Volume 1: Chapter 044: Makia Heads towards the Royal Capital
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
This is Makia.
I have come to the Royal Capital of Miradreed for the Holy Festival.
Duke of Beigrates’ villa is located at the edge of Miradreed and way too large and ostentatious to be properly called a villa.
“Woah… As expected of a great noble!”
How is this villa larger than our mansion in the Delia Fields? It also has a well-maintained manicured rose garden as well as one, two, or three marble fountains…
“Ohohohoho!! Well, Makia. What do you think of our villa? Isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Well, I’m just wondering why your villa is flashier than your house, especially since your family rarely comes here.”
“Oh my, I’m reluctant to admit this but, while it’s true that we don’t need a villa at the Royal Capital. It’s one of the ways we show off our wealth.”
The Beigrates family, including Smirda-chan, joined our convoy on the journey from Margilia. Right now, I am subjected to Smirda’s boasting while my parents are looking at the rooms we’ll be staying at for the duration of the Holy Festival. We’re really indebted to the Beigrates for letting us stay with them.
Meanwhile, Tooru has been fetching and carrying the luggage with the other servants for some time now.
When Smirda-chan catches sight of him, she becomes flustered and runs towards him with her large curls bouncing left and right.
“Oh my, Tooru-san can just leave this kind of thing to the servants. They will take care of it for you.”
“N-No, I mean, I am a servant too.”
Tooru was in the middle of carrying something heavy and [1] nearly fell over when Smirda-chan bounced in front of him.
“That’s right Smirda. He is my servant, so just let him do his thing.”
“No way, Makia! Tooru-san is the receiver of the Green Treasure Award! A great protagonist!”
Not really, he could be considered one of the main players, but he is still one of the many that had worked together to make the school project a success.
“Ah! That’s right!! I need to get some new dresses ready for the dance! Fufun~ I’ve been invited to the ball that’s happening on the third day at the Royal Palace.”
“Oh, I’ll be going too. Since, you know, my dad will be receiving his award there…”
“…”
Smirda raises her eyebrows, looking like she has something to say to me.
Instead of continuing with this pointless conversation, I turned to Tooru, who is just there with a bunch of luggage, and said, “You can go.”
“Well, you and I are in completely different positions. That’s right, I am a lady who will be queen in the future after all…”
“You’re right, I’m just there to eat Royal Palace food. So, it’s all fine with me.”
It might be a ball, but do you really think that I won’t skip it?
Especially when there’s delicious food?
“Still, I must say you’re quite amazing, Smirda. Lord Raymond is expected to be the next king right? So, your husband will be an uncle.”
“A-an uncle?! How rude! He’s a very energetic and youthful man!! Each time he visits our mansion at Margilia, he makes sure to bring me a souvenir. He’s a wonderful person, you know?”
“… …”
Yeah, he’s totally treating her like a little brat… well, if Smirda herself doesn’t mind it, I don’t think it’s any of my business that she’s basically a minor about to get into a large age-gap relationship with a much older man.
“Melvis!! Where is this Melvis?!”
Smirda claps her hand as she continues to call out. Quite suddenly, a Beigrates female knight appeared out of nowhere.
“At your service, Smirda-sama.”
“Melvis, I want to go shopping. Could you come with?”
“Of course, my lady. Allow me to confirm this with the Lord.”
The short-haired and sharp-faced Melvis glances over me once before bowing her head and disappearing just as quickly as she had appeared. I have caught a few glimpses of her before this. She is a fairly strong magic knight with good MP levels.
“Well then, Makia. I am going to town now. Would you like to come along? Well, a country bumpkin like you might find the more sophisticated outside world a little tough to cope with.”
Looks like Smirda is in great shape today.
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“Hey, Tooru! Let’s head to town.”
“Ehh, didn’t we just arrive? You sure are energetic.”
“I have something I need to buy.”
The terrace of the bedroom allocated to me overlooks the Royal Capital of Miradreed. This is possible because the villa is located on a very high hill. [1] Therefore, although we are a little out of town, we could still view the liveliness of the gorgeous town from here.
Anyway, I don’t plan to wear any flashy dresses like Smirda. Mother has already prepared my dress for the ball.
“…”
When I glance over at Tooru, a golden locket catches my eye. It is the locket with the family picture of him and his parents.
“The truth is, today is my parents’ wedding anniversary. So, even before the Holy Festival, our dinner will be quite extravagant.”
“I see… speaking of which, I thought we were celebrating something like Christmas Eve…”
“No, it’s just their wedding anniversary. Their marriage was decided by their parents, but it turned out unusually well. Mother suffered quite a lot of criticism from the other relatives since she only had me, but father still loves her a lot. The reason we don’t celebrate the Holy Festival at the Royal Capital is that my parents like being at Delia Fields better [2].”
“…”
Two days ago, after Tooru visited with his mother. A few things occupied my mind.
All sorts of thoughts popped up: whether to be sad or not when my parents die, whether they count as my parents even though I am mentally older than them. Anyway, the conclusion is, I would like to try and be more like a child to my parents, for their sake at least.
Before this, we must have some resistance to the idea of showing any kind of affection to our parents in the beginning.
“Still, what sort of gift would be best for a wedding anniversary, I wonder? What makes a happy couple anyway? What kind of gift would parents like to receive from their kid? I have never been married or had any kids, so I don’t know.”
