"This is just impossible-poyo..."
I muttered to myself.
A sudden demand from the Lepsitol side had sent shockwaves through Chronos.
Ever since Lepsitol’s economic collapse, I had been flatly rejecting their requests for annexation, while they had been stubbornly insisting, "We will not be made into a colony of Chronos, degozaru."
And then, out of the blue, they had come out with this: "We wish to welcome a blood relative of King Leo as the King of Lepsitol."
No, absolutely not.
Who in their right mind would want to become a king? Especially the king of such a failed state.
Besides, you people are still in the middle of a general election!
Say that after the voting is over!
Still, I could understand Lepsitol's reasoning to some extent.
They were bankrupt and broken; the idea that they would rather submit to Chronos than be left to rot was a natural enough conclusion for them to reach.
Lepsitolians were notoriously bad at metacognition, so I doubted they were giving our circumstances even a moment’s thought.
They had probably heard rumors about Big Brother Cyrus from somewhere.
I doubted they realized he was the one behind the Assassination Incident of the Former Emperor of the Galactic Empire.
If they had known that, they would have avoided him like a ticking time bomb.
They had likely only gathered enough information to know that a member of the Imperial Family had suddenly appeared.
Hmm... Big Brother Cyrus, huh?
I trusted Big Brother Cyrus himself, but there was always the risk that his descendants might start claiming, "I am the one true Galactic Empire Emperor!"
Or perhaps Brother-in-law Thomas.
I decided to reach out to him.
"It has been a long time, Brother-in-law Thomas."
"His Majesty Leo. It has indeed been a while."
"Please, cut that out. We’re closer than that, aren't we?"
"I suppose we are... Did something happen?"
"Lepsitol has noticed Big Brother Cyrus."
"...I see. There must be a traitor among us."
"It’s within the range of what I can tolerate, honestly. Personally, I wouldn't even mind stepping down as the King of Chronos if someone else would take over the responsibility."
I was perfectly happy just being Wifey’s Lord Groom.
I was more than ready to be a stay-at-home husband.
"Do not say such terrifying things. You are the only one capable of being the King of the outer universe."
"Ehh... I think there are plenty of people more capable than me."
After all, about half the plans I made ended in failure.
"There you go with your humility again. At worst, we can simply annex Lepsitol into Chronos and be done with it."
"I don't want to do that! I have no desire to expand!"
"I believe it is your destiny, Leo. I look forward to seeing the results of the general election."
How cruel!
I thought as I ended the correspondence with Thomas.
Talking to Thomas always made me feel like I had somehow become smarter.
It was an illusion, of course.
The real problem was Lepsitol.
They were still in the middle of their general election, but the Chronos Annexation Party was already polling at nearly seventy percent support.
Come to think of it, election day was approaching.
I hated this.
The stress was making my stomach churn.
I needed to find Kinako and fluff her to recharge my energy.
As I walked across the dining hall of the Chronos palace, I spotted Shiyun. She was wearing a red uniform.
This was bad!
Shiyun's older brothers and the rest of the Taikyoku Nation Personal Guard were all decked out in red uniforms too!
I ducked into the corner of the hallway to avoid being seen.
I quickly contacted Claire and Wifey.
"Shiyun and the Taikyoku Nation bunch are wearing their red uniforms."
"How disastrous... Enough! Claire, see to it that no one approaches the dining hall!"
"Understood, Veronica-chan."
The baseball game had begun.
I practically crawled away to make my escape.
I had completely forgotten that today was a baseball broadcast day!
"Knock it out of the park!"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! You total amateur!"
It had started...
The Taikyoku Nation was packed with hardcore baseball fans.
I decided I would eat my lunch at Zashiki-warashi-chan's Shrine today.
I headed toward a secondary kitchen in the palace that wasn't our usual hangout.
"Your Majesty. What brings you here?"
The Head Chef greeted me.
The Head Chef was an incredible person who kept us all fed.
Though I usually insisted on making my own lunch and late-night snacks.
"The Taikyoku Nation baseball broadcast is on..."
When I said that, the Head Chef gave me a sympathetic look. "That is indeed a misfortune."
"I shall prepare something for you immediately."
"No, it's fine. Just let me use the microwave and the water heater."
I poured hot water into my cup noodles and popped a frozen bento into the microwave.
I had expected to eat my lunch in solitude... but then a line started forming behind me.
It wasn't just Isono and Claire.
My old classmates from the military academy were there, too.
It seemed none of them could get anywhere near the dining hall.
"I'm heading to the shrine," I said.
"Got it. Everyone! Leo is eating at the shrine!"
"Yessir!"
Then, the Chamberlain arrived at the speed of light.
"I have prepared seating for you all."
"I’m sorry for all the trouble."
I felt truly bad about it...
Our Shiyun... her entire personality shifted when baseball was involved...
"Dwoaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A collective scream echoed through the halls.
It was likely the sound of a home run being hit against their team.
Leisure sheets had already been spread out at the shrine.
Zashiki-warashi-chan was lying there, rolling around lazily.
"Hey, Zashiki-warashi-chan. Is it okay if we eat here?"
"It’s okaaaay."
She seemed perfectly fine with it, so I sat down and started on my ramen.
Slurp, slurp, slurp...
Man, eating this every once in a while was heavenly.
"The Head Chef gave us some bread, too."
Ren and Claire arrived, pushing a cart.
I realized I had only been thinking about myself.
And so, we had a little lunch picnic with my academy classmates.
Before I knew it, One-oh-one and Tatiana had joined the group as well.
The long winter was finally ending, and the democratic general election in Lepsitol was drawing to a close.
The dark, depressing atmosphere that had hung over the galaxy was beginning to lift.
At least... for the time being.
The bread was the kind filled with something like Chronos-style anko.
The outside was deep-fried and delicious.
There were even some filled with meat.
I made a mental note to thank the Head Chef later.
I wondered what would happen with the Lepsitol election.
And how the war with Parcion would turn out.
There were so many things to consider.
But the thing I had to address most urgently was...
"Leo... baseball has become a bit too popular, hasn't it?"
"...Yeah."
It was the hardcore baseball fan problem.
I never imagined Shiyun would turn into such a wild beast.
Well, since they were all from distinguished families of the Taikyoku Nation, they didn't exactly go around shouting "Get out!" at people.
It was just that you were effectively forced to cheer for the Taikyoku Nation team.
An atmosphere was created where you felt like you absolutely had to sing the team's fight song.
The sheer destructive power of our own culture...
I had initially classified cultural contamination as a slow-acting poison, but this was far more potent.
It was a hazardous substance that caused irreversible changes...
But there was no going back now.
And so, we charged ahead into a future no one had ever seen—into a world of a new order.