After the suffocating book club meeting with Chloe ended, I walked back toward my quarters with heavy steps.
“…Sir White, could you hold me up for a moment?”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
Amber’s firm arm supporting one side of my body made me feel like I might actually survive.
Now that my body was comfortable, another thought immediately came to mind.
‘There is exactly one bad person. My older sister is truly a bad person.’
Chloe, whom I had just met, had immediately started cursing her older sister.
Though some time had passed since I left, Chloe’s icy voice continued to echo in my head.
Chloe’s tone had not been one you’d expect from someone who, just moments ago, had been smiling brightly and claiming that everyone in the imperial family was a good person.
The deep hostility and revulsion residing in her eyes was not a gaze that could be shown within the normal level of a sibling relationship.
It was the gaze of someone who truly, to the bone, despised the other person.
“…Um, Sir White.”
I opened my mouth, sneaking a glance at Amber, the escort knight walking beside me while supporting me.
“This is just in case, but is there some problem between Her Highness the First Princess and Her Highness the Second Princess?”
“…Why would you ask such a question?”
“Earlier, while speaking of the imperial family, Princess Chloe briefly mentioned Princess Victoria, and… it seemed like their relationship was not very good.”
“…”
“What I mean is, if the two of them have not gotten along from the beginning, I should know the reason so that later, when I meet with them separately, I can avoid needlessly causing any emotional upset.”
At my question, Amber’s steps paused ever so slightly.
I clearly saw her brown eyes waver.
She definitely seemed to know something.
She was a high-ranking knight who could directly report to the Emperor, and being Victoria’s closest aide who had fought with her on battlefields, there was no way she wouldn’t know about this conflict.
After briefly pursing her lips, Amber hardened her expression and drew a firm line.
“Prince Ian.”
“Yes.”
“I am a knight who serves the Empire and the Imperial Family. Currently, I am tasked with monitoring and guarding Your Highness, the prince of a defeated nation.”
“…That is true.”
“Regarding the private relationships or conflicts within the noble Imperial Family, I cannot carelessly speak of them with my own mouth to someone who is a hostage of another nation. I ask for your understanding.”
It was an answer cut short with military rigidity.
There was no doubt she would not open her mouth even if I pressed further.
I let out a light sigh and nodded.
“Sorry, I asked something unnecessary.”
“Not at all. It was a question you were fully entitled to ask, and I understand your reason well, so please do not trouble yourself over it too much. It was simply a topic I could not answer due to my position.”
‘Well, it is a funny thing for a hostage to recklessly stick his head into an enemy nation’s family quarrel.’
But I couldn’t help my curiosity.
I can endure anything else, but I cannot endure being truly curious about something.
Above all, wasn’t Amber’s direct superior that very First Princess, Victoria?
If the lifelines I am tied to are pulled taut and fighting each other, I felt like I needed to know at least the reason in order to survive.
In the end, after agonizing for a while, I decided to subtly ask someone high-ranking enough who might actually answer.
#
“Kuaaaah!”
“Lock your elbows! Don’t use momentum! It’s a back workout—if you use other muscles, it doesn’t count!”
“Da, hah, heuk…!”
“That one bounced from the momentum in your waist! Three more as punishment! If you fail this time too, five more added!”
‘Fuck, why the hell is there a lat pulldown machine in a romance fantasy world!?’
Only after gritting my teeth and pulling down three more in perfect form did Second Prince Arthur declare the end of training with a satisfied face.
“Hah, hah, hah….”
“Excellent. The back muscles are the core of upper body workouts. As they say, even if you give up on other exercises, never skip back day. It’s the exercise you need to care about the most.”
Watching the bear-like prince smiling in satisfaction, I lay sprawled on the floor, breathing roughly.
“By the way, I really like how diligently you keep up with the exercise. You’re the best workout partner. There was a prince named Jason who used to exercise with me in the past, and you’re the one I’ve liked the most since him.”
“Hah, hah… what happened to that prince?”
“Hmm? Ah, his older brother died a few years ago, so he became the heir and returned to his home country. I sent him the latest exercise equipment from the Empire as a gift, and he’s still devoted to working out. Very satisfying. I miss him so much it almost hurts… but I cannot oppose Father’s decision.”
