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Chapter 30.1 - Side Story 1




RATH Side Story 1
TL: Eevee
Side Story – A certain princess’s memories (1)
To me, the world.
Everything was grey.
It was not a metaphor.
Just that everything aside from me
Seemed to be in black and white.
Black and white.
And their mixture,
A grey-coloured world.
Then one day.
When I’d thought that all this was normal.
In my grey-coloured world.
In came another existence clad in colours other than grey.
#1 Their story: a certain villain’s story
“This is the 17th Garden that the 9th Prince visits frequently, and thanks to that we can often see the 9th Prince. The 9th Prince’s mother…”
As I listened to the explanation I could only think one thing. ‘Just how big is this bloody imperial palace?’
According to the explanation the garden I saw just now was the seventeenth.
For the record, there are 51 gardens in the imperial palace.
We haven’t even gone through half of them, yet half the day’s already gone by!
As for why I’m looking at the gardens of the imperial palace, of course it’s because I’m here on an assignment for the organization.
Normally I should be working hard as an instructor and rolling the kids and sucking on the sweet honey, but my first cohort of disciples had nothing but monsters. Damn it.
Because of that for the first time in the organization’s history they passed the tertiary training in just over a year.
Since most other instructors take just over 4 years to raise their cohorts I have three years left compared to them.
And our organization which is always has a labour shortage will never tell me ‘good job’ and let me play for three years!
Even so, to think they’d throw me into the field straight away, and into the infamous house of hell that’s the imperial palace!
If you were to talk about the imperial palace, legend has it that it’s the place where more organization members were killed because they had the wrong backer, instead of actually being outed as a spy!
Plus it’s the infamous worst possible working environment in the organization, that no matter how well you did your job, if you were just shit out of luck then you were dead just like that!
No, but why is the organization sending a high-spec agent like me to this place!
“Because of this the nobles that are close to the 9th Prince often visit this place. These nobles are…”
Well, the silver lining is, that at least I had pretty good luck in seniors?
I’d heard that there were a lot of people that just half-assed the explanation and said get out if you can’t take it, but my senior is explaining in great detail about the nobles that come often, as well as those nobles’ factions and how influential they were.
Moreover, he was also telling me about which nobles to watch out for.
Although thanks to that, like I said earlier we still haven’t gotten round to even half the palace grounds…
Of course I’m not doing a palace garden tour as a servant.
To be accurate it’s a palace tour.
But if we haven’t even seen half the gardens, just how much more places are there to cover?
I still need to see the knight orders, the places where the magicians are staying, the mages, magicians’ workrooms that are classified secrets… this damn empire is so big I think it’ll take at least a week to get round all of it.
Although thankfully it seems there are quite a few places that need to be kept secret?
Of course not all of them are classified areas, there could be a few fakes scattered around, but if I don’t need to go there then that’s good for me.
On the battlefield even if I’d been awake for three days and nights I still hadn’t hurt, but maybe it was because I was wearing tight shoes, or whether I’d just been listening to boring stories all this time, but my feet were hurting more than they had on the battlefield.
It hurt and it hurt like hell!
“And… Ah, greetings, Your Highness.”
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
After explaining everything about the 17th Garden and while we were moving to where the 7th Knight Order were located, I saw a cute little girl with silver hair and red eyes.
For the record, the presence of imperial blood here showed itself as silver hair and red eyes.
They say that they carried the bloodline of Silver Dragons, but it’s unsure whether it’s true or not.
There’s just too many stories of royal bloodlines with dragon blood in them after all.
But even if she’s just a kid, she’s royalty! A being that could easily order my head lopped off anytime!
Because of that I quickly bowed my head, but even as time passed, even as I felt that now should be about the time for permission to raise our heads to come along, the princess was still silent.
“Y, Your Highness?”
Her female bodyguard beside her called for her as if she was shocked, but there’s still no order to raise our heads!
