The duke rubbed his temples agitatedly.
“For her to leave the capital now of all times, with the change of queens just completed but potential rebel elements still lurking, and our war with Uentas ongoing! A core pillar of the nation’s stability, the duke family’s heiress, abandoning her post!”
“Well it’s nice to hear you value me as queen.”
“That idiot kept insisting on following that man, which I repeatedly refused. Yet this is what happens—!”
“Did you properly explain it to Yuzuriha?”
“Obviously. Her stubbornness forced me to strictly order her ‘Do not lose sight of your duties as a duke’s daughter.’ And then this the very next day—!”
“I see. Then the duke may be at fault?”
Surprised by Toko’s words, the duke raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean…?”
“Hey, think about it for a moment. At this point, what is it that all the nobles of our country are trying to do?”
“That’s obvious. To quickly rebuild the national system, end the war with the Uentas Principality on the most advantageous terms possible, and stabilize the queen’s regime.”
“Bu-bu. Completely wrong.”
Toko casually dismissed the duke’s impassioned words.
“Or rather, everyone thinks that’s something one of the impoverished upper nobles should handle. Like me, the queen, for example.”
“Hmph…”
“But more importantly, before that, there’s something the nobles themselves should be doing at this timing to develop their own houses and territories. So right now, every single noble is desperate to get a head start on that for themselves.”
“…Is that more important than stabilizing the queen’s regime?”
“Way more important. If I were a noble, I’d definitely be doing the same.”
“Doing what exactly?”
“Geez, even after saying that much you still don’t get it? The other nobles would laugh out loud if they heard you.”
She shrugged her shoulders and casually spoke the answer.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? To get a bit closer to Suzuha-nii.”
“…What did you…say?”
The duke’s expression was as if the ground had been pulled out from under him.
It was clearly a confession that while he recognized it was important, he hadn’t realized just how important it was.
Toko gave a thin smile.
“The Sakuragi Dukedom is already close with Suzuha-nii from the start, so they’re fine. But every other noble is desperately praying from the bottom of their hearts to somehow form a bond of friendship with Suzuha-nii.”
“………”
“It’s only natural, right? He’s the savior and hero who rescued our country, the one who saved the continent from the abnormal orc proliferation, and the charismatic symbol of our nation’s military might. Not to mention Yuzuriha is completely infatuated with him, and he effectively rules the neighboring Amazoness country as well. Yet apart from me and the Sakuragi Dukedom, he has no noble backing. He’s an ultra, ultra premium commodity.”
“…But I haven’t received that many requests to introduce that man to me…”
“Well yeah, if they ask the duke to introduce Suzuha-nii, you’d obviously find some excuse to put it off, right? So they judge it’s faster to just directly contact Suzuha-nii themselves. Though the moment they realize Suzuha-nii isn’t in the capital anymore, I’m sure a flood of requests will come for me and the duke to introduce him.”
“…Indeed, you make a fair point…”
The duke nodded in realization.
“So my intention to admonish Yuzuriha ended up granting her permission to accompany him instead.”
“Well, I doubt Yuzuriha was thinking anything that deep. If asked what’s most important to her, she’d probably say with a straight face ‘Protecting Suzuha-nii’s back!'”
“But the end result is not mistaken, at least this time.”
“Huh? Getting worried you might miss your chance with Suzuha-nii?”
“…Just being cautious.”
“Well it works out conveniently for me too, for the sake of national stability.”
“…How does my daughter being with that man relate to national stability?”
“Well, if it was just Suzuha-nii and his sister it’d be one thing, but with Yuzuriha there too, even reckless nobles probably won’t try anything stupid.”
Toko’s expression turned serious.
“At this point, what do you think is the absolute worst thing for our country?”
“And that is…?”
“Having Suzuha-nii’s affections exhausted.”
“What did you say…!?”
