Once the small tea party has concluded, the welcome party will also begin.
After seeing off the members of the three families, I let out a breath.
[I guess it all ended well for now...]
As I muttered that, Fanny, who was seeing the people off with me, turned towards me. I thought she was making a comment or something, but she just stared at me and did n’t speak.
[...Onii-sama seems to be paying a lot of attention to Duchess Romilie.]
[Do I? But, we need to handle our relationship with the Spierzeig family carefully.]
In response, Fanny shook her head slightly and said, [No].
[It's not the Spierzeig family, it's Duchess Romillier specifically. She's the one Onii-sama is concerned about.]
I expected her to be cutely jealous and ask the princess not to take her big brother, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's not like I've been receiving complaints about st retching the area under my nose too much.
[I think the people around me felt that way too.]There were four participants in the small tea party: me, Fanny, Plume, and Romilie, and their respective aides were waiting in the room. What Fanny is talking about is proba bly about their evaluation.
[So I guess, Fanny sees it differently?]
The little sister nodding her head is cute. I felt the urge to just hug her and pat her.
[I felt that Onii-sama was being wary of her.]
[Wary...?]
[Like, being put off somehow...]
Although her words were mild, what Fanny was trying to say was, "Onii-sama, are you scared?".
[Yeah, that may certainly be the case.]
Unfortunately, I am aware of this. After all, I was the one who directly killed off Romilie's three family members. I can't shake the worry that if I let my guard down, I'll be bio wn away by her Highlord’s extremely brutal attack magic. From what I've seen so far, I don't think Romilie is the type to play out such revenge stories. Basically, she is actin g rationally.
It moves with reason. Maybe it's because I'm looking at her like that that I’m being "wary", as Fanny called it.
Since the fall of Othelloria, Romilie has been acting wisely as the Head of the Spierzeig family. Even though I am supposed to be the enemy of her grandfather, father, and o Ider brother, she treats me with a sincere attitude. Because it will benefit the Spierzeig family.
Looking at her wise, or rather hard-working attitude, I got the strong impression that she is a poor victim who got caught up in the war due to family circumstances. Perhap s it was because of this, that even though it was a political push against the Spierzeig family, there was a psychological resistance to saying hurtful words or treating Romili e in an arrogant manner. In fact, I think it would have been easier if she had shown her displeasure by swearing at me and Quordenze, because she too could open up and do whatever nasty things she wanted.
It’s true that in the current situation, I feel like I’m touching boiling water. I thought I was responding consciously so as not to make it look unnatural, but Fanny seemed to ha ve noticed.
[I love the kind Onii-sama...but I don't want your kindness to be taken advantage of.]
Are you concerned or are you wary? They look similar but are completely different. If the opponent senses that you are taking a step back, they may take a step forward to gain an advantage. That means I'm being used.
[I have found Duchess Romilie to be an intelligent person. She is keeping her distance for now, but I think she will eventually realize your concern for her.]
The more opportunities we have to come into contact with each other, the closer the psychological distance between us becomes. Fanny said that if that happens, not only Romilie but the rest of the Spierzeig family will notice my wariness. I couldn't deny that I was overthinking that concern. I was also convinced of that myself.
[...It's alright, I won't do anything that will make Fanny anxious.]
If Romilie is going to act as the Head of the Spierzeig family when interacting with me, then I should also do the same in public as the next Head of the Quordenze family. In a sense, you could say that I was arrogant because I felt like I was touching a boil. You could call it the arrogance of a winner.
As the saying goes, victory should be a good thing, so I need to reconsider my attitude towards Romilie.
[By the way, Onii-sama?]
As I renewed my resolve, Fanny slowly approached me.
[She was very beautiful. Princess Romilie, I mean.]
The way she now emphasized on "Princess" to refer to Romilie was strange. As if the serious talk is over now and she's trying to play with her big brother. Not to be outdone, I patted her on the head and enjoyed her cute reaction. Yes, Fanny is still cute.
I returned to my room thinking about when I would next enjoy Fanny in bed.
It seemed that the bath was ready, but I decided to call the civil officer first. This is because I wanted to confirm the topics that came up at the small tea party as soon as po ssible.
[As mentioned earlier, Duchess Romilie may wish to stay in Nambonan City in the future. What do you think about this?]
She might change her mind eventually, but I felt like she was being serious about what she said there.
