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After finishing my conversation with Kanna, I went outside.

Behind me, they were standing still again like exhibition dolls.

Now that I think about it, Solindiges and Kanna are in the next grade after me. Polaris and I are in the same grade. If Aurora comes to the Royal Academy next year, she’ll be in second grade by age, but I wonder which grade she’ll actually join.

I fell into an impossible sleep due to Maleficent’s curse right after the New Year. It will be more than half a year until I wake up. There’s a lot of studying to do by then, but I’m learning that in the palace right now.

Solindiges suggested we should just get an education at the Royal Castle instead of going to a Royal Academy with boys, but Highpion firmly disallowed it.

Since he did that in front of Aurora, I think he probably assumed it was all a performance.

If he truly had a thought, he wouldn’t have said that in front of Aurora.

As for why I suddenly started looking at the royalty, it’s because a scene of children gathered together caught my eye.

Of course, even if they’re called children, it means they are students of the age to attend the Royal Academy. Their age is like that of high school students, but their actual position is similar to that of college students.

In this world, there isn’t even compulsory education yet. Most children under ten leave home to work, and once they’re over fifteen, they start having and raising children.

The concept of child abuse doesn’t exist. There is a concept of caring for children relying on classical morals, but that doesn’t apply to all children.

In some regions, if a child becomes an orphan, they say they kill them to prevent them from being unhappy. No, it’s actually the opposite. If it’s a child from a family with some assets and good relationships, the neighbors will kill them.

On the other hand, if it’s a child from the poor, they use them as bullets. The countryside often sees dangerous monsters come, so they sacrifice them. Whether it’s using them as fuel for magic, throwing them as food, or handing them weapons and sending them to charge.

Of course, not every village is like that. Most villages aren’t like that at all. Especially in large cities, that culture disappears.

Even by the standards of this world, it’s a pretty primitive village.

But I don’t think it’s a village with bad customs that must be improved somehow. I just think such a culture exists.

In any case, while they may not be considered children in general society, there are still people who are regarded as children in middle-class or higher societies.

And while they seem to be laughing and joking, both girls and boys are communicating with plenty of uncomfortable expressions on their faces.

It’s really funny.

Polaris seems to be surrounded by similar or higher-ranked people, occasionally looking at me with a face full of envy.

Kanna?

She has strong Qi, so no one approaches her. If someone comes near, she looks down and intimidates them. No one dares to approach her past that. On top of that, since her status is that of a duchy, who would approach her?

Aurora is watching Polaris and Kanna in turns.

Since Aurora’s gaze particularly lingers on their skin and hair, I guess she thinks they share a similar situation.

Similar appearances create a sense of kinship.

Shall I make contact with someone?

As I was watching like that, Aurora chose one person between Polaris and Kanna. Instead of Polaris, who is busy chatting with various people, she approaches Kanna, who is standing confidently alone.

Oh. Is this contact?

I’m interestingly looking forward to it, but unfortunately, the contact didn’t pan out. The reason being that Solindiges grabbed Aurora.

He said it would be bad if she approached because she looks unwell, but I wonder if Kanna could tell her expression is even more deteriorated after hearing that?

Kanna and Solindiges. According to Kanna’s memory, she dislikes Solindiges. On the surface, it looks normal.

No, just by remembering Polaris, Kanna is one of the girls who gets along well with Solindiges.

However, for a very personal grudge, Kanna has been disliking Solindiges since they were both under ten.

Solindiges once teased Kanna, calling her disabled. And in the end, he never apologized for it.

Honestly, if I dig into memories, Solindiges did apologize. But the problem is that it wasn’t a proper apology that held enough weight to satisfy Kanna’s heart.

Relationships between people are complicated.

You don’t just give 10 and receive 10 back; you can give 10 and receive 20 or give 10 and only receive 5.

Emotions are subjective.

So I feel relieved in creating harvesters. When that subjectivity clashes, fights arise, and people with strong egos tend to scatter that discord in their favor.

So I want to watch them clash and create drama.

If Kanna marries Solindiges, I won’t even need to create separate harvesters; the contractors will be covered by that.

That would be great…

But today, I couldn’t see more drama than this. It ended inconclusively.

Maybe it’s because I’m standing in such an obvious place, but none of the foreigners approached me. Perhaps Highpion was controlling it.

As midnight arrived, the banquet finally concluded, and I could return to my accommodation.

***

The King in the Royal Castle uses his office.

Despite it being late at night, the lights are on in the room where Highpion leaned back in his chair.

The international conference on corporate sanctions has ended.

Outsiders mistakenly thought the banquet was held after the international conference, but in reality, the banquet was part of a singular event.

