CH 321

I was told that I didn’t have to go to school much anymore, but I can’t just say I won’t go. Wilhelm, the King himself, said that, but I can’t say that I’m dropping out of school on my own, I have to ask my parents.

Besides, there are various jobs in the royal capital now, so staying in the royal capital has nothing to do with school. I have a lot of work to do, such as the construction of Charlottenburg, the Caanza Trading Firm branch in the royal capital, meeting people, interviewing, and so on. And as an unexpected addition to the list, there are diplomatic negotiations with the Demon Country, the Yamato Empire.

It’s a waiting game because the concrete bill hasn’t been drafted yet, but it’s confirmed that I will be appointed as the head diplomat. In addition, the contents of the treaty and the scope of concessions have already been confirmed, as well. After that, I have to wait for the appointment ceremony to be in charge of foreign affairs, the related bills to be codified, and the surroundings to be prepared.

Either way, the royal capital was packed with work, so there was no problem staying in the royal capital until diplomatic matters are decided. Rather, the original plan was to stay here for many months after this.

Today, after school is over, I’m heading to the construction site in Charlottenburg. It was a rickety road until I left the royal capital, but the road surface improved as soon as I entered the highway connecting the royal capital to Charlottenburg.

No matter how much a carriage is equipped with suspension, the wheels don’t have the shock-absorbing function of wire spokes, tubes, or rubber tires. If you step on something, it will float and tilt. If the road surface is rickety, naturally the shaking will be transmitted to the rest of the vehicle.

Until last time, no road was newly laid, so the road surface was rickety and I had a lot of trouble. Besides, the carriage was also an old model.

Since researching the structure of the suspension, the results have been coming up one after another. That’s why the performance of carriages is improving in a blink of an eye, so there are times when the performance of carriages a few months ago and the latest carriages is different. Well, there are times when things don’t change so suddenly…

That’s why a new highway with a clean road surface has been laid, and the performance of the carriage has improved, so it seems that we can travel comfortably this time. It is also helpful that the detour road has become the shortest route, albeit slightly so. It would be much easier if paperwork could be done while the carriage was moving and the travel time could be shortened.

While thanking the workers for laying so many roads in such a short period, we ran through this new road.

We just arrived at the construction site in Charlottenburg… and this is amazing…

“Is it already this far ahead…?” I asked after I visited the construction office.

“If it isn’t you, Lord Caan? if you had contacted us ahead, we would have sent someone to pick you up,” one of the supervisors said.

But you don’t have to stop to pick me up. I hate waste like that. So it’s better to get some work done.

“You don’t need to worry about me. Please think of me as just a site supervisor,” I said.

I am also in charge of the work here. That’s why I’m just a supervisor and a worker. There’s no need to stop other people’s hands for my sake, so just treat me normally.

“Even so, it seems that the construction period has been pushed forward a lot?” I asked.

“Indeed,” the supervisor replied. “Everyone’s morale is high, and they’re working one after another, so it’s been greatly shortened.”

Hmm……. Well, it’s not as well equipped as modern buildings. In the case of modern architecture, it is necessary to lay the foundation, arrange underground utilities such as water supply, sewage, gas, etc., and prepare and arrange the utility insertion points together when making a box.

If you just pour the concrete in without thinking about anything, the box structures will be ready in no time. But even if you make such a simple box in modern times, there is no use for it. Electricity, gas, water supply, and other utilities must be made together with it.

In that case, communication and arrangements with other industries will be important, and it will not be possible to proceed one after another with construction alone. Well… it’s commonplace at any construction site for facilities to be swayed by selfish construction methods, but… what’s the point of completing a concrete box with no facilities? The architect that doesn’t know the area and behaves selfishly is more domineering.

Anyway, we don’t have to worry about that. It’s not just because our building and equipment are going well. Simply speaking, it is because there is only water supply and sewage to think about.

The burying of water and sewage utilities underneath the road is progressing smoothly, and some buildings have been pulled in. The houses and shops of those who live in this town are still conspicuously vacant, but even so, the houses of those who have already decided to live here are starting to appear.

“Well then… I will proceed with the work ‘over there,’” I said.

“Right,” the supervisor said. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Now that I’ve confirmed progress at the office and so on, I go to the purpose of today’s visit. It is on a plateau that looks like a cliff when viewed from the river.

A fort will be built on the plateau. The construction of the fortress is done by craftsmen, so there is no chance for me to do it, but I have work that only I can do.

It is the excavation of an escape tunnel that leads to the bottom of the cliff.

So to speak, secret tunnels, escape routes, and emergency passages, it is the most important secrets to be called such, and this work is not easy.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’ve heard that people who build castles, ruins, and other important or secret aspects of them are discreetly killed to keep their mouths shut. We don’t intend to do that, but if we actually created a secret tunnel or an escape route, the workers who built them would be completely aware of their existence and where they lead.

It would be extremely dangerous if the enemy captured such workers and obtained information such as the internal structures. So I’ll be the one working on this secret passage.

By the way, better for me to do it because it’s necessary to cut through hard plateau rock and deal with water springing up. I can treat it with magic on the spot.

So I dig secret passages, hidden passages, escape routes, whatever you want to call out, in the fortress on the plateau.

The blueprints for the fortress, the superstructure, have been completed, so all that’s left is to create a hidden tunnel. In the town below, a passage that allows you to go back and forth from the palace to the fort… and an evacuation tunnel to escape from the town. Also… I should set up dummies and mazes here and there.

You need to be careful not to confuse things like direction and depth. While digging here and there, you could penetrate the side of the plateau and come out of it into freefall.

While the others were building Charlottenburg, I went and dug, dug, and dug every day. I won’t let anyone approach the hidden passage I’m digging.

