"I'll handle things one by one. First, the martial arts tournament."
Asella carefully examined the report I had brought.
"When did this knightly order..."
She stopped mid-sentence as she was about to ask about the contents.
The Empress Camilla was watching. She must have instinctively realized it wouldn't be good to reveal our hand.
With a tap, Asella closed the report and leisurely took a sip of her tea.
"You've done well following my orders. The additional one hundred and twenty knights will be used in the martial arts tournament."
"One hundred and twenty? Where in the imperial court did you find such a force!"
Camilla exclaimed in shock.
One hundred and twenty knights constituted a company. Four companies made a regiment, and four regiments defended the north, south, east, and west walls of the Imperial Palace grounds. The Emperor's and each palace's direct knightly orders were separate.
The martial arts tournament would include knights from factional palace guards and some imperial knights.
Though the Emperor's movement meant a large force would move, they couldn't leave the Imperial Palace completely unguarded.
A succession faction could deploy at most two hundred knights.
Adding the twenty knights from Wolgwang Palace, we'd have one hundred and forty—enough to contend with other succession candidates.
"Your Majesty."
Asella declared to Camilla.
"In this tournament, you'll see me win without any support from you."
"You...!"
Camilla fumed at Asella's words, unable to contain her anger.
Of course she'd be furious after essentially being told she was no longer needed.
I had been listening to their conversation from outside. It seemed she had tried everything to stoke Asella's anxiety, even seducing the Second Prince, but all her efforts had been in vain.
"Ha! Let's see how long you last with that rascal! Even for a Gotberg, to be entangled with such a swindler!"
Camilla slightly lifted the hem of her dress with both hands and quickly left the room.
Only after she departed did Asella seem to relax, letting out a small sigh.
"You certainly schemed well without permission."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"You see that as a compliment? Why did you increase the size of our knightly order without telling me?"
Asella glared at me sharply.
She must not have liked this particular move.
"I just wanted our faction to become stronger?"
"That's my job. You're just the court physician."
"And your fiancé."
For some reason, Asella pursed her lips at the word "fiancé."
After finishing her thought, Asella spoke.
"These knights will be useful. Since they're bound by contract, they won't betray us for one tournament, and such knights are usually easy to manage."
Asella looked up at me and asked.
"Young Lord, what do you want?"
"As compensation, perhaps you could approve the contract that follows?"
"Hmm."
It was a patent for the masks.
Regular masks could be produced without issue. I had only applied for a patent on the modern design I had created.
"The contract distributes design usage royalties 70-30 in my favor. How about using the 30 percent for Wolgwang Palace's budget?"
"The masks, you mean."
Asella seemed displeased about something, her response lukewarm.
"Young Lord, I hear you made a mask for Lauga."
Asella's eyes widened.
It had been quite a while since I'd seen such a threatening gaze from her.
I hadn't done anything particularly offensive recently, so why was she acting this way?
"You heard about that?"
"Monitoring other succession candidates' movements is basic. But."
Her voice dropped to a lower tone.
"It looked exactly like my mask."
"The size is different."
Masks all look pretty similar anyway.
Here, what I made is the original...
Wait. The probabilities in my status window are changing frantically.
[No. 077: Incarnation of Jealousy 14% → 62%]
Is this a bug?
What did I do wrong to cause such a dramatic change?
My chest was suddenly damp with cold sweat.
Watching Asella's mood, it felt like a cold wave had returned after the weather had just started warming up.
"Young Lord."
"Yes."
"Why did you keep it a secret from me that you made a mask for Lauga?"
I just reported it along with everything else.
Is that... wrong?
I suppose it could be seen as an act that might benefit another faction without consulting Asella first.
Did she consider it treason?
What an extreme way of thinking this princess has.
I let my guard down after hearing Lauga say she would explain things well to Asella.
I thought there wouldn't be any issues since it ultimately helped Wolgwang Palace's finances.
"It's a misunderstanding, Princess."
"What is? I don't think I've misunderstood anything."
I probably can't convince Asella once she's already being stubborn.
I hope this works.
I took out a prepared item from my medical bag and presented it to Asella.
"What's this?"
"A new mask for you, Princess."
"Are you telling me to wear the same thing as Lauga?"
"It's different. If you look, I've embroidered our Wolgwang Palace emblem in the bottom right corner."
At the mention of embroidery, Asella flipped the mask to check.
"Hmph."
She snorted and then unfolded the mask to put it on.
She had the head maid bring a mirror and examined her reflection.
"How many of these masks are there?"
"I just made them today. I've prepared only three for you to use, Princess."
"From now on, make them exclusively for me."
"As you command."
I discreetly checked my status window.
[No. 077: Incarnation of Jealousy 62% → 14%]
Phew, back to normal.
I had been making samples with the palace emblem to make it easier to identify Wolgwang Palace affiliation since masks make it difficult to see faces. Thankfully, it worked.
