Chapter 228: Calling upon Duchess Vélez

Even though it was still dark, sounds from the neighboring Rudolf’s room woke me. At the same timing Lily also seemed to have woken; she is looking at me with sleepy eyes. Languid eyes, though.

Rudolf is probably making morning preparations while taking care not to make noise. Of course it is not only Rudolf who is preparing; Carla-san is the same. Therefore Lily also tries to get down from the bed and begin preparations. In the momentum of last night she is wearing the upper garments yet the lower half is completely bare, so how erotic! She is pointing her bare buttocks this way as if appealing "Come on, please!"? Yet if I challenge her now she will absolutely not respond. Therefore I only watch fixedly.

Rudolf’s room became quiet. Because the sound of the door opening has not yet been made he ought still to be in the room, yet? Perhaps because I looked puzzled Lily says,

"Perhaps they are praying?"

When told that I understand. For me who has no religious faith and, while I am at it, does not possess the common sense of this world, it is something that does not occur to me.

Thanks to the prayers (presumed) of the Rudolf couple, Lily’s preparations also made it in time. Matching the Rudolf couple opening the door Lily also leaves the room.

"Good morning. Rudolf-san, Carla-san."

Lily’s voice can be heard.

"Oh, early, aren’t you, Lily-san. Good morning."

Rudolf returns, and

"Lily-san, good morning."

Carla-san also returns.

From outside the room the conversation of the three can be heard. Carla-san is saying to Lily "You may sleep longer, you know." Rudolf is asking "Did Robin-sama sleep well?" and Lily answers "Yes, he slept well"... Why do you know? the Rudolf couple do not ask; the conversation of the three breaks off.

Now I will return to my own room. I dislike getting into a cold bed, yet I will sleep until I am woken.

Not long after eating breakfast a maid came and announced,

"From Duchess Vélez a carriage to fetch Robin-sama has arrived."

"This early!?"

Rudolf is surprised. If the medicine is the aim I understand sending a carriage first thing in the morning, yet how impatient is she. When I give Lily a look Lily also nods. She could not wait, I suppose.

"Rudolf, then I’ll go."

When I speak to Rudolf before boarding the carriage,

"Robin-sama, Duchess Vélez will surely say quite harsh things, yet please by all means do not become angry. Absolutely do not take a rebellious attitude or use such language. Because everything is due to the previous ambassador’s mismanagement the Duchess also suffered trouble."

Rudolf says worriedly, yet that sort of thing I was told thoroughly when I transferred so I am used to it.

"It’s fine. I understand, you can rest easy."

No matter how much I say I do not think Rudolf can rest easy. My appearance is still very much a child.

"Then, Lily, let’s go!"

"Yes."

The maid is making a face of "Lily is also going?", yet if today’s talk is as I think Lily is absolutely necessary.

Boarding the carriage and running for about twenty minutes we finally arrived at the ducal residence. A vast vast garden, and a large mansion. Something I had never once seen in the Marie Kingdom. Looking at me who is dumbfounded the messenger sitting in the opposite seat is laughing.

When the carriage arrives at the entrance and we alight, the maids lined up bow their heads toward me. That alone is moving.

In front of the entrance door — or rather a great door of a height that makes me think it is for welcoming giants? — the butler stands and guides me. When I am allowed inside the mansion it is wide and the ceiling is high. Lamps are circulating to every corner and it is bright. The embassy looks sooty by comparison, really. While I am looking this way and that overwhelmed by how amazing it is,

"Please, this way."

I am addressed.

"Yes."

The butler is smiling a little bitterly.

Climbing the stairs at the front I am shown into a room where a woman resembling Her Majesty the Queen was. She ought to be younger in age than Her Majesty the Queen, yet compared with Her Majesty the Queen who has achieved rejuvenation she looks older in appearance.

"Welcome. Prince Robin."

Although the tone is soft the Duchess did not smile even a little as she greeted me. The eyes are scary, the air is hard.

"Thank you for the greeting. I am Robin Marie, the eleventh prince of the Marie Kingdom. Yesterday I assumed office as ambassador to the Mainz Kingdom. I ask for your favorable association from now on."

I intended to speak cheerfully, yet did it get across? The Duchess does not smile even a little. Is this a pose, or is it her usual attitude. She may have a different personality from that Her Majesty the Queen. Even though they are sisters they are nobles.

