“We, Parcion, protest against the invader, Chronos!”
Despite the fact that a Parcionian had been the one to torch the Parcion Consulate in Lepsitol, they were protesting against Chronos, a nation that had absolutely nothing to do with it.
I doubt you’ll follow my logic here, but this was exactly what had gone down over the last twenty-four hours.
“We will never forgive Chronos for setting fire to the Lepsitol Embassy!”
Not a single word of it made sense. A Parcionian committed the arson, for heaven’s sake!
But that was how things worked when there were no mutual aid associations or diplomatic summits between nations. In this galaxy, might was right. I didn’t think Parcion actually possessed that much power, but they presumably had some kind of plan to defeat Chronos. Probably.
However, I had one piece of unfortunate news for little Parcion-kun.
Wifey, the Galactic Empire Emperor; myself, the King of Chronos; the King of Latarnia; Shiyun, the Emperor of the Taikyoku Nation; Karen-san, the President of Lepsitol; and Saria, representing the Ogre God Nation and the Battle Dome, had all officially announced that we would be holding regular summits. It was a conference where friendly nations could mutually discuss various interstellar issues.
In the future, we planned to have the representative of Proone and several small nations from the Battle Dome join the meetings as well.
Looking back on it objectively, the Battle Dome had actually been a remarkably progressive initiative. The Ogre God Nation was truly fearsome. No wonder they were held in such high regard despite being only a mid-sized nation.
And so, the Parcion Problem was already on the agenda for that conference. In other words, there wasn't a single faction left in the galaxy that would bother listening to Parcion-kun’s delusional sleep-talking.
How tragic for them. We were quite skilled at this sort of thing.
The actual summit was still a while off. Today, I was just relaxing with Wifey on our day off.
“Lord Groom~. Pass me that, I say.”
“Righto.”
I handed her JoJoJo Volume 40. It was the copy I’d finally managed to claw back after that bastard Isono had borrowed it indefinitely.
Days like this were nice. The last time I’d enjoyed a genuine holiday was back when Rikochi and I were living together.
Just then, the door to the room swung open.
“Yahoo! I’m here to return the JoJoJo I borrowed.”
It was Rikochi, looking rare in her private clothes.
“Oh! Well done, Riko. I was just about to start reading it, I say.”
“Veronica-chan, lend me something else.”
“Very well. That area over there is my bookshelf.”
Rikochi stood in front of Wifey’s storage unit.
“Whoa… is this entire thing filled with rom-coms?”
“Umu!”
“Ah, I’ll take this one. It was turned into a movie. Can I borrow it?”
“Umu! Go forth and spread the faith!”
Then, a scratching sound came from the door. Right on cue, Kinako and Daifuku arrived. Kinako was far too large to actually fit inside the room.
“Hmm, shall we have a picnic at the shrine then?”
We set down our manga and headed out for a picnic. Since I hadn’t had time to cook lunch, I’d asked the court chef to prepare some bento boxes; he’d been so moved by the request that he’d wept with joy. He even offered to check if the other members of the holiday group wanted bento boxes as well. I felt a little bad about making them work.
“The weather is lovely.”
Small birds chirped "piyo piyo" in the air. For some reason, they decided to land on my head and shoulders, pecking at me incessantly.
“They’re saying they want something to eat.”
“Righto.”
Since I’d been shaken down by animals before, I was prepared. I scattered some birdseed, and the little birds began to feast. No hawks had appeared yet, which was why the small birds were able to eat their meal so peacefully. Once they finished eating and took their dust baths, they flew off toward the horizon.
“Umu, the Lord Groom is as popular as ever with the animals, I say.”
“I wonder why?”
It was a genuine mystery.
Then, Ren arrived, driving an intra-palace turret truck.
“Husband, it’s time for tea~.”
It looked like she had brought the tea and the bento boxes.
“Is today your day off too, Ren?”
“I am the general manager of the inner palace. I don’t really distinguish between my holidays and my private life.”
“Is that really okay?”
I wondered for a second, but Ren wasn’t exactly the most serious person in the world, so I figured she’d be fine.
Chronos was being managed in a rather gray fashion. I mean, for starters, I was the groom of the Galactic Empire Emperor. And while Chronos was an independent nation, it would have collapsed without the Empire’s support. Because of that, there were plenty of things people could complain about, like the Galactic Empire Emperor living in the Chronos Palace.
But Wifey was a celebrity in Chronos too. We often went out to buy snacks and eat at the local shops like anyone else. We ate the same food and the same dishes as the citizens. While we were foreigners and might have preferred the cuisine of our homelands for lunch, dishes from the Galactic Empire were flooding into Chronos. In short, we ate the same things as everyone else and didn't act like we were above them.
Our reputation for respecting the Chronosians was solid. After all, us guys had lived in the tenement nagayas from the start. As a result, we could all speak the Chronos language without using translators. The girls, including Wifey, were a different story, of course.
Regardless, our favorability rating was incredibly high. That was fine for the first generation, but the real test would be the next one. Things start off well, but history is littered with administrations that failed to maintain employment rates for new graduates and were toppled by revolutions. As long as people have enough money and a satisfactory life, they don't feel the need to start a revolution.
I sipped my tea. The hard part was definitely yet to come. I was nothing more than a hired convenience store manager; I had to keep that carved into my heart. Maintaining a sense of tension was vital.
I relaxed while eating my bento. Rikochi was taking it easy too. Kinako was stuck right to my side, while Daifuku was being pampered by Wifey.
Tatiana and One-oh-one were still at work. They were serving as nurses at the same military hospital as Kevin. Apparently, a lot of people showed up there just to catch a glimpse of the "Saint" Tatiana. Shiyun was busy with her duties for the Taikyoku Nation. It seemed the three of them would be dropping by later.
I lay down, leaning against Kinako’s fur. I’d been sleep-deprived lately because of those idiots in Parcion, so I immediately began to drift off… and I was out.
“The Lord Groom has fallen asleep.”
“I-I’m not… asleep, zoi…”
“Don’t push yourself when one of your eyes is already closed!”
Rikochi gave me a lap pillow. My brain slowly stopped functioning altogether.
“Riko… by the way, what happened with the marriage registration?”
“I wrote my name in~.”
“What did your family say?”
“Well, they were shocked when I told them I was marrying the King of Chronos. Leo-kun is famous, after all.”
“Umu, we are sisters now.”
Ah, I wanted to hear more, but I couldn't resist the pull of sleep…
Zzzzz.
By the time I woke up, I was officially married to Rikochi.
You probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but I had been caught up in a grand conspiracy.
“Lord Groom, I borrowed your fingerprints.”
The culprit was Wifey.
Well, it wasn’t like I was unwilling. When the subject had come up the other day, I’d figured we would end up getting married anyway.
“I’ll be in your care from now on, 'ssu!”
Rikochi smiled as she said it.
“Roger that!”
And so, the family had grown. I decided to forget about those idiots in Parcion for a while and just enjoy the peace.
Alright, world, bring it on!