CH 316

A rise in rank.

……No, not me, it’s Count Bozes-sama.

Well, it was already decided, so it’s not surprising.

Count Bozes is a man of character and is loved by the people of his domain, so it’s not at all surprising that he would rise in the ranks since he manages his domain solidly in the countryside far from the royal capital while supporting the surrounding small baronies and viscounts’ domains.

But, they say, it’s not as easy to ascend to the ranks as it would normally be.

No wonder.

Noble families will continue to exist for a long time unless the whole family is destroyed, deposed, or perishes.

If you let the new noble families rise up and be promoted easily, the kingdom will quickly become full of new nobles and high-ranking nobility.

As the number of nobles increases, more and more fiefdoms, noble pensions, positions, etc. become necessary, and the number of their children, grandchildren, and others who demand treatment as nobles would rise at the pace of the rat population explosion.

……That would be a huge surge in the burden on the government, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

However, Count Bozes-sama has become a major center of super-importance. He’s responsible for the future of the country, and indeed the continent, by dealing with the expeditionary fleet, acquiring the rights to the three requisitioned ships, naturalizing citizenship of the crew members, owning naval bases and shipyards, and researching and developing guns and cannons.

Therefore, it’s only natural that he should be elevated to the rank of marquis so that he would not be pestered by other aristocrats who are after his interests and to repel interferences from other countries

Besides, since several noble families were taken down or deposed during the invasion of the empire, the promotion of the Bozes family may have been just right to balance and fill in the gaps.

I wonder if Alexis-sama and I were also recognized in conjunction.

Anyway, new conferment of peerage and promotion to aristocratic households are usually not something that can be easily recognized.

……Well, of course, you can’t get a higher title than you have now unless you achieve the same or even more than your ancestors did to become nobility, right?

What kind of impossible game is that?……

Ah, in terms of achievements, it’s only natural for me to be promoted to the rank of Count, and in fact, there seems to have been talks of that, but I was just a commoner in this kingdom, so I had been made into a Viscount, and it wasn’t a good idea for me to rise into a Count consecutively.

Even so, it seems that there were voices saying that Hime Miko-sama should be promoted to the peerage, however, the counts and viscounts who wanted to marry me off to their eldest son, their heir, opposed the idea because they thought that if I became a count, it would be difficult for them to marry me off because of the balance of family ranks.

……Yeah, good job!

If I became a count, it would be problematic for me to remain in this small former barony, and I don’t want to abandon it now and start over in a large count’s territory somewhere else.

In the first place, I said, [I want a small fiefdom], and they gave me this place. They’ll mess it up.

Well, it seems that the king also thought I was going to marry somewhere, instead of getting a husband, so he doesn’t want to forcefully raise my peerage.

In terms of my value, or rather my prestige, the only one who has the title of the [Great Hero of Salvation, Hime Miko of Thunder] was enough for me, rather than join the many [Counts]…

For Count Bozes-sama, it was a recognition of achievement comparable to that of his ancestor, who had become a rising aristocrat long ago, and it was a momentous occasion that would occur only once in a generation, if not a lifetime.

That’s what he’s trying to get.

But it’s kind of funny that the Count-sama was restless like a groom the day before his wedding.

……And so, Count-sama asked me to prepare food for the celebration party…….

The ceremony was, of course, held at the royal palace, and I just attended it normally as a nobleman closely related to the Boses family.

As you can imagine, we don’t do entertainment skits or set off fireworks at such ceremonies.

Of course, I would never use the one I’m thinking of for Sabine-chan and Prince Louchen’s debutante ball. If I used such a thing, I would really run out of material to use for them.

Well, since I’m greatly involved in the reason for Count-sama’s promotion this time, it’s only natural that I would be invited to the ceremony.

Even without that, I have the title of [Great Hero of Salvation, Hime Miko of Thunder] in addition to being the head of a mere Viscount family, so it would be impossible for me not to be invited to the ceremony where a new Marquis will be born.

…And so, we’re having a party.

No, the ceremony went off without a hitch.

It was a grueling event with no room for unnecessary intervention.

And the food that Count Bozes-sama…, or rather the Marquis-sama, had asked for was prepared by a team of helpers from Adelaide-chan’s family, Viscount Reiner’s family, and a cook from the Bozes family who had learned how to cook Yamano cuisine during Beatrice-chan’s debutante ball. People worked hard to make it.

