by CHIROLU
The one spearheading the movement for friendly relations between the two nations was Duke Eldstedt, the prime minister. And there was no way that Gregor’s father would allow guests of the state to be exposed to such a shameful sight.
And though the assailants would have no way of knowing this, even if there was an attack, it would result in an absolute overkill retaliation by the human weapon known as the Platinum Hero, wiping them out entirely. After all, pointing a blade at the envoys was the same as pointing a blade at Latina, who was at her sister’s side. It needn’t be said that she was the person most important to Dale, who was already a person deeply invested in protecting others.
Anyone attempting such an act would receive an overwhelming demonstration of his abilities.
That in mind, the duke’s attempts to cut off any such attacks in advance were the far more humane solution.
There were towns dotted along the path between Kreuz and the capital.
When ordinary travelers headed from Kreuz to the capital, it would take them nearly a week by carriage. The towns alongside the well maintained highway were well equipped for handling travelers, so folks riding the carriages would plan around resting at inns along the way, avoiding the need to camp outside.
When the envoy group arrived in the town where they would be spending the night, they found a welcome banquet waiting for them.
That sort of reception was only natural when it came to greeting guests of the state, both from the point of view of the nation and from that of the local lords running such towns.
And when she saw that friendly welcome, Latina...
“It’s plenty spacious in that carriage, so I can just sleep there.”
Started completely shutting herself off from the others.
“It’s not like I don’t get how you feel, but I don’t think you can do that...”
“I’m fine sleeping outside. It’s actually kind of fun, since it’s something different than usual.”
“I’m telling you, it’s no good...”
“And I wouldn’t be worried as long as you were with me, Dale, so...”
A silence filled the air.
“Should you not be firmly scolding her all the way through to the end?”
When the “princess” made the suggestion of prioritizing comfort and camping, Dale should have immediately admonished her and said it was impossible considering both her safety and her position, but he quickly fell prey to how soft he was on her.
Gregor having to always be the the voice of reason when Dale was being foolish was a far greater task than those around them may have realized.
Neither country involved had ever expected that someone who undoubtedly held the position of “princess” would have such a common way of thinking.
Still, Latina was skilled at anything and everything, so she was able to pull through these days, somehow. The exhaustion definitely did pile up, though, as by the time they arrived at the capital, Latina was positively listless. Naturally, that was more mental exhaustion than physical, though.
As a result, even though she was completely and utterly a commoner on the inside, the people around her had an incredibly high opinion of her, even more so than she thought.
When they were welcomed at each town she greeted them with a stiff smile fixed to her face, with only Dale able to recognize her awkwardness due to knowing her so well. But from his point of view, she was sitting there with that forced smile precisely because her nervousness had reached its peak. To anyone who didn’t know her, though, she must have just seemed a gentle-mannered and mature princess who assisted her sister.
It also helped that Chrysos was seated next to her, giving off a genuinely regal air. The twins may have looked identical on the outside, but they really did each have a different feel about them. And when added to her charming looks, fitting for the heroine of an epic tale, those around her regarded her as some sort of reclusive princess.
Seeing her lost in thought in the corner at the banquets fanned a desire to protect her in a great many of the men from the Laband side.
If her protector, the famed Platinum Hero, wasn’t by her side, it wouldn’t be strange at all for plenty of self-proclaimed devotees to form a line to express their regard.
“Dale...”
“Hmm?”
“I want to polish pots...”
“I don’t know that you should be saying stuff like that where people can overhear...”
That was the rather deplorable reason she was really looking so troubled and distant, but none of the other people attending were aware of that fact.
“I want to polish pots, and clean, and wipe down the floors... I want to polish them with wax so they’re nice and sparkly... I would even be fine trading places with those maids and making round trips to and from the kitchen...”
“I really do need to study the devil language, but still, I get the feeling that I’m better off not knowing what you’re saying right now...”
There really was a huge distance between the reality of things and the image those around her held.
As a result, Latina’s exhaustion reached its peak (though nobody blamed her for it), and she was completely worn out by the time they reached the capital.
Waiting for her there, though, was someone that Latina knew quite well: Her etiquette instructor, Rose.
Rose was quite fond of Latina, but unlike Dale, she could also be strict when need be rather than constantly pampering her.
While Latina stood there dumbfounded at the sight of her when they met at Duke Eldstedt’s manor, Rose gently smiled back, and then called out, “Ms. Latina.”
“Wah!”
There was a chill behind Rose’s voice. And since she was so sensitive to that sharp tone, Latina let out that strange sound and then stood up straight.
Standing next to them, Dale felt like it was the sort of relationship you would see between a superior and their subordinate in the military.
“In this place, I will always refer to you as ‘Ms. Latina.’”
Rose made sure to lay that fact down in advance, since Latina’s current standing was that of the younger sister of Vassilios’s ruler. And it simply wouldn’t make sense for a lower-ranking noble like Rose to act like the superior of a princess from a neighboring country.
