Cerulean was the first to break the silence.
"Fia, it's hard to talk when you're the only one standing, so sit down. Oh, no, let's go to the next room. I'm tired." (Cerulean)
After Cerulean said that, he got up from his seat and walked to the door that connected to the next room.
Ron, who was ahead of the curve, opened the door and let Cerulean into the room.
I moved to the next room, flanked by Commander Savvis and Captain Cyril.
The room I entered seemed to be the King's private quarters.
This was because although it was filled with the highest quality items, it was clearly a room for relaxing, with fireplaces and sofas placed there.
As I was prompted, I sat down on the sofa with Cerulean, Commander Savvis, and Captain Cyril around the table, and Dory placed drinks for the four of us on the table in a familiar manner.
Dory then sat down with Ron in a separate seat.
Cerulean gulped down the contents of the glass and opened his mouth in a relaxed manner.
"Hello, Fia. As you have guessed, I am the King, Laurence. However, a doppelganger is the king externally, so the one here is Cerulean, the clown. Please treat me as such."
"Well……" (Fia)
When I was confused and at a loss for words, Captain Cyril answered.
"Only a very few people know that the King is a doppelganger. Some of the ministers including the prime minister, some of the knight commanders, and a few others. About 20 people in total, I guess." (Cyril)
With so many people serving the king, it's hard to believe that it's a secret that only about 20 people knew about.
However, it was necessary to prevent leaks.
Ah, but the knights assigned to the First Order of Knights underwent this interview with the King every year, right?
In other words, many knights must be participating in the Cerulean game every year, and this year alone there must have been 20 knights, including myself. Are they not being told the truth?
As I tilted my head and thought, Captain Cyril continued, as if reading my doubts.
"The knights of the First Knights Order do not know that the King is a doppelganger and believe that he is the real one and protect him. However, the clown Cerulean is more important to the King than anyone else, so if the King and Cerulean are in danger at the same time, we have been ordered to prioritize Cerulean and protect him, and if Cerulean is acting on his own, we have a separate knight assigned to him." (Cyril)
"I see." (Fia)
Knights were loyal to orders, so even if they suspected something suspicious, they would just obediently followed orders to protect the clown first.
Seeing me nodded, Captain Cyril continued talking as if to summarize.
"Therefore, the knights who interviewed the king believe the explanation that 'The royal interview was an occasion to introduce Cerulean, the clown, who is the King's favorite.' In other words, until now all the knights other than you have been speaking strange stories in strange tones, a clown who us abnormally weak at the card game he played every day, and thought he was a strange and bizarre object of protection." (Cyril)
"Huh, that means..." (Fia)
"Yes, all the knights who were interviewed by the king other than you failed to see that Cerulean was the king, and as a result, they still do not know that he is the true king. Regardless of the pathetic knights, Cerulean continued to engage in tasteless personal games every time in the name of interview by the King." (Cyril)
"Cyril, your explanation is accurate, but the last sentence is probably unnecessary." (Cerulean)
Cerulean frowned and sat down deeply on the sofa.
However, the Commander complained to Cerulean with a sour expression on his face.
"If you don't want to hear even the slightest complaint, please reconsider implementing this tasteless endeavor in the future. As long as no one gets to the truth, there is no problem because the people in question don't understand what is going on, but if someone like Fia comes out with the correct answer, Your Majesty's attempt will be ignored. You will have to explain this to the person in question." (Cyril)
"…………" (Cerulean)
Cerulean bit his lip in dissatisfaction, but waved a hand as if to think about it.
Then he shrugged his shoulders at me.
"That's what I mean, Fia. None of the knights I sent down or my close aides know that I'm the king, so your act of calling me a king earlier will be treated as a nuisance." (Cerulean)
"Haaah!" (Fia)
I couldn't help but let out a voice of surprise.
I-Isn't that cruel? And isn't it embarrassing!?
The knights of the First Order who were guarding him would continue to think that I called the clown "King".
Huh, what is this!?
