A Single Word from On High

Princess Yupe leaned against me, practically draping her weight onto my shoulders.

She had a nice figure, but she wasn't particularly heavy.

Still, the suddenness of it startled me. And with her body pressed so close, it was… distracting, to say the least.

Her sweet perfume tickled my nose, forcing me to be acutely aware of her whether I liked it or not.

This was surely what people meant when they said "femme fatale."

"Is this the thing Anatia's been secretly working on lately? Come to think of it, she has been awfully fired up about something."

"Yupe-sama, what are you doing all of a sudden?"

"What? I'm just looking at the documents."

She gave an adorable little reply.

It seemed she was peering over my shoulder at the spread-out documents.

She knew full well our bodies were touching and was playing dumb.

… If a man who admired Princess Yupe had something like this done to him, he'd be smitten in an instant.

Unfortunately for her, I'd seen her true colors and all sorts of other sides of her, so I wasn't about to lose my heart now.

"Your Highness…! W-welcome. What an honor to have you grace this humble office."

The Treasury Bureau official's attitude did a complete one-eighty as he welcomed Princess Yupe.

He'd been scowling just moments ago, but now he wore a smile, stiff as it was.

The shift in attitude was frankly ridiculous.

I'd heard that Princess Yupe had fans both domestically and abroad thanks to her beauty and charm, and this official was apparently one of them.

In a certain sense, she wielded considerable influence.

I'd always thought of her as a free spirit among the royals, someone who just wandered around doing as she pleased, but perhaps that wasn't all there was to it.

This was a quality Queen Tianis didn't possess.

"Please! This is but a humble chair, but do make use of it."

"Thanks."

"Not at all! It's an honor to be of service to Your Highness."

The official scrambled to prepare a chair. Princess Yupe gave a casual wave with her right hand, offered a light word of thanks, and sat down as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Then she immediately crossed her legs with bold confidence.

Her shapely legs in their tights came into view, and where the official's eyes went hardly needed saying.

It seemed her joining the discussion was a foregone conclusion.

From her perspective, she apparently didn't need anyone's permission to participate.

The official seemed to want her to stay as long as possible and made no move to show her out.

"So the venue is that central square in the Royal Capital, and it's a concert. That place should draw quite a crowd."

"That's the goal. But I've been having trouble getting approval."

"Oh, really?"

She turned her gaze toward the official.

That alone was enough to visibly quicken the official's pulse.

"Political Officer Yohane's proposal is unprecedented, so it's rather difficult to authorize…"

"There shouldn't be any issues. I've identified most of the potential issues, and as for security, keeping people away from the stage area should suffice. The performers themselves double as Anatia-sama's escorts."

"That may be so, but… Your Highness?"

Princess Yupe, who had been studying the plaza's floor plan, flicked the document with her right hand.

"I was invited to participate, and it sounds like it's going to be quite the grand event. I was going to pass if it were just some cramped little theater, but something on this scale? Not a bad stage for me at all."

Princess Yupe stood and walked over to the official.

She placed a hand on the official's shoulder.

That alone was enough to reduce him to a flustered mess.

"Hey, this is supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you since you're special. The truth is, I'm planning to participate in this concert as a singer. I'm even having a new dress made. Tell me, would you like to see me sing here?"

"O-of course, Your Highness! There isn't a man alive who wouldn't want to see you sing!"

"Oh my, thank you. Then go ahead and push the approval through, would you? Look forward to the day."

The official practically slammed the seal of approval onto the documents.

"I'll process this right away. I'll absolutely be there."

He vanished in an instant.

Princess Yupe waved after him until he was out of sight.

From the moment Princess Yupe arrived, there had been no negotiation whatsoever.

Her single word had gotten the approval in the blink of an eye.

I knew full well that negotiations were often settled through connections, but even so, this was going way too far.

If Princess Yupe seriously turned on the charm, that official would probably commit fraud for her.

I wanted to believe Queen Tianis was keeping an eye on things so it wouldn't come to that.

"You really saved me. The discussion was stalling and going nowhere."

"I bet. I heard voices, and when I checked, you looked like you were in quite a bind. I just had to come see Tianis and Anatia's favorite, all flustered."

"I figured it was something like that. You're not the type to help out of the goodness of your heart."

"Oh my, what a terrible thing to say. After I went out of my way to help."

"You just want to sing in front of a big crowd in that plaza, don't you?"

"Obviously!"

Princess Yupe puffed out her chest with pride.

"There's no way I'm letting Anatia hog a stage like this all to herself. Especially if it's a first-ever event. Besides, once everyone sees me sing, they'll be happy."

… I'd never met anyone with self-confidence this strong.

I wanted her to share some of it with Azu.

It was as if the entire world existed for her sake.

Then again, that very attitude had once led her astray and resulted in her head being separated from her body.

According to Anatia-sama, she'd mellowed out somewhat since then, and this was the result. One could only be impressed.

"I can't wait. I can already hear the cheers praising me."

"The main event is Anatia-sama and Azu's group's concert, you know…?"

No use. She was off in her own world and not listening.