No way…!?
After that, we finished guiding Prince Kaldor through the remaining courses in that awkward atmosphere.
Apparently, Prince Kaldor plans to head to the food stalls where we first met, incognito, to check on the state of the merchant caravan, and then return to the royal palace.
So we were to see him off at the academy gate.
Oniisama and Crown Prince Raymond had already been informed of this by Prince Kaldor, and said they would return to the dormitory after seeing him off with me.
When we reached the gate, the royal palace’s guard knights were waiting.
I heard that along the way, he would switch from the palace carriage to a regular one and trade out the guard knights for others in plain clothes.
Ahh, I feel for the guards… they really work hard.
Just before stepping into the carriage, Prince Kaldor turned back toward me and once again expressed his thanks.
“Well then, thank you for everything this time. As a token of my gratitude, I’ll send some spices to the ducal house later, so please accept them.”
“Eh, are you sure?”
“Of course. I’m giving up on proposing for now, but I’d still like to continue doing business.”
“… Please continue giving up on the proposal as well. Um, if that’s the case, then I’ll gratefully accept the spices. Prince Kaldor, I wish you well.”
“Haha, so cold. I plan to continue visiting the Doristan Kingdom as an envoy of Samonar. When that happens, I’ll be counting on Duke Ellisfeed’s household to host me again. I’m looking forward to new Idika cuisine.”
“Eh!?”
“See you!”
“Wha—wait a…!”
“Miss Cristea, thanks for everything! Looking forward to more delicious Idika cooking!”
“Wait—!”
Prince Kaldor and Mr. Tika nimbly climbed into the carriage and left.
“… You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Our house just got designated as the official lodging for Samonar’s envoy… what!?
I do plan to continue researching Idika cuisine and developing new recipes with Lars, but don’t go counting on that as a given!?
“Tea, it’s okay. I’ll ask Father to refuse.”
As I was standing there in disbelief, Oniisama gave me a gentle smile and promised to politely decline on our behalf.
Ahhh, he’s so reliable, as expected!
“Miss Cristea! It’s alright. We’ll have Prince Kaldor stay at the palace, so please don’t worry.”
“Thank you, Crown Prince Raymond.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for me, Crown Prince Raymond also stepped in to serve as a shield.
Bless him!
“Miss Cristea.”
“Yes?”
“Um… well. You mentioned disliking polygamy.”
“Yes, well. It’s something I find hard to accept on a visceral level… I think it would be wonderful to marry someone who loves only me. I’m sure people think it’s ridiculous for a noble daughter to say that, though.”
I mean, I have the usual dreams, okay?
Like a romance out of a shoujo manga.
Although my “perpetually single girl” nature from my previous life is getting in the way.
Right now, I and everyone else around me are still too young to get into a romantic mindset.
I like older gentlemen, but it’s not like I exclusively go for mature men, so they’re not exactly romantic prospects either.
… Thinking about that, I’m starting to feel anxious about whether I’ll ever find romance in this life too.
Am I… gonna be okay?
“You’re a devoted person, Miss Cristea. I find that very admirable. If I were to choose a wife, I would want someone like that.”
“Eh…”
Crown Prince Raymond looked at me so seriously that my heart skipped a beat.
“… But as Crown Prince, you have a duty to produce an heir. You’ll need concubines, won’t you?”
Oniisama stepped up next to me as I said that.
Huh? Are Kurogane and Mashiro glaring from behind us?
Let’s all calm down, shall we?
Still… yeah.
I read somewhere in Doristan’s history that the Crown Prince is allowed not only a queen, but at least a second and third concubine. Sometimes even more… It’s truly outrageous.
“… But I think the kind of warm relationship my father and Queen Mother had is ideal. That’s why I think it’s okay not to have any concubines…”
“… I know I speak out of turn, but isn’t it precisely because they were close that only Your Highness was born? You do know that the ministers are demanding you take concubines in your generation, don’t you?”
“… Ugh, that’s…”
Crown Prince Raymond averted his eyes from us in pain.
… Right.
Because His Majesty took no other wife besides Lily, only Crown Prince Raymond was born.
So he naturally became the heir.
That’s why the ministers have been pressing for him to take concubines to ensure the succession.
But His Majesty stubbornly refused.
While I respect His Majesty for that, it unfortunately means all that pressure now falls on Crown Prince Raymond, so it’s not exactly a plus overall.
“… Well, if His Majesty hadn’t cherished Her Majesty Liliana so much, I’m sure both our mother and father wouldn’t have stayed silent either.”
“Ugh…!”
Exactly.
Okaasama was His Majesty’s former fiancée.
But she met Lily at the academy and became her best friend, while His Majesty fell in love with her.
Apparently, Okaasama had secretly loved Otousama since they were young, but because she matched the Crown Prince in age and rank, she was engaged to him, so she had given up on that love.
Otousama, it seems, had also given up in the same way. Aww, pure love, right?
So honestly, even though it was technically a mutual agreement, the cancellation of the engagement with His Majesty was a huge blessing for both of them.
However, had His Majesty then casually taken in concubines—even after marrying his former fiancée’s best friend—it would have been a total insult to Okaasama.
In fact, I heard some foolish minister even suggested making Okaasama a concubine. Otousama immediately proposed and got engaged in response.
Nice one, Dad!
… Oops, I got sidetracked.
While I was reminiscing, Crown Prince Raymond had visibly wilted in despair.
Well, if you grew up watching your parents’ loving marriage and held that as your ideal, being pressured into taking multiple wives would be tough, right?
“I’ve always only loved Cristea. I have no intention of giving her up, even to Your Highness.”
… Wait, Brother⁉︎
Crown Prince Raymond—
What do you think about this chapter?
Thanks for the chapter
Erm, the logic here escaped me. What kind of "cherishing" do they talk about if the king has only one kid? There couples with just one kid are a minority (well, an increasing minority), it's usually 2 ore more kids even with just one wife. Also, why would taking concubines after rearranging a couple arranged marriages be so bad? Obviously they only had one kid so now there's a reason to get a fresh baby making machine (sry for the bad joke, but kind of bad logic annoys me). I'm sure it's actually a problem with the authors, as he/she can't or has problems writing stories with more characters, so they went with tiny unrealistic families, then invented quite frankly stupid reasons for the low number of kids.
Sry for the rant, idk why but this plot hole (or whatever it is called) angered me a lot more than it should. Kind of like that dude on the internet talking about numb chucks and comparing them to sticks (another angry but very funny rant).
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!