CH 8

“What?”

I stood up involuntarily.

“What’s up, Glen? I was just wondering if there was any connection between that engagement story and your duel story.”

I was speechless. His Highness is Prince Alfred Victor Truffe Alubio-Norden, the prince of this country, the Kingdom of Norden. While the first prince is the son of a concubine, the second prince, His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, is the son of the queen, which is why he is called “legitimate highness” and is regarded as the most promising candidate for the next crown prince.

In the game, the engagement between his highness Alfred and Christina, the duke’s daughter, was announced two months after the entrance ceremony. It’s not the kind of thing that can be spread by gossip, but it’s earlier than that, even though it’s supposed to be announced by the royal palace.

“Why are secrets being leaked….”

“What?”

I sat back down and explained to the surprised Arthur. The engagement of his highness the legitimate son, who is considered to be the most influential of the crown princes, is a matter of state in itself. The duke’s daughter family is not only the Prime Minister’s family, but also one of the most powerful families in the kingdom, and this story alone will affect the power relations of the aristocratic society. Therefore, the timing of the announcement itself is political, and if it were to be leaked, it would be enough to bring down the authority. That’s why it’s classified.

“Then, what will happen, Glen?”

I didn’t want to say anything to Arthur, who had a much more stern look on his face than before.

“It’s possible that the story itself will be played out. Because if it’s not, there was no way that the secret would be leaked….”

“Will be played out….”

“The power of the Prime Minister’s family appears to be robust, but it is actually based on a delicate balance within the court.”

“No, the presence of the dukes is overwhelming. It will not be shaken at all, no matter what happens.”

The Dukes of Nord-Claudis, one of the most powerful families in the kingdom, are not just a family of Prime Minister in charge of national politics, but the Nord-Claudis territory is the largest aristocratic territory in the kingdom, with an incomparably large number of vassals. The House of Trasulgin, the House of Jeems, regent of Nord, the House of Ausar, regent of Thoth-Claudis, and the House of Yeadon, regent of Sarus-Gladius, are all counts.

And that’s not all, but the Viscount Vespertalto is the chief steward of the House of Nord-Claudis in the royal capital, the Viscount Sufford is the head of the Knights of Claudis in the territory, and the Baron Diggle is the head of the Knights of Nord.

From the point of view of the Count of Bolton’s son, who has only three baronial families, the Dukes of Nord-Claudis are an overwhelming presence.

“No. It’s not.”

I denied Arthur’s statement. Arthur doesn’t know. I’ve learned that between the aristocrats faction and the Prime Minister faction, the aristocrats faction are overwhelmingly more numerous. In the first place, there are many court nobles who don’t have territories. It’s not that they are serving the king with a feudal domain, but that they are serving him with a nod.

Until now, the reality of the current system is that the King’s faction, consisting mainly of the King’s relatives, and the Prime Minister’s faction, consisting mainly of the court nobles, are working together. In a situation where most of the nobles who hold territories belong to the aristocrats faction, the aristocrats faction could not form a majority because there are middle-ranking aristocrats who do not agree with either side. The center of the middle faction is the Count of Bolton. Arthur, that’s his father. I can’t tell him that here.

“The engagement of His Highness the legitimate son and the duke’s daughter is to solidify the friendship between the king’s faction and the Prime Minister faction.”

“In other words, if you taking a pebble from the other side, the rock itself is not that solid.”

“That’s right.”

Arthur nodded. It’s not a solid foundation, so there will be talk of marriage. But if the story leaked before it was announced, it would be a disgrace. The best way to hide the shame is to pretend it never happened in the first place. But…

“Then what about the relationship between the king’s faction and the Prime Minister faction?”

“That’s gonna change.”

“I see, I never thought that.”

Arthur nodded as if he was satisfied. But if this story were to play out, it wouldn’t just be the power relations within the royal court that would change. The scenario of the game [Elenore!], it would bring about a drastic change in the scenario of the game itself. For me, this is far more important and significant.

