'Good morning. Fuyuuya-san.
"...Good morning, Yumina. So why are you here?

　When I woke up on the bed in my room, I was straddled by an odd-eyed girl through the covers.

''Well I'm pretty sure my room was locked from the inside, right?
You missed. It's off.

　You took it off........how could you do that! In response to my most pressing question, Yumina smiles an angelic smile and answers as if it's nothing at all.

'Because it's one of my seven skills,'

　That's not an answer! What the hell is that? What are the other six?
　It's not a bad feeling to be woken up in the morning by a girl you like, but it's bad for your heart. In addition, Yumina is in her pajamas without any protection, so it's even worse for my heart.
　It's been two years since I met her, but she's grown up in many ways. I think her body has become much more feminine since I met her, but her outlandishness like this has not changed.
　However, she is already 14 years old, and I would like to ask her to refrain from this kind of behavior.

''I have thoroughly enjoyed Fuyao-san's sleeping face, so I am satisfied today.
How long have you been on board...?

　I'm the one who doesn't notice. For now, I asked Yumina to leave and change quickly.
　When I went to the training grounds before breakfast, Yae, Hilda, and Else were training along with everyone else in the Order as usual.
　Seeing that Lou was nowhere to be seen, she might be making today's breakfast. If that's the case, today's breakfast will be Japanese food. I'm looking forward to it.

Hi, good morning, Fuyao-kun. It's an early start, but would you mind being my partner?

　I was just about to say good morning to everyone when I was caught by Sister Morobane, who crept up behind me. d*mn, I was unaware. I was so careless.

"I don't mind, but you better take it easy on me.
'Do I have to? Well, as usual, no magic or divine power for each other.

　They confronted each other, and at the signal of Else, who had bought the role of referee, they fired their wooden swords at each other. Even though it's a wooden sword, it's a strong, durable one that has been reinforced. Otherwise, it would have been smashed to pieces by the first attack.
　Of course, if you hit your body, your bones will shatter. However, I don't think me and my sister would receive that much damage. However, what hurts is what hurts, so I don't want to be hit.

''Tak!

　My foot is shaken off in a surprise move. Without pause, a sharp thrust flew at me as I fell backwards off balance.
　I hurriedly rolled to the side and engaged it, leaping up with only the force of my arms and standing up to the ground again. Aw, oh no!
　Oh, come on... I told you to go easy on her.
　If you want to, I'll do it. I repaired my grip on the wooden sword.





"Lord, are you okay?
Ummm....

　I was enduring the pain all over my body while being poked a little bit by Amber.
　
　I stand up with 'healing' and 'refreshing' over my entire body. If it weren't for magic, I wouldn't be able to move a single finger.
　Sister Morobane quickly finds her next prey and instructs her in training.
　Good grief, I over-exercised before breakfast.
　At any rate, I headed to the dining room to get breakfast, and Linse, Leanne, who still looked sleepy, and Lou were taking their meals.
　We have a lot of individual things to do, so we don't often have breakfast together. In Sakura's case, she sometimes takes it with her mother, Fianna, about half the week.
　Breakfast was still a Japanese meal made by Lou. Rice and daikon miso soup, grilled fish from Dungeon Island, fried eggs, sauteed burdock, cold tofu, and pickled turnips.
　Maybe it's because I'm a fan of roux, but I'm getting better at Japanese food. He has been asking the people of Yisheng about various Japanese dishes and has been improving his skills. The food was so good that I was worried about getting too fat.
　After breakfast, I was doing my morning duties when my phone in my pocket alerted me to an incoming call. The person on the other end is.........Oro? How unusual. Isn't this your brother-in-law, the Knight King of Lestia, Reinhardt?

Yes? Hello?
"Oh, Your Majesty. I am sorry to disturb you at this time, Your Majesty. I need some help and advice about King Regnier.
King Linier?

　He has a close relationship with his brother-in-law Reinhardt, King of the Knight Kingdom of Restia (to be), and Cloud, King of the Kingdom of Linier, probably due to their close age.
　Originally, Cloud has been abused by the false prince Zabun all his life, so there are few people he can call friends. Reinhardt, due to his position as a prince, probably didn't have many people with whom he could feel comfortable associating. It was only natural that two people with similar personalities would become friends.
　Was there something about that friend's request for advice?

We'll have the conversation in 10 minutes. I'll be at the gates of Castle Lestia.
"All right. I'll be waiting.

　I hung up the phone, packed up my documents and gave the Prime Minister, Kosaka-san, a heads up on where I was going. I thought about inviting Hilda as well, but I heard that they were discussing King Linie's affairs, and in the end I decided to go alone.
　When I transitioned to the front of the Restia Castle gate with the "gate", two Restia knights were already there waiting for me. Guided by them, I proceeded into the castle, and when I arrived at a secluded room, the knight who was walking at the front reverently opened the door.

