The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 108

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 108

When I brought my partner, the gatekeeper nodded and directed us to enter.

Then he cleared his throat and shouted, “Baron Elaine, Ars Elaine! Viscount Feland, Lady Lynette Feland are entering!”

We entered through the main gate and walked along the carpet that stretched all the way to where the king was.

Curious gazes poured in from all around.

Those gazes were mainly directed at Lynette.

“Oh! The youngest daughter of Viscount Feland has finally shown her face in high society.”

“Is her partner a cadet from the golden generation? Their interests must have aligned.”

People were assuming that the Viscount Feland family had paid our family under the table to buy a party entrance ticket for Lynette’s social debut.

In fact, you could enter the party through other means, but I am one of the main characters of today’s party. The right to be a main character’s partner was quite expensive.

‘That’s good.’

Thanks to this, the attention on me was lowered.

I could feel the gazes of some young ladies, but they wouldn’t approach rashly since I had a partner.

Swish, tap! Swish, tap!

On the other hand, Erina seemed to be in deep thought looking at my partner. She was fiddling with her poor fan.

I winked at her to say don’t worry, but this seemed to make her more worried as she bit her lower lip.

Standing in front of the king, I knelt on one knee and greeted him. “It is an honor to have an audience with Your Majesty. I am Ars Elaine, fourth son of the Elaine baronial family.”

“I-I am Lynette Feland, third daughter of the Feland viscount family.”

King Gareth was an old man well over 80 years old.

His eyes seemed dim as he squinted at me and remained silent for some reason.

I thought it might be a set ritual, but seeing Duke Hellian and Gilbert also looking puzzled, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Your Majesty. Is there a problem?”

At Hellian’s question, the king suddenly came to his senses.

“Ho ho, I lost my focus for a moment. I must be getting old.”

At these words, Hellian made a genuinely worried expression.

“If you’re not feeling well, you can rest. Please leave the running of the party to me.”

“It’s not that. Yes, you said you were the fourth son of the Elaine family? Come closer.”

This seemed to be a rare occurrence as well, as murmurs arose around us.

I stood up from my kneeling position and moved about 2 meters closer.

“You can come even closer. No, I’ll come to you.”

The king stood up, leaning on his throne, and approached me.

‘What is this about?’

At this point, even I couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Raise your head.”

I raised my head and looked up at the king. Eyes deep despite his age.

Gareth was known as a good king.

He didn’t bestow outstanding good governance, but he didn’t enact bad policies either.

An ordinary king, but because of that, he received good evaluations. That was the king of Calliper.

“…”

He stares intently at my face. Then soon his face became shocked.

“Could it be…!? How could…!”

Stagger! The king stumbles.

“Your Majesty!”

“Are you alright!”

The guard knights rush over urgently.

“I’m fine. I’m alright…”

Duke Hellian approaches urgently and says, “Your Majesty, I think it would be better for you to rest after all. Don’t worry, I can lead the event.”

“Yes, I should do that…”

King Gareth leaves the party hall, supported by others.

I was just dumbfounded.

***

After the audience with the king, as I intended, I took a corner seat and requested food from a servant.

Since I often end up overeating when I come to parties, I had an empty stomach and was a bit hungry.

It seemed Lynette was the same, as her eyes lit up when the food arrived.

For a while after that, we ate and chatted.

“I see. So you suffered damage in the war with Alvard and went to Rainpol…”

“Well, it’s a blessing in disguise. Rainpol is a larger area than Ribel. So what about the Feland viscounty, where is it located?”

“It’s in the south. Originally it was located at the southernmost part of the territory, but recently with Madon’s land being incorporated, we can no longer call it the southernmost.”

“Hmm?”

I became curious when she said it was in the south.

The territory I had requested from Duke Hellian this time was in the south.

I had requested the southernmost land. In other words, right above the area ruled by Crossing.

This was for the sake of the Three-Way Division of the World that Juras had mentioned.

‘Although it hasn’t been decided yet whether to follow that plan.’

Still, I decided to make preparations.

“Has there been any military action in the south recently?”

“Mi-Military action?”

Lynette tilted her head as if she thought I was asking something strange, but she tried hard to think and answer.

“Um… Recently, it seems the number of soldiers in the territories has increased. Not just in our territory, but in other territories as well. I heard my father saying so.”

From this, I could somewhat guess what Calliper Kingdom’s plan was.

‘So they’ve ordered an increase in private soldiers in the southern territories… Calliper doesn’t fully trust Crossing either.’

They’re preparing for when the alliance breaks.

If the alliance breaks, Calliper will concentrate troops in the north where Crossing’s mainland is located.

For the south, they seem to have ordered an increase in private soldiers with the intention of defending primarily with territorial troops.

“I see. Then what about agriculture in the region? What crops grow well? What crops have been cultivated recently?”

“Um…”

Lynette cutely protested. “Aren’t you curious about me at all?”

It seems I had unknowingly made a faux pas. Well, no one would ask their partner about military actions or agricultural practices.[1]

“I’m sorry. Then… Do you have any hobbies?”

Finally hearing the topic she wanted, Lynette smiled and answered. “I like tending to flower beds or painting. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot to cultivate refinement. Do you know about it too, Lord Elaine? ‘Their Circumstances’. There’s a book that’s been causing a stir recently.”

“…”

“Lord Elaine?”

“Ah, yes. ‘Their Circumstances’… I see.”

It was the influence of Erina distributing the books. It seems to have become a trend among the young ladies of Calliper.

“I know.”

