Chapter 82: The Imperial Familys Scheming

That was rather fast, grandson-in-law-dono. Did you make your move?

After thejunkysister preached for me, I traveled to the Frontier Counts domain.

There was something I needed to confirm no matter what.

So my coming here was within your expectation...Well, I, more or less, took some measures.

I showed the Count the sermon the sister wrote for me; it was enveloped by the Priestess Blessing.something similar to a magic seal.

The parchment containing the sermon was inside this seal.

Oh? A sermon..Hoho, this can be useful in so many situations.

The elf prince is a blockhead..Thats why he wants them to get married.

As expected..

I put the parchment away, and the Frontier Count continued.

Grandson-in-law-dono, princess Tsubaki betrayed you.Does this anger you?

He looked at me, examining my reaction

No. This was originally a political marriage. That princess.or, better said, the imperial family has to be like that, otherwise its no good. Precisely because it was in their advantage, that they lowered their heads to me in conciliation.

Its good you understand this. Listen, all right? You should never even consider that the imperial family moves based on emotions. You cant sit at the top of a country and still act with simplicity. You should never trust other nobles apart from your family either. Its okay to rely on them, but you should never completely open up to anyone.

He looked me straight in the eyes then continued.

I left Bea in your care, and if you want to protect her as a noble, you must possess a capacious mind. But thats only in case you act like a noble.For a stranger like you this might be rather strict.

I made up my mind already.

Then its all right. The Emperor wants to conquer the elves country from inside, since that blockhead is the crown prince after all. If he takes the Princess as his legal wife, their child will rule the country after the next king.Thats about it.

Then, what I must do is..

Yes, that would be to cancel the engagement in a skillful mannerIn addition to that

I have to adopt princess Tsubaki and make her marry the princeam I right?

There it is.

That face!? Thats why youre scary.

Thats right. It will be troublesome if she marries as a princess, since we dont know if the elven royal family will turn against his Majesty the Emperor in the future.

Shes thoroughly treated as an object.

The Frontier Count sipped some of his tea.

I drank some too..My throat was really dry

Right. If she marries as a princess, our empire loses its inheritance rights, so they can easily interfere with our affairs. But in case she marries as the daughter of the hero who achievedspiritification,the man also called the sword of the empire, no one would complain; the spirit gives its divine protection to both our countries after allso its beneficial.

All thats left now.is for me to find a reason to cancel the engagement,one that the nobles will find acceptable too.

Indeed. You cannot say that you canceled the engagement because of the existence of another proposal. But in case this is the Will of God, then it cant really be helpedSpirit-samaalso agrees to this, right?

He smiled at Toto, who sat on his shoulder.

Haha, the Frontier Counts soft spot was exposed

Yes, everything should be all right.

Hoho, grandson-in-law-dono.You got a perfect score. The Emperor might trust you a little now.

He said and started to laugh. The Frontier Count was really scary in such moments.

Toto, its all right, you can try to send him away flying! I wont mind.

I was in the imperial capital, inside the audience room.

I read the parchment out loud in front of his Majesty and the other nobles.

This is a sermon on the engagement between his Excellency, Duke Zest and her Highness, Princess Tsubaki. The river water flows into the sea, praying for the birth of a new life. Every tree in the forest needs light, so we should never try to perforate the rocks. And the reason for that is the Will of God!

Yeah, I dont understand it eitherHowever.

This sermon itself is the Will of God. In our empire, the Frontier Counts domain is blessed with fresh mountain rivers, while the imperial capital is the sea. And on the opposite side of the sea, theres a forest..In short, the Gods Will is for the princess to marry inside the elven royal family and make the light shine on our both nations.

Toto nodded in agreement.

The Frontier Counts Household is the rock, and since I have a deep connection with it, I will end up piercing the rock..in short, this means that I must never marry her Highness, Princess Tsubaki.

Toto smiled broadly and kept on nodding to my words.

The spirit recognized the Will of God as well.In this case, I will cancel my engagement and accept the Will of God. I advise you all to do the same, and approve of her Highness, Princess Tsubakis marriage with the elf prince.

This is certainly something approved by a priest.Since the God and the spirit spoke their thoughts, this is unavoidable. However, isnt it troublesome for the Dukes Household?

Theres no such thing.

What about letting Tsubaki get married after shes adopted into the Dukes Household?

If thats what you wish, your Majesty, then the spirit will become a bridge between our both countries, and it will be an honor for my Dukes Household as well. I must express my gratitude to your Majestys consideration.

Yes, this was all a huge farce, since everything was already decided.

It couldnt be helped if the spirit agreed.

As for princess Tsubakiyeah, she was indeed part of the imperial family.Shes pretty wicked for a little girl.

The Emperor wishes for me to bond with her.

For the time being, Ill try that once shes part of my family.

While were at it, I will indeed have connections with the elves country, but princess Tsubaki will never make a move with only my words.

It will be impossible for me toturn against the empire together with the elves.

The Emperor knew this as well, thats why he proposed this arrangement.

And since I was already showing him an attitude of cooperation for the benefit of our empire, he didnt want to force me any further.

.Or maybe I was being tested? Thats one possibility too.

He might have wanted to see if I will make a move for the benefit of the empire.

If I do make a move, then everything is great. But if I dont, then he will offer me his daughter as a concubine..

Really now, how deep is their scheming!?.This damned imperial family!

Well, I already decided that I will be loyal to this empire as long as they dont make a move at Bea.

And they didnt for now.

Instead of making Tsubaki marry me from an inferior position, and probably end up fighting with Bea, it was better, to some extent, for our connection to have a different nature. Thats what they most likely considered.

It was all about politicsand thatsreally troublesome

Its really hard for me to interact with the imperial family for some reason

I hope I wont have anything to do with them for a while..

Therefore, it was decided that princess Tsubaki will get adopted into my family and marry the elfprince.

As for me, I just wanted to return home