“…”
Tooru is just looking down while I mused over things out loud. After observing his expression, I deliberately said, “Speaking of which, Tooru-san, you’ve had lots of women and even kids, right? So, papa, what kind of gift would you like to receive from your darling daughters?”
“Hey you, stop it.”
The way Tooru’s expression changes is just too funny.
“Well… I think you don’t necessarily have to give them anything too luxurious.”
“Hmm, it’s not like I have a lot of money either, so I can’t afford anything too luxurious. Still, hmm…”
The Royal Capital is much more crowded than the last time I visited. Which makes sense since it is just a day before the Holy Festival. There are many showy shops and townscapes, people are everywhere too.
I went to the general store, the flower store and the jewellery store and saw a lot of things, but I couldn’t find anything that stands out. There are lots of nice things, of course, especially at the jewellery store, but anything set with precious stones and metals is really expensive.
What’s more, Tooru doesn’t look like a servant, so people keep making comments like ‘Oh, what a sweet young couple’.
No way, no matter how you look at it, I’m just a 14-year-old minor, it’s a crime you know!
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The blue sky was taking on a pale orange colour. I had searched through all kinds of shops, but could not find a good gift for my parents.
“Hey, we have to go back soon.”
“… You’re right.”
Somehow, we are walking through some back alley and I stop in front of a suspicious-looking shop with an unusually gloomy atmosphere.
“… What is this shop? Midgard’s Miscellaneous Magical Merchandise…”
“It certainly looks suspicious.”
It looks like a shop that sells fortune-telling services and magical items. However, its gloomy existence appeared quite contrary to the glittery atmosphere of the Royal Capital and no one dared to approach it.
It looked a little lonely.
“Sh-should we take a peek?”
“Ehh, seriously?”
“I can’t really ignore this dark atmosphere.”
The nearly visible dark aura feels somehow exciting. Well, we were Demon Kings after all.
“… Welcome.”
Inside the shop is a terrifying-looking old witch. She looks like an old forest witch right out of a storybook. She is staring at us with wide eyes. No, just one eye because one of her eyes is covered by an eyepatch. Somehow, this makes her look even scarier.
“Oh my, some rare customers have arrived.”
“… Hello.”
The inside of the shop is very dim and dusty. Suspicious items line the shelves and there is a certain pungent scent in the room. The scent feels oddly familiar somehow.
“Old lady, are you a witch? If so, do you sell any items that are good for a happy couple?”
“… Oh my, what a surprise~ So you are a pair of young couple? Hee hee hee~”
“No, that’s not it.”
Tooru is quick to refute her.
The old witch just rolls her eyes. She looks hard at Tooru and me for a moment and takes out a small box from a cupboard behind the counter.
“How about this? It’s a crystallised flower that will never wither. Blue and red, once were two but now are one. Naturally, the selling point is that they will never wither. Hee hee hee~”
“Hmm…”
There are two small brooches inside the little box. One red and one blue flower, crystalised for eternity.
“What magic did you use to make this?”
“It’s nothing much, just a little potion that ensures they will not wither for a lifetime. Hee hee hee.”
The old woman fishes out a pipe from her pocket and starts smoking. The already dusty store becomes even more unbearable with the smoke. Even Tooru starts to choke.
“I understand, I’ll have this.”
The old witch gives me an eerie smile and says ‘Thank you for your patronage’.
“When I said so, the old witch turned to me with an eerie smile and said ‘Please, come again’.
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Dusk is coming on hard. As the carriage rushes up the hill to the Beigrates Villa, I look at the silhouette of the Royal Palace with new eyes. For a place that has never piqued my interest before, it has most of my attention now.
“Hey… I wonder, do you think Yuri is inside the Royal Palace?”
“…”
The Royal Palace looms tall over the Royal Capital like a giant in the dusk. Beyond it, the domed roof of the Royal Nation’s Cathedral could be vaguely seen.
Beyond that is the Central Sea. Even for us, we cannot catch sight of the other continents that were once our territories.
“We’ll know tomorrow. The Royal Family will be attending the award ceremony. There’s also the ball on the third day.”
“I want to see him soon… How many years has it been?”
Tooru says nothing. However, his eyes are also trained towards the Royal Palace.
The silhouette of a dark, hulking giant against a darkening sky.
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“H-happy Wedding Anniversary…”
That evening, I handed my parents the wedding anniversary present. It feels unexpectedly embarrassing.
I think, I must have been a little worried since I have never given my parents, [1] any of my parents, that is, anything like this. Still, they both seem happy with the gifts.
“Oh my, Makia. What a gorgeous little flower brooch!”
“I told you to buy something you like at the Royal Capital and yet you… I- I shall wear this brooch on my scarf for tomorrow’s ceremony!”
“Yes, I shall do the same too~”
Seeing my father and mother so happy over something like this made me glad that I spent a little more time searching for the right gift. Although… I have a feeling that my father, Count Odille, will be criticized by his peers for wearing a cheap brooch to such an important event.
“…”
For some reason, my entire body felt itchy. I grip my skirts with sweaty hands, releasing and gripping the materials again.
I have a very long memory, however, I do not believe I have ever felt like this in all of the years that I have lived.
[Gumihou: Rearranged the ending to make it sound a little more poetic]
[1] Add Details
[2] Not sure why this sentence is here? Why do they like Delia Fields better?
Are they escaping nosy relatives living at the Capital?
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