Originally, Romilie was only supposed to stay in Newnelly City and Othelloria City, so civil officers might not like the idea. There are currently no facilities in Nambonan City that can accommodate a Highlord who may become violent.
[I think we should consider establishing a new hall.]
One civil officer answered the questions on their behalf.
It appeared that the civil officers had already been discussing behind the scenes, and their opinions were unified. They were positive about building lodging facilities for no blemen that would be easy to monitor and neutralize in an emergency. I was a little surprised because I thought it would be like there was no need to listen to Romilie's wish es, or that I should think about how to refuse her.
[I see. Well then, I would like to move forward with the installation plan while monitoring the handover situation of Othelloria. I don't know how serious Princess Romilie was in saying that in the first place...]
Only after the Spierzeig family cedes Othelloria City and the surrounding area, and Quordenze takes control of it, will Romilie be able to return to Othelloria City. Moving to Nambonan City should take place after that, so I think it will take a year or two at the earliest.
If Romilie had that much time, she might change her mind, so there shouldn't be any need to prepare too quickly. Just as I was thinking that it was a low-priority issue, a civi I officer asked for permission to speak.
[No, Duchess Romilie's intentions have nothing to do with this. We should start considering it right away.]
[Why is that?]
[With the end of the war, the relationship between Quordenze and Spierzeig will change. There may be a noble family who wants to visit Newnelly. Considering that, it is es sential that Nambonan City has a facility where nobles can stay.]
Although the relationship between the Levios Kingdom and the Zinkaen Empire is tense, there is no outbreak of war. It is quite possible that the Imperial nobles who have so far kept their distance from the conflict between the Quordenze and Spierzeig families will approach us in the future.
If the Imperial nobles themselves were to come to Newnelly City to greet us, they would probably choose a route that goes through Nambonan City. The city of Nambonan i s located on the coast of the Amelia River, on the border between the interior and exterior of Quordenze territory. Not being able to accommodate nobles from other familie s in this city is inconvenient in every way.
[If you say so, you're right. From now on, Nambonan City will definitely need a mansion for nobles.]
[This also caused some difficulties while coordinating the signing ceremony.]
At the signing ceremony in Nambonan City, a total of six families gathered and stayed overnight, including the Quordenze family, the Sylopea family, the Evenafis family, th e Spierzeig family, the Galliana family, and the Nongite family, but it seems that preparations for this took a lot of effort.
The only mansion for nobles is the Mayor's residence, which is also my living quarter. For this reason, they were forced to rent out the mansions of large merchants and us e them as lodging facilities. Apparently they paid a fair amount of money, but it must have been difficult for both the lender and the borrower.
Perhaps because of such hardships, requests have been received from all the civil officers stationed in Nambonan City, asking them to "build more mansions for visitors as soon as possible".
[So it's the decision to establish a mansion that can be used by nobility guests, huh....?]
Of course, that mansion is a lodging facility for nobles that is easy to monitor and neutralize in an emergency. The basic idea is that nobles from other families are existence s that you should be wary of first and foremost.
[Yes, Young Master. Master also understands that we need to build at least one.]
[So, if Duchess Romilie really wants to stay in Nambonan City, we will set up an additional mansion.]
[Is that the right policy?]
It won't be long before the news of Romilie's safe arrival in Newnelly will spread throughout the neighborhood. If that happens, changes in the relationship between Quorde nze and Spierzeig will spread, and there should be major changes in noble diplomacy. As civil officers say, it would be better to proceed with the establishment of the mans e now.
[That mansion...I’d call it a state guesthouse, but if you were to set it up somewhere, I wonder where it would be. There's a lot of garbage in Nambonan, so I don’t think it w ould be suitable for guests to stay there.]
[Wouldn't it be better to live on the outskirts of the city? There are also concerns about water damage.]
The Amelia River is said to be a rougher river than the Obieto River, so it was necessary to take flood risk into account. If one day the mansion was flooded under the floor while nobles from other families were staying there, the Quordenze family's face would be completely destroyed.
[It would be nice if there was a scenic hill where you could see the flow of Amelia...]
If you're going to build a state guesthouse, you'll want to highlight the beauty of the building and landscape. When I told them that I had such a plan, the civil officers looked at each other. I guess they didn't understand my intention.
[Fanny is also interested in Nambonan City. If possible, I would like to take her there once. Of course, I won't say anything right away.]
[I see. so the Princess is intending to visit there?]
