“Self-expression, huh…” Carla said. “I can’t think of anything the principality hates more.”
In a militaristic state like the Principality of Amidonia, it was easier to rule if the people were all the same. That way they could gain the support of the people just by calling for the downfall of Elfrieden. If they allowed for a diverse political discourse, people might start suggesting, “We should make peace with Elfrieden, trade with them, and coexist.” That was the most frightening idea for the members of the princely house, so anyone who espoused those sorts of ideas was thoroughly suppressed.
However, with their defeat in the war and the death of Gaius VIII, the princely house had lost their authority. Souma had chosen a time like this to make his broadcast, teaching the people of the principality about the existence of something called “freedom of expression.”
They could sing whatever songs they wanted to, draw whatever pictures they wanted to, and write whatever stories they wanted to.
He had shown the people of Van that the people restricting them from doing those things were already gone.
“From here on… even if their crown prince, Julius, manages to regain power, I doubt he can rule like they did before,” said Liscia. “The people of Van have now tasted the bliss of expressing themselves. If he wants to take that from them, he’ll have to crack down on it.”
“If he does that, he’ll only alienate his people more… huh.” Carla sighed, resting her back against the bars. “I think I finally get what Souma meant when he said, ‘There’s only work for a king before and after the war.’ For him… he’s still fighting right now.”
“Fighting…” Liscia murmured. “I see, so that’s why Souma chose Aisha as his partner.” Liscia let out a sigh, leaning back against the bars. The two of them were now back-to-back with the bars in between them. “I’m happy that he doesn’t want me to get hurt, but I get a little jealous. I’d like him to rely on me more…”
“Ha ha ha…” Carla laughed. “It just shows how much he cares for you.”
“Does it?”
“It does,” Carla assured her. “When he was whining to me on the battlefield, he said he couldn’t let you and the others hear him like that. Grandmother once said that the more a man cares about someone, the more prideful he is around them.”
“Y-You think…? Oh, wait, Carla, he was whining to you?” Liscia asked.
“It’s because I mean nothing to him, I’ll bet. I did oppose him, after all.”
“Carla, Souma is…!”
When Liscia turned around and looked at Carla’s face, she was at a loss for words. Her expression showed none of her usual defiance; it was lonely somehow, with an air of peaceful resignation.
“I know, Liscia,” said Carla. “On the battlefield, he forced me to see the weight he’s carrying on his shoulders. He’s no phony. He’s a splendid king. You and King Albert were right in your judgment of him. We were the ones who lacked your clarity of vision.”
“Huh?!” Liscia exclaimed. “If you’ve figured that out, then…”
“It’s why I can’t let you intercede on my behalf.”
Liscia stood up and slammed on the bars. “Carla! Do you have any idea what Duchess Walter and I are going through to…”
“No,” said Carla. “That’s not it, Liscia.” She shook her head silently. Then, folding her hands on her lap, she forced herself to say, “We made a mistake. That’s why I don’t want to cause any more trouble for you. If you try to help us survive, you’ll be putting Souma in a bind. He’s already pushing himself too hard to be king, so I don’t want to increase the burden on him anymore.”
“Carla…” Liscia looked as if she were in pain.
Carla smiled weakly. “I don’t want to be a burden on you and the one you love any longer.”
“Now then, everyone, I think we’ll have this person here close out the program for us,” I said. “Here’s the number one singer, the Prima Lorelei, Juna Doma!”
Having finished with the lead-in to the last song, I moved off-stage to somewhere the jewel wouldn’t pick me up. When I got there, I found Margarita kneeling and Aisha looking at her with a grim look on her face.
“…King of Elfrieden,” snarled Margarita. “Did you know what I was going to do?” She looked extremely frustrated as I approached.
“Yeah, kinda,” I said. “Someone tried the same thing in the world I came from.”
Although that had been in a movie. It was an old musical, but my grandpa had loved it, so I had seen it a bunch of times.
Margarita hung her head. “I see… If someone has tried it before, it’s little wonder I failed.”
I placed a hand on Margarita’s shoulder. “Despite being from the Amidonian military, you didn’t rely on brute force, and you had a wonderful singing voice. How about it? Why not try becoming a singer in our country for real? An R&B singer, maybe.”
“…You put me to shame with such kind words for a defeated soldier,” she said bitterly. “I’m not sure what this… arr and bee is, but given I have failed as a soldier, perhaps that would be fine.”
“Yeah, we can never have too many singers,” I said. “You’d be more than welcome.”
A troubled smile formed on Margarita’s tough-looking face. “…Let me think about it.”
Margarita Wonder was hesitant at this point, but not long afterwards, she did make her debut as an R&B singer from Amidonia. Her powerful singing with that husky voice of hers mostly found support with middle-aged people.
Furthermore, with the larger-than-life personality she had cultivated on the battlefield, and the courage to rival any man’s, she took over hosting the program, eventually becoming a mainstay of the kingdom’s entertainment industry.
Regardless, the curtain now fell on the highly-eventful first broadcast of the music program.
Intermission 1: Lord Ishizuka
“Okay… on to the next document,” I said.
Whether I was in the royal capital, Parnam, or the princely capital, Van, my work as king was always the same. I stayed in the governmental affairs office, poring over the documents Hakuya had prepared for me and signing off on them. Especially now, with the occupation of Van having begun so recently, my workload had increased.
Letting several days worth of work accumulate so that I could produce that music program hadn’t helped. Even as I worked day and night, using my Living Poltergeists to their fullest, the number of stacks of paper in front of me refused to decrease. In the end, I had ended up installing a bed in the governmental affairs office of Van, too, so that I could get back to work as soon as I woke up.
So, today, like every day, I had sat myself down at the desk the moment I got out of bed, and I was staring down a pile of papers as the morning sunlight streamed into the office.
“Isn’t it about time you got your own room?” Liscia asked from her position beside me, sounding a little exasperated. She had been helping me. “This castle has a lot of rooms.”
“I’m buried in work from dawn to dusk,” I said. “There’s not much point in having a room if I only go back there to sleep. Honestly… just when things had finally settled down in the kingdom, I ended up creating more work for myself by occupying Van. It’s like, to hell with the Labor Standards Act.”
“What kind of nonsense are you even talking about?” Liscia asked. “Come on, here’s the next document.”