Vol. 2 Chapter 8: Lunch With Family (Part 2)

Maybe my frustration was sensed by my Mother and so she spoke with the three guys.

“Boys, can you please not speak about this topic at the moment? You are making Estelia anxious.”

I lowered my head. Would have been good to hear more, but it also stresses me out more. I don’t know what was the best option here, but Mother had already spoken, so nothing could be done.

When the three boys looked at the meek, beautiful me, they apologized and turned silent.

“So, let’s talk about something peaceful and enjoyable.”

My mother suggested. What other else would there be to talk about? Nothing exciting happened recently, only headaches. Well, except for Eleden, whom I imagine had plenty of good times in Myra.

“Which reminds me, Estelia. Is that necklace new? I don’t remember you owning something as such?” Mother asked me.

… Wait, “don’t remember?” Does she just memorize every jewel they bought for me? I mean, there was a lot, not to mention her own jewelry. But I guess she does.

“Now that I thought about it, beloved sister, this felt like the first time since you wore jewelry around your neck openly.”

Estevan leaned forward with interest, looking at the crimson jewel of my necklace. Ah, it appears that I’ll be the subject of the topic in this one.

“Um, Eleden gave it to me.”

“How sweet, a gift!” my mother gently clapped her hands together. “But only Estelia?” my mother pouted.

“Of course I also have one for everyone, I will give it to you later.”

How sweet, so I’m the first one he gave a gift to, you’re making me blush, brother.

“Oh, I’m not really looking for a souvenir, but sure,” Estevan casually said. “So Eleden, what do you have for me?”

Eleden smirked and turned to stare at Estevan.

“I’m sure you’ll like the knight figurine I have for you.”

“... A… A figurine?”

“Yes, created in Myra, don’t you think that’s special?”

Estevan looked away. Yeah, is Eleden teasing Estevan with that gift? Hehe.

“Why do you look disappointed? Don’t you love everything knightly?”

“He-he-he, I’m not eight, Eleden,” Estevan said with an awkward expression. He appeared to have realized that Eleden was making fun of him a little.

“Whatever you have for me, my dear son, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Mother, I’m sure you will be interested in it. It is your hobby, after all.”

“My my, I’m excited to see it.”

“As for father, I also have something crafted from one of their finest smiths. It would surely look good for your collection.”

“Oh? I’ll certainly take it.”

I looked down at the necklace hanging from my neck. Would have been nice that I alone had a gift… now that was a weird thought, forget it.

… I am indeed selfish…

While I wallowed in self-analysis, my mother spoke to Eleden.

“So, Eleden, surely you spent your time not just on business. Anything special or fun happened?”

“...I suppose.”

What’s this? His smile was weirdly broad all of a sudden and his eyes suggested that he was recalling something.

“Tell us about it,” said Father.

“Well, I became friends with several knights, they truly are kind fellows. I should say, they are impressive regarding their prowess. Hehe, to be honest, their knights are almost at the same level as our standards. But, as we have elites, they too have elites of their own.”

“You mean the ones they call the Exemplar Knights? I have learned of their feats, but I wonder how strong they truly are.”

“Well, if you want to put it in perspective. One I saw in training was…. I think about Estevan’s level.”

“Oh, really?” Estevan reacted.

“But I was told he wasn’t the strongest among them.”

“Huh.”

“Who are they?” I suddenly asked.

Come now, this was an interesting topic. You see, this was essential information that I was missing out on. There wasn’t any mention in my lessons about these “Exemplar Knights”, not even in memory.

The one to answer my question was Eleden.

“They are knights handpicked by their king and answer directly to him. They excel in swordsmanship and overall combat prowess that no normal elite could take them down.”

“Are they like generals in their ranking?”

“Hm, yes you could say that. They do have a legion of knights of their own.”

“How many of them are there?”

“Ten.”

“I see.”

Ten. If they’re about the same level as Estevan, they were a force to be reckoned with. Now, could such individuals change the tides of war by their power alone? Unlike in my old world, we have no magic powers, so pretty much without any weapon, we’re all the same.

However, here in this world, tools were not necessarily needed to take one’s life. For example, I can burn an entire village with one spell and kill their entire population. I’m sure even knights have their own magic whenever they have no sword to use. In fact, the weapons they used were only for boosting their overall capability, you could say.

Then as you know, not all can use magic. So if in a war, having one that could use magic could be a considerable advantage. Therefore, if there were ten of these special knights, then with their own legion — though I’m sure the numbers would vary — those in itself were a threat to us. If they were stronger than us, it wouldn’t look good politically on us.

That being said, flexing your powers wouldn’t always be a good idea. I prefer surprises, and taking your enemies by surprise would always be the best since they wouldn’t be prepared for your hidden cards.

