Good day. My name was Pannakoa Silver Silk, the eldest daughter of the House of Count Silver Silk in the Reiwight Kingdom. I had turned fifteen that year. I invited everyone to call me Panna as a sign of affection.
At that particular moment, I was quite confused. Truly, I was in a state of utter bewilderment. Why, you might ask? How did it come to this? I found myself wondering exactly what I was doing.
The Reiwight Kingdom operated under a system involving three royal families. Each of these three families produced a king, meaning the kingdom technically had three kings at any given time. It was a rather convoluted arrangement, but since it had been the established system since long before my birth, there was little point in complaining about it.
Naturally, each of the three kings had a prince. These princes were roughly my age or perhaps slightly younger. Each of them already had an officially designated fiancée. While they were not yet married, the arrangements were essentially set in stone. It was highly unlikely that these matches would ever be overturned.
Consequently, the daughters of the Reiwight nobility—myself included—did not exactly spend our days gritting our teeth in frustration. Instead, we shifted our focus, joyfully maneuvering behind the scenes to secure the positions of second or third wife.
Being the first wife and queen consort was nothing but a headache. The ideal was to be the second or third wife. Yes, that was the dream. If one could provide one child in their teens and another in their twenties, their position would be secure for life. The remainder of one's years could be spent in a lifestyle of absolute freedom and luxury, funded entirely by the royal treasury. Moreover, as a relative of the crown, one's noble pride would be fully satisfied. Since we were born as noble daughters, it was the ultimate position to aspire to.
As for love? Love was something that tended to sprout on its own given enough time spent together. One could hardly survive in our circles by worrying over such trifles. Naturally, I was among those aiming for such a comfortable station.
Then, a certain incident occurred.
The princes apparently had a falling out with Alfred-sama, a distinguished Guest of the Korin Religion. If it had ended there, I would not have given it much thought, but rumors began to circulate that the princes might be disinherited.
The noble daughters fell into a collective panic. However, we had to remain composed. For the time being, we decided to wait and see without rushing to judgment. This was not mere opportunism; for a noble, the virtue of patience was paramount. We remained on standby, awaiting fresh information.
Eventually, the princes reconciled with Alfred-sama. It seemed the threat of disinheritance had been averted. We were all quite relieved. It appeared that life would return to its status quo.
Or so I thought. For us, the crisis was far from over.
To our astonishment, several daughters from lower-ranking noble families began to approach the princes. There were three of them in total, and they were making rapid progress. Until then, these girls had not even been permitted to attend our tea parties. Even if they had, they would have been expected to sit silently in a corner. And yet, there they were with the princes, conversing with apparent joy.
Hehe. Hehehehe. They certainly had nerve.
I was actually impressed. I truly was. They had taken action while I had remained idle. That was the simple difference between us. I could accept that reality, but I could not forgive it. That was a separate matter entirely.
Daughters of the advanced nobility like myself had spent years in a cycle of coordination and secret infighting to secure those positions. Now, these girls claimed they weren't even aiming for the princes? That they were after Alfred-sama instead? If that were the case, they should have behaved accordingly. Why were they constantly in the company of the princes? I had yet to see them spend any time with Alfred-sama at all.
Still, it would have been improper to refuse to hear their side of the story. There was surely room for discussion. If they refused to speak, I would have used my family's influence—though, in truth, our influence was not quite as formidable as it once was.
While my house was one of the preeminent Earldoms in the kingdom, we had faced various... circumstances. It was a source of some embarrassment, but for the past decade, the specialty products of our territory had mysteriously ceased to sell. We had been trapped in a dire financial situation, amassing debt while our inventory gathered dust. Part of the reason I had sought to marry a prince was the hope of easing my family's burdens.
However, that was now a thing of the past. Our financial situation had improved overnight.
As it turned out, the reason our products hadn't been selling was that a major company had been sabotaging our trade. We hadn't even noticed. However, the upper management of that company had apparently undergone a total restructuring, and the interference had vanished.
Of course, that didn't mean our goods would start flying off the shelves immediately. The lace fabric that was our specialty was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, a top-tier luxury item we could present anywhere with pride. Because of its high quality, it commanded a steep price, which made it difficult to move.
That was when Alfred-sama entered the picture.
