For each day she spent with Souma, Liscia grew a little more attractive as a woman. Someday she would make a splendid queen, as well as a good wife and a wise mother. Juna couldn’t help but respect her as a fellow woman.
The princess asked this of me, personally. I, too, must do my duty.
Firming up her resolve a little more, she gently knocked on the door to the governmental affairs office, and called, “Your Majesty, it is Juna Doma. Are you still awake?”
She kept her voice low enough that, were he already asleep, she would not disturb him.
“Juna? Come in,” she heard Souma say from inside the room.
When Juna opened the door with a “Pardon me,” and entered, she found Souma looking through some paperwork by candlelight. Souma laid the document down on the desk, turning a somewhat wearied smile to Juna.
“What is it, so late at night? Are you sleeping over at the castle?”
“Ah… Yes, I am,” Juna said. “It’s been decided that I’ll be staying in the princess’s room tonight.”
“Having a girls-only party? That sounds like fun.”
When he gave her that frank and unguarded response, while Juna may not have been lying, she still felt guilty. “No… Anyway, what are you up to, sire? I had heard you were finished with your government work for the day.”
“Ah, I did lie down to go to bed… But I just couldn’t get to sleep, so I started looking through the papers I was going to go over tomorrow. I figured, maybe it would help me feel a little more sleepy,” Souma said, glancing to the stack of papers on his desk. Juna could see the tiredness in his expression.
“Could it be… You’re not sleeping, lately?” Juna asked.
Souma scratched his head a little awkwardly. “My body’s tired, but my mind just won’t let me get to sleep, you know. When I close my eyes and try to sleep, I end up thinking about all sorts of things. About everything I’ve done, about everything there still is to do, about whether the decisions I’ve made were right, about whether the decisions I’m going to make are right… It all whirls around inside my head, and I just can’t get to sleep.” Souma gave a weak laugh.
Juna remembered that ever since Souma had been summoned to this world, he had been forced to carry many heavy burdens: getting the country back on its feet, resolving the food crisis, and providing relief to the disaster area. Any one of these would have been too heavy for Souma, who had been a student until just recently. And now, this time, he needed to find a solution to the friction between him and the three dukes, along with the problem of the Principality of Amidonia’s maneuvering in the shadows.
All that pressure must have been keeping him up at night. When that occurred to her…
“Oh!..Pardon me, a moment.” Juna took Souma’s hand and had him stand up.
“Huh? Hold on, what?” he stumbled.
Paying no mind to the flustered Souma, Juna pulled him by the hand, tugging him over to the simple bed set up in a corner of the room, then pushing him down on it with a thud. As Souma lay there, eyes wide, having just been laid down on the bed, Juna spoke to him in a quiet tone.
“Please, sleep.”
“Huh? J-Juna?”
“Please, just sleep.” Juna, who always wore a warm smile, had an unusual expression on her face. It was like one she might use to scold a naughty little brother, stern, yet at the same time full of concern for the person she was talking to. “I know things are difficult, but please take care of yourself. Princess Liscia is worried, too.”
“Liscia is?” he asked.
“Yes. She saw right through your front, sire. She knew something was wrong, and sent me here. She asked me to do my best to indulge you.”
“…Well, darn.” Souma looked up at the ceiling, a wry grin on his face. “I had thought… I was working hard and doing my best, you know…”
“You are working hard, sire. However, you work too hard.” Juna sat down on the edge of the bed, resting a hand on Souma’s forehead. He could feel Juna’s cool hand robbing his forehead of warmth. While enjoying that pleasant sensation, Souma closed his eyes.
As she watched Souma, Juna began to sing quietly:
Go to sleep, for tonight. Sleep until tomorrow.
When you wake, walk.
When you tire, sleep.
The longer you walk, the more hands there will be to support you.
It wasn’t a song from Souma’s world, but a lullaby from this one. A song mothers sang to children who had learned to walk. A song that prayed that they would walk a lot, sleep a lot, and grow up healthy. However, the line “The longer you walk, the more hands there will be to support you” touched Souma’s heart, bringing forth tears.
Souma put his arm over his eyes, hiding them. “…Sorry. For letting you see me look so uncool.”
Juna smiled. “It’s okay for you to whine now. Because I, too, am on your side.”
As she said that, she gently stroked Souma’s head.
“I can understand why you don’t want to look bad in front of the princess,” she told him, letting her gentle voice stroke Souma’s ears. “It’s because of those feelings that you’re able to work hard and try to be strong. However, when you grow tired from that, call me. On the nights you can’t sleep, let me be there to sing for you.”
Not long after, Juna heard his shallow breaths as he drifted off to sleep. His body and mind were both more than exhausted enough for it. He must have fallen asleep the moment his heart had been set at ease.
Juna rose from the bed, checked that Souma was fully asleep, and pulled a blanket over him. Then, she headed for the door to make a silent departure, reached for the handle, and… suddenly, she stopped. Juna made a U-turn back to the bed, and pulling the hair hanging over her ear back, she brought her face to Souma’s ear and quietly whispered:
It’s okay. I am on your side. If the princess brings out your strengths, then I will hide your weakness.
Chapter 1: A Sign
In the middle of the 9th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar.
In Elfrieden, where the four seasons were especially distinct, even compared to the other continental nations, the lingering heat of summer had faded and it was now a more temperate season. The season of bountiful harvests, when this country’s food crisis was expected to be resolved. Even with that season lying before them, there was still an air of unease hanging over the kingdom.
The source of that unease lay in the opposition between the new king, Souma Kazuya, and the three dukes.
Souma, who was said to have been summoned from another world as a hero, had had his potential recognized by the former king, Albert Elfrieden, who had then ceded the throne to him. With support from the daughter of the former king, Liscia, who became Souma’s betrothed, Souma moved to enrich the state and strengthen the military. He gathered a diverse variety of gifted personnel, solved the food crisis, set up a transportation network, and got involved in disaster prevention. It all might have been a little plain for one called a hero, but his stable reign had the support of the populace.
The three dukes, on the other hand, were the three people who controlled the kingdom’s land, air and sea forces.
General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Army, Duke Georg Carmine, who was a lion beastman.
Admiral of the Elfrieden Kingdom Navy, Duchess Excel Walter, who was a sea serpent.
General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Air Force, Duke Castor Vargas, who was a dragonewt.
These three had protected the kingdom for many long years, but they were still not loyal to the new king, Souma, and they had taken their forces and were secluding themselves in their own territories. It was unclear what each of their intentions were, but of the three dukes, Army General Carmine had given shelter to nobles being investigated by Souma for corruption, and he was taking a clearly defiant stance.