Risou no Himo Seikatsu - Volume 9 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue — Return After a Month

Zenjirou burned the image from the photo into his mind, closed his eyes, incanted the spell, and then opened them to the familiar sight of the stony room.

“Welcome home, Sir Zenjirou.”

The short spear-wielding guard’s greeting from his position under the brazier confirmed that Zenjirou had succeeded in his teleportation.

“Thank you. I will be returning directly to the inner palace,” he told the man.

“Understood. I will ensure that Her Majesty is informed.”

“Please do.”

Two of the men guarding the room followed along as Zenjirou’s escort as he left the room.

“Urgh...”

The wall of heat and humidity he had walked into made Zenjirou groan. It had been noticeable inside but was even more so now he had stepped out.

He was currently wearing the same outfit he had left in—the third uniform—with the first uniform remaining in the Purple Egg Palace.

Speaking of things that had been left there, his attendants—including Ines—were all still there as well. Instead, Zenjirou carried several missives from the soldiers and knights there. The comparatively thinner bundle compared to those entrusted to General Pujol was not due to a difference in popularity. Drake parchment was expensive even for lower-ranked knights, let alone general infantry. Few of them therefore would send two letters in such a short period of time.

Zenjirou followed the familiar corridors towards the inner palace. Once he arrived at the passage into it, he turned on his heel to address the guards.

“Thank you. Return to your posts.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Excuse us.”

Once they had moved to leave, he stepped into the inner palace. Back into his home.

That phrase being his association with the inner palace surprised even him.

“Huh, I really have made myself at home with all the luxury,” he said to himself.

They must have already been informed of his return, as the familiar maids were waiting inside for him.

“Welcome back, Sir Zenjirou,” the head maid greeted him.

“It’s good to be back, Amanda,” he replied. He didn’t have to watch his behavior and words here.

Zenjirou handed his hand luggage to Amanda and breathed a sigh of relief. He had his television, computer, fridge, and the LED lamps around the sofas. The profusion of magic tools in the Purple Egg Palace had made life much easier, but still, he preferred his own living room and electric appliances.

Plugging in the nearly drained camera to charge, Zenjirou tossed his uniform off and pushed open the door to the next room clad only in a T-shirt and boxers.

The bedroom.

As Zenjirou had hoped, the air conditioning was on and the chill air was circulating through the room.

“Ahhh!”

He basked in the cold air directly under the vent. Everyone said it was unhealthy, but he didn’t care right now. It seemed unlikely to be worse for him than bearing the heat to the verge of heatstroke.

Once he’d cooled down somewhat, he noticed a small bed. There was a small—at least in comparison to the massive canopied bed he and Aura usually slept in—bed to the side. While Aura was pregnant, Zenjirou would sleep alone, so it had been brought in.

It seemed like the diligent maids had kept it made and ready even while he’d been away. Since the AC was on, the shutters were closed and the lights were on. It made the room feel one step closer to night.

“Just until Aura gets back...” he murmured, unable to resist the siren call of a nap as he lay down on his own bed for the first time in a month.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Good morning. Sleep well?”

It was nearly evening and Zenjirou was greeted by the sight of his wife’s smile for the first time in a month.

The lines of her body were slightly more rounded than before—perhaps due to the increased nutrition from carrying her second child—and she seemed generally softer than he remembered. Of course, he knew better than to say that, even if he was half asleep.

Instead, he smiled happily as he spoke. “It’s good to see you again, Aura. I just—well, not exactly just—got back.”

He pulled himself up from the bed and took his wife in his arms before giving her a light kiss. His gentle hold on her was annoying, but he didn’t want to put excessive force on her already protruding stomach. Still, having her in his arms made him feel happier than anything else.

Aura let her eyes just drift closed as he held her for a while. After a long embrace, relaxing in the sensation of each other’s body heat, Aura murmured into his ear, “Are you properly awake? If you are, I would like to talk in the living room. If it is too much for you, we can do so tomorrow, though.”

Zenjirou flexed his fingers, considering how he felt. Since he had traveled through teleportation, there had been no real physical burden on him.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Indeed. You should at least put some pants on.”

Her statement made him realize that he was still only wearing a T-shirt and boxers. He didn’t bother with a proper shirt but pulled on a light pair of jeans before heading out to the living room to sit opposite Aura. They sat like this for serious discussions, but next to each other for anything else. Zenjirou had completely internalized the unwritten rule, and he began the discussion.

“Where do you want to start? I tried to put a general sense of how things were going into the letter I sent.”

“Sorry, but from the start. I want to avoid the possibility of misinterpreting that letter.”

“Got it.”

He knew how poor his writing skills were in the local language, so he agreed and recounted what had happened since his departure.

“...so the Sharou family will soon be putting Crown Prince Josep on the throne. We managed to put a stop to them replacing him with Prince Francesco, though. I’d have liked to get a firm decision that Prince Vittore would do so instead, but I couldn’t actually manage that.”

