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“With all this out of the way, you don’t mind either, right Margrave Baumeister?”
“No, absolutely not. We will gladly visit.”
“It’s Wald’s strong desire. He apparently wants Ackius, my grandson and future king after Wald, to meet with your daughter, his fiancée. Then again, Ackius is still three years old, and your daughter hasn’t even reached a full year.”
“I don’t know whether either of them will remember such a meeting in the future, but His Highness Wald probably wants the courtiers with fervent ambitions to acknowledge Prince Ackius’s fiancée by making the two meet as soon as possible.”
“You might be right about this. Unlike with Wald, many high-ranking nobles want to install their daughters or granddaughters as Ackius’s wife. They’ll come up with all sorts of tricks and schemes, if only they find an opening.”
“(Does that mean the nobles considered His Highness as unfitting for their daughters and granddaughters to marry? Well, I guess it’s not a good idea to dwell over such matters as retainer) I shall prepare everything for the meeting.”
“Please do, Margrave Baumeister. Your daughter is still small. Also, please inform her mother about this as well.”
I had an audience with His Majesty when I went to the palace on other business. He asked me to let Anna, Ina’s and my daughter, to meet with Ackius. Apparently it was His Highness Wald’s idea, but according to rumors, Prince Ackius is rather popular among high-ranking nobles. For marrying into the royal family.
However, our Anna is the favorite of His Majesty and his son. And in order to let the other nobles realize as much, they’re planning the upcoming meeting.
But, even though it’s just about the children of acquaintances meeting, it’s quite a big deal because the other party is the royal family. I doubt Anna will understand any of that, but since only the fact of us having made them meet matters, it’s not much of a problem if she doesn’t remember in the future. After all, they’ll be allowed to play with each other regularly, once they grow up a bit, His Highness mentioned.
“So that’s the gist of it.”
“…Me?”
“Ina-chan, you’re Anna’s mother, so it can’t be helped.”
“Luise, just because it doesn’t affect you…”
However, Ina didn’t seem overly happy about this. Normally it’d have been impossible for her child to become the fiancée of a prince, so Ina wouldn’t have any reason to go to the royal palace with Anna.
“Won’t it be enough for Elise to go?”
Well, I suppose it makes sense she’d think that. Elise is my first wife and she has no problems with attending the palace either.
“I would feel bad for Anna. I think it would be best for her mother to go with her.”
“Ugh, that reasoning is too sound to argue against it…”
Being able to make such a reasonable argument without a shred of selfishness is very typical of Elise. She said this out of absolute good will, making Ina feel stumped.
You really can’t beat that girl in anything.
“Wend, I’m already feeling nervous.”
“You’ll get used to it in due time.”
Even I was nervous at first whenever I went to the royal palace. That’s only logical since I stem from a lower middle-class family. But, as the number of my visits to the palace kept gradually increasing, my body and heart naturally started to cut down the nervousness since my health wouldn’t last if I remained tense every time.
“From now on you’ll have to go to the palace together with Anna every time anyway. So you’ll get accustomed to it at some point.”
“When is that point?”
“I can’t tell you the precise timing, but if you’re quick, maybe already on the second meeting?”
Such things depend on the individual.
“In the beginning Anna won’t understand what’s going on either. Since babies get easily tired, it won’t be good for her to stay there long either. Prince Ackius is a child too. So I think it’ll be easy to grow accustomed to the nervousness.”
At the same time I thought that I should bring a gift for Prince Ackius that would make him happy. Though I hid the real reason of me dying out of shame, if I went there without bringing anything.
“Anna is only sleeping for the most time, so if we bring a gift that attracts everyone’s attention, it might be possible for you and me to remain somewhat inconspicuous, Ina.”
“Oh, that’s true! Good idea, Wend. Thanks.”
It’s great for Ina to be so happy.
“So, what are we going to take with us?”
“In a situation like this, it should be something that’s going to delight Prince Ackius.”
“But, someone like Prince Ackius should be receiving plenty of unusual things, no?”
“You might be right about that.”
