“There’s that too, but there was apparently a push to go through with it regardless. Their leadership seemed to be rather divided on it.”
“Hmm, that’s unexpected.”
“They don’t want to be seen as a country that was thrust into chaos after just one incident.”
“I see...”
Even with a commoner’s mind, I understood well enough—they didn’t have the resources to expend on a delegation to another nation after such a major incident. I’d even wondered whether it would be canceled for that reason.
However, this apparently hadn’t been a unanimous decision among the diplomats—some hadn’t wanted to give up on the delegation. There were all kinds of motives in play. The complicated part of running a nation was that they couldn’t just say, “Things are kinda crazy, so let’s just cancel this year” and call it a day. It was a poor decision to show weakness to other nations, after all.
Man, people who guide entire nations really do have to keep a lot of stuff in mind. I had no interest in ever having such responsibilities, but I could admire what Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia had to do.
“Just the other day, we finally received a notice in the name of Glenn Tasmacan Gudyr, Crown Prince of Sphenedyardvania, that the delegation has been canceled.”
“Crown prince...?”
Even though this was an annual delegation, it still required significant time to prepare. And they had to be extra careful because the expedition crossed borders. Despite this, the notification had just arrived. They must’ve debated over what to do until the very last second.
At any rate, I was more curious about the addition to Prince Glenn’s title.
“It seems they’ve finally gotten their internal affairs settled,” Allucia explained, “including the matter of succession.”
“Ummm...?”
Sooo, what’s the difference between a prince and a crown prince? I didn’t have any knowledge on this front. All I could say was that it sounded fancier. Might be pretty ignorant and rude for me to sum it up that way, though.
“The crown prince is the first in line to the throne,” Allucia said, sensing my bewilderment. “The fact that he signed the letter that way carries meaning—it signifies that Sphenedyardvania wants to publicize the fact that Prince Glenn will definitely be the next king.”
“Aah, I get it now... Ha ha, sorry for being so ignorant.” I’m really grateful for the explanation.
“Don’t worry about it.”
So Prince Glenn was announcing that he was now the crown prince of Sphenedyardvania—he’d finally solidified his position. I didn’t know whether this was a good or bad thing, and I could only pray it was positive.
Prince Glenn wasn’t a bad person, and he didn’t give off the impression of a fool. He had Gatoga with him too. I hoped that they could guide their country in a better direction. Nobody ever wished for war.
“So does that make Princess Salacia...the crown princess?” I asked.
“It does.”
The ceremony in Dilmahakha had been interrupted, but that didn’t mean the marriage between Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia had been called off. She’d subsequently become his lawful wife. This meant her title had changed from third princess of Liberis to crown princess of Sphenedyardvania.
Hmm, this is complicated. I guess that pretty much sums it up, but all this political stuff is too much for me.
“Is it really all right to tell me this?” I asked, just to be sure.
“It’ll be made public soon. It isn’t a problem.”
“That so?”
Guess it’s fine. Well, many citizens had seen the two during last year’s sightseeing tour, so Liberis would definitely need to publicize that information.
I still didn’t know where the boundaries were for this kind of intel—what I could and couldn’t say to others. I never wanted to be responsible for such information, but I had a bad feeling I would become privy to more confidential things in the near future. I’d really rather not, though.
“Well,” I continued, “now that you don’t have to do any work preparing for the delegation, you’ve got time to come here.”
Allucia smiled. “Yes. Even though I’ve mostly left training the knights to you, I’m also their instructor.”
“Ha ha, true.”
Not that this needs mentioning at this point, but my title was special instructor. That meant there was a normal instructor too: Allucia. I’d ended up taking over most of the teaching here. Must’ve been a lot of work to teach everyone on top of her duties as the knight commander. In a sense, I’d helped lighten her burden. The order wasn’t going to fall apart on the spot if she collapsed, but it was always best for the higher-ups to be in good health.
“Besides...” Allucia said, maintaining her smile.
“Hm?”
“Helping you reach the summit of swordsmanship is also one of my important duties, Master.”
“I see... How reassuring.”
This was the order’s training hall—clearly a public setting. And yet, Allucia’s tone and expression weren’t those of the knight commander but of a single woman—of Allucia Citrus.
She was an incredibly attractive woman. And I can now say that without a hint of hesitation. And with her reassuring support, I couldn’t slack off in my pursuit to perfect my swordsmanship. Not that I’d ever considered easing up, though.
“Then I’ll rely on you all I can,” I told her. “I’ll show you I can get there...though I’m not entirely sure when that’ll be.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
My destination was likely still far away. I had no way of knowing how far I still had to go, but I knew that my goal was not yet within reach.
I was no longer allowed to trip up over such unnecessary thoughts, though. That negativity would’ve been fine had I been on my own, but now that my journey carried the weight of others’ feelings, that was no longer the case.
As my first step to reach my goal, let’s train these knights thoroughly, shall we?
There was still a lot to learn from guiding the next generation. That was what I believed, and that had been the case back in the dojo.
I couldn’t afford to lose focus or cut any corners. When faced with an unfulfilled goal, no matter the person, one could only push forward using their own strength.