While outsiders didn’t care, saying it’s a repeat of what was just said, King Highpion didn’t just roam around greeting during the banquet as outsiders thought.

King Highpion gathered the nobles and declared his intentions.

Present at this gathering were only the nobles of rank, rather than every noble. Not the riffraff, but those holding the power to influence their regions.

He explained that it wasn’t simply a sanction against three companies but that he would create means to control all businesses that arise in the future.

This can be termed a legislative announcement in any era.

It was also an opportunity to adapt to the upcoming changes and a warning aimed at the nobles owning large businesses.

Additionally, it was a time to assess how much Solindiges could control the next noble society.

Furthermore, it was also a chance to introduce a girl named Bell.

Of course, it also served as an opportunity to see if bringing Aurora into this world was acceptable, as outsiders thought.

Highpion was not an incapable king who could only handle one matter at a time; he carried out multiple tasks simultaneously. And most of it went as he envisioned.

Since his relationship with the nobles wasn’t poor, he finished negotiations with them without major complaints.

His son, Solindiges, was more or less leading the children well, and Aurora, who was right next to him, moved just as well as before, even though her skin had turned blue.

Everything was within his expected range.

The only exception was the girl named Bell.

The girl who performs miracles.

Most people think of her as a miracle worker because she heals people, but the reason King Highpion uses the word miracle for her is different.

There is a witch concluded to be impossible to defeat by any sorcerer.

So powerful that no matter how they look around, they couldn’t stop the curse foretold when Aurora was born.

And it was even impossible to wake the sleeping Aurora cursed.

A daughter unable to wake up, slowly weakening and dying.

If they didn’t forcibly sustain her life by drilling holes in her body and inserting various tubes, she would dry up and die before life could give her either death or life.

Just when he thought that killing her would be better for Aurora, a miracle came.

Her appearance has drastically changed, but she possesses the ability to heal anyone who is dying back to health.

When quickly brought in for experimentation, everyone who was resurrected even became stronger. Though they conducted inhumane experiments in the process, they buried the collateral damage in the incident.

Thus, the daughter was revived healthily, and they even managed to capture the witch herself.

It’s strange.

No matter how flower-brained one is, isn’t this too contrived? Giving an irresistible gift before taking something more important away is a common tactic.

So the king suspected outsiders.

Thus, he placed her in a location where he could investigate her and thoroughly examined her.

All that he discovered in that process was merely the information that she was a good person.

The mansion he provided for her to stay was quiet, fearing that it might disrupt the workers there.

If someone is in distress, she would approach there no matter where it is.

Even in Bern City, where it nearly developed into a massive disaster, her path was consistent.

She was moving to save people.

The only information that could be viewed as her weakness was that she hated being called a god.

Despite that, the girl named Bell doesn’t boast about anything she has done. Frankly, that feels unpleasant.

However, this can be utilized. No, it would be strange not to take advantage of it.

Being a king, he could utilize her, but he has the kindness to refrain from doing so if she outright declines. But since she doesn’t communicate at all, he prepared a situation that could only be displeasing to her if she is a good person.

He would act as if her power were his own and pretend to be her master. He would boast of her ability at will and sell her to other countries.

King Highpion also has a report card on the girl named Bell, so he knows she isn’t foolish enough to not understand what’s happening now.

So, Highpion created a situation where Bell had no choice but to move and observed how she would react.

Surprisingly, there was no reaction at all.

Without any displeasure showing, she obediently followed Highpion’s words. Had she said anything, he would have started to grasp what parts she disliked, but since there was none, he could only proceed.

Thus, the only entity that deviated from Highpion’s plans was Bell.

However, it was too humane to just treat her as a strangely useful tool.

To say to marry…

As a father of a son and daughter, that is a feeling I have now come to sense. Ideally, a king should politically arrange marriages for his children to use them as tools.

But I have grown fond of those children.

Originally, I had treated the second daughter well, thinking somewhere in my heart that she would die due to the curse.

And I know that Luna also feels the same about Solindiges.

Since they’re going to die anyway, they treated them well without worries. Initially, it was sympathy, but Aurora returned that sentiment back manifold. A child born to be loved returned that love multiplied.

So I grew attached. I grew attached.

When the time came to part, I would search desperately for a way to find a solution.

A flower grown with the love of all wouldn’t bloom; the curse of the witch that it remains forever preserved has come to pass.

Soon after giving birth to Aurora, the queen died from illness, and Highpion, who wasn’t even keeping a concubine.

He originally held deep affection, and so did his children.

So, he has the desire to repay a benefactor who solved that matter if it were possible.

Highpion decided to accept the somewhat bizarre girl as she is into this country.