“Wow, you sure can eat,” said Cezar, with a look in his eyes that reminded me of a grandfather gazing fondly at his grandchild.
Once I realized that I’d zoned out while stuffing my face, I felt a little bit embarrassed.
“You see, this was my first time seeing all of these treats, so I got a bit too excited. Sorry.”
“No, I was pleased to see you enjoy them so much. Moreover, since you liked them so much, would you like to take some with you?”
“Eh? Can I?”
“Of course. Which would you like? I’ll have someone pack them for you.”
“Umm... The one on this platter was just the best...but this one was really tasty too... This one too...”
I struggled to narrow down my options.
Cezar chuckled.
“All right, all right. We’ll pack them all up for you.”
“Really?! Thank you so much.” I was over the moon at the thought of getting to taste the treats I’d just enjoyed again. I could even let my coworkers try them too, so I was really pleased.
“You really did get through a lot of them. Have you taken a liking to Ethenell’s treats?” asked Cezar, half closing his eyes.
“Yes. They were incredibly tasty. Though the flavor and texture were unlike anything I’ve had before, I could get used to them. I’m sad to hear that I won’t be able to buy them in Sorcié. Don’t you have any plans to sell them outside of your country?” I asked, wistful over the thought of being unable to get the same treats in the future.
“Hmm. They are traditional treats, so some still maintain the old way of thinking, that it would be wrong to sell them outside of our kingdom. But if it’s in service of our kingdom’s development, many might be in favor of it. It would certainly be worth it to take your suggestion back home and look into it,” answered Cezar, touching his hand to his chin as he pondered this. In that moment, he really did seem like a prince to me.
“If they’re as tasty as this, and hard to find, I’m sure they’ll be very popular. Rather, I’m puzzled by the fact that they haven’t been exported before now,” I said, cocking my head quizzically as Cezar furrowed his brow slightly.
“Well, after all, as I think everyone in the neighboring countries knows, Ethenell has been embroiled in internal conflict for a long time, and consequently neglected diplomatic relations with other countries. We’re finally ready to move forward in that area.”
That’s right. As I was taught in a lesson just before the recent International Assembly, the Kingdom of Ethenell was quite desolate, and had few opportunities to seek relationships with other countries until recently.
Apparently the new king who had taken the throne a few years ago had finally managed to unite the kingdom, leading to a restoration of public order. This in turn allowed them to begin putting some effort toward international diplomacy.
“Now that you mention it, I did hear about that. Could it be that your reason for coming to study in Sorcié was to help you contribute more on the diplomatic front?” I asked.
I’d heard from Jeord that he was also looking for a bride, but that could also be something he was doing to serve the objective of improving diplomatic relations. I’d asked my question with these thoughts in mind, but Cezar just furrowed his brow more heavily.
“Eh? Was I wrong?”
“No, it’s fair to say that’s part of the purpose of my visit. But at the moment, Ethenell doesn’t have the power to negotiate fairly with Sorcié. In order to figure out how to obtain that power, I’ve come to see how Sorcié’s government, the Magical Ministry, and other organizations operate, and learn from their example.”
I see, so Cezar genuinely is here to learn about Sorcié. He really is in the position of an overseas student. Also, according to the game’s plotline, he’s supposed to develop his romance with Maria while studying here... I wonder how that’s going. I couldn’t help but be curious, so I thought I’d try probing him a little, and asked him what he’d been doing each day.
“I’ve visited a number of different workplaces, as well as other locations. These are limited to places that Sorcié is happy for me to see, but even where I have received permission to go and look at places, I can only be shown as many places as I have time to visit. Today, after taking a short break here, I have plans to go and visit a factory in a nearby district.” It sounded like every day had been chock-full of business, since he was touring so many places.
He won’t have any time to spare for romance, then. In fact, does he even have time to rest properly?
Cezar may have put on a show of acting pretty carefree, but I thought that he was actually working quite earnestly. He had been granted a fairly long stay in Sorcié, so I felt like it would be a waste if he did nothing but study. More importantly, I felt like if he continued to overexert himself, it might start to affect his health. I thought that would be a pity, given what a great opportunity this term of study was.
“Erm, I do think it’s important to see how people work here, but as long as you’re in Sorcié, why not spread your wings a little and enjoy a change of pace?” I suggested.
Cezar blinked in surprise at first, before frowning even more heavily than he just had.
“You sound just like my older brother,” he muttered, looking sullen.
“Eh? Your older brother? Wait, you mean the King of Ethenell?” Cezar was the current king’s younger brother.
“Yeah, the king himself said that, as long as I was studying here, I ought to spread my wings a little before coming home,” Cezar admitted, pouting slightly in a way that reminded me of a sulky little boy.
“What a nice king. So, why are you sulking?”
“Yeah, my brother might be too nice to be king— Wait, who’s sulking?” Cezar shot back, his eyes wide open.
“Well, I mean, you certainly looked like you were sulking.”
“Sulking? What are you talking about? I’m not a child. It’s just that our kingdom has only recently settled down, and there are still so many things to do. I didn’t feel like I alone should be allowed to come here and relax,” said Cezar, still looking sullen.
There was one thing I felt I had to say. I raised my index finger matter-of-factly.
“Pardon me for saying this, but no matter how busy you are—in fact, especially when you’re busy—you need to take the time to properly rest. If you don’t take even a little time to clear your head, you’ll end up wrecking your mind and your body.”
I had heard once that people as hardworking as Cezar had a particular tendency to push themselves too hard, eventually going past their own limits. Cezar was so surprised by my statement that he was unable to string together a retort, so I continued.
“If you carry on like that and end up collapsing from exhaustion, that would be quite a terrible thing. I think that’s why your older brother told you to take this opportunity to spread your wings, at least a little. He wanted you to relax a bit.” With that I was satisfied, having said what I wanted to say.
Across the table, Cezar was silent, his body language indicating that he was deep in thought.
Then I heard a voice agree with me.
“You are absolutely right.” It was Janne, Cezar’s servant. With a deep sigh, he said, “Prince Cezar never listens to me, no matter how many times I tell him to take a little break and clear his head. But now that you have said so, Lady Claes, it looks like he’s finally willing to listen, and I couldn’t be happier.”
“Hey, Janne,” Cezar began, furrowing his brow as he prepared to admonish Janne, but the servant didn’t seem to care.
Yep. It’s just like I thought when I saw them together earlier. These two are pretty close.
Janne expressed his opinions freely with Cezar, and there was no sign of Cezar actually punishing him for his banter, though he did sometimes tell him off. They clearly had a relationship that went beyond that of a master and his servant. Perhaps they had been friends since childhood? Maybe they had something in common with me and my friends, and Jeord and Alan?
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