Chapter 121: The Seeds Once Sown
“Did you learn anything from the history of the Parwar Empire?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded clearly.
At the same time, I wrapped my arm around Audrey’s shoulder and gently patted her head.
“It might not lead directly to anything, and it could end up being a futile effort. However, I have one thing I want you to do, Audrey.”
“Yes. Please feel free to ask, Your Majesty.”
Audrey subtly drew back.
She separated from my embrace, stood directly in front of me, and stared straight at me.
The atmosphere that had enveloped us moments ago shifted in an instant.
I was impressed by how swift that change was.
“You can start tomorrow, or any time while I’m still in the Imperial capital. I want you to hold a tea party gathering the wives, concubines, and other women of the Princes and high-ranking officials, including Oscar’s legal wife.”
“…What should I try to find out?”
Audrey was a clever woman. She immediately understood from my words that this was more than just idle chit-chat.
“Of course, the top priority would be matters of the bedroom.”
“That’s true.”
Audrey nodded firmly.
“Matters of the bedroom” refers to the interactions that occur between a man and a woman in their private quarters.
“It’s a strange thing, but for some reason, whether in the past or present, most men tend to chatter away when they are with a woman they’ve slept with.”
“It’s likely because they want to show off their good side to the woman.”
“I see.”
I nodded slightly. That element element probably did play a role, I thought.
“Then wouldn’t it be enough to just deal with Oscar’s legal wife?”
“If something were to happen, though…”
I said this with a serious expression.
“Oscar alone wouldn’t be able to do much; a significant number of high-ranking officials would have to be involved.”
“…That’s true.”
“Furthermore, if we’re in the preparation stage, she might casually let slip, ‘The Eighth Prince has been visiting frequently lately,’ indicating a decrease in her guard. If it’s not set in stone, she wouldn’t have to keep it a secret.”
“Indeed. Doing that would only make it suspicious.”
“Exactly.”
“You truly are impressive, Your Majesty. Understood, please leave it to me.”
“Do you think you can manage?”
“If it’s just women talking, that’s easy enough. Occasionally, I might use you to get some leverage—”
“Ahahaha, that’s no problem; go ahead and use me to your heart’s content.”
I looked up at the sky and laughed heartily. Since it was a conversation among women, I could roughly imagine what they would discuss.
Be it an Emperor or a Prince, perhaps it wouldn’t be that different.
If information can be obtained merely by them gossiping of me without my knowledge, that’s a bargain.
“I’m counting on you, Audrey.”
“Yes…”
Audrey smiled gently, and the atmosphere around her transformed once again as she nestled back into my embrace.
☆
The next day, at Alice’s shop.
It was the final day before the Imperial expedition, when I could go out in the city one last time.
After tonight, preparations would speed up rapidly, and my body wouldn’t be fully available, so I came here to unwind while I could.
On the stage, Alice was singing.
She would accompany me for the expedition as a distraction, and that’s why I thought it best to listen to her now.
I wanted to hear her sing, purely and without extra thoughts.
While the technical aspects wouldn’t change, singing—music—expresses a person’s emotions vividly at that moment.
I believe the best version of Alice’s singing can only be heard at this establishment.
As I thought that, I listened to Alice’s song from a special seat prepared by the familiar shopkeeper.
“Um, well…”
“Hmm?”
I was interrupted from the side. When I turned to look, I saw a timid-looking young man standing there.
He seemed visibly anxious, glancing around while looking at me with a nervous expression.
“Hey, you—”
He spoke up during Alice’s song, almost as if to interrupt her.
Noticing this, the shopkeeper, a little further away, approached with a furious expression, but suppressed his voice to ensure it wouldn’t disturb Alice’s singing.
“Good.”
I held out my hand and stopped the shopkeeper.
Since I said it was fine, the shopkeeper quietly bowed and retreated back to his original position.
The shopkeeper usually stands by like this when I’m around.
He can quickly move and address any issues that arise—just like now.
I had the shopkeeper step back and focused my gaze on the young man, observing him while I asked again.
“What’s up? Do you need something from me?”
“Um! I-I’m a servant at Lord Oscar’s mansion.”
“Oh.”
I nodded slightly. I couldn’t be sure yet, but it sounded like the young man knew that I am Emperor Noah.
That said, I couldn’t just ask him about it here.
The Thirteenth Prince, a long-time patron of Alice, is now the Emperor.
While it’s an open secret in this establishment, making it too obvious would cause a stir, so we both keep it discreet.
Publicly known secret or not, it is still, formally, a “secret.”
“So, what do you need from me?”