In this scenario of [Eleonore!], after the heroines enter the school and have contact with his highness, the engagement between his highness Alfred and Christina, the duke’s daughter, is announced, and the story develops into a love triangle.

In the double heroine system of [Eleanore!], even if the heroine of your choice, for example Iris, captures another character, the other heroine, Leticia, will nurture her love for His Highness Alfred and fight against the villainess Christina, who stands in as His Highness’ fiancée, so no matter which route or which end you choose, the engagement event between Alfred and Christina will occur unconditionally.

So without Alfred and Christina’s engagement event, the main story of “Eleanore!” itself dissapear, this game itself is not viable. This is all too obvious to game players.

“So, when did you hear about this?”

“Just now. It’s lunchtime and we’re talking in the classroom.”

If Arthur, who seems to be insensitive to gossip, hears about it and learns about it, then the story will spread quickly. It will probably reach everyone in the school by after school. You can’t silence everyone. Both the royal palace and the Prime Minister are naturally limited in their countermeasures.

“I didn’t really understand the gravity of the situation. I’m sorry.”

That’s right. Arthur is only 15 years old. Although he is a legitimate heir to the Count’s family, he probably hasn’t been given a full-fledged education as an heir, so it would be harsh to ask him to guess. However, His Highness Alfred and Lady Christina are different. They must have received such education, so they must be aware of the seriousness of the matter.

“No, no, no. It’s none of my business as a commoner, basically.”

This Eleonore world is an aristocratic society. Everything revolves around the aristocracy, and there are differences between the aristocracy and the commoners in every aspect. For example, names. Nobles have middle names, but commoners do not. The reason for this is that commoners, with a few exceptions, are not given the right to have a middle name. That’s why I, as a commoner, only have Glen, and Arthur, as a nobleman, has the middle name Regierre.

There is also a difference in the rights granted among nobles when it comes to names. Nobles below the rank of count are limited to one middle name, while those with the titles of duke and marquis are allowed to have more than one middle name, and there is a clear difference in their rights. In addition, the royal family includes the name of the country in the surname itself, and it can be said that the name itself expresses the privilege.

Well, even in the real world, it is said that it is only in recent years that the common class has been able to have a surname, or even to use one, so from that point of view, the world of Eleonore may be said to be blessed and better. However, as you can see from this one case of the name, no one can escape from the rules of this world once they are set.

“I don’t know what the future holds for the world. So I don’t think it’s wrong for people to try to spin a different future.”

“But whether the “principle of the world” will allow it or not is another story.”

“What?”

“The ‘principle of the world’ is the inevitable course of this world.”

“What do you mean?”

“People are born, people die. When there is no king, someone else will become king. This is the principle of the world.”

“Arthur, since it’s you, I’m going to tell you that this is out of ‘principle of the world’. The engagement of those two is a necessity of the world. If they do not get engaged, the story of this world will not move. I don’t think it’s something that can be easily changed.”

The principle of the world. In my world, it’s the selfishness of the game creators. It’s a false story made to sell. But in Eleanor’s world, it’s as compelling as God’s will. I don’t think it’s something that can be changed freely.

“If this story doesn’t move, the flow stops, in other words, it stagnates. What is stagnant will always have a metabolism, a reaction.”

“I don’t know what it is, but it’s a scary story. It’s your story, so I know you’re not lying.”

“Do you believe me?”

“Ah. You’re a guy who’s bring a fantastic book like “Merchant’s Secret Art Compendium” with you. You’re the kind of guy who has been bring back a sword art like that that no one knows about, it’s crazy if I don’t believe you.”

With a grin, he expressed his trust in my words with Arthur’s unique phrasing. I know from my poor life experience that it’s valuable to be able to speak frankly and honestly. I was grateful and relieved to have a good friend who believed in such a ridiculous and sugar-coated true story. We cleaned up our meal and went back to our respective classrooms.