Appear weak when you are strong.

Appear strong when you are weak.

“Father, don’t we have some sort of an “Exemplar Knights” of our own?”

Father knitted his brows as he gazed at me.

“This is a surprise, you are interested.”

“You see father if we do not have a power of our own, how can we stand on our own without anyone’s help? We cannot rely wholeheartedly on our allies. That is what I am concerned about.”

Now now, I feel like I’m preparing for a possible war here.

“Are you saying our allies wouldn’t help us in our times of need?” he asked with a smile.

Hmm, strange, why does it seem he’s intrigued?

“I am saying, they won’t always help us whenever we need help. Besides, trusting so much can only get us so far.”

All of them looked at me dumbfoundedly. Did I say something wrong?

I’m acting differently? Well, I need to make sure, duh! There were just some things I needed to hear from the peak of this kingdom, aka my Father. I can just find them on paper? What papers? Library? Hilarious, like I would just stumble upon secret documents on the shelves.

Estevan? He didn’t even know some crucial secrets like what the church exactly does — I realized it the time I got scolded.

Eleden? Maybe, but I imagine he wouldn’t have a clear picture of things. Mother? She might know, but again, not the clear picture, I can even imagine her saying something along the lines of “you should ask your Father that.”

Vernon? Ah, Vernon might have known something. But then again, I need to know if Father was confident.

Ultimately, I’m a royalty in this kingdom, I need to have some assurance. This concerns my safety, you know. Don’t think I’ll just stand idly by doing nothing or learning nothing. I’ll act whenever my safety is involved.

“Dear daughter, don’t worry. We can still stand on our own. Even if we have our own powerful forces, we don’t need to label them as “Heroes of Wisteria” and such.” my father chuckled in amusement. “I truly do not see the necessity of creating and naming a group of elites. Just include them in any typical order, no need to divide them from others. Besides, it isn’t wise to show our power easily.”

His last sentence brought a smile to my face.

“That is a relief, father.”

“Is that so… hm… tell me dear daughter, which of our allies should we be wary of?”

“Why are you asking me such a question, father?”

“I just want to hear your thoughts.”

… Father… What did Vernon tell him? Yes, I already suspect Vernon as the reason for this weirdness.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, father, but I cannot answer your question. I know nothing of the inner workings of our kingdom’s allies.”

Nor did I know their officials, their goals, their economic state etcetera, etcetera. Plus, I’m not gonna give Father the time of the day of giving a good answer. I had a feeling that if I answered something serious, he would involve me in something tiresome.

“Is that so…? Very well then.”

On the other hand, Estevan furrowed his brows.

“Father, please do not trouble and worry Estel, we are here to handle such affairs.”

“Of course.”

Estevan was so sweet, he didn’t want me to be all stressed out. Because of that, I gave him a small smile of gratitude.

“Alright, we are straying from our topic,” my mother said to us with an amused smile. “Eleden, tell us more of a special moment, is there any?”

“The tours were fun. But, the most interesting occurrence would be my meeting with their royalties… Actually…”

What’s this? Eleden lowered his head with an embarrassed smile, hesitating to speak out.

“My dear son, don’t hide it, something very special happened, didn’t it?” my mother said with a grin.

“... There was this princess, and we spent plenty of time together. We had our special moments that I will always remember, and I would like to see her again.”

“Oh my.”

“Oh?”

“Wait, really?”

Yeah, I was the only one all quiet as I also stared at my brother with wide eyes. Looks like the beauty of youth is blossoming for my dear eldest brother. He should be maybe 23, in this world that’s a good age to marry.

“Who is she?”

“The second princess, Lillie Eanthia Lionheart.”

Wow, what a brave name. Is she also a knight? If so, damn, I better not be behind.

“Her, huh. I heard she isn’t much of an active person of power,” said Father

“Yes, she prefers a peaceful time than being knightly. Although, she does have plenty of skills to boot.”

“Oh no brother, then she can beat you up whenever you act all stubborn or idiotic! Hahahaha! I’m sure you’ll stand no chance.”

Estevan made fun of him, he seemed to be amused by his own thoughts. Was he not even bothered or jealous or anything when our eldest brother had found a potential life partner? While he himself still had no one whatsoever, he didn’t even have any woman he was close with.

But I suppose to do that he first needs to move on from the lingering sister complex he unconsciously has. I wouldn’t mind having his company though, he’s not annoying or anything. So I’m not bothered if we’re gonna be stuck with each other as siblings while we end up dying all alone.

Well, not like it would happen, chances were that he would find someone eventually, or my parents would force him to find someone as a partner. While I, on the other hand, am gonna run away!!!

What, marry? Marry and be stuck my whole life in a house doing nothing all day and taking care of “children”, god no. And eew, children? Ew.

