Vol.5 Ch.95 - The daily life of a king

Heya! It’s me, Marina, back again on another lousy day at the Grys Castle! Alot’s happened since the last time we spoke, huh? Since then, we met amysterious but friendly guy named Issei, who claims to have come fromanother world (crazy right?) Anyway, he seemed to have some interestingknowledge on him, so I thought I’d introduce him to Lune, y’know, see ifthey’ll click or something.To my surprise, the two immediately started working closely together andbefore long Lune had really fixed himself up in the coming days. After awhile, he even converted to a Blue Iro! But geez, how many times is this guygonna convert in his life? Back when I first met him in Melgam right as wewere about to depart to Sibirus, he was a Green Iro, but whenever he woulduse his Spark and Fireball thingy, his eyes would flash Red for a splitsecond. Weird, I thought, but you meet all kinds of people out in the world.Even still, he kept changing and changing, flashing between Grey and Red ata moment’s notice, as if he could control it based on the situation thatpresented itself to him. A person usually changes their eye color once ortwice in their lifespan, but this guy’s seriously pushing his boundaries. Thisis exactly why I wasn’t all too surprised when his Iro turned Brown after weleft Sibirus.He’s an adventurous and open-minded person, so I guess that must be why hechanges his life philosophy so much, but in my opinion I think he should justmake up his mind! But recently, something really bad happened. After he soldthe blueprints for one of his inventions, the Firestarter Pistol, he immediatelyfelt regret once he realized it was going to be used in future wars andpossibly bring doom to thousands of people.I thought he was gonna start running to the Prince and request to give themoney back in return for the blueprints, but I severely underestimated Lune’sway of thinking. He’s extremely greedy, so I can imagine that my ideaprobably never even came to mind in his head. Instead, he chose an optionthat would benefit him completely, one which would only harm the Prince.That option of course was to steal the blueprints without giving back themoney he got from the Prince.In a way, you could call it karma that this reckless plan sort of backfired, aswhile he did manage to escape with the blueprints and somehowmiraculously not get found out, he also had to kill two guards while in themansion. This really got to him, since he thought they were innocent orsomething, and while I do agree that he really messed up, I really doubt thoseguys didn’t deserve it. After all, those two dimwits would constantly pinchmy butt and catcall me, so I’m just happy I can enjoy my time on duty a bitmore.According to what Issei said too, it felt like it was either them or the guards,and Lune probably just moved on instinct in that moment. I’ve seen how hefights, he’s sturdy yet nimble. If I had to describe his fighting style in just afew words, I’d call him a ‘flashy berserker’. He moves on complete impulse,but makes sure to tire out his opponents by dancing around them and tauntingthem before going in for the strike. He did that against the Minotaurus, and Ican imagine he did something similar to the guards, too. I wonder, just whoexactly taught him that?Well, none of that matters, y’wanna know why? ‘Cause another importantevent happened immediately after that which really makes the prior ones looklike absolutely nothing in comparison! That’s right, I’m talking about Lunegetting drunk and confessing his truest of feelings to yours truly! Ehe, I guessAdam gifting me that bottle of alcohol was useful for something, after all! Inany case, is the power of alcohol really that amazing? He was quite a bittouchier as well, but I guess that’s to be expected when he’s got a cutie likeme buzzing around him all the time!I woke up to him spitting his drink out in sheer surprise after he startedpiecing together what we had just done that night. He was so cute, fumblingover his words and trying to figure out what to tell his wife. Oh, right, he hasa wife… Ugh, I’m the worst! I mean, I thankfully came up with an excuse thathe seemed to have accepted quite easily, but I don’t like the idea of beinglabeled a homewrecker…Hmm, how do I go about this? It’s such a complicated feeling, I feel bothoverwhelming joy after finding out that he likes me back, but on the otherhand he’s probably facing some harsh internal turmoil about our relationship.Do I just act like none of this ever happened? That’s obviously what’s boundto happen eventually, but I really don’t like that! Ugh, love is a rebelliousbird indeed…“Right, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Lune said as he was putting his pants backon, “Where’s Issei? I’m pretty sure I told him to meet back up with us in theinn.”