Princess Bona was the chaperone for Prince Francesco.

　　Strictly speaking Prince Francesco acted as their representative, because his age and status were overwhelmingly higher, but everyone stopped addressing official matters to him after his tempestuous character became known on the third day since his arrival in the Carpa Kingdom.

　　As a result of this, the young Princess Bona had to shoulder the troublesome work by herself.

　　Furthermore, Prince Francesco wouldn’t just sit still. One day he partic.i.p.ated in a luncheon meeting and mistook people’s names, the other day he attended a ball and stepped onto the dress of some lady. Every day he outdid himself.

　　Much as his simple-hearted character was excessive for his age, it fortunately prevented things from going out of hand, but incidents that had to be solved with a written apology or sometimes even with a little present, acc.u.mulated to no end.

　　The result of all this was that Princess Bona was busily engaged in duties every day, having no time for studying the foreign jewellery craftsmans.h.i.+p in depth like she had intended to.

　　But one person had sympathy for her circ.u.mstances. It was none other than the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom: Aura I.

　　“Ehm, did I hear right? You’re saying Princess Bona’s reaching her limit and I should solace her a bit?”

　　One night, Zenjirou lay heads-up on the bed in his blue pyjama already while he ascertained the proposal of his wife.

　　“Yes. This is generally true. To our regret, Prince Francesco is too difficult to deal with. If Princess Bona were to collapse, we would lose our point of contact with the delegation from the Twin Kingdom.”

　　Aura, likewise in her nightgown, was sitting on the edge of the bed while she affirmed it to her husband with a nod.

　　Her expression looked a bit sullen.

　　Nearly half a month had pa.s.sed by now. Aura had met with Prince Francesco and Princess Bona a couple of times so far, if not necessarily as often as Zenjirou, and realized how pointless it was to deal with the prince directly.

　　The question whether the conduct of the prince was false or honest, didn’t matter on this occasion. You simply couldn’t come to grips with him.

　　Unfortunately, Zenjirou had to fully agree with Aura on that.

　　He was the one, who was in the line of fire from Prince Francesco, so he knew all too well how cheerful and simple-minded the prince was, but also what a problematic case he represented.

　　“Well, it’s a crucial time right now. You decided on the first magic tool, didn’t you?”

　　“Yes. In the end, I settled on the ‘Future Compensation’. It seems we can expect something really outstanding. According to Prince Francesco, it will even be possible to ‘replenish’ it. Though it will definitely be impossible to use it in instalments.

　　Anyway, I will be able to use my magical power more efficient then.”

　　Zenjirou asked her by only lifting his head from the bed, whereas Aura turned around and answered him as she still sat on the edge of the bed.

　　Like its name implied, “Future Compensation” was a magic that allowed you to use your magical power of the future in advance to supplement your lack in magical power.

　　This desperate measure had been invented in order to activate the high-cla.s.s “s.p.a.ce-Time Magic”, which required ridiculous amounts of magical power to begin with, but if it could be embedded into a standalone magic tool, a completely new mode of use became accessible.

　　Take, for example, the case of Aura using that magic today to embed a magic tool with the magical power worth of three days in the future.

　　From the next day on, she will be unable to utilize any magical power for three days. That by itself was no different from the usual application of “Future Compensation”.

　　However, by preserving her magical power in form of a “magical tool”, she can freely decide when she wants to use that magical power.

　　Moreover, the “replenish” function allows her to occasionally store the magical power of days, on which she doesn’t need to use magic, and use it to active a large magic one year later.

　　Of course there were various restrictions, such as: One would be unable to use magic for at least a whole day after embedding the magical power. Only the one, who embedded the magical power, would be able to use the stored magical power. And the stored magical power could only be used once as a whole. Nevertheless, the advantage of being able to store magical power was extremely large.

　　Prince Francesco and Princess Bona were already given one marble each for the creation of a magic tool.

　　The lying Zenjirou sat up and said.

　　“So, Prince Francesco will be occupied with the making of that ‘magic tool’ for a while?”

