Chapter 2:
Advisor to the Younger Princess
MY FIRST MISTAKE WAS WHEN I BECAME THE advisor to Princess Valiele two years ago. My mind raced back to the past.
“You, become my advisor,” Her Highness had said.
When my mother passed away, I had gone to the royal capital to introduce myself as the next lord of the frontier. I was granted an audience with Queen Liesenlotte, but I was forced to wait three whole months to meet her. I couldn’t blame her since, as a frontier knight, I possessed little power. With only around three hundred citizens under my control, I lived in a land that was heavily contested by enemy nations. Anhalt Kingdom likely cared very little about me. I continued to wait with resignation as I struggled with the little funds that I managed to scrape together to spend my days in one of the cheaper inns of the royal capital. It was then that I bumped into Princess Valiele and her corps.
“You, become my advisor,” she ordered.
“Huh?” I replied.
I scratched my head with confusion. Her Highness, Princess Valiele von Anhalt, had made her way to the outskirts of the city and stepped into the cheap inn with her corps to meet me. She was twelve at the time.
“What’s with that attitude?” she demanded. “I said that I shall make you my advisor.”
“Uh, well, you say that, but…” I trailed off.
I was twenty. My mother had kept her title until she passed away, and there was a bit of delay until I took over. My position made it difficult for me to decline the princess’s request, but I wasn’t going to bow my head all willy-nilly.
“Are there any benefits to taking that role?” I asked.
Princess Valiele fell silent. It may have been difficult for me to decline a royal’s request, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t do so if I wished. Every inch of the Polidoro fief belonged to me and no one else. Since I was now in a different world, we didn’t have prince-electors like the ancient Romans, but we had a similar system where the monarchy hinged on elections. Queen Liesenlotte was a powerful fief lord who possessed voting rights for the empire’s sovereign. The Polidoro fief on the frontier swore loyalty to her.
By loyally upholding my end of the bargain, my fief was assured of its safety. In exchange for the safety of my land, I agreed to conscription as a display of my loyalty. I had finished my military service for the year—my mission was to kill around twenty weak bandits. What a waste, was the thought that ran through my mind as I sliced off the heads of beauties using the magical greatsword that was passed down from my ancestors. But that’s not the point right now.
“I shall allow you to meet my mother by the end of the week,” Valiele offered.
“I’m very grateful for that, but that won’t be nearly enough. There’s one more issue that I must tell you,” I said. I added that I didn’t wield enough power before I posed my question. “Why do you want me to be your advisor? I’m but a humble knight and lord of the frontier with not even three hundred citizens to my name.”
Her Highness didn’t answer. She silently pointed to my greatsword that was propped up in the corner of the room.
“How many people have you killed with that sword of yours?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I stopped counting after I reached a hundred.”
It had been five years since I entered the military in lieu of my sickly mother. I was tasked with trivial matters like killing a few bandits, but some of my foes were former knights who were experienced in combat. Still, none of them stood a chance against me. I didn’t mean to huff my own hype, but I was confident that my swordplay skills were among the best within the empire. In a duel, I’d only lose to a handful of people, probably. I could only use my best guess here because men like myself weren’t allowed to participate in the Swordplay Competition that was hosted in the royal capital. This world, with its swapped gender roles, continued to vex me.
“I’m just making the first move to secure pawns that I deem competent,” Valiele said. “I don’t find that to be a problem.”
“I’m honored to hear your praise, but as I’ve said, accepting this role won’t benefit me at all,” I replied.
“For your future military campaigns, why don’t I provide you with some funds? It shall come straight out of my budget.”
Money, huh? That’s not a bad deal. To mobilize soldiers—that is, the residents of my lands—I needed money. The more citizens I mobilized, the less I could collect in taxes. The citizens would also have their hands full defeating bandits, leading to fewer workers in my fief; I had to provide those who went off to the campaign with some money as an incentive.
“And you’ll be allowed to make some choices during your military service,” Valiele went on. “I’ll at least let you select your own battlefields.”
“You’re saying that I don’t have to chase bandits around anymore,” I said. “I can just keep an eye on enemy nations that have no intention to start a war, and that’ll be that.”
This wasn’t a bad deal at all. Naturally, during times of emergency, I would likely be the knight sent to the front line as Her Highness’s advisor. But frankly, I would probably be dispatched during emergencies anyway. That was fine by me. It wasn’t like a frontier lord had much power to wield.
Hmm…this is lucrative. Truthfully speaking, I had zero interest in the royal palace and its family; as long as House Polidoro and its fief were safe, that was all that mattered to me. What’s more, Princess Valiele was the younger sister of Crown Princess Anastasia, renowned for her brilliance and intelligence. The younger royal had no means of competing against her older sister. I’d only met Princess Anastasia once before, but she truly seemed to be in a league of her own. She was a head above her peers. She’s still fourteen, isn’t she? She exuded an aura fitting for a royal and brought her powerful corps in tow as she strolled through the city.
She had never experienced war before, but her visage was reminiscent of a haggard war veteran, exhausted by the bloodshed. I could hardly believe that Her Highness was only fourteen. Clad in Maximilian armor and equipped with her trusty halberd, there was talk that she had already decapitated several criminals.
In stark contrast to their appearance, the women of this world conducted actions that were so separate from reality without batting an eye. But she still hasn’t had her first battle yet.
Whoops, went on a tangent there. I focused back on Princess Valiele, who stood in front of me. She looked like a cheeky little twelve-year-old girl, but she was rather bright for her age. Yeah, okay. She didn’t seem like the type to drag me into power struggles within the royal palace—she didn’t possess the power to do so. And so, I gave her my response.
“Very well,” I said. “I shall become your advisor, Princess Valiele.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Now then…” Her Highness replied. She extended her hand toward me.
I went down on one knee and kissed the back of her hand. This was the beginning of my contract with the princess.