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🕑 Added 2025-08-02 21:16:08 +0000 UTCEP.9 Childhood (4)
"Alright! Somehow the conversation has gotten long. Let's start the court meeting now. Chancellor? What's the first agenda item?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. First, the Baronies of Nikana and Teshida, which are responsible for guarding the central flanks of the Monster Mountains, have requested additional military support."
"Hmm~ I see... Things must be rough over there these days. But we can't pull any more troops from the capital's defense, can we? If we do, we'll be lacking reserves on the Teseito front."
To the emperor's question, Count Redbruck, Minister of Justice, replied.
"That's correct, Your Majesty. So, we are currently pushing a policy to send local prisoners to serve their sentences as soldiers instead. If we offer to halve their sentences, they will comply."
"Wouldn't that lower morale in the army? The soldiers might misunderstand, thinking they're being treated like prisoners."
To this, Marquis Zeitlitz, Minister of Military Affairs, answered.
"To prevent that, we plan to organize prisoners into their own units. These will be called penal units, with the commanders also being officers who have committed crimes, so they will be led by their own."
"Hmm... Is there any concern about rebellion or desertion?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. That's a valid concern. However, we plan to shackle them with magic restraints. If the commander doesn't input a specific code once a week, the shackles will explode. The commander will be required to get the code from the lord of the dispatched territory, with a slightly longer period."
"Hmm, good! Handle it that way. Next item?"
The emperor and his ministers processed various agenda items at a tremendous pace. Even to Yuno, it was impressive to see them maintain and further strengthen the territory expanded by the previous emperor, showing the administrative prowess of the current Emperor Karl III.
But Yuno had nothing to say, nor anything to meddle in, so he had to pinch his thigh to fight off the drowsiness.
"Your Majesty, the last item. The third princess of the Leon Kingdom, who was to study at our royal family, arrived today at 3 p.m. via the capital's magic circle."
"Hmm, was there anything unusual? Any chance an assassin arrived with her through the magic circle?"
To ease the emperor's concerns, Count Lichtenauer, commander of the Royal Guard, answered directly.
"Your Majesty! Viscount Speyer, the vice-commander of the Royal Guard, personally went to greet her, but the Leon Kingdom's third princess arrived alone, without a single attendant."
'Murmur murmur'
'Even if Leon lost the war to our Empire, sending a princess alone?'
'Honestly, even if it's just a pretext for study and really a hostage situation... shouldn't they have sent at least one escort or attendant?'
Bang bang bang!!
"Quiet, quiet! Let's break the habit of making such a racket in the court every time something comes up!"
"Chancellor, don't be so strict. Good policies come from a free atmosphere like this, don't you think? Otherwise, people will think you're handling everything by yourself. Hahaha!"
"Puahahahaha!"
The emperor's joke made the nobles burst into laughter.
Chancellor Marquis Mark's face turned red, but he didn't forget to glare at the senior officials and resolved to scold his juniors after the emperor left.
"Ahem, anyway, after the court meeting, we've prepared a welcome banquet on the second floor of the main palace, so please enjoy yourselves. Ah! And Your Majesty, you may retire right after receiving the Leon princess's greeting."
"Hahaha, the chancellor really knows my heart. The new concubine I took is so beautiful, I can't help myself even at this age. Kekeke."
At the emperor's words, the faces of the empress, royals, and nobles all wore bitter smiles.
Karl III was the only son of the previous emperor and had played a major role as crown prince in the Battle of the Zenon Plains, which created the current Balkan Empire, so he held nearly absolute imperial power.
However, the emperor did not treat his officials harshly, was not particularly extravagant, and often toured the country to observe the people and make policies truly a model ruler.
But he had one flaw: the emperor was an extreme womanizer.
If he had been an ordinary womanizer, people might have dismissed it as "the emperor just likes women," but the problem was that he didn't see women over sixteen as women a severe pedophile.
Empress Yuria, too, had never slept with the emperor after giving birth to Marie at sixteen, and the same went for all the concubines taken after Yuria.
When the last concubine turned sixteen, the emperor, while on an inspection tour, took notice of a ten-year-old commoner girl and brought her in as a new concubine.
