"There’s one more thing that’s been on my mind."
"Dear, what is it?"
After the twins had settled in for their nap, Jin and Elsa spoke in hushed tones nearby, careful not to wake them.
Reiko stood by the twins' side as a guardian, just in case.
"It’s about Her Majesty. Her Abdication Ceremony is happening this year... or rather, next month, on May 1st."
"Mm, that’s right."
When Jin spoke of "Her Majesty," he was referring to Her Majesty Gerhardt Hilde von Rubis Shouro, the Empress of the Shouro Empire. "His Highness" referred to the Crown Prince, Ernst Shouro.
Both Jin and Elsa had met Crown Prince Ernst many times. They found his character worthy of a future Emperor—a judgment that, while perhaps slightly irreverent, was offered with sincere respect.
Last year, the Empress had formally announced her intention to abdicate the throne to both her people and the world.
"I suspect Her Majesty will continue to support him for a while after the abdication, though."
Jin figured she was far too responsible to suddenly dump the entire weight of the government onto her nephew. Though he had technically reached adulthood, Ernst was still only fifteen.
"Mm. I think Her Majesty would do exactly that," Elsa agreed.
"I feel like I owe her more than I could ever repay..."
To settle that debt, Jin performed work that no one else in the world could achieve, though it was characteristic of him to remain completely oblivious to that fact.
"I was thinking I’d like to give Her Majesty a golem or an automata to serve as her personal attendant."
"Mm, I see. In that case, I think an automata would be better for her."
"You think so?"
At Avalon, the general rule was to avoid stationing human-like automata except as personal servants for visitors; the permanent staff were all golems. That was why the gift intended for Fritz and Gloria was a maid golem.
However, no such restrictions applied to a gift for the Empress.
Having carried the burden of the throne for so long, the Empress had never been permitted to have children, and she was now fifty-six years old.
"She did mention how cute she thought Reiko was."
Jin decided that a girl-type automata would be the perfect choice.
Once the course was set, Jin was quick to act.
The maid golem would be built to Hourai Island specifications. He primarily used 64 light silver for the frame to keep it lightweight, while finishing the exterior in a subdued copper tone.
At a glance, it looked as though it were cast from bronze.
In appearance, it wasn't much different from Safi, the golem Jin had previously donated to Avalon.
Its physical capabilities were roughly a quarter of those found in the Five-Color Golems of Hourai Island. Even so, its base performance was more than five times that of a standard golem—and about double that of Safi.
Since Safi had sapphire-blue eyes, he gave this unit reddish-purple eyes to distinguish her. Fittingly, he named her Magenta.
Then, there was the automata for the Empress.
Jin worked with even greater precision than usual, with Elsa assisting him.
He sized the unit to be roughly the same as Reiko.
However, he significantly dialed back the power output, capping it at about four times that of a human. The speed was limited to the same degree. He didn't drop it all the way to human levels, ensuring she could still protect the Empress in an emergency.
To compensate, he packed the unit with an exhaustive array of daily skills.
Healing magic, medical knowledge, cooking, laundry, cleaning, and sewing.
"But a pushy personality would be a mistake. She should be modest above all else..."
Lately, he had become capable of imbuing his creations with subtle personality traits through their initial settings.
"I want to make her maintenance-free for the next two hundred years if possible."
Since she wouldn't be subjected to heavy labor, Jin believed this was an achievable goal.
"Mm... should the face look like this?"
Elsa sculpted the features to bear a slight resemblance to both the Empress and the Crown Prince. Her reasoning was that the Empress would feel a deeper sense of affection for the doll if it looked somewhat like family.
She gave the automata dark brown hair and brown eyes to match them.
"Oh, that’s excellent work."
"Mm. I worked hard on it."
Thus, the automata for the Empress—a collaboration between Jin and Elsa—was complete.
On May 1st, the Abdication Ceremony took place as scheduled.
The venue was the Ceremony Hall within the Royal Palace in the capital, Loizart.
Detailing the entire ceremony would be an endless task, so to summarize:
Representatives from the Klein Kingdom, the Kingdom of Franz, the Kingdom of Egerea, the Kingdom of Elias, the Celuroa Kingdom, the Nord Federation, and Mitsuho were all in attendance.
With influential nobles from every nation present, it was a magnificent spectacle.
Naturally, Jin and Elsa were there as well—and in quite prominent seats.
The ceremony began at nine in the morning with an opening address by the Chancellor.
"We shall now begin the ceremony for the abdication of the imperial throne from Her Majesty Gerhardt Hilde von Rubis Shouro to His Highness Crown Prince Ernst Shouro."
This was followed by roughly three hours of speeches from national representatives and words from citizen delegates.
Amidst this, Jin found himself forced to say a few words.
Fortunately, he didn't have to take the podium like the world leaders; he only had to stand at his seat and speak for about thirty seconds.
The master of ceremonies had provided him with a script that read: “I offer my deepest respect and gratitude to our great Empress, who navigated a turbulent era and led us into a world of peace.” Thanks to that, he didn't struggle.
There had actually been a second script that was ten times longer, but Jin had read the shorter version at a signal from the official.
He surmised that the earlier speeches had run long, and they were trying to make up for lost time. Jin felt a brief moment of sympathy for the organizers, realizing the immense effort required to keep such a massive event on schedule.
The speeches concluded with a presentation of bouquets by two children—a boy and a girl about ten years old—chosen to represent the citizenry.
"My, thank you, children. I am so very happy."
The image of the Empress smiling radiantly as she accepted the flowers left a lasting impression on Jin.
Then, the main event—the transfer of the imperial throne—began.
Every person in the hall served as a witness.
The Crown Prince walked toward the Empress, who stood atop a raised podium.
Once he climbed the seven steps to stand before her, the Empress raised the Royal Scepter—no, the Imperial Scepter—in her hand.
She touched the scepter to the Crown Prince’s left shoulder, then his right. At that signal, the Crown Prince knelt before her.
The Empress touched his head gently with the scepter as if in a blessing, then took the crown from a nearby stand and placed it upon his head.
Finally, the succession was completed as she handed the Imperial Scepter to the Crown Prince.
The moment he accepted the scepter with both hands, holding it up in a gesture of reverence, a thunderous round of applause erupted.
"I hereby proclaim the birth of the new Emperor of the Shouro Empire: Weisberg Ernst von Shouro!"
Those were her final words as Empress.
From that moment on, she would serve as the Empress Emerita, assisting the New Emperor until he reached the age of twenty.
"I, Weisberg Ernst von Shouro, swear as Emperor to protect this nation and its people, and to lead them toward even greater heights!"
And those were the New Emperor's first words.
The Great Hall was filled with cheers so loud they seemed to shake the very walls.
Afterward, the Empress Emerita and the New Emperor stepped out onto the palace balcony to wave to the gathered crowds.
Nearly ten thousand people had filled the palace courtyard, and they erupted in another wave of thunderous cheering.
Hot air balloons and airships drifted through the sky, raining down gold and silver paper confetti—a product that had only recently been commercialized.
With no attacks or riots to mar the occasion, the Abdication Ceremony concluded perfectly.