3 bar menu

Vol 03 Chapter 88: Honeymoon V

Tetra and Abraham have been staring at each other for a while.

The first to speak was Abraham.

「Tetra-dono, I’ve heard that your mother is a Kirisian. I have a question. Is your mother’s name… Helene?」

「Yes, my mother is Helene. You seem to know her well.」

「Of course… Helene is my daughter.」

So that’s it… I thought I had seen him somewhere before. This old man resembles Tetra.

They are not identical. Perhaps Tetra takes after her father. But… now that he mentions it, they do resemble each other to a noticeable extent.

The reason I hadn’t noticed was because of their stature. This old man is very tall compared to the typically small Kirisians, and he has some impressive muscles. Conversely, Tetra is small, even among the small Kirisians.

It’s no wonder I didn’t realize… well that’s only an excuse.

But are these two really related? Their similar appearance makes it possible that they are family, but it is not so much that it could be a simple coincidence…

「…There’s no proof. Just because we resemble each other doesn’t mean anything, and if that was proof that we’re family, I’d have thousands of family members.」

Tetra replied with a sound argument.

That’s right! Can such coincidences even happen?

And why would the daughter of the tyrant of Gehenna marry into a patrician family of the backwaters of Adernia?

「Whether we’re related by blood can be determined through magic. You know that, right?」

「Then let’s find out.」

As Tetra said that, Abraham’s slave brought over a bowl, some herbs, and a knife.

What are they going to do?

「Hey, Almus. Call Julia. She’s more suited for this.」

「Well, that makes sense.」

She won’t make a mistake, and she’d notice if they were up to something.

◇

「No way, it has to be a coincidence.」

Julia said bewildered, yet she began to prepare the ritual.

She filled the bowl with water and added ground herbs. Muttering something like a spell, she presented it in front of the two.

「Now, Lord Abraham. Your blood, please.」

「Alright.」

Abraham cut his finger with the knife, letting the blood drip. The blood dropped into the water, creating ripples.

The blood spread like smoke in the water, dissolving into it. When the water turned slightly pink, Julia instructed Abraham to stop.

She then handed a different knife to Tetra. Silently, Tetra pressed the knife against her thumb, making a cut.

When her blood touched the water, it faintly glowed.

「There’s no mistake… how could it be…?」

「So it’s really true?」

When I asked, Julia nodded.

◇

「Never would I have imagined that the son of the Griffon and the new king of King Rosais’ Country would become my grandson!」

Abraham was in high spirits.

But have I really become this guy’s ‘grandson’? Really?

Is a granddaughter’s husband also a grandson?

I’m getting confused…

Now… what should I do? I have no relatives. So, having reliable family members increase is a good thing.

The position of a tyrant is not very favorable in public opinion, but that’s only among the Kirisians. Many countries in Adernia have the tradition of having a king, so there’s no problem.

But still…

「By the way, when will my great-grandchild be born?」

「Um… there are no plans at the moment…」

I glanced at Tetra, and she shook her head.

「How is that possible? I’m already fifty. I don’t have much time left. I must see my great-grandchild before I die. I have an idea…」

Abraham rang a bell, and a slave came immediately. Abraham gave an order to the slave.

「Bring that. You know what I mean, right?」

「Yes, immediately.」

They understand each other with just ‘that’… Are you a couple or something?

The slave brought a beautiful glass bottle filled with a golden liquid.

「I will give you this. It’s mead. It is said that queen bees have many children due to this.」

Abraham said cheerfully, pushing the bottle into Tetra’s hands.

「Thank you very much… um… Your Excellency…」

Tetra looked extremely troubled.

She’s quite disturbed. Her eyes dart around, frequently shifting from Abraham’s face and then away, occasionally sending glances towards me and Julia, seeking help. I might never have seen Tetra like this before.

She always thought her family consisted only of her husband (and Julia), but then suddenly a grandfather appeared. Moreover, this grandfather was a tyrant, a dictator, and generally considered a bad person by societal standards.

And now this grandfather handed her a bottle of mead with a comment that could only be interpreted as a dirty joke…

Yeah, no way she’s going to be calm in this situation.

「If this fact becomes public, it will undoubtedly deepen the relationship between our countries.」

So, he intends to make it public…

It’s not bad news that Abraham and I are related. For me, who only have relatives connected through Julia, this provides some balance.

However, the issue of who becomes my successor – Tetra’s child or Julia’s child – becomes complicated.

In the first place, I gained the right to the throne by marrying Julia. Therefore, the most reasonable solution would be to design Julia’s child as the next king, at least that would be the option with less conflict.

But if you ask me if it’s impossible for Tetra’s child to become the next king. The answer would be, no, it’s not impossible. The Aris Family is related by blood to the Rosais Family, just like the Dibel Family. Therefore, Tetra’s child will also inherit the Rosais Family’s blood, so they will have the qualifications as well.

If Julia gives birth to a boy first, things would settle smoothly, but life doesn’t always work out so neatly.

