Maseki Gurume – 016a
I Finally Understood.

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“I’m back, Father.”

After a short break, Ain accompanied Olivia to meet her father, the King of Ishtalika.

The place was a meeting room, about 20 tatamis1 in size, and as its name suggested, a meeting was currently taking place.

The moment Olivia entered, the meeting room became quiet and everyone’s attention turned towards her.

At the far end of the room was a gorgeous-looking chair…… and a large man sat on it, Olivia’s father and Ishtalika’s King, Silvird.

Two men were sitting by his side. One was a strong-looking fellow, the other one was a well-dressed elderly person.

“……Excuse me, can someone pinch my cheek?”

“(I guess that would be the expected reaction, Your Majesty. After all, the daughter that had married into a foreign country suddenly shows up in a meeting unannounced.)”

Ain felt a little sympathy for the King of Ishtalika.

Not even the King would have imagined something like this happening.

So it was only natural that he would want to check if this was really happening, in this case by way of having his cheek pulled.

“Or maybe a punch?”

“Understood…… fuun-nuaaa! “

The strong man sitting next to Silvird proceeded to hit him in the cheek.

He really put his heart into it, punching the King after taking a big swing.

“(E-Ehhh……Isn’t the common practice to pinch the cheek? There’s no need to go for a hit, right? Also, the person who hit him…… wasn’t he overly enthusiastic about doing it?)”

“Umu, it seems like I’m not seeing things. This appears to be real.”

“(It took a punch to come to that conclusion? Or rather, is His Majesty alright? It doesn’t look like it even hurt him.)”

Ain was surprised by the King, who, despite having received such a strong hit, apparently hadn’t sustained any damage at all.

“Ara, father? What’s gotten into you, suddenly asking people to punch you? Well, I guess you’re still young.”

Ain wanted to retort, ‘Isn’t this your fault?’ However, he only thought about it and didn’t say a word.

Or rather, he wouldn’t even think of voicing these thoughts in an atmosphere such as this.

“Princess, like I said, if you were to appear so suddenly, it’s obvious His Majesty would be confused.”

“Even if I had tried to give prior notice, all of this happened all too sudden, so it’s all the same.”

“As the King, I don’t want to lose myself in front of my subjects. I apologize, but how about we end this meeting here. “

With a completely different atmosphere surrounding him, Silvird faced the people participating in the conference and dismissing them.

He couldn’t think about anything other than the situation in front of him.

＊

After the participants of the meeting decided to not comment on the return of the Second Princess Olivia for the time being the meeting ended.

Now only seven people remained in the room.

Ain and Olivia, also Chris and Martha……as well as Silvird, alongside the elderly man and the strong-looking man who were by his sides before.

They changed the location and moved to an audience room, because the story was simply that serious.

The sparkling marble floor so spacious together with the incredibly fluffy carpet made Ain feel a bit uncomfortable.

Silvird then sat on a gorgeous throne, looking dignified, signaling Olivia to to begin her story.

“Frankly speaking I’m confused…… my daughter, the daughter who went to marry on another continent suddenly barged into my meeting.”

’Ahh, I completely understand you, Your Majesty.’, Ain thought in sympathy.

“I suppose you’re right, I do admit that I rushed my return a little after making the decision last night. .”

“Last night? ……I haven’t received any reports. Lloyd, Warren…… how about you?”

Silvird asked the two men sitting by his side.

The name of the strong-looking man was apparently Lloyd, and the elderly person was called Warren.

“Neither have I, Your Majesty.”

“I’m the same as you, Your Majesty. The Knight Order was not contacted……But I’m curious if Chris-dono had the same problem.”

After Warren answered, Lloyd continued.

Lloyd was quite perceptive and he directed his gaze towards Chris.

“Yes, I’ve been working as the escort of the Princess ever since last night. That’s why I have a rough understanding of the situation.”

“Please don’t pry any further, Father. I instructed both the steward’s office and Chris to keep quiet about coming to pick me up.”