“Oh, him? W-Well, he did make it back home last night.”“So then why isn’t he here now?”“Well…” I explained last night’s events chronologically, “He knocked on thedoor, but then he kinda… saw the two of us.”After hearing this, Lune quickly got what I was trying to tell him and buriedhis face in his shirt out of embarrassment.“Uuuuugh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” He said, “But wait, that still doesn’texplain where he is currently.”“Well, once he saw the two of us going at it like animals on the living roomtable…”“T-The table?!”“Yep, once he saw us doing it there, he just kinda gestured that he’ll leave usto it and motioned that he’ll be in that bar you two frequent.”O-Oh, Lune thought, well at least he had the decency to leave us be… Butreally now, the living room table? Just what was going through his mindwhen he saw that…“So what happened next?” Lune asked.“Well, after the table, we tried to move to the bed, but you were still quitevigorous with your thrusti-”“Not that!” Lune yelled out with a flushed expression, “Ugh, I’m gonna gofind Issei! You should probably get ready for your job now, you don’t want tobe late after what happened yesterday, do you?”While he was leaving through the front door, I decided now was as good atime as any to tease him a little.“Hmm, but I can barely walk after last night. It’s gonna be a lot tougher to goabout my normal workday because of you~!”He stopped for a split second, but his anxiety was showing on him. Withouteven mustering up the courage to turn around and face me, his ears lightlyblushed and with a sheepish tone he murmured, “S-Sorry…”***Of course, that thing I said about barely being able to walk was just afriendly prank. I’m still as spiffy and active as ever! If anything, I’d say thisreally helped ease the stress by a fair amount, even if the relationship doesn’twork out, we should really think about making it a habit to do this kinda stuff.Y’know, make it a casual sort of experience, slap on the title of ‘stressrelief’ and then everything will be easily justified! Nice one, me! Heh,sometimes my genius is… it’s almost frightening!“Good day, Mariabelle.” Erie the Head Maid approached me as I entered thecastle halls, “Please get dressed quickly, a lot of things happened last nightand the Prince is in quite the foul mood.”Ehh, come on dude, I get you got got, but are you really gonna whine aboutgetting a lousy scrap of paper stolen from you? Lune even made a point not tosteal anything else but the blueprints because you two are friends! Geez,Adam’s even more of a crybaby than Lune…“Good day, My Prince! Did you sleep well last night?”“Mariabelle…” Adam menacingly walked up to me, “I’m at my wit’s end.”Whoa, he’s in an even worse shape than I could have ever imagined. Hiseyes shone a brighter Yellow than usual, indicating he was REALLY eager tobring balance back into the situation. Well, I’m glad he’s getting his act upthanks to this, at least.Usually, the brighter an Iro shines, the more that person believes in theirphilosophy. So say for example a Green Iro is really really curious, then theireyes would shine a really bright Green. Or for example a Blue Iro reallywants to make something, it’s that kind of thing. Well, Adam was born intothe Royal Family, one which has a special trait to their bloodline, in thatthey’re all born with a Yellow Iro.The idea of being born with a Yellow Iro isn’t anything special, sincesomeone with a Yellow Iro can only possess that one color. They are bornwith it, and they’ll never convert from it. But the births of Yellow Iros arefew and far between, so having an entire bloodline exclusively give birth tothem has got to be some kind of blessing, hence why they of all people areconsidered The Royal Family.Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like they’re undeserving of the title, since theirIro naturally prepares them for leading an entire nation. Even still, Adam wasalways somewhat of a black sheep in the royal family. He’s nervous, weak,and a sore loser. None of the traits are fitting for a leader at all, so despitehis age and lineage, he seemed to have all but accepted his good-for-nothingway of living. This is exactly why it’s so unusual to see him like this.“I’m getting crowned soon. I’m gonna be a King…”“That’s… incredible news, My Prince! Or should I say, My King!”Adam gave me another sad look while he sighed, “Wrong, I’m unfit to lead,and a King can’t exist without his Queen.”Is that how it worked? Geez, the laws of this continent are really wackysometimes, but that’s tradition I guess. Even still, I fail to realize how any ofthis can be considered an issue. I doubt any girl would decline being theKing’s bride.