Princess’ Day Off
We arrived at the bathroom while having such a conversation. In this world, baths are rarely used, but my mother solved the problem by force. The first thing to do is to fill the bathtub with water, which isn’t that difficult in this country where the water comes from the river and isn’t drawn from wells. And once it’s filled, it’s as simple as heating it up with a fireball. Normally, you would need to use a magic tool, but since it’s expensive and we can do it ourselves, there was no need to buy it. I haven’t seen how people in other countries do it, but we do it like this. It’s similar to how a King of a country wouldn’t be fixing the doors and roof by himself.
“My hair is a nuisance… can I cut it?”
I think that long hair is nice, but it’s troublesome to maintain and it takes time to wash and dry it. And the biggest problem is that it gets in the way as my hair currently reaches up to my waist.
“Of course not. You are a girl too, Alice, so consider your appearances a little more. I always think that you should stop wearing those rough-looking clothes all the time and start wearing dresses.”
“Dresses are difficult to move in and tear easily so I don’t like them.”
I have dresses and accessories, but I only wear the bare necessities. I mean, those things get easily broken and are difficult to move in and I feel stressed out wearing them, so I always dress in shirts and skirts. Even Father wears the commoner clothes when he occasionally goes out to the town.
“… Just get used to it.”
“Not possible!”
That’s not possible. I don’t hate it but I don’t want to wear clothes that tire me out. I will reluctantly wear it when attending parties and other formal events, but I feel calmer when with the people of the town rather than the nobles in the castle.
“You have become another Draco, huh. That person has been saying that he hates wearing those kinds of clothes since forever, so you must take after him.”
She seems dejected about it. Well, my Father was originally a fourth son of a lower-ranking noble who could not inherit the household and became an adventurer who grew among the commoners, so it’s not surprising that I resemble him in this sense. My Elder brother looks good in formal wear and he seems used to wearing it, so he must take after Mother. Of course, when I said that she should know to give up since I resemble Father, Mother smacked my head.
“You are in a position in which you should get used to wearing dresses, right? You must not initiate him in strange places.”
“… I’m sorry.”
It would be dangerous to anger Mother any further, so I apologized obediently… though I didn’t feel like reflecting.
The bathing event was over, and today I was going to sleep with my mother in her room. I love Mother a lot, so I often sleep with her when there’s an opportunity. I also like my father, so there are times when I sleep with him, but I don’t sleep with my brother unless Mother or Father are with us. I feel like he’s getting more dangerous every year.
“As I thought, it might be better to let you go to the academy, after all.”
“?”
“You will gain a lot of experience at the academy, and since it’s you we are talking about, you will use your royal duties to become an adventurer, right? If so, you will be able to understand more about those things if you go to the academy since there’s a dungeon underneath the academy, too.”
Dungeons… they are a natural part of this world of swords and magic. Dungeons are also called labyrinths, but in reality, they are natural or man-made monsters. The principles behind them are a mystery, but it is said that ruins of past civilizations can become labyrinths, and caves can become labyrinths, too. Of course, there are labyrinths in our country as well, but they are B-grade labyrinths at the very least, and I wouldn’t be able to enter one even if I became an adventurer.
And the duty of the royal family my mother mentioned, is to become adventurers. If you don’t achieve B-rank or higher as an adventurer, you can’t become the next King, and everyone except the Crown Prince is obligated to become an adventurer. By the way, it’s okay to train with the knights, but it’s forbidden to join the Knights Order and have them train you, apparently to prevent corruption in the order. Therefore, I should have that duty too, but there’s no problem even if I don’t become an adventurer since I’m a girl. Of course, my mother had never been an adventurer before. But I want to be an adventurer, and in order to get closer to my goal, I need to gain experience as an adventurer.
“I got exposed… you are not against it?”
“I am, but it’s not up to me as even I cannot break the rules that the country set… I would be denying the past if I broke the rules. Besides, royalty is expected to be strong in our country, and I’m sure you have some ideas as to why, Alice.”
“With success comes ease. We won’t have to be afraid of enemies from outside, and we will be able to live a better life.”
The goal is mainly peace in the country! The reason why this country is so far behind in magic and other things is because of the Empire and the Holy Kingdom, so if we could silence these two countries, the potential of our own country will grow much higher.
“Reaching peace with the Empire constantly trying to invade us… it will be a difficult road, you know? Those two countries will never give up on this country.”
Well, if you looked at history, you will see that they have been at war with us for nearly 500 years. The history of this world is several times longer than that of my other world, but civilizations have been dying out quite frequently, so the growth of the civilization stopped a little before the Middle Ages. Rather, it’s amazing that this country hasn’t fallen after nearly 500 years of war, and it’s also amazing that those two countries haven’t given up after all that time.
“I have figured out the way to make them give up but I’m not able to do so just yet. I lack the knowledge and don’t have enough experience.”
“You ought to try many times. If it’s to make our country peaceful, then I’m willing to lend you my strength.”
Well, it was still in the planning stage, so my mother didn’t ask too many questions. She wasn’t probably expecting much of me either, as my goal was just too big.
“Anyhow, you will be attending the academy when you turn six.”
“I have to wait another year?”
“The national borders aren’t stable. Draco will kick their butts and make them obedient in that year, so you wait until then.”
I can go to the academy in a year, huh… I hope it’s full of interesting things.