The late King’s funeral had concluded.
The Church of the Holy Spirit and Queen Casertania, the late King’s eldest daughter, presided over it.
The Queen had been composed throughout the rites, but when the late King’s body was placed in its coffin and buried, she finally shed tears. When the Regent, the Lord Protector, gave her a small bow, however, she stopped crying.
There was some talk about that sight.
“You could tell by the way her voice trembled.”
“She must be terribly afraid.”
On the evening after the funeral, a banquet for the foreign envoys and noble guests was held at the Royal Castle.
Because death was religiously understood as reaching God, the funeral rites of believers in the Church of the Holy Spirit were solemn during the day, but they held festivals and banquets at night.
The Queen was at the center of that banquet, but when it came time to raise a glass, she began to nod off.
“Her Majesty is busy with arduous duties, so this man and I shall share the wine left by the late King with our guests in her stead.”
In the end, the Regent Lord Protector, Dragon’s Eye, escorted the Queen to bed, and the banquet hall came under the charge of the late King’s brother, the Duke of the East, and the late King’s loyal subject, the Regent Lord Protector.
Once the Queen had retired to her bedchamber, the mood of the banquet changed.
“She truly is young.”
“It would be difficult to say she suits a country of knights.”
“The monarch does not need to be particularly good at fighting. But......”
While the Queen had presided over the gathering, the nobles had praised her composure, commemorated the late King, and exchanged greetings. Now, their private remarks began to flow.
They would not dare make such remarks if the sovereign were frightening, but there was nothing at all frightening about the current Queen.
As though her crown was unstable, she repeatedly adjusted her hair. Her hair had even been tied to support it, making her look like a squirrel with large ears, and the nobles were reminded of their own daughters.
“She did remind me of my daughter. After my wife passed away like that, that little thing took over as mistress of the house, while the maids giggled behind her back......”
“The two dukes ought to have had sons.”
The Queen had appeared in an official setting for the first time.
But the nobles did not sense much that could be called charisma from the new sovereign, and they felt sorry for her.
It was not a good sign when a sovereign began by receiving pity.
“When authority is greater than ability, it does not end well.”
“For the sake of the country, would it not be right for her to marry the Grand Duke of the North?”
“I hear the Grand Duke of the North wants a married woman.”
“There are many northern nobles here. Should you not be careful about saying such things?”
“Ah.”
The noble who had spoken those words jumped in fright and covered his own mouth.
He had inadvertently made the most powerful man in the country sound as though he desired married women—other men’s wives.
“Ah, ah. More precisely, I heard that he wants a woman who has borne a child.”
“But then, would her status not have to be noble? It is not as though he could take just any common wife.”
“It is rather an uncommon preference. Your Highness!”
As though he had heard them with uncanny timing, the Grand Duke of the North approached with a cup in hand, having apparently heard them discussing him.
As the Regent Lord Protector—the country’s highest authority, who governed nearly a fifth of the Kingdom’s land and commanded formidable soldiers—approached, the nobles all rose from their seats at once and bowed their heads.
The Regent, unlike the Queen, was a truly frightening man.
As soon as he had seized power, he had slaughtered the nobles of the capital and the Privy Council officials of the Royal Domain to impose discipline. He had military achievements that approached those of a god of war, and he was the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, the Kingdom’s foremost elite force, comparable to the Lion Unit.
“Ah, stay seated. Must I make our guests uncomfortable after inviting them? Come, let us drink.”
“This liquor has an excellent flavor. I have never tasted it before.”
“It is the water of life discovered by the North. It warms the body on cold days.”
But as he approached with a smile in his one remaining eye, greeted the nobles, and poured them drinks, the nobles who had been speaking behind his back felt their chests ease.
As he poured the liquor, he even wielded brilliant eloquence and asked them to look after the Queen, until they unconsciously relaxed their guard.
As time passed and they grew tipsy, some young nobles even asked what they were curious about.
Those questions were......
“Grand Duke, is it true that you fought the Duke of the East and won?”
“You must have descendants. When will you remarry?”
As the liquor flowed, their caution had greatly faded, and all sorts of things came up.
Some cautious nobles tensed, wondering whether the young nobles had made reckless remarks, but—
“No. Her Majesty showed that she cherished the newborn of her cousin, the Duke of the East. That moved him.”
“The woman must have borne a child before, but if there is such a beauty......”
The Regent answered willingly and suited the mood of the gathering.