I narrowly escaped accusations of treason.
"Ah, Princess. The left string is twisted."
"So it is. Wait, I'll fix it myself."
Asella quickly held up her palm toward me, indicating refusal.
She carefully adjusted her mask, then suddenly turned her head back toward me as if remembering something.
"Young Lord, did you personally show Lauga how to wear the mask too?"
Golden mana blazed in her eyes.
I sensed I needed to choose my answer carefully again.
"Of course not. She already seemed to wear it comfortably."
"Were you going to help her put it on if she didn't know how?"
"How could I possibly do that for another princess?"
"...I see."
Only then did Asella seem to drop all suspicion and lower her guard.
Changing the subject, she checked the first report and wrote something in her notebook.
"With our increased numbers, I'll significantly revise our strategy for the tournament."
"Yes."
"Young Lord, do you have any useful strategies?"
"You're asking me?"
"Yes. You handled the goblin shaman subjugation skillfully. Don't you have experience commanding knights?"
The head maid must have told her.
I hate increasing my workload.
"Of course, imperial knights with their structured system would feel different, but I thought a fresh perspective might be helpful."
"In the group mock battle, Lauga's Second Princess faction and Georg's Second Prince faction are set to destroy each other."
"...Tell me more."
Asella rested her chin on the back of her hand, smiling devilishly as her mood improved.
***
"Next, Princess Asella, please prepare for transport."
Following the court magician's instructions, we stepped onto the teleport gate.
Our group consisted of five people: Asella, two guard knights, the head maid, and myself.
As the magicians drew their formulas and activated the teleportation magic, mana rose into the air like steam.
"Beginning the casting."
Our destination, a basin in the middle of the eastern mountain range, would take two days on horseback.
Most troops had already been transported ahead of time, with only the imperial family's core members traveling by teleportation on the day of the event.
Teleportation magic is so costly and difficult that this approach makes sense. The aging Emperor would find long-distance travel challenging too.
I wonder if we really need to go to such lengths for flower viewing, but if she says we must go, what can I do?
If I were an enemy nation planning to invade the Empire, I'd definitely target this period when the Imperial Palace's defenses are weakened.
"Urgh."
After the teleportation finished, that familiar nauseating sensation returned.
"Teacher, shall I carry you?"
Tanya, who had been waiting at the site, supported me and asked.
Though Tanya usually hides her expressions, I know better now.
She's currently enjoying teasing me.
"No need. Did you think I'd always lose my soul over a mere teleportation?"
"You truly seem fine. You must have been training hard."
"Of course. I've been doing strength training two hours every day."
That's a lie.
Actually, I synthesized an anti-nausea medicine and took it beforehand.
I am genuinely building my physical strength. Since I never know when the reduction amount might increase and lead to my death, I try to do aerobic exercise consistently.
Try to.
One day while running on a hill inside the Imperial Palace, I found an herb called madman's weed.
It was a material from which I could extract scopolamine, an ingredient for anti-nausea medicine.
With this, I've overcome teleportation magic.
"Welcome to the martial arts tournament grounds. I'll escort you from here."
"Very well. Let's see how well everything has been prepared."
Court physicians must remain within 100 meters of their assigned imperial family member when outdoors.
I followed Asella around, examining the tournament grounds.
"They've carved an entire mountain to build something like a colosseum."
While not exactly rural, this area is quite far from the capital.
To think they built such a structure and moved so many people at tremendous cost just because the Emperor visits once a year.
Is this the scale of the Empire?
At least among the extravagant spending I've personally witnessed, this ranked at the top.
What exactly is the life of an Imperial Emperor...?
"The flowers are incredibly beautiful too."
The entire mountain was covered in a pale blue color, as if by magic.
I picked up a petal from the ground and found it similar in texture and size to cherry blossoms I knew.
Instead, it had a blue base with what looked like silver dust sprinkled on it, making it sparkle fantastically.
"They're called silver-blue flowers. They only bloom in this region due to the climate and soil."
So there are beautiful landscapes in this world after all.
This was a sight I had never seen before my regression.
"Well, the important thing is the martial arts tournament."
Sure enough, Asella showed no interest in the fluttering petals and had already entered the colosseum to examine the arena.
The tournament would proceed in several formats.
Though magicians would participate too, it was primarily a festival for knights, so I didn't have much to do.
Perhaps just applaud enthusiastically beside Asella?
A total of eight factions would compete in the tournament.
All four factions of the other succession candidates would participate, plus seven including the Emperor's cousins and nephews.
And then us.
At this level, even placing third overall would be fine.
Since Asella's faction had never stood out before, this would certainly make a strong impression.
"Young Lord."
"Yes, Princess."
"Today, I will definitely win this tournament."
"Win? Of course the knights will try their best, but even third place would be quite sufficient..."
[No. 012: Destruction of the Empire 35% → 52%]
Correction.
Our goal is to win.