“I see you’re still confused about what I’m worrying about.” Adam calmlyelaborated, “Last night we were stolen from. Two guards were brutallymurdered, but thankfully my nephew was spared. We found him sleeping inmy bed, tucked under the sheets, but he was quite shaken up.”“Oh, Halley’s safe? That kid’s awesome, I’d really hate it if those goshdarned thieves did anything to him.” I tried to sound as honest as possible tohim.“Right, in any case,” Adam continued his explanation, “What I’m basicallysaying is, if I can’t even protect the people in the castle, then how could Iever hope to be a good leader for the people of Cardina?”Ah, so that’s what this is about. Well, it’s a reasonable worry, I’d say, but it’salso a worry that’s easily fixed!“Remember what you said to that one thief last night?”“Ugh, don’t remind me…” He pinched the top part of his nose between hiseyes as if trying to forcibly forget his words from then.“No no, I understand you’re a bit ashamed of saying all those things about‘becoming a man’ and everything, but I don’t see why you shouldn’t go forthwith that.”“Whatever do you mean?”“Oh, y’know, stop acting all prim and proper, maybe lift some weights oncein a while, grow your beard out, that kinda thing. Take a look at the numerousportraits of your ancestors and seek inspiration from their appearances. Itmight actually help you feel better about becoming King.”This offhanded banter of mine was nothing more than random thoughts thatfirst came to mind in the heat of the moment, but he seemed to really likethem. Man, first Lune and now this guy? Whoa, I’m really good at motivatingpeople! I should start a business in listening to people’s worries and givingthem advice! …Actually no, I doubt a job like that exists.“Hmm, so you’re saying I should live more truthfully from now on? Face thechallenges presented to me head on instead of hiding from them like acoward?”“Uh, yeah sure.”“Alright!” He immediately switched gears, “Then let’s go, there’s a lot ofstuff to do around the castle after those thieves intruded last night! Makehaste!”Well, looks like I put some additional workload on myself accidentally…damn it. Eh, as long as this guy’s feeling chipper, then my work here cancontinue, and that means I can still earn my paychecks! Okay, first on theagenda, the two guards’ funerals. Those two bozos were actually taken infrom the slums, so they have no family to bury them. I guess you could saythat we, the castle’s residents, could kind of be considered their family, butreally no one cared.“Uhh, today we celebrate not the death of these two, but rather their lives.”Erie tried to sound emotional during her speech, “I understand that these twohave been taking care of the castle their whole lives, so it’s no surprise thatthey’d pass away in the very halls they protected. Now as I have nothing elseto say, I ask of Prince Adam to give them a final sendoff.”Adam nonchalantly walked up to the caskets with his hands in his pocketsand a smirk on his face… and then proceeded to spit in both caskets. Uttershock befell the venue, to which he immediately shut everyone up with asingle strong yell.“These two did nothing! Their lives meant nothing to anyone!” He yelled,“The only thing they could ever be remembered by is the various cases ofsexual harassment of the female workers here!”At these words, most of us girls agreed with his sentiment. The butlers andother guards were quite confused on the other hand. Looks like they didn’tknow that their fellow colleagues were perverts.“I have now spit on their caskets!” Adam continued his speech, “And I’llcontinue to do so every day from now on! And if you don’t want to end uplike these disgusting pigs, then prove to me that you’re working here not forthe salary, but for the glory of your Prince, your future King, Adam Grys!”Suddenly, the entire venue lit up and everyone started chanting and praisingAdam. Hold on, since when was he this… cool? The Adam I know wouldprobably cry for the two guards for no other reason other than fearing whatthe other people at the venue would think of him if he didn’t. Is this suddenchange in acting because of what I said earlier? D-Did I just create amonster?“Now come, Mariabelle! Next on the agenda is cleaning the entire castle! AKing must keep his castle spiffy clean, so I’ll help you out!”Yep, definitely a monster…“…Actually, Mariabelle, are you feeling alright yourself?” Adam stopped toask.“Yeah, why would you think to ask?”“Maybe I’ve been putting too much pressure on you as a newbie maid here.You’ve been walking kind of weird ever since last night, after all.”Eh heh, m-maybe what I told Lune wasn’t a lie after all, hahaa…