"I have been waiting, Robin-sama. Regarding the previous ambassador’s mismanagement, truly truly..."

Even though tea has not been served she endlessly related her complaints about the previous ambassador’s mismanagement. The force of her eyes is strong and I cannot avert my gaze. When there are pauses in the talk midway I realize that responses are being demanded, and hurriedly I insert responses with all the vocabulary I can think of such as "Exactly so," "Just as you say," "I agree," "It is truly shameful." At the door of the room a maid is standing the whole time holding a tea set. I scream in my heart "Butler-san, help! Serve the tea quickly!" yet there is no way that gets across.

The complaints that I thought would continue forever — no, they were not complaints but educational guidance given for my sake. At any rate it was closed with the words,

"Well, it cannot be helped. It is already past. When Robin-sama goes to pay respects, first apologize for the previous ambassador’s mismanagement."

I am grateful~~.

"Then let us serve the tea. Because the hot water has cooled I will have replacement hot water brought. Please wait a while."

The butler skillfully inserted an interjection, and the Duchess said,

"My, has that much time passed? I only spoke a little, thinking that if it becomes a lesson for Robin-sama..."

and so on. My neck already hurts from nodding too much.

We deliciously received the tea and the butler cleared it away. In the room it became the minimum number of the Duchess and two maids, and me and Lily. It is finally coming.

"So, regarding what was written in the letter from my elder sister,"

the Duchess slowly began to speak. At last it has come! My heart tightens. Gokuri, the sound of swallowing saliva can be heard. Even though I just drank tea my throat is dry!

"What was written in Her Majesty the Queen’s letter?"

If I do not know how it was written I have no way to speak. Here I choose my words.

"It was written concisely: ’Prince Robin has produced a top-secret youth-rejuvenating medicine. I had it administered to me in secret and the effect was astonishing.’"

Hoh?

"Is that so."

"Is that true?"

The Duchess put force between her brows and strengthened the pressure with a gui! (This sort of thing is common between sisters, isn’t it.)

"It was not intended as a youth-rejuvenating medicine but as a medicine to restore vigor when tired, yet depending on the person it seems to become a youth-rejuvenating medicine."

Here I must not assert. I must say something on the level of "depending on the person there may be an effect."

The tension in the room rose another level. Because the content is a youth-rejuvenating medicine the degree of interest of the maids is also high, and the sense of holding their breath is transmitted.

"It worked on my elder sister?"

"So it seems. Her Majesty the Queen said so, and the maids attending her also acknowledged it."

The Duchess makes a face that she cannot believe only my words and says forcefully,

"Such a thing is completely unbelievable. A youth-rejuvenating medicine has been searched for, researched, trial-and-error performed, and tested from ages past, yet for a child like this to be able to make it easily. Even if it is a letter from my elder sister I cannot believe it!"

If you cannot believe it that much you need not have called me. Yet there is the possibility of a one-in-a-million chance, I suppose.

When I remain silent the Duchess wrinkles her forehead (if you make such things they will not come off, you know? I worry) and says,

"Because there is no way one can believe it! Believing only from a letter! And my elder sister tells me to buy one wineglassful of that medicine from Robin-sama for twenty gold coins? And when I confirm the effect myself I am to intermediate and sell one cupful to Her Majesty the Queen for fifty gold coins! Even if I am suddenly told such a thing it is decided that such a thing is impossible! I cannot trust it!!"

The Duchess slammed the fan she held onto the table and shouted. Surprised!? One cup of that, only one cup for twenty gold coins!? To Her Majesty the Queen for fifty gold coins!? She is saying to sell something with zero cost for such a high price! Did Her Majesty the Queen think that that had such value! Yet if I do not seize this chance there is no chance of escaping the poor life in the Mainz Kingdom!

"Um, actually there is a concrete example of having administered that medicine."

When I state it hesitantly the Duchess immediately bites.

"You’re lying!? Really? Show me at once! Bring that person!!"

The Duchess’s eyes are bloodshot.

Giving Lily a look I indicate,

"That example is this Lily Page whom I brought today."

Lily bows her head with a tense face.

"This girl?"

the Duchess says. Fufu, you are riding the talk, aren’t you! Looking at her the Duchess is from the late thirties to around forty, right? In that case she is younger than Lily, right? Then it is not "this girl," is it!