Given the current power dynamics, Julia holds a significant advantage, so undoubtedly her child will be the next king, regardless of birth order.

However, if the Kirisians with the help of Abraham, align behind Tetra… Things could get complicated.

After all, I am considering appointing a large number of Kirisians to bureaucratic positions. In the political system I’m trying to create, bureaucrats will have considerable influence, and most of them will be Kirisians, at least for now. It makes sense they would prefer the next king to have Kirisian blood.

There could be a potential conflict between the Rosais Family and the other patrician families versus the Kirisian bureaucrats and the Kirisian cities.

Ah… what a headache…

「Regarding the announcement… how about the next New Year?」

It’s currently June, so the announcement would be seven months later. By then, the country should be fully united.

「Well, that’s a good idea. It has a nice ring to it. Let’s do that.」

This buys some time, at least. However, buying time doesn’t necessarily resolve the underlying issues.

Thus, our honeymoon came to a close. It could be considered the trip was a success, as I was able to fulfill most of my objectives.

The number of Kirisian merchants is likely to increase significantly from now on as well. …although in the end, a troublesome fact has also come to light.

◇

After Almus left, Abraham called his confidants.

「As for the personnel to be sent to King Rosais’ Country… sneak in some spies. Avoid sending magicians; they’ll probably be detected.」

Sending spies was something that both Lezado and Nemes were likely doing as well. It was an opportunity to send spies to King Rosais’ Country without raising suspicion, so all the countries readily accepted Almus’ recruitment of qualified personnel. The spies’ goal was to acquire the secret methods of making paper and the ‘secret medicine of fire’.

However, the new king was probably aware of the dangers. He must have judged that the rewards outweighed the risks. It was likely that the bureaucrats he brought back wouldn’t handle the most critical documents.

The information they would be able to access would probably be trivial or fragmented, not making sense on its own.

Moreover, the methods for making paper and the ‘secret medicine of fire’ would be heavily guarded. Acquiring them would be extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible.

But it was not 100% impossible. Even if there was just a 1% chance, it was worth trying.

Additionally, they would gain a better understanding of King Rosais’ Country’s domestic situation. Kirisians had the same skin color as Adernians but spoke a different language, which made them stand out.

However, if they could send many Kirisians to King Rosais’ Country, it would also become easier to gather information about other countries.

「Also, prepare in advance. I will make my great-grandchild the crown prince, no matter what.」

It would be difficult for Gehenna alone to archieve this. But there was no need to try to do it alone.

They would start coordinating with the other three countries and begin operations simultaneously with the New Year announcement. Combining the financial power of the Kirisian merchants with the influence of the Kirisian bureaucrats in King Rosais’ Country  should make it feasible.

The problem was the patricians…

「We will take this slow. First, we will start by letting the patricians of King Rosais’ Country develop a taste for luxury.」

「Understood. We’ll send them plenty of spices, goldwork, and glasswork under the guise of friendship. The new king himself has been buying quite a bit. If he flaunts them, the other patricians will want them too.」

The culture of the Adernian peninsula was simple and minimalist, or in other words, somewhat poor. Even the patricians mainly eat game like wild boar, and fattened pigs were served only during the New Year or banquets.

While there were buyers for extravagant goldwork, not all patricians desired it.

But from now on, as more Kirisian merchants headed to King Rosais’ Country, the variety of goods would increase, and more patricians would show interest.

Buying luxurious items requires money. But money can’t be harvested from fields. It needs to be earned.

The scary thing about money is its fluctuating value. What could be bought with one gold coin might need one gold coin and five silver coins a month later.

The patricians of King Rosais’ Country had only recently become acquainted with currency, they would undoubtedly make mistakes in handling money.

Money is difficult to acquire, but the desire for luxury persists.

So, what would they do? They will take on debt.

They could also trick them into making bad investments. If they lead them into making significant losses and get them steeped in debt. Then…

「We’ll have a faction of patricians who will listen to us. I want to secure at least a quarter of them. With that many, we can forcibly insert our influence.」

Stirring up the plebeians could be another strategy. The plebeians in King Rosais’ Country are self-sustaining farmers and also soldiers.

They believed they must follow the patricians and the king… But what would happen when they learned about the Kirisian political systems?

They could also pressure that king into making Tetra’s child the crown prince if he wanted the instigation of the plebeians to stop.

Moreover, every woman wants to be the favorite of the man she loves, and wishes for her child to be the primary successor. The more she loves that man, the more she wants to be the number one.

People might say they have no complaints, but is there anyone who truly harbors no dissatisfaction at all? No, there isn’t.

It’s not strange at all to want to visit one’s grandchild. Abraham himself would go and whisper to them.

「Grandpa will take care of everything…」

「Haha, it’s somewhat sad that Helene passed away… but well, I thought my daughter was dead to begin with. More importantly, she left behind the greatest gift. I thought she was a disobedient child… but I must retract that. She was a dutiful daughter after all. Kukuku…」