However, Latina and Chrysos were already rather close to Rose on a personal level. Those attending from the Vassilios side, including the court ladies and guards waiting on Chrysos, were all acquainted with Rose from the time she visited Vassilios, so they showed no sign of finding fault with the matter.
And of course, as someone who was so strict about manners, there was most certainly a reason why she wouldn’t call Latina “princess.”
“You will be having an audience with His Majesty, so make sure not to act so foolish in front of him.”
“Um... Um... Lady Rose...”
“Your sister, the king, is not familiar with Labandese manners. There surely exist those who are ignorant of that and would view any missteps harshly.”
Rose was now fully acting as a mentor in etiquette and giving her guidance. Her deep indigo eyes were casting a stern gaze toward Latina.
“Ms. Latina, I believe you are the only one familiar enough with both Vassilios and Laband to stay by your sister’s side and protect her.”
That’s way too big of a responsibility... I just can’t...
“There is no time for complaining.”
“Right!”
Rose had managed to clearly chastise Latina, even though she was only thinking to herself. But Latina’s earnest nature made her exceptionally easy to read, so that was no surprise.
Rose was certainly a bit of a strict teacher.
“And so, I was thinking I would have you attend a tea party hosted by Sir Gregor’s elder sister, her highness Lady Fania.”
“Huh?”
“Be at ease. Lady Fania was my own mentor in proper etiquette, and she is aware of your circumstances to some degree.
”
Gregor’s half-sister Fania was the one who doted especially hard on Rose when she was brought into the Eldstedt family at a young age.
Before she was known as the princess of Vassilios, Latina’s name was spread about those in the duke’s camp as the foster child the hero directly under the duke was thoroughly doting on.
Even though Fania had left home upon marriage, her father served as the nation’s prime minister, and it certainly wasn’t as if she had grown estranged from her family.
“I’m sure that Lady Fania will play along with your ‘rehearsal,’ Ms. Latina...”
“Wah... Huh...? Um, Lady Rose...”
Realizing she had no place to run, Latina’s gaze darted from side to side.
Sparing a glance at her sister in that state, Chrysos bluntly stated, “I shall be having a briefing session with those from Laband, and handling final adjustments, so we shall have to say farewell for the time being, Platina.”
Officially Chrysos didn’t understand Western Continental, so that did make a certain amount of sense. It was impossible to tell who could be watching in the capital and the royal estate, so she couldn’t exactly treat it as a pleasant jaunt with Latina as she had been thus far.
Regardless of her feelings on the matter, right now Chrysos needed to prioritize her official position.
“...If I recall correctly, your elder sister Lady Fania was crown princess?”
“Officially, His Majesty has not yet named his successor, so she’s the consort of the second prince.”
“That certainly sounds dubious, in all manner of ways...”
“In actuality, she holds the second greatest authority of any woman, after only the queen.”
It was no surprise that Dale’s expression suggested this whole affair was a pain, as he couldn’t help but think there was some sort of meaning behind the fact that the second prince was considered heir apparent of the throne. The continual delays only further supported his suspicions, as a successor would normally have been named by now.
It was only natural that the place be called a den of demons. Dale really preferred to live within his means as a commoner, and would just as well have nothing to do with this world if he could help it.
And with her commoner mindset, Latina felt much the same.
Dale and Gregor’s explanation had been meant to calm Latina down, but ended up having the exact opposite effect.
When she realized that she was going to be dealing with a serious big shot, Latina became so panicked that it was written clearly on her face. And naturally, that reflected poorly on her.
Rose looked straight at Latina, a perfectly ladylike smile on her face.
“It would seem that there is need for a thorough review, yes?”
“Wah...! Um, ah... Yes, please...”
And so, Latina ended up undergoing some unexpectedly spartan training in court etiquette.
Rose led Latina to a section of the palace that was under the jurisdiction of Fania, the consort to the second prince. Well, it was called a “section,” but it was an entirely separate manor where she and the second prince lived.
Normally, when faced with such a beautiful sight like something out of a picture book, Latina would’ve darted around restlessly as she looked at everything, her mouth hanging open. But sure enough, this time around Latina successfully composed herself, remembering her earlier training.
She was seriously frightened by the indigo eyes of the girl standing next to her, whose utter lack of warmth betrayed the smile below them.
They were lead by a servant into a beautiful garden full of proudly blooming flowers. There was a great variety on display, and it seems like even the way the colors were laid out had been perfectly calculated. Even the ironwork arch was in perfect harmony with everything else.
“Wah...” Latina unwittingly let slip, overwhelmed by the beauty and sweet aroma. “Lady Rose...”
“Within the palace, your status is higher than my own, Ms. Latina. You mustn’t abase yourself towards me.”
“Hmm... It’s just that you taught me magic too, Lady Rose... But I’ll try my best.”
Seeing Latina having trouble due to her natural politeness, Rose couldn’t help but give a strained smile.
