The Carpa Kingdom was a large country reigning supreme over the western part of the South Continent, also known as the Landlion Continent.

　　Due to the conditions regarding location, goods in the western part of the kingdom were mainly circulated “by sea” and in the eastern part “by land”.

　　Of course that was nothing but a rough part.i.tion and the western part had plenty of land routes as well. Likewise, the eastern part transported goods by sea, namely across rivers, too.

　　Generally speaking however, more money and effort had been invested into the land routes in the eastern part of the kingdom in comparison to the ones in the western part.

　　Amongst the various countries on the southern continent, the Carpa Kingdom enjoyed a good reputation for their well-maintained routes in its eastern region. And an impressive convey with a large dragon carriage, drawn by eight dragons, at its centre, was slowly proceeding on such a route.

　　The two young royalties from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, were guarded by three hundred soldiers from the royal army of the Twin Kingdom. Right now they were temporarily resting on the gra.s.sland beside the road.

　　It was easy to understand that they chose this place intentionally for a break, seeing as a river was careering along not far away.

　　Although it was a bit of a detour, they had to move from watering place to watering place. Otherwise they wouldn’t have enough drinking water for the travellers and dragons. For that reason, roads remote from villages were deliberately zigzagged, so that they were bordering upon water sources on the way.

　　The Raptorial Dragons pulling the carriage were currently untied from it and greedily drinking from the river together with the Raptorial Dragons of the knights.

　　In the meantime, the knights were standing sentinel over their surroundings. The river could house the freshwater Water Dragons, crocodiles or carnivorous fishes. And just as likely was it that wild carnivorous dragons hunted in this area.

　　Having said that, this region was gra.s.sland as far as the eye could see, without any places to hide, and the water in the river was quite clear, too, so it was easy to spot any enemies within it. So the knights on watch, too, were standing there relatively relaxed and petted the necks of the drinking Raptorial Dragons in appreciation for their efforts on the road.

　　It was a relaxed atmosphere, albeit with a reasonable caution.

　　Then the door of the large carriage opened and a single silhouette appeared.

　　“Fuh… Good job, everyone. Oh man, my shoulders are so stiff.”

　　The young man, getting off the carriage, said that in a tone that was somewhat inappropriate for his status and rolled his shoulders as to underline his words.

　　“Please forgive the inconveniences, Prince Francesco. We will pause here for a moment to let the dragons drink, so please unwind yourself outside in the meantime.”

　　“Okay, will do. I’ll leave the schedule up to you, so do as you see fit.”

　　The young man with blonde hair, green eyes and oldest son of the crown prince of the Sharrow Family, Francesco, replied with a refres.h.i.+ng smile to the middle aged knight that acted as the commander of the guards.

　　Both, his behaviour and words, were not exactly lacking the dignity of a royalty, but it still got across as somewhat “easy-going”. As a matter of fact, the nearby knights were no more tense than necessary, even in the presence of one of the prominent figures of their country, namely the oldest son of the next king, which definitely was attributed to this very character of Prince Francesco.

　　His handsome, slender face always showed an amiable smile, so he appeared younger that he actually was.

　　However, it clearly revealed him as a born royalty how he “naturally” accepted all the nearby knights standing on guard at a distance.

　　Under to protection of numerous knights, Prince Francesco casually walked around with an extremely laid-back expression and eased his body that had become all stiff from the long ride in the carriage.

　　“Prince Francesco.”

　　Suddenly the voice of a woman came from behind the prince.

　　When Prince Francesco turned around, he saw a familiar girl and said with a brighter smile.

　　“Hey, Bona. I see you left the carriage, too. Good call. The western area of the continent is so much hotter, and accordingly sultrier, than the central area, but near the water it’s definitely refres.h.i.+ng. Here, feel the nice breeze.”

　　“Ah, yes. Thank you for the advice, Prince.”

　　The young woman, nodding a bit surprised in response to Prince Francesco’s words, was Princess Bona.

　　Like Prince Francesco, she, too, was a member of the Sharrow Royal Family.

　　Nevertheless it would stretch a point to group Prince Francesco, a legitimate grandson of the current king, and Princess Bona, a lower rank n.o.blewoman that was only put into the royal family because she atavistically awakened to the ‘Bestowal Magic’, together as the same “royalty”.

　　In fact, her att.i.tude towards Prince Francesco was closer to that of an aristocrat consulting a royalty rather than that of an equal member of the royal family.

　　Their difference in authority was represented in all kind of things. For example, the dragon carriage of Prince Francesco was large and drawn by eight dragons, whereas the dragon carriage of Priness Bona was one size smaller and drawn by six dragons.

