We were invited to attend an audience in the Imperial Palace .
The people that were invited included me, and for some reason, Alea as well .
We didn’t have any sort of formalwear for Alea, so we had to ask the same shop we went to during our dress shopping trip to prepare something for us on a rush order .
Yep, my daughter is cute .
Claire-sama also came with us, but she was in the waiting room .
She wasn’t invited to attend the audience, so we planned to meet up with each other later .
Dorothea was seated in her throne, with the old man, Joseph, standing by her side .
“I’ve heard that there were general signs of improvements in our cuisine . You did well, Rei . ”
“Well, the chefs in the Empire were excellent to begin with . All I did was give them an opportunity to prove themselves . ”
In fact, I didn’t actually do that much .
All I did was persuade Dorothea, instigate a cooking competition, and send Alea out to train young and prospective chefs .
I also helped out with other trivial duties, but it was no big deal .
“Let me offer you a reward . What do you want?”
“I told Hilda about this already, but I would like you to offer your protection for the entire Bauer student exchange group from the threat of the demons . ”
“Hmm . Could you ask for something more specific?
“Think about it, Your Majesty . It’ll only be one part of your national defense, right?”
“That’s true . I understand . I’ll think about it . ”
“Is that all you wanted to talk about with us?”
We already finished discussing the rewards, and I wanted to go home as soon as possible to flirt with Claire-sama .
“Well, wait up . I want to offer Alea a reward as well . What would you like?”
“Eh…… . ?”
When the Empress posed the question to her, Alea had a puzzled look on her face .
“The people that received your guidance all said the same thing . Thanks to you, they feel like they’ve regained their pride . ”
“Everyone did……?”
According to Dorothea, this was what happened .
At first, they were all reluctant to be taught by such a young little girl, but as time went on, those opinions changed .
“I think we were probably corrupted by the status quo . ”
Although becoming a chef at the Ministry of Cooking was considered one of the highest ranks in the field, a chef was still a chef .
The position, in general, was considered incredibly low .
Even if they were proud of their own skills, the reality was, they were dissatisfied with how unreasonably undervalued they were .
“But Alea-sensei taught us that wasn’t the case . ”
The words Alea left them with while they were under her guidance seemed to touch their hearts .
―― “Being able to make delicious meals is like magic . All of you chefs are such amazing people . ”
As I mentioned before, a lot of chefs were people that couldn’t make it to the military .
Within that group of people, there were a lot of people with insufficient aptitude for magic, much like Alea .
To them, hearing those words from Alea, who also couldn’t use magic, touched their hearts .
“Alea-sensei gave us a reason to feel proud of ourselves . If you have to offer recognition to somebody, if you can, please honor her . ”
That was what they said .
“The consensus was they all wanted you to receive some type of reward . You should accept it . ”
“Y-Yes!”
Alea looked happy as she replied cheerfully .
Alea, you’ve really come a long way .
It was almost as if that night we all wept together after finding out about her lack of magical aptitude was nothing but a distant memory .
“Alright, so what would you like?”
“Can I ask for anything?”
“Try me . ”
“Well…… In that case, I want to become as amazing as a quad-caster, just like Mei . ”
I was startled when I heard Alea’s request .
Even if she never said it aloud, in the end, she still felt inferior on the inside .
“Hmm, I see . That sounds difficult . ”
“Is it impossible?”
“As the Empress, I would never back down on my word . Rest assured . I will train you . ”
“!?”
When I heard Dorothea’s words, I could hardly believe my ears .
The Empress was willing to train Alea personally?
Basically, the God of the Sword was about to take on a disciple?
“The Empress offering her personal guidance to someone from another country is unheard of!”
The old man admonished her .
Well, that was to be expected .
Alea was a citizen of Bauer – a nation that had long been at war with the Empire up until recent .
“You heard what I said . ”
“Stop with your shenanigans . Please be more aware of your position!”
“Old man, do you think the Empress you’re desperately trying to reprimand right now is so narrow-minded that I’d lie to a child?”
“Please stop creating things that other people can use against you!”
“If you’re so worried about it, then you protect me, old man . ”
The old man fell completely silent .
To be able to protect somebody that wields a nickname like the “God of the Sword”, you would need to be just as strong as a demon .
“Starting from tomorrow…… . No, let’s start right away . Come with me . ”
“Yes!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Umm…… Actually, uh, wait a minute, could you wait a moment, Your Majesty!?”
“What, you too?”
“Alea’s just a little girl whose body isn’t even 10 years old yet!?”
After watching her train with Rod-sama, I knew that she had the aptitude for it, but no matter how you look at it, having her be trained by an enemy, who I didn’t even fully trust, was worrying to me .
