Chapter 63: Please spare me from participating in the information warfare at the tea party.
TN: Great news! The authorâs started posting chapters again. For now, there arenât a lot of new chapters and his posts arenât really regular but I should be able to post one chapter per week.
After having a big lunch, I examined the people in the royal palace just in case.
There were fewer infected people than I expected.
âPeople who had suspicious symptoms were immediately moved to the temple clinic to keep me from getting infected. There are no seriously ill patients in the royal palace.â
Thatâs right ⌠They canât let the current kingâs family get wiped out.
âBy the way, do you still have magic power left?â
âIâm almost out, but I can still go on with this.â
While saying that, I waved a thin test-tube like bottle.
âIsnât that a magic power recovery potion. Itâs very bitter. Sorry to make you use such a thing.â
âWell, itâs super bitter, but ⌠Iâll put up with it bitterly.â
âSorry, but next Iâd like you to examine my wivesâ friends.â
âOkayâ
It was decided that The first queen, Lady Carmilla, and the second queen, Lady Mirana, were to be taken by carriage to the homes of their tea party friends. King Zeno didnât follow. He says he has to make up for the work he missed in the morning.
A kingâs work schedule is quite black, isnât it? The final confirmation of important documents is decided when stamped with the kingâs seal. Even if vassals have confirmed it many times in advance, it canât be helped because this work is the final barrier against fraud. If you skip it, it will only accumulate more and more.
I definitely donât want to be king⌠Brother, sorry for the inconvenience.
âThank you, Luke-san.â ( Queen Carmilla)
âYes, youâre welcomeâ
Huh? âsanâ instead of âkunâ? {TN: âsanâ is more respectful than âkunâ which she normally uses}
âThe people in the house weâre heading to are my relatives, friends, and their families. Theyâre very social and very kind people, so please cure them.â
âSo theyâre related to Queen Carmilla, Iâll do my best.â
âThe biggest reason is that theyâre our relatives and our friends, but the tea party friends we invite to the royal palace also bring big political advantages.â
âPolitical advantages?â
âYes, there are factions in politics. The lords are stubborn and donât leak their secrets outside, but the ladiesâ mouths often slip at tea parties as whining and gossip. We queens also have the role of guiding and extracting such information that isnât available elsewhere at the tea party. â
Is it a womenâs association network?
âUfufu, Carmilla, Lukeâs face is cramping. Itâs okay, everyone has fun participating in the tea party. We just induce them a little and let them complain.â
The face that smiles with an âUfufuâ is cute, but dear mother-in-law ⌠Iâm a little scared if you say that!
âWhy are you telling me the secret behind such tea parties now?â
âBecause we couldnât teach Mifa that kind of thing. There are a lot of aristocratic families who are trying to pull us down. Itâs important to learn of such people and inform our husband so he can eliminate the danger before anything happens â (Carmilla)
âI get what youâre saying, thatâs impossible for Mifa.â
âYes, when they find out Mifa is participating, everyone suddenly has something urgent come up and will not participate. Sheâs a bright girl and thinks itâs her fault when less than half of those invited come. âŚâŚ Poor thing, now she doesnât attend tea parties at all.â
âWell, I was in a position where I couldnât participate in tea parties or any parties because I wasnât trusted by my father and mother, so I think itâs fine not to participate in that kind of thing in the future.â
âBut Luke-san, youâre going to be invited to parties more and more in the future by people who want to take in you who made a god beast your servant. I think it will decrease a little when you officially announce your engagement with Mifa butâŚâ
âIf Hati is used for politics, that Fenrirâs mother may get angry and rampage. I donât have any acquaintances in this country, and I think itâs fine to decline all invitations.â
âNot everyone who approaches you will be malicious Luke-san. Isnât it important to learn how to behave as a nobleman at such events?â
âI think participating in events is a duty of a nobleman, but itâs not the most important thing. I think I can contribute elsewhere. Iâm sure Mifa contributes as a first-class inquisitor, and I can be useful as a healer like this. My apprentice, Iris, is also doing a great job of supporting me so that I can be useful. We should each do what we can.â
Iris, who was my only disciple, smiled and had an overtly happy face ⌠so cute.
âDo what you canâŚâŚ Yes, thatâs right. When Zeno said he would trade 10 people to get you, I thought, âWhat a foolish thing to do!â Both that person and Mifa have an eye for people. We will do our best to support you, so just do what you want to do. â
âThank you, Queen Carmillaâ
That said, I donât need such a wife network.
Navi will take care of providing all the information about factions and malicious people.
âBy the way, Iris? What happened to your hair? It should hurt if you donât apply sesame oil properly ⌠Moreover itâs smooth and shiny! Why is this so?â (Milana)
âActually, Iâve also been interested in this! We were going to treat sick people, so I was hesitant to ask, but Iâm still interested. Why is Irisâs hair so smooth and shiny?â
It seems that Queen Carmilla and my mother-in-law, Mirana, were able to find out⌠Especially, Iâm a little scared of Mifaâs motherâs gaze!
And Iris, why are you looking at me!
After that, Iris, whose hair was being stroked by the two of them, couldnât bear the intimidation of the queens and spills easily.
âLuke! Letâs finish the treatment right away and head to your room!â
Mirana mother-in-law, youâre also going to take a bath!?
âYes, I understand âŚâ
âOf course Iâll visit you too!â
Carmilla-san, you too!?
* * *
When the two queens saw their weakened relatives and friends, they were worried with tears in their eyes, but after going through the planned six households and recovering their energy with my healing magic, they became single focused and came straight to my room instead of returning to the royal palace.
Currently, they are taking a bath with the help of Iris.
And these were their first words as they came out of the bathâŚ
âLuke! This is amazing!â
âYes! Iâm surprised that there is such a product! So, Luke-san ⌠I heard there is a medicine to condition the skin that you put on after a bath âŚâ
Iris ⌠also mentioned the lotion âŚ
After preparing cold lemon juice in a pitcher and giving it to the queens, Iris rushed to the kitchen and started preparing dinner so as not to make eye contact with me.
I take out the face lotion and the body lotion from the [inventory] and hand it over.
Anyway, these two are on good terms ⌠They spread the lotion on their legs while cackling excitedly.
Theyâre thin and beautiful bare feet with no stains ⌠They have beautiful, youthful skin that you wouldnât expect from a woman who has had many children.
âOh, youâre staring so hard, Luke-san no ecchiâ
âUfufu, are you interested in the withered legs of these aunts?â
The two make fun of me âŚ
âNeither of you look like aunts by any means ⌠I wonât doubt it if you were called Mifaâs sisters.â
âOh! Youâre quite good.â (Milana)
While the two queens were playing with me, Mifa and her friends came. Apparently, todayâs âSummoning Ceremonyâ viewing was over.
âMifa, youâre back. How was it? Did the senior students summon something amazing?â
âIâm home. Rather than that, what are my mothers doing here?â
Apparently, Iris had tipped off Mifa by sending an email of them with their legs bare in front of me.
Mifa is angry and has an aura, but sheâs not scary at all, but rather cute.
âWelcome back Mifa. Donât say it like that. I just used the lotions to clean their hair and skin.â
âDid you tell my mother, Luke?â
âRather than that, the two of them saw Irisâs hair and noticed âŚâ
âWhat? Were you going to use such a good thing only on yourself without telling your mother? Iâm sad, my own daughterâs neglecting meâŚâŚ.â
â
Mirana, crying falsely, teases Mifa.
It seems Mifa also knows as she puffs her cheeks.
âBy the way, Luke-san. Do you still have extras of these items on hand?â