CH 32

Chapter - 32 || Is That How A King Feels?

[ E/N - Sorry for the late update! I was busy travelling. 

(  _ _)ﾉ彡☆ ]

“We managed to get there in time. I didn’t expect the border rivers to flood at this time of the year.”

Rudolf nodded at Fritz’s words.

“It was strange that it wasn’t even that humid.”

We arrived in the Kingdom of Turku the day before the wedding.

The flooding of the river at the border had thrown chaos into our schedule, but we finally made it.

“But I’m glad you’re okay.”

I said this as I gazed nostalgically at the paintings in the guest room of the palace.

“I’m glad to see that Your Highness and the Princess are unharmed.”

I nodded to Christopher, our knight.

“Thank you. I’m relieved to hear that the impact on the surrounding villages will be minimal.”

“I don’t know,” murmured Rudolf, who was looking up at the painting on the ceiling, as if talking to himself.

“It will be interesting to see if the flooding was God’s will or if it was God’s will that it subsided.”

What does that mean?

As I was about to ask him, a guide from the Kingdom of Turku appeared.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting. The Crown Prince and Princess of the Zomer Empire and their entourage, please come this way.”

All the others immediately got up and started to move.

I couldn’t help but open my mouth,

“Jacek-sama?”

“Yes.”

It was Jacek-sama who came to show us the way. Jacek-sama bowed deeply,

“My name is Jacek Reekanen. I am the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Turku. I am honored to have known the Crown Princess since my father Edgar’s time.”

“He’s been replaced…”

“That’s true.”

The former Prime Minister was not yet old enough to retire, so I wondered if something had happened, but it was not for me to ask.

“Thank you for all your help during my stay.”

“Please let me know if there’s anything I can do better.”

After such an exchange, we moved on, following Jacek-sama.

Perhaps it was because of the hard work he had to do, but Jacek-sama was looking thin and worn out. His eyes were sunken and his complexion was pale.

Was everything okay?

As I walked along, Rudolf-sama was walking right beside me.

We were ushered into a remote palace where dignitaries from various countries stayed when they visited.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you.”

I answered, eliminating the uncomfortable feeling of being treated like royalty by Jacek-sama.

However,

“Elvira-sama will take half of this connecting room, and Rudolf-sama will take the other half.”

I and Rudolf-sama were separated from the room.

That had never happened to me before.

I couldn’t help but interject, even though I felt like I shouldn’t.

“What do you mean? It would be customary to use the same continuation room in such a case.”

I’ve never heard of using two halves of the same room.

Jacek-sama said without changing his expression,

“The king has decreed that it be done this way, as one continuous room was not large enough. We hope you will take it as a part of our hospitality.”

When I raised my eyebrows, wondering if I was being disrespectful to Rudolf-sama, I saw a broad smile.

When I turned around, I saw Rudolf-sama looking amused.

“I see. Is that how the king feels?”

Rudolf-sama signaled to Christopher with his eyes and then said,

“We will accept your hospitality. However, Elvira will be provided with an escort of her own.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Jacek-sama bowed. But then,

“The king would like you to join us for dinner tonight, if you are not too tired.”

Rudolf-sama shook his head. I was also surprised by this.

“I’m sorry, but Elvira and I are both tired. Tell him we will greet him again tomorrow after the wedding.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Said Jacek, accepting easily.

This was a unexpected response.

But I was still filled with nostalgia, and I relaxed for a while in the room provided.

The view from the window was indeed that of the Kingdom of Turku.

The day soon came to an end as I was brought to my room for dinner and enjoyed a brief reunion with a maid I knew.

As I was about to go to bed to rest, Christopher brought some knights to me and said,

“We’ll take care of Elvira-sama’s room and the corridors.”

The knights of the Turku Kingdom, who heard this, retorted,

“We too, have been ordered to protect Elvira-sama.”

“I suppose that’s true. But we will escort her to her room. Elvira-sama is the Crown Princess of the Zomer Empire.”

The knights of the Kingdom of Turku looked troubled, but in the end they left my room to the knights of the Zomer Empire to guard outside.

I could understand that, but I was surprised when Christopher suddenly pulled out a sturdy lock.

“I’ll lock the rest of the rooms.”

Then he prevented the door to the room leading to the other half from opening.

“How long have you had that prepared?”

I couldn’t help but ask. Then, Christopher answered proudly,

“I brought it with me from the Zomer Empire, just in case something like this happened.”

“Did Rudolf-sama order you to do this?”

“Yes.”

Is this what he thought was going to happen?

Did Rudolf-sama anticipate this situation?

It was all rather strange, and I had a hard time sleeping that day.

Maybe it was partly because I was excited to be in my home country after a long absence.

And then I heard some noise in the hallway.

“Erma?”

I called Erma who was in the next room.

“Yes, Erma, I’m here.”

Erma came right away.

“I thought I heard something.”

“Christopher-sama said there were probably rats around. He also said he had driven them away.”

“Is that so?”

Were there really rats in the hallway?

I tried to sleep again, not knowing what to expect, but this time Erma called out to me.

“Elvira-sama… um…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Rudolf-sama is here to see you.”

“Huh?”

The door opened almost as soon as Erma said so.

“Elvira, if you’ll excuse me.”

Rudolf-sama was in front of me.