The day after the tea party held for the royal family of the Kingdom of Lukiusaria.
In the room with emerald wallpaper, I was once again diligently immersed in alchemy today.
"So what you're saying is, as a result of me continuously stimulating you to investigate various things, you developed a sense of self?"
The one I was speaking to was an intelligent entity like smoke wavering within a perfectly round flask.
(Seeking details to define "stimulation." Provide a definite explanation of what "ego sprouting" entails.)
It could respond, but apparently only to one specific person nearby. And its responses were rigid, or rather, meticulous. It seemed to have learned by listening to the words we spoke here, and actually appeared to have quite limited vocabulary.
"Asha-sama, I have something to discuss."
"Huh? Harty? And everyone else. What's going on?"
My close attendants had all gathered and arrived at the Emerald Room.
"Since Your Highness left partway through yesterday, we investigated what happened after that."
It seemed Helkov was talking about the tea party. I had sent a letter of apology to my father. Ideally, I should meet him face to face, but even though I'm supposedly his son and we live on the same grounds, I can't just meet him casually.
"Did the princess of Lukiusaria return safely?"
"Count Stratege was also present. Apparently, he had marital ties to the Lukiusaria royal family."
Ikt seemed to have no interest in his superior's personal affairs and appeared to be learning this for the first time. Come to think of it, I had heard that Count Stratege had connections with forces outside the Empire. So that meant the Kingdom of Lukiusaria, which was under the Empire. Incidentally, Duke Eurasion had apparently taken a wife from the Lukiusaria royal family, so being in-laws, the two of them together had helped search for Diora.
"That's good then... but this isn't over, is it?"
Since they've all come here like this.
Anticipating my thoughts, Werel gave a wry smile and flicked his tail covered in green fur.
"Actually, there had been talk of having Your Highness leave the palace early to become independent. It is not unusual to send a prince with low succession rights to another country that is important for diplomatic relations."
"Ah, hmm. I see, so leaving is an option. But surely I wouldn't be able to choose where I go, and I couldn't take these alchemy tools with me."
That's the thing, right? Japan did it too during the Warring States period. The position of being both a hostage and a liaison with the upper echelons of necessary countries. This world isn't as dangerous as Japan's Warring States period, and since the Empire holds a superior position to anywhere else, the treatment probably wouldn't be that bad. If that's the case, I'll need to think more carefully about how to conduct myself.
As I was thinking that, Harty shook her head.
"That talk has disappeared. It seems Asha-sama took actions to conceal your talents, and His Majesty strongly argued that he was more worried about sending his beloved child to another country than anything else. What exactly did you do?"
Oops, Father. So that's how it is. It's parental affection, but personally, I feel like I want to go somewhere I can quickly solidify my footing. If I solidify my footing here, it would cause trouble for my younger brother too. But if going outside is an option, I should think about it a bit.
I'm curious about that, but Harty seems somewhat displeased?
"What's wrong, Harty? I just said some things to avoid conflict."
"Is that so? For some reason, slander is circulating calling Asha-sama foolish and ignorant. I know no one with intellect as brilliant as Asha-sama!"
Hmm, is this the bias of a wet nurse? But just talking like a war photographer gets that result? It feels better than the rumors until now about being mean and making my younger brother cry. Thinking about it, hasn't the direction changed considerably from being a mean older brother who makes his younger brother cry?
"It's surprising to be spoken of that poorly based just on that way of speaking. I thought they were more wary than dismissive of me? I only really spoke with Duke Eurasion, did something spread from there?"
My attendants looked at each other at my words, then looked around the room as if coordinated. Helkov, who was bad at beating around the bush, said it outright.
"Having alchemy as a hobby seems to have made petty thugs think they can look down on Your Highness. To ignorant people, alchemy is seen as a vulgar technique for those who want gold."
"That's not it. Besides, while I can't say it's impossible to make gold, the cost-effectiveness is terrible, and anyone who really wanted to make it would ignore the monetary aspect."
"Is that so? I had thought alchemy was about easily making gold."
Even Ikt seemed to have that understanding. But that must be the common conception. Scientifically speaking, there are atoms. Those atoms are determined by the number of protons and neutrons. In other words, any substance could become gold if you could decompose and adjust parts finer than these atoms. However, trying to do this would require enormous equipment and energy that would waste money even in scientifically developed Japan. And you could only make one atom, invisible to the eye—there's no point in doing it.
"I don't think it could be easily achieved even with magic. Or is the Philosopher's Stone that kind of energy body? If so, there should be better uses for it than making gold..."
"You truly love alchemy, Asha-sama. The one who passed down these alchemy tools said that alchemy is the study of investigating how God created the world—what do you think, Asha-sama?"
Werel seemed interested and asked about the fundamental theory.
"The creation of the world, yes. I think you can investigate that sort of thing too. See, magic has attributes and different things it can do, and various races have something like faith in magic, right? Alchemy is the same. Some want to make gold, some want to know the structure of the world like Werel's acquaintance. Among those, I, hmm, want to find convenient ways to use it, I guess?"
(Seeking details.)
The ego in the flask said something.
"I'm still in the middle of searching, so there are no details."
I said, flicking the flask with my fingertip. But thinking about it, where does this ego get the energy to think? What about its memory capacity? The words it speaks are logical, and without a physical body, can it really communicate?
"Huh? There's a convenient possibility here."
(Seeking details.)
As I held the flask with both hands and spoke, it repeated the same words.
Suddenly there were loud footsteps and the sound of a door opening from somewhere, but everyone was gathered here. When Ikt and Helkov immediately headed toward the sound, a voice was heard.
"This is bad! Please calm down! Count Stratege!"
The discourteous Levan and his superior Count Stratege had apparently forced their way in. I put down the flask and went with Harty and Werel to see what was happening. In the Blue Room, Helkov was holding back Count Stratege who was trying to go deeper inside, while Ikt was trying to calm him down and hear him out.
"So what about Your Highness? Such rudeness—even for a count, you must know this is unacceptable."
"Enough, don't interfere! I must ask! I need to question directly! Why did Princess Diora suddenly propose marriage!? How did you talk to her when you were alone together!?"
"Excuse me!?"
I raised my voice involuntarily and was spotted by Count Stratege. But wait, I don't understand either.
"Ikt, I just got her to stop crying and took a short stroll in the garden before returning, right?"
"Yes, I deduced it was an escort demonstrating a good understanding of Princess Diora's personality."
"Oh my, Asha-sama."
For some reason, Harty seemed pleased at Ikt's agreement. Levan even forgot to stop the count and whistled. Apparently he's naturally rude. Why did Count Stratege really send someone like Levan... no, the person himself is acting rudely right before my eyes. The superior and subordinate might be similar. Can't they do this elsewhere?
"Um, anyway, I haven't heard anything about an engagement either, so please tell me the details."
If there's an information source right in front of me, I can't let them get away. No, really. I have an idea about the strange rumors circulating, but I know nothing about any engagement talk. Even so, the princess of the Kingdom of Lukiusaria seems to have been much more precocious than me.
Daily update
Next time: Leaving the Wet Nurse Behind 1