Even Yuno shook his head at the emperor's behavior.
'At least all the concubines are commoners, so there's no interference from powerful relatives, which is good for my brother... and there are no children... not that it has much to do with me...'
As Yuno was lost in thought, trumpets sounded to announce the arrival of the Leon princess.
Step, step, step, step.
The sound of military boots, unfitting for a princess, echoed down the corridor, and soon the princess appeared. Shining blonde hair, a chest not fitting her age, and, most notably, a military uniform wrapped around her body hardly what one would expect from a princess.
"I greet His Majesty Karl III, the sole absolute ruler of the Balkan Empire. I am Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart, third princess of the Leon Kingdom."
Eliza, the third princess of the Leon Kingdom, saluted the emperor with a military gesture.
"Welcome to the Empire, Princess Eliza. You must have had a tough journey."
"Not at all, Your Majesty. I came via the spatial magic circle, and Vice-Commander Speyer took good care of me, so there was no inconvenience."
After the greeting, Princess Eliza handed the emperor the official letter from the Leon Kingdom. Marquis Garcia, the secretary, received the letter and passed it to the emperor, who skimmed it and handed it to the chancellor, saying,
"Hmm~ Leon wants to increase trade goods: more rubber, steel, and glue. And since farmland was destroyed in the war, they want us to provide some wheat. What do you think, Chancellor?"
"Rubber is certainly possible, but glue is a strategic material and may be difficult. All our production will be used up for arming the Imperial Army this year. Instead, I'll discuss sending more wheat with the Leon ambassador, Your Majesty."
"Well, I think you can handle that, Chancellor."
After saying this, the emperor instructed the finance minister to consult with the chancellor, then turned his gaze back to Princess Eliza.
"Ah, I made you wait while I discussed Leon's proposal. My apologies."
"It's fine, Your Majesty."
"Alright. How old are you, princess? I heard you were young, but you don't look so young."
"I am now eleven, Your Majesty."
Eliza maintained a stiff attitude befitting her attire, and the emperor's initial curiosity about the young princess quickly faded thanks to her demeanor and her large chest.
"So you're the same age as Yuno. Hmm~ I hear you didn't bring any attendants or escorts. Is there a reason?"
"Even if I brought an escort, if the Empire wished, killing me would be nothing. Would an escort really help my safety? And I don't think the Empire would be so petty as to not assign a maid or two to a hostage princess. And since I am here as a student, I expect to receive an education similar to the princes and princesses."
"Wha... what? What do you take our Empire for!!"
"A hostage?! Is Leon saying the Balkan Empire would take hostages?!"
Eliza's blunt words caused an uproar among the nobles. But the emperor calmed them with a gesture and burst out laughing.
Though he was over eighty, the power in his laughter made the nobles fall silent.
"Kahahaha, what a bold princess. Kahahaha. Charles really raised his daughter well. No manners at all she's just like Charles. Yes! You're right. You are a hostage. And our Empire is not that petty."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"But you must take responsibility for such remarks! Yuno!!"
Yuno was startled when the emperor suddenly called him, but soon calmed himself and stood to await the emperor's order.
"Yes, Your Majesty, your command?"
"From now on, you will attend all your lessons with Princess Eliza. That includes your physical training and military science classes!"
At this, the Minister of Military Affairs objected.
"Your Majesty! Military science includes information about the Empire's military operations, which are state secrets... Isn't that a problem?"
"Tsk! The level of military science a prince learns is already known to Leon! We're not the only ones with an intelligence agency, are we?"
"That's right, Your Majesty."
"Judging by the princess's attitude, attire, and requests, it would be good to give her an education similar to Yuno's. She seems to want that. So let's overlook minor secrets as a gesture of magnanimity."
'Normally, a hostage princess would just join the princesses' tea time or be tucked away in a palace corner... My father is being a bit petty. Telling her to keep up with my training... That princess is doomed starting tomorrow.'
Yuno thought the emperor had expected a delicate little princess for tea and walks, but instead got a tough, blunt princess and was a bit miffed.
