kscans

Chapter 99 - The King of Castrato and the Little One

"Brother, has my bride not arrived yet?"

"Charles..."

"..."

A young man had arrived while the Crown Prince and the third prince were discussing their strategy for dealing with the Little One in the Castrato Royal Palace. He was actually close to twenty years old, but his sickly thinness and childlike innocence made him look considerably younger than his actual age.

"Our sincerest apologies. We tried to stop him, but the nobles’ conversation could be heard all the way to his room..."

The attendants who had followed him hurriedly bowed their heads.

Those fools...

The Crown Prince pressed his lips together in frustration and stroked his brother’s silver hair. His fingers, as delicate as if handling something fragile, trembled slightly.

"The princess of Frontier has come on business. She is not here for a wedding, you know."

"Why not? Father told me. He said my bride would come from Frontier. Is she not here yet?"

Augfel also pressed his lips together tightly and closed his eyes. His innocent older brother, who knew nothing. When Augfel was old enough to remember, his kind second brother had always been by his side.

Augfel himself didn't even remember it. It was a story from over ten years ago. At the time, their father the king had apparently told his sons that a blonde princess from Frontier might be coming to marry into their family. The Crown Prince was not of a suitable age, so the offer fell to the second prince, Louis Charles. His dreamy, absentminded older brother, who had a cognitive disability, was overjoyed and had been looking forward to "my bride" ever since.

Even though it was a story from ten years ago, he hadn't forgotten it at all and would spend every day gazing towards Frontier from a castle window.

And when you compared it to the facts Augfel learned in Frontier, his father had probably intended to abduct the Frontier princess and force her to be a bride.

That was the reason for the last war.

The innocent second brother, knowing nothing, had been waiting ever since for the bride he was told would come from Frontier.

The sight of his back was unbearably sad.

Ah, jeez, maybe we should just never let him out again! That damn old man!

The castle was currently running smoothly under the Crown Prince’s management. In fact, things were running even more smoothly than usual without their arrogant father’s meddling. If Augfel assisted him, they could surely rule the country well enough.

Yeah, we don’t need him, that old man.

Watching the Crown Prince, who was at his wit’s end with the still whimpering and persistent Charles, with an affectionate gaze, Augfel was thinking up dangerous thoughts with a broad smile about how to drag his father down from the throne.

"Where is my golden bride?" Charles sobbed.

"Ah, I believe she is at the Frontier Royal Palace. Princess Fatima is said to be engaged to the Crown Prince of Flowers."

Whether he understood the Crown Prince’s hesitant words or not, Charles tilted his head and stared blankly at the window.

"Who is that? My bride is Chihiro-sama."

Hearing this, the Crown Prince and the third prince shot each other a look.

Come to think of it, that was what they had heard.

The princess coming from Frontier to marry was a golden princess. Her name was Chihiro-sama.

Pulling at the faint threads of memory, the two finally noticed that the princess’s name had changed.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I do not know. This is strange."

Even they, who did not know the details of that time, knew the tales of the Little One. It was a name that came up everywhere when investigating Frontier. The Golden King who commanded monsters and soared through the sky. The name written alongside that title should have always been Chihiro-sama. But at some point, they stopped hearing the name, and after a long period of silence, it had become an old tale about a princess named Fatima.

And recently, various disturbances had occurred, and attention was once again being drawn to Frontier. Information only reached Castrato, which had severed diplomatic ties, through other countries, but the center of the commotion was a young girl.

"Her name was, I believe..."

"Chihiro La Jorje. Currently a count’s daughter. The one who should be heading this way now."

At Augfel’s reply, the Crown Prince’s eyes widened steadily. He remembered that name.

"...The princess Father spoke of as well. Baron’s daughter Chihiro La Jorje. She became the Frontier King’s adopted daughter and was made a princess."

"...?! The count’s daughter too! She is under the guardianship of the King of Frontier and is a princess by proxy through her foster parent!"

Was this a coincidence?

An undeniable suspicion arose in the two frozen princes’ eyes.

...The Golden King who commands monsters and soars through the sky? Isn’t that the current count’s daughter herself?

