People who had good sense or intelligence, however, called it ‘the Fortress’ due to it being almost exclusively inhabited by soldiers. The politicians had all taken their money and fled when they had heard the palace had fallen, or else they had been imprisoned.
“How boorish,” murmured an old man as he gazed at that Fortress.
Both his long hair and the beard covering his mouth were white, and his clothes were the same. Behind his glasses, his eyes shone with a light a hair’s breadth from madness.
The man was standing on the roof of a house a mere three buildings from the residence.
“There is not even a shred of grace to it. They may have needed a huge building to symbolize their rule in place of the palace, but they rushed too much; there are gaps everywhere. It isn’t even airtight, so the fluid calculations were absurd.”
If anyone associated with the palace had been present, they would have surely been shocked. The old man was the head scientific adviser who had reported directly to the king. He was thought to have perished alongside the king, with no body left behind.
“Good work,” he said to the soldiers wearing urban camouflage behind him.
They were each holding handgun-looking objects, but they were boxy for some reason, with yellow tape wrapped around them and the word ‘TASER’ written on them. They were non-lethal stun guns.
“A bloodless revolution is now possible,” a soldier remarked.
“Revolution?” the old man asked with a high-pitched chuckle belying his unpleasant thoughts. “What revolution? Those people playing at being a government in that shack are by no means our rulers. They’re simply doing as they please while the king is absent. It’s more bloodless enforcement than revolution.”
“Precisely,” nodded a soldier.
Then...
“The gas should have spread,” the advisor said. “Unless they’ve stopped breathing and died, they should all be asleep. Go teach those arrogant youngsters a lesson.”
“...Sir.” the soldiers answered, donning gas masks and running to infiltrate the residence.
● ● ●
Kyouhei Nanbu. A seventeen-year-old high school student.
He loved the ordinary. You could also call it normalcy.
Regardless, he lived his life by the tenets of ‘not standing out,’ ‘not being abnormal,’ and ‘not drawing attention.’ It could be called an obsession of his. He took care of his clothes and behavior so that he was always part of the general average as he lived his life.
And yet...
“...What the hell is this?” he groaned.
He was sitting—or had been seated—on a chair. An exquisite, decorated, and expensive chair.
All of the furniture in the room was expensive, even the carpet, lights, and window frames too. All of them screamed that they cost a lot of money—even Kyouhei could tell, and he was certainly not used to luxury.
But it wasn’t just the furniture; Kyouhei’s clothes were the same. He was wearing a custom-tailored tailcoat. Normally, he never wore clothes like these, so it felt like he was cosplaying. But what with it being custom-tailored, it fit and suited him perfectly.
“What’s what?” asked Pamil, also wearing an expensive-looking set of clothing, a white dress that almost seemed like a wedding dress. “Haven’t you heard from Shuuhei?”
“...I’ve not heard anything.”
He’d been bundled into a plane completely at a loss and dropped off in the Manninger Commonwealth, or rather, the New Bergmann Kingdom.
Indeed, the Bergmann Kingdom had returned.
The Manninger Commonwealth had been forced into being with the defeat of the royal family. All of their policies were failures, and with the economic troubles they had caused, they had lost the support of the people and collapsed in a single year. The soldiers didn’t understand politics and had tried to force a regressive military regime, but that had been a mistake.
As a result, those who longed for the Bergmann Dynasty had sheltered the royal faction, and a few days ago, had carried out a strategic operation to remove the military’s parliament by the roots. The revolution had been overthrown without harming the establishment, territory, or citizens, and Bergmann rule had been reestablished.
By the time Kyouhei had been essentially kidnapped and landed there, even the signs welcoming people at the airport read ‘Welcome to the Bergmann Kingdom.’
Now...
“We’re announcing you to the citizens,” Pamil told him.
“...Huh?”
“As my fiancé.”
“What?! That’s really sud—” Kyouhei began before clamming up.
She was once more looking almost fearfully up at him.
Yes, fearfully.
Fearful of being denied by someone she had yearned for since she was young.
However...
“Pamil,” he said with a sigh, “you’re not fair. You’ve just sprung it on me when it’s pretty much done. And if you look at me like that, I...”
...can’t refuse.
“Yup, because you’re kind,” nodded Pamil with a smile. “And... so there are no misunderstandings, this was Shuuhei’s plan, okay?”
“...The moron,” Kyouhei said with a frown. “What about this is breaking the deadlock? This isn’t a solution at all.”
It was just picking Pamil and abandoning Sanae.
“Hmm? You don’t want to do it?”
“...It’s more that I don’t think it’s fair to Sanae-chan.”
“Hmm,” Pamil frowned at his words as she folded her arms before continuing apologetically: “It really isn’t fair for her to be the second wife...? I definitely was the one to confess first, though, so impartially—”
“...Hold on a minute,” Kyouhei protested, raising a hand. “Did you really just say something so weird so calmly?”
“Hm? The second wife thing?” she asked without any pretense. “I won’t give up being the first wife, though; I asked first!”
And right at that moment...
“Princess, Madam Sanae is ready,” came a voice through the door, accompanied by a knock.
Pamil gave the order for them to enter, and...
“S-Sanae-chan?!” Kyouhei sputtered in shock.
Sanae Murata stood there wearing a blue dress. There was a woman in a maid uniform next to her, but she soon vanished.
“S-Senpai...” she managed in confusion, evidently also having been essentially kidnapped. She then ran over to him and clung to him. “W-What’s happening?”
“Like I said,” Pamil declared, grabbing Kyouhei’s other arm and clinging to him as well, “I’m the first wife, and Sanae’s the second.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“...Isn’t that bigamy?!” Kyouhei demanded.
“Under Bergmann laws, a royal can marry up to three people.” Pamil’s tone was triumphant.
The law had probably been drawn up to prevent the rare bloodline of the royals from dying out.
“So that’s what Dad meant...” To become part of the royal family and then marry them both. “That’s crazy, you old man!” Kyouhei yelled angrily. “Pamil, Sanae-chan, this is—”
“I don’t think it’s crazy at all,” Pamil said easily. “I love you, but I also want to help Sanae be as happy as she can be.”
So she didn’t have any objections to Kyouhei and Sanae marrying; she was just fussy about the order.
“Pamil-chan...” Sanae murmured in confusion.
“But, are you... Are you okay with that, Sanae-chan?” Kyouhei asked.
“...I... I,” Sanae said, clearer than usual despite her downcast gaze, “I want Pamil-chan... to be happy too... so... i-if you’re okay with it... Senpai...”
Kyouhei looked up to the ceiling and let out a sigh.
The girls, who would ordinarily be most against such an idea, were happy with it, so he was the only one being the fool.
“I...”
That was right: Kyouhei Nanbu did indeed love normalcy.
But not...
“Not so much that I’d reject the two girls I love, huh?”
“Hm?”
“Senpai?”
Kyouhei shrugged at the questioning girls.
“Right, I’m a man; I’m ready for it.”
“Senpai...”
“That’s our Kyouhei.”
Sanae was looking at him through teary eyes, and Pamil was nodding in satisfaction.
Pamil then walked over to the door as she said: “Let’s go then, Kyouhei! We need to announce our engagement. The media and neighboring ambassadors are coming too, so it needs to be a speech fit for a king!”
Apparently, it was going to be a rather extravagant affair.
It weighed heavily on the high school student, who, until yesterday, had wished for nothing more than normalcy.
But...
“...Are you sure it’s not too soon?” he asked with a slight smile, taking Pamil’s hand, which she stretched out towards him.