Then, Latina continued on, “They didn’t have a flower garden like this in the temple in Vassilios... Would it be possible to make an opportunity for Chrysos to visit a place like this, too?”
“Yes, that nation has an arid environment, does it not? So there are no places where flowers blossom?”
“There was a place where they were grown to be used in rituals for Quirmizi... But that was pretty limited, and you couldn’t ever enjoy being surrounded by this many flowers.”
“In that case, let us inform Lady Fania. Perhaps that knowledge will be useful when welcoming guests from Vassilios in the future.”
Latina felt like this conversation leaned just a bit more towards normal, but when she noticed the person waiting for them in the gazebo in the middle of the garden, she stood up straight. The woman didn’t look all that much like Gregor. Her hair was a honey-colored blonde, she had an oval-shaped face, and the overall impression she gave off was completely different than that of her half-brother, completely lacking his martial discipline and foreign feel. But they certainly were similarly attractive, if nothing else.
Though they otherwise didn’t look too much alike, Latina felt satisfied when she noticed the woman’s willful, unusually refreshing ice-blue eyes. She was glad to find proof that this woman really was related to her acquaintance.
“I am truly grateful for your invitation at this time,” Latina said as a greeting to the owner of the garden, ever so slightly grabbing the hem of her swaying Vassilios-style skirt. It was a more restrained action as it lacked the plentiful drape of a Labandese dress, but the woman in front of her didn’t seem to mind, and in fact gave her a pleasant smile back.
“You really are a princess every bit as adorable as a fairy, just as the rumors say.”
Latina just smiled, having trouble knowing how to respond, so Rose said, “Lady Fania, this is Princess Platina Muto Cori Mov. Thank you so much for listening to my unreasonable request.”
Latina had been given the role name of “Muto” in Dale’s home village of Tislow. Since Dale used his role name of “Reki” in place of a family name, Latina did the same and combined it with her real name of Platina to get the name of Platina Muto.
The devils of Vassilios didn’t use family names, but it was normal to refer to themselves as “child of X,” with that X being their mother’s name. And so Rose followed that tradition and introduced Latina using vocabulary in Western Continental that meant “daughter of Mov,” but Latina herself was left looking utterly puzzled.
It took a couple of seconds before she even realized that Rose was referring to her.
Normally she just used “Latina” (even though it was originally supposed to be a nickname), and she lived in the rougher part of town, so she didn’t have a need to introduce herself using a family name. And so, it took her a bit to realize that her “real” name had taken that form.
By the way, Chrysos hoped to introduce herself as Chrysos Vassilios Cori Mov, inserting the country’s name to indicate that she was its ruler. There was no such custom in Vassilios, but when she heard that Latina’s “Muto” was a role name from Tislow, she wanted something similar to express her role as king.
She really did have quite the sister complex, wanting everything to match like that.
“So that’s what my name’s like now...” Latina muttered absently.
“Ms. Latina?”
“It’s nothing!” she quickly responded.
“Well then, let us practice your greeting for when you have your audience with His Majesty. Lady Fania will explain in detail about how to greet lords and ladies.”
“Rose informed me about you in the past. I looked forward to this meeting. She praised your memorization skills, after all,” Fania s
aid with a smile. Her words were completely friendly, but still, Latina’s attempts to maintain her composure left her sweating.
Please don’t expect so much out of me...
She really did think like a commoner, for that thought to come to mind.
And with her graceful beauty and gentle manners, Fania really was Rose’s mentor.
The first thing that Latina had thoroughly pounded into her was how to properly bow like a lady. It felt harsh even to someone like Latina, a member of the hardy devil race who had also spent day after day running all about the Ocelot while waitressing there.
Despite their brilliant surroundings, the coaching was as intense as that of a professional sport.
It was only when Latina’s knees started to give out that she was finally allowed to take a break to drink some tea.
“You seem to have gotten down the basic process, yes?” Fania said, giving the girl a passing mark.
“Thank you,” Latina responded with a smile while holding a teacup.
The tea had been carefully prepared with high class tea leaves, and it made for a wonderful flavor with very little bitterness to it. The snacks provided alongside it weren’t overly lacking in sweetness, and struck a perfect balance when eaten together with the tea.
Latina wasn’t able to pay attention to the flavor and ingredients though, as she had to devote her full attention to eating in such a way that not a single crumb fell down, which caused her to shed tears in her heart.
“Still, Labandese manners certainly do seem difficult in foreign attire, do they not?”
“You think so as well, Lady Fania? The outfits from Vassilios are terribly beautiful, so I would have liked to let those present see her in one, but it certainly wouldn’t be easy...” Rose replied, only for a playful, mischievous expression to flash over Fania’s face. Latina, meanwhile, was completely enraptured by the fine decorations applied to the snacks, so she wasn’t paying attention to their conversation.
“I hear tell that Princess Platina and her sister, the king, look quite alike.”
“Yes. And the two get along quite well, so I am certain that if they were to wear matching outfits, they would become the main topic of conversation amongst the lords.”