Kays Translations

Chapter 197: A Conversation with My Sister-in-law

The door closed behind us while Axel and Ijidol stood frozen like statues. They were now in a situation from which they couldn't easily escape, yet neither of them moved. Evidently, this was their first time seeing the princess of this country at such close quarters. I would have to do something.

"Allow me to introduce Axel Holmqvist and Ijidol Capuson."

"Ah, I'm Axel."

"Y-Yes. I-I'm Ijidol."

The two of them introduced themselves with bright-red faces. They seemed terribly nervous in the presence of a real princess. Ijidol was so flustered that he apparently hadn't even noticed biting his tongue.

"Hee-hee. I've heard about you both. They say you're good friends with my brother-in-law. Thank you for looking after him."

"Brother-in-law?"

Still half petrified, Axel turned to stare at me. I nodded, and his eyes rounded. Huh? Had Brother Alex's engagement to Lady Daniela not been made public yet? Or had these two simply not heard?

"Come to think of it, there was some talk about Princess Daniela becoming engaged."

"Her fiancé is my brother Alex."

At that, they gave me a look which plainly demanded, Why didn't you tell us? How was I supposed to know what people discussed here in the royal capital? News like that didn't necessarily reach the territorial capital.

"Why don't the three of you sit down instead of standing there?"

Brother Alex indicated the sofa. At his invitation, the two still-nervous boys sat. It was an exceptionally soft sofa. This was unmistakably a room for the highest-ranking nobles. Perhaps important visitors from foreign countries stayed here.

"Is it really all right for us to use such a fine room?"

"Of course. You are an important guest of the royal family, Julius,"

Lady Daniela replied firmly. The kingdom must be investing a great deal in magic-potion production. There had even been an attempted poisoning, so it made sense for them to be cautious.

"Ask the servants if you need to know how anything in the room works. They know it better than I do."

Brother Alex glanced at the servant, who bowed lightly.

Had Brother Alex come all this way with Lady Daniela merely to tell me that? Surely not. Perhaps he had wanted Axel and Ijidol to meet her.

By doing so, he could demonstrate that I had a connection to the royal family. He was telling them that remaining close to me would not hurt them. Perhaps he had heard about Pietro and Ovidio setting themselves against me and wanted to prevent the situation from worsening.

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it. More importantly, would you tell us what has been happening in the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps? Lady Daniela would like to hear it directly from you."

I looked towards Lady Daniela. She smiled and nodded. I see. So this was the real purpose of their visit. His Majesty must have asked her to learn the details. As the person connected to me through Brother Alex, Lady Daniela was the perfect intermediary for the matter of teaching the Corps to make Panacea.

Apparently, they meant to use the relationship between her and Brother Alex to keep track of my activities. Commander Giovanni would naturally submit his own reports about me, but the fact that they wanted to hear my account as well showed how seriously they took the matter.

I couldn't keep Lady Daniela for long. She must have made room in her busy schedule to come here, so I gave her an honest account of everything that had happened thus far.

I also told her about today's events with Axel and Ijidol. Lady Daniela showed particular interest in the true magic potions I had developed.

"A Great Magic Pharmacist?"

"Please don't take that seriously, Lady Daniela. I don't want anyone calling me that."

Lady Daniela looked disappointed. I wasn't sorry. Time to change the subject.

"By the way, Lady Daniela, what happened with the icehouse?"

"There has been progress. I had been meaning to speak with you about it. Permission has been granted. The kingdom will bear all necessary expenses, so please build it without hesitation."

That permission had taken a long time. Had they needed time to control the spread of information? My doubts must have shown on my face, because Lady Daniela continued.

"Since we believed you intended to recreate an icehouse from ancient times, His Majesty had the royal magic-tool makers investigate whether it was possible. In the end, they determined that they could not construct such a magic tool."

Axel and Ijidol both stared at us with expressions that said, What? Along with their suspicion, a glimmer of understanding seemed to appear. They would be surprised to learn that I made magic tools too.

"I see. So you spent that time researching the icehouse. But the one I plan to build isn't an ancient icehouse. I merely intend to improve the efficiency of the existing one."

The completed result might perform as closely as possible to an icehouse from an advanced ancient civilisation, but I wasn't lying. Apparently, my plan to modify the present icehouse had been interpreted rather differently.

"That may be, but His Majesty seems to believe that an ancient icehouse might be recreated."

Oh dear. His Majesty's expectations of me were sky-high. Had everything I had done earned me that much credit? Well… yes, I supposed it had. He would naturally think favourably of the person who had saved his life.

"I'm sure there's no need to expect anything so grand. It will only be a little better than the current icehouse."

"Julius, may I see its blueprints?"

"Oh, Brother. It's only a minor modification, so I didn't draw any."

I tried to laugh it off.

"You said earlier that you intended to draw blueprints. I've also received a report that you showed them to the members of the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps. Why don't you show them to me as well?"

Terrifying! Brother Alex's black smile was terrifying! Look—Axel and Ijidol had gone pale. My face was probably exactly the same.

I had no choice but to hand over the icehouse blueprints.

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