Chapter 126: Future
Three weeks had passed since the fleet set sail.
Our flight-magic training had progressed smoothly. I had raised a unit whose skill approached that of the magic aerial soldiers who accompanied me during the attack on the Western Operations General Headquarters.
They would be a valuable advantage in a naval battle.
“Delicious.”
I took another sip of tea in my office aboard the battleship.
“Noah, you truly love tea, don’t you?”
Second Princess Emma was sitting with me again.
“I do.”
I hadn’t cared greatly about tea in my previous life, but after being reborn in this world, I had come to enjoy it.
“I have my trading company search every region it can reach for tea leaves, and I have studied different ways of brewing them.”
“Your trading company… I know it’s large, but how large is it?”
“Enormous.”
“Really?”
“I achieved considerable success on the New Continent.”
After General Newsbeck helped secure its independence, the people there viewed the Lunoa Kingdom favourably. I used that opportunity during the reconstruction period to build wealth, then brought the profits back to this continent and expanded into many fields.
My individual businesses weren’t necessarily the greatest in their industries, but together they formed a vast network.
“You’re incredible.”
“I prepared because I expected a war.”
I needed a foundation that would survive even if Father abandoned me, and I wanted enough power to support Shia-neesama after she went to the battlefield.
Even so, managing an enormous trading company didn’t feel like my true nature.
“At heart, I’m an ordinary commoner.”
“Are you?”
“If I could choose freely, I would open a small café in a quiet town and serve the tea I like.”
No politics, battlefields, or noble obligations—only peaceful days and tea.
“I think that might make me happiest.”
“It’s a lovely dream,” Emma said. “But I can’t fully support it.”
“Why?”
“In that future, would you marry into the royal family?”
“That isn’t part of the plan.”
Emma smiled.
“You said it isn’t part of the plan. You didn’t say it would never happen, so I’ll forgive you.”
“…That’s a very convenient interpretation.”
“Thank you for leaving the possibility open.”
I set down my cup.
“As for my future—”
An alarm suddenly rang through the battleship.
Emma rose at once.
“What’s happening?”
“For now, let’s go to the deck.”
“Yes.”
We hurried from the office. An alarm aboard a warship could mean only one thing.
An enemy vessel had been sighted.