However, Aness’s response was clear. “Passing the exam is absolutely not the end goal for me. What’s important is what’s beyond that. Well, I do feel bad for my parents who are scrambling to pay my tuition.”
“‘Beyond that’...means what exactly?”
“One hundred years after the founding of the Catalan Empire, its economy is still prospering, the troops have unparalleled loyalty and courage, and you could say that its politics are mostly uncorrupted.”
“Yeah,” Zen agreed. “Those are the results of the hard work and reign of generations of emperors.”
“However, Catalan’s golden age was at its founding, and it’s been gradually declining ever since. Every bit of data points to that fact.” Organizations had to always be developing, continuing to expand production. Just thinking of maintaining the status quo was naive. Beyond stagnation and a decline lay death, and people had a habit of looking away from that obvious fact. But history had grimly proven it true time and time again. Whether it was a nation or a merchant’s shop in a town, the only difference was the scale.
That was why Aness declared, “Catalan needs a wise ruler who can rejuvenate this country. It also needs a powerful organization of bureaucrats who can support that person. I want to be one of them. I want to eventually become a chancellor and stand by their side.”
That was some big talk, but Zen couldn’t laugh since it was coming from Aness. Additionally, male dominance wasn’t as strong in Catalan as in other foreign countries. A woman would be recognized if she had the capabilities, and there actually had been a period of time when empresses and female prime ministers had carried the country’s politics.
“And no matter how brilliant I am,” continued Aness, “this country isn’t small enough that just one person can do it alone. I need comrades. People in my generation who’ve overcome the hurdle of the civil service exam with me would be even better.”
This was another one of Catalan’s particular traditions. It was well-known that the successful candidates of the Advanced Civil Service Exam would collectively take on the name of the top student, such as the Yohia generation or the Sharla generation. Their connections with their colleagues would be strong and long-lasting. They were undoubtedly the bonds created by living together in the dorms for a year.
“So that’s why the exam is secondary, and you’re looking for those comrades?” Zen asked.
“That’s right. Until the people I’ve been looking for appeared, I was intending to wait, no matter how many times I had to retake the exam. I’m thinking this will be the year, though. Zen, you’re one of them.” Aness’s eyes always sparkled as if reflecting her strong-minded nature, and her eyes were shining more than ever now as she looked at Zen.
“It’s an honor, but...I think you’re overestimating me,” Zen mumbled, but the light in her eyes was so bright, he looked away like he was running from her gaze.
As if saying she wouldn’t let him, she tightly grasped his hand on top of his desk. “And you’re being a little too modest.”
“But it’s me we’re talking about here,” he protested. “The one you’re always teaching.”
“The more I teach you, the more you grow,” she replied. “I’m betting on your future prospects. I personally think it’s fun to teach you. I’m not such a workaholic that I’d stick by your side until this late just for a paycheck.”
“I’m having so much trouble over a simple question, you know?”
“It seems you haven’t realized it yourself, but the examiners are making their questions especially difficult for you every time. That’s how high their expectations are for you.”
“I think you’re all being blinded by the Leadon family’s influence...”
“If that were the case, I would just go to Sir Yohia or Madam Sharla to persuade them directly. You know how I am, Zen!”
“U-Um...”
“It’s true that you’re still a kid right now,” she said. “I get why you can’t feel confident. But I’m talking about the future here. If you’re aiming to become a government official too, you need to shift your focus and think about the whole world and the country. That’s like Marlya’s Tuntian System we just talked about, right? It took ten years to create a self-sufficient environment that was able to support the stationing of fifty thousand troops in Fort Curee. But thanks to that, the different races in that region have never again attacked each other. Just like you said, although it took time, it was a huge success. I’m looking at you through that same perspective and am expecting great things from you.”
Persuaded by Aness, Zen was now at a loss for words. His crush was expecting so much of him, even if it was only as a comrade. It’d be a lie to say he didn’t feel that this was one of the happiest things for a man.
Still, beyond that, Zen had a complex about being an average person. He harbored the shame of feeling like, in the end, he really was nothing more than the spent tea leaves left behind after his older siblings.
What am I going to do if, after so many years, I don’t meet Aness’s expectations? What am I going to do if I disappoint her? Negative thoughts whirled around in his head.
