Meeting Charlotte outside the conference room was harder than I thought.
Unlike the relationship between the Emperor and Alice, which was almost entirely dependent on Alice’s efforts, the relationship between Charlotte and the King was a pretty good father-daughter one. While it couldn’t be compared to the warmth of a typical common family, the familial love was definitely present.
And that seemed to be why the King figured that Charlotte would want to help me.
To prevent that, he apparently thought the best way was to make sure I didn’t run into Charlotte.
Of course, such a “method” didn’t work on me. If my abilities were paralyzed, that might be one thing, but I was someone who could rewind time multiple times.
Moreover, I could think of methods I could never have imagined in my original world. For instance, unlike my former self, who was a life-weary office worker starting to develop a belly, I had received quite a bit of training here.
I could sneak up to the roof where Charlotte’s room was and tie a rope to climb down to her window.
“……”
Charlotte didn’t seem to be in a particularly confined mood. Rather, she looked like she had just heard that she shouldn’t meet with ‘those kids’.
Though her expression was dark as she sat in her room, she didn’t seem overly troubled. …I guess that’s obvious? It hadn’t even been a day since we last saw each other.
“You’re the only princess who climbs roofs just to see a friend, you know.”
As she opened the window for me, Charlotte said that.
I didn’t bother to respond and hopped into the room.
Charlotte’s room was… clean. Well, to be honest, my own room in the Imperial Palace was also quite clean. After all, there was no real reason for royal or noble rooms to be dirty. Servants come to clean them at regular intervals.
However, the atmosphere itself was a bit cozier and more feminine than either mine or Alice’s room. Hmm, not sure if it had a girly vibe. I mean, the style of this era leaned more towards Victorian design. Even if it was slightly modernized compared to the actual Victorian era, some old-fashioned feel was unavoidable.
For instance, there was a floral embroidery on the guest chair, and the table had various decorations… but it looked elegant without being excessive.
“Did you come because of what’s happening outside?”
Charlotte asked as I silently scanned her room.
“More than that, I came to check if you were okay.”
“…Is there any reason for me to not be okay sitting in my own room back home?”
Well, judging from her expression, it didn’t seem like she was truly okay.
Saying such a thing when she probably had a mountain of worries wouldn’t have much weight.
“I think it’s not very okay that there’s someone sneaking into the princess’s room through the roof in broad daylight.”
Of course, I couldn’t outright say that her expression didn’t look okay, so I made my own little joke.
“……”
And the joke worked out beautifully in a bad way.
“I just heard an explosion outside a moment ago.”
“……”
Hmm.
Actually, there were a few snipers on the roof, and I caused a small explosion to draw their attention.
“Given that it was an explosion in a deserted area and outside the palace, it’ll end up being a minor commotion.”
When I answered calmly, Charlotte shot me a sidelong glance—
—And that glare quickly turned into a chuckle.
Her laugh burst forth with a pfft, sounding so ridiculous that I didn’t think it was just a forced chuckle. In fact, it seemed like she found the whole situation genuinely funny.
“…Hah.”
After laughing for a while, Charlotte looked at me, who was frozen in surprise, as if to say, ‘This is absurd.’
“It really is ridiculous. Isn’t it usually a prince in love with a princess sneaking into her room in such situations?”
“If you say it’s my fault for causing the explosion and climbing through the window, I have nothing to say, but I don’t think that’s my fault.”
If I had the choice between becoming a super handsome guy or a super pretty girl, I would have confidently chosen the guy side.
*
There was a ruckus in the conference hall, but in fact, the kingdom had no other choice.
After all, ‘someone’ had to confirm things.
Of course, that didn’t mean they were about to barge in today or tomorrow. Before that, there was a mountain of tasks that had to be sorted out.
The kingdom’s stance, the differences in positions between the royal family and the nobility, the slowly rising chaos in the Empire, the turmoil in the imperial army due to the sudden disappearance of its commanders, things like that wouldn’t just vanish as soon as it was decided to ‘go to the Papal State.’
Moreover, the nobles of the kingdom couldn’t really argue in front of me. Once I left the room, they fought among themselves.
…Well, there really was no choice.
Even if the light rising from the Papal State quickly dissipated and the Emperor walked out unharmed, it would eventually end up as a happening that wouldn’t matter much. However, honestly, it seems that hardly anyone in the kingdom’s upper echelons saw things so optimistically. While they were talking about the relation with the Papal State and such, at the end of the day, it was still just ‘another country.’ No matter how many believers of the Goddess there were in the kingdom, there were still considerable factions that were not.
If we fail to take any action while minding that small country, that would be quite embarrassing in itself.
“Besides, the Kingdom of Iberia has started to move.”
Sitting across from me at the table, Charlotte slid over a piece of paper. The paper had a picture printed on it showing the situation in the distant Papal State, and below it were a few lines of news about the Kingdom of Iberia.
The Papal State was a small city-state wedged between the Kingdom of Velbur and the Kingdom of Iberia. While the Kingdom of Iberia was also heavily influenced by the Goddess Church like Velbur, that’s precisely why there were opinions that its situation needed to be ‘checked.’
Considering the history of the Papal State, it made more sense for the Kingdom of Velbur to investigate rather than the Kingdom of Iberia. After all, that land had become part of the Papal State after negotiations with the Kingdom of Velbur.
However, stalling for time was disadvantageous. The longer we dragged this out, the more countries would start to take an interest in the situation of the Papal State.
“I don’t think it’s the news, though.”
“Velbur has already introduced advanced technology in important areas. Even if it looks like this, they have a few flying machines. In the few hours we’ve just been resting, it’s enough time to gather information. They have an embassy in the Kingdom of Iberia as well. Though it might not be at the level of the Empire, they are still gathering intelligence.”
“No, that’s not it.”
I pushed the paper back towards Charlotte and said.
“The Empire is relying too much on the Emperor. It’s not that the Empire doesn’t have an intelligence department, nor do I think that the information-gathering abilities of the various armies and nobles are lacking…”
Ultimately, the existence holding the most crucial information was the Emperor, and he hardly shared that information with others. Moreover, those who gather that information are often individuals directly appointed by the Emperor rather than spies of the Empire.
“Is that so?”
Charlotte rarely wore a somewhat pleased expression at my words.
“By the way, can I show you this kind of information?”
“Didn’t you come looking for this kind of information?”
At Charlotte’s words, I momentarily fell silent.
Um… More than that, I really did come to check if she was okay.
If the King’s words were to be believed, Charlotte wouldn’t be able to follow us. In the original work, the Kingdom of Velbur was in utter chaos, to the extent that the kingdom couldn’t find Charlotte’s location. However, now, the situation in Velbur was even less chaotic than that of the Empire.
Even if I couldn’t take her with me, I just wanted to see her face and have a conversation first.
Not just with Charlotte, but with all the companions who came along.
“……”
Seeing me lost in thought, Charlotte’s brows narrowed slightly.
“I’m saying this just in case, but if you hear ‘stay here and wait,’ you won’t just sit around waiting, will you?”
Though not to the level of Alice’s mind-reading, Charlotte had a knack for reading the atmosphere. Maybe it’s because she was royal to the bone?
“They will put up a barrier to keep you from leaving, Princess.”
When I said something so obvious, Charlotte’s gaze slightly shifted.
It was directed toward the window where the rope still hung down.
…Oh.
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