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Volume 2. The Spirit King’s Visit
Prologue: A King and a Father
In the heart of the capital Nirvan lay the royal castle, Veatrice. And inside the King’s Office, Oswald was listening to the Chief Secretary’s report.
“Is there any new information regarding the disappearance of the 11th Platoon?”
In the Kingdom of Platina, the Chief Secretary worked under the Prime Minister and acted as the head of the Executive Officers. As the position of Vice Prime minister did not exist in this Kingdom, the Chief Secretary was the second highest counselor to the king.
“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty. We haven’t found anything yet…”
“I see… Report any leads to me as they occur, then.”
While still holding a quill in his hand, Oswald let out a groan. A few days ago, the 11th Platoon mysteriously disappeared during a military exercise near the border. As it was an unprecedented event, an investigation was launched without any delay, though nothing had turned up so far.
“Aside from that, apparently the citizens and guards of Jord had a scuffle with each other.”
“That border town again, huh… Have spies monitor citizens’ movements.”
“As you wish.”
The Secretary bowed before leaving the office. While still moving his quill, Oswald let out a deep sigh. From mass disappearance to civil unrest, the country had been filled with unsettling incidents lately.
Suddenly, the sound of knocking came from the door. Without stopping his hand, Oswald gave the permission for the person on the other side to enter.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty.”
An indigo-haired woman wearing a dress entered the room. Her grey eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment when she noticed Oswald. On the other hand, Oswald was relieved upon realizing who had entered.
“Aah, why if it isn’t Cordelica.”
“My apologies for bothering you when you’re busy, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t worry about it. So, why have you come here at such an hour?”
As the Second Queen, Oswald was slightly surprised to see Cordelica come to his office so early in the morning.
“…I’ve come here to report to Your Majesty about Prince Rocheford.”
Those words were enough for Oswald to drop his quill without realizing. He had been paying close attention to Rocheford’s situation since yesterday. The last thing he heard was that the prince had continued to scream and act violently at irregular intervals since arriving home after yesterday’s incident.
“Did anything happen to Rocheford?”
“Not at all, he finally managed to calm down at around dawn and is sleeping soundly right now. I came here to report to you about that…”
“…I see.”
Oswald heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Cordelica’s words. After losing his mother, Rocheford had been taken care of by Oswald’s mistresses.
Since the Queen had passed away, as the Second Queen, Cordelica shared the duty of performing various official businesses with the Third Queen. In addition, because the Third Queen had a weak constitution, Cordelica would force herself to make time to look after Rocheford every day. Keenly aware of how busy she was, Oswald always felt grateful to Cordelica.
“I’m really sorry for bothering you again…”
“Please don’t say that, Prince Rocheford becoming like that is my fault. If only I had paid more attention to him…”
“It’s not your fault at all. The one responsible for his behavior is me.”
“Your Majesty…”
Silence befell the room. They both knew that they had spent most of their time on official business and didn’t spend as much time with Rocheford as they wished. It was already beyond the point of thinking that they should have done differently.
“…Anyway, Your Majesty. It’s quite unusual to not see Sir Sirius in this room.”
“Oh, if you’re asking about Sirius, then he’s heading to the Filiaregis estate with Tsubaru. They’re delivering my letters to the Duke and Drossel.”
After writing the letters last night, Oswald entrusted them to Sirius and Tsubaru first thing in the morning. By this time, the pair should have already arrived at the estate.
“My, perhaps you want to meet Miss Drossel?”
“That’s right. She was one of the main players in  the recent incident, so I need to hear the story in detail from her.”
As he said that, Oswald glanced at a certain stack of papers on his desk, which were clearly different compared to the other documents strewn about. It was the periodic report that Tsubaru had presented to him this morning.
Oswald had spent many years researching about ‘a certain power’. He knew from the periodic reports that the research had come to a complete stop about a year ago, due to a lack of information.
Naturally, as it was a lost power where almost all documents about it had been destroyed, Oswald had never thought that reviving it would be a simple task. But, after learning about the power Drossel displayed, he was hopeful that it could break the current stalemate.
However, on the other hand, she was also one of the reasons for Rocheford’s current predicament. Oswald couldn’t tell Cordelica that he was looking forward to meeting Drossel.
“…Your Majesty, what do you plan to do with Prince Rocheford?”
Oswald’s thought was interrupted by Cordelica’s question. Even though he had learned that Rochford was the person responsible for the monster incident yesterday, he had yet to announce the punishment for the prince. Oswald stopped moving his hand and cast his eyes downwards, and slowly put his quill on the table.
“He forcibly removed a relic from the museum out of his own self-interest. Furthermore, he also inflicted a great deal of damage to the academy. I have no intentions of letting him get away scot-free.”
“…Your Majesty.”
Oswald sunk into his chair. It was already impossible for Oswald to let the current Rocheford inherit the throne. Perhaps it was necessary for him to summon the Second and Third Prince back to the Kingdom.
Cordelica painfully gazed at him, but she couldn’t say anything other than call out to him. Oswald picked up his quill for the second time, and as if to break away from the current topic, he began doing paperwork once again.
“I will take my leave then. Please, please make sure that you won’t regret your choice…”
As Oswald showed no sign that he would take his eyes off the documents, Cordelica let out an anxious smile. Before long, the solemn sound of a door closing reverberated through the room. Oswald let out a small sigh. He stood up from his chair and walked towards the window behind him.
“She must have seen through me…”
Oswald knew that she must have realized it after he forcibly cut the topic short. And after realizing it, she showed him that she had nothing else to say.
“I’m still too soft, huh…”
As a King, he must give an impartial punishment to Rocheford, but Oswald couldn’t stop his own personal feelings from affecting his decision. Having no expectations for him, giving that girl to him, it was all for the sake of his son, and yet, all of it had backfired. How could he even call himself a king?
“More, just a bit more…”
Outside of his window was the townscape of the royal capital. Gazing at that magnificent scene spreading out before him, Oswald let out a small murmur.
“I, will surely make this kingdom a great kingdom…”
That was Oswald’s greatest wish as a king. The same promise he had made to his dearest who had given up her life for him. Oswald put his right hand into his pocket. The hard and cold sensation of metal could be felt from his fingertips.
“…Josephina.”
As the face of the late mother of the First Prince appeared in his mind, Oswald tightly grasped an unused pendant inside his pocket.