As she had promised, Olivia further explained the situation, so that Silvird would be somewhat understanding about the absence of information on Olivia’s return.

“……Then, I won’t be doing that. If they were only following my daughter’s orders, then no one involved will be questioned any further. That’s going to be all on this matter.”

“Thank you very much, Father.”

“Haa…… just when I thought trouble had been adding up lately and now my daughter came back, Warren.”

“Your Majesty. If you really want to complain, you should show a stricter attitude.”

“It’s as he says, we can see that you’re happy, Your Majesty. Aren’t you actually delighted with the Princess’ return? “

“(It’s just my first impression, but it looks like these two are His Majesty’s most trusted subjects.)”

Silvird complained to Warren while both Warren and Lloyd where saying that Silvird was pleased, but to outsiders it might look slightly different.

To be honest, he wasn’t angry, but one could only think of his expression as grumpy.

“Seriously, you’re just a bad subject who can’t understand my heart.”

“Then I’ll do my best from now on.”

Warren replied like he didn’t really mind those words.

They had served him for a long time and they could easily discern the small changes in his mood.

“……Now then, I would like you to answer one thing before explaining the reason for your return. Who’s that child over there? “

Returning to the conversation, Silvird glanced at Ain and then asked Olivia who he was.

“Ain, it’s alright, so can you introduce yourself? “

“Yes…… this is our first chance to get acquainted. I’m…… my name is Ain…… my previous name was Ain Roundhart. Olivia here is my mother.”

As one would expect, Ain hesitated to use a casual tone in front of the King.

Thinking about it, he usually spoke politely, but he was a bit embarrassed to speak in such a way at his age. TLN: Using ‘boku’ instead of ‘ore’.

“Child……A child, huh? ……Olivia’s child……”

After Ain’s introduction ended, Silvird was visibly puzzled.

“Ara, father? Are you really going to do nothing after your grandchild introduced himself? He’s your first grandchild, you don’t have to look at him with such an expression, he won’t bite.”

Being told as such Silvird noticed he was glaring at Ain with a frightening expression.

Then, with a softer expression, he spoke:

“I am Silvird von Ishtalika, King of Ishtalika. Nice to meet you Ain, I am your grandfather.”

“Yes. I heard about this last night……”

“T-The Princess’ child…… you say?”

“This was surprising. So, this child…… he’s the one Olivia-sama’s letters have been all about. His Majesty had been eagerly waiting for the moment to finally get to see him, Olivia-sama’s—“

“Lloyd. I wonder what you’re talking about?”

Silvird was being teased by Lloyd again.

The atmosphere was much more easy going than he had expected.

“I’m shouldn’t be wrong…… right, Warren-dono? “

“Indeed, was it a few months ago? I remember we got a letter from Olivia-sama saying her son had received the gift of training. You were so happy at that time but I don’t think anyone but us noticed.”

“Ahh, that’s it, that’s it, His Majesty was also saying he was proud his grandson was growing up splendidly. But I was surprised that he got the Gift of Training even though he was so young.”

“Please, stop, I admit my defeat.”

“(it doesn’t really show in his attitude, but I guess he’s the type to have a sweet spot for his family.)”

“Hahaha! You defeated His Majesty. We’ll have to make sure you receive some punishment, Warren-dono.”

“Same goes for you, Lloyd-dono…… well then, first of all, I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Ain-sama, my name is Warren Lark. I’ve sworn loyalty to Ishtalika serving as Prime Minister. It might only be a short time before you go back to your home country but…… you can rely on me for anything.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Lloyd Glacier. I’ve sworn to protect Ishtalika as Grand Marshal using my own life. If you don’t mind, and if you have the time before you return to your home country, I’d love to spar with you.”

Both of them were heavyweights in Ishtalika.

Ain noticed that everyone in this room was some kind of grand person, the King of the country, the Prime Minister, and the Grand Marshal. And next to Ain was the Second Princess, the Vice-captain of the Royal Guards, and Martha, the head maid.