Chapter 366 - Episode 358: Teasing
The night had come, and after a dinner filled with turmoil, all that remained was to rest in their guest rooms.
Noein, Yuri, Pence, and Gustav, staying in the royal castle's guest rooms as nobles, held a brief discussion regarding the plans for tomorrow and beyond, summarizing the instructions to be given to the soldiers. Matilda then headed to the national army facilities next to the royal castle to deliver those messages.
There, she met Dant, the attendant in charge of the soldiers staying in the barracks, and conveyed the instructions. As she walked back through the corridors of the royal castle toward the guest room where Noein waited—she was suddenly called out to.
"Excuse me, could I have a moment of your time?"
When Matilda turned around, standing there was Princess Helga Revelant.
"...Do you have some business with me? If there is something I should convey to my master, I shall take your message."
Helga was a person of high rank in this country, but Matilda could not possibly hold a favorable impression of a woman who had behaved rudely toward her master at the dinner table just a short while ago and had casually referred to her own status. Her responding voice inevitably turned cold.
"No, I wish to speak with you. About what Grand Duke Arqvist said earlier... about his treatment of beastfolk."
While thinking that she was still bringing up that matter, Matilda kept her expression dead and remained silent.
"He spoke of how he loves and treasures you, but is that true? In truth, aren't you being forced to stay by his side as his slave?"
The tone and expression Helga used as she asked this were completely different from those she had directed at Noein during the dinner; she was gentle and sympathetic.
To think that she was actually being worried about by this woman. Matilda almost let her exasperation show on her face, but to endure it, she narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips firmly together.
Interpreting that gesture in her own way, Helga smiled.
"It's alright. This is a country with many beastfolk. Beastfolk are neither oppressed nor made into slaves here. So, please feel safe and tell me the truth—"
"With all due respect, Your Highness seems to be mistaken. I have received the utmost affection from Noe... His Excellency Arqvist. I, in turn, love His Excellency from the bottom of my heart. I have attained the highest form of happiness. There is nothing for you to worry about."
When Matilda answered, Helga's smile crumbled, perhaps because the answer went against her expectations, or perhaps because she had been cut off.
"...At what age did you become a slave?"
"I do not remember exactly, but it was during my early childhood. I have served His Excellency Arqvist since I was fifteen."
"Then you've known almost no life other than that of a slave. To be happy while remaining a slave is wrong. You must be deceived by Grand Duke Arqvist. How pitiful, because of the barbaric slave systems of the south... I simply cannot leave you be. I shall show you true happiness—"
"Please stop."
Matilda spoke, unable to suppress the strengthening of her tone.
"His Excellency Arqvist has visited your country leading an army to provide assistance, and I accompany him as his attendant. His Excellency would not be pleased if I were to engage in such a conversation with Your Highness. Please excuse me."
I am displeased right now. The only reason I maintain polite language is because you are the princess of an important neighboring country to my master. To convey this, Matilda spoke with a resolute attitude and a tone that brooked no argument.
"Tch! I am saying this for your own sake!"
Helga spoke with a flushed face and a frustrated expression. It seemed she had angered her. What should she do? While Matilda was thinking this—
"Matilda, are you alright?"
Having heard the voices arguing, Noein appeared in the corridor.
Helga, turning toward Noein, made a face as if she had chewed on a bitter bug. Noein, on the other hand, displayed a blatant, fake smile.
"My, Princess Helga. Is something the matter? Has Matilda been rude in some way?"
"...Grand Duke Arqvist. Just what on earth have you whispered into this girl's ear? How did you brainwash her to this extent?"
Hearing this, Noein couldn't help but give a wry smile. From those words, he could roughly imagine what kind of conversation Helga had been having with Matilda.
"Is it alright for you to discuss such things with me? You'll be scolded by your father again, you know?"
Whether it was because Noein's half-smiling inquiry grated on her nerves, Helga's expression distorted.
"This girl claims she is happy while remaining a slave, but I find that impossible to believe. This is abnormal. If it were me, I would immediately release someone I truly loved from their slave status and give them their freedom. What are your thoughts on this, Your Excellency?"
Tell me your excuses if you have any. As if asserting this, Helga wore a provocative look.
In response, Noein—stopped his fake smile and sighed with a straight face.
From the perspective of Noein, who had survived in noble society for over ten years and fought through numerous wars, the cries of such an ignorant young girl were not worth getting angry over. Still, it was tedious to be pestered continuously.