Previously I heard about it from Doushi, but many royals and nobles brought celebratory gifts when Prince Ackius was born. Because of that, it was possible that we could bring something he already has, if we’re unlucky.
“Isn’t there anything good?”
“Dear, we were contacted by the workshop yesterday. Is it really okay to give that to Friedrich and the other babies? They likely won’t understand what it is until they become at least as old as Prince Ackius is right now.”
“You have a point. If it’s that, the prince should like it as well.”
“And the attention won’t gather on me and you, Wend.”
It’s something that didn’t exist in this world, so I had a workshop, which is close to me, to create a magic tool version of it.
“We can take it with us and unveil it at the palace after running a few tests first. Anna won’t comprehend until she becomes a bit older.”
“Yep. It’s a bit early for Anna and our other children.”
“Prince Ackius will be overjoyed, I’m sure.”
With that settled, Ina, who was holding Anna, and I teleported a few days later to the palace alongside the gift I prepared for the prince.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Wendelin, forgive me for calling you over like this.”
“We agreed on an engagement between the two, so it’s necessary for both to meet.”
“True. Regardless of the two, it’s also important for the future for the families to become much closer.”
“(His Highness really loves to use your name, doesn’t he Wend?)”
“(So it’d seem)”
On the day when Anna and Prince Ackius would meet for the first time, we headed towards His Highness’s room inside the palace. Prince Ackius and Princess Marianne, who hasn’t turned one yet just like Anna, were waiting for us there. Princess Marianne is Friedrich’s fiancée, but it’s not planned for them to meet this time around.
Going by etiquette, it’d be up to Crown Prince Wald to visit Friedrich together with Princess Marianne. Though I cannot say I understand the logic behind this. But, given that the other side is saying so, I have no choice but to accept it for what it is.
“Margrave Baumeister, no, your father-in-law has come to see you.”
“”……””
Although Prince Ackius wasn’t even three years old yet, he seemed very level-headed.
“(Our Friedrich is smart as well, so I’m sure he’ll become the same)”
“(I think you can cut out the silly competition between doting fathers there) Prince Ackius, this is my daughter Anna.”
“The girl who will become my wife, right? It’s nice to meet you.”
Prince Ackius greeted Anna, but as expected, she apparently didn’t understand what was going on. Thus she immediately started to sleep at Ina’s chest.
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t worry about it. I told him that it was unreasonable. Besides, sleeping is what babies do,” His Highness Wald said while acting awfully understanding.
But, in that case I’d have liked him to wait with their first meeting until Anna grew up a bit more.
“Now that we have had them meet each other, how about some tea?”
When it came to royals and nobles, tea time was an integral part of their socializing. The tea would be provided by their side, but we were expected to bring sweets to go with the tea.
That would also serve as a gift for Prince Ackius.
“Hey, prepare that.”
“Yes, Milord!”
I ordered a servant to set that up.
“I heard that you had an unusual idea. Ackius and my wife have been looking forward to it very much.”
“Oh, then please enjoy the show.”
After being told by the servant that everything was ready, I checked it myself once more, and then ushered His Highness and his family to the balcony where we’d have our tea time.
“This is…”
“Oh my, how incredible.”
“Father-in-law, that’s amazing. It’s a waterfall made out of melted chocolate. Woooooww!”
His Highness, his wife, and of course, Prince Ackius seemed to like my present very much. I used a Chocolate Fountain, as you can see often in Japanese restaurants, as a present for the young prince. The Chocolate Fountains on Earth use electricity, but this one here is moved by a magic tool. After making the workshop build many prototypes, they finally managed to complete it the other day.
Given that it’s a present for royalty, we made the device to have a height of more than one meter. After all, you can’t use it at parties etc. if it doesn’t have at least that much of a height. Even I reached the conclusion that this sort of height would be needed for the birthday parties of Friedrich and my other babies.
Then again, since we have now finished a basic design, it’ll be possible to make more Chocolate Fountains in various sizes, if necessary.
“That’s quite a luxury.”
The chocolate was made out of cacao that has been harvested in the Demon Forest, but although it’s been recently spreading across the continent, it’s still very expensive. Since it flows here as a waterfall, it’s only natural for His Highness to believe it to be luxurious.