In doing so, he was naturally being contrasted with the young Queen.
***
There was another banquet scheduled after tomorrow’s coronation, yet they drank fiercely.
I had engaged with them for quite a while. In the North, I had often conducted politics by inviting people to banquets, raising glasses with them, and talking at length.
Gatherings did not happen easily, and most of the nobles who were not from the North were people whose faces I might see only once in my life.
As the Queen’s representative, I was in a position to conduct politics with the nobles, so it was only proper to look at their faces and greet them.
Even so, I could not stay very long while preparing for the coronation and war.
After leaving the drinking party, I reviewed the Northern soldiers as they stood for inspection.
“There are no problems.”
“You are doing well. I will hold a separate banquet for you later.”
Even as the country held its festival, the forces recruited by the Deposed Queen in the northeast had already begun sending scouts and reconnaissance soldiers across the border into the country.
They seemed to intend to invade immediately after the coronation.
For that reason, I made sure that the Northern knights under my command had sufficient rest, but I did not permit them to wander off. At roll call, not one was absent.
After inspecting the troops, I entered my office......
Her Majesty was waiting for me.
“Your Majesty, are you awake?”
Though it was night, I greeted her with a smile.
Since I had revised her speech, perhaps she felt a little less burdened. She approached me more easily now.
“Grand Duke. Um. Ahem. I...... have something I wish to ask.”
“Please ask.”
“Do I, do I have to drink alcohol!?”
Ah.
Her Majesty often put me in difficult situations and asked many unexpected questions, but this was a truly awkward question.
I could understand why she was asking.
“No. Other than the rite of sharing the Holy Spirit’s blood, do not drink. No, even the rite of praise to the Holy Spirit can be performed with grape or cranberry juice, so refuse it then as well.”
The unease in Her Majesty’s eyes disappeared.
It seemed that she did not particularly wish to drink either, but had thought she might have no choice.
It was a world in which even children did not entirely abstain from alcohol.
That was because of the communion rite and because the capital’s water facilities made it hard to obtain clean water.
Her Majesty probably had memories of drinking during the communion rite as well.
It could not have been a pleasantly sweet taste.
And only those who had difficulty drinking clean water drank it because they had no choice.
Her Majesty, of noble standing, had more than enough purified water.
Even if she had a constitution that could not tolerate alcohol, there was no reason for her to choose between muddy water and beer.
“Is that really all right? Countess Dvari said I should at least learn how to drink a little.”
Her Majesty had not seen me actively mingle with the nobles, but Countess Dvari must have.
Even while Her Majesty was there, she had seemed to find it difficult to join in a little.
Of course it was difficult for a young girl to join the conversations old men had over drinks.
Children could join in and be called cute or given pocket money, perhaps. But if anyone patted Her Majesty’s head because she was cute, I would not merely summon and rebuke him separately. I would probably kill him.
“This subject will scold Countess Dvari.”
“B-but the late King, who passed away, also said that a king should know how to drink at least a little.”
“The late King’s words and concerns were right. However, I believe that ruling is difficult even with a clear mind, and that maintaining a clear mind after drinking a few cups is possible only once one has become a sufficiently grown adult.”
“But is it truly all right to be present and not drink such things?”
I had seen it.
To others, it might have looked as though Her Majesty had merely been nodding off, but the crown was so heavy that she was developing a turtle neck in real time. It was a pitiful sight.
Of course, she had dozed a little amid all that.
It could not have been fun.
“As a monarch, you increase the loyalty of your vassal nobles through gatherings, test their capabilities and ideas, and make them loyal to you from the heart.”
“Y-yes, yes, that is it! But then, I cannot exactly brag about the doll I cherish, can I?”
She had learned something about the study of governance, at least.
It seemed that I had done what Her Majesty wanted on her behalf: the politics of getting along with the vassals and deepening ties with them.
I would not say it directly to Her Majesty, but now was my time.
For the time being, politics was not Her Majesty’s work.
I did not lack a plan to cultivate, alongside Her Majesty, a personal guard that would be loyal to her after the Regency. But now was not the time.
“Excellent, Your Majesty. However.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
“Our generation will soon wane. Her Majesty must govern for a long time, so I shall raise a new generation that shares your thoughts and feelings as quickly as possible. Please open a new era of politics with them.”
“B-but Grand Duke, are you not still younger than the late King!?”
Her Majesty’s rebuttal was apt.
