There was a long line at the southern gate to Gunzverg’s royal capital city, so I set the carpet down near the back. I had everyone get off of it, rolled it up, and put it away. Then I just climbed into my carriage and acted like I’d ridden it the whole way here. There were plenty of people staring, but my carriage protected me from their curious gazes, so I just sat inside and played with my tablet while I waited for the line to move.
Well, I say “played,” but I was really just fussing with my towers. Putting finishing touches on the route to my main tower, setting the positions of guards, and so on. I could do it all remotely. I could have tried having Hegram talk to the guards, to see if he could get us past the line, but I was already enough of a cheater. Besides, I didn’t really mind waiting.
I sat in my carriage, minding my own business, until we reached the gate. From what I could hear from inside my carriage, the guards knew Hegram, so they let us right in. At first I thought it was pretty irresponsible of them, but after further consideration, I would have let me in too. Why? I’m adorable, that’s why!
Anyway, my entourage headed into town, making a beeline for the royal palace. From what I could see on the map, the layout had been designed with warfare in mind, and the walls coiled like a snail shell. This created a spiral pattern, but there were gates that were left open except during emergencies. From what I could see, things looked pretty cramped here. Not that I minded; it wasn’t like I was moving in.
Eventually, we made it to the palace. Once again, the guards just let us walk right in. After we passed through the main gate, I put the carriage into my inventory, which sent the Faewolf duo hitched to it back to the tower. I looked up at the facade of the castle. It was imposing and gray, but otherwise unremarkable. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all, I guessed. I’m not saying there was never any variation, but castles designed for military purposes all shared certain design characteristics. A lot of castles you saw in fantasy stories had huge balconies, where the monarch could take in scenic views. Unfortunately, real castles usually lacked such features, since any place an archer could get a clear shot at you was generally frowned upon.
If you really thought about it, most castles had features based on archery. They were usually designed to allow archers to shoot arrows at enemies on the ground, while being hard for those same enemies to hit. Unfortunately, that usually meant that they didn’t end up looking much like the romantic fantasy castles in stories. My palace was much more of a fantasy castle, with huge balconies protected by magical barriers. Not only that, but I had put some seriously powerful creatures in there to act as guards. If anyone made trouble in there, they’d regret it.
Anyway, we entered Gunzverg’s royal palace, which definitely wasn’t as cool as mine. As expected of a fortress, the layout inside was relatively complex. With my tablet’s mapping functions, I had a bird’s-eye view of the passageways, but I could see how a normal person would quickly get lost without a guide to show them the way. This was my second visit to a royal palace other than my own, and I couldn’t help but compare the two. Doma’s castle had been much more comfortable—it was nicely furnished, and there were a lot of places for recreation. In contrast, Gunzverg’s palace was much more sparsely decorated.
Tapestries and paintings depicting historical battles adorned the walls. You could really tell this country’s history and culture were militaristic. Based on the decor, I was expecting the king to be a big, muscular guy with a might-makes-right sort of attitude, but as it turned out, that described the previous ruler much more than the current monarch, King Dalvas.
King Dalvas of Gunzverg was a young man, barely old enough to be called an adult. If I’d met him in my previous life, he wouldn’t even have been old enough to drink. Yet here he was, valiantly trying to run a country. He was good-looking, I supposed, if you were into the blond-haired, blue-eyed European type. He still retained a lot of his youthful features, but he was also mindful of his station, and its responsibilities. For his age, he demonstrated a lot of poise and grace. His clothes reflected his situation: nice, but not super extravagant. He wore a red mantle over a mostly gray suit. My first impression of him was quite favorable.
Then he had to go and ruin it by opening his big mouth.
“Ah, the rumored Lady Grimwood. What a pleasure it is to meet you. I am Dalvas Gunzverg, the ruler of this modest nation. I must say, the rumors of your beauty did not do you justice. You’re absolutely radiant. If you’d agree, I’d love to take you as my wife.”
“Huh?”
This was the first time someone had actually proposed to me. If you’ll recall, I explained earlier how Sprigians felt about marriage, and I intended to adopt that belief system. I wasn’t sure at first if he was joking or not, but when I looked around at the expectant faces in the room, I realized this proposal required a serious response. The way he’d said it could be played off as flattery if I wasn’t interested, which was probably the smartest diplomatic decision he’d ever made. I noticed Ringo reaching for his sword, but I cut him off with a swift motion.
I quickly explained how Sprigians handled romance, and politely declined the proposal. He just wasn’t my type. There were looks of disappointment on faces all over the room. I guess a lot of the retainers had really pushed for this political marriage. As for King Dalvas himself— Was that a sigh of relief?! If I wasn’t maintaining my royal dignity, I’d slug him! My opinion of him sank, but I still had business to attend to.
“Regarding the Grimwood, I understand you’d like to make an agreement with me similar to the one I have with Doma,” I said, careful to hide my annoyance as I changed the subject. “I have no problems with such an arrangement, but I’d also like to request that you arrange a meeting with the other leaders whose countries border the Grimwood as well. I plan to establish my own country there, and I don’t want to meet with each leader individually in their own nation if I can help it. I’d still like to obtain their permission, if only to be polite, but traveling to each country one at a time would take far too long. Is there any way we could set up a large-scale conference?”
“Ah, I see,” said King Dalvas. “Unfortunately, our country doesn’t have the best relations with our neighbors. My father saw to that. However, I shall send messengers to every nation we can, asking them each to send an envoy to meet with you, and to pass the message to their neighbors.”
“Very well. How much time should we allow for them to gather here?” I pressed.