Damn it! Was this senior one on the princess’s bad side?!
“Hirett… Was it?”
“It’s an honour that you remember me.”
“No, I just don’t forget things I heard. But who’s that behind you?”
“He’s a new hire that just came in.”
“New hire… alright, where’s his dispatch?”
“That’s still yet to be confirmed.”
“Really?”
The conversation felt weird.
If I was under that senior’s wing, right now there’d be all sorts of suffering and prosecution!
This is truly a fearful place, imperial palace! From the very beginning I chose the wrong line!
So the princess went past, the day ended with me being unable to see even 1/5 of the palace, and the next day.
“Congratulations. I’ve never seen something this drastic in ten years of working in the imperial palace.”
“Eh?”
I tilt my head. That’s odd. That’s odd?
Wasn’t I here as with a recommendation from some random baron with ties to the organization to be hired as common servant? Or am I dreaming right now?
“Haha, it seems you’re surprised at working directly under the princess as well. But good luck.”
But the feeling of my senior’s hand patting my shoulder reminded me that this was reality.
It wasn’t my senior but me? I haven’t been discovered, have I?!
***
“Your Highness? Personal butler all of a sudden? Do you know him?”
“No? There’s no way that I would know a commoner that came in only yesterday when I don’t even go out of the palace?”
“But why…”
“Secret.”
My Reia had been my bodyguard from a young age, but she still has a tendency of being surprised.
Of course, in terms of her bodyguarding skills I have no complaints. Her skills being a matter of course, her bodyguard abilities rank in the top tier among those her age, no, the entire knight order.
But, her downside is that she seems to lack a tiny bit of something for day to day living.
“Reia, if you keep doing that then you won’t be able to get married?”
“Wha, what! You know how many marriage talks are coming to me! They’re all…”
“Don’t lie. They’re marriage talks going to your family, considering you always get rejected when you meet face to face, just where do you think you’re pretending to be unable to get married because of me?”
“Kurgh…”
Although Reia is sniffling, I need her to face reality.
It’s all for Reia’s sake. There are two big reasons why Reia always gets rejected.
One is that she’s not feminine.
Well, although there are men that don’t seem to care about that, but the next reason is probably why she keeps getting rejected.
“It’s too much, Your Highness! Everything was for your sake!”
“Ahh… that’s the problem.”
She started to complain to me with freely dripping waterworks from her eyes.
Reia’s mental strength is too weak. She can’t control her emotions, so she prioritizes her emotions over the situation.
If it wasn’t Reia but some other maid or guard then I’d have thrown her out already, her emotional control is that bad.
Because a person that rages when angry, cries when sad, laughs when happy, does not fit at all with this imperial palace where you must always hide your emotions.
But she’s a famous prodigy even in her family which is renowned for its swordsmanship, didn’t they say swordsmen were supposed to keep calm?
They say a sword that has lost its calm can’t demonstrate its full strength, but even like this Reia’s still strong.
Really, isn’t the most important quality of a swordsman just strength?
Knock knock.
“Your Highness, mister Ast is here.”
“Tell him to come in.”
The grey-coloured door opened, and a man clad in myriad colours entered.
He seemed to be in his late 20s, perhaps early 30s, but since there were said to be many cases where commoners lived harsh lives and looked older than they were, is he more likely to be in his twenties.
“You, what are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“What are you.”
What are you, that only you have colour? Are you the same as me? But in that case you shouldn’t be alive.
Just, what on earth are you?
“Your Highness! I was so happy my workload would reduce because you brought in a person for the first time in a long time, but you’re like this to him he’ll quit straight away!”
“No, he can’t quit. It’s an imperial order.”
“Eh?”
“Until I say so, he cannot resign.”
Since the day my fate was decided, he was the first man bearing colour.
I haven’t found out how or the reason, so I can’t let him quit.
Before I know the reason why, I need to put him by my side and observe him.
“If you understood, then answer me. What are you?”
