The next morning, I woke to the morning sun.
Almost the instant I opened my eyes and sat up in bed, a knock came at the bedroom door.
"Master, may we enter?"
"Yeah."
Still drowsy, I answered with my eyes half-closed.
The door swung open, and by their presence alone, I could tell several people had stepped into the room.
The one leading them was surely Mary, who had knocked and requested permission.
The others were likely her servants, but—
"..."
I felt Leviathan's presence stir faintly.
Ah, that girl who bared her hostility toward me is here, I thought.
Leviathan's usual watchdog vigilance brought an involuntary smile to my lips.
"Pardon us. Your feet, please."
"Yeah."
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up straight on my own two feet.
Keeping my eyes closed, I let all the tension drain from my body.
Mary then stripped off my sleepwear with practiced hands.
I remained completely relaxed as she undressed me down to the skin.
Having served in the imperial prince's residence for years, Mary naturally didn't bat an eye at her master's naked body as she saw to my morning preparations.
The other servants, however, were an entirely different story.
The moment I was stark naked, the sudden wave of fluster radiating from them was palpable.
"Forgive them, Master—all of you, keep your hands moving!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"We're sorry!!"
Mary issued a sharp rebuke right after begging my pardon.
Spurred by her reprimand, the servants sprang into motion.
At the heart of the routine, naturally, was Mary.
She undressed me, helped me into fresh clothes, combed my hair, and washed my face.
She took particular care in softening and thoroughly cleaning the inside of my ears with a warm, steamed towel.
This was a habit I had picked up around the time I first met Audrey.
Audrey maintained the philosophy that the places one usually doesn't—or can't—see are precisely what ought to be kept cleanest.
Recognizing how closely that tied into statecraft, I had readily adopted the practice.
Ever since, I had the servants at the imperial prince's residence pay special attention to cleaning my ears every morning.
Mary performed the task now with the exact same familiarity from her days at the prince's residence.
By the time the area around my ears was properly tended to, my sleepiness had vanished entirely.
"Good work."
"Thank you, Master. Now then—"
"Ah, wait a moment. Mary, and... that girl. The two of you stay behind."
I singled out the girl whose presence I had recognized earlier.
She started, and I could feel her guard rise even higher.
"Understood. The rest of you, head back ahead of us."
Yes, ma'am.
Following Mary's order without question, the other servants filed out of the room.
Only Mary and that particular girl remained before me.
"You. What's your name?"
"Huh?"
The girl looked bewildered.
"It is an honor to be addressed directly by Master. Answer what you are asked, truthfully."
"Y-Yes. My name is... Ivy."
The girl—Ivy—replied nervously.
Though she remained on guard and harbored a distinct hostility toward me, speaking directly to her master's master was clearly nerve-wracking for her.
I let out a soft chuckle.
"No need to be so tense. Mary, you found yourself a fine girl."
"Yes. She is the cleverest of all the children currently under our roof."
"I can tell. She can't be used to attending to me, yet she supported you flawlessly. It's rare to find someone who anticipates needs so briskly and handles everything with just the right touch."
"As expected of you, Master; your discerning eye leaves me in awe. It took me nearly a year after you took me in to reach that level."
"You, for your part, were always quicker to learn than most."
"Oh no, someone like me could hardly—"
"I don't mean it as flattery. The reason I dispatched John out here was because I knew you would be there to rein him in and support him when push came to shove."
"..."
Mary fell silent, overcome with astonishment.
"John is a seven; you are an eight. Together, you make 1.5—I sent him out anticipating you two would produce one and a half times the results of ordinary retainers."
"—! Thank you so much!! To receive such high praise from you, Master... I am at a loss for words."
True to her words, Mary began weeping profusely with tears of pure gratitude.
"Don't cry. I'm praising you, after all."
"Y-Yes. Thank you so much!"
"Don't mention what I just said to John. Just keep him well in hand yourself. With you around, John will surely build up a solid record of achievements. When the time is right, I will recall John to the central government and have him work even harder than now."