''Hey, sorry to bother you. I just didn't know who to ask to speak with.''

　Reinhardt, who was sitting on the couch in the room, got up and greeted me. I thought it was better to talk to him in person rather than on the phone, since it seemed to be a deliberate move or something important to discuss.
　I sat down on the sofa across from my brother-in-law as recommended. After making the knight in the room step back, King Restia began to talk to me about the consultation.

'You know that Linier and Paloof were one step closer to war before, right?
Yes, thanks to the machinations of your former vizier, Waldac. It was a close call, but after King Regnier's accession to the throne, he managed to avoid it by switching to a more friendly path.

　Parnier, the largest island in the surface world, located in the northwest of the continent, has long been divided into two halves, Paloof to the north and Linier to the south, with a series of small conflicts.
　The northern country of Parouf was hit by a bad harvest caused by the Great Cold War. The deaths of the King and Vizier, and the deaths of the King and Vizier, were a perfect opportunity for Waldak, the then Prime Minister of Linie, to start a war.
　It was so close that we intervened and Wardak was ousted and war was averted. After that, Cloud, the new King of Linie, was supposed to take a friendly line with Paloof.

'My relationship with Paloof is generally good. Since the death of King Paloof and the accession of the Prince to the throne, things have settled down internally. Trade is going well. But there are some problems...
Problem?
"The former King Parouf had two children. One was Princess Lucienne Dia Parouf. The other was her brother, Prince Ernesto Din Parouf. The older one, Princess Lucienne Diaz-Paloof, and her brother, Prince Ernesto Dinh-Paloof, have become friends with the King of Linie. They're getting along well.
Oh, yeah. That's great.

　Is that what you call a spring in the cloud? I've had that idiot prince (fake) following me around for a long time. I'd like to see him forget his miserable youth when he didn't have freedom and enjoy his dreams and love and youth.
　But what's the problem?

That's my brother, Prince Ernesto. He is only ten years old and still on the throne. He has the support of his brother, who is now regent, and all the chief advisors, but he is still a child. And he's still very close to his sister.
'Haha, you don't like King Linier for fear he might take your sister?
Well, it's easier said than done.

　The knight-king laughs with a wry smile as he says that.
　Well, it's not hard to understand. His father is dead, he's been feted by the king inexplicably, and even his sister is about to leave him, which must be hard for a ten-year-old to accept.

'So what are the thoughts of Paloof's overlords?
'I'm told that it's being viewed favorably by the chief ministers as a good opportunity to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
What about them?
At the very least, King Linier seems to want Princess Lucienne to be his queen, but it's the princess who matters...
You don't want to get married?
'Not really, but I can't leave my younger brother to marry, I guess. The princess is now, I think, 19......... Waiting for King Ernesto to grow up would be a pretty late marriage, and even King Linier has the problem of succession. It might be hard to keep waiting.

　If Prince Ernesto, or rather King Ernesto, is 15 to stand on his own, then five more years...is it a long time to wait until he's 24?
　In this world, women usually get married at around 20. It's even lower for royalty and aristocracy, and it's not uncommon for them to get engaged at 13 or 4. But to marry so late in life at 24 is still very strange to me.
　I heard that Princess Lucienne also had a fiancé of a high nobleman, but her partner died of illness without ever seeing her, and then she was late to meet him due to the problems with her predecessor.
　You'll be able to find out more about the best way to get the most out of your own personal life.
　Even in Linier, the only member of the royal family is Cloud. I'm sure there is a desire to have an heir among Linier's chief advisors. I'm sure there are those who would like to find a wife for him. There are many noblemen who would like to have a daughter of their own if possible.
　Normally, the second queen would be fine with that.

The first queen is a nobleman and the second queen is a princess, but this is not good. The people of Paloof might think that I'm disrespecting them. It would be a different story if he could take more than one princess like His Majesty the King.

　Oops, it's kind of jumping off the page over here, I thought.
　In my case, I haven't decided on the first and second queens, but it seems that Yumina is taken as the first queen and Lou as the second queen by the public. By the way, it is said that the third queen is Hilda, the sister of the knight king in front of me.
　If Else, Linse, and Yae start out as common people and are determined by bloodline, then the fourth is Sue, the fifth is Lean, and the sixth is Sakura?
　Sakura is the blood of the Demon King of the Demon Kingdom Xenoas, but she's a bastard, and that fact isn't well known to the public. Lean was the chief of the fairy race, and maybe even higher than Sue.
　Well, I'm not in the business of ranking them.
　But it seems that this is not the case in other countries.