I still want to go out there in the world, free as a bird. I want the freedom to reach out for anything I want. Not be bound again. Don’t go all saying I’m acting like a virgin and scared of that deed. Hah! Don’t be ridiculous. I already have plenty of experience in my past life, so can’t I be pure here? In fact, I was forced on others just before I gradu— never mind...

Now, why don’t I just run away now? Um, how? I’m weak as fuck, and people are hunting me for an unknown reason, too dangerous to be sauntering around. So I’m staying here for a while until everything’s over.

Eleden smiled wryly at Estevan’s teasing.

“I imagine so, I’m not even impressive in swordplay, so she definitely could.”

Hm, the princess in that country can fight, huh. So she was definitely trained in swordsmanship. What the hell, and here I am, I wasn’t supposed to learn to fight or anything… Talk about the difference in culture… or my parents were just different. Yeah, certainly because of both of those.

Father then spoke with a hand under his chin.

“The marriage between the royals of both nations would be good for us. But if you become king, my son, she will need to be transferred here and become the queen.”

I turned to look at Estevan to see his reaction, but not much.

Does he even have any interest in the throne?

Father then continued.

“However, I would like to keep you in mind, Eleden. I will not force you to marry anyone. You marry the one you love. That being said, don’t take too long. Well, I still have a long way to go, so you have plenty of time.”

My father may give him the chance to marry anyone he likes, but time was a restraint. It wouldn’t do to find a partner when one was too old — the royals have to take politics into consideration in their decisions. The throne would always need an heir, after all.

Well, as my father said, there’s plenty of time. No rush.

“Therefore, get to know her more and grow your relationship. Perhaps someday, you couldn’t bear to be separated from her anymore.”

My father then turned to look at my mother with a fond smile. Mother reached out to my father’s hand and held it tightly.

How sweet.

This nation, although they have a pragmatic side, emotions still influenced their choices. Was that for the better? Perhaps. Too pragmatic and it may grow the nation, but what about the people? A number would definitely be trampled down, so to say.

Too emotional, and it would fall to idealism, which wouldn’t always work in the real world. Failures would constantly happen if they always think ideally and make decisions through their emotions — the emotions of the leaders.

So I think the optimal state would be that the leaders have both pragmatic and emotional sides. Compassion was great, but it would be rendered useless without pragmatic methods to carry out that compassion.

Like how father let Eleden take his time to find a partner he likes, and not force him to marry someone. An emotional side of Father. But taking too long would be too difficult and one day he might force him to marry someone for the sake of the throne and nation.

Now now, I wonder if the same applies to me.

“What I’m trying to say is. Pick the person that you are definitely sure is the one for you, no rush.”

Yeah, I guess, they just met after all. Several weeks was not enough to determine whether someone was for you, you know. Marriage was for life! Careful! You might get stuck with someone unpleasant.

Well, what do I know anyway?

Eleden smiled.

“I understand, father. If given the opportunity, I would like to visit Myra again.”

“We’ll see.”

“Or we can just invite her in some time,” Mother suggested.

“Not a bad idea,” father said.

“Oh, then what about the festival in four months. Isn’t that a great time to spend?” Estevan suggested.

The festival? Ah, that.

I never went out to the festival. What reason could that be? Well, my parents didn’t let me in the past, but of course, I also lost interest eventually and only deemed it bothersome to get out at that time. Plus, I heard a lot of people always go out at that time, it was frightening to get out.

But now, it wouldn’t be bad to go out there and enjoy the festivities, maybe? Yeah, I’m going. Come on, I want to enjoy a bit of freedom.

“That’s a good idea, we should invite her,” Mother said enthusiastically.

Invite a princess of another country? Yeah, whatever, none of my business to go against that, nor do I have a reason.

“Yes, I think so too, she might enjoy it.”

“Alright, I’ll think about how to send the invitation.”

They would need to send that invitation way ahead of time. Traveling would take time in this world, a lot of time, so sending it months ahead would be the best thing to do.

Another princess may be coming here to my country, but she wouldn’t outshine me. She definitely wouldn’t, in beauty, nor in skills….right?

Then a short while later while having a bright atmosphere, we finished eating the amount of food we could. I ate plenty.

After rubbing my lips with a table napkin, I raised my eyes to look at Father. I was thinking of smiling purely, but I’m serious about this.

“Father…”

“Yes?”

“You know what day it is, what’s the news?”

“...”

My father wasn’t able to instantly reply, as though he was hesitating.

Eleden, who was clueless about everything, furrowed his brows in confusion about the serious atmosphere.

“What could everyone be talking about? What’s going on?”

“Eleden… This isn’t the place to talk about it,” Estevan said.

“What? It’s something crucially serious, isn’t it?”

“Everyone, let’s go to my office,” said Father.