“I’ll have one of my subordinates apply some strength-enhancing magic on her . I’ll also arrange for her recovery . ”
“But――”
“Even though this is something your daughter wanted, what do you think will happen if you don’t respect her wishes?”
No, I don’t want to be told that by somebody who doesn’t even respect Philine’s, her own daughter’s, wishes―― is what I wanted to say, but I kept those words to myself .
“Your daughter, however small she may be, has already unsheathed her blade . ”
I was anxious .
But even so, this was what Alea wished for .
Plus, if Alea continued to pursue the path of becoming a swordswoman, there was no better way to improve her current environment .
I was conflicted .
“Rei-okaasama, please consider this request from me . ”
“Alea……”
“I want to become stronger, just like you and Claire-okaasama . ”
Upon seeing that dedication in her eyes and the strong determination within her, I made up my mind .
“I understand . Please take care of her . ”
“Yep, leave her to me . Oh, right . Philine was looking for you, Rei Taylor . It seems like she’s got something she wants to talk to you about . Go and find her . ”
“I understand . Alea, give it your best . ”
“Yes!”
After saying that, Alea left with Dorothea .
“…… You’ve got your fair share of hardships, huh, Joseph-san . ”
“If that’s how you truly feel, you should’ve stopped Her Majesty . ”
“No, being able to study under the God of the Sword is a once in a lifetime opportunity, after all . ”
“It could be a trap, you know?”
“Knowing Her Majesty, I doubt it . ”
“…… Haah, that’s true . ”
“Good grief,” the old man said as he rubbed his eyes .
“Could you tell me where Philine-sama’s room is?”
“I’ll have someone guide you there . Please wait a bit . ”
“Alright . Thank you very much . ”
I also left the audience chamber .
◆◇◆◇◆
“It seems like we keep running into each other lately, doesn’t it?”
“That doesn’t make me happy at all . ”
The guide that the old man called for me was none other than Hilda .
I don’t think anybody could blame me for how exhausted I looked for now .
“Your position in the Empire has risen again, huh . ”
Hilda said, amused .
It seemed that she was already aware of the guidance Alea was receiving from Dorothea .
“This time, it was something Alea achieved herself . ”
“And that same Alea is the daughter you adopted, right? So it’s practically the same thing . ”
Well, it’s true that I was Alea’s guardian .
“Well, it’s probably best if I stop saying such unnecessary things to you . I wouldn’t want you to come to dislike me even more . ”
“Haah . ”
It wasn’t like I hated Hilda or anything, but I also wasn’t fond of her .
Although, she was difficult to deal with because of how similar we were to one another .
“You’re heading to Philine-sama’s room, right? I’ll lead you here . ”
Hilda said as she took the lead and started walking .
“According to the rumors, apparently you’re like some kind of prophet that can predict the future, right, Rei Taylor?”
“I’m not able to do something like that . ”
Most likely, she heard that from somebody that infiltrated Bauer during the revolution, but this was something I could not reveal .
“In that case, what about that thing you said to me the other day? ‘Don’t you think you’re trying a bit too hard in your ambitions?’, was it?”
Ah, shoot .
I did say something like that .
At the time, I was just trying to rein her in a little bit, but I ended up saying something unnecessary .
“I just have a bit of insight . ”
“That would be a big deal if that were true . And it seems like your prophecies aren’t completely perfect either . ”
Hmm?
What did she mean by that?
“We’re here . ”
Hilda stood in front of the room .
Apparently, this was Philine’s room .
“I’ll take my leave here . ”
“Thank you very much . ”
After seeing Hilda off, I knocked on the door .
“… . . Yes . ”
“It’s Rei . I heard that you wanted to talk to me about something . ”
“Please enter . ”
“Excuse me . ”
I opened the door and went inside .
The door didn’t seem to be locked at all .
Isn’t this a bit too careless?
For some reason, the room was a bit dark .
The lights were dimmed down as much as possible, and it was practically impossible to see the back of the room .
“Philine-sama?”
“I’m in the back, Rei . ”
I proceeded to follow the direction of the voice .
What is this?
Somehow, I had a bad feeling about it .
“Rei……”
Philine was in the bedroom .
She was standing right in front of her bed, with her back turned to me .
“What’s happening? You’ve even got the lights turned off and everything . ”
“I just didn’t want to be seen . ”
“?”
“Right now… . . I probably have a terrible look on my face . ”
In the next moment, Philine-sama jumped towards me .
“!? Philine……sama……!”
She pinned me down and had me in the mount position as she proceeded to strangle me .