Chapter 16 - 2-6
When his son committed such an outrage against the princess, even Urgil Necrat felt a terror that made his knees buckle, and he prepared himself for his own execution and the forfeiture of his family's estate.
—I shall not leave this place alive.
He even thought as much. However, it was a needless worry. He was able to leave the Great Hall with all his limbs intact.
Just as he was taking his leave of the Great Hall, he encountered Count Corpes, Gilma Rigardie.
"Oh, Count Carossa, you were here?"
"Count Corpes..."
Gilma Rigardie was an Eberite who wrapped his slender frame in the cloak of the Prime Minister. He wore his loosely curled hair long, reaching down to his shoulders. He spoke while tilting his large, sharp nose up and down.
"Is this your son? As expected, his features differ from those of a city dweller. This is how a prince should be. Frailty is unacceptable."
"He is the one who recommended you to His Majesty," Necrat said in a voice that sounded half-dead, glancing back at his son. "Greet him."
"It is an honor, Your Excellency the Prime Minister. I am Yugis Necrat of Carossa."
Gilma Rigardie nodded deeply. "Serve without great error. Abandon dreams of leading an army and aim to distinguish yourself in scholarship. This is no mountain country. Get used to the way things are fought here. When do you begin your service?"
"I was told it would be as soon as preparations are complete."
"Very well. You must feel reassured as well, Urgil."
"I feel as though I might collapse into bed, Gilma."
"Hmm?" The Eberite Prime Minister tilted his large nose up. "...Come to think of it, your complexion does not seem very good."
"You should ask the people inside."
Twitching his mustache without any spirit, Necrat began to walk.
By the time they were descending the great staircase,
"Father," Yugis spoke in a flighty voice.
"..."
"Are you not going to hit me?"
"Hit you?" Necrat felt his age. His hair must have turned white in that single instant. "A branding iron. After that, I'll chain you in a dungeon. I'll sever the ties between father and son and treat you like a serf."
"...I see."
His son had done something audacious. He had dragged Princess Lucy down. Necrat felt the coldness of an axe. He hallucinated the sensation of an axe falling upon his own neck at the guillotine.
The princess, who had been quietly lowered to the floor by his son's hand, her face flushed red, ran to the King without saying a word and hid behind her father's back. Gazing at them over His Majesty's shoulder, Princess Lucy looked as if she were angry, and also as if she were frightened.
The history of the Siddim royal family is long. It is said that within a thousand years, there was a knight who kissed the Queen in front of the King. The King of that time reportedly let it pass with composure. "Proxy, good work." This anecdote conveys to the present the King's magnanimity and the nature of the trust between the King and the knight. Such tolerance likely continues to be passed down in the royal family as a royal virtue.
His Majesty Swad Alish also overlooks minor rudeness with a clear smile.
However, Princess Lucy is the sole exception. When it comes to Princess Lucy, His Majesty Swad Alish VII possesses neither magnanimity nor virtue. He dotes on her. Otherwise, he would never permit someone, even a princess, to stand upon the table. Princess Lucy—Her Highness Luchentin—is the sixth child of Queen Dravia. The Queen damaged her health during Princess Lucy's birth and passed away. The prediction made by Bishop Kofie, who stood there with his bald head shining at the wedding ceremony, had been greatly mistaken.
If she is the memento of the early-deceased Queen Dravia, the lords can fully empathize with His Majesty's doting. Because they think so, the nobles view Princess Lucy's selfishness with a smile.
And yet, a brat who descended from the mountains of Carossa...
Had dragged her down with rough hands.
His Majesty must have felt displeased. At worst, he might have caused an injury. Depending on where she hit... No, it is terrifying just to think about it. In the first place, as behavior toward royalty, is it not unthinkable?
Encountering the incident, Necrat, of course, gauged His Majesty's reaction.
The King, placing his hand over Princess Lucy's hand on his shoulder, stood up gently.
"Hmm, this is..."
And then he came toward them. "I must take a good look at his face."
"Your Majesty, um..."
He should have apologized for his son's insolence, but at that moment his blood was frozen and words would not come.
It is fine, His Majesty Swad Alish VII restrained Necrat.
"Yugis Necrat. You know of Me, yes?"
"Yes."
"Good, good. That was splendid. You caught her well. Moreover, it was amusing. It was a counter-move that left no room for carelessness, much like your father. Has your residence been decided?"
"Yes."
"You should begin your service as soon as possible."
"Father!" It was the princess's voice, echoing into the core of his brain.
"You heard My command, you heard the princess's words, and you followed them well," His Majesty continued.
"Father!"
"Would you tell him to surrender, perhaps?" His Majesty raised his voice, which resonated sonorously. "It goes without saying which of you lost."
His Majesty looked back at the princess and then surveyed the lords. "This man shall become My knight. Is that not so?"
Princess Lucy thereafter left the hall looking displeased, accompanied by four ladies-in-waiting.
"Count."
His Majesty's mood seemed exceedingly good.
"I have certainly taken this knight-apprentice into My care."
I see, Necrat bowed deeply and took his leave from the King's presence as if escaping.
Necrat sighed.