With the memories of a life accumulated within me, I often felt old, but I possessed the young body of a twenty-five-year-old.
“Ah...... I had been wondering whether I should act older when I am with Her Majesty, so I forgot for a moment. Even so.”
“Even so?”
“Please leave the schemes of cunning old nobles to this subject. I shall arrange things so that Her Majesty may comfortably deal with younger nobles who can be overcome through learning and strength.”
Her Majesty looked a little hurt.
I had not phrased it unkindly, but I had effectively said that children had no place in politics.
“Your Majesty.”
“Ah, yes, Grand Duke. Um, I am all right.”
That meant she was not all right.
I met Her Majesty’s eyes, went down on one knee, and bowed my head as I answered.
“Tomorrow, this subject shall give Her Majesty a smile.”
I would let the whole world know that the Regent who made everyone kneel was loyal to her alone.
I would constantly give Her Majesty the exhilaration of being a monarch.
When I told her that, Her Majesty asked in embarrassment,
“W-will you speak in a Northern dialect at the coronation?”
......Not that.
***
The Queen’s coronation was held.
The smell of liquor from the nobles who had drunk heavily at the late King’s funeral rite hung heavily in the air, but it was a sacred occasion, and none behaved in a discourteous manner.
Her Majesty was wearing her adorably tidy twin buns again today.
She usually wore that hairstyle when she wore the crown. It was surely not the case, but perhaps she was doing it to symbolize her bond with me.
That was my political interpretation.
“In God’s name, I bestow royal authority upon Queen Casertania.”
Almost all needless pomp had been removed from the coronation.
The Queen’s oath to God.
The bestowal of the crown.
The newly enthroned monarch’s address.
The nobles, representatives of the people, pledging their loyalty.
The foreign diplomats pledging their resolve.
There should have been a royal procession through the streets as well, but it had been omitted for security reasons.
The bestowal of the crown, which had worried Her Majesty most, was complete.
Then came Her Majesty’s speech.
“I, the sovereign, shall make trade prosper, defend the country, and carry on the late King’s......”
Even with no script before her and without stammering through the great address—though her voice trembled slightly—she delivered exactly what she had prepared.
At the very least, it was a performance that showed that Her Majesty possessed an intelligent mind.
Her twin buns had been made still larger to wear the crown, so she still looked cute rather than dignified.
And a ceremony of etiquette was something not only Her Majesty but any noble could perform.
“Let everyone take the oath of loyalty accordingly.”
Afterward, with me at the forefront, the remaining nobles lined up and offered knightly salutes of loyalty as though they held swords, though they had none.
Then a hymn in praise of the royal house followed.
That was when it happened.
DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG.
“Hm?”
“At this hour?”
The bells of the cathedral’s bell tower began to ring.
Not the three chimes that announced the time, but six chimes. At the same time, when I raised my voice to begin the verse, ‘O God, protect the Queen,’ sounds came from afar.
[O God, protect the Queen.]
[O God, keep the Queen safe.]
“This is......”
The attending nobles and diplomats not only looked around in surprise.
Even Her Majesty and the Archbishop, who had presided over this event, widened their eyes at the sound and listened closely.
From the Cathedral of the Messiah’s Chief Disciple’s Ascension, the grand singing voices of the citizens of the Royal Domain rang out.
[Grant glory to our Queen.]
I had never handed out grain for free.
When I opened the granaries and distributed grain, I had instructed the Northern soldiers to teach a few lines of this song to those who came to receive grain.
Only those who sang along were given grain.
It was like testing whether soldiers at a military training camp could sing the military song well before their meals.
And naturally, there was no mad person who refused.
Along with that, I had issued orders in advance: on the day after the Kingdom’s funeral, when the bell tower rang at a time other than the time signal, and when it rang three times, everyone was to sing this song together.
Accordingly, the grand royal hymn of the people of the Royal Domain rang out.
“Ah......”
Her Majesty looked beyond the stained-glass windows.
The grand resonance seemed as though it would shake even the cathedral.
“Become a Queen beloved by the people. My Queen.”
All the nobles present had been flustered, but before they knew it, they were singing along to the song.
It was not the Kingdom’s official national anthem, but there was power in the ringing voices.
Songs, performances, and gestures fueled by totalitarian nationalist intoxication had a way of seeping into people before they realized it.
Her Majesty had begun to join in without realizing it, then covered her mouth. Watching her, I smiled and bowed my head.
Then Her Majesty followed me with her eyes and smiled.