I had reached the point where I no longer understood what was happening.
My scalp simply felt cool and tingly from the hair growth tonic. Was it the effect of the carbonation and the Swertia? It must have been.
About an hour after the Government Emergency Press Conference, footage from the battlefield arrived. Parcion National Broadcasting and Lepsitol National Broadcasting aired the footage simultaneously, though their interpretations were polar opposites.
Parcion reported a resounding victory, claiming they had sunk enemy battleships. Lepsitol followed suit with a victory claim of its own, asserting they had done the same. Both sides insisted they were in the right.
The footage showed a fleet battle from a perspective that made it impossible to tell what was actually going on.
"Hmm..."
"Hey," I said, "is it possible these two countries are colluding to frame Chronos?"
"To what end?" Claire asked. "I can't imagine anything other than them making a beeline for Chronos while we're off guard."
"Stay alert for that possibility for now."
"Understood."
Claire nodded. She was being brief, likely due to her exhaustion. Ren, looking equally drowsy, poured some strong tea for me.
"Master. Here ish your tea."
Ren was probably the one who had slept the least. In fact, the rest of the staff members were even busier than we were. They were busy dealing with inquiries, receiving guards sent on emergency dispatch, increasing police security...
A multitude of civil officials and military officers had arrived to respond to the war. I couldn't exactly turn away those who’d come all this way without offering so much as a cup of tea. And it wasn't just serving tea; we were also making and distributing light snacks. That included portions for all the media personnel living in the Palace.
The twenty-four-hour childcare facility next to the Palace was also operating at full capacity. Since I was constantly causing them trouble, I went to pay my respects with boxes of sweets and drinks. Mutually beneficial relationships had to be maintained through these kinds of gestures.
I couldn't just brush it off by thinking, 'Well, they're making money!' If they ever told me, "We're stopping the twenty-four-hour service, pyon!" we would be in serious trouble. No, seriously.
If we ever had children, I would build a nursery inside the Palace, but I couldn't exactly have them in the same place as the children of the press and the chamberlains. Actually, I had already proposed that and been scolded. To summarize the response I received: "If they get injured, how are we going to handle the liability, you idiot!?"
The world was a truly difficult place.
Things were just as hectic inside the Palace. The breakrooms were cleaned before the roll call was finished. Since we were awake, the staff was also cleaning the toilets, replacing towels in the shower room, and maintaining the laundry. The boiler was running at full tilt. They even ironed our formal attire before the press conference. Once they got us changed, they immediately washed and dried our officer academy tracksuits. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to let others see me in an officer academy tracksuit that was on the verge of wearing out. That was a fair point. Even my favorite sandals had been washed. The laundry was operating at full capacity.
Furthermore, we had to deal with the assembly members and business leaders who had crowded in during all this. I couldn't exactly refuse to meet them. Taking out the trash, cleaning the gardens, handling lost property... To all the palace staff: Thank you, as always. Without you, we would truly be toast.
With that in mind, we discussed the protection of foreign nationals. Latarnia, which had been expanding its bank network, agreed to handle the coordination. Though, there weren't many people to coordinate for. In Lepsitol, the issue of Ogre God Nation people being burdened with debt and enslaved had been smoldering for years. Latarnians had a history of being enslaved by both nations, and Chronosians and Taikyoku Nation persons were usually discriminated against.
Galactic Empire persons were viewed with extreme caution as eerie existences. Generally, they were seen as good people who were bright, kind, and valued order, but who somehow walked away with all the profit before anyone noticed. Isn't that just because they're good and kind? It's not my fault, right?
After several press conferences, noon arrived. Our brains were starting to stall, so we decided to take naps in shifts. I spread out a sleeping bag on the dining hall floor and slept. Shiyun and Wifey went to their rooms, but I opted to sleep on the floor with everyone else in the dining hall. The news was being broadcast twenty-four hours a day via the projector. If there was any movement, whoever was awake would wake the others.
For some reason, Lou-chan's Mama was filming the scene. I would have liked to put on a show since I had the chance, but I had no energy left and simply drifted off. The image of me sleeping in my military uniform was broadcast to the entire universe. The Chronosian people apparently shed tears, thinking, 'The King is overworking himself...' I didn't know anything about that because I was out cold.
"Mmm... I'm hungry..."
When I woke up and went to the washroom, I found someone had doodled on my face. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to be a cat-type robot or an eerie jester. A court lady laughed as she removed it with cleansing cream. I fixed my hair and changed into a fresh military uniform. Apparently, the one I had been wearing was already headed for the wash. It wasn't even smelly yet...
Well then... for food...
"The meal has been prepared, Master."
Ren spoke up. This wasn't going to be something casual like yakisoba. This was the formal dinner with the members of the assembly. I changed into the military semi-formal uniform and headed out, followed by my inner circle—Claire, Isono, Eddy, and the others. Only Kevin declined, saying, "I have surgery, so I'll pass."
Kevin was the representative of the female-type Zorks, which made her standing delicate. While I didn't have any opponents in the assembly, there were people who opposed One-oh-one and Kevin. Quite a few people just couldn't accept Zorks. Mostly the elderly, I suppose? It had nothing to do with Chronos directly, but they didn't go so far as to exclude them; their attitude was basically 'please spare us from letting them make decisions for the Grand Duchy.'
Therefore, One-oh-one and Kevin stayed behind. It seemed Melissa was going to accompany them. She was just slacking off, wasn't she? "Using my brain is impossible." Yeah, right.
When we arrived at the venue, the assembly bigwigs were there to welcome us. First, we ate. The assembly members all seemed to have no appetite. On the other hand, my group ate elegantly while desperately suppressing the beasts known as our surging appetites. It was a course meal with meat and fish. It was delicious... but it remained a mystery why eating a course meal always made me crave casual food like yakisoba or beef bowls.
The discussion was merely an explanation of what we currently knew. I just kept reiterating that we weren't hiding anything. Well, the people in the assembly were probably anxious. They couldn't even tell whether I was hiding information or not. So, I had no choice but to say, "We have no information beyond the reports from Latarnia Bank."
I handed the documents to each senator personally. They were likely anxious unless I did it myself. This was the weakness of being the type of Archduke who could use the 'final resort' of fleeing. It would be bad if they thought I was preparing a brilliant midnight escape without sharing any info. I suspected there were a significant number of spies in the Palace as well... Based on their intelligence, they probably already knew that I genuinely didn't know anything.
That meaningless dinner party—held solely to ease the anxiety of the assembly members—finally ended. Just as my fatigue reached its absolute limit, a message arrived from Lepsitol.
A woman with a form leaning toward a scaled reptile-type spoke to me from the screen.
"Archduke. Let us join forces and destroy the evil Parcion together!"
Uh... no, that's terrifying.