Fanny often says she wants to go see cities other than Newnelly. She's especially interested in Nambonan City, where I’m the Mayor. I'm sure she'll be happy if I invite her f or a trip.
[Yeah, in order to make Fanny happy, I want the exterior of the guesthouse to be beautiful first.]
Traveling becomes more enjoyable if the hotel you stay at is clean. I want to keep the guest house beautiful for my cute little sister.
Furthermore, even if nobles from other families were to stay there, I don't think a building that looks unsophisticated, plain, or imposing would give a good impression. The Quordenze family is already a noble family with a strong image of wars of aggression. By preparing a state guesthouse that emphasizes beauty, we would like to adopt an i mage strategy that will completely change the impression others have had so far.
[Depending on the progress of the construction, it may become a base for Duchess Romilie to stay. I think a building that emphasizes beauty is less likely to attract negativ e rumors.]
A building that exposes the prison camp would give an image of the ominous word "house arrest," so I wanted to create a look that would evoke the word "relaxation". That was my argument, but the response from civilian officers was not very good.
[If you have any opinions, feel free to tell me. Construction costs...or is it a security issue?]
[I can't say for sure how much it will cost without designing it first, but I suspect there will probably be no major problems. Security will be easier if it's on the outskirts of th e city.]
In other words, there are other reasons for disagreement. When I asked him to continue speaking, the civil officer looked apologetic before speaking.
[The problem is human resources. Quordenze's civil engineering skills are not inferior to other territories, but they are inevitably biased toward the military. When it comes t o buildings that pursue beauty...as expected, in terms of design, I don’t think it’s as good as the Great Nobles in the areas belonging to the Levios family and the Empire.]
Because the cities had often been busy with war, there seems to be a tendency for buildings in Quordenze to be designed with efficiency first. It seems that the Levios fami ly, who sought the splendor of the Royal family, and the Great Nobles of the empire, who had a lot of free time due to the lack of war, poured resources into the beauty of b uildings, and had accumulated a certain amount of know-how..
The Quordenze family can also build gorgeous buildings that would not be embarrassing to the eyes of a great noble, but the civil officers declared that they would not be a ble to build buildings so beautiful that they would astonish the Imperial nobles. Apparently, when it comes to large-scale facilities, the overall design ability makes a differen ce. It is said that building a mansion that emphasizes efficiency is more likely to win than pursuing beauty through raw tactics, as it will allow Quordenze to demonstrate thei r abilities.
[...There's nothing I can do about this. Afterall, there's no way I can draw up the blueprints myself.]
A building designed by me, who has no knowledge of architecture, is likely to collapse in an earthquake with an intensity of 0 on the Richter scale. I have no artistic sense t o begin with.
It would be a problem that could be solved if an excellent architect could be scouted from elsewhere at a high price, but such a person would probably be a nobleman and would not be able to be easily removed.
[Perhaps there are people with such skills in Nambonan City?]
The city of Nambonan is full of vitality, and that power is being demonstrated to a great extent in the field of architecture. That city is also a place where there is a continuo us construction boom. The fact that there is a construction site means that there are also architects there.
[Now that I think about it, there was also a rather splendid mansion in Nambonan City. I wonder if the person who designed that house could use some of it?]
The Mayor's mansion and my sex mansion weren't bad.
[What do you think? With that kind of level, I think it's possible to do everything from design to construction in Quordenze.]
[...In any case, I’d like to hear opinions from people on the Nambonan side about the planned construction site for the guesthouse. However, I won't be able to leave Newne lly for a while. Please arrange the schedule.]
[Understood.]
If you have any questions about Nambonan City, the best person to ask would be Ramon. It seems that he is still working in Nambonan City to deal with the aftermath of Op eration Snake's Jaw, but I would like him to come to Newnelly City for a moment.
As I was thinking about this, I suddenly remembered something.
[Come to think of it, that Trump guy I hired the other day...was it Vidaldo?]
[The artist behind that monstrous painting?]
Although Vidaldo won the card tournament and showed a splendid performance in the game of greed, he is only perceived as "a man who draws disgusting pictures" amon g those involved in Quordenze. By the way, his realistic landscape paintings of Newnelly City came to be called "ghost paintings" and feared by the people in the castle.
[I’m sure he was also good at architecture.]
I thought I hired him as a painter, but according to what Tess confirmed, he also had a work history in the architectural field.
I didn't know how useful it would be, but since I paid a lot of money to hire him, let's just call him.
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