“Um! Just the other day! M-master—no, Lord Oscar was saying something ominous.”
“Ominous?”
My eyebrows raised in surprise.
In that moment, I felt my head growing cool, and Alice’s singing began to fade away sharply, slipping past my ears. I could only hear the young man’s voice in front of me.
“Yes! Someone who used to work in Lord Oscar’s old mansion, but is now a high-ranking official, came back.”
“You mean a family member?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
“Hmm, and what did this family member say?”
“They were having a private conversation with Lord Oscar, and I hid outside to listen. I could only catch a little of it, though.”
“…What did you hear?”
“Um… I think it was something like, ‘We will accompany you? There could be accidents on the battlefield.’”
“…”
I didn’t respond. I thought it was better to remain silent than to say something clumsy in response.
“After that, the person who used to work in the old mansion said something about it being a perfect opportunity to make a decision about the Imperial throne. I—I didn’t understand most of the conversation, but when I heard that last part, I thought it was definitely not good, so…”
The young man pleaded earnestly.
Though he wasn’t good with words, his sincerity felt genuine.
“I understand the story.”
“Y-yes!”
“But I have a question.”
“Huh?”
“Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you a servant of Oscar?”
“That is…”
The expression on the young man’s face changed.
Just a moment ago, he had been timid, showing an excessive degree of desperation, but in an instant, his demeanor shifted.
Determination—an unshakeable resolve no matter what.
I could read that emotion clearly from his face.
With that determination, the young man spoke.
“I’m from Dosso.”
“Dosso…”
That name sounds familiar. Where exactly was it… Ah.
It’s Zoe’s hometown, which was hit by flooding about ten years ago.
At that time, after the flood, Zoe had wanted to leave my service.
Her reason was that the disaster had caused her family to incur various expenses, and she felt she needed to leave the Prince’s mansion and sell herself at a pleasure quarter.
Being a maid at the Prince’s mansion paid better than many other places, but it was still less than what young women could make at a pleasure quarter.
Given the situation at that time, Zoe could have added the title “former maid of the Prince’s mansion” to her name for even better earnings.
Of course, I couldn’t allow that.
It would be infuriating to have one of my own maids end up in such a place.
So I took action. I pushed the relevant ministries to work on the restoration of Dosso.
I even pressed some agendas through that might have been a bit underhanded.
Early on, before the ministries began moving quickly, I used my own finances to buy up land in Dosso.
It is a common story for merchants to gather land and profit excessively during a disaster, so I did it first to protect it.
I’ve heard that my efforts paid off, and there were no secondary damages at least.
This young man seems to feel indebted to me as a result.
—————–
Name: Noah Ararat
The Emperor of the Empire
Gender: Male
Level: 17+1/∞
| HP | C+B | MP | D+C |
| Strength | C+S | Stamina | D+C |
| Intelligence | D+A | Spirit | E+B |
| Speed | E+B | Dexterity | E+B |
| Luck | D+C | ||
| Fire | E+S+S | Water | C+SSS |
| Wind | E+C | Earth | E+C |
| Light | E+B | Darkness | E+B |
—————–
I caught a glimpse of the status in the corner of my vision.
I wonder if the young man is included in this ‘+’.
He wasn’t in front of me at the stage where loyalty was sworn, so I’m not quite sure about that.
…But, well.
I thought to myself that it should be okay, based on my experience.
“I see, it’s Dosso. It must have been tough during the floods at that age.”
During disasters, being young is certainly challenging, but there are even more difficult ages.
If you calculate backward, the young man was probably in his mid-teens at that time.
At that age, you have both physical and mental strength, and a sense of responsibility begins to form.
I can imagine that when disaster struck, various responsibilities and expectations would weigh heavily on him.
There are countless stories of a family that survived a disaster having all their burdens placed on the shoulders of a teenage boy.
This young man is likely one of them.
“It’s Thanks to you! Noah-sama, we were really helped! Because of Noah-sama, we are alive now!”
“I see.”
“When I came to the capital, the residence of the Thirteenth Prince no longer existed, so I had no choice but to serve the Eight Prince—but!”
The young man leaned forward, passionately asserting this.
“I’ve always felt grateful! That’s why I can’t overlook something like that!”
“I see…”
I nodded slightly.
The seeds that were sown that time are sprouting…
Well, I was rather surprised.
There is –>discord<— to get update notifications and releases? I am lazy af these days.
I’ll be counting these towards the sponsored chapters.(1/5)
I’ll try to finish these first then only after that I’ll put the kofi link below on this page.
TN: There may be some mismatches here and there, do tell me in the comments or in the discord.
Thanks for the treat.