One could say he was lucky. Even if His Majesty had actually been offended, if he did not show it, he could consider it forgiven. However, Necrat was agonized. Since there was no reprimand from His Majesty, he could not hit his son in front of everyone. If he had dealt a single blow of punishment on the spot, His Majesty would not have doubted his loyalty.
"Father—" a carefree voice called.
"What."
"Are you angry?"
"Are you an idiot!"
He stopped his feet, clenched his fist, and looked down at his son. He collided with eyes that looked straight back.
"What did you do, Father? Even if I had to drag her down, I removed her from the dining table—"
"She is the Imperial Princess."
"I met His Majesty's expectations."
Having said that, his son tightened his lips.
The blood that had rushed up began to plummet. Urgil Necrat felt a chill.
"Do you truly think so?"
Yugis nodded.
"You and I should have been flustered and troubled there, becoming objects of ridicule."
There was no reply from Yugis.
Shaking his head, he began to walk with fast steps.
"This is not self-deprecation. This is a matter of how to conduct oneself."
"Even so... I am hurt. I shall act as if I didn't hear that."
"Listen well. We must not stand out. We only approach the center of power like shadows; we must not stand out. Not we, who have no ties to the Thora family. Those people will throw us into a grave as if spitting."
"If His Majesty speaks kind words to you, watch your back. His Majesty's favor is monopolized. We cannot touch even a single finger of it. The one ruling the royal palace is Sedias Thora."
"Are you truly serious, Father?"
"About what."
"Leaving the castle of Carossa and attending to His Majesty's side, and this is the result?"
"If I kick your balls, will that mouth close?"
"Please stop. I am now the King's knight."
"The people of the Thora family are the same. Those of higher rank than you."
Yugis fell silent. Father and son walked in silence for a while and emerged onto a sunlit corridor.
"However," his son broke the silence. "There was a result."
"What."
"I held the princess. Her scent remains in the back of my nose."
"Hmph."
"The princess has likely memorized my face and name as if they were carved in."
"Along with the worst possible impression."
"I want to take that lady as my wife."
"Then let us order a new table with stairs."
With his mustache tilted, Urgil Necrat wore a cold sneer.
"Besides, did you not make a vow that you would not engage in romance?"
"It is not romance. This is politics. Choosing a bride is politics. Please give me advice."
"Advice? Let's see. First, great luck. A massive achievement will be necessary. Military merit is desirable. Furthermore, you would need a big shot to promote you. Neither can be obtained without luck."
"Great luck," Yugis laughed. "If I had luck, I would have been born as the eldest son."
"In other words, it is impossible."
The second, third, and especially fourth sons of nobles are miserable. The eldest son obtains everything. It can be said that those other than the firstborn do not even have the opportunity to enter the world.
"Forget about choosing a bride. I have asked old man Laiel Gilmond to arrange a good one for you."
"It has been quite a while since I was told that."
Yugis's bride-hunting was struggling. As the fourth of the Necrat family, there were no noble daughters coming as brides. Yugis himself must surely know this.
—This one is hopeless.
When he thought that, a bit of pity sprouted.
"There is something I can teach you," Necrat said. "How to create a shadow."
"A shadow?"
"Something that has a form, but no substance. Such an illusion. Make the people around you believe that your schemes are succeeding; people will come to see the shadow more than the substance. Great luck often dwells in such shadows."
Leaving the castle, he joined the waiting servant and mounted his horse.
"I shall give you a punishment," he looked down at his son.
"A branding iron?"
"For the next two years, you shall not set foot in Carossa. Communication is also forbidden. There will be no allowance."
Yugis looked aside and sighed. "Humbly."
"Do not do anything reckless."
Having cautioned him, he parted with his son.
The Necrat family owns a mansion in Malfa City, but Yugis will not live there. It is the custom that students of the King's School all rent their own rooms.
Yugis will likely become a retainer.
If a son of a prestigious house is recruited into the King's School, he can become a military officer. Within the order with the King at the apex, they first attain the highest honorary positions. For the children of prestigious families, that is.
Not for the Necrat family. The Necrat family has a solid lineage and an ancient history, but they are not of the mainstream. The ones creating the order of the royal palace are the members of the Thora family. They monopolize the heavy positions and keep others away. Children of nobles who have no relationship with the Thora family have no choice but to become bureaucrats. Once they become bureaucrats, they must endure fifty or sixty years until they reach a position of responsibility. Most end their lives acting arrogant as petty officials.
That is fine. It cannot be helped.
Urgil Necrat has an ambition. He has a great desire to overthrow the Thora family and overturn the world.
Due to lack of power, the fulfillment is still far off, but at least he gave Yugis a place to belong.
It would be best if Yugis could serve in the palace for the rest of his life without causing trouble. He had been troubled by the lack of land to inherit, but in any case, Yugis was settled with this.
On horseback, while heading toward the mansion, Urgil was repeatedly tilting his head.
He thought he had settled it. He felt as if it were not settled.
When he said "Humbly," was his son not smiling a little?
When he started saying "Give me advice," was that voice not failing to hide his excitement?
He had a bad feeling. Necrat tilted his head once more and entered the mansion.