Lovely Sisterly Affection?

Setting the papers aside, Queen Tianis looked over at him.

Her free hands rested on the desk, elbows propped up, fingers laced beneath her chin.

An appraising gaze.

"We've returned, Your Majesty."

"Then let's get right to it. Report on the results of the Luido excursion. Oh, and submit your expenses afterward. I'll be generous when it comes to anything related to Yupe-neesama, so don't leave anything out."

That was welcome news.

They'd barely spent anything on food or lodging in Luido itself, but there were still various minor expenses here and there.

"How generous of you."

"… To be honest, it's so I can check what the money was spent on."

"My little sister is going to monitor my spending? Freedom feels so far away."

"If you feel that way, then work on earning back the trust of both me and Anatia-neesama."

Lovely sisterly affection, perhaps.

Princess Yupe, putting on an exaggerated show of distress, rummaged through her bag.

What she produced was a jar of honey from Luido.

It seemed to sparkle as it caught the light.

"I brought a souvenir for my darling little sister. I personally vouch for the taste."

"What's this…? Oh, honey? What a beautiful amber color."

"It's honey collected from the rapeseed blossoms you requested."

"Oh! So it's not just the oil. If Yupe-neesama says it's good, then the taste is guaranteed."

"You both have a sweet tooth, right? I wasn't just out there playing around. I was thinking of you two the whole time."

"And yet your porcelain-white skin seems a shade darker than before? I already know full well you went in high spirits and had a grand time. But the souvenir does make me happy. Thank you."

A maid prepared tea.

Queen Tianis had a spoon brought out and immediately moved to open the honey jar.

…

"Nngh."

After straining a bit, she gave up and turned to look his way.

He was wondering what she wanted when she even cleared her throat.

Oh. She wanted him to open the lid.

"Allow me."

He took the jar and twisted the lid.

It was quite tight, but he managed to get it open.

Asking Azu to open it because he couldn't would have been a bit embarrassing in this setting.

"Here you are, Your Majesty."

"Thank you. Well then, let me try some."

She scooped honey with the spoon and stirred it into her tea.

Using it in place of sugar. How luxurious.

She picked up the cup and took a sip.

"Oh, it's sweet. And the aroma is lovely. It's subtle enough not to overpower the tea, but there's a hint of rapeseed to it. Delicious."

It had clearly suited her palate. She showed a smile befitting her age.

But it didn't last long, since Princess Yupe was watching with a supremely self-satisfied grin.

"It's apparently a hugely popular product that's sold out on pre-orders through the end of the year. However, they've agreed to increase rapeseed production, so it should become easier to obtain going forward. Though I'm sure if Your Majesty wished for it, you could get some anytime."

"That sort of thing is called abuse of power. In my case, it would be abuse of royal power, I suppose. I'll wait until it's available through proper channels. That's simply good manners. So they agreed to increase rapeseed production? By how much?"

"Roughly triple."

"Thr—… Isn't that a lot? Honey aside, won't there be a surplus of oil? I could allocate some of the budget to secure it, but if overproduction continues, even that becomes difficult."

"They say there's no need to worry on that front. A threefold increase can apparently be absorbed through Luido's own distribution channels."

"Then that's fine. No risk of oil prices crashing, either. As expected of someone who manages Luido and works as a merchant, too. You're quick on the uptake."

He'd been praised.

Since it was what Luido had been hoping for anyway, all he'd really done was tour, help out, and deliver the proposal.

Anyone could have pulled it off.

"I've compiled a written report, so please review it at your convenience. Speaking of which, where is Chancellor Anatia?"

"Disappointed she's not here? Am I alone not enough?"

"Not at all. It's just that she's always been around lately."

"Anatia-neesama is away. Her work piled up, and there was a minor issue in Alsarm, so she's staying there to handle things. She'll be back before long."

Queen Tianis accepted the submitted report.

Everything necessary was documented, so that should wrap up the briefing.

"You've addressed nearly all of my requests, and I appreciate it. Was there anything else out of the ordinary? For instance, did my foolish sister cause any trouble?"

"'Foolish sister' is a bit much, don't you think?"

"Yupe-sama enjoyed her stay without incident. However, the scar on her neck bled during the night."

"What?!"

Queen Tianis hurriedly looked at Princess Yupe's neck.

It was currently hidden beneath her choker and fully settled, but the painful-looking appearance of the wound made the queen's face cloud with worry.

"I'm fine now."

Princess Yupe shifted the choker aside to show the scar.

Queen Tianis stood up and studied it closely, but once she judged it was all right, she sat back down.

She let out a sigh.

"Explain. What happened?"

"It seems that the former Secretary of Military Affairs, Crispus, has obtained the power of an apostle of the Church of the Sun God. The resonance from that apparently triggered the bleeding."

"An apostle… like that giant flying beast that came to the Royal Capital? The Sky Whale, they called it. There are more of those? And I don't quite follow how that would cause the scar to bleed…"

This was hard to explain.

The very fact that Princess Yupe was alive at all was something of a miracle.

Nothing that happened to her would be surprising.

"There aren't very many apostles. One was just completely destroyed, so counting the former secretary, those remaining should be no more than five."

Elza provided the clarification.

She was the most knowledgeable on the subject, so that was probably accurate.

There was simply no way to verify it.

After all, the apostles had never surfaced during the Church of the Sun God's activities before now.

"I used a healing miracle to stabilize her, so there shouldn't be any issues for a while. But she did lose blood, so I'd like her to rest for the time being."

"Understood. I'll lock Yupe-neesama in her room and have her work through her backlog."

"You can't be serious. I only just got permission to go outside."

"I never formally approved it. The concert was a special exception, and you piggybacked on Yohane's trip under cover of that. Besides, hearing something like this makes me want to keep an eye on you for a while."

"Come on…"

This was inevitable.

She'd have to endure another stretch of quiet days, but he hoped she'd hang in there.

"That concludes my report. Luido remains stable with no issues."

"Good. If something happened there, the capital's people would go hungry, so please continue to manage it well. As for your compensation… rather than a monetary reward, how about we strengthen your authority over Luido? That place is the Royal Capital's stomach, essentially, and I don't want the wrong person installed as lord. That's why the position has been left vacant. The previous lord's mismanagement had already caused a drop in production, which was a real headache."

"Strengthened authority? What exactly do you mean?"

"Lord in all but name. If you'd accept a title, I'd make it official."

"Oh, that would be nice. If you became a noble, it would be much easier for me to see you, too."

A noble. A noble, huh.

He'd thought the opportunity might arise if he kept working under Queen Tianis.

Something pinched hard at his back.

A quick glance over his shoulder revealed Alexia.

She mouthed words at him silently.

Don't accept this here.