Alfred-sama had taken a tremendous liking to our lace and purchased every single bit of it. Every bolt of fabric piled high in our various storehouses was gone. Furthermore, he had paid almost entirely in cash, leaving us with literal piles of gold coins. I wondered if he had done it out of pity, but that wasn't the case. He apparently had a specific market in mind and had loaded the lace onto the large merchant ships of the Marde Company, which had deep ties to the Korin Religion. It was a legitimate business transaction where both sides benefited.
Thanks to him, my house was in the process of reclaiming its former glory. We weren't quite there yet, as we were still busy repaying debts all over the country. Curiously, some of our creditors were grumbling that sudden repayments were a nuisance; they seemed to prefer having my house beholden to them. While I understood their logic, I found it strange that they would refuse payment when we were offering to cover all the interest as well.
I left those negotiations to my father. Regardless of the details, I felt nothing but profound gratitude toward Alfred-sama. He was the savior of my house.
And now, these daughters of lower nobles were claiming to be after him? Given his immense financial power, it was entirely possible they were simply blinded by greed. I owed a debt to Alfred-sama, and I could not allow unscrupulous opportunists to swarm around him. I decided I would demand an explanation—or rather, a thorough conversation—with these girls.
Accompanied by my servant, I headed to the location where they were said to be gathered: the Pandoro Mansion.
Also known as the Information Hall, this mansion was built to store and manage the kingdom's vast collection of literature. Since it was located near the Royal Castle, it featured numerous conference rooms of various sizes that were used for a variety of purposes.
I arrived at the entrance of the mansion, but it was much larger than I had anticipated. I called out to a nearby staff member, who guided me and my servant with practiced ease. I was grateful for the efficiency, but it felt a bit odd. I had barely said a word before he began leading the way.
He brought us to a single door, left us there, and returned to his duties. I felt he should have seen us all the way inside, but no matter.
I assumed the girls were inside, but then I noticed a thin board attached to the door.
"To all those entering: From this point forward, silence is mandatory. This order applies to servants and attendants as well. However, speaking is permitted if it is necessary to avert a crisis for one's master."
I understood the requirement for silence, but I was startled to see the names of the three kings listed as the authorities behind the note. Was this a royal decree?
Regardless, nothing would be gained by waiting in the hall. I signaled to my servant, and she opened the door for me. There was a sign that said "No Knocking Necessary," so I assumed I wouldn't be accused of being impolite.
We stepped through, but it wasn't a room; it was a long corridor lined with doors on both sides. There was a single signboard standing there.
"One hundred sheep. Eighty-seven escaped. Proceed to the room of the remaining number."
I blinked. What sort of question was this? As I stood there puzzled, my servant pointed to a nearby door labeled "Room One." The next was "Room Two."
I understood. I proceeded further down the hall and entered Room Thirteen.
The room was empty, but it contained a new prompt.
"To those arriving from the entrance: Thirteen sheep. Forty-four more were purchased. Proceed to the room of the number purchased."
There was also a note for those arriving from other rooms to proceed to the end of the hall, presumably to filter out those who had made a mistake.
I, however, would not fail such a simple test. I was quite skilled at arithmetic, largely because our years of frugality had required it. I solved one question after another as I moved through the building. The tests weren't limited to math; there were questions on grammar, law, and the rules of commerce. It finally dawned on me why silence was required; they didn't want the candidates consulting with their servants.
Eventually, I encountered a series of riddles. I actually found myself starting to enjoy the process. After about fifteen questions in total, I arrived at "Room Two," which was the answer to the final prompt.
Inside, I finally found the daughters of the lower nobility.
They were there! I had made it. They seemed busy with a mountain of paperwork and didn't even look up when I entered, but I felt a surge of accomplishment at having found the "goal."
Then I remembered my original purpose. But as I turned to address them, I realized there were people standing to my left and right.
"Princes?"
The three princes were there. They approached me with perfect etiquette. Where were they escorting me? They gestured for me to take a seat.
"Um... what is this mountain of documents in front of me?" I asked.
The three princes spoke in perfect unison.
"You overcame those questions and made it all the way here, which means your arithmetic is perfect!"
"Your reading comprehension is flawless!"
"You can handle any situation with flexibility and grace!"
They leaned in closer.
"Please! We beg you! Help us!"
Eh?
...Eh?
Somehow, I ended up helping them process the final tax returns.