Chapter 365 - Episode 357: A Father's Worries
"Is that really so?"
Princess Helga Revelant, the only daughter and heir to King Gabriel Revelant. Considering the flow of the conversation thus far, her remark was unnatural.
The Grand Duchy of Arqvist was tolerant of beastfolk, Noein's ideas were wonderful, and it was fortunate for the Kingdom of Revelant that such a person was the sovereign of a neighboring country. Everyone had no choice but to interpret her words as a denial of those opinions.
"And by that, you mean?"
Noein asked, maintaining a gentle smile.
"If the Grand Duchy of Arqvist is a country tolerant of beastfolk, then why do you still hold so many beastfolk slaves?"
Helga continued, her sharp gaze remaining fixed on Noein.
"Stop this, Helga."
"Especially that rabbit-person. It would be one thing if you merely employed beastfolk as slaves within your own country, but to bring a beastfolk slave to a place like this... I find it difficult to comprehend. I wonder if the Grand Duke of Arqvist is insulting our country."
The Queen tried to admonish her daughter, but Helga ignored her and spoke out.
Naturally, the atmosphere in the room froze. Gabriel's face turned grim in an instant, the nobles of the Kingdom of Revelant cast their eyes down while feigning expressionlessness or showing agitation, and Matilda and Yuri, feeling that the atmosphere was no longer conducive to continuing the meal, lowered their hands from the table.
"...Indeed, our country maintains a slave system following the social hierarchy of the Kingdom of Lordberg, from which we gained independence. I do not deny that there are beastfolk slaves."
Noein set down his fork and wiped his mouth, answering while maintaining a smile that would not be perceived as sarcastic.
Depending on the social climate, the proportion of slaves in the Kingdom of Lordberg was slightly over twenty percent of the population. In the Grand Duchy of Arqvist, a slave status existed in roughly the same proportion.
In the Kingdom, over seventy percent of the slaves were beastfolk, whereas in the Grand Duchy, the proportion of beastfolk among slaves was less than half. Considering that beastfolk made up slightly over twenty percent of the population in the Kingdom, while they made up slightly under forty percent in the Grand Duchy, it could be said that the proportion of beastfolk slaves in the Grand Duchy of Arqvist was dramatically low.
However, if one were to ask how the Grand Duchy was viewed by the Kingdom of Revelant—where beastfolk made up half the population, the royal family was a beastfolk clan, and no slave system existed—it was inevitable that a perspective like Helga's would emerge.
"I suppose that is the only way you can answer. In the end, is your country not just another companion among the nations that persecute beastfolk, like the Kingdom of Lordberg or the Kingdom of Lancel?"
"Silence, Helga."
Gabriel spoke then. It was a suppressed voice, but it contained an intense anger that made Noein's blood run cold just listening to it from the side.
However, although Helga closed her mouth, her face remained composed.
"Grand Duke Arqvist. My apologies. Just now—"
"Indeed, I can understand the feelings behind Princess Helga's words."
Gabriel tried to settle the situation, but Noein took up the topic Helga had raised.
He was not acting out of anger or impulsiveness. The opponent was the princess of a friendly nation with whom he would soon fight together. If he could correct her perception by speaking, he wanted to do so.
"The social climate surrounding beastfolk in several countries of the southern continent must not be pleasant from the perspective of everyone in the Kingdom of Revelant. However, I would like to offer an explanation regarding the lives of beastfolk in my Grand Duchy of Arqvist."
Amidst a reality where many things were irresistible, he, as a sovereign, provided the most comfortable environment possible for his subjects. This did not change whether they were humans, demi-humans, or beastfolk. Noein held that pride.
"Since the time I was a noble of the Kingdom of Lordberg, I have not held thoughts that compared beastfolk to humans or demi-humans. I intend to have treated the people living within my territory—the territory of the Grand Duchy of Arqvist as it is now—under that same philosophy."
Due to Noein's efforts since the beginning of the colonization, there was almost no difference in status based on race within the Grand Duchy of Arqvist. If one looked at the thoughts of each individual subject, there might be those who internally felt unpleasant toward other races, but at the very least, no social conflict had arisen.
Noein considered this a successful change to have built over the last ten-plus years.
"And as for this Matilda... she has placed herself in the status of a slave of her own will, serving as a presence who supports me both publicly and privately. She is also a noble of the Grand Duchy holding an honorary baronetcy. She is special to me, and I intend to treat her in a manner befitting that position."
In response to Noein's explanation, Helga looked at him with eyes as if seeing something suspicious.
"Then, are you saying that you love her? Can you truly say that?"
"Of course. I love Matilda from the bottom of my heart."
When Noein nodded without hesitation, Helga looked as if she had been caught off guard. Gabriel and the others also showed expressions of slight surprise at Noein's immediate answer.
