Some Baseless Claims

There were three things I liked about that little round boy. The first thing was obviously his glasses. I liked them so much the first place I went after talking to him was a tailor that sold outfits that would suit a pair of glasses so I could wear them myself. And if you’re curious, I decided to go with a somewhat military style outfit that’s popular in some northern country. It was a relatively plain red shirt underneath a dark grey double breasted jacket. I had the choice between a matching skirt or pants, and seeing as I’d never gotten a chance to wear them before, I decided to go with the pants. And to make sure no one tried to steal it, I also had the Blanche logo sewn on the jacket. Oh, and it came with a black tie to keep the collar of the shirt closed.

After getting all that sorted, I also decided to buy a pair of black boots to wear with my new outfit. I figured I might as well get my hair done to match as well. At first I was worried that it was too short to do anything, but then I remembered I could force it to grow, at least a little bit. I’d just need to remember to get it cut before I ran into Ane again. Anyway, I ended up getting it styled into a bun that sat on the back of my head.

Overall it definitely wasn’t my favorite outfit, but I liked how it transformed my image. I know everyone else was amazed every time they saw me, but personally I liked the idea of changing things up every once and awhile. The only problem with it was that I couldn’t properly see my reflection while wearing the glasses. Every time I put them on they made my vision really blurry. Honestly I’m impressed that guy could manage wearing them. I mean, I was perfectly willing to sacrifice my vision for style, but he didn’t seem like the type.

Getting back on topic, the second thing I liked about him was that he seemed to like money just as much as I did. And the third thing was how he seemed antagonistic towards the king.

Unfortunately for him, there were also three things I disliked about him as well. The first was how he wouldn’t just give me his glasses. I wanted a pair and didn’t know where to buy them, so I figured he could just give me his. It should’ve been no big deal, but he made a fuss about needing them and refused to let me have them. He even went so far as to make me forcibly take them from him myself. What was his problem? He made me look like some kind of common thief.

The second thing I didn’t like about him was that he seemed to like money just as much as I did. The more I thought about it, the more worrisome that became. I mean, would I ever do anything to help a stranger make money? Definitely not. I’d use them to make a massive profit and then reward them with a measly 8% of it, keeping the other 73% for myself. I’m sure he was imagining a similar scenario.

And the third thing was how willing he seemed to be to make someone else the scapegoat. He was definitely the one who told the protagonist wannabe to blame me for everything, and the plan he gave me wasn’t very different. He planned on using us both from the beginning. And then he wanted me to place the blame for everything on Silvias? That didn’t seem right. And I’m not just saying that because Silvias is my friend. I just don’t like the idea of someone else getting credit for something I did.

I mean, think about it. Sure, at the moment it’s being labeled as a bad thing, but in the future historians might be talking about the super cool spell that killed an entire army in one blow. Was I really willing to give up my claim to that? Definitely not. And since that imperial knight already gave me all the credit, I’d go down in history for doing the whole thing on my own.

I hadn’t been planning on using his excuse from the beginning, but after hearing him out I was certain that I wouldn’t. I’d just come up with something on my own.

What did I end up coming up with?

Well, you see, that’s the funny thing. I was planning on thinking up a good excuse, and I mean it, I really was planning on doing that, but well, I figured I’d handle it after buying my new outfit. And then I needed to go buy the boots, and then I had to spend a day or so making my hair grow. After finally getting it long enough, obviously then I had to go get it done.

And by that point the goons from the castle finally found me. And this time I really mean it. These goons were actually working for the king, and they actually brought me to the castle. The castle was, well, let’s just say I don’t want to talk about it. I mean, if I had to say something, I’d go with something like tacky.

Anyway, none of that really matters. The point is, I found myself standing in the royal audience chamber. The king was standing beside a raised throne on the far side of the room, and the path leading to him was full of various other nobles and guards. There was also a young woman dressed in relatively modest finery and a tall man wearing black robes standing alone before the king. Something about how the woman’s clothes rested on her body didn’t seem right, but with the debuff I got from wearing the glasses, I couldn’t see why.

With no better idea, I started walking down the aisle toward the king. At about the halfway point, a guard stepped out and stopped me from going any further. I figured he’d fall back in line after stopping me, but he continued to stand in front of me expectantly.

Was he expecting a tip or something? Is that how far things had fallen in the ostentatious capital?

“Women are usually expected to curtsy, but given your choice of legware you are to bow or kneel.” Having grown tired of waiting, the guard finally said what was on his mind.

“No. I don’t see anyone worth bowing for.” Did he really expect me to do something like that? Just because some antiquated system of governance said the king was above me I had to humble myself before him? Not very likely.

“How insolent!"

“It’s fine.” The king cut off the guard before he could continue complaining to me. “His Majesty is not present, and I don’t care for such displays myself.” I take it back. I figured he was the king because he was standing at the head of the room, but I guess he wasn’t.

“Sir.” After acknowledging what he said, the guard moved out of my way and got back in line with the others.

“The king isn’t here?” I asked my question while continuing my approach toward the other side of the audience chamber.

“No. It was decided that letting someone so dangerous meet with His Majesty was an unnecessary risk. I am Duke Lyebault, and as the current minister of war, I was chosen to head this meeting.”

Someone dangerous? I stopped just short of the raised platform the duke was standing on and looked toward the woman and the tall man standing beside me. Were they the dangerous people he was talking about? They really didn’t seem like it to me. I mean, sure, he was certainly tall, but I could have easily killed an entire army of him.

I lifted my glasses to get a better look, and I solved one of the mysteries instantly.