He decided he would bully her just a little bit.
"With all due respect, Princess Helga, it seems you do not well understand the current state of beastfolk in the southern part of the continent."
"Please do not make a fool of me. I have studied well how much beastfolk are oppressed in the south—"
"Certainly, you likely possess a great deal of knowledge regarding those current conditions. However, you seem to be very ignorant of the actual society of the southern continent."
Cutting off Helga's words, Noein directed a cold gaze toward her.
"When I was cast out from my birth home in exchange for the Arqvist Knight-Bachelor territory and obtained ownership of this Matilda, I was an existence who possessed not a single citizen, nor any proper assets or backing as a noble. I had nothing besides the lowest possible rank. You likely cannot imagine what would have happened if, in such a situation, I had freed Matilda and continued to keep her by my side. You are a fortunate person."
While sensing she was being looked down upon, Helga fell silent, unable to understand the true meaning of what Noein was saying.
"Matilda receives her master's love, is freed, and gains liberty. Indeed, on the surface, it sounds like a beautiful story. But what happens after that? This is not a fairy tale, so it does not end with 'and they lived happily ever after.' I wanted to be with my beloved Matilda forever. She felt the same. We wanted to be happy together. For that purpose, we chose this relationship."
As he spoke, Noein passed by Helga and came to Matilda's side. Matilda drew closer, until their arms were touching, as if leaning into him.
"In the Kingdom of Lordberg, beastfolk face discrimination. That is a fact, regardless of whether I personally dislike it. If I had loved a beastfolk in such a society and declared it publicly—if I had made her my wife—the persecution would have extended to me as well. I would have been unable to gain power as a noble and would have fallen into ruin. Matilda, having become the wife of a noble despite being a beastfolk, would have faced all sorts of harassment, and in some cases, she might even have been assassinated by conservative nobles. As an existence that disturbed the dignity of noble society and defiled the kingdom's nobility."
In reality, there were a very few beastfolk among the kingdom's nobility, but those were exceptional cases—either possessing special backing like the Milleon Holy Church Mission, or contributing to the country through extraordinary achievements and being granted a one-generation honorary nobility by the King. Noein knew of no instance where an ordinary landed noble had taken a beastfolk as a wife and lived peacefully.
"Slaves are regarded as things. It may indeed be a cruel system. However, by utilizing this system, Matilda was able to continue standing by my side. If I were to bring along a beastfolk wife, I would be regarded as a heretic, but if I accompany a beastfolk slave, I am merely an eccentric, a whimsical man. If Matilda became a noble lady, she would be regarded as an enemy by other nobles, but as my slave, she is merely a possession with terribly bad taste."
Always accompanying one's favorite slave was, so to speak, like bringing a doted-on pet everywhere. If it went too far, one would be viewed with exasperation or ridiculed, but whether one accepted such mockery was a personal matter.
After all, she was someone else's slave. A possession of bad taste. It would be absurd for conservative nobles to get seriously worked up over a mere beastfolk slave. By taking advantage of the pride of such conservative nobles, Noein and Matilda had gained the freedom to always be together.
"Fortunately, I possessed enough talent to rise up, overcoming the evaluation of being an oddball. However, I would not have been able to survive while being treated as a heretic and obtain my current position. If you wish to call this a lack of ability on my part, I can only answer that you are correct."
Gently grasping Matilda's hand, Noein laughed self-deprecatingly.
"We had these circumstances. Within an irresistible reality, we used our wits, I made my own efforts, and that is how we are now. Without parting from Matilda, we supported each other, survived, and now I have even been able to grant her an honorary Knight-Bachelor title. If you had started life from the same position and there was a way to navigate the world more skillfully, I would be happy if you could teach it to me."
It was blatant irony, and that was conveyed to Helga as well. Helga's face distorted with shame.
"T-Then, how do you intend to explain the fact that you still keep her in slave status even now? And the fact that you maintain the slave system in the Grand Duchy? Two years ago, you became the sovereign of a nation after gaining independence from the Kingdom of Lordberg, did you not? Now that you are in a position where no one can interfere, how can you excuse leaving such problems unaddressed?"
"...Hmm~"
Noein groaned with an expression mixing exasperation and a wry smile, turning his face away from Helga to scratch his head.
After thinking for a moment, he looked back at Helga.