“Prince Ackius, this is a device to eat a sweet called Chocolate Fondue.”
“Chocolate Fondue? What sot of sweet is it?”
“Slices of bread, sponge cake, marshmallows, and fruits have been prepared on the table. You stab one of those with a skewer and hold them under the chocolate fall like this.”
After coating the food with chocolate, you just need to eat it. Chocolate fondue itself doesn’t take that much time and effort to prepare. Oil fondue actually exists in this world, and I had already previously thought of making a Chocolate Fountain to eat the chocolate fondue.
“Like this? That’s fun!”
Prince Ackius appears to like the chocolate fondue. He coated one ingredient after the other with chocolate, just to wolf them down happily.
“It’s my first time eating food like this. It’s not only delicious, but you can make it while enjoying the process. It should be quite popular during parties and tea times.”
Having His Highness’s wife like it as well is the best.
“Thank you for this wonderful present, Wendelin.”
“I will later teach you how to use and clean it. You can use it anytime as long as you procure a big amount of chocolate.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be very popular when used at parties.”
The first meeting between Prince Ackius and Anna was all about the chocolate fondue, but those two likely don’t understand what it means to be engaged to each other, so I think it’s fine like this.
“Phew…it’s great I was less nervous than I expected.”
“That’s nice.”
“You’ve become used to it, haven’t you Wend?”
“It only looks like that on the surface. I mean I used to be the eighth son of a poor knight.”
It’s impossible for me to not be nervous about meeting the crown prince and his family.
“In other words, the Chocolate Fountain was an important item to hide our nervousness.”
“It was a really big help.”
“Well, it has another objective though…”
“Hmm? Another objective?”
“Yep.”
That is something she’ll understand after a bit of time.
＊ ＊ ＊
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“Milord, lately the sales of the Demon Forest cacao and the chocolate, which we are manufacturing ourselves, have been skyrocketing. I hear, the chocolate fondue has become a huge fad in the capital these days… It sounds like a special magic tool is necessary, but our side still can’t keep up with the production.”
“Wend, did you possibly…”
“I only went to greet His Highness while bringing a present with me, wouldn’t you say?”
“Even if you claim so…I think you’d be quite successful even if you’d become a merchant, Wend.”
“I do believe the same, Ina-sama.”
The effect of gifting a chocolate fountain to His Highness was huge. Even if it’s said that he’s lacking a presence, there are still many occasions where he’ll invite nobles to parties and other social events, given his position as crown prince.
If he treats those nobles to the chocolate fondue using a chocolate fountain, the number wanting to have the same for their own use will naturally increase.
And even restaurants, which get wind of that information, will start wanting a chocolate fountain since it attracts customers. In reality, lots of customers have swarmed the restaurants and cafes introducing this new item, and I hear the magic tool guild has been very busy as well.
“The chocolate fountain itself is nothing more than a combination of a simple magic tool with some extra components. So it can be produced easily.”
“Wend, did you possibly…”
“Though it sure would be great if we could excel at such schemes and use the meantime to raise the technological level by researching the magic tools used by the demons. Same applies to the magic tool guild, too.”
While securing income for the Baumeister House through the sale of cacao and chocolate, it’s also a countermeasure against the magic tool guild which has been getting in the way of the diplomatic negotiations with the demon country. However, considering the stubborn attitude of that guild, I can’t expect too much out of it.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Margrave Baumeister is just a lousy upstart!”
Recently I’m troubled since His Highness Wald is only preoccupied with Margrave Baumeister. But, there’s absolutely no need for His Highness to personally deal with a former poor knight who simply got lucky enough to be able to use magic.
In the first place, His Majesty is a problem as well. Adding the children of such a lowborn man to the sacred, exalted bloodline of the royal family could lead to a decline in the authority of the Helmut family which has been continuing its reign for many generations now.
“Damn you, Baumeister! Don’t get cocky! But still…”
We mustn’t underestimate the exalted nobles who are the bulwark of the Helmut Kingdom and congregate in our royal palace for generations. I’ve long seen through Margrave Baumeister aiming to grab the power in the Kingdom as a powerful maternal relative of the royal family.