"Yes! I will make sure to support him with everything I have."
"Mm."
With Mary properly encouraged, I turned my gaze back to Ivy.
"Still, what a shame. If only I had found her first."
I meant that I would have taken Ivy into my own service.
Upon hearing that, Mary dropped to her knees before me on the spot.
"Master, by all means, please take her with you!"
"Lady Mary?!"
Hearing Mary make such a sudden declaration, Ivy cried out in near-panic, staring at her with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"Hm? Are you sure? Don't you want to keep her by your side?"
"Of course I am. Rather than languishing in a backwater like this, learning under your direct guidance, Master, would be far better for her."
"I wouldn't say that's universally true."
I gave a faint smile.
Still, I had no intention of treating her poorly either.
"Lady Mary! I haven't even begun to repay my debt of gratitude to you! That's why—"
"Silly girl! There is no greater way to repay me than this."
"Huh?"
Ivy stood utterly bewildered.
With a completely different kind of confusion than before, she stared at Mary as if trying to make sense of her words.
"His Majesty always says that 'people are treasures.'"
Mary paused and glanced toward me.
I offered a silent nod, confirming the sentiment.
Mary turned back toward Ivy and pressed on.
"To present someone worthy of His Majesty's favor is a far greater honor than offering any mountain of gold, silver, or jewels."
"Indeed. It is easily worth a million Rien."
"T-That much...?"
Since the opportunity presented itself, I threw out a concrete figure.
Ivy's eyes widened even further in shock.
"...I-Is it truly... a way to repay Lady Mary...?"
Ivy looked hesitantly back and forth between Mary and me, asking as if searching for reassurance.
"Umu."
"I-I understand. I will... go with you."
Ivy yielded timidly.
She was still doing it purely out of a desire to repay Mary, but regardless of her motives, the fact remained that I had secured a promising talent.
Reaping such a satisfying reward first thing in the morning gave me the distinct feeling that today was going to be a good day.
☆
After breakfast, I set off under John's protection.
John had arranged a carriage for me, offering to escort me all the way to the border of his jurisdiction.
Accepting his offer, I had John join me inside the carriage, and we sat facing each other.
"Children like Ivy..."
"Yes?"
"How many do you take in every year?"
"Um, about ten, maybe a few more..."
John answered, a puzzled expression on his face that clearly said, Why ask about that?
"That must be putting quite a strain on your household finances. Unless you're pocketing bribes, your official stipend shouldn't be enough to shelter and feed that many mouths."
"T-That... of course not! I swear on my life I haven't taken a single bribe!"
"I know. A person's everyday life reflects in their demeanor. I sense neither high-born elegance nor the vulgarity of the newly rich in you. I never doubted your honesty."
"Thank you very much!"
"If anything, that's precisely the issue. If you aren't taking anything on the side, it means this charity must be choking your household's livelihood."
"Y-Yes... B-But we manage. Mary understands, too."
John looked straight into my eyes and declared with firm conviction.
Well, of course she would understand; Mary shared the exact same roots, after all.
"Let me tell you my purpose."
"Y-Yes...?"
John looked utterly lost, his expression screaming, Where is this coming from out of nowhere?
Faced with such a sudden change of topic, his confusion was impossible to hide.
"John, why do you think I serve as Emperor?"
"All of us retainers understand Lord Noah's ambition!"
Shifting gears entirely, John proclaimed with burning passion.
"It is to forge an era of peace where even people like us can live without fear!"
"Sixty points."
I said, offering a faint smirk.
John's eyes went wide with shock.
He looked completely floored that his answer had earned such a low score.
"It isn't wrong, but that is not the purpose. In my mind, that belongs strictly in the realm of 'means.'"
"Purpose... means..."
"My true purpose is to ensure that the Late Emperor, who recognized my worth and abdicated the throne to me, is remembered as an enlightened ruler."