Augfel had confirmed it in Frontier. The girl lived in harmony with monsters. She flew through the sky as if it were natural, had them pull her carriage, and rode on their backs.

Only a limited number of people could do such a thing. Even the monsters trained in Castrato were only forced to obey by being given just enough magic to keep them from dying. Augfel felt as if he had caught a glimpse of the true identity of the girl who played with a horde of free and unrestrained monsters without any form of payment.

And with the realization that her true identity was something incredibly terrifying, the color drained from his face.

Charles, muttering about "my bride," remembered her name clearly. The bride’s name. And Charles did not know that this was a landmine that should not have been stepped on, one that had just plunged the brothers into the abyss.

New information dragged out from a detestable past. Castrato was on the verge of obtaining, by a stroke of luck, a secret known throughout the world only to Frontier and Kilfan.

Meanwhile, the Little One was in front of Hyrulia’s house. On Earth, it would be a mansion the size of a high school building, with a large garden that included a large forest. The gate was also magnificent. Hyrulia said something to the gatekeeper, who then opened it.

Ignoring the astonished gatekeepers, Chihiro, who was used to royal palaces, proceeded inside without any hesitation.

"It’s huge."

Adonis muttered, his eyes slightly wide. Zakk nodded in agreement.

"You think so? I find it rather modest for a ducal family."

Dorfen, the son of a true-blue marquis family, was unperturbed.

"My family’s creed is simplicity and frugality."

Dorfen nodded sagely at Hyrulia’s smile.

You guys need to go look up "simplicity and frugality" in a dictionary again.

The Little One wore a lukewarm smile. Well, these were their circumstances. This was what simplicity and frugality meant to nobles.

I’d like to know just how much others are splurging. In Frontier, they are flexible and only spend lavishly where it counts. Frontier kept a close eye on extravagant spending by individuals or the monopolization of profits in order to keep the economy moving. Such things tended to escalate. Human desire is limitless. It doesn't stop within the bounds of private funds, but inevitably reaches for public funds and taxes. The officials of Frontier constantly monitored the market without letting their guard down, believing it would be too late if problems were discovered only after they had reached a dead end. Therefore, even among nobles, those from Frontier were relatively modest. Having made a pilgrimage to other countries like Flowers and Donautil, the Little One was beginning to understand the reality of Arcadia.

Flowers was still better, but Donautil was terrible. Flowers was a country of technology. Even a commoner was respected for their skills and experience. The royals understood that they were the ones supporting the country’s foundation. It was probably because Frontier was nearby. They had that level of awareness. Still, the deeply rooted, absolute class difference was undeniable.

However, the next country she visited, Donautil, was completely different. The class difference was something for the lofty nobles. The commoners lived lives where they weren't even counted as people. One time, when she was walking with Marrow, a maid she hadn’t noticed failed to bow and appeared from around a corner. She was startled and prostrated herself, but it was too late. She had ended up crossing Marrow’s path.

"Cut off her toes."

Marrow said it calmly. The surrounding people silently dragged away the crying and begging maid. Chihiro had been too stunned to say anything, but she later nonchalantly asked Marrow about it.

"What did that girl do?"

"Hmm? She crossed my path, didn’t she? Unforgivable for a mere maid."

The Little One couldn't help but stare vacantly into space. Even Marrow, who had studied abroad in Frontier for years, was like this. The others were easy to imagine. Arguing here would be pointless. The Little One learned that the maid had her toes on both feet cut off and was cast out of the royal palace because she could no longer work, so she secretly went to her with Dorfen.

Chihiro found the maid huddled over her bloodied feet, and had Dorfen heal her. The girl whose toes were restored thanked the Little One by prostrating herself completely. She tearfully sobbed that she was the foolish one for incurring a nobleman’s displeasure, that she had committed an outrageous breach of etiquette.

This was the worldview of Arcadia. It wasn’t something that could be corrected just by trying. She had no intention of blaming Marrow. He had been raised with it being the norm, so there was nothing to be done.

Thinking such useless thoughts, the Little One was welcomed into the mansion at Hyrulia’s invitation. The lines of servants gave the party a grand welcome, and the night in Castrato deepened.