It’s not like the Helmut Kingdom hasn’t seen such people crop up. However, whenever that happened, our ancestors would get rid of those folks while going through big hardships.
“Next time I, Viscount Becker, will expel Margrave Baumeister from the royal palace as the Kingdom’s Knight of Justice!”
I’m sure many patriotic warriors should appear after seeing my resolve and follow in my steps. From now on, I shall walk down the path of carnage.
Oh God, please grant me your divine protection.
＊ ＊ ＊
“…Hoh, that’s quite the story…”
“Well, I expected you to interpret it like that, Margrave-sama.”
“So far as it goes, I’d love to keep my distance from the royal palace, but…”
“That is next to impossible! His Majesty and His Highness will never allow that!”
“Figures…”
“So Viscount Becker is under the impression that he’s a knight of justice who eliminates treacherous subjects, huh? It sure is difficult for people to understand each other.”
“It’s not like we have to understand each other, but I’d really like him to not misunderstand at the very least.”
“Humans keep fighting each other because that’s difficult to accomplish.”
“Burkhart-san, that’s something I didn’t want to hear right now and here.”
“That’s reality for you.”
Doushi and Burkhart-san came to visit, but I ended up being told something ridiculous by Doushi. Apparently Viscount Becker, one of the courtiers who sees the royal palace as a den──yes, not a residence but a den!──is planning to get rid of me.
I have never met that guy before, so I struggle to understand why he’d hate me so much.
“Because Viscount Becker has no official post, he is very bored every day! And if humans do not know what to do with themselves, many of them will come up with silly ideas!”
“You’re saying, as a result of him overthinking stuff out of boredom, he became convinced that I’m an evil noble who’s plotting to grab the power in the Kingdom?”
“I mean, wouldn’t it make Viscount Becker happier for things to be like that since he’d be able to do something as well.”
“It sounds like I’d need to suffer for the sake of such a stupid delusion, though…”
I’d like to resolve the misunderstanding…but it’s usually pointless to argue with this sort of person…
People who are intoxicated by their own sense of justice, generally won’t listen to others.
“And, does he have any supporters?”
“It is not that it does not have any, but they do not wield much influence. In the first place, those people are happy with anything as long as they can kill some time!”
“What a terrible bunch…”
“I cannot count the times I got pissed off at those people myself!”
According to Doushi, they hang around the royal palace every day, but since they have no official posts, they seem to mostly loiter around. Because of that, some of them will always gather and continue to argue without reaching any conclusions, or start criticizing people who have managed to rise in peerage over having obtained achievements, got a reward, or secured an official post.
“In the process of that, they will start suggesting that such “unfaithful” people should be forced out of the royal palace!”
“to be blunt here, that’s plain old jealousy.”
Burkhart-san, that was a bit too straightforward.
“It goes without saying, but poor low-ranked nobles without an official post cannot enter the royal palace! We are troubled about these slackers because we cannot drive them out as all of them have ranks higher than Baron, despite them being so irritating!”
For a carefree man like Doushi to go as far as calling someone irritating…
You cannot take those courtiers lightly.
“Having said that, they have their own factions as well!”
“That means some of them also think about somehow getting close to Margrave-sama, naturally leading to a confrontation with the first group. My lord often says that the courtiers are a pain in the butt who lack any resemblance of productivity.”
Nobles of high peerage, who are properly working, don’t think about such stupid things because they’re busy every day. In the eyes of Margrave Breithilde, those courtiers, who are gathering at the royal palace every day to think up nonsense and scheme stupid stuff, only count as hindrances, I suppose.
“Why are they allowed to enter the palace? They don’t have any work to do there, right?”
“Because that is not the most troublesome issue,” Elise answered my question after bringing us some tea and sweets.
“It’s not? I thought they were irritating?”
“Just as Uncle-sama mentioned, they do have some irritating parts to them, but since they cannot do much more than run their mouths, it doesn’t matter. However, if they were to talk about such things outside the palace…”
Since it’d look as though nobles, who are unhappy with the Kingdom, are secretly gathering, it’d become necessary to monitor their moves.
