NOVEL NEXT Conference I
Three days after I came to the Kingdom, I went to the royal palace yet again.
Today the head of each noble’s family is summoned to the palace.
I was supposed to take part in it as the current acting Lord of the Duke of Almeria’s house.
The surrounding people were all men exquisitely dressed.
There is no woman except me.
Today I wear what could be described as a women suit from my past world.
Although I could have dressed with a dress as always, it is a problem of feelings.
It’s somewhat uncomfortable to be the only one in a dress here.
Unlike during the audiences, this time it was a large conference room.
Several seats are arranged at equal distance from each other in a circular shape so as to face the center. Somehow it feels like a parliamentary building.
This is one of the heritages of the kingdom’s founding ages.
This country has been born as a country by embracing numerous rural territories under one ruler.
Therefore, at the beginning of this country, in order to avoid confusion, the powerful people who ruled over the territories that were joined together discussed everything between them and the king mediated their discussions, deciding the direction the kingdom should take.
Several aristocrats speak with malice when they see me.
Some gaze at me while frowning, others see me with disdain.
… I honestly don’t care about their blatant eyes.
Suddenly I found a figure of my interest, my uncle Marquis Anderson, surrounded by a lot of people.
When my uncle saw me, I smiled at him.
The disgusting feeling I’ve been accumulating up until now blew away a little getting to see someone from my family and I also smiled.
The seat is determined by the rank of the house.
I sit down in the front row for the duke’s house.
I frown while seeing the presence of Marquis Maras* sitting besides me.
This is not a reaction born from hostility.
The position of sitting is determined at the time of the foundation of the country … … and it’s strictly stipulated what rank should sit where.
Seats in circular shape in the first place have a meaning, it’s that fewer seats are available as they are closer to the royal family, which means that as the rank of the house goes up the number will decrease.
The economic situation of each house also counts, it’s not only based on house rank … That has the purpose that not two houses are allowed to have the same rank at seating in the front row.
Even though he is a Marquis, Marquis Maras* is sitting there as if he had the same rank as a duke.
The wonderful thing is that apparently nobody notices this ….
While trying to break free from thinking too much about this headache of meeting, I look around and observe the situation.
Most of the nobles were present this time. Even the aristocrats from the faction of Prince Alfred, including the Earl Sagitaria who just returned to the capital.
The only figure I couldn’t find was the Baroness.
The disturbance of murmurs went down quickly as the voice of the presenter sounded announcing the entrance of the royal family.
And Queen Elle, Prince Ed and Baroness Yuri entered from the front door and sat down in the royalty seats.
“Everyone, today we have called you here for an important announcement … it’s about the king of this country”
After quietly sitting, Queen Elle began to speak strictly and loudly.
“As everyone knows, this country is in a serious situation right now and that’s why I think it’s necessary to have a strong leader in this country, and.. I think we have the most fitting person for this role present here ? “
It was in a questioning tone, but for my ear it sounded like an affirmation more than a question. Perhaps it sounded the same to other people as well.
“It is as the queen says! There is no one more fitting to be king than Prince Edward, no one is more fitting than him! Let’s all celebrate the emergence of the new king!”
At the words of Marquis Maras, those of the Second Prince faction stood up with applauses.
To respond to it, Ed stands up too.
“Thank you all, I promise you to be a great king so that I can respond to everyone’s feelings”
I was disappointed at their words… I expected something better from this meeting..
——————————————————————————
As requested, some changes about the names…
– Prince I -> First Prince or Prince Alfred
– Princess Elle -> (TL: I don’t know why, but in the original work it’s princess though) Queen Elle
– Marquis Maras -> It’s the queen’s family…