Castell appeared before me as soon as I entered the outer court. He still had his regal demeanour, his black robe and trademark smile.
“Welcome home, your majesty.”
“Aaahh, Castell. To be honest, I’m quite surprised to see you. I thought you always stayed with the elves.”
Castell asked me with a smile: “No, I was just there to make the arrangements for your return and deal with a few other minor matters. I naturally came back since you have returned. Are you comfortable here?”
To be frank, all the people I face here are people who frighten me, for example, the empress who looks scary but is actually a stupid mother. There’s also Nier who hates me to the extreme for some odd reason. There’s also the loli that can shatter boulders with a single punch. I feel so much more cordial to finally meet someone normal even though I just stole a girl from him not long ago.
I weakly smiled, nodded and said: “I’m alright. I just never expected that human and elven society were so different.”
I thought ballista were already an advanced piece of technology for humans. Then it turned out that ballistae were already an abandoned machine. Did Castell do that on purpose…? But he wasn’t wrong. By that I mean, the elves wouldn’t have been able to produce cannons in those few days even if Castell did suggest cannons.
Castell blinked and said with a laugh: “True. When you came here in the past, you were a melancholic person who never left his room. I am very happy that you took the initiative to leave your room this time. I was surprised that you even bought a girl. Her majesty was very happy about that. It looks like you have begun to accept the world of humanity now.”
I’m a human to begin with… It looks like the original prince associated more with his elf identity. That means that the war for their son ten years ago was initiated by humanity. I don’t have any means of asking much. I could only helplessly and silently smile because my personality is completely different to the original prince. I think you could look at it like this: I like the life with the elves better, but intrinsically lean towards humanity.
“Your majesty, you returned from outside the palace, am I right? It is unfortunate, but it looks like you will not have any time to rest. You will be very busy very soon. However… that depends on your attitude.”
Castell’s vague words annoyed me a bit. His expression clearly indicated that he knew something but wasn’t telling me. And the corner of his mouth which perked up into a smile was a clear indication he was waiting for me to ask.
I sighed and asked: “What is it?”