It was the delicate time of his life when he was still just fourteen years old.
With Zen ultimately unable to reply, someone came to interrupt their conversation. A third person had visited the small nighttime library that they’d been alone in.
“Hey, Aness, Zen,” said the boy. “Working hard as always.” He was a handsome, rosy-cheeked boy with a gentle manner and tone of voice. Despite that, he left behind a dignified, refined air in his wake that he couldn’t hide. He was another person Zen had met through the examination. If Aness was the girl that he was the closest to, then Heinri was the closest boy. He was also fourteen like Zen. “I brought a late-night snack since I thought you guys would be hungry. Wanna eat together?”
“You’re always so thoughtful, Heinri,” Aness said brightly.
“Thanks! You’re a lifesaver!” Zen exclaimed. In more ways than one.
Zen and Aness welcomed their close friend’s presence and gratefully dug into the snacks he’d brought. They were sandwiches with plenty of toasted cheese and white sauce. They were hard to eat without getting their hands messy, but Zen and Aness both had a crude side to them. They stuffed their faces without caring. Only Heinri didn’t dirty his hands and lips at all. It was as if to show that even when having a meal, this was what true elegance looked like.
That was hardly a surprise. This here was the empire’s crown prince. He was the direct descendant of the emperor, a member of the only lineage that could boast the status of nobility in Catalan, which had no aristocracy.
By his own wishes, Heinri was being thoroughly treated as just a mere examinee, but by all rights, if Zen and the others acted too casually or failed to address him with the proper title, they could be beheaded for disrespect.
It was a custom in this country for sons of the imperial family to take the exam. It was to cultivate their characters by studying hard with the young minds who’d next lead the country’s politics. Heinri was also following in his ancestors’ footsteps.
“I actually really struggled with today’s assignment too,” he admitted. “It took me this long to solve it.”
“Huh? How hard could it be to make you struggle?” Aness asked.
“About that, Aness. The question is ‘List ten problems of the tuntian system that Marlya established.’”
“That’s the same as mine!” Zen exclaimed. Although he’d had Aness’s hint, he strangely felt relief and a sense of comradery with Heinri after learning they’d been taking about the same amount of time to solve it.
However, Heinri continued. “I understood right away that the answer the examiners were seeking was to say the question itself is flawed.”
Zen fell silent.
“But I thought I should reconsider again whether the question is actually incorrect. After having a thorough debate with the examiners, I found out that Marlya’s Tuntian System has a few areas it could improve.”
“I see. Even I didn’t think that far,” admired Aness. “Way to go, Heinri. You think so too, right, Zen?”
“...Yeah.”
Having had the stark difference between his and Heinri’s abilities laid out in mere seconds, Zen wanted to fall over his desk again.
So this is the level of those who are the youngest to challenge the exam and pass in one try as the top students. Just like my older siblings. He couldn’t help viewing Heinri with jealousy and envy. At the same time, he remembered what Aness had just said.
“Until the people I’ve been looking for appeared, I was intending to wait, no matter how many times I had to retake the exam. I’m thinking this will be the year, though.”
She’d said that Zen was one of those people. In other words, she’d found at least a few other examinees who fulfilled that role this year.
Heinri is definitely first on the list. On top of having an even sharper mind than Aness, he was next in line to become emperor. If she could have Heinri become the ruler she desired to revitalize the country, and if she became his like-minded confidant, then there was nothing more she could hope for.
A future like that is rather pragmatic... While Zen sent Heinri envious looks, he was aware of how the other boy’s eyes followed Aness’s face with a heat behind them. Aness was a beautiful, wise, and good-natured girl who’d even turned her boldness into a point of attraction. She was a kind of idol to the other examinees in their generation. Heinri, also madly in love with her, was no exception.
Zen could imagine that he’d propose eventually, and Aness, not finding the idea entirely unattractive, would take command through direct imperial rule as the empress instead of as a minister. The two would develop the country as a couple... That kind of future was probably not just his delusion.
Does this count as love between different social classes, I wonder... Zen wasn’t bold enough to go to war over one woman with the man who was both his close friend and future emperor. If anything, it was in his character to support their romance. That was why he had to forever lock away these feelings for Aness in his heart.