With his strong sense of justice, my half brother lamented the state of corruption that our kingdom had fallen into. He’d always said that he wanted to change it. In order to do that, all of us around him knew that he needed to become king. I wanted to help him do that. However, I knew that as long as I stayed at the inner palace, I would only hamper him. That’s why I chose to leave the inner palace and hunt those who opposed my half brother, whether they came from inside or outside of Ethenell.
Perhaps these efforts of mine were of some small use to him?
All I ever wanted in return was one glimpse of my half brother reigning as king. That’s all I wanted: to see my half brother diligently working to put the kingdom back together, despite having so few allies.
Then one day, my brother sent word to me.
“Cezar, I’d like you to lend me a hand,” he requested.
With that, I would never again return to my life of freedom. Instead, I returned to being Cezar Dahl, Prince of Ethenell.
“Prince Cezar, if you keep standing there you might fall into the sea. Please, return to your quarters.”
Though I had been thoroughly lost in my own thoughts, due to my many years of experience working as a mercenary, it had not escaped my attention that Janne, my servant and childhood friend, had approached me from behind.
“Don’t worry,” I replied to his warning. “That’s not a problem.”
But having now stepped up right beside me, Janne now lowered his voice and continued speaking in his usual manner.
“That was just an excuse. If ya keep hanging around here, it’ll be harder for the new recruits to do their jobs. Now c’mon, get back to your room.”
Startled, I looked around to discover that the newly recruited sailors really did look uncomfortable.
“My bad, that was inconsiderate of me,” I replied, also in a low voice, before returning with Janne to our private quarters.
It still often slipped my mind that I was Cezar Dahl, a member of the royal family. When that happened, I would conduct myself in the same way I had when I was a mercenary and earn a scolding from Janne each time. I had to hurry up and mend this bad habit.
At this moment, I was sailing across the sea on a ship sent from Ethenell, my own kingdom. I was on my way to the Kingdom of Sorcié, which was on the other side of the sea. It was a far smaller and shabbier ship compared to the one I had sailed on when I participated in the Assembly. That ship had come from Sorcié, and this one bore no comparison. On top of that, most of the crew were new to sailing, so the overall experience was not especially pleasant.
Our kingdom’s shipwrights were still learning their trade from Sorcié and other countries. We were assigned so many new sailors under the pretext of training them as quickly as possible, but the truth was that the rumblings of internal strife within our kingdom had caused many of the more experienced sailors to leave. The Kingdom of Ethenell was still in the process of being rebuilt.
In spite of that...
“Is it really all right for me alone to enjoy the luxury of a trip to study in Sorcié?” I wondered, the concern that had been clouding my mind finally escaping from my lips.
Hearing this, Janne gave me a look that seemed to say, “This again?”
“Look, pal. This is what His Majesty told you to do, so don’t worry.”
“You say that, but Ethenell is still in the middle of its reforms. Aren’t there a bunch of things I should be doing back at home?”
“Yeah, maybe, but if you had your way, you’d carry on working your fingers to the bone, wouldn’t you? That’s why His Majesty had to order you to take a break.”
“His Majesty is surely working just as hard. So how can I alone take a—”
“His Majesty has his lady to assist him now, right? Didn’t she tell you not to keep overdoing it, and take proper breaks from now on?”
“Yeah, that’s true...”
The one Janne referred to as the king’s “lady” was now the Queen of Ethenell. I felt this form of address was a little disrespectful, but the queen was another of our childhood friends, so I didn’t question his use of the term, provided no one else was around. Our current queen had been one of my half brother’s few dependable allies back when he was practically isolated and unsupported within the royal palace, and shared his hopes of changing the kingdom for the better.
Immediately after his ascension to the throne, her hands had been full with the task of reorganizing the inner palace, so she had been unable to assist my half brother with his other reforms. But now that the inner palace had been completely dismantled, she was able to return to his side, along with her brothers who served as her subordinates. Following this, my half brother’s work had become far easier.
However, there was still much to be done. Despite having been told to go to Sorcié and relax, I simply couldn’t accept that I alone should enjoy this luxury.
“You always did think too much. Ever since you went out into the world at fifteen, you haven’t enjoyed a proper break. Taking time off when you need to is part of your job,” Janne declared with a shrug.
“Well, you’re always with me, so you haven’t taken time off either, have you?” I countered, furrowing my brow slightly as I observed Janne’s carefree demeanor.
“Unlike you, I’m always looking for opportunities to rest when I need to, so it’s not a problem for me at all. Don’t lump me in with you,” he responded. It was true that Janne had always been especially resourceful, and always dispensed with his duties swiftly, so he was able to find a surprising amount of time to relax. Having remembered this, I realized it was just as Janne said, so I was left with no retort. Janne grinned. “Besides, if you go to Sorcié, you might get to meet that girl you like. You should feel free to enjoy that kind of thing as well.”