'Even if she's a hostage, she's still a Leon princess, so he wouldn't mistreat her... but he's definitely sulking, haha.'
Yuno actually found the cheeky third princess of Leon rather likable. He was already looking forward to tomorrow's lessons.
As soon as Princess Eliza's greeting ended, the emperor retired to his concubine, and a grand banquet was held in the palace to welcome the Leon princess.
But perhaps because of her dramatic entrance at court, the nobles didn't approach Eliza, and only Baron Legasota, head of Imperial Intelligence, and Marquis Voello, Minister of Foreign Affairs, remained by her side, bombarding her with questions to extract information.
"Ahem ahem..."
Yuno approached from behind, cleared his throat, and asked the two ministers to give them some space.
"Ah! Prince Yuno! Please, have a seat! We didn't notice you arrived..."
"We'll step aside for a moment. Please, you two talk."
With a seat now open beside Eliza, Yuno sat down and greeted her.
"Nice to meet you. I am Yuno Alexander Windrage von Balkan, third prince of the Empire. As you heard from His Majesty, we're the same age, so just call me Yuno."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart. Please call me Eliza as well, Your Highness."
Their conversation ended there, and with nothing else to say, Yuno wondered how to break the awkward silence.
Just then, like saviors, his sister Isabella and younger sister Marie arrived at the banquet and ran over to Yuno.
"Oppa~~ we're here!"
"Yuno~ didn't you miss your sister?"
"It's only been five hours since we last saw each other... oof!!"
Isabella and Marie both threw themselves at Yuno, hugging him so hard that even Yuno, with his sturdy body, was momentarily shocked.
"Oppa! But who is this girl?"
At Marie's question, Isabella suddenly realized the princess from Leon was there and tidied her appearance.
"Marie!! You heard about her earlier!! My apologies. I'm Isabella Erica Windrage von Balkan."
Isabella introduced herself and nudged Marie in the side.
"Hmph... Sis, you always leave me out... I'm Marie Erica Windrage von Balkan. Just call me Marie. At first you didn't seem like what I expected, so I was confused. Sis, nice to meet you. Hehehe."
"Marie!!"
"It's fine, Princess Isabella. I'm Eliza Sinclair de Leonhart. Please just call me Eliza. Nice to meet you, Princess Marie."
At Marie's innocent words, Eliza smiled for the first time.
As they had said earlier, Isabella and Marie held tightly to Yuno's hands and wouldn't let go, so Yuno had to forcibly pry their hands off as he spoke.
"Haha, Princess Eliza, my sister and little sister are a bit childish... Sorry..."
"Hey! Yuno! You wanna die? Why are you putting me and Marie together like that, huh?"
"Well... Sis, you did the same thing, running up and clinging to me at first..."
"That's right! Oppa! No matter what, I'm better than Sis!"
The three siblings bickered as usual in front of the foreign princess, and this continued until Empress Yuria arrived to scold them.
"You really are!!! What are a prince and princesses doing acting like this at an official event? I'm sorry, Princess Eliza."
"Oh... no, please speak comfortably, Your Majesty."
Eliza couldn't possibly greet the Empress while sitting, so she quickly stood and bowed respectfully to Yuria.
"Hohoho, shall I? You'll be staying in the Empress's palace with me from now on, so feel free to relax. You must have had a hard time coming to the Empire, so come with me and rest. Staying here will only be tiring."
With those words, Yuria gently helped Eliza up from her seat.
"Your Majesty! If the guest of honor, Princess Eliza, leaves the banquet so soon..."
"Eh! From up here, I could see she was sitting alone, with only the intelligence and foreign ministers next to her, asking pointless questions, so I sent the children over! What are you doing to an eleven-year-old girl who came all this way alone!!"
The nobles, startled by the Empress's rare anger, bowed their heads.
"Anyway, you can handle the rest without the kids, so I'll take Princess Eliza to rest. Minister of Foreign Affairs, please wrap up the banquet."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Understood."
Princess Eliza, with a bewildered expression, followed Empress Yuria, and Isabella, Yuno, and Marie went with them to the Empress's palace.