“I… am named Ast.”
“I know your name.”
“Then could you please tell me what it is you are asking me?”
“Are you an idiot? I asked what are you.”
“So I said my name is Ast.”
“I wasn’t asking for your name.”
“Then what else should I represent myself by? If I cannot represent myself by my name or person, then just what should I introduce myself as to Your Highness?”
He was tilted his head as if he didn’t know, but his lips held a queer smile.
It was an expression that said I know what you want, but I’m not going to tell you so easily.
So, that’s how you’re going to play? Then I should respond in kind.
If it was my other siblings I would threaten them with my title, but that’s not my style.
“What difficult things are you talking about? I just asked you what you were. But you’re replying with such complicated words, do you even know what your role is?”
Now, these are a pure and innocent child’s eyes.
Of course I am a child, but on the inside I’m nothing less than an adult.
Yes, ordinary people would probably call me a genius. But even so, I’m nine years old. It wouldn’t be weird if I were to say such things.
“You are also responsible for my education. So, I’m asking you. Because I don’t know. What are you? Explain in a way that’s easy for me to understand.”
“Your Highness, are you really doing that again. This is why all your servants quit.”
As if she was getting a headache, Reia grumbled but Reia was never someone I had to be concerned with.
Now then, Ast. What will be your answer?
#2. Their story: A certain villain’s story.
“You, what are you?”
“What are you.”
Now, the first thing that this princess says when she meets me for the first time is this. Hm, what’s. This. How should I respond?
“Your Highness! I was so happy my workload would reduce because you brought in a person for the first time in a long time, but you’re like this to him he’ll quit straight away!”
“No, he can’t quit. It’s an imperial order.”
“Eh?”
“Until I say so, he cannot resign.”
Plus, she even says she’s using an imperial command preventing me from quitting. Hoho, damn it. But at least I can ascertain something out of this. The princess definitely wants something from me. If I can understand what that is then I could probably direct this conversation to my favour…
“If you understood, then answer me. What are you?”
That kid’s getting snippy, but since she’s the princess I’m the one that should crawl.
“I… am named Ast.”
I give her my name. Names are important. There’s a reason why the question your name is. exists. Of course it’s an alibi though. But even though I thought I answered rather well.
“I know your name.”
“Are you an idiot? I asked what are you.”
“I wasn’t asking for your name.”
The replies that come back are all arguments. No? wasn’t? So what? Why is this not even ten-year old kid I’m seeing for the first time, wait, since I saw her yesterday it isn’t our first meeting. But still, if you asked someone about a philosophical question the first time you met them, then how would you answer.
“Then what else should I represent myself by? If I cannot represent myself by my name or person, then just what should I introduce myself as to Your Highness?”
I don’t know. To begin with I wasn’t exactly good with philosophy, and it’s not like I can yell ‘I think! Therefore I am!’ like Descartes. So I decided on a honest straight ball instead. But…
“What difficult things are you talking about? I just asked you what you were. But you’re replying with such complicated words, do you even know what your role is?”
She tilted her head and asked like an innocent little kid. No, I actually don’t understand what my job is?! I woke up and was dispatched as a personal butler, there’s no way I’d know what I’m doing! It’s not like there was a handover process either!
I just came because they ran over, said go this way. But the moment I arrive she asks who are you, and when I say I don’t understand, what complicated things are you saying. Hoho, not even an evil organization rushes work like this, would you say as expected of the empire, as expected of the imperial palace!
“You are also responsible for my education. So, I’m asking you. Because I don’t know. What are you? Explain in a way that’s easy for me to understand.”
Ah, so that was the case. I’m also in charge of the princess’s education. If that workload is included then it felt like there would be massive amounts of other workloads included in the package as well but this was the priority right now. Hm. Do I need to say something wise or something. No. since she doesn’t know then easily so she can understand. Easily…
Alright then let’s do it this way.
“I don’t know.”
Ah dunno! Sue me!