I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 4

When I came out of the king's room, Elly was waiting for me outside. Looking rather restless.

Perhaps she was concerned because I, who had only ever gone to the library, was suddenly going here and there.

Elly asked.

“Your Highness, shall I escort you back to your room? Or will you be going to the library?”

This body was so weak that it tired too easily. On top of that, with so much having happened today, I did want to go to my room and rest.

But I had something to do. That was to meet Jereuth as soon as possible.

‘However, I can't go to meet Jereuth directly. If I get caught by the nobles or their lackeys on my way to meet Jereuth, there will be interference in some way.’

Most nobles would know that Jereuth and the king were friends. Me meeting such a Jereuth could needlessly arouse suspicion.

In the worst-case scenario, I had to consider the possibility of the nobles suspecting me of trying to reclaim power.

So, I had to meet Jereuth as quietly as possible.

‘As of now, the way to meet Jereuth without attracting others' attention is… to call Jereuth over here, I suppose. Perhaps because it's near the king's room, there aren't many nobles here.’

Quickly finishing my thoughts, I spoke to Elly.

“Elly. His Majesty has become very weak. And he seemed very lonely.”

“Ah… yes.”

“So I would like to ask Knight Commander Jereuth, who was His Majesty's past friend, to meet His Majesty and have a cup of tea. He must be busy as a Knight Commander, but since they are old friends, I think that much should be possible.”

I didn't care if the king died alone and lonely. …Let me correct that. I did feel sorry for the old man dying alone.

However, the reason for calling Jereuth was not to do it for the king out of such pity, but simply to meet Jereuth while avoiding the nobles' eyes.

Elly, who had no way of knowing that, put on a rather somber expression and bowed her head deeply.

“I don't know if it's right for a mere lowly maid like me to say this, but… Your Highness is truly a filial son.”

A misunderstanding. It might be a good thing for me.

“I understand. Then I will bring Knight Commander Jereuth to His Majesty.”

“Thank you. I will return to my room on my own, so please don't mind me.”

“Y-you’re saying you’ll go back alone? That is—.”

“It's fine. I can at least walk a few steps.”

“But still—.”

“Please go now. This is an order.”

“…I understand.”

In the end, Elly bowed her head deeply and headed somewhere. She was probably going to the 3rd Knight Order.

Watching Elly's retreating back, I entered an empty room next to the king's room. However, I didn't close the door completely, leaving it slightly ajar.

To confirm through the crack in the door that Elly was bringing Jereuth.

‘I'll wait here and when Elly brings Jereuth, I'll talk to him.’

This room I entered to wait for Jereuth was a room I had entered for the first time. In the first place, until today, the only places I had gone were the library and my room.

The room, at a glance, was neatly organized. A luxurious chandelier was attached to the ceiling, and the bed and curtains were also tidy.

But perhaps because it had been left unattended for a long time after being cleaned, a considerable amount of dust had settled on the room's furniture.

Swish―.

When I lightly rubbed the table with my finger, a pile of dust stuck to my hand.

‘Being next to the king's room, it must have been a room where a pretty high-ranking person stayed. Who used this room?’

The interior atmosphere seemed feminine, so it seemed to be a room used by a woman.

While looking around the room for a moment, something caught my eye. A portrait of a very beautiful woman with pointed ears.

‘An elf?’

Next to the portrait was a mirror. My reflection was visible in that mirror… and for some reason, the me reflected in the mirror and the woman in the portrait looked very much alike.

My appearance and the elf were so similar that the expression ‘the spitting image’ would be fitting.

‘A woman I resemble. And a woman who uses the room next to the king's would mean… is that woman the queen? But her pointed ears mean the queen was an elf?’

As I got a little closer to the portrait, I could see the words written at the bottom of the frame.

「Victoria, hoping that marrying the human king was not a mistake. From Father.」

‘Seeing that she married the human king, it must be the queen's portrait. Then, has no one cleaned the room since the queen died?’

It wasn't a surprising fact. The living king's room was not being properly cleaned and was being neglected, so who would care about the room of a dead queen?

After looking at the portrait for a moment, I decided to read the ‘queen's diary’ that the king had given me earlier. I had to gather as much information as possible about Jereuth before Elly brought him.

‘The king said it. That everything I want to know about Jereuth is written in this diary.’

I opened the diary.

…Continental Calendar Year 891, January 5th.

Today, I heard the news that my first and second sons died in battle. To die before their mother who is dying of illness, they are truly unfilial fellows.

Hearing the news, His Majesty was unable to overcome his grief and went into seclusion.

His Majesty is as unwell as I am, so I am very worried.

Most of all, I am worried about my youngest son, Leonardo. Now, Leonardo is the only one who can inherit the throne, but will Leonardo, who has been weak since birth, be able to overcome the nobles' politics and this harsh situation?

I quickly skimmed through the diary and continued reading.

Continental Calendar Year 894, March 6th.

The Demon subjugation army has returned. Among the knights, soldiers, and mages returning in glory, I vaguely felt the presence of my sons.

But it was only a presence, they did not exist in reality.

I was sad. I think I was.

Even now.

Continental Calendar Year 894, April 19th.

Today, Jereuth came to visit. It was truly nice to see a friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

The youth of that time when we adventured together with His Majesty, and with me and our other companions, could no longer be found. Unlike me, an elf, Jereuth, a human, had aged too quickly.

However, Jereuth's spirit was as alive as it was back then. I, on the other hand, was only young on the outside, but rotten on the inside.

Jereuth also told me to check the nobles before it's too late and give Leonardo definite royal authority.

