Chapter 155: The Start of the Spring Sun Party

Now then, the day of the Spring Sun Party had arrived.

Since it was the second time we had hosted it, the tea party was proceeding without any major issues.

If there was anything different from half a year ago, it would be that Risha’s position had risen, and she had become close friends with Luca, Tifa, and the others.

Due to her engagement to Elliott, Risha is someone who will eventually marry into the Symphonia Empire. She is the future Empress. In the future, her status will be higher than even Luca or Tifa, so there’s no loss in being on good terms with her.

Well, it’s probably not such a calculated relationship, but having to take those kinds of things into consideration just a little bit is apparently what it means to be a noble lady.

Truth be told, there were quite a few noble ladies aiming for Elliott. Up until now, their hostility (hate) had been directed at me, the primary candidate to become his fiancée, but now that had been redirected toward Risha.

Since she is a Princess of the Empire, they don’t take blatantly disrespectful attitudes towards her, but here and there I can see signs that they clearly view her with hostility.

Risha is sensitive to the subtleties of people’s emotions, so she seems to have casually picked up on it.

“How foolish. If they have time to badmouth others and blame their own lack of charm on them, they’d be better off devoting themselves to self-improvement.”

“Mhm. Tifa is right. Risha, you shouldn’t let it bother you either.”

“Thank you. Compared to the past, something like this is nothing at all to me.”

She’s really become so strong… It brings tears to this old lady’s eyes… Combined with my past life, I’m twenty-seven now, so maybe it’s a bit too early to call myself an old lady. It’s too early… right?

At the gazebo used by royalty and nobility at the Spring Sun Party venue, myself, Luca, Tifa, Risha, and Eltilia-chan were having such a thoroughly unromantic conversation.

Well, when it comes to royal families and imperial families, if you don’t gather information about surrounding countries when you can, you’ll end up in trouble later.

“Are things going well over in the Empire?”

“Yes. It seems my position as Prince Elliott’s fiancée has served as a tailwind for older brother Frost, and our faction’s momentum is growing. However, it seems the elderly nobles inevitably harbor unfavorable sentiments towards the Symphonia Empire…”

Well, I suppose so. We are countries that were at war about thirty years ago, after all. There are probably various hard feelings on both sides, but…

That war was an invasion initiated by the Empire, and our side merely defended ourselves to protect our lives.

Even so, many people died in that war. If the people who still harbor grudges and resentment over that are siding with the Second Prince, it’s going to be troublesome…

“It feels like a civil war might break out between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince.”

“My older sister feared that as well. However, if that were to happen, it would give other countries an opening to exploit. I don’t think even Brother Darkel would go that far, but…”

The Empire has launched invasions against neighboring countries during the reigns of the previous Emperor and the Emperor before him. As a result, they have few friendly nations around them. The Symphonia Empire here, and Tifa’s Minuet Queendom as well, border the Empire, but it’s only to the extent that we aren’t currently at war.

If the Empire were to waver, it wouldn’t be strange for neighboring countries to move, aiming for that opening. Our Empire isn’t a monolith either, after all. If the Traditionalist Faction and the Neutral Faction decided “We should invade the Empire,” the Royalist Faction alone might not be able to hold them back.

“It seems the Queendom is keeping a close eye on the Empire’s movements as well, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes. Our country has also had numerous skirmishes with the Empire up until now. There is a certain number of people who argue that if a civil war breaks out, we should count it as a stroke of luck and invade.”

It seems Tifa’s side isn’t a monolith either. If you say they brought it upon themselves, that’s the end of it, but still…

“At the very least, if the Empire splits, there will undoubtedly be some kind of interference from other neighboring countries.”

“Yes. Older brother Frost understands that as well, so it seems he is trying to peacefully weaken older brother Darkel’s faction.”

The Crown Prince must have it tough, too… Even though he finally recovered from his illness…

After all, the other side has the current Emperor backing them… I don’t know the actual balance of power, but they probably can’t openly defy the current Emperor.

I feel bad for Risha, but wouldn’t this all be resolved peacefully if the Emperor just suddenly kicked the bucket…?

If I recall correctly, the Second Prince became the Emperor in the game, but there was no war with Symphonia. There were scenarios where it seemed like it might happen, though.

The Crown Prince died of illness, so could it be that the Emperor passed away after that? Maybe they were in such turmoil that they couldn’t afford to invade other countries?

For the Second Prince, the death of his rival, the Crown Prince, was a good thing, but with his backer, the Emperor, also dead, it probably took him time to consolidate his power base.

There’s a possibility the Emperor might die within the next ten years, huh…

I wonder what Risha will think then. If she finds out I kept quiet while anticipating her parent’s death, will she resent me?

“What do you think of His Majesty the Emperor, Risha…?”

