf.
"I was joking. You should at least resist there."
I flicked Alf on the forehead, as if to say I would not take everything away from him. I had intended it as a wake-up call, but it had no effect on Alf, who had the extremely peculiar personality of converting anything I did to him into joy.
I left the arrangements for gifts like flowers and jewels to the steward and Solana, in preparation for rekindling my engagement with Ariel. Since I had forcibly postponed the marriage by having the engagement called off, it was absolutely necessary to publicize the reconciliation to those around us. In particular, the Staff Peerage who would become my father-in-law had been unfairly slandered as a man who swapped his daughter's fiance for a prince's status. Now that I could finally take Ariel as my wife, I had to restore his honor as well.
After finishing a letter to the residence in the carriage, I entrusted it to the driver and entered the library. Leonardo's background investigation records could not be viewed without permission, but crest reference materials at least could be examined by anyone. So while I had gone up to the castle to report to Christoph, Randol had come to the library ahead of me and started searching for materials on crests.
After checking with Randol which materials he had not yet looked through, I began examining other materials. As the three of us men huddled together investigating a catalog filled with various crests, a black shadow fell across the open page in the afternoon.
"I have prepared the materials you requested, Alfred-sama."
When I looked up at the clear, resonant high-pitched voice, my fiancee, Ariel, stood there holding a document box. I had just sent a letter to the residence about arranging gifts, but it seemed Christoph or Evelina had already made arrangements. The slightly angry expression on her face was, I thought, less about my return as a prince and more about what I had taken on for Leonardo's sake.
"Thank you, Ariel."
"If you wish to thank me, please show it through actions rather than words."
When I reached out to take the document box, Ariel hugged it close. She seemed unwilling to let go of the document box unless I gave her something she wanted.
"What do you want?"
"Give me about three minutes of your time."
"For you, Ariel, you could be greedy and ask for five minutes."
"Then at least double it, please."
I had said ten seconds to her father, so the five minutes I was offering to Ariel was generous, but it seemed she was displeased that I had not rounded it up to a clean six minutes. She turned her face away with a huff.
"Then, in those five minutes, give me the words I want to hear. I have been waiting for those words for so long. I wanted to hear them from your lips before Christoph-sama told me."
"Personally, I wanted to prepare an armful of flowers and gifts before coming to tell you... but what I want to say to you is just one phrase."
Please marry me, I said, taking Ariel's left hand as she hugged the document box and bringing my lips to her white fingers. It seemed to have been the right answer for the words Ariel wanted to hear from my mouth, and Ariel, her cheeks faintly flushed, finally turned her face back toward me.
"It seems I have ended up becoming queen unexpectedly, but I accept with pleasure."
Before she could finish saying "Please allow me to serve at your side for years to come," I pulled her slender body into an embrace. There was no difference between man and woman. When we were truly young, we often clung to each other playfully, but ever since I swapped with Alf and our circumstances became complicated, I had not once touched my fiancee's body. Thanks to returning as a prince, I could finally hold my fiancee openly.
"At last, I can hold you."
"Oh my, you still have more work to do, do you not?"
As if to say "Get on with your work," she pushed my body away with the document box, and I took it from her, staring at my fiancee with abundant dissatisfaction. Despite some discontent, it seemed Ariel's objective had been achieved the moment she received the minimum words she wanted. She had tucked the bashful smile from a moment ago completely into the depths of her eyes, and with a clear expression, she furrowed her willow-like brows as if troubled.
"Two more minutes..."
"I said three minutes at the start."
Faced with Ariel's firm line-drawing, I gave up on any further embraces. It was precisely because of this clear-cut attitude of Ariel's that I found her just right for me, and loved her.
"...The ceremony has been set for a year from now, but I will not be able to settle until Christina is recovered. I will leave all the preparations for the ceremony to you."
"Please leave that much to me. I will become the queen who supports this country someday, so consider this a practice and I will handle it splendidly."
So please, be sure to bring Christina back, Ariel said. Christina had been wary of Ariel due to her position as Alfred's former fiancee and had not approached her, but to Ariel, Christina was not someone she wished harm upon. Aurelia's precious Christina was also precious to Ariel. If she was kidnapped, of course she would worry, and if it helped as a means to save her, she did not mind becoming queen as a result. Aurelia was truly a great presence to Ariel as well.
I left the research on crests to Alf and Randol and opened the document box Ariel had brought. The documents inside were indeed Leonardo's background investigation records. My main purpose was to confirm their contents, but the more I read, the more points I found concerning. If I could resolve each of these, it would likely be possible to identify Leonardo's blood relatives. I felt like confirming them with Leonardo himself as soon as I returned to Grenore, but for now, retrieving Christina took priority over finding Leonardo's blood relatives.
After finishing my review, I returned the documents to the box and handed them back to Ariel. Though I was reluctant to part, I watched Ariel leave to return the document box to its designated room, then went back to searching for the crest.
"Even with just 'bird crest,' it should be possible to narrow it down to some extent..."
And it was not just any bird. We knew the specific type, the Adorutoru, which reduced the candidates even further. Yet, the fact that we still could not find a matching crest was somewhat eerie. Or rather than not finding a matching crest, it was that nearly all of the crests that used the Adorutoru as their design faced east. There were none facing west. At this rate, just finding a west-facing crest might match our clue.
...Perhaps if I understood what the east-facing meant, west-facing ones would be easier to find?
Confirmed. I have been writing it as Rannvarut and Rannvaruto, but it is correctly Rannvarudo. I will stealthily fix it when checking for typos and errors.
I think the next chapter will return to Grenore for Leonardo's perspective.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. I will skip the update on the 12th.