It's not a punishment game at all, having to suffer great embarrassment even though you got the correct answer!!
As I was muttering to myself that it was terrible, Commander Savvis seemed to take pity on me and gave me words of comfort.
"Fia, this may not be much of a consolation, but I and Cyril understand that you are capable. Please bear with it as if this is a mission for national security. Of course, this is all just a gleefully distorted game. It's Cerulean's fault for doing this, so he will treat you to a luxurious dinner out of his pocket money as compensation." (Savvis)
"Huh?" (Fia)
Cerulean, who was looking at me with his chin resting on his chin, seemed upset and let his head slip from his palm.
Seeing this, Commander Savvis said coldly.
"You humiliated a talented young knight. I guess that's only natural." (Savvis)
While Commander Savvis was waiting for a reply, Cerulean obediently nodded.
"Of course, Savvis! I regret that I caused such a disrespectful result to your knight. It was my fault." (Cerulean)
Then, Cerulean looked excited and grabbed the clothes around his neck.
"That's right, that's it. Fia doesn't understand the situation at all. I should explain a little first." (Cerulean)
Apparently, something Commander Savvis said made him realize that he had wronged me, so he changed his mind and decided to be kind to me.
"First of all, talking about my appearance, 10 years ago when I was 19 years old, my body suddenly started to rejuvenate. It's probably because of the Spirit King's blood. The Spirit King's blood flows through the royal family, so... Every once in a while, someone appears who inherits mysterious powers. That person is me. However, if I announced such a thing, the people would think it was creepy, so I set up a doppelganger." (Cerulean)
I widen my eyes in surprise.
"Well, that kind of thing happens! Do you look like you're about 10 years old?" (Fia)
Since it's only half a head smaller than me, I thought it might be a little bigger, and when I asked the question, Cerulean replied, "That's about right."
"Every year, instead of getting older, it seems like you're getting one year younger, so if my calculations are correct, I think I have the body of a nine-year-old." (Cerulean)
"Well, you're 9 years old! Isn't that pretty big?" (Fia)
I looked up at Captain Cyril and Commander Savvis, thinking that I was much smaller when I was nine years old, and they both took a negative view of my answer.
"No, on the contrary, I think it's too small for a nine-year-old. When I was nine, I was much bigger than this."
"Oh, I wasn't this small either."
Both of them uttered such objections.
In the back, Ron and Dory were also muttering, "You're so small for a 9-year-old."
……it was. There was a group of big men in this room, people I could never understand.
Hmm, I understood that the knights who were physically fit were tall, but when I thought about it, I wondered why Ron and Dory, the king's closest aides, were also tall, and the answer suddenly dawned on me.
Ah, perhaps these they both served as the king's bodyguards.
The knights of the Order risked their lives to protect the targets they were ordered to protect, even if the targets were clowns, but they both probably also served as bodyguards just in case.
Well, I was impressed that Ron and Dory were not only smart but also able to protect themselves.
When I opened my eyes and looked at the two of them in turn, Cerulean stared at me with calm eyes.
"Ron and Dory wouldn't care. More than anything, Fia, I want to hear from you." (Cerulean)
"What? His Majesty the King has a personal interest in me!?" (Fia)
When I asked in surprise, clutching my chest, I was met with a disgusted look on my face.
"No, that's why I told you to think of me as a clown. You can call me Cerulean and just talk about it. And what are your personal interests? Even though you're not interested in me at all, so why are you reacting like that!?
He couldn't stand the thought that I had negative feelings toward my employer, the king, because I was not interested in him.
I hurriedly uttered a negative word.
"What, what are you talking about!? I'm sure I'm intersted in Your Majesty... Cerulean! As for my dear master..." (Fia)
Cerulean stuck out one hand and cut me off with a disgusted look.
"Yes, that's fine. The person who saw that I was the king and then shattered me with things like, 'The only person who is better than the king is the clown!' There’s no way she would do that!! I’m a smart clown, so I won’t be fooled." (Cerulean)
Ron and Dory were having a private conversation in the background.