No, as you can imagine, on a day like this I wouldn’t be handling the kitchen behind the scenes.

If I, the official attendee, the [Great Hero of Salvation, Hime Miko of Thunder], were to do such a thing, the reputation of Count Bozes-sama……, I mean Marquis-sama, would drop from the very beginning of his ascension.

No, Beatrice-chan’s debutante ball was fine.

That was just a story of friendship between two smiling girls because I, just a simple girl, personally helped a girl who was my best friend.

And perhaps they think that at my debutante ball, [Saint Beatrice] will return the favor by making a cameo appearance in a skit or something.

……But that’s not the case this time.

A promotion. A party for ascension from a count to a marquis isn’t something that can be done with friendship or something.

Today’s event would represent the power and factional relationships of the nobility.

On this day, I had no idea what the nobles would say later if I worked as a backstage crew.

In the first place, I and Count-sama… Marquis-sama’s age was too far apart to be able to get away with [friendship].

Anyway, that’s why, although I did spare no effort to help in advance, I was just one of the party participants today, and I was not involved in the behind-the-scenes work.

Well, since I had given them a large amount of Japanese foodstuffs and sweets yesterday, there was no problem.

Also, Marcel-san of the Reiner family can already make the dishes served at Adelaide and Beatrice’s debutante ball perfectly, and they can also make other Earth dishes and new dishes that they have adapted from them. Because of this, if you give him ingredients such as sea fish, premium-grade Japanese black beef, and Barbary duck meat, he can make a variety of dishes that not even a royal chef could compete with.

…No, it happened largely because of the great power of ingredients that cannot be obtained in this country, and the [unlimited use of various spices, herbs, and seasonings], which I also provide inexhaustibly, and I also fed them the sample dishes and provided the recipes.

So by no means that the royal chef was not good at what they do. If I offered the royal chef the same thing, they might be able to make even more awesome dishes……

Or rather, I feel sorry for the royal cooks.

Perhaps the royal family and the nobles who were invited to the party at the castle would surely criticize it in various ways compared to Yamano cuisine.

No, something must be done to remedy the situation, or the position of all the royal cooks will be in jeopardy…

“I’m sure you don’t have to worry that much about it. They are professionals in their field, and they can get over that much on their own. It would be insulting to the professionals to feel sorry for them.” (King)

“Ah, your highness!….. Why are you here now?! I thought a king was supposed to appear after the party had started and be announced as “His Majesty the King is coming in!”. And how did you know what I’m thinking?” (Mitsuha)

“No, you were speaking of it for a while now…” (King)

Come again~?!

“And I’ll make a proper appearance later. But after that, I can’t eat the food freely because I have to talk to everyone and do all kinds of stuff.

So, the only way to get a taste of the new Yamano cuisine is to move while I can……” (King)

“So that’s why!…… Oh, come to think of it, you’re not wearing a crown…” (Mitsuha)

“Ah, because I’m not [acting as a king] right now.” (King)

“When you’re not wearing a crown, you’re off-duty!! And why is Sabine-chan here!?” (Mitsuha)

Somehow, Sabine-chan was munching on her food at a distance.

Since she’s not wearing a tiara, that means Sabine-chan was not in princess mode right now.

When the title of viscount was conferred on me, she was wearing a tiara properly. Also the second princess Chi-neesama and the first princess-neesama as well…

Oh, those two are also eating over there.

Everyone around me doesn’t want to be disturbed, so I shouldn’t be talking to them right now.

……I wonder if it’s the usual thing, they seem used to it, don’t they?

“There’s no such thing! I heard that a new Yamano cuisine will be released only today.

If it’s a regular dish, just tell the head chef and he’ll make whatever you want, whenever you want!” (King)

“Oh, is that so…” (Mitsuha)

Apparently, they’re not always this shabby.

No wonder…….

And did my voice leak out again?

Well, anyway, it’s not my turn today.

As just one of the party participants, I can just relax normally… can’t I?

A noble party was different from a banquet. A place to socialize, in other words, a workplace.

I have to greet people here and there, discuss sales of the territory’s products, offer exchange terms to those who ask me to broker a deal with the Marquis Bozes-sama, and conduct various other business activities and sales activities.

The husbands of this world would come home after drinking, mostly because it’s part of their job, so the wives, please don’t be too mad at them.

…Anyway, without much incident, Countess of Bozes-sama evolved into “Marquis Bozes-sama”.

There will be no major events for the time being.

I should get to work on my territory……

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