NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 30: Juvenile’s Debate
The day of the tea party soon arrived. Ludwin's younger sister, Charlotte, was in attendance. She was only 9, and even though she was that young, she was the same height as me! Rage almost built up in me, but I suppressed it. This was a royal tea party. If she cried because of me, it could be the end of House Shadowstep.
"Greetings, Miss Elidranthia. Welcome to my salon. I am Charlotte. We are pleased to receive you," Charlotte said adorably.
"Your curtsy was very elegant, Princess Charlotte. I wish Lady Eli would learn from you," Alicia said. In the first meeting, she already buttered her up by mocking me. This Alicia needed more discipline. I was being too lenient with her lately. It was true, though; her curtsy was elegant. It must have been her clothes. Her blonde hair matched well with her pink dress, and her small stature gave off an adorable appearance.
Behind her, Prince Ludwin snorted a laugh when my curtsy was mentioned. He immediately pulled out his prince persona and greeted me amicably. "Greetings, Lady Elidranthia. Thank you for coming. Our tea party here consists of many nobles from Bron dukedom. I am sure you will enjoy your time here."
"Greetings, Lady Eli." Safira was in attendance. I forgot which baron she was from. Was it under Bron dukedom?
"He—Greetings, Lady Safira." I was about to say hello as usual, but Alicia elbowed me. I then fixed my speech and greeted her formally.
"Just talking will be boring. I have brought games for you all. Look, a dart and towering blocks." Prince Ludwin copied my games from a few months ago.
"This is only for fun; the loser will not be punished. The winner will receive a cookie from my sister Charlotte. Have fun, everyone!" Prince Ludwin was eyeing me. What a sore loser. He deliberately announced he would not punish the loser of the game. Was he traumatized being told to cook barbecues for two days during my party?
"yay! I want to play too!" Charlotte said.
"Of course you may, Charlotte. Enjoy your day with everyone," her nanny replied.
"Wow, your style of parties is getting popular; even the prince is copying you. Tea parties used to be about sweets and flower arrangements. Now they include games," Safira said.
"You sure know a lot of nobles customs, Safira. I am jealous, "I muttered.
"Well, my family of Baron Kharn had been a baron since two hundred years ago. I could introduce you to all the attendees here, old and new nobles alike," Safira said. She then began to introduce the nobles one by one until Prince Ludwin interrupted us.
"Greetings, I apologize for interrupting your nice chatting. Would you greet my sister? She wanted to talk to you."
I was led to the princess' personal table. Her smile was cute and elegant, while mine was stiff. Prince Ludwin talked about the country and the greatness of magicians, while Charlotte focused on dresses—both of which I had no idea about. The chat continued discussing mundane topics before, suddenly, they threw a curveball in my direction.
"Lady Eli, what do you think of the current government?"
"Huh? What do you think about it?"
"Don't you think mages should hold all the important positions?"
"Why? I think the current system is already good enough."
"Yes, Brother Ludwin. Why do you keep pushing for mages to become monarchs anyway?" Charlotte asked.
Hmm? Was this the thing R25B asked me to find out? I suddenly came to a realization. If the rebellion was spearheaded by the second prince, it all makes sense. However, no matter how smart and handsome Prince Ludwin is, he couldn't possibly lead the country as a 12-year-old kid. That means someone was influencing him.
"Prince Ludwin, may I ask why you want to change the current system?"
"Mages are close to mana. It is only right that we lead the people as the most capable. We are better than normal people. You should know that."
"Hm… what if I didn't want to lead? Mages have other duties too, such as filling feystones and making magic tools. Doing government work on top of that would exhaust me."
"Yes! You are correct, Lady Eli! Finally, some mages that understand my father's view!" Charlotte screamed as she held my hand. A feeling of discomfort immediately permeated my hand. It was disgusting, as if something had crept beneath my skin.
"Eek!" I immediately pulled my hands out.
"Huh?" Princess Charlotte stood dumbfounded with an outstretched hand. Her face was filled with despair.
"What are you doing to Princess Charlotte!" The girls at the salon began accusing me.
"Ah! I am sorry. Lady Elidranthia is from the countryside. She never experienced magic repellent tools!" Prince Ludwin clarified.
"Ah. I am sorry! I will remove it now." Charlotte started to remove her necklace and bracelet, but Prince Ludwin stopped her.
"No. Charlotte. It is important that you use it. Otherwise, you might get assassinated by magic," Prince Ludwin said.
"I apologize, Lady Charlotte. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I am sorry, everyone." I bowed to Charlotte and to everyone in the salon. Then I tried to hold her hands.