“That would turn into an additional burden for the royal army…”
“Ah, so that’s why. As they’re only yapping about things within the palace, it’s easy to keep an eye on them, huh? It’s also easier to have people stand watch.”
Even if they have to monitor them for caution’s sake, the royal army wants to keep the workload as low as possible. I guess that’s the reason why they’re allowed to enter the palace every day.
I managed to understand the circumstances now, but Burkhart-san’s remark sounded quite sarcastic.
“So, what are concrete countermeasures against them?”
“None. Just ignore those clowns.”
“Ignore them…?”
“It’s not like they committed any crimes. My lord also got angry at them when he was younger, but nowadays he’s completely disregarding them. He realized that it’s pointless to deal with them. In short, get used to their existence and continue your life while ignoring them.”
“Sure, I can do that, but…”
“In the first place, assuming Viscount Becker’s scheme were to succeed, would it be inconvenient to you in any way, Margrave-sama?”
“No, not at all.”
If possible, I don’t want to go to the palace since I’m always nervous over there. Having our Friedrich and Anna meet with His Highness’s Prince Ackius and Princess Marianne at our mansion in Baulburg would probably pose no problem.
After all, I could just pick them up with my Teleport.
“It is no problem! To begin with, even if they might be engaged, there exist almost no cases where the parties are made to meet each other frequently, starting with their childhood.”
Just as Doushi says, you cannot meet that often in this world, where the transportation situation isn’t overly good, if you live far apart.
“Somehow I do feel a lot better when I consider it like that. I wonder how much effort Viscount Becker is going to put into his little plot.”
“It’s probably nothing more than empty talk.”
“He is just running his mouth anyway!”
The reputation of courtiers appears to be rather low. No matter the world, people want others to carry out what they promise, huh?
＊ ＊ ＊
“Could you try repeating that once more?”
“Of course. Viscount Becker seems to be spreading in the palace that he is going to try to remove Margrave Baumeister from the royal palace.”
“…I see…”
Those courtiers are hanging out at the palace every day since they got nothing better to do. They will continue their absolutely useless debates and shilly-shally among themselves.
They are irritating, but since they cause no harm, we have been leaving them to their own devices. However, for them to scheme the removal of my best friend Wendelin of all things…
“He believes that an upstart hailing from a formerly poor knight family doesn’t qualify to enter the exalter family lineage of the royal family.”
“…Exalted family lineage, huh…? I always think so, but those guys really don’t change, do they?”
As they weren’t assigned any official post since they lack ability, they try relying on nothing but the historic status of their families, gathering in the palace despite not having any business here. If we forbid their entry, they might plot something in another place, so it’s a pain that we cannot meddle with them easily.
“Just warning them will probably be pointless.”
“That will likely backfire instead.”
Yeah, makes sense.
I’m sure they’ll start saying something along the lines of 『Margrave Baumeister has deceived the crown prince with honeyed words, slandering us as he’s jealous of our capabilities and nobility』.
“Punishing them is even more out of the question, eh…?”
“If you look at it very objectively, he’s just spreading bad rumors about Margrave Baumeister within the palace. If we punished each and every noble for something like that, the palace would be quickly emptied out.”
This guy is someone I hired personally, but I’m pleased with him because he doesn’t hold back on me. Since I’m going to become king in the future, I must keep such men at my side to always provide objective points of view, otherwise I won’t last long as a king.
“Are we going to leave them alone after all?”
“No, that’d be too vexing. Besides…”
Wendelin is a noble entrusted with a huge territory, so it’s not like he has some sort of post at the royal palace. Given that the Helmut Kingdom is supporting the development of the Baumeister Margraviate, he has the duty to report back regularly, but it’d be no problem, if someone else took care of that part either.
The whole story would be over if he sends a chief vassal in his stead, but in that case…
──Won’t Wendelin and his friends stop coming to the palace?
If going to the Baumeister Margraviate becomes the only option to meet with Wendelin for us, the frequency of me meeting him will decrease significantly, won’t it!?
“That is out of the question!”
“Pardon?”
