"I apologize for the sudden visit. My name is Morena, third princess of the Kingdom of Brandell..." (Morena)
"…………" (Everyone)
The kings guided the four girls who had descended from the ancient dragon's back to a conference room.
There's no way an ancient dragon would be able to lead a human who was introduced as a "friend" into a throne room and talk to him while looking down on him from a throne on a podium.
That ancient dragon said, "I don't feel uncomfortable over a little thing."
...That meant that if it wasn't "a little", he would feel uncomfortable.
If a proud ancient dragon were to treat a human he called a "friend" to another lower creature, would he consider it a "little thing"?
...If something was unknown, you shouldn't take unnecessary risks.
Especially if the fate of the country was at stake.
Therefore, in order to treat them as equals, they guided them to the conference room instead of the audience hall, which looked down on them from above.
Even though it's a conference room, it's not a plain room with a long desk and pipe chairs.
This room was used for meetings with important people from other countries, and the chairs, desks, and furniture were all of the highest quality. Since it was a "place for a meeting," all the seats were arranged in a non-topical manner, making it the perfect room to use for such occasions.
No matter how much they should be treated without being disrespectful, there was no other option because they couldn't treat four unknown girls as being in a higher position than the king.
"As a member of the royal family, I came to visit you this time because I wanted to interact with the royal family of this country..." (Morena)
The other party remained frozen and did not say anything, so Princess Morena had no choice but to continue speaking, but at this point, the King raised a voice of doubt.
"…Interaction with the royal family?" (King)
Yes. Normally, this would be referred to as "exchanges between countries."
Also, it wasn't a diplomat, but a sudden visit from Her Royal Highness the Princess. There were only three escort girls accompanying her.
"No, she's riding an ancient dragon, and she doesn't have any bodyguards. Besides, there's no way an ancient dragon would carry a mere soldier on his back. That ancient dragon probably only carries cute girls on its back. Probably..."
They had never heard of anything like that before, but there's no basis for saying that it didn't happen.
So, the king thought about such things.
There was also a story on Earth about a mythical beast that only carried on its back a maiden who knows nothing of impurity. It was no surprise that such an idea occurred to him.
Besides, that would explain why the person who came as a diplomatic envoy was the third princess, not a diplomat.
Normally, there were no such things as girl diplomats, and even if a girl was a representative of the country, it was only within the royal family.
But…….
"Isn't it an exchange between countries? Interact with the royal family is..." (King)
That's the problem.
Was it just a matter of wording, or was there something else in mind?
"Ah, I didn’t come here this time as a representative of my country. It was my personal trip, and I just thought it would be nice to make friends with a girl from the royal family of this country who is my age…….
So I haven't told my parents about this trip." (Morena)
"What the hell is that?!" (Everyone)
"…That’s why…" (Morena)
"…………" (Everyone)
Princess Morena explained the situation with a mix of fake parts.
Since Marcella and her group were in the position of protecting the princess, they did not sit at their seats but stood behind Princess Morena in a protective stance, but even though there was an ancient dragon in the square in front of the royal palace, there was no way anyone would mess with their group.
"Then, Princess Morena did not officially visit our country as a representative of the country in her capacity as the 'Third princess'?" (King)
"Yes. As a friend of the ancient dragon Kragon-sama, and just a normal human being, I wanted to make friends from the same generation who are in a similar position...
I've become a little bit too famous in my country and surrounding countries, so I'm having a hard time making friends who will talk to me as an equal..." (Morena)
"She has an ancient dragon friend and was just a normal human being!!" (Everyone's mind)
The king and ministers were screaming in their hearts. and…….
"'A little bit'? Is it really only 'a little bit' that became famous?" (Everyone)
"…Well, I guess that’s not unreasonable… So, the purpose of your personal visit to our country is…" (King)
"Yes, I want to be friends with Her Royal Highness the Princess of this country...
Or rather, are there Her Royal Highness?
If there are Her Royal Highness in this country, I will go to another country..." (Morena)
"They're here! They're here! There are 4 of them!!" (King)
The king desperately screamed.
No wonder. It would be difficult for a foreign princess who had super strong connections to ancient dragons to become friends with a princess from her neighboring or enemy country. He would not hesitate to present his beloved daughter before the dragon's jaws in order to stop them.
Even though it was the worst thing a father could do, it was a feeling he had to suppress before his duty as a king.
That was the royal family, the king.
A noble position required a commensurate level of duty and dedication.
Even for royalty and aristocrats, it was not an easy job to earn a living.
Princess Morena and her party did not even know the name of this country, let alone whether the king had a daughter.
However, in order to solve the problem of succession, a king had concubines in addition to his royal wife, and in a civilized country like this, where the child mortality rate was extremely high, it is normal to give birth to three or four princes or more.
In that case, it was natural that there would be a similar number of princesses, so it was judged that there was a fairly high probability that there would be a princess.
Besides, if there was no princess, she could have been the daughter of a duke or marquis.
...However, they didn't want to get into any weird trouble, so they were planning to avoid princes and the like.
"Then, let's have a tea party with those people later..." (Morena)
"I understand! I'll have it ready right away!!" (King)
The king's eyes were bloodshot.
After talking for a while, Princess Morena and her party were led to a hastily prepared tea party table.
In addition to Princess Morena, the attendees included four princesses from this country and three members of the "Wonder Trio" who were supposed to be her bodyguards. The only other people were the maids who served as servers.
No bodyguards were provided by the government.
Princess Morena's bodyguards were underage girls, so they might have been seen as more like attendants than to protect the princess with force.
Did he decide that it was unethical to have a rugged male bodyguard, or did he think that having a bodyguard inside the royal palace would be an act of insult, showing that he didn't trust the other person?
Anyway, on Princess Morena's side was the Wonder Trio, and on the four princesses' side was only the maids.
...Maybe these maids had some fighting ability. Therefore, there was a possibility that the maids also served as bodyguards.
Then Marcella and her group joined in the conversation, with the reason being to balance the number of people, and a 4-on-4, 8-person chat began.
After about an hour and a half of pleasant chat, the tea party ended without incident.
The group decided to stay at the royal palace today, and were guided to their guest rooms.
"…Is it the third one?" (Marcella)
"It's the third one..." (Morena)
"The first one is a little too old, and it seems like she has ambitions..."
"I felt a little anxious about the second one as well."
"The fourth one was cute and nice, but I think she's a little too young..."
"By process of elimination, I guess it's the third..." (Morena)
Everyone agreed with Princess Morena's choice.
Author's Note
I will be absent for two weeks due to Golden Week holidays.
The next update will be on May 17th (Tuesday), starting with the 0000 update.
Thank you for your continued support! (^^)/
And Earth Star sent me lots of samples of animated goods!
...I forgot to send it, but it was discovered in the warehouse? (^^ゞ
T-shirts, hoodies, hologram iPhone cases, mugs, rubber mats, sleeve collections, and more...
I was happy to be surrounded by Mile and the others, along with the crane game figures, cushions, alarm clock, and other things I had received before. (^^ゞ
Now that I think about it, there were quite a lot of goodies out there...
Can I still buy it?