"Alright! I can hold her hands. It feels uncomfortable, but if I know it is safe, it is not a problem," I said as I held her hands. The disgusting feeling crept in from my hands; however, it stopped there and never went beyond the arm.
"Alright! Thank you, Lady Eli. I understand. My brother was also disgusted by it when he was held by my father. All the royal family needs to wear it for protection except when we are alone with family members.
"But you didn't wear it, Prince Ludwin."
"I am a mage. I have resistance against magic." He said proudly.
"I see. I apologize once more for my lack of knowledge."
"Okay! You said that mages should not hold high positions, right? However, if someone who is more proficient came, it would be either mages or skill holders, right? Right now, I think the kingdom needs to change. We can't be eternally relying on bloodlines," Prince Ludwin then continued his discussion.
"If you don't rely on bloodlines, how do you know if they are trustworthy?" Charlotte answered. "Does that mean I should not trust my brother or father who raised me?"
"Ugh. Well. But we need to change!" The prince and princess were having a debate a kid shouldn't be having. I was actually older than I looked. In addition to my previous life, I should be 28 years old by now. However, their discussion was not something I even heard back in my junior high school when I attended there once in a while.
"Prince Ludwin. Why do you think we need to change? Who said that?"
"Prime Minister Johan, my uncle said so. Moreover, not only the mages, but the internal ministry also said so, and he was not even a mage. That's why I am certain that it is true. They said that if we don't put some honor or special privileges into mages for their work, they will leave for another country because they are paid better there."
"Hmm? How could another country pay mages better? I thought we were already paid very well. Even commoners are jealous of me and Alicia." I muttered. I only needed to work for a week before opening that three-day party full of beef meat, and fresh vegetables. Plus, all my knives, which often cost more than a gold, were easily obtainable by giving out feystones.
"See, brother? That news about another country paying mages better was nonsense. I heard some top royal mages were paid even better than father's allowance. It is impossible to pay them better than that. The only ones that left were useless mages. Even useless level 4 or below should still be self-sufficient if they could fill feystones."
But it is true there were some migrant mages that left the country. We need to do something," Ludwin said. Charlotte scrunched up her face, unable to reciprocate.
"If you want to do something, then at least assign a guard for us…." Alicia whispered quietly. Her words didn't escape my ear, though.
"Huh? What did you say, Alicia? Sending us a guard?"
"Eh, I-I apologize, Lady Eli."
"Wait, did she say something?" Prince Ludwin asked me.
" Y-yes. I merely whispered that if Prince Ludwin wishes to care for us mages, instead of assigning us to become government officials, we should get easier access to Justiciar or guards."
"Hmm? Why would you need Justiciar?"
"You see, Lady Eli and my lives have already been targeted twice. Moreover, my father also died because of me. Because I am a mage."
"What?" Prince Ludwin said, astonished. "Ah! However, I heard Lady Eli was able to repel them. Surely, such greedy lowborns couldn't match the strength of a mage. As they say, power comes with responsibilities!"
"However, I couldn't do anything. It was all Lady Eli. She defended me. Moreover, when I killed them, I felt guilty. Have you ever killed anyone, Prince Ludwin? When I sleep, I still picture the fear and the eyes of those bandits. They were cursing me. Have you ever felt your magic burn the person you love? Hurt them? Have you ever lost the person you loved because you are a mage? My father already called Justiciar, but they failed to save his life."
"Well, they are bandits. There is no harm in killing them. It was self-defense…" Prince Ludwin said. However, his eyes betrayed his words. "I see. Security, huh?"
"Yes! I will talk with my father! If we provide security to mages, I am sure he will agree!" Charlotte said.
"Yes! Good idea, Charlotte! Thank you, Alicia! With this, I no longer have to fight with my father! I will tell Minister Johann about this, too! Mages do not need to rule the kingdom, nor do they need a pay raise! All they need is security. And it is our noble job to provide them with safety! It is our noblesse oblige!” The prince smiled. His smile seemed 100% more genuine than usual. He even jumped and raised his hands like a twelve-year-old should.
The prince had become more open now. However, all the credit goes to Alicia. He immediately interrogated her about what sort of protection commoner mages needed. However, I saw the girls in the salon grow hostile as the prince and princess seemed to inch closer to Alicia. Even when she wore her maid uniform, being seated next to me seemed to rub the peanut gallery the wrong way.
Alicia, being the socialite she was, knew about the glare she received from the gallery. However, the prince didn't care at all and continued his interrogation about the way we were attacked and how such a thing could be prevented.
The dreaded tea party at the salon finally ended. However, a more sinister scheme had been produced.
"Alicia…." I glared at her.
"I-I-I didn't know about this!" Alicia yelled.
Before us was a royal invitation from the king to attend a secret meeting.
