Lately, the Kingdom of Chronos had been in a festive mood.
I was among those caught up in the excitement. The primary cause was likely the birth of Leo’s children, one of whom was my own son, Ark. Unlike my name, "Claire," which had been spat out by a naming generator, Ark’s was properly considered.
I was originally a viscount's daughter—though my family home has since been elevated to a marquis house. But if I go back even further, I was an orphan. I never knew my biological parents. The couple I call parents now are an elderly pair, a viscount and his wife who raised several orphans. I didn't want to get into a succession dispute with my brothers, who were also orphans, so I didn't take the family name and abandoned my right of succession to join the army.
My parents told me I was still their child, regardless. I think of them as my real parents, too. To think that someone like me is now the Empress Consort of the Kingdom of Chronos... life is truly unpredictable.
Then again, I doubt Leo understands how he ended up as king either. He went so far as to fund the opposing faction just to avoid the throne. He’s probably the most bewildered of all. The fact that his children are now worshipped as saviors in some circles is beyond me. Leo and I both felt like being simple civil servants would have been enough.
I know it’s impossible now, but for political reasons, Ark is likely destined to become the King of Chronos. Ren-chan will probably fight tooth and nail to keep her children away from that responsibility. I hate the idea of such heavy expectations weighing on a child.
Today, we held a Chronosian purification ritual at the palace. I don’t plan to raise Ark as a Chronosian believer, but apparently, they’re as flexible as temples and shrines, allowing for dual faiths. I figured it was fine, so I accepted.
To be honest, my only religious experience was with the temple near my family home—and even then, it was just getting snacks during the Bon dances. Neither Leo nor I know much about religion. We stood at the altar in the palace, dressed in formal attire, and offered our prayers to the World Tree. If the prayers go to the tree, I have no complaints.
The ritual ended quickly, with the World Tree simply glowing bright. The Chronosian priest was moved to tears, but I didn't feel anything particularly holy. I just prayed that Ark would grow up healthy.
While our home was filled with happiness, one person cast a shadow: Melissa. She has a high concentration of imperial blood, and it seems her body makes it difficult to conceive. Genetically, she’s practically royalty—possibly even closer to the imperial family than Veronica-chan. It’s strange for a viscount’s daughter whose family is in public security.
When I asked Leo about it, he got a distant look in his eyes and said, "Well, female spies are what every boy dreams of, after all..."
I delivered a reverse horizontal chop right to his chest. He really is an idiot.
Melissa jumped at the treatment immediately, but she still hasn't conceived. The difference in composure between her and Riko-chan, who also hasn't conceived yet, was stark. Riko-chan’s stance is that while she wants children, there’s no rush. She prioritizes her work—or rather, her side job as a mangaka.
"It’s a serialization I finally won, even if my husband’s power helped!" she says while hunched over her manuscripts. She calls herself a doujin artist doing it on the side, but she’s a pro in my eyes.
By comparison, Melissa has no peace of mind. The reality of not being able to conceive must be making her head spin. I want to listen to her troubles, but she’s not in a state to listen to anyone else. She’s had the treatment, so it’ll happen eventually. I just wish she'd give Leo a break!
That’s the family situation. But beyond Melissa, there was an even bigger problem: the large-scale riots in the Galactic Empire. It started as an ugly dispute over the naming of Veronica-chan’s child, with various factions deploying their puppet citizen groups. That much is common, but the conflict escalated into full-blown rioting. Amada and the police suppressed it ruthlessly, but the embers were still smoldering.
These riots had a different feel. It wasn't that the citizens were unhappy; the economy was booming, and most were enjoying the peace. But with that came a surplus of citizens with too much time on their hands. They were bored. They didn't have major complaints, and there was plenty of work in outer space relations or cargo handling at the spaceports. Since the exploitative Duke Association vanished, wages had been good. These mobs were just acting out to vent stress.
Most citizens didn't actually care about the naming issue. No matter how much the media tried to stir things up, it got less attention than the weekly pro-wrestling broadcast. Extremists in the religious sects were losing ground to the moderates. When Veronica-chan got fed up and announced the name would be decided by people on the Chronos side, the citizens actually cheered, "Serves them right!" They really were idiots.
I asked Leo about it, and he suggested the economy might be in a bubble. We might be overproducing, but we were still in the middle of reconstruction. Military demand was high, and we were short on spaceports. Chronos alone couldn't even defeat the gatekeepers of the Zen Divine Race. Theoretically, if we didn't start expanding recklessly after the war, we should be stable for centuries. But that's the hard part.
Maybe this incident was a good dry run. We needed a system to prevent this kind of thing. It felt like incidents followed Leo wherever he went—one might even think he caused them. But that was a mistake. On the surface, they were "incidents," but the actual damage was always minimal. It was like he was nipping the seeds of future crises in the bud while they were still small. It was amazing, but hard to explain to others.
That was probably why the jester wasn't investigated. Leo has an ability that clearly exists and works, but defies logical explanation.
I’ve decided not to expect Ark to have an ability like Leo's. It's too specialized; it would only be a burden on his mind. He doesn't need to be a genius or have some special power. Just being decent is enough. If only his obsession with food were a bit more manageable... but he's my child, so I can't exactly keep him away from potatoes.
I can already see him becoming Space Monster II... No, I'll stop it! Veronica-chan, Ren-chan, and I will make sure of it!