Later that night, after the summoning of Yamai Zenjirou, Queen Aura I of the Capua Kingdom held an informal meeting with her most trusted advisers.
A candlestick atop the table lit the room with a dim glow. Aura crossed her legs where she sat in a wicker chair fitting for the southern climate. She looked around at her gathered confidants and began to speak.
“So, how is he settling in?” she asked, addressing an attendant with long blonde hair.
“He finally fell asleep a few moments ago, madam,” the woman answered in a clear, high pitched voice.
“I see. Good. However, he is something of a night bird. It may be best to prepare more lighting for the inner palace,” Aura murmured, resting her chin on her folded arms in thought.
Zenjirou might have been more reluctant to accept her proposal if he had heard that evaluation. The time was only ten o’clock. Zenjirou’s normal weekdays had him getting home around midnight or even later, so this was actually a very early night for him.
He’d purposefully put the lights around the room out and gotten into bed, despite the fact that he did not yet feel tired. It was more out of consideration for the maids who would be unable to stop their work until he turned in. That being considered late, or him being seen as a night bird, would make him feel a little awkward.
It was no wonder, though. In modern Japan, you could keep the lights on twenty-four seven if you felt like it. Here, you had torches, candles, lamps... things that were lit by flames, so nighttime would of course be seen in a fundamentally different way.
There was an exceedingly small variety of establishments that were open at night. Even the palace, usually a hive of activity, had an ingrained view that “the night is for sleeping.”
“In any case,” said a slender-faced man from where he stood in front of her, “my congratulations on your engagement, Your Majesty. What is your estimation of Sir Zenjirou?” The speaker was a middle-aged fellow and looked to be some sort of official. He was Fabio Deubashe, Aura’s secretary.
A secretary would not ordinarily hold so much influence, but the queen currently had no prime minister or marshal. The army and government were under her direct control, so his position as “the queen’s right hand” meant that he had much more power than his title indicated.
The queen shrugged at her trusted confidant’s words and answered bluntly. “He was a far sharper individual than I anticipated. He kept a cool head and showed a fair amount of courage. This could be called an ‘unpleasant miscalculation,’ I suppose.”
Her judgment of him had sounded like praise at first, but calling it an “unpleasant miscalculation” was proof that she didn’t want a particularly competent husband. Aura’s ideal groom was a man who would surrender himself to extravagance and be satisfied with the money, women, and gourmet food—a man who held no political ambitions whatsoever.
“Particularly with his last question, I believe he deduced my intentions. Despite this, he was willing to accept the marriage,” Aura noted with a chuckle. He’d even directly asked her, “If I shut myself up in the inner palace after we marry and have little contact with the outside world or anyone related to the palace other than you, and just spend my days lazing around, what would you think of that?”
It implied that he was completely aware of what she wanted her husband to do, or rather, what she would want him not to do.
“I originally thought him to have been raised as a common villager, but given his intelligence, it’s possible for him to be a noble in his world,” she added.
“It certainly seems plausible.”
“I have my doubts about his manners and behavior, but he certainly doesn’t appear to be an ignorant commoner.”
Her confidants nodded in agreement; he wasn’t quite the useless hedonist they had been hoping for. At this point, they too were applying the values of their own world to the newcomer. And in this world, education was a right afforded to royalty, nobles, and some particularly rich families.
As far as they were concerned, the majority of commoners were illiterate and uneducated, for better or worse. If you looked over the entire Southern Continent, there were certainly facilities that could open doors for commoners, but Aura and her confidants were unable to imagine a country like Japan where there were nine years of compulsory education for all citizens.
“In that case, it would seem likely that he has some ulterior motive for accepting your offer. If you decide to annul the arrangement, we will simply cancel the resummoning next month,” offered the aged man who had stood at her left when Zenjirou was first brought over. He wore purple robes and was the court mage, Espiridion.
Aura let out a dismissive sniff and waved her hand. “Don’t make me laugh, old man. Besides, who would you have me marry instead? The hungry wolf of the Guillén family, or perhaps the puppet of the Márquez family? We just lived through a war—such decisions would see the Capua Kingdom fall to internal strife.”
The old mage gave a pained smile at her harsh censure, stroking his long, ashen beard as he supported the men in question.
