The next day, Zenjirou woke up in the guest room of the palace.

　　What leaped into Zenjirou’s freshly opened eyes was the curtain of a luxury bed.

　　He s.h.i.+vered his body briefly on the unfamiliar sight, but after a while he remembered where he had gone to bed last night and relaxed his shoulders.

　　“…Ah, right. I’m in another world.”

　　Zenjirou got out of the bed that seemed bigger than his 10m² room and lowered his feet onto the carpet on the floor.

　　He put on the slippers that were prepared for him next to his feet and walked down the broad room whereupon he noticed that he was unconsciously scratching his stomach with his right hand.

　　“Argh, it itches all over. Guess the bugs got me. Yesterday I accepted the marriage on the spur of the moment, but I might have been a been hasty…”

　　Zenjirou mumbled all too late.

　　Just by being here all day yesterday, he realized how inconvenient this world was compared to modern j.a.pan.

　　All of the food that had been served for lunch and dinner was deliciously seasoned, but the water and alcohol to it were oddly lukewarm.

　　Zenjirou’s taste buds were so poor that he couldn’t tell the difference between normal beer and low-malt beer, but like a proper j.a.panese, his motto was “Low-malt beer has to be ice-cold”.

　　So for him, the warmth of the wine served for dinner was disgusting, not even taking the taste into consideration.

　　Speaking of warmth, the climate itself was a problem. The impression he got from Aura’s conversation yesterday was that this Carpa Kingdom had a rather hot climate, even compared to the Kantou area of j.a.pan.

　　Even at the coldest season, rarely anyone would wear long sleeves outside and during the hottest season, people would “refresh” themselves by sticking close to each other in confined s.p.a.ces as much as possible, since the outside temperature would raise above the one of the body.

　　Zenjirou recalled with a somewhat displeased face how he heard about a similar countermeasure for Indian summers.

　　Things like thermometers didn’t exist in this world, so he couldn’t be sure, but he better prepared himself for winters with a minimum temperature of 20°C and summers with over 40°C.

　　Needless to say, this world didn’t know about air conditioning either. For Zenjirou, who only ever spent summers with air conditions in j.a.pan, this heat was h.e.l.l.

　　As a matter of fact, he had a hard time sleeping last night because of it. Although it wasn’t the peak of the summer yet, it took him more than an hour to fall asleep while he continued to turn around on top of the king-sized bed.

　　That said, not only the heat disturbed his sleep. The other factor interfering with his pleasant rest was “bugs”.

　　Apparently this world had no gla.s.s windows. Due to that, the windows all had wooden shutters, which were kept open during the day to let the light in. Naturally, the bugs had a carte blanche to enter.

　　Technically the curtain of the bed functioned as a mosquito net, but it couldn’t shut out all of the bugs.

　　As a result, Zenjirou had been bitten by bugs all over his body by the time he woke up.

　　However, even facing all these inconveniences, what annoyed him instead was the restriction of the night.

　　To be honest, he had never thought that a night without electrical light would be so troubling.

　　During his meal with Aura, a large chandelier with big candles had illuminated the place sufficiently, but when he walked down the hallway, he could only rely on the oil pan carried by the waiting maid that escorted him.

　　And even his room had only a single oil pan prepared on the table as a light source.

　　If he were to try reading a book with that kind of light, he would ruin his eyes for sure.

　　“I had heard that people went to bed early and woke up early in the past, but now I can relate. I mean, you can’t do anything but sleep during the night like this.”

　　Zenjirou changed his clothes while inadvertently mumbling some complaints.

　　Yesterday, he had already turned down the “help with changing clothes”, which was a custom for royals and aristocrats, from the waiting maid.

　　His current attire was loose trousers with a sash around the waist and a baggy top like a negligee that reached till his knees.

　　These were the typical night clothes for the upper cla.s.s, but after one night of wearing them, Zenjirou got the impression that he would rather sleep in trunks and a T-s.h.i.+rt instead. To begin with, he got entangled in the negligee he was wearing, since he turned around numerous times due to his bad sleeping posture.

　　Having said that, Zenjirou was a special guest, the Prince consort, albeit unofficial at this point. Clothes, food and residence, everything provided to him surely were of the greatest quality, but it was a matter of fact that these goods couldn’t satisfy Zenjirou, a commoner of modern j.a.pan.

　　The era and degree of culture was significantly different.

　　After he changed from the borrowed clothes into his own familiar clothes, Zenjirou sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for the waiting maid to get him.