“My father… you mean? Well… to be honest, I don’t feel anything in particular towards him. Father dislikes children, so he’s told me several times, ‘You are an eyesore. Step back.'”

Huh? What’s his deal? And he calls himself a parent!? To actually say out loud to your own child that they’re an eyesore, even if you think it…!?

“When it came to my engagement with Prince Elliott, Father also listened with a face that looked like he bit into a bitter bug, calling it ‘unnecessary meddling’. If older brother Frost and older sister Leticia hadn’t been on my side, the engagement might have been broken off. When I think about that, it does make me a little angry.”

The Second Prince intended to kill Risha, pin the blame on the Symphonia Empire, and start a war.

Perhaps the Emperor was aware of that, too. If so, he’s an unbelievable father. I don’t know about his capabilities as an Emperor, but as a father, he’s the lowest of the low.

Any inclination I had to save the Emperor if he were dying completely vanished.

From what I’ve heard, when he invaded the Empire thirty years ago, my grandfather beat him to a pulp, so he apparently doesn’t like me either. Is it a case of “hate the monk, hate the cowl”? Hmph, what a petty man.

I really need the Empire’s Crown Prince to do his absolute best, no matter what. If anything, I want him to drive the current Emperor into abdicating. I won’t spare any cooperation for that, you know?

Should I sell a few cassette tape recorders to Leticia-san? Leticia-san would probably make effective use of them. I think it would make it easier to grasp the movements of the Second Prince and the current Emperor.

However, since it’s another country, I can’t just sell them on my own discretion, so I’ll have to consult with His Majesty the Emperor through Father about this part…

“Come to think of it… what’s going on with the prince right above you in age, Risha? You know, the one named Diaz or something…”

“Older brother Diaz? Let’s see… Older sister Leticia told older brother Darkel to make him reform his attitude, but he doesn’t seem to listen at all. He’s said sarcastic things to me a few times, though…”

“Sarcastic? Did he say something awful to you?”

“Things like ‘I’ll be relieved when you’re gone,’ or ‘You should be grateful to older brother Darkel for sending you off,’ I suppose…”

Oh dear… He’s hurtling straight down the path of an arrogant prince… There’s even a chance he’s gotten worse.

I guess rehabilitating him is impossible, huh… In the spin-off route, he enrolls in the Academy, realizes he was just a frog in a well despite thinking he was exceptional, and falls into despair.

I feel like he won’t even realize he’s a frog in a well and will just devolve into a mere selfish prince…

“I feel bad for Risha, but he seems like a rather incompetent older brother.”

“Mhm. You shouldn’t worry about an idiot brother like that.”

“Yes. I don’t take him seriously and just let his words slide. I’m no longer scared no matter what he says, so I’ve gotten quite used to it.”

Risha smiled as she said that. It seems she’s acquired the ‘ignore’ skill.

Enrollment in the Academy’s primary division starts at age ten, so the arrogant prince will enroll in two years? And we’ll enroll a year after that.

If the Crown Prince takes the Emperor’s throne in two years, I wonder if he’ll quiet down a bit.

Well, if he tries to mess with Risha at the Academy, I’ll ruthlessly expose every last bit of the dark history that prince revealed in the game. He’ll be too embarrassed to even look his sister in the face.

“What is it, Sakuraile? You’re making quite an evil face.”

“Sakuraile, you’re acting weird.”

“Oops.”

Did my wicked thoughts show on my face? Well, it’s just a backup plan for when push comes to shove.

Still, Eltilia-chan has been silently eating sweets this whole time, but is it really okay for her to eat that much…? I feel like she’s gotten a bit chubby. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a plump elf, but it’s probably bad for her health after all.

Although I say that, I’m starting to get a little worried about the flesh on my own stomach too. I didn’t exercise that much during the winter…

I thought I was moving around a decent amount with sword practice and dancing, though…

We continued our idle chatter after that, but there was one topic in Risha’s conversation that caught my attention.

“A phantom thief?”

“Yes. A phantom thief is running rampant in the Imperial Capital. Is that not true?”

Well, I did hear that information from Ritsu. But why does Risha from another country know about it? That information shouldn’t have leaked outside that much…

“I heard my older sister talking about it. Apparently, her subordinates investigated various things…”

Investigated? Well, I suppose it’s standard to do some information gathering when visiting another country, not just for the Empire but for the Kingdom and Queendom too, but… It seems the Empire has some very capable intelligence agents.

“They aren’t exactly running rampant, but I have heard rumors that there’s someone like that around. I don’t know if it’s true, though.”

“A phantom thief, huh. Are they playing at being ‘Darkness’?”

“‘Darkness’?”

We all parroted the word Tifa spoke.

“You don’t know? ‘Phantom Thief Darkness.’ Well, it is a story from before we were born, after all.”

Saying that, Tifa began to tell us the story of the one known as Phantom Thief Darkness.