　　“Indeed. As from tomorrow, Princess Bona will be relieved from her ‘chaperone’ duties and have a break for a few days while Prince Francesco works on the magic tool.

　　From what I have heard, Prince Francesco also seems to pride himself quite a bit on the creation of magic tools, so he will carry on his job extremely diligent and sincerely.

　　Therefore, could you help Princess Bona relax, Zenjirou?”

　　“Mh? But in her eyes, I’m part of a foreign royalty, ain’t I? Wouldn’t it wear her out instead when I impose on her?”

　　As he mounted a sound argument, Aura nodded briefly.

　　“Yes, you are right. But Princess Bona has not been in our country for long. I fear that she would just rest in her own room, even if she gets some spare time.”

　　“Sounds like a legit way to spend your break to me. To be honest, I’m a bit envious, because I’ve got so much work lately.”

　　“Do not lie to me! Someone, who says that, would not have the self-discipline to voluntarily prepare a timetable and a list of answers to possible questions on the day before the task.”

　　“Ugh…”

　　His wife talked him down with a playful tone, so he lapsed into silence somewhat disgruntled.

　　Still, he could think of nothing to riposte, because after coming into this world, he had started to realize that he was actually perceiving the “time he spent lazing around doing nothing” as torment.

　　Anyway, Aura continued to get the derailing topic back on track.

　　“Well then, on the first day you visit Princess Bona, you will show her some things from your world, like the weddings rings, for example.

　　If necessary, you may even let her borrow them for some time.

　　I am sure she will happily spent the rest of her spare time with honing her jewellery craftsmans.h.i.+p when you do that. After all, jewellery seems to be her purpose in life.”

　　“Oh, I see.”

　　Zenjirou agreed with Aura.

　　Speaking of, some of his co-workers at his previous company had been like that, too. The type of person, who dedicated their valuable holiday, which they only had once or twice per month, for their hobby and came to work on Monday with red eyes, but a “refreshed aura”.

　　Zenjirou didn’t had such a pa.s.sionate hobby, so he didn’t know where they were coming from, but he had to acknowledge the fact that they were able to relax.

　　And Aura’s proposal made sense, considering that Princess Bona also belonged to that category, if not necessarily to such an extreme extent.

　　“Okay, then I can show her the wedding rings, the coins of my country and some beads?”

　　“Yes, sounds fine. I will leave the precise selection to you.”

　　“Good. Shall we turn in then?”

　　Ending the conversation at his own discretion, Zenjirou hit upon a little prank and moved over the bed to behind his wife sitting on the edge of the bed.

　　“Zenjirou?”

　　“Hehe!”

　　Then he embraced his beloved wife energetically from behind. His arms locked around her chest and his legs around her waist in the exact same manner as a koala was clinging to a branch of a tree.

　　After that, he rolled over and dragged his wife with him onto the bed.

　　“Here I go!”

　　“Ah, hey?”

　　Aura exclaimed troubled, but her face showed a smile. In the first place, it would have proven to be difficult for Zenjirou to pull Aura even with all his might if she had actually resisted.

　　She was stronger than him and also heavier, since she hadn’t lost all the extra kilos from her pregnancy yet, although she would never admit that out loud.

　　“Mm…”

　　Whether he was aware of that or not, Zenjirou embraced his beloved wife on top of the bed and put his face against her neck to get even more intimate with her.

　　“Jeez, what is up with you?”

　　As she was being held from behind, Aura only turned around her head to look at him, whereupon Zenjirou smiled cagey.

　　“You see, I’m so busy these days and get back to the inner palace late, so I’ve less chances to hug Zenkichi and was feeling lonely.”

　　“Oh, I am just a subst.i.tute for Carlos?”

　　The Queen puckered her lips affected in a sulking manner upon the words from her husband.

　　And Zenjirou showed her an affectionate smile.

　　“No, no, I never said something that rude. To begin with, you two are completely different in size, weight…”

　　and softness, was how he had wanted to finish his sentence, but his words were cut off in the middle.

　　So far Aura had obediently abandoned herself to his arm like a spoiled lap dog, but she turned the tables on him in an instant, wriggling herself out of his arms and getting into a cowgirl position.