　　“Now that I think about it, j.a.pan sure is blessed. Nearly all houses have a refrigerator and air conditioning. In comparison, this place doesn’t even have electricity. But I don’t have to work here. Not to mention, Aura-san is super pretty.”

　　He had gone through warm alcohol, an uncomfortable bed and a dark night, but what captured him enough to make an informal engagement yesterday was Aura Carpa’s charm.

　　Aura had appeared in a red evening dress with a bold slit in front of Zenjirou at yesterday’s dinner and fascinated her fiancé from the other world again with her charming smile and s.e.xy body.

　　Completely smitten by her Highness’ daring and alluring figure, Zenjirou had let his gaze wander over the cleavage of Aura’s voluminous b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her dress slit and thighs in a natural way (or at least Zenjirou thought so himself) the whole time.

　　Thinking back on it now, that a.s.s, b.r.e.a.s.t.s and thighs were worth enough to throw away the life in modern j.a.pan.

　　“Oh, right. I brought my bicycle with me here. That means, when I come back in a month, I can take some luggage with me, doesn’t it. Great, I’ll make a list for marriage-portion once I’m home!”

　　Saying so, Zenjirou clapped his hands together and at the same time, the door was knocked.

　　“Yes!”

　　“Excuse me. The breakfast is served.”

　　Zenjirou replied to the familiar voice of the waiting maid from the other side of the door with a loud voice.

　　“Yes, I’m coming!”

　　Standing up from the bed, he swiftly rushed over to the door.

　　* * *

　　It was a fact that Yamai Zenjirou was a special guest in the Carpa Kingdom, but his existence was currently only known to Queen Aura and her close retainers.

　　Due to that, the only one that sat with Zenjirou at the dining table for this world’s third meal, this morning’s breakfast was Aura, just like during yesterday’s lunch and dinner.

　　To express it with Zenjirou’s lacking vocabulary, the culture of Carpa felt like “a mixture of a typical fantasy set in mediaeval Europe and an uncivilized southern country”.

　　The long table, at which easily around 30 people could dine at the same time, surprisingly was one log split into two and with the surface polished up smoothly.

　　Zenjirou couldn’t even imagine how old that tree had been. To manufacture such a long log in one piece must cost way more than one out of marble.

　　On top of this large wooden table were soup in silver plates and round bread in basket lined up.

　　Zenjirou relished the foreign food while chit-chatting with Aura.

　　“We have already made preparations for your return. The constellations are favourable during forenoon today too, so it simply depends on you, Zenjirou-dono, when you will return. Just tell us when you are ready.”

　　Wiping the bottom of the soup plate with a piece of bread, Aura put it into her mouth and after she chewed it carefully and swallowed it, she reported the current situation to Zenjirou with her usual calm voice.

　　On the other hand, Zenjirou, ignorant of this world’s table manners, tilted the soup plate with his left hand while he tried to remember how Aura took her meal. He spooned the amber-coloured liquid with his silver spoon and timidly lead it towards his mouth.

　　“Thank you, Aura-san. I am fine with returning any time. I only have one question: How much luggage can I take along between the worlds during the summoning or return?”

　　Aura wasn’t the type of person, who would fuss over table manners during a private meal, but Zenjirou would definitely attend public dinners as the Prince’s consort from now on.

　　Aura appreciated Zenjirou’s attempt at remembering the table manners now and swallowed her words of “You can eat as you want without minding about manners”, giving him a smile instead.

　　“Mhm, the summoning magic summons a person, so it princ.i.p.ally should only be able to bring over things that you wear on your body. That mysterious vehicle you brought with you by chance surely is the limit.”

　　Zenjirou inadvertently dropped his shoulders on Aura’s answer, which was greatly different from his expectation.

　　“Uwa, seriously? That’s bad. Then I can’t take anything fancy…”

　　“Zenjirou-dono? Has something caught your eyes in the inner palace?”

　　Aura tilted her head, whereas Zenjirou shook his hand in front of his head, correcting her misunderstanding.

　　“Ah, no. I didn’t mean for my return, but for the next summoning in one month. If possible, I would’ve liked to bring over some tools and stuff from my world…”

　　“Oh, I see.”

　　Aura came to an understanding upon Zenjirou’s answer.

　　Come to think of it, her future husband should be in possession of some properties for living in the other world. If Zenjirou was an aristocrat or n.o.bility in the other word, just like the retainers had speculated with Aura last night, it wouldn’t be strange that he owned an immense fortune that he doesn’t want to let go.