　　However, despite the obvious differences, Princess Bona was an unmistakable member of the royal family. In terms of social standing, she was very clearly distinguishable from the escorting knights and much more closer to Prince Francesco.

　　Therefore it was none other than her role to point out “that” right now.

　　“Excuse me, Prince Francesco, but did you put on these clothes by yourself?”

　　Her question implied a meaning obvious to any hearer, but Prince Francesco didn’t seem to notice it at all and answered cheerfully.

　　“Oh, you noticed. As you know, we have far less waiting maids with us than in the royal palace. I don’t want to bother them all too much, so I usually do what I can on my own.”

　　The prince declared it so proudly that you practically could hear the nuance: “Quite considerate of me, isn’t it? Go on and praise me.”

　　Seeing him like that made Princess Bona feel rather guilty for some reason. But she still had to mention it, because she was the only person present that could speak openly with him without causing societal problems.

　　Princess Bona cleared her throat determined with an affected cough and then

　　“Prince, you are wearing two different kind of socks.”

　　she stated the fact as straightforward as possible.

　　“Eh? Ah, you’re right.”

　　The surprised Prince Francesco looked at his own feet and saw exactly what Princess Bona had pointed out: He was wearing different socks on each foot, a red sock on the right and a blue sock on the left.

　　“Ahaha, now that’s really something. Thanks for telling me, Bona. You spared me an embarra.s.sment.”

　　The prince thanked the young princess with a smile for pointing out his mistake.

　　“No problem. I may be speaking out of turn, but I suggest you return to your carriage and change your socks.”

　　While replying like that, Princess Bona internally heaved a sigh of relief.

　　(Good, he will “listen to reason” from my side after all.)

　　Some people would feel offended and perceive it as “compromising” when you gave them a correct advise for their own sake. Fortunately for everyone involved, Prince Francesco was not that narrow-minded. However, there was a different problematic issue with the prince.

　　“Mh? But since I’m wearing one red and blue sock each right now, doesn’t that mean there’s one red and blue sock each left in the carriage as well? So when I go back and change them, wouldn’t I end up with a blue sock on my right foot and a red sock on my left foot?”

　　(The problem is… he somewhat lacks the “brains to understand” my words.)

　　Princess Bona couldn’t help feeling a dull pain around her temples when she heard the words of the prince, who was around eight years older than her.

　　She remembered the words that Prince Francesco’s father, the crown prince, and his grandfather, the current king, entrusted her with at the royal palace.

　　“Please take care of him.” Not in her wildest dreams, she would have expected these words to literally mean “babysitting”.

　　Their journey was an official visit abroad, the first one for the Sharrow Family after a couple of dozen decades. Moreover, their destination was the Carpa Kingdom, the leader in the west with whom the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell wanted to avoid a direct confrontation.

　　So, what was the Sharrow Family thinking for sending her, the lowest of the lowest-ranking within the family, and a prince, who was nearly dead from the neck up, as the important emissaries?

　　(His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince are both sagacious personalities. There has to be some kind of reason for sending Prince Francesco…)

　　She had hoped to be told about that reason, if possible, but that was nothing but wishful thinking for a royal member at the bottom of the food chain.

　　If she had known beforehand that it would turn out like that, she would have never competed for this delegation…

　　(…No, in the end, I still would have competed for it after careful deliberation.)

　　As she never lied to herself, she came to such a conclusion.

　　Her fate might have been decided from the moment on, when she saw the diamond rings that Princess Isabelle from the Jilbell Family had brought back with her.

　　The three embedded diamonds were perfectly uniform in size and shape, and the fine and precise lines engraved in the socket were simply captivating.

　　The rings were exquisite enough to fascinate someone, who was aiming to be a jeweller.

　　By nature, those of the Sharrow Family, who were on the low-end in the line of succession, often tried their hand at creating jewellery or armaments in order to stand on one’s own feet as a maker of magic tools. And Princess Bona was no exception. She was already recognized as a full-fledged jeweller at her young age.

　　(In the end, I could not take part in turning these rings into magic tools, but when I go to the Carpa Kingdom and get close to Her Highness Aura and her husband…)

　　She had announced her intention to be part of this delegation with that kind of ambition, which was a bit too endearing to be an ulterior motive.

　　Anyway, now that the current king and crown prince were “counting on” her, she no longer had a choice but to do her best to meet their expectations.

　　“Prince, there is no need to change both socks. Just switch one of either socks and you will have matching colours on both feet.”

　　“Ah, right! That’s what they call thinking outside the box, I guess. Not bad, Bona. You’ve a flexible way of thinking.”

　　“…You honour me.”

　　The young princess fought the dull pain in her head while she already started to regret her own decision.