　　Apparently “weight” had been a taboo topic for his wife, since she hadn’t lost her additional weight from the pregnancy yet.

　　“Aura…?”

　　Looking up to his wife, who was sitting on his abdomen with a smile, Zenjirou blinked with surprise.

　　Aura grinned humorous.

　　“Okay, I get it. Tonight I will be your replacement for Carlos. Give me a hug, Papa.”

　　“No, I said it‘s not like that…”

　　But Aura didn’t listen to him and flopped onto his chest just like that. Then she quickly pushed her arms beneath his back and hugged him tightly.

　　Oh, she’s making fun of me. Zenjirou came to that conclusion and played along with Aura’s “mischief” while cracking a smile.

　　“Ahaha, I don’t remember having such a big daughter.”

　　If possible, he would have liked to put his arms around her back and stroke her hair or pat her back, but unfortunately Aura was embracing him along with his arms.

　　“Papa, I love you~”

　　“Thanks. I love you, too. But could you let go for a bit? It hurts a little bit…”

　　“Papa~”

　　She ought to have heard it, but made no move to let go of him.

　　“Hey, Aura? Please release me, it hurts.”

　　Her voluminous and soft b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed onto his thorax while her tender thighs squeezed his legs together. Moreover, she kissed him on the nape of his neck like a spoiled child.

　　It was supposed a cute prank of his beloved wife as she fawned on him.

　　But for some reason,

　　“Aura, I’m really feeling some pain here. Hey, let me go already. I give up. My arms are starting to get numb.”

　　“Papa~ Hug me. I love you, Papa!”

　　the ominous image of “being preyed on by a tigress” vividly floated in the back of his mind and wouldn’t leave him alone anymore.

　　* * *

　　A few days later.

　　Zenjirou visited the “second building in the south” that the Carpa Royal Family had rented out to Princess Bona.

　　He carried a small bag that contained the wedding rings, the wallet he had used in j.a.pan and the pouch with beads.

　　(Oh man, I just can’t get used to the loose time measurement here.)

　　After being brought into a room with the words “please wait here”, he was sipping on the prepared cold tea while thinking to himself.

　　This world had no mechanic devices to measure time, so “appointments” turned out irritatingly vague for the perception of a person from the Modern Age.

　　Even if you arrived right on time according to your senses, it was common that you had to wait and the waiting person wasn’t even considering that as rude. No surprise, since there was no criteria for whose measurement of time was correct, considering the lack of a definite clock.

　　Still, everything had its limits.

　　(It feels rather long today.)

　　Zenjirou rolled up his sleeve and looked down on the wrist.w.a.tch around his left arm.

　　10:18 AM

　　He had been brought into this waiting room around nine o’clock, so he was actually waiting for more than an hour already.

　　In fact, Zenjirou was a person of n.o.ble rank, namely the Prince Consort. Even if a vague timeframe was the norm in this world, he had never experience such a long delay before.

　　(Hmm, if anything, I would have said that Princess Bona’s the type that doesn’t make others wait. Was I wrong? Or did something happen?)

　　In these cases, it was typical to provide company for the guest so that he didn’t get bored, but Zenjirou had turned it down in the beginning, because it was too troublesome.

　　Around the time he started to feel so bored that he regretted that decision a bit, the door was knocked.

　　“Excuse me, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Princess Bona awaits you now. Please follow me.”

　　A messenger finally appeared to inform him about his reception.

　　“M- My deepest apologizes for making you wait for so long. I am most honoured that you have went out of your way to visit me today.”

　　“…..”

　　Guided to another room, Zenjirou was suddenly at a loss for words in front of a girl, who had deeply lowered her head.

　　“Ehm… Princess Bona…?”

　　“Y- Yes…”

　　Zenjirou had called her name to be sure, whereupon the girl in front of him ducked her head and affirmed with a weak voice.

　　“Well, how should I put it…”

　　Fully aware of how rude it was, he eyed the girl up.

　　Her slender body was clad in light purple, one-piece dress with few ornaments.