Arthur grumbled lightly after taking a sip of water.
“By the way, it’s such a shame that the people in my family don’t like exercise. Royal Father is only interested in swordsmanship and horseback riding, Elder Brother absolutely refuses to exercise because he’s busy with work, Chloe doesn’t exercise because her health is poor, and Victoria likes moving her body, but she prefers going to the battlefield and killing people…”
Talk of family had spilled from the Second Prince’s lips first.
Thinking this might be my only chance, I barely supported my trembling arm against the floor and cautiously tested the waters.
“Your Highness. Hah… though I haven’t been in the palace for long, the members of the Imperial Family I’ve met all seem to be… hah, quite distinct in personality.”
“Hm? Distinct personalities. Well, it’s true that we siblings aren’t exactly docile, ordinary sorts.”
“Yes. Especially Her Highness the First Princess and Her Highness the Second Princess. After meeting them both, their temperaments are so starkly different… I couldn’t easily imagine what it would be like when the two of you meet. Is it… are they on very bad terms?”
At my casually thrown question, Arthur paused wiping his sweat with a towel and glanced down at me.
I was inwardly terrified that he might get angry—how dare I ask about the Imperial Family—but this man, utterly immersed in muscles, was far simpler and cooler than I had thought.
“It’s not just that they’re on bad terms. Every time they meet, they bare their fangs with fire in their eyes.”
“…May I ask the reason?”
“Well. I don’t really know why they’re so desperate to tear each other apart either.”
Arthur plopped down on the bench and spoke as if it were no big deal.
“As you know, Royal Father has three wives. Elder Brother and I are the children of the Empress, while Victoria and Chloe are respectively born of different concubine mothers. In other words, those two are half-sisters.”
“Ah….”
“But they wouldn’t hate each other so much merely because their mothers are different. Look at me—I’m not on bad terms with either Chloe or Victoria. Our personalities don’t match at all, so I don’t desperately try to be close to them, but at least we don’t slander each other. Since Elder Brother will be the next Emperor anyway, it’s not like they’re fighting over power.”
Arthur stroked his pumped-up, massive bicep with satisfaction as he continued.
“Chloe likes reading, Victoria likes martial arts and war, and I like pumping iron. We simply have different domains; there’s no reason to clash. Yet those two have loathed each other like insects since they were young. The reason is their own private matter, so it’s not my place to know.”
Arthur’s answer confirmed a very important fact for me.
The grudge between the two was something very deep and personal.
It was clearly a reverse scale I must never touch rashly, no matter which side it involved.
I inwardly resolved to maintain strict neutrality regarding the two princesses’ problem.
“That aside.”
As if shattering my worries, Arthur suddenly grabbed my forearm tightly.
“Ack!”
“Hm. It’s because you haven’t exercised until now, but you definitely seem to have a physique that builds muscle very easily. Your recovery isn’t bad either.”
Arthur declared with a deeply satisfied smile.
“Next time we do chest or arm workouts, we can increase the weight by about 10 pounds.”
“…Excuse me?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
So shocking was the single word that pierced my ears that I forgot the pain of my arms feeling like they would snap.
“…Did you just say pounds?”
“Hm? Yes. 10 pounds. Why, is it too light? If so, then 20 pounds…”
“No, no! That’s not it… don’t tell me the Empire’s system of weights and measures is the yard-pound system?”
At my astonished expression, Arthur tilted his head as if rather puzzled.
“Isn’t that obvious? It’s the standard weights and measures. Did Sterling use something different?”
“…We used the metric system.”
“Hmm, you’ll be using the imperial system from now on! The Empire unifies its weights and measures.”
For a moment, my head felt like it was spinning.
Everything else, well, it’s a romance fantasy, so I can force myself to understand that much.
But the unit of measurement used by the Empire that unifies the continent is not the metric system but the yard-pound system?
This is crossing the line way too hard.
‘…You barbarians. At the very least, our delicate Sterling Kingdom uses the metric system!’
From deep within my chest, an indescribable fury and sense of mission began to blaze fiercely.
I might not know about other things, but this alone I absolutely had to stop.