It seems the Emperor has had twin sons.
So I've gained two younger brothers, though of course I only heard about it through others.
I hadn't even heard about the pregnancy.
Come to think of it, I had wondered why Father's attendants kept interrupting our conversations so strangely.
To think that the reason they were obstructing our once-or-twice monthly meetings was something like this.
"Even if we can't meet, I wonder what he thinks about that incident? So Terry's an older brother now too."
I'm using alchemy equipment to make distilled water in the Emerald Room.
Whatever you do, creating pure water without impurities is the fundamental first step.
The alchemy books say to make it carefully and cleanly too.
It was written in such poetic, or rather strange, descriptions that made me wonder if the author was hallucinating from some drug, but when you decipher it, they're just stating the obvious instructions for conducting experiments.
Eliminate uncertain factors that could affect the results.
This holds true for science as well.
"I explained it to Father, though."
When I was suddenly summoned to the audience chamber on the upper floor, I was asked what had happened with Terry in the garden.
He didn't blame me one-sidedly, but listened to the whole story from the beginning.
How Ikuto had searched for the attendants when we found the lost child, how Harty and I looked after him while moving to a place with a clear view of the garden.
I also told him how he cried again when startled by a bug.
"That part is fine, but what happened after is the problem."
After finishing his questioning of me, he said he would hear from others as well, so Harty and Ikuto, who had been with me, were also summoned.
And apparently, it was a tremendous blunder for the guard to grab his sword hilt.
Father was furious and summoned the Marquis or whoever oversees the palace guards, railing about preventing recurrence and reassigning the guards.
Father even demanded they be dismissed or sued.
However, Father's attendant stopped him, saying he was going too far, which only angered the Emperor further.
Though Father was angry at him for opposing what was appropriate punishment for those who had acted hostile toward a prince, I think he was also considering Father's position.
"Your Highness Asha, is everything alright? It is almost time for your next lesson."
"Come in, it's fine. Thank you."
Responding to the knock and Ikuto's voice, I extinguish the fire I'd lit for distillation and begin tidying up.
Ikuto, who entered, helped me.
"I cannot fathom it. Wearrel also expressed surprise and praise at how skillfully you handle the equipment."
"It's because you properly brought me the instruction manual too. Besides, since I can't go for walks, I have plenty of time. Even if I don't understand how to use something, I can just try it out."
"That is because I... regarding the guards..."
"It's fine, Ikuto. You don't have to force yourself."
Actually, since then, the palace guards have been glaring at me whenever I go out for walks.
Or rather, if I try to leave this section, they interrogate me about where I'm going and what I'm doing.
They used to ignore me completely without even a greeting, but now they treat me like a dangerous person.
It's annoying, and since Harty ends up getting harassed by men in that situation, I've refrained from walking for now.
My younger brother Terry wasn't injured, and he didn't do anything wrong.
If anything, it feels like the guards are taking out their frustration on me because they were personally scolded by the Emperor for their blunder.
"Your Highness Asha, are you here?"
"Ah, Wearrel. It's time for class, right? Sorry, I'll clean up right away."
"No, no, I simply came early because I brought some books to lend you. Even for history lessons, I thought something more accessible would be good, so I brought a travelogue compiled about the Eastern Continent."
What Wearrel shows me is a book with an ornate binding.
The kind of decorum worthy of the Imperial Library.
"Oh, does it cover Ninohoto as well?"
"Yes, I thought Your Highness Asha might be interested in Ikuto's homeland, so I marked it with a bookmark."
Wearrel holds the book open with both hands so we can see it while we clean up.
There is an illustration depicting what appears to be a port town scene.
It's drawn with various exaggerations, but the nearly single-story buildings seem to have tiled roofs.
From Ikuto's name, I had wondered, but is Ninohoto a Japanese-style country?
No, but if it's just tiles, they might have those around China too.
"Ikuto, is the family name Tottos from this Ninohoto?"
"No, I created it when receiving a title here. My name in Ninohoto is Ikzaemon Toshiaki Todo."
"Ik, to, to?"
Wearrel mutters, looking unaccustomed to hearing it.
"Yes, and since many people could not pronounce my name properly, I rearranged it to create the name Ikuto Tottos here."
Ikuto, your name was more Japanese-style than I thought.