"...But I hear that you have a human wife from a noble background. Your wife is human, yet while saying you love this woman, you keep her as a slave?"
"..."
Noein hesitated on how to answer Helga's question.
The relationship between Noein, Matilda, and Clara was special. What thoughts Matilda and Clara each held regarding their current positions, how the two of them loved and supported Noein side-by-side without distinction of rank, and what dialogues they had shared to build this relationship. He hesitated to explain those complicated circumstances in detail in a place where many were meeting him for the first time.
Interpreting Noein's silence in her own way, Helga took on a triumphant expression.
"You cannot answer. You say beautiful things with your mouth—"
"Silence!"
Gabriel shouted, slamming his left fist onto the table, and simultaneously threw an empty cup with his right hand.
The cup skillfully flew over the Queen, who was next to Gabriel, struck Helga's face, bounced off, and rolled across the floor. The bronze cup rolled on the cobblestone floor, echoing with a hard sound.
Perhaps actually frightened, Helga stared at her father with wide eyes. She held her cheek where the cup had hit, but since Gabriel had held back, she was not injured.
"They are friends and guests who have rushed here for the sake of our country. You have exceeded the limits of rudeness. You are not needed here. Leave this instant."
"...!"
Helga, her expression twisting with regret from anger and shame, gave Noein one last glare, stood up from her chair making a deliberate loud noise, and left the hall.
The sound of the door closing with force echoed, and once her figure vanished, an air of relief flowed among the subjects of both countries. Marquis Hakkarainen, for one, leaned back in his chair while letting out an explicit sigh.
"Grand Duke Arqvist, I am truly sorry. I apologize from my heart for my daughter's rudeness."
"...No, it is quite alright."
Noein responded gently to Gabriel and the Queen, who both bowed deeply together.
To throw something at the face of his own daughter, the princess, and order her to leave in front of foreign dignitaries and his own subjects—even if he had held back—was a rather decisive punishment. After seeing such an action and then having them bow, it would be immature to demand more apologies.
Besides, this assistance to the Kingdom of Revelant was also for the sake of his own country's interests. Unless the Kingdom of Revelant itself was unfriendly, he could not return to his country just because he was angry at the words of one young girl. He could not say that he bore no responsibility for having engaged with Helga's talk.
"It helps that you say so. Honestly, that girl..."
As he spoke and sighed, Gabriel looked not like a king, but like a mere father troubled by child-rearing.
"It seems Princess Helga holds complex feelings regarding the current state of the southern continent."
"Yes, that... well, how should I put it... in the northern continent, there are occasionally those who think that way. It is especially common among the youth."
The humans of the Kingdom of Lordberg and the Kingdom of Lancel, who persecute the beastfolk who are our kin, are clear enemies. Until they repent for their mistakes, there must absolutely be no exchange.
Gabriel explained that such ideologies had existed in the northern continent since long ago. He mentioned that there were even extremists who said things like, "Let us start a war in the south to liberate our oppressed kin."
"However, Helga has been educated as royalty. She is not a fool who says such unrealistic, extreme things. But whether it is the impulsiveness of youth or something else, she speaks of such things from time to time as if she suddenly remembered them. I told her not to be rude today, but to think she would behave so childishly... Truly, I do not know how to apologize."
"No, please, really do not let it concern you."
As he answered, Noein couldn't help but give a wry smile. He had heard that Princess Helga Revelant was currently seventeen years old. He thought to himself that she was likely at an age where she wanted to burn with ideals, a trait characteristic of youth around the age of adulthood.
"Of course, what she said is by no means the general will of our country. While we have our thoughts regarding the way the Kingdom of Lordberg and the Kingdom of Lancel treat beastfolk, that is a matter of a foreign land. We should not interfere lightly, nor is it a topic to be discussed now. Furthermore, I have heard of your governance regarding beastfolk. Let me state clearly that the Kingdom of Revelant harbors no ill will toward your country."
"Yes, I am aware. I understand that the Kingdom of Revelant has always shown friendship toward us."
"I see, then I am glad... Honestly, this makes me look like a king who cannot even properly discipline his daughter. No, perhaps that is actually the case. Perhaps I spoiled her too much because she is an only daughter."
As Gabriel lamented, he suddenly felt like an approachable companion, and Noein's smile deepened.
"I also have a five-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, and I am often tossed about by the unexpected words and actions of my children. Seeing Your Majesty's state, it makes me feel that parents are tossed about by their children no matter how old they get."
"Exactly. Once the children gain wisdom, the ways they toss their parents around become more diverse. I envy you, whose children are still young. At five and one, they must be at their most adorable."
With such conversation between Noein and Gabriel, the atmosphere of the place managed to recover, and the subsequent meal, lacking Princess Helga, proceeded harmoniously until the end.