“Sounds hard… Anyway, let’s set that aside for a moment.” I asked the question that had been bothering me for a while now. “You’re the king, so why on Earth are you eating in here?!”
This was the castle cafeteria. What’s more, it was the general cafeteria which the soldiers and maids used. What we were eating right now was the A-Set lunch for this morning. The king of a country was sitting amongst the guards, eating the same food that they did. There were limits to how little dignity a king could be allowed to have.
“The constant curious glances from the guards and maids are starting to hurt, you know!” I protested.
“Don’t let it bother you. The whole castle is being frugal right now, so I can’t allow wasteful spending on my meals.”
“Didn’t you say austerity measures were a bad influence on the economy?!”
“If you just accumulate the money you’re saving, yes,” he said. “But if the extra money is used properly, it makes the economy go ’round.”
“Still, that doesn’t mean we have to eat here.”
“Well, do you want to eat this stuff at the big royal table? It’ll feel even more unsatisfying that way.”
“You may be right, but still…”
Even so, it felt wrong eating with all these people watching us. Even if I was used to it from my days at the officers’ academy, I was technically Souma’s fiancée, a person under the scrutiny of the masses, and to their eyes, here we were having a rendezvous. How could I stay calm like that?
I sighed. “If we’re cutting back on food costs, should I speak to my parents? They’re always eating cakes and such at tea time.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Those are all ‘offerings’ anyway.”
“Gifts, you mean?” I asked in surprise. Could our people afford to do that?
“Well, they’re from large stores and stores owned by the nobility, you see. Even with a guy like me as king, being a purveyor to the royal family is prestigious, apparently. Even with the food shortages, we still get sent a lot of stuff.”
“Please, don’t speak ill of yourself like that,” I said. “You’re a king now.”
“A lot of the foods are sweet, but they don’t have a long shelf life. Since I don’t have much of a sweet tooth myself, I give them to the former royal couple or the maids and have them write reviews. Then, for the ones that are rated highly, I give them a royal warrant of appointment. It’s gone surprisingly well.”
“So that’s why…” I murmured.
Lately, I’d been hearing “all’s not quiet on the weight-loss front” from the maids. There had even been reports that some of the maids were joining the guards for training.
…I’d better be careful, myself, I decided.
In contrast to me as I made promises to myself, Souma was looking off into the distance.
“I–Is something the matter?” I asked.
“No, it’s just… If the food budget were tighter, we might be subsisting on a diet of cake three times daily… Hahaha… I nearly put ‘If they have no bread, let them eat cake’ into practice myself.”
“If people didn’t know the circumstances, there could be a revolution over those words…” I said.
“You two seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
When I turned in the direction of the sudden voice, I saw a young man in the fluted armor (minus helmet) of the Royal Guard. He was tall, with a sufficiently sturdy frame, and from behind his long, straight blonde hair peeked a beautiful face that probably made him popular with the ladies.
“Why, Sir Ludwin,” I said.
“It has been too long, my princess. No… perhaps I should call you my queen now.”
“Um, well… I’m not either of those at the moment, actually.”
Seeing our exchange, Souma had a look on his face that said “Who is this guy?”
“Souma, this gentleman is Sir Ludwin Arcs of the Royal Guard,” I said, introducing him.
Despite his youthful age, just under thirty, Sir Ludwin was a genius who had been made head of the Royal Guard. In times of peace, the head of the Royal Guard was responsible for security in the capital, Parnam, as well as at Parnam Castle, but in times of crisis he was also given command of the king’s personal forces, the Forbidden Army. Though, that said, practical military control of the country lay in the hands of the Three Dukedoms.
“The Three Dukedoms” referred to the two dukes and one duchess who held control of the land, sea, and air forces.
The current holders of the Three Dukedoms were, as follows:
General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Army, Duke Georg Carmine. A beastman with a lion’s mane. He commanded his troops with the intensity of a raging fire, striking fear into the hearts of our enemies.
Admiral of the Elfrieden Kingdom Navy, Duchess Excel Walter. A sea serpent descended from pirates. She was an incredible woman, adept not only at fleet battles but also in politics.
General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Air Force, Duke Castor Vargas. A dragonewt. He was king of the skies and leader of the stars of the royal army, the Wyvern Knights.
In exchange for swearing fealty to the kingdom, their families were allowed to hold territory (duchies) within the kingdom, where they were given self-rule.
At the time of the kingdom’s founding, this kingdom having been created by the coming together of many races, this system had been put in place to protect their races from friction with the others. However, even now, with all of the races living in harmony, the system still remained in place. In exchange for territory, their families put their lives on the line to defend the country they loved. That was the pride of the Three Dukedoms.
However, at present, the Three Dukedoms had taken their forces and were secluding themselves in their own territories. It seemed these three, with their great love and respect for the former king, had not yet recognized Souma, who had ascended the throne in a manner that looked like he was usurping it, as their liege. That was the source of Souma’s current worries.
If you combined the three duchies, they made up a third of the country. Without their cooperation, Souma’s reforms would be difficult to accomplish.
I myself had written to Duke Carmine, who loved me like a daughter, a number of times, asking him to meet with Souma directly, but the reply was always, “As yet, I see no cause to trust him.”
He was a man who was resolute in his convictions, but I had never known him to be so blindly stubborn. So why was he being so stubborn this time? For my part, I hoped he would accept Souma as soon as possible.
Without any idea how I was feeling, Souma was shaking hands with Sir Ludwin. “I’m Souma Kazuya. Technically, I’m the king of this country now.”
“I’m Ludwin Arcs. I’ve heard rumors of your hard work from the civil servants.”
“Well, you tell those civil servants, ‘If you have time to gossip, work harder’ for me.”
“Hahaha, I’ll do that. Would you mind if I joined you for breakfast?”
“It’s fine with me.”
“Thank you.”
Sir Ludwin brought over a breakfast tray, and sat down next to me. “So, how are things going? With these reforms of yours, I mean, Your Majesty.”
“…Not so well,” Souma complained between bites of toast. “We’re especially suffering from a lack of qualified people. At present, I’ve inherited the previous king’s advisors. In other words, the people who left the country alone until it got this bad. Setting aside Prime Minister Marx, the rest are all useless.”
This country was an autocratic state. The will of the king was strongly reflected in its politics.
There was a Congress of the People which all citizens had the right to vote for representatives in, but it was merely a place where laws and policies to “suggest” to the king were drafted, and these laws and policies would later be “suggested” to the king by the prime minister. In short, it was a glorified suggestion box, and whether these suggestions would be implemented or not was entirely up to the king.