“That’s what I was most afraid of. That’s why I had Yuzuriha swiftly crush the rebel prince’s forces as soon as possible. Not a single noble following those idiot princes understood Suzuha-nii’s importance. Even if it left us with too few nobles to properly govern, it’s better than the possibility of Suzuha-nii leaving one day.”
It was a truth about the great purge that even the duke had never heard before.
In reality, eight out of ten nobles in the country were eliminated when Toko became queen.
The duke mentally reviewed the surviving nobles.
Their ideologies varied, but they were generally competent, and not a single one struck him as the sort to needlessly look down on commoners.
“But realistically, even if Suzuha-nii’s importance is understood, there’s still a risk of them going off the rails in another direction. And if some noble screws up and ends up disappointing Suzuha-nii enough that he leaves, our country is finished the moment that happens.”
“…That’s…”
“Suzuha-nii is the hero who saved this continent from the orcs. Yuzuriha will absolutely side with him, and the Amazonesses would rage as well. Any one of those would be enough to destroy our country.”
“……..”
“And you know the nearby countries would undoubtedly attack us once they caught wind of that situation. It would be a race to be the first. I would definitely do the same.”
“…I should issue a directive regarding excessive contact with the new Lohengrin Margrave family as a warning.”
“I already prepared one. Though if Yuzuriha is there, anyone foolish enough to act improperly towards Suzuha-nii would just be sliced to pieces regardless. Yuzuriha is terrifying when angered.”
Though Toko says it like it’s someone else’s problem, the duke knows.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
If Toko gets truly angry at someone, she’ll disintegrate them with powerful magic, leaving not even bones behind.
“So what did you come to discuss today?”
“Right, I almost forgot because of Yuzuriha not being here. Well, it’s just a rumor but…”
Toko stared intently at the duke and revealed in a low voice:
“Information came in that an extremely skilled assassin has been hired to target Suzuha-nii.”
“What did you say!?”
“It’s not that surprising though, is it?”
“…Well, it is an extremely effective and pragmatic measure. If that man were assassinated now, our country would be thrown into great chaos.”
“Yeah. Worst case, Yuzuriha’s mind shatters into a vegetative state useless as a military force, and we just get easily invaded and game over by other countries.”
“However, an assassination is unlikely to succeed so easily.”
After all, Suzuha’s older brother is monstrously powerful even alone, and right beside him are Suzuha and Yuzuriha.
It’s only natural for the duke to wonder how anyone could assassinate him.
However…
“But rumor has it that might not be the case.”
“Hmm…?”
“It’s just a rumor, but apparently this elite assassin is truly elite. Any target they go after is absolutely not allowed to escape, and even if they fail once, they eventually succeed in killing them no matter what.”
“I see…”
“And there’s also a rumor that this assassin once failed to assassinate Yuzuriha in the past, so now they’re targeting Suzuha-nii who stopped them.”
“…Surely that’s…just a rumor, right…?”
“It’s awfully specific for a mere rumor. And it does kinda make sense when you think about it.”
It was no joke – the duke could feel a clammy sweat on his back.
At this point, the fate of Suzuha’s older brother and the Sakuragi Dukedom were inextricably intertwined.
If Suzuha’s brother was killed, it would undoubtedly deal the dukedom a fatal blow.
At the very least, there was no doubt Yuzuriha would become completely useless.
And then the Sakuragi Dukedom would be finished. Quite literally.
Toko could read the duke’s innermost fears like an open book.
Because
if she substituted “Sakuragi Dukedom” with “royal family” or “nation”, it applied to her situation exactly.
“…Do you have any concrete information about this assassin?”
“Like I’d have any. We’re talking about an elite assassin here.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Though there are some fragmentary rumors. Supposedly they have silver hair, they wear twin-tails, they’re an adorably cute little girl like a fairy, but also rather taciturn.”
“……..”
“There were also rumors about having a bitterly sweet figure with huge breasts, tanned skin, and wearing a maid outfit at one point?”
“…If all that information is correct, then this assassin is a silent, silver-haired twintailed, tanned loli big-breasted maid beauty?”
“Yep.”
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