Before too much time passed, I needed Uncle Duncan’s recommendation, so I reached out to him first.
[Uncle, have you found a good family in the fishing industry yet?]
I had sent the question before heading to class, and by the time class was over, I received his reply.
[Honestly, it’s a bit unclear.]
Faced with his ambiguous response, I hesitated for a moment before replying.
[Brandy, that’s the name. They’re commoners, but they’ve been working in the fishing industry for a long time. Could you possibly look into them for me?]
If Uncle Duncan were to make a recommendation, it was almost certain it would be a commoner family.
To be honest, though, it sounded like he hadn’t found anyone particularly suitable, so his response felt a bit uncertain. Still, I sent him the text and went back to class.
Estelle and Iris didn’t bring up anything about what happened yesterday.
“Did you have fun at the café yesterday?”
When I asked that, both of them gave similar responses at the same time.
“Yes, it was fun.”
“Well, it was fine, I guess.”
The answers were clearly different, but it seemed like they had a decent time, so I didn’t press them any further.
I simply said,
“How about we go hang out together after class today? It’s been a while since the three of us spent time together.”
I suggested it to lift their spirits and, as always, their reactions were predictable.
“Yes! That sounds great! Anywhere is fine as long as it’s with you, Sir Theo!”
“I’m in too!”
Their responses came back just as they always did.
After finishing class in a good mood, I headed to the café on the academy grounds. It was the same one the girls had gone to yesterday without me.
“The coffee here was quite good.”
“Really? Then I’ll have an iced Americano.”
“I honestly don’t understand how people enjoy the bitterness of coffee. I’ll go with a plain yogurt smoothie.”
It seemed Estelle had a childlike palate, as she still didn’t appreciate the taste of coffee.
“I’ll have the same iced Americano as Sir Theo.”
Iris sounded as if she enjoyed coffee, much like she had recommended it to me before.
Once we placed our orders, I checked the message I had received from Uncle Duncan.
[If it’s that family, I think they’re a good choice. They’re one of the families on my recommendation list.]
The reply was quite positive, which was reassuring.
[I thought you said it was unclear?]
[I meant it was unclear which family to recommend since there were several candidates. But if you think this family is suitable, I don’t think it’s a bad choice at all.]
The fact that Brandy’s family was one of the candidates on his list served as solid proof that they were a trustworthy choice.
With that decided, I finalized my decision to go with Brandy’s family. Then, I turned to Iris who was sipping her coffee in front of me and started a conversation.
“Iris.”
“Yes, Sir Theo?”
“About the family we’re planning to recommend for the fishing industry…”
“Oh, yes! I’ve been waiting to hear about that!”
Iris spoke with a bright expression, and in response to her words, I brought up Brandy’s family.
“Brandy’s family is involved in the fishing industry, I heard. Since they’re also on Uncle Duncan’s list of candidates, I think it would be a good idea to proceed with Brandy’s family.”
Iris seemed to hesitate for a moment. Her expression showed she was contemplating something, but she soon nodded.
“I see. Understood. If that’s what you recommend, Sir Theo, then it must be a solid choice. I’ll proceed with Brandy’s family.”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, there’s no particular problem. It’s just that the better the candidate, the more I think it’s worth discussing with His Majesty. I was only considering that.”
That was certainly a valid point.
Since this was the first pilot project we were conducting, we needed to demonstrate to the Emperor just how beneficial the project could be. Choosing a candidate with a solid reputation was the safer option.
That was also why I had asked for Uncle Duncan’s advice.
“Well, from what I can tell, Brandy doesn’t seem like a bad person. And if Brandy turned out well, I imagine his parents must also be quite respectable people.”
“Yes, I understand. In that case, we’ll need to send someone to them soon.”
There probably wasn’t a commoner with enough nerve to refuse a pilot project proposed by the Crown Princess, but it was still necessary to explain the details of the project and inform them that they had been selected to participate.
“I plan to visit His Majesty this weekend. If you’d like, Sir Theo, why don’t you come along and take a tour of the palace?”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful. Since I’ve stayed at the palace before, I can take over and show Sir Theo around in Iris’s stead if she’s busy.”
Before I could even reply, they had already decided everything between themselves.
“I can do it myself, you know.”