“Your majesty, I feel that is excessive. Sir Pujol of the Guillén family is a great commander, and Lord Raffaello of the Márquez family is an extremely talented official.”
“I am fully aware of their positions. I am the one who gave them those positions. However talented they may be, a man of unlimited ambition or a boy who jumps at his family’s every demand are unsuitable candidates to be my groom.”
Her estimations of the men were harsh, but by no means incorrect, so the aged mage said nothing more.
“Then you shall indeed wed Sir Zenjirou?” asked Fabio.
“I shall,” she confirmed with a simple nod. “I may have concerns about his intelligence being greater than expected, but he passes in regards to his personality. At the very least, there is no comparison to ‘the hungry wolf’ or ‘the family’s marionette.’ Much of the royal family’s blood runs in his veins. So much so that even he himself may be able to use space-time magic in addition to ensuring that his children inherit at least the basics of it.
“In that case, even the nobles should have no legitimate objections.”
Succession in the Capua royal family was legitimized by inheritance of the magic inherent in their bloodline, the space-time magic. So that made Zenjirou eminently suitable to marry the queen. The number of inherent magic users itself contributed to the country’s strength. If Zenjirou developed the ability to use space-time magic in the not-too-distant future, there could be no outright resistance to their marriage.
“However, he is from another world entirely, not just of a different social standing. Even if you marry, I believe there may be multiple problems with his ability to build a family,” Espiridion counseled, concerned about what the future might hold.
Aura laughed back meaningfully. “Well, that would be a problem regardless of who I marry. It is all a matter of my sincerity and effort afterward. As I told him this afternoon, this is all for my own convenience. As long as it is not a thoughtless demand that would impact national politics, I will accept any request from him.”
The sincerity she had shown during her discussion with Zenjirou earlier was no mere façade. Emotionally, she felt indebted to him after dragging him into this situation arbitrarily, and logically, it also made sense to treat the man who would become her husband in good faith.
A husband wasn’t a subordinate, he was family. If things went well, he would be a companion who she would share her life with for decades to come, skin meeting skin on many occasions. A quarrel would just exhaust them.
“Understood. That is a ‘family’ matter, so I shall leave it to you, Your Majesty. However, the heir, or lack thereof, is a matter for the kingdom. So if the worst should come to pass, and there is some incompatibility in ‘matters of the night,’ please report it immediately. It is fortunate indeed that Sir Zenjirou has strong enough ties that we can expect him to acquire space-time magic. There are several women with ties to the royal family as strong Lord Raffaello and Sir Pujol’s that currently reside within the kingdom.”
This frank, extremely rude statement came from Fabio. Until now, the only person capable of space-time magic had been Aura, so her bearing a child was the best proposition for the kingdom. But with Zenjirou’s arrival, there was now a man with strong enough blood ties to potentially use the magic himself, albeit not as well. This presented the extreme possibility that the precedent set by previous queens might be maintained, with Aura remaining single and the heir being a child born of Zenjirou and a noblewoman who possessed some relation to the royal family.
The queen’s marriage would always cause a conflict between law and culture: “the monarch reigns supreme” versus “the man is the head of the family.”
If they knew about Zenjirou, there would be many noblewomen with ties to the royal line who would use that as a pretense to annul the marriage between him and the queen, and change it to a marriage between Zenjirou and themselves. In a way, the newcomer was both an opportunity and an explosion waiting to happen.
Queen Aura showed no anger at her confidant’s bluntness and crossed her legs once more as she sat upon her chair, letting out another meaningful laugh.
“Indeed, a problem for the future, but one I have already considered to an extent. I believe your concerns are unwarranted. Child-making should go well.”
“Oh? May I ask what gives you such confidence?” the mage asked with great curiosity.
She smiled back at him and answered. “A simple matter of biology. I took my dinner tonight across the table from my groom, but his gaze was quite clearly focused on my chest. He may have intended to hide it, but it was without a doubt a carnal gaze. It would appear that my body will suffice to stimulate his libido.” As she spoke, she thrust out those sizable breasts proudly.
What was a glance for a man was an examination for a woman, and Zenjirou’s wicked thoughts had been laid bare before the queen.