“Alright! Now that it’s come to this, I’ll reward Viscount Becker. He most certainly won’t refuse a reward from the Kingdom. After all, he’s so full of himself that he’s referring to himself as courtier of the Kingdom.”
“A reward, you say?”
“Yeah, I’ll give him a reward.”
Damn you, Viscount Becker!
If you’re going to get in the way of my friendship with Wendelin, I have to reward you appropriately for that, don’t I?
You’re calling yourself a courtier so repeatedly that it’s getting obnoxious. Thus I will have you act that role properly. With actions, and not just talk.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Eh? Viscount Becker has been granted territory?”
“I hear it’s situated very deep in the mountainous area of the eastern parts, though. The fief’s size is reasonably big, but it’s uninhabited land which has been left untouched by the Kingdom. It seems like it will take a lot of time, money, and work to develop it properly.”
“He might be a viscount, but is it really okay for vested nobility without any post or achievements to be given such a huge patch of land all of a sudden?”
“Who knows?”
“Who knows, you say…”
“Isn’t it just fine? I mean, a guy, who has been constantly criticizing you, has been sent off to the eastern outskirts, Margrave-sama.”
“He has always been talking big, so it will be good for him to actually try to follow up on his own words!”
“Depending on how he thinks about it, it’s a great chance.”
“I pray from the bottom of my heart that Viscount Becker possesses the necessary skills and backbone!”
“Praying means…you don’t have much of a hope, huh? I guess you can call it an eviction to the hinterland. I wonder who he turned into his enemy to suffe such a harsh punishment?”
Viscount Becker had plotted to kick me out of the royal palace for good, but according to Doushi he had suddenly been granted a huge territory in the eastern mountains. Given the huge potential for development, you could rightfully call it a reward, if he manages to develop the land properly, but it’s questionable whether he actually possesses the skills to see it through.
In the first place, it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to gather the necessary labor force…
Going by the information thus far, Viscount Becker is all talk, and he seems to lack the skill as noble and the charisma that would allow him to rally people under his banner.
“Why did His Majesty do something like that all of a sudden?”
“The one responsible for this assignment was His Highness Wald!”
“His Highness, huh…?”
I’m kind of astonished at his skill in getting His Majesty’s permission to give land to a vested noble without any accomplishments whatsoever. How did he manage to persuade His Majesty?
“There is no way that Viscount Becker, who is known for being all talk but no bite, will be able to manage the territory decently! If he fails…”
“Yes?”
“He will either be demoted in peerage, or in the worst case, he will lose his noble status.”
“Giving an undeserved rank to make one self-destruct, eh…?”
It refers to a method where you assign a post or position that goes beyond the receiver’s ability to have them crushed under the burden. It seems this used to be one of the specialties of the Fujiwara clan in Japan, but I don’t get the idea behind using it on Viscount Becker.
“It is because he had been lobbying to oust you from the royal palace, Margrave Baumeister! The engagement between His Highness’s and your children is a well-known fact. When it comes to getting in the way of this, the likes of a mere viscount…”
“Because there are several other people with the same sort of ideology, His Highness probably used Viscount Becker as a warning.”
“Making an example by granting a huge territory is kind of sad.”
If he’s proud of his lineage, he just needs to develop the land by himself…
I wonder what to think of a punishment where you’re actually given territory.
“If it was so easy to develop land, this continent would long have run out of space. It’s impossible for commoners, but when it comes to the jobless nobles, who are loitering around in the palace, they’d be able to immediately become landed nobility, if they request it. The Kingdom has plenty of free land. But, they won’t leave the palace. Do you know why, Margrave-sama?”
“…They don’t have the money and manpower to develop a new territory…”
Or maybe they don’t have the backbone to scrape together both to develop a backward region from scratch.
“It’s much easier to be paid an annuity while criticizing nobles, which they don’t like, at the palace every day, isn’t it? They would never volunteer to develop a territory with a big probability of failing. And because they’re like this, all the kings so far have been ignoring them.”
In a certain sense, it’s kind of like a basic income, I’d say. Since it’d be actually harmful, if they were to work and mess up, they’re being left alone and paid an annuity.