　　Her face was chiselled, but plain without any special traits.

　　So far, so good. All of that was nothing to new to the Princess Bona, whom he had met numerous times already. The issue was located higher up.

　　Her entire hair had been tied together into one bundle. A ponytail with an extremely short knot, if you will so. No, not quite. It wasn’t elaborated enough to call it a “hairdo”. The hair was merely tied back because it had been in the way.

　　On a closer look, the tied hair wasn’t held together by a fancy ribbon, but rather a small hemp cord. Furthermore, strands of hair escaped from the bundle here and there.

　　To be honest, it looked sleazy. Her appearance was unsuited to welcome the royalty from a foreign country, even if it happened in her private chamber.

　　Kindness dictated that you overlooked some minor flaws, but not saying anything in this case would make it awkward instead.

　　“Ehm… Would you explain the circ.u.mstances to me?”

　　“…Yes.”

　　Princess Bona nodded resigned.

　　For now, they sat down opposite each other on the couches and Zenjirou listened to the full explanation from Princess Bona, whose white skin had turned bright red up to her throat due to shame.

　　“I see.”

　　“…..”

　　Although he gave Princess Bona, who was trembling her tightly squeezed fists on her lap, a pitying look, he still put a summary of what he had heard into words for confirmation.

　　“In other words, you had prepared yourself for my visit, early in the morning.”

　　“Yes.”

　　“But I arrived later than you had thought, so you had free time on your hands.”

　　“Y- Yes.”

　　“And then you told yourself ‘just for a little bit’ and started to work on the gravure of the brooch from last night.”

　　“…Yes.”

　　“On that occasion, you wanted to tie up your hair, since it was in the way, but your usual ribbon was nowhere to be seen, so you just used the hemp cord that was binding your tools.”

　　“That was careless of me…”

　　“After that, you became engrossed in your work and continued until the moment the waiting maid told you about my arrival.”

　　“M- My apologies.”

　　“Then you tried to untie your hair in a hurry, but your hair got entangled and the cord would not come off. Even the help of the waiting maids only made it worse. In the meantime, you were running low on time.

　　You were faced with two choices: Either make me wait even longer or meet me in your current appearance. In the end, we are here like this now.”

　　“…I have nothing to say in my defence.”

　　Zenjirou realized something in light of the girl with the tied up hair, who deeply bowed once again.

　　(Oh, I see. She’s one of them. The type of girl I saw in the science and engineering department of my university: ‘a hopeless girl who has nothing but her hobby on her mind’.)

　　During his days at the university, he had spotted a couple of them.

　　As a general rule, young females favoured to use their limited resources of time and money on fas.h.i.+on or socialisation with their friends. However, a small fraction of women with a particular hobby ranked their hobby above fas.h.i.+on or socialisation.

　　That type of person was even more dominant amongst men, but there was a decisive difference between male and female hobbyists.

　　Namely: Female hobbyists still placed importance on outward appearance in their own way, unlike male hobbyists.

　　Even if men ignored fas.h.i.+on, they were still accepted as long as they maintained a certain level of hygiene, but the world was not that forgiving towards women, who didn’t care for fas.h.i.+on.

　　It even goes as far as saying that women were only allowed to go out in public without make-up up until the age of twenty.

　　Therefore, female hobbyists had no choice but to pay money and attention to fas.h.i.+on to a certain degree in order to avoid the criticism of the world.

　　As a result, these women “mimicked” an ordinary person so well that you couldn’t see through them when you only kept them company for a little while.

　　The girl sitting in front of Zenjirou was the perfect example, although her “mimicry” was turned off right now.

　　“…..”

　　(What am I supposed to do now?)

　　Zenjirou got the urge to just return to the inner palace, pretending he never saw the girl trembling in silence, but escape was not an option, since this “informal meeting” counted as “work”.

　　“Ehm, I cannot really tell you not to mind it, but I accept your apology.

　　It will be alright as long as you are careful that something like this will not occur again in the future.”

　　“Th- Thank you very much.”

　　Princess Bona bowed down before Zenjirou like a village girl, who was shown mercy by the magistrate.