I'm sure you've got the gist of it, but.......so what do you want me to do?
To tell the truth, this King Ernesto here has a terrible crush on His Majesty the King. Normally, he doesn't even try to talk to King Linie, but when he talks about Brunhild and the king, he is bent on hearing about it. I guess children admire heroes after all.
...Are you sure?

　No, it's kind of a happy, what a subtle feeling. I didn't do anything to be called a hero. I just happened to have a lot of things going on and I was just scratching my feet under some uncontrollable circumstances. You could say that I was carried away by the situation.

'I mean, consultation is...'
"I hope His Majesty will convince King Ernesto. For a brighter future for Paloof and Linier.

　Right? I thought it would come to that.
　In Paloof's opinion, though, it would be more beneficial in many ways to have the princess marry him. It's difficult to know if it's okay to take away an older sister from a boy for that purpose.
　I sincerely hope that he doesn't try to persuade her to marry him, but I'm not sure it will be that easy. They are children.

You'll have to go to King Linie's for now and ask him about it. Maybe he has some ideas on the other side.''

　It's no wonder that unrelated strangers are discussing things like this. If he doesn't have any intention of doing so, then it's just unnecessary meddling.
　I contacted King Linie on my phone, and just as I heard that his plans for the rest of the day had been cancelled, I set up a meeting with him. On the other hand, Restia Knight King has plans after this, so I'll go alone. I've been told to take care of him, though. The king of Linie is a good friend, isn't he?
　When I take the "Gate" to the gate of the castle, I find that one of the two gatekeepers is sitting on his haunches. It's a shame, I should have gone out to a more secluded area. But the other gatekeeper seemed to know me and immediately contacted the castle and after a while a familiar old man arrived.

''Well, well, well, His Majesty the Duke of Brunhild. It's been a long time.''
'Marquis Koop no, Prime Minister Koop, I'm sorry for the unexpected visit.

　You can still see the muscles of an old man, even through the vizier's robe. It's a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

I have a request from the Knight King Restia. It's about the king here and the princess of the neighboring country.
'I see. We're not sure what to think. It seems His Majesty has no intention of having another consort. Well, there's also the matter of His Majesty the King's predecessor. Perhaps he believes that an unwanted marriage will only bring him misfortune.

　Oh, yeah. So there.
　Cloud's father, King Linier the First, married Queen Dacia without love. As a result, he was tricked and his life was swept away with that foolish prince as his own son. Because of this, he may instinctively avoid political marriages without love.
　If it were true, as a king, he should put the country first, but that's not very nice.
　Well, it seems that his majesty is happily married to Queen Elia, Cloud's mother.
　Anyway, we need to ask him or her about it. I'm not going to be able to get to the bottom of it.

It's true that I want the Princess of the Paloof Kingdom, Lucienne, to be my consort. But I don't want to hurt the young King Palouf's heart for that. All I have to do is wait.
But as a Linier vassal?
To be honest, I personally don't mind this, but it is a fact that we are receiving a lot of pushback from the domestic aristocracy. For our country, the succession of the family is a matter that should take precedence over anything else.

　Prime Minister Koop replied with a difficult look on his face. That's right. If the brotherless Cloud cannot have a child, the Linier royal family will cease to exist. It's a big problem, but I don't think it's so urgent. You are still young.

Can't you just get engaged for now?
'You are engaged, but you're going to wait five years to get married? Sooner or later, the people will realize why. It would be like saying that King Palouf is a selfish king who doesn't want to leave his sister. I think they will have a difficult time with that.

　Prime Minister Koop has a good point, but he's just a kid, so I think it's inevitable. I know it's not what you want, but you shouldn't become a king at such a young age.

''The other side's chief ministers want the two of you to marry, don't they?
'For the most part, yes. Some of the nobles who think the princess is going to be their son's wife seem to be against it.

　Hmmm, isn't that what they're trying to tell the boy king? He said that if he gave her up as a wife to Linier, she would be unhappy or something.
　To be honest, I heard that the reputation of the Linier royal family was not very good because of that idiot prince (fake).
　If you're perceived as Zabun's younger brother, your image will be in a bad way. You can find out that they are actually bloodless strangers, and their treatment should have been conveyed to Paloof.

You'll be able to see how King Linie feels. Apart from that, I'd like to meet King Paloof as well, can you ask him to bridge the gap between us?
"For King Paloof? I appreciate that. It would be very gratifying. I will be able to meet His Majesty the King, whom I have always admired.

　It's odd to be a king who admires the king of another country.
　I'd like to meet him, even if I had to convince him or something like that. Of course, it would be nice to be able to get away from my sister.
　It's a problem if you make it worse and end up as a severe cis-con.
　I hope I can find a good solution. Oh dear.