"B-But His Majesty was undoubtedly an enlightened—"
"For now, perhaps. But should I commit a single act of misrule, a mere stroke of the brush in the history books will brand him as a ruler who lacked an eye for a successor. Therefore, during my reign, there must not be any major upheaval. No matter what."
"...Is Lord Oscar plotting something?"
John blurted out the question.
This time, I was the one caught off guard.
I was genuinely impressed by how sharp John's intuition had become.
Naturally, he had struck the core of the issue.
Oscar's ambition had yet to burn out. He was still watching like a hawk for an opening to seize the imperial throne.
If Oscar were to orchestrate a rebellion to claim the throne, history would inevitably record it as the Late Emperor's failure.
Oscar was the Eighth Imperial Prince; I was originally the Thirteenth Imperial Prince.
Had I been the First Imperial Prince—the eldest son—a rebellion after inheriting the throne wouldn't be seen as our father's mistake. But because I was the Thirteenth Imperial Prince, Father's choice would always be scrutinized as a "deliberate deviation."
He had gone out of his way to choose me, only for fraternal discord to erupt into open rebellion.
Thus, from where I stood, Oscar's every move required constant vigilance.
And John had deduced that entirely on his own.
I smiled faintly and replied.
"There is no such thing. There couldn't possibly be. There must not be."
Hearing my layered denial, John's expression darkened considerably.
A threefold barrage of denials was, for all intents and purposes, an admission that the threat was real.
"Master. I can move at a moment's notice. If anything happens, I can act entirely on my own accord."
John spoke with deadly seriousness.
In short, he was offering to serve as a disposable assassin to eliminate Oscar.
"Rein yourself in. If one of my own retainers were to pull a stunt like that, it would reflect poorly on the Late Emperor for handing the throne to a man who couldn't even keep his own subordinates in check."
"I-I am terribly sorry!!"
Snapping back to his senses, John hurriedly bowed his head.
"That being the case, so long as my purpose remains what it is, I cannot lay a hand on Oscar. Nor can you."
"Yes! As expected of you, Master. We always wondered why you coddled Lord Oscar so much."
"Heh. Given my purpose, I simply have no other choice."
I turned my head toward the side.
Looking through the carriage wall, I stared off into the distance with hollow, far-off eyes.
Well, that hardly mattered right now.
I turned back to John.
"You're sharp and quick on the uptake. You understand now that the means shift depending on the purpose, yes?"
"Yes!"
"Then what is your purpose?"
"Mine..."
"With what purpose do you take in those children?"
"..."
"..."
"...Ah!!"
After a moment of silence, the realization struck John like lightning.
He stared at me with that same enlightened look for several seconds.
And then—
"Master, I would like to establish a poorhouse in this territory. Would you grant me permission to do so?"
"Ninety points."
I praised him with a nod.
"Precisely. If your goal is to save the impoverished, do it through official channels. If necessary, bring a direct petition to me. Since I strive to be an enlightened ruler, I will never dismiss such a plea out of hand."
"Yes, sir!"
"Well done. You're a clever man."
"It is all thanks to your guidance, Master! You are the truly magnificent one here!!"
Just as he said, John looked at me with even deeper emotion, his eyes overflowing with total devotion.
"I will issue a formal decree in due course. In the meantime, draw up a plan."
"Yes, Master!"
After nodding vigorously, John's expression shifted, and he asked hesitantly.
"Master... what were the missing ten points for?"
"Just now, when you made that petition, you did so fully prepared for punishment—prepared to die, didn't you?"
"Y-Yes."
"That applies whether you are facing me or anyone else. People are treasures; never undertake a task with the assumption that you must die for it."
"—! Understood!! You truly are incredible, Master..."
It seemed John had grasped the lesson in full.
Since he was a talent I planned to recall to the empire's center eventually, I fully intended to impart as much wisdom as I could whenever our paths crossed.
Having achieved that today, I leaned back, thoroughly satisfied.