Digging alone was hard. What’s harder is cleaning up after digging. Soil, stones, rocks… It’s easy to dig, but you have to get it out. If it’s close to the entrance, it’s easy to throw it outside, but the longer the distance is, the harder it is to throw it away.

Digging alone and throwing away, digging and throwing away… It’s really hard because I can’t work on a large scale and openly. I think I’ve made some progress though. I’m digging while making a map so that people other than me can understand it, but… it’s become quite wide. If you dig too much, the plateau will collapse… but that’s not the case…

Perhaps this is a mysterious dungeon that will be dived into and conquered by people in the future… like hell it will!

Anyway, I’m secretly digging a hidden passage by myself every day, but… I can’t go to the construction site today. because…….

“Ms. Pud~dinnnnnn!”

“Princess Eleonore…” I said. “I have repeatedly told you it would be dangerous if you jumped at me like that.”

The new school year has started, and I’ve been heading to the construction site every day, but today after school, Eleonore and Margarete are coming to visit the Carruthers Residence, so I didn’t go over there. I am supposed to welcome them

“I’m sorry, Flora.”

“Margarete… welcome,” I said.

Originally, I shouldn’t be talking to the duke’s daughter Margarete so carelessly, but I’m forgiven because Margarete and I became friends and had that casual relationship with each other. That being said, this is an informal setting, and you have to do it properly in public.

Right now it’s a private visit, not official, so it’s okay. The attendants over there know that, too. There is a possibility that they don’t like it, but they won’t say anything.

“Ms. Puddin’! Hurry up!” Eleonore cried.

“Princess Eleonore, hold a moment, please,” I said.

After I caught Eleonore and put her down, she immediately tugged at my dress and tried to enter the mansion. It’s cute but too casual. Is it okay for the princess to be like this? I can’t help it, but I wonder what her educators are doing.

Ah… could it be that Eleonore’s educators include Margarete? There may be private tutors, but…

“Shall we go in then?” Margarete asked.

“Yes,” I said.

We can’t leave Eleonore alone, so we all enter the Carruthers Residence. Moving on, what are we going to do today?

We enter the mansion, serve tea, and relax a little. Well, I can’t say that I’m calm because Eleonore isn’t letting me relax…

“Honey tea and puddin’~!” she said.

“…Is it okay to have sweet tea with sweets?” I asked.

“Honey~!” Eleonore cried.

I asked her what she wanted with her tea, and she said honey, so I added honey as requested. Pudding is served as a snack, but the tea is also filled with honey, so what about the combination of sweet and sweet… well, if it’s a child or a woman, it might be fine, but…

“So… how does the day find you?” I ask Margarete, while Eleonore is absorbed in the pudding and tea.

Katharina is the only servant left, the others have been kicked out.

“Yes… actually… the day finds me not making any progress with His Highness Ludwig…” Margarete muttered.

“Ah……”

It seems that she wants to ask me what to do, rather, it’s a romantic advice consultation. But I can’t help but ask, why seek love advice from someone like me, who has almost zero love experience…?

I want Margarete to do her best, too. I would like to give her some advice. By all means, I want her to win Ludwig’s heart and cancel the engagement with me.

But I don’t think I can give effective advice to Margarete because I’ve never been in a decent relationship, including in my previous life. If I had known that, I would have practiced it.

“So then… have you decided what you want to talk about, specifically?” I asked.

“Yes…” Margarete said. “I’ve tried the methods that you taught me before, Flora… but it doesn’t seem to be very effective for His Highness.”

After listening to various accounts from Margarete, I somehow understood.

So far my advice has been to make Ludwig aware of Margarete as a woman. But when Margarete tried it, it didn’t seem to have much effect. On the contrary, what I thought was a problem turned out to be a serious problem.

The strategy I came up with to make Ludwig aware of Margarete is easy. To put it in modern terms, I was just suggesting that someone who had a childhood friend, a cousin, or someone who wasn’t considered for a romantic relationship, could suddenly become more aware of that person’s womanhood and the possibility of romance.

Accidentally opening the door and they’re in the middle of changing clothes, sharing half-eaten or half-finished drinks and kissing indirectly, or touching their chest when they bump into someone and fall, those sorts of things, you know?

In this world, it is difficult to do the same thing when Ludwig and Margarete are involved.

Sharing a half-eaten or half-drink is outrageous, and you don’t suddenly enter anyone’s room. Moreover, even if they were changing clothes, you wouldn’t be so conscious of their nakedness. After all, they’re in the position of having someone help them change clothes. I don’t think it’s that shocking to see or be seen naked. You won’t be able to expect a body touch when you bump and fall.

So I probably wouldn’t be able to do that kind of modern earth cliché, but somehow… yes, I just said that it would be nice to make Ludwig strongly conscious of Margarete’s being a woman. I don’t know how to do it. It’s impossible for me to think like that.

Based on that advice, Margarete seems to have tried various things, but… the negative results were the worst case.

She said that Ludwig did not react even at such an event, one that should have made him conscious of Margarete’s womanhood. That means that even if we do just that, he won’t see Margarete as a woman he could fall in love with.

For example, if it’s a parent, sibling, relative, etc., all people you don’t see as romantic partners, you probably don’t care much whether you see them naked or have an indirect kiss. Ludwig’s response to Margarete seems to be the same.

With her, she’s like a relative he’s known since he was little… I think he’s in that position. This is very bad. It is quite a high hurdle to make such a partner conscious of Margarete’s womanhood and to get him to fall for her.

That Ludwig’s insensitive naivety! He didn’t realize that his cute childhood friend was in love with him…

I want to do something… but I don’t know what to do. I had almost zero love experience, so there was no way I could come up with an effective method for such a situation.