Celestine de Oiria, her hood pulled down low, quietly entered the establishment.
Her face was completely hidden, so Conrad couldn’t make out her expression. She was accompanied by a man who appeared to be a nobleman and one other person, a female attendant.
Upon seeing the female attendant, Conrad almost cried out.
It was Celes.
Her hair was up and she wasn’t wearing her glasses, but the woman standing there was, without a doubt, Celes.
Celes, for her part, covered her mouth in surprise upon seeing Conrad.
“Thank you for coming today. It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am…”
The Former Emperor began to introduce himself while offering a seat to the hooded Princess Regent.
Although they were neighboring countries, there had never before been an opportunity for the Princess Regent to meet a member of the Imperial family face-to-face.
The reason was that relations between the two countries had grown far too hostile during the era of the Eastern Kingdom’s previous king, the <Hero King>.
This should have been a historic meeting, but today’s stage was an izakaya. How would future historians depict this, he wondered.
The nobleman accompanying the Princess Regent, a man named La Catan, was also shaking hands with the Former Emperor. Conrad had heard his name many times in reports from his spies. He was a man with strong ties to the young King Hugues, who considered himself the Princess Regent’s overseer.
But to Conrad, none of that mattered.
“…Celes?”
“Conrad-san?”
They spoke with their eyes, as if confirming each other’s presence. The Former Emperor shot a brief, suspicious glance at the two who remained standing, but then bowed deeply to the hooded woman.
“Welcome to the Empire. I am grateful to you for coming all this way.”
“The pleasure is all mine. If not for an occasion such as this, I would never have had the chance to travel so deep into the Empire, so it has been a wonderful experience.”
Although both wore smiles, it was as if they were facing each other with drawn swords.
This must be what people called a tense atmosphere.
In contrast, Conrad and Celes were simply staring intently at each other.
Even though they had talked so much, it still didn’t feel like enough. There was something about Celes that made him feel that way.
The Princess Regent and Celes took their seats, facing the Former Emperor and Conrad. Sebastian and La Catan stood in waiting at their sides.
“Now then, I apologize for having you come all this way, but I would like to call off this marriage interview.”
At those unexpected words, Conrad stared at the Former Emperor’s face. What, then, was that whole argument with him just moments ago?
The Former Emperor’s expression was grim as he cut straight to the point.
It was easy to see that he was filled with remorse.
“As I mentioned beforehand, it seems my grandson is not enthusiastic about this matter. I had hoped he might be, but…”
The fact that he’d mentioned it beforehand must have meant he knew it was a gamble with low odds of success.
“I, too, was thinking of reconsidering this matter…”
The Princess Regent’s voice was also sorrowful.
Despite all the troublesome preparations, it meant the marriage interview had been a failure from the start.
They were trying to marry off Conrad, who had no intention of getting married in the first place, to a Celestine who was much older. Even for a political marriage between enemy nations, it had been a bit too hasty.
Although that was the nature of such interviews, considering their respective positions and feelings, couldn’t they have proceeded a little more carefully?
Thinking about it as if it were someone else’s problem, Conrad’s gaze never left Celes.
To be able to meet her again now felt like a miracle.
“It is most unfortunate.”
“Yes, for us as well.”
The Former Emperor and the veiled Princess Regent sighed in unison.
It was no wonder, since it meant they had both come all this way to Izakaya Nobu just to save face for one another.
If only it were Celes sitting in that seat.
Conrad would have accepted the proposal without a second thought.
It hadn’t even been that long since he’d bad-mouthed Celestine so horribly to the Former Emperor, but that didn’t matter.
What surprised him was that the Former Emperor truly had no intention of forcing the marriage on him.
He had thought it was a case of a grandfather not knowing his grandson’s heart, but perhaps it was the other way around.
Translator’s note
This is a play on the Japanese proverb oya no kokoro ko shirazu (親の心子知らず), “A child doesn’t know their parent’s heart.”
“…Well now, my grandson. The Princess Regent has gone to the trouble of coming all this way. How about you at least offer her a greeting?”
The Former Emperor tugged on Conrad’s sleeve, trying to urge him to greet the Princess Regent.
But Conrad didn’t move. There was something more important he had to do.
He took the hand of Celes, who was sitting across from him.
Facing the Former Emperor, who was staring at him, the Emperor of the Empire made a declaration. His tone was so clear and firm it even surprised himself.
“…Grandfather, I wish to marry this woman.”
After blurting it out, he remembered that he hadn’t gotten Celes’s consent.
Celes didn’t pull her hand away. She simply blushed and nodded.
The Former Emperor seemed unable to comprehend what had just happened.
With an expression somewhere between dumbfounded and stunned, he looked back and forth between the faces of Conrad, Celes, and the Princess Regent.
“Wait a minute. The marriage interview may be off, but you’re in the presence of the Princess Regent… Surely, you can’t…”
The Former Emperor hurriedly tried to stand, but Conrad quickly stopped him with a hand gesture.
“No, Grandfather. I am the Emperor of this Empire. If I cannot even choose my own life partner, then what is the point of this Imperial throne?”
“But still…”
As the Former Emperor looked on awkwardly, the Princess Regent suddenly began to chuckle. Her laughter grew louder and louder, until it was practically a roar.
“W-What is the matter?”
In front of the flustered Former Emperor, the Princess Regent removed her veil. Wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye with her index finger, she turned to Celes.
The face that appeared from beneath the veil belonged to a freckled woman with a build very similar to Celes’s.
“S-So he says, ‘Your Highness, the Princess Regent.'”
The Princess Regent was calling Celes the Princess Regent.
Celes, having been addressed, responded with a brilliant smile.
“Yes. I, Celestine de Oiria, Princess Regent of the Eastern Kingdom, humbly accept the marriage proposal of His Majesty, Emperor Conrad V of the Empire.”
The other people in the shop could only stare in stunned silence as the two “Princess Regents” began to laugh.
Conrad and the Former Emperor, Sebastian, Taisho and Shinobu. And Reinhold, too.
All six of them, each in their own way, wore expressions as if they had been bewitched by a fox.
Translator’s note
In Japanese folklore, kitsune (foxes) are known to be tricksters who can shapeshift and deceive humans.
“…Celes, so… you’re Celestine?”
Conrad’s question was a little dim-witted, but there was nothing else he could ask.
Celes nodded.
“Yes, I am Celestine de Oiria. I am the real Princess Regent. This is my handmaiden and body double, Charlotte.”
“A body double…”
Charlotte, who had a build similar to Celestine’s, gave a respectful bow.
As befitting a body double, her mannerisms were a perfect match for Celestine’s. With her face hidden, it would likely be impossible to tell them apart.
This was a marriage interview in the Old Capital—enemy territory, so to speak. If she could only bring a minimal retinue, it was only natural for her to be cautious.
The tense atmosphere completely changed, becoming a peaceful one.
“…I’ll expect a full explanation for this later.”
The Former Emperor muttered in a low voice, a smile plastered on his face, and Conrad, standing beside him, responded with a strained smile of his own.
“It was love at first sight. It couldn’t be helped.”
“That depends on the time and place. …But, you’ve done well, my grandson.”
The Former Emperor placed a hand on the Emperor’s shoulder. The gesture was endlessly warm.
It was then that a hollow round of applause echoed through Izakaya Nobu.