“Your Highness Alicia, it appears that Sir Fenix has completed his preparations.” Amin relayed a recent report from Sacula. She stood straight, exuding an aura of fighting spirit.
“Thank you. I know it’s quite an imperious plan, but do you think it’ll be okay?” Ash was going to marry me. Anyone would say it’s nothing short of a dream. Ash was born into a family of farmers, and a lot of people were against him being with Maika. But now he had his eyes on me, the princess. It was so far removed from reality that I felt like people should be telling me to get a grip with a sneer. Even I thought it sounded like a dream. A happy dream, of course. I’ve started waking up with a smile recently.
“Under normal circumstances, I would say it was an impossible wish but...the fact that we’re about to make it come true is a little scary.” Amin faintly smiled as she continued relaying the report from Sacula. “Sir Fenix has managed to secure three gold medals.”
“Three! On his own? In one go?”
“I believe this is the first time that’s ever happened,” Amin responded. That’s Ash, all right. Once again, he’s broken records and raised the bar. Gold service medals weren’t just something you received as a reward for good results. A lot of political maneuvering was required just to apply for one. Even if you had really impressive results, you would have to submit them to the royal palace, and during the acceptance process, a lot of points would be taken off. Some of the credit would be shared with any collaborators, some points could be deducted just based on the mood of the noble put in charge of applications, and bargaining within the palace could cut down on merits as well.
By the time your application had gone through this ordeal, you’d have lost a lot of your points already. That’s why it was said that fighting in the Royal Sword Fighting Tournament was the easiest way to get a gold medal. One person receiving three medals, let alone all in one go, was unheard of. It was possibly the first time in recorded history.
“What kind of accomplishments did he get acknowledged for?” I asked.
“Sacula sent in recommendations regarding his work on the airplane and deciphering ancient civilization texts, and the Frontier Alliance praised his successes in agriculture, food production, and his military prowess against the werewolves. The Church backed up all of these claims.” It was impossible to ignore Ash’s many feats. There should have been obstacles when submitting the application. We were sure he would get marked down for the many collaborators involved, and he no doubt didn’t want all of it to be recorded as one person’s successes in the history books. Ash wouldn’t have even wanted this if it weren’t for me. He always said he was blessed by those around him and never sought glory. That’s why whenever he asked for help, he’d always received it.
“With all this, there’s no way they’ll turn him down.” While it could be seen as nepotism or forgery, and the applications were scrutinized heavily, a recommendation from a noble house was essential for getting it seen by the royal family. If they didn’t acknowledge House Sacula’s authority as guarantors, it would be a black mark on the palace’s reputation. Nonetheless, thanks to my house arrest, relationships were still tense between the Frontier Alliance and the royal family. The conditions here had improved somewhat, but nobody was happy with the conflict. Issues kept coming up and slowing down the application process. The central lords didn’t seem to understand how important this was to rebuild the Yanga region. “If they try to stop us, then I’ll just have to fling open the palace gates for my fellow rebels.” Sacrificing the king would be a small price to pay.
“All right, we should start preparing things here too. Let’s invite Ash to tea.” I turned toward my house servant. “Ah, Tolly, make sure we serve herbal tea. Enough for two people.” She looked back at me with a confident expression, as if she had already known what I was about to ask. I planned to invite three people, but the third guest wouldn’t be drinking tea.
Since they had softened my house arrest, I was allowed to walk around the royal family’s private areas more freely, and following the royal council meeting, the frontier lords could bring me to Count Sacula’s manor. Even so, I tried my best to limit my outings to avoid attracting too much attention, and so when I walked into the hallway, the knight guarding the room seemed startled. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on me, but when I started walking away, he looked dumbfounded. I would push ahead with this plan without giving our enemies the time to react. This is how we do it in Sacula. Just like Ash. It’s all very nostalgic. Like when he just went ahead and asked Rihn to give the acting count his agricultural improvement plan. What was it that Maika and Mother Yae often said? “Secrets are powerful when bargaining in love.” Ash was strong because we never knew what he would do next. That was exactly their point. I had to learn to be like that. However, I also kind of wanted Ash to know everything that I was doing.
“Your Highness! Your Highness Princess Alicia! Please let me know where you are going!” the knight called out after he had come back to his senses. I stopped him with a wave of my hand. One of the maids who was following me stood in front of him, blocking his way.
“Relax. This is still within the palace. If there is anything I can do for you, I’d be happy to help,” the maid spoke.
“What do you mean?! This wasn’t on her schedule! She can’t be let out without an escort!”
“It’s an urgent matter. The palace is perfectly safe, surely. If she were to leave the palace, she’d be escorted by Sacula knights, so there is no reason to worry.”
“By Sacula knights?!” the knight repeated incredulously. He started to head off, but the maid stopped him in his tracks.
“Oh, where are you trying to head off to? Aren’t you Princess Alicia’s guard? In that case, you should follow her.”
“No! Wait! I need to go report this!”
“You’re going to leave your post? Or do you need to go fetch someone else to help you guard one girl? Both possibilities are quite alarming. That could do quite some damage to your reputation as a knight.” That should slow down word getting out. Ideally, I would make it to my destination without more interruptions.