In my room at the palace, the ever-impudent Revan had come to visit again today.
"Seriously, could you please stop leading the princess on like that?"
"Huh, so Diora actually has feelings for him?"
"Wow, I really want to tell the princess that. That she's being played~"
Revan raised his voice in mock lamentation while gauging my reaction.
I ignored him, trying to focus on the letter from Diora that had already been opened.
"Ah, so that's why you've been strangely persistent. Diora is coming here again. Hmm, so those research results came out."
The reason Diora is coming is to accompany the King of Lukiusaria on official business.
The official business involves reporting that the medicinal herbs with magic recovery effects, which had been cultivated for a long time at the academy in Lukiusaria, have finally reached a stage where stable cultivation is possible.
It seems they are coming all the way to the imperial capital to report these results and receive a reward from the Emperor.
Apparently, this is a result that people have been watching and waiting for with great anticipation.
"If that much attention is being gathered, I probably won't be able to attend, will I?"
"Couldn't you just ask His Majesty to squeeze you in there?"
"If I did something like that, I'd only be glared at even more than I am now. Nothing good would come of it."
"Well, well. If I could contribute to dampening Your Highness's motivation, then the esteemed lords' harassment would have been worth it, bou…………!?"
Just as Revan was speaking eloquently, he exhaled air grandly and fell silent.
When I looked up from the letter, Herkof with his beast-like face was grabbing Revan by the collar from behind.
But apparently, the one who had punched Revan in the solar plexus was Ikt.
"I'll go throw out this trash, Your Highness."
"You have to make sure to return him to Count Strateeg properly, so wait until he can walk again."
Because I don't reprimand him, Revan slips up about once every three times and receives iron-fist sanctions when he goes too far.
Revan, unable to fall completely, remained dangling from Herkof's grip.
"But I am curious about the medicinal herbs. Magic recovery potions can be made through alchemy too, so if mass production becomes stable, maybe I could ask Diora to send some my way?"
I looked over the letter again with a bit of excitement.
And then I looked at the person by the wall whose conversation had been interrupted by Revan's arrival.
"Now then, sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we continue, Wald?"
The one I spoke to was an elf with brown skin.
There are no dark elves in this world, but Wald is a half-elf between an elf and a human, with strong human blood, dark skin, and unable to use magic.
Humans can use all attributes, but whether they can use the prerequisite magic depends on individual aptitude.
Wald didn't have the aptitude.
"Wald?"
"Y-yes."
His black hair swayed, and his orange eyes finally moved.
But his gaze was directed not at me but at the groaning Revan.
Wald, the financial administrator assigned to me this year, had been working with a bland, expressionless, and emotionless demeanor until now, but now his agitation was clearly visible.
"Huh? Your Highness, aren't you going to pretend to be a fool?"
You recover quickly, Revan.
"Because I frequently meet with him, it would be troublesome to keep up the act. It seems that simply being assigned to my place was treated as a demotion, and his interactions with those in the palace have been cut off, so I thought it would be fine."
I answered as a prince and smiled.
"Really, it would have been somewhat better if you were just dull."
Saying such things, Revan let out a sigh.
Regular Update
Next Time: Changes in Circumstances 3