“I see. The Total Unity Faction, then. I’ve not heard of the group before. However, I can certainly see how the unstable political system in the Twin Kingdoms could lead to such a faction. To think that both king and crown prince were affiliated with them and planning to involve Carlos, though... You did well in halting that, Zenjirou.”

He smiled at her praise. “It wasn’t something I did for the kudos. Zenkichi’s my son, after all. I need to think about our second child as well, though. Speaking of, I did say it earlier, but they agreed to send a healer for a month around the expected delivery date. Anything else depends on negotiating with Pope Benedict of the Gilbelles.”

“Indeed. I am grateful for how much effort you are expending for both me and our child. However, we are both healthy, as you can see. If we have a healer for the birth itself, there is little need for anything else. If the meetings are already scheduled, then you will of course return. If I were to be frank, however, I would prefer to have you back here over having a longer period of time with access to a healer.”

It sounded like a passionate plea, and it set Zenjirou’s cheeks ablaze. His expression melted into a sappy smile at the same time. “Right, got it. I’ll have the next stay be ten days, then. If it doesn’t look like we’re getting anywhere at that point, I’ll just head back.”

“Very well,” Aura said, marking the end of what was originally the main reason for his journey in the first place. Then she frowned slightly and brought the topic back to magic tools. “I would like to discuss the new type of dual burn parchment you suggested.”

“Yeah?” He barely needed to see her expression before he cast his eyes down.

“This is honestly a large issue. It could even—if you will pardon the exaggeration—mark the end of an era.”

“You’re right.”

It had protected his beloved son, so he didn’t regret it. Still, he knew he’d given another country a big leg up. However, the point Aura was driving at and Zenjirou’s regret were slightly misaligned.

“The problem is that Carlos’s involvement prompted you to present that idea. It is actually unwise.”

“What do you mean? Should I have let him get caught up in it?”

Aura kept a calm expression as her husband’s eyes hardened slightly, and shook her head. “The first problem is that you have shown the insight and innovation for such a groundbreaking magic tool. The second is that it shows Carlos as a worthwhile point of leverage for you.”

“Ah!” Zenjirou paled as he realized what she meant. “I’ve shown that threatening him works, so people will do the same in future?”

Aura nodded, the expressionless mask of the queen on her face. “There is the distinct possibility.”

He’d put the effort in to protect his son, but it seemed like he might have increased the risk in the long run. He just couldn’t stand it.

“Damn it!” he yelled, pounding his fist into the sofa. He didn’t usually lose his temper, but Aura maintained her expressionless look as she spoke.

“Therefore, we need to make sure this costs the Twin Kingdoms to ensure the point is made. To begin with, we will make a written demand to be provided with several of the new versions for no charge. We will also demand the same rate as domestic sales for further purchases. We are to be considered with the same precedence as the Sharou family and at a higher precedence than the Gilbelle family. I will prepare official documents to that effect tomorrow, so you will need to hand them to King Bruno.”

“Got it.” He nodded with a hard look.

Aura’s expression returned to a smile. “You need not be so tense. You did exceedingly well there. At the very least, you made no irrevocable mistakes. Take heart.”

“Right. Thanks, Aura.”

The tension edging towards irritability vanished from his face at her words. Once she saw him relax, she continued.

“Now then, why not partake in a bath before dinner? Considering you simply went straight to sleep, I imagine you still have quite the sweat worked up. You can wash out the perfumed oil at the same time.”

“Yeah, sounds good. What about you?”

She shook her head. “I am in this state, and Doctor Michel has repeatedly stressed that I am not to bathe without several attendants. Unfortunately, I will not be able to join you.”

A truly disappointed look made its way onto Zenjirou’s face at that. “Ah. Right. Got it. I’ll head in on my own, then.”

“Enjoy yourself.”

Aura watched him collect the LED lantern and other bathing essentials and leave the room before letting out a sigh.

“His judgments have finally parted from my own,” she mused to herself. “Still, it is something of a miracle it did not happen even once until now.”

She considered the conversation they’d just had. Aura would not have allowed the two royals attempting to publicize Carlos Zenkichi’s secret to influence the negotiations. It could certainly lead to risks from their neighboring countries, but that was inevitable to one degree or another when you were born royalty. At the very least, she would not have yielded as easily as Zenjirou. Even if she would have, Aura would not have thought of something so novel that it would not have mattered. Regardless, while they could recover from this, they could not look optimistically on it in the long term.

“His perception is far beyond my initial estimates, but my husband is certainly not royalty by birth. I knew this, but providing support in those matters is my duty...”.

This slip would not be the only one. Zenjirou couldn’t manage to play the power game when it came to using his own child’s life as a chip. That was nothing special. Commoners were highly likely to be that way. Nobles with emotions that ran so deeply were not uncommon either, and even some royals were the same.

Those people, if they were supported, could build strong relationships of mutual trust that normal royals could not. It was a matter of aptitude on the whole.

“Therefore it is up to me to provide that support. What meaning is there in being queen if I cannot help him here considering how much he has aided me until this point?”

There was a fiery glow of certainty in her reddish-brown eyes as she murmured to herself.

To be continued in The Ideal Sponger Life 10.