"No, even an unintelligent clown can tell that Fia is making fun of Cerulean."
"Hmm, it would be great if even this stupid part was Fia’s calculations and made fun of Cerulean even more deeply…"
It seemed like I could hear them both saying bad things, and Cerulean started complaining to me in a way that seemed to be hitting me hard.
"Also, please stop using such disrespectful honorifics! I know that Fia's usual politeness is definitely a lie! I don’t want you to get hurt, so please treat me roughly!!" (Cerulean)
Well, it must be scary for a polite person like me to call the King!
But if the order came directly from the King, there's no way I wouldn't obey.
"...I understand. I'm a polite person by nature, so it hurts me to be pretentious towards His Majesty the King, but I will follow orders." (Fia)
Upon hearing my words, Cerulean let out a tired sigh.
"...Savvis and Cyril are in trouble. So, going back to our topic, ...to make it clear and clear that there is no misunderstanding, I am not interested in hearing about your hobbies or preferences, but rather how you want to talk to me. It's a matter of whether you figured out that I was the king." (Cerulean)
"Yes, of course." (Fia)
I nodded my head in an exaggerated manner to emphasize my obedience.
"Of the things you figured out, the name and the appearance are good. No, of course it's not good, and it's inconceivable using common sense to gain insight in just that amount of time, but that's okay. You might be able to notice the name issue if you are interested in character string replacement, and you might be able to point out the interesting issue if you have knowledge about the previous generation's national flag and sacred beasts. But... how did you notice my curse?" (Cerulean)
"Huh" (Fia)
I guessed that's the easiest thing to do. You would know it when you see it.
"In the first place, it was difficult for people to realize that I was under a curse. Let alone find out that it was the Spirit King’s curse." (Cerulean)
Cerulean asked me curiously, and I replied that it was completely natural.
"Huh, because Cerulean's left arm didn't move at all, and I could tell it was cursed!" (Fia)
"No, just because my arm doesn’t move, you can tell if it’s a curse or not!? What, what? Fia’s insight in noticing that my left arm doesn’t move is amazing, but that’s all. Does that mean that your assertion that it was just a baseless assumption?" (Cerulean)
No, that's not the case at all.
I could tell when someone was sleepy or tired just by looking at them.
Similarly, I would know someone who was under a curse when I saw one.
It's such a simple thing...how can I explain it?
Now that I thought about it, I remembered that we had a similar conversation 300 years ago.
When I said, "You can tell if you're under a curse just by looking at it," the saints were shaking their heads. And no one understood.
Suddenly, the unfortunate memories from 300 years ago came back to me, so I shut my mouth to think about how I could explain this to Cerulean.
Then Cerulean, who had been observing my expression, continued speaking in disbelief.
"...I don't think it's true, but the story that the founder of the royal family is the son of the Spirit King isn't a guess either, is it?" (Cerulean)
Well, of course not.
"It's not a guess! It's not a story that everyone knows that the founder of the royal family is the son of a Spirit King! So, if it's a strong curse that prevents the entire arm from moving, I just assumed that the source must be the Spirit King." (Fia)
"No, Fia. That's a story that no one knows. The story that 'The founder of the royal family is the son of the Spirit King' is spreading, but everyone thinks it's a fairy tale, and no one thinks it's true! What, on the other hand, Fia lacks common sense and arrived at the truth? " (Cerulean)
Cerulean's eyes widened in surprise.
However, I said to myself, "No, no."
In my previous life, I was born into the Näv royal family, and inherited the blood of the Spirit King.
Because I had experienced the blessings of the Spirit King, I was certain that the royal family had the Spirit King's blood in it, but...how on earth would I explain this?
"I see...is that so...? Your words earlier were very conclusive, so I thought you had solid evidence, but with such a vague guess you were able to conclude that I am the king? Does such a thing ever happen?" (Cerulean)
Oh no.
I went from feeling like I was talented to feeling like I was a disappointing kid.
I wondered how this happened?
Author's Note
...