“It must be difficult, living a lie like that.” I whispered quietly enough that only the woman could hear me.

She seemed confused at first, but after processing what I said, her face went pale and her mouth started to hang open.

What was I talking about? It was obvious really. The reason her clothes didn’t look right was because she was padding her chest. And I don’t mean just a little bit. I’m not sure who else noticed, but she was more pad than woman under that blouse, I was sure of it.

Not that I’m judging. As perfect as everyone thinks I am, even I’ll admit that the idea of using pads crossed my mind once or twice.

“For the sake of time and in response to what little information I’ve been able to gather about you, I’m going to keep things brief.” I could appreciate that. This duke seemed like a much easier person to get along with than what I was imagining the king would be like. “Am I correct in saying that you are Baronetess Remnant Blanche?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“And are you aware of why you were summoned here?”

“To answer for some baseless claims.”

“Originally you were summoned to explain yourself, but given how long it took for you to report to the castle, things have changed. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the topic of reparations. Deciding the full scope of your guilt will come at a later date.”

Reparations? Was I getting a reward?

I wasn’t. For the sake of skipping a long conversation filled with formalities, allow me to summarize what the duke had to say. According to him, war was on the horizon. Since an entire army already got taken out, that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Considering the duke had ‘war’ in his title I figured that would be a good thing, but he didn’t seem to think so. Apparently Valieris could crush Aizus, but Aizus was friends with Thera, and if Valieris crushed Aizus, Thera would attack Valieris in full force. On top of that, one of Valieris’s friends, The Republic of Gastol, was preparing to attack Norstwatch because Norstwatch was friends with Aizus and Thera. He said that Albion and Lucerna were busy with something else, but Albion was certain to invade the Federacy anyway.

None of that made much sense to me, but he seemed to think it was pretty bad news. The way I saw it, a bit of war wasn’t such a bad idea. It was always good to shake things up every once and awhile. Besides, they seemed to have more than enough humans to go around. I don’t even want to think about how long it's going to take me to count everyone in the capital.

Either way, he figured the best thing to do was to settle our beef with Aizus before things got out of hand. Aizus agreed, so they sent some people to talk things out. That’s when he introduced the man and woman who were standing with me.

According to him, the woman with the padded chest was Queen Elysa of Aizus, and the tall man in the black robes was her chamberlain. The fact that they sent the two most important people in their country showed how seriously Aizus was taking this matter. Aizus wanted to avoid war far more desperately than the duke did, but after suffering such an over the top defeat they couldn’t just let the whole thing be water under the bridge. Even if that would be best, they’d never get their people to accept it. Before a peace deal could be arranged, they wanted to see the guilty party executed.

Now obviously that’s a big ask considering they are the ones that started this whole mess by invading. Even if it was someone they never heard of, the Kingdom of Valieris wouldn’t hand over one of its nobles so easily. So in an even more desperate attempt to save face, Aizus made a new offer. If the guilty party were to be punished adequately they would agree to work out a new deal for supplying grain to Valieris through the Foucherie family. I’m sure both kingdoms would phrase it in such a way that made them seem like the winner, but the details of it weren’t very relevant to me.

“Baronetess Blanche, do you now have a better grasp on the situation you find yourself in?”

For the first time in a while, the duke seemed to want my input. Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t follow most of what he was saying. But that’s not because my mental parameters are too low, I simply didn’t care to follow along. To be honest, I was still thinking about Elysa padding her chest. Is it possible that I wrote off the possibility of doing it myself too quickly? I mean, she managed to become a queen while doing it. And even though I’m already tall enough to not need it, wouldn’t it be possible to pad the bottom of my feet as well?

“Indeed I do, but before we continue I’d like to have a word in private with Elysa.” I wanted to ask about the pads, but doing it in front of so many people seemed like it would be embarrassing for her.

“That is unacceptable. I’ve tolerated your presence because Duke Lyebault has guaranteed our safety, but there is no chance I would allow you to be alone with our queen.” Elysa’s chamberlain was the one to answer my request.

“No one was asking you, clock tower.” Did he think he could answer for her just because he was tall? “And if you really won’t let us talk in private, I’ve got no problem saying it to everyone here, but I really don’t think that’s in Elysa’s best interest.”

“Stop referring to Her Majesty so casually!”

“You want me to call her queen? You can play pretend if you want, but I’m not interested.” The chamberlain’s face went as pale as Elysa’s did earlier, but I don’t think I said anything that strange. I didn’t care about royalty in the first place, but was this woman even a queen at all? Outside of my own reflection Seleni was the smartest person I ever saw, and she told me that the king and queen of Aizus were dead.

“Baronetess Blanche, while she may not be our queen, she is still a queen of a foreign kingdom. We should give her respect worthy of her position.” The duke interrupted our conversation.

Before the chamberlain could respond, Elysa got his attention and whispered something to him. Did she tell him that I already knew about her pads? He must have been worried that revealing it would cause a scene.

“My apologies, you are correct. While I may be her voice, it’s not proper for me to speak without due consideration. If the good duke were to allow it, we are not opposed to a private meeting. However, even then I must insist that my presence be included.”

“I guess that’s fine.” I’d have rather him not be there, but a generous person like myself was always willing to compromise.

We all looked expectantly toward the duke.

“Can you promise on the gods to refrain from any acts of violence?”

“Don’t worry, even if they tried something I could take them both. Not to brag, but not dying and killing things are two of my many talents.”

“I wasn’t asking them.”

“Oh, you were asking me? No need to worry there. I’m as peaceful as they come.”