With coral-colored hair and bluish skin that seems so fantasy-like, yet you're Ikzaemon-san?
"However, the ancestral homeland of the Sea People is not Ninohoto, but further south, the Chitos Federation. Long ago it was a collection of small nations, but after coming under Imperial rule, they built the federation. At the same time, they began trade with Ninohoto, with which there had been no previous interaction, and there was immigration. Therefore, I am not of the traditional human race of Ninohoto."
"Ikuto-dono could serve as a teacher as well."
Wearrel laughs with genuine feeling at Ikuto, who speaks so eloquently.
"No, no, I could speak of experiences all day, but when it comes to explaining history and sequence..."
"I would like you to lecture together if possible. After all, the words of one who knows are more familiar to the ear. Not limited to Ninohoto, the Eastern Continent is the ancestral homeland of the Imperial family that built the Empire. Your Highness Asha should know of it as well."
To the tutor Wearrel's proposal, Ikuto agreed to assist to some degree.
Finishing the cleanup, I move to the Golden Room.
Originally it's called the Salon, a room for receiving guests, but since there's no use for that, I've made it my study.
Though even so, it's still wastefully spacious and empty.
Just the table set built into the room, and for some reason, a grand piano.
Well, apparently music is an essential accomplishment for nobility, and they make me play this as part of my studies too.
"The Central Continent where the Empire now stands was long an undeveloped land. Do you recall the reason we learned the other day?"
"It's surrounded by mountains on all four sides, and there were no paths to cross those mountains."
Wearrel connects this to our geography studies as review.
"Yes. And the human race used to live in the eastern regions long ago. Now most live in the Central Continent. Ninohoto is now the nation with the most humans besides the Empire, but before the Empire's founding, it was only a small country."
"Didn't the other countries survive? Did they all move to the Central Continent?"
Ikuto answers my question.
"Actually, the East has many disasters. Since the Empire's founding, it seems more humans moved to the Central Continent rather than restore ruined cities. Furthermore, with the population decreased, disasters strike every year from the sea, mountains, underground, and sky."
"...Then why did Ninohoto survive, conversely?"
"It was probably the most disaster-resistant. They make a fuss about typhoons, landslides, eruptions, and heavy rain, but the next day they start working toward recovery. Perhaps they have a temperament that can't sit still."
My previous life was similar, but hearing it from others like this, it sounds tough.
By the way, even in the regions where Sea People live there are disasters, but Sea People can escape into the sea, so their dwellings on land are minimal.
Apparently the Eastern Continent is a region prone to natural disasters.
I can appreciate the hardships of my ancestors who wanted to find new lands even if it meant the difficult journey across the mountains.
"Are the monsters different? Are there professions that replace knights?"
I ask indirectly, wondering about youkai and samurai, and Ikuto looks thoughtful.
"Rather than different, do you know of curses that cannot be treated with magic?"
"There are traditions of curses among both elves and beastkin?"
Wearrel, who is half both, raises a finger.
Magic in this world differs by race.
Ikuto the Sea Person uses water, Wearrel uses wind from his elf side, and Helkov uses body strengthening magic from his beastkin side.
And humans cannot master magic but can use all attributes.
"However, there is a story said to be an actual example of a curse by ordinary creatures that cannot use magic. It is called the Crab Curse. There was a man somewhere who loved crabs so much that he couldn't calm down unless he ate crabs every day."
According to Ikuto, this man continued eating crabs every single day, and at one point, when he touched crabs, his whole body began to swell red.
Those around him stopped him, but the man couldn't stop eating crabs, and still he would eat crabs and gasp for breath, eat crabs and grow dizzy, eat crabs and vomit, and finally he died.
"This becomes an old cautionary tale that if you continue to mistreat even small lives for a long time, they will develop a single-minded grudge strong enough to curse you."
"It sounds terrifying, yet not terrifying?"
Ikuto and Wearrel seem to have accepted it as a moral lesson, but it sounded different to me.
Isn't that just an allergy?
I hear some people develop shellfish allergies as adults.
So this world has allergies too, and apparently magic can't do anything about them.
"Could alchemy do something about it?"
"If you could, Your Highness would become a master alchemist."
Ikuto's saying it's difficult at times like this.
Yeah, for now I'll focus on quietly mastering what's written in the books.
Daily updates.
Next time: The Marquis's Hand 2