“Really!?” Lynette started excitedly telling the story of the book. I was planning to just nod along, but then an unexpected visitor arrived.

“Sir Elaine. Could I have a moment to talk?”

A woman who came without a partner, for some reason.

Lynette frowned openly. This was a breach of etiquette.

Despite her seemingly timid impression, she firmly stated,

“I was talking with Sir Elaine. I’m his partner.”

The woman waved her hands dismissively.

“Oh, it’s not like that. I’m just a fan who needs an autograph.”

“A fan…?”

The woman held out her Their Circumstances and a quill pen.

“Could I ask for your autograph? It’s not the original, and it doesn’t have Platinum’s signature.”

It seems she wants to get a signature on a copy to treat it as equivalent to the original. I didn’t particularly mind signing a copy, so I gave her the autograph.

“And, and. I heard there’s a sequel story. Is that true?”

“Yes… We’re planning it for now.”

“Oh my! Please make sure to sell it in Alphensard too. I’ll definitely buy it.”

“Thank you.”

“Good luck!”

The woman left, carefully hugging the book and taking small steps. As soon as she took her first step, other young ladies who had been watching cautiously approached.

“Could you sign for me too?”

“Me too!”

Despite being in a secluded spot, suddenly a crowd gathered.

‘Is this getting out of hand?’

Fortunately, someone appeared to mediate.

“Everyone, please calm down.”

“Lady Erina!”

Erina smiled warmly, then shot me a sharp glance. It seems she had been keeping an eye on me all along.

“This is troublesome for everyone. Please don’t burden Sir Elaine. This also damages my reputation for introducing Sir Elaine’s book.”

“Oh, we’re so sorry…”

“But I understand your feelings. So how about we all sit together and have a chat? …Would that be alright, Miss Feland? And… Sir Elaine.”

Erina emitted a subtle but dark aura like Estelle’s. Is it true that people become similar when they get close?

I gestured that she could do as she pleased. Lynette, apparently well aware of Erina’s reputation, nodded hesitantly.

And so, including Erina, five women ended up joining our table.

Obviously, but their main topic was the content of the book.

“I’m still so resentful of that Irina Paleon.”

“I know, right? The protagonist should have ended up with Ertel…”

“I don’t think the ending with the female knight was bad either. Elnia Pentabel… What a noble knight she must be.”

“But even that Elnia was humiliated because of Irina!”

“That’s right. Unforgivable!”

Erina gripped her fan tightly. Judging by her visible veins, she must be quite angry.

“Everyone? Irina must have had her reasons too. I hear that part will be addressed in the sequel.”

“Really? A story about that villainess? I don’t like it!”

“A-actually, it seems she might not be a villainess. It looks like there was someone controlling Irina from behind the scenes.”

“Huh? How do you know that much, Lady Erina?”

“Well… I heard it briefly from Sir Elaine.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to me.

I shook my head.

“No, Irina is indeed a villainess.”

I answered that way to prevent spoilers.

At my answer, everyone nodded, saying, ‘I thought so’.

Erina made a frustrated face, looking upset.

As they continued discussing the book, one young lady cautiously brought up that topic.

“By the way… Do you all know? It seems there’s a work that imitates their circumstances recently.”

“Ah!”

“That’s…”

Everyone noticeably panicked.

“I heard… W-well, I heard it too!? Apparently, scenes of intimate love with the female protagonists were added. And it’s quite explicit, they say…”

She was talking about the erotic version that was released.

The title is ‘Their Inner Circumstances’. Olaf had decided on the title. Something about it having a double meaning.

The pen name was Onyx, a black gem to contrast with Platinum.

“It’s infidelity!”

Such a cry rang out.

“I can’t accept this. To do such a vulgar thing to a beautiful story…!”

“I agree. Surely that author must be a very frivolous person! What a coward!”

Ack! For a moment, I choked.

The young ladies were harshly condemning, saying things like ‘Less than human!’ ‘A disgrace to literature!’ ‘Trash!’

“What do you think, Lady Erina? Did you know about this?”

“I did know.”

Erina continued with blazing eyes.

“If I find that person, I’ll go and protest directly. No? It might not be bad to ask the guards to catch them. This Onyx has disrupted public morals. Even if they’re not severely punished, I’ll teach them a lesson so they never do such a thing again.”

“As expected of Lady Erina!”

“Please do that!”

Erina seemed particularly angry, perhaps because she had participated in the book’s production.

‘Or it might be because Irina’s part was completely absent in the pirated version.’

I had nothing to say. I was planning to pretend not to know, but Erina turned the arrow towards me.

“What do you think, Sir Elaine?”

“Huh? Ah… Well, isn’t it freedom of creation?”

“Freedom? Your work has been defiled! It wouldn’t be strange even if they received capital punishment!”

“Even so, capital punishment is–” I decided to try and change the subject somehow. “B-but isn’t it alright for you all not to go to your partners? It seems the event is about to start soon.”

They seemed to realize then that they had been too absorbed in the conversation.

“Oh my, our partners must be waiting. I’ll take my leave first. It was enjoyable today.”

“I should go too. Well then, goodbye.”

The young ladies left one after another. Erina looked at me and Lynette alternately, then nodded, saying she trusts us.

“Phew! They’re finally gone.”

It felt like a storm had just passed.

Lynette, who had become like a wallflower due to the overwhelming atmosphere, still couldn’t erase her dazed expression.

 

Footnotes:

1] Faux pas literally means “false step” in French, and that’s a great description of what you do when you make a faux pas.

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