　　“Certainly, considering your position, you would want to do something about that. Let’s see…”

　　The Queen wanted to fulfil his demands as best as possible all along, so she pondered what to do.

　　“….Oh, I know. We might be able to use that.”

　　After going through various possibilities inside her head, Aura found an useable one and clapped her hands together.

　　“Is there some kind of way, Aura-san?”

　　Zenjirou sat on the edge of his chair with a joyful look, whereas Aura nodded once.

　　“Yes. We have a magic carpet with barrier magic weaved into it, which is the foundation for the ‘s.p.a.ce-Time Magic’.

　　We will give you the carpet for your return to the other world and if you activate it’s barrier when we summon you again in a month time, it should bring over everything inside that barrier.

　　In the end, it is just a single carpet. It most likely cannot store all of your fortunes, but at least you will be able to bring more than with your bare hands.”

　　“Ohh, sound like I can bring a lot of stuff then! Ah, but my potential aside, I cannot use magic at the moment…”

　　Zenjirou’s joyful look changed into a disappointed one. Aura gave him a “No worry” smile and explained.

　　“Rest a.s.sured. A magical tool activates just by pouring mana into it. If in the worst case, you cannot even do that, just drip some blood onto the carpet. Your blood is rich on mana.”

　　On Aura’s reply, Zenjirou’s joyful look returned at once.

　　“Ah, now that is something even I can do. Thank you for everything, Aura-san.”

　　“Oh please, compared what you are doing for me, this is insignificant, so your grat.i.tude is unnecessary.”

　　Saying so, Aura gave him a composed smile.

　　Zenjirou didn’t know the value of a magical tool, so he accepted Aura’s good will without questions, but if he had known of its value beforehand, he might have realized for a bit just how sincere Aura’s interaction with him had been.

　　Magical tools were created with a magic called “Bestowal Magic”.

　　Just like the “s.p.a.ce-Time Magic” from the royal Carpa Family, the “Bestowal Magic” could only be used by members of a certain royal family too. It was commonly known as “Bloodline Magic”. Needless to say, magical tools created with “Bestowal Magic” were extremely rare and had skyrocketing prices.

　　Not to mention, the magic weaved into carpet in question was “s.p.a.ce-Time Magic”, although just the basic of basics. In other words, it was a gem that combined the secret techniques of two royal families. It could also be called the proof of good relations between these two families. It was without a doubt a national treasure.

　　At this point, Aura casually added as she suddenly realized something.

　　“Anyway, I am glad that you are pleased, Zenjirou-dono. Is there anything else you need? You are my betrothed, so there is no need for restraint now.”

　　Aura, who had finished her breakfast at some point, appeased her thirst after the meal with some citrus water and softly called out to Zenjirou.

　　Tasting the same drink from a silver cup, Zenjirou appraised it’s sweet-and-sour, but refres.h.i.+ng flavour (which would be even better when cold from ice cubes) as sumptuous while he pondered for a while. Then he replied.

　　“Well, not that I can think of any… Oh, wait. Betrothed. Yes, we are going to marry. In that case, Aura-san, do you have a ring for your ’left ring finger’? If so, I want you to lend me one.”

　　Being reminded about “wedding rings” from the words betrothed and marry, Zenjirou asked that.

　　But as this world had no custom of “wedding rings” or “engagement rings”, Aura didn’t understand Zenjirou’s intentions and tilted her head puzzled.

　　“Mhm, I think I will find one when I look, but what are you going to use it for?”

　　“That’s, well, uhm… Something to look forward to in a month.”

　　Zenjirou smiled vaguely on Aura’s question and gave an ambiguous answer. Since she didn’t know about “wedding rings”, he wanted to hide it’s existence until he handed it to her as a surprise.

　　However, she could easily deduce from joining the two statements “Lend me a ring of your size” and “Look forward to it in a month” together that her betrothed tried to present her a ring upon his return, even if there was no custom such as “wedding rings”.

　　Aura showed a mysterious smile that was very charming, yet not flirtatious and looked straight into Zenjirou’s eyes, nodding once.

　　“I understand. I will do so then. I take that you will tell me what kind of meaning a ‘ring for your left ring finger’ holds in your world in a month?”

　　“Ah… Yes, I’ll definitely do so then.”

　　Zenjirou realized that she already had seen through his plan more or less. Along with a bitter smile, he replied with these words.