“But Iris, you’ll need to focus on persuading His Majesty. You’re busy enough as it is; there’s no need for you to handle something like this too.”
“No, this is the most important matter for me.”
“Oh dear, are you two about to argue again? If you don’t stop, I’m leaving first, you know?”
Every time they started exchanging sharp words with the intensity of lasers, I was always the one who had to step in and mediate.
“Also, I haven’t even agreed to go on a tour of the palace yet.”
I spoke up, hoping to stop the two from deciding everything on their own.
I mean, I do have a schedule to consider and need to adjust things accordingly… Not that I’m actually that busy.
Honestly, I didn’t have any plans for the weekend.
At most, I’d probably go to the training grounds, swing a sword, or practice magic.
“Let’s go together, Sir Theo. Okay? It’s the weekend. Staying at the academy all day would be boring, wouldn’t it?”
To be fair, I wasn’t bored at all.
There were still plenty of places in the academy I hadn’t had the chance to explore. Just wandering around and checking them out could easily take up a day or two.
But Estelle seemed unusually eager to go.
“Well… in that case, shall we do that?”
She clearly wanted to go, and it felt wrong to deny her. On the other hand, sending her off alone with Iris didn’t sit right with me either. In the end, I decided I’d just go with them.
“In that case, I’ll make sure to inform them that the two of you will be accompanying me on this visit. I’ll also arrange it so you’re free to explore anywhere you’d like, so feel free to see whatever interests you.”
Wait… isn’t that a bit too much leeway to give to visitors?
And considering we’re bringing along a saintess from what was, until recently, a hostile nation….can they really allow that?
“Oh, of course, since I’m not the Emperor yet, I doubt you’ll be able to access His Majesty’s or Her Majesty the Empress’s private quarters.”
“That’s fine. I’m not particularly curious about those places.”
Honestly, who would dare to be curious about or try to sneak a peek at the Emperor and Empress’s private spaces?
I’d never even entertained the thought.
In fact, it wasn’t even about the Emperor or Empress. Peeking into someone’s private space, in general, wasn’t exactly appealing to me.
“So, it’s settled then. We’ll visit the palace this weekend. Since it’ll be my first time there, is there any etiquette I should learn beforehand?”
Since it was a place that was generally difficult for commoners to access, I wondered if there was any special etiquette that was unique to nobles that I should learn, so I asked.
“There’s no need to worry about that.”
Iris said so, but saying there’s no need to worry essentially implied that there were still certain etiquettes to follow.
“Still, since I’ll be visiting with you, Iris, I should pay attention. I wouldn’t want to behave rudely and damage your reputation because of me.”
When I said that, Iris looked at me with an incredibly touched expression.
“Sir Theo, you’re truly so considerate.”
“Haha, well… not really.”
“In that case, I’ll teach you a few simple rules.”
“I could teach you those myself, though.”
“Estelle, you’re from the Holy Empire, and yet you want to teach Sir Theo the etiquette of Ermunt? Don’t say something so ridiculous.”
Iris flatly rejected Estelle’s suggestion and began explaining the etiquettes.
Starting with the basics, she briefly summarized the behaviors nobles considered impolite. Most of them were so tedious that I couldn’t help but wonder if real nobles truly adhered to all of these rules.
“…Honestly, nobles really live such complicated lives.”
“That’s right. Even in the Holy Empire, nobles aren’t this strict.”
“Well, to be fair, this is actually a preference among some of the older folks. But it’s also true that many of them are still active in their roles, so it’s just something we have to be mindful of for now.”
Iris showed a tired expression as she said this.
Honestly, it seemed that old-fashioned people existed everywhere.
“Anyway, as long as you follow these basic rules, you shouldn’t encounter any major issues… But truthfully, since we’re not going to meet nobles or attend a banquet, you can just come comfortably.”
“Is that so?”
Well, it wasn’t like I was going there to meet people or to have an audience with the Emperor.
I was simply responding to Iris’s invitation, so I figured I’d avoid interacting with people as much as possible and just take a stroll around the garden or something.
According to the way it was described in the game, the imperial garden was supposed to be incredibly beautiful.
It was even mentioned that the only thing in the imperial palace that had captured Estelle’s heart was the garden, which spoke to how stunning it must be.
I definitely wanted to see it for myself at least once.
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