"Then let me ask you: in the Kingdom of Revelant, where there is no slave system, can you assert as a princess that all subjects are satisfied with their position and live without a single complaint?"
Looking as though she never expected to have a question thrown back at her, let alone such a question, Helga wore a taken-aback expression.
"You seem to have a fixation on the word 'slave.' It sounds as if you believe that even if I do not change Matilda's treatment at all, she would suddenly become happy just by being released from slave status. Regarding the subjects of slave status in my country, you seem to believe that as long as the word 'slave' is not used, they will all be redeemed in every aspect. Then, the people of your country, where there are no positions named 'slave,' must all be satisfied with their way of being and feel happiness. Am I wrong?"
Pressed by the onslaught, Helga was at a loss for an answer. Even Helga did not believe that the Kingdom of Revelant was a perfect country. There were gaps between rich and poor, and though small, there were walls between races. She was not so conceited as to declare before the sovereign of another country, "Unlike your country, every single citizen of my country is happy." That was precisely why she fell silent.
Watching that reaction, Noein understood himself that this was a sophistry intended to divert the point of contention. Despite that, he deliberately used sophistry to silence Helga.
The fact that Matilda, after various experiences and thoughts, had chosen her current status seeking psychological security. The unique cooperative relationship between Matilda and Clara. He hated the idea of explaining such circumstances to this Helga.
Regarding the slave system, if he intended to explain the reason for maintaining it, he could.
Sudden social change brings pain and, in some cases, bloodshed. If one casually infringed upon the property rights or feelings of citizens who owned slaves, conflict and clashes would arise in various situations, the order of the country would be disrupted, and that would ultimately result in loss for the citizens.
What would happen to natural-born slaves, who until now only had to do what they were told, if they were suddenly told they were free, yet they could not read, write, or calculate, and were told to arrange their own work, achieve independence in living, and handle taxes and other procedures all by themselves? Thoughtless slave liberation would instead create those who become unhappy.
He could not bring such chaos to the newly independent Grand Duchy of Arqvist.
It was tedious to explain such things to Helga at length.
"...Furthermore, do you understand what it means to say such things to me, a general of an allied army? Are you prepared to discard actual interests that determine the survival of your country in order to assert your own political correctness? You likely grew up seeing only your father, a rational sovereign who acts considering the actual benefits of the state. However, in this world, there are also sovereigns who move by emotion. What would you do if I were such a person?"
Upon being told this, Helga's eyes showed blatant fear. In response, Noein sighed again.
"If you are frightened by this much, you should have been cautious with your words and actions to begin with. You should have been grateful for your father's kindness in letting it end with a reprimand, and behaved quietly thereafter. If tomorrow morning I tell your father about this conversation and say that I am displeased by the internal interference and wish to return, how will you take responsibility? What if your father says to me, 'I shall punish my daughter as you wish, so please fight alongside us'?"
Noein wore a deliberately malicious smile, and seeing it, Helga's face turned pale.
"Since it seems your thoughts do not extend that far, that is why I said you are fortunate. I shall act as if this conversation never happened, but please consider that the next time, it will become a problem between nations... My apologies, but I am tired. I have only just crossed the Lestio Mountains over the course of half a month to provide assistance to your country. May I rest for today?"
"...T-That is, my apologies. I-I apologize for the current conversation as well."
Perhaps intending to show an apology for the time being, Helga bowed her head as if headbutting the empty air, then turned on her heel and departed.
"Honestly, she's young and naive. It's exhausting for those of us forced to deal with her. I'm not her parent."
"It is exactly as you say, Noein-sama."
After Helga disappeared from sight, Noein muttered in a small voice. Matilda returned the words of agreement, her voice tinged with more emotion than usual.
She is likely at that painful age where she believes herself to be clever and wants to show off that cleverness. If this were his own child, Noein would explain things to her carefully, but her education was Gabriel's job. After today's dinner incident, he too would likely reconsider the princess's education.
He had not come to outargue a young girl. Nor had he moved his army out of duty or sentiment. He had come to keep the Kingdom of Revelant alive for the sake of his own country's convenience.
"Shall we return to the room, Matilda... It's been a while since we could relax. Let me be spoiled tonight."
As he said this, Noein turned to Matilda and took her hand, wearing an innocent expression like a child about to monopolize something he loved.
"...Yes, with pleasure."
Matilda responded with the face of a woman and was led back to the room by Noein.