“There are nobles and retainers providing for such people as well, which in turn helps the economy in the capital. That’s how the Kingdom’s government regards this issue.”
For the sake of the economy, huh…? But, it means Viscount Becker has incurred His Highness’s anger.
“His Highness Wald likes you, Margrave Baumeister!”
“So it seems.”
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t really want to be liked by the next king, though…
“Isn’t it fine for me to spend my life as a simple, regional noble?”
“Seeing how you are tied to him through the engagement of your children, that is impossible! You will be continuing to visit the royal palace with Lady Ina from now on! Did you prepare some sort of gift?”
“As if I’d have something so convenient readily at hand…”
After all, I just came up with the chocolate fountain by coincidence…
What should I do next time?
“Ah!”
“Did you think of something?”
“As long as the craftsmen can reproduce when I explain it to them.”
“Well done! His Highness Wald will be pleased!”
“What is it?”
It’s no magic, okay!? I mean it would also be an option to go with magic, but I should suggest it to the magic tool crafters employed by our house in preparation for next time.
If they succeed at creating it, I will present it to His Highness. If I do that, I will be able to sell it within the kingdom under the label of 『Helmut’s royal family purveyor』.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Whoa, that’s amazing! It looks just like a cloud!”
“Prince Ackius, if you use colored sugar, you can add color to 『Cotton Candy』. Do you want to give it a try?”
“I want to do it as well!”
“It’s not that complicated. You do it like this.”
“Oh, that looks fun! Now the cotton looks like a rainbow.”
Today Ina and I went to the palace again to let Anna meet with Prince Ackius, and I used that opportunity to introduce my newly developed Cotton Candy.
The sugar production, which started on the southern archipelago, has been going well, and now that we’ve succeeded in the mass production of granulated sugar, I had no choice but to use this to also create candy cotton.
When I explained the principle to the candy cotton maker, the artisans immediately finished a trial product for me. They capitalized on their experience and techniques from developing the chocolate fountain.
At this point, we have already made several test runs and thus I could show it to the prince with confidence today.
No matter how smart and grown-up he might be, Prince Ackius is still a child.
He ate the candy cotton, which he produced himself, with sparkling eyes.
“Wendelin, this is great. It seems like it’s going to be quite popular with women and children.”
Coupled with the chocolate fondue from the other day, the candy cotton should become a big hit on social events.
“(And then the nobles, who participate in those events, will swarm our candy cotton maker, followed by restaurants also swarming them…)”
The work of the magic tool makers will increase as well. Anyway, I must make them accumulate lots of experience by having them produce all sorts of things so that they’ll be able to oppose the demons with their high, technological level.
It’s definitely not like I made this just for my children and myself.
“Wendelin, sometimes noisy flies will come out of the woodworks in the palace, but you don’t need to mind them and just come here like usual.”
“Okay…”
Personally I wouldn’t be troubled even if I didn’t have to visit the palace…but, I guess that’s impossible, given the engagement between Anna and Prince Ackius.
“(I should make sure that it won’t be described as me exploiting my status as a maternal relative of the royal family. Next…I’ll have them make a takoyaki plate for home use and do a takoyaki party, I guess)”
It’d be best if I don’t make the mistake of getting involved in the politics of the Kingdom. After all, I don’t really understand them. As long as I bring toys like this and spend a relaxed, casual time with His Highness’s family, I should be safe.
Yep, I’m sure I can’t go wrong with this.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Blasted Margrave Baumeister! How dare he spread such slander about me to His Highness Wald! But, wait for me! I’ll obtain large influence by developing this land and then my descendants will expel Margrave Baumeister from the royal palace!”
As it’s often said with 『Even a fool may accomplish something, if he really puts his mind to it』, Viscount Becker bet his remaining life and steadily proceeded with the development of the territory, which had been regarded as sure-fire failure. In the generation of his grandson, his family even managed to rank up to Earl.
One way or another, he would continue on his road of becoming a high-ranking noble to oppose the Margrave Baumeister house.
But then again, at that time I was already dead, meaning it turned into a situation that caused headaches to Friedrich and his children.
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