It was to set things right before the nobles' power grew stronger.

But neither I, nor the weakened His Majesty, had the will to do so.

Jereuth seemed greatly disappointed in me for that. His Majesty was soft-hearted since long ago, so that was understandable, but why had even I become such a weak person—

He asked what had become of the vow to become a person who protects the lives of the kingdom's people.

And… he also said that the woman he wanted to protect was not a weak person like me, and that if he had known I was this kind of woman, he wouldn't have been angry when His Majesty took me from him.

He also shouted that he wouldn't have become a knight to protect me in the first place. He would have rather become a mercenary or an adventurer and protected the kingdom's people from monsters.

But what could I do. When I came to my senses, the royal authority was at rock bottom, and even the sons I trusted were dead.

Now, all that was left for His Majesty and me was Leonardo, for whom a regrettable future awaits.

Lately, I feel my body gradually weakening. I don't know when I will die. Perhaps because I gave birth to a human child, my magic doesn't work well either….

It was a story about Jereuth. It seemed Jereuth had advised them to check the nobles and strengthen the royal authority early on.

It seemed that there was still a chance to save the royal authority back then. But it seemed the weak king and the exhausted queen had given up on it.

‘A weak king and an exhausted queen. And Knight Commander Jereuth, who was frustrated with them.’

This was important information. I might be able to use it when I have a secret talk with Jereuth soon.

‘The fact that Jereuth openly showed his frustration with the king and queen means Jereuth is a hardliner. The king also said that Jereuth was an ‘upright’ person. Which means… if I want to get Jereuth's help, I have to show him that I will stand strong against the nobles. A hardliner would never help a crown prince with a weak mentality.’

The problem was that I, who was an ordinary university student just a month ago, didn't know how to stand strong against the nobles.

If I had learned statecraft since I was young like an ordinary crown prince, it would be a different story, but all I knew was public administration that I had learned by scratching the surface.

‘No matter how much this world's civilization is at the level of the Middle Ages, they are people who have been in politics for decades. There's no way I can win easily.’

It was a headache.

‘Still, I got a hint. The hint that in order to recruit Jereuth, my only hope, I must show a firm attitude.’

Thud.

I was about to read more of the diary, but I closed it for now. Enough time had passed that it seemed Elly would bring Jereuth soon, so I had to watch carefully through the crack in the door so as not to miss him entering the king's room.

“……”

With one eye on the crack in the door, I calmly watched outside and waited for Jereuth.

***

‘…He's finally here.’

Now, after waiting for almost two hours for Elly to bring Jereuth.

Just as I was starting to worry that something might have gone wrong, I saw two people walking from the end of the corridor.

One was Elly, and the other was an elderly knight in heavy armor. It was probably Jereuth.

An armor of that size must be very heavy, but the elderly knight seemed to have no trouble walking at all.

Jereuth's armor was heavily imbued with the ‘years of a knight’. There were many marks scratched by swords and arrows here and there, and the emblem of the Plank Kingdom drawn on his chest—a griffin holding a sword—was very faded and blurry.

That would be proof of how many battlefields the owner of that armor had been through.

The elderly knight, ‘probably Jereuth’, walked over and asked Elly.

“I asked this earlier, but is it true that His Highness the Crown Prince told me to see His Majesty?”

“That is correct. There is no special reason, he just suggested that since you are old friends, how about having a cup of tea.”

“That's unexpected. His Highness the Crown Prince has been cooped up in his room for several years.”

“That is because His Highness is weak of body—.”

“Neglecting and observing the state of the kingdom because one's body is weak is an excuse. Royalty should step forward even if it means gnawing at their own heart. That is the duty of the position of ‘royalty’, which is responsible for the millions of people of the kingdom.”

“…Commander, such words to His Highness.”

“Am I wrong?”

“……”

Hearing him speak, the elderly knight was indeed Knight Commander Jereuth. And as I had expected, it seemed I could recognize Jereuth as a hardliner and a typical loyalist-type knight who cared about the kingdom and its people.

And he seemed to dislike the crown prince, who had abandoned everything and lived in hiding, quite a bit.

‘Now… then how should I utilize Jereuth's disposition to win him over to my side?’

I, who was an ordinary university student until recently, did not have the charisma to captivate an elderly knight who had roamed the battlefields for decades. Moreover, the opponent was a knight who was called ‘a single ray of light that cleaves the battlefield’.

There was no way I had the eloquence to persuade such a great knight.

All I could do was to make good use of Jereuth's personality and make him stand on my side.

And another card I could use was that ‘I don't know when, but the people of the kingdom are having a hard time, so much so that they will start a rebellion’.

In other words, I knew the future, though not in detail.

If so….

‘I should speak as if I am predicting future events by giving various grounds. With that, I can show that even if I don't have charisma, I am at least a wise person.’

There is no case where a person looks smarter than when they predict future events and present the grounds for them.

So my greatest weapon was that.

…To be honest, I didn't know if things would go as I thought.

While I was having these various thoughts, Elly and Jereuth reached the front of the king's room. It was now time to reveal myself to them.

Creak―.

As I opened the queen's door and went out, the sound of the old hinges pierced the quiet corridor. Hearing the sound, Jereuth and Elly both looked this way, and upon confirming my presence, they were quite surprised.

“Uh… Your Highness? Why are you here?”

“I had something to do.”

After giving a light reply to the surprised and questioning Elly, I looked Jereuth straight in the eye and said.

“3rd Knight Commander Jereuth. There is something I would like to say before you see His Majesty, would you spare me a moment?”