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Chapter 16 Bertia 17 Years Old (6)Part 3/4
Translated by LynneSuzuran & Senhiro
Originally, King Toujin and Queen Alnay were both the children of tribal chiefs whose tribes had built up a mutually favorable relationship.
Likely, they would solidify that relationship through marriage sooner or later.
Ever since they were children, the two of them were attracted to each other and played together.
It hadn't been documented clearly, but perhaps they were betrothed to each other.
Since those days, King Toujin was basically a child who showed no interest in anything.
To him, who always managed to perfectly do anything asked of him and who constantly looked bored, Queen Alnay who always laughed happily was like a mysterious existence.
For King Toujin who always easily excelled at any game, Queen Alnay proposed new games whenever they met.
Then, one day, he was engrossed in a new game that Queen Alnay had found.
It was a game that imitated war, that the adolescent boys in those days often played.
It was a game where you had to advance pawns that had their own fixed roles and movements as you snatched your opponent's pawns.
King Toujin who enjoyed playing that game with Queen Alnay then asked the adults of his tribe to become his opponents and the enjoyment of the game was soon stuck in his heart.
…Then, eventually it being only a board game became insufficient.
At that time, luckily or unluckily, a war between King Toujin's tribe and the neighboring tribe occured.
At that time, King Toujin had officially transitioned from a boy to a young man, and asked his father, the tribe's chief, to go to war commanding a small army of his own.
The tribal chief's expectation were quite high towards King Toujin, who had been extraordinarily smart since young and possessed superb combat ability, and King Toujin lived up to that expectation splendidly.
From there onwards, King Toujin rapidly became absorbed in warfare, demonstrating his ability fully.
It was originally an era with many wars. There were plenty of wars to raise his achievements.
Before long, the tribal chief, his father, recognized his achievements, raised his position on the battlefield, and finally it reached the point where he entrusted his full authority to King Toujin.
At that time, King Toujin had become one who'd unified numerous tribes into one, holding greater authority than his own father.
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"King Toujin indulged in the battlefield as if it were just a game one played as a hobby, and there was no one who could stop him. There wasn't supposed to be anyone.. When people started to get anxious over King Toujin gradually losing his restraint, one girl stood before him."
"…Was it Queen Alnay?"
"That's right. Queen Alnay was originally a person of gentle disposition, and hated wars that stole away people's lives. Many times war was inevitable in that era, but when King Toujin began to start wars for his own enjoyment, she stood in his way and reprimanded him with teary eyes. Then lastly, she said, 'If you meaninglessly take away life, then I will come to hate you.' At her words, King Toujin was terribly perplexed. Then, from there, he abruptly stopped liking wars and worked hard to build a peaceful country."
"She was certainly his [fated girl], huh?"
I felt somewhat astonished at King Toujin's simplicity, but since many of his circumstances and feelings overlapped with mine, I didn't feel like saying anything negative.
If Bertia were to tell me, "I will come to hate Cecil-sama!!", I felt like I'd surely follow anything she said without question.
Of course, it'd only be when [I'll hate you] was said for real, not when she was just sulking.
"There wasn't anything about that name you gave, but now that you mention it, certainly one could say that she was his [fated girl]. In short, what made him truly happy wasn't only war, but it was another existence that he was interested in—[Queen Alnay]. She became his restraint and he didn't become a tyrant or a foolish king, but the [hero king] instead."
Whatever his original reason or process might be, it was unmistakable that King Toujin managed to unify the country and brought peace upon this land.
Everything was fine as long as the results were good.
Of course, it was necessary to manipulate some of the information and hide the truth in order to protect the royal family's authority. However, as long as it was true that he brought peace to the land, everything else could be managed somehow or another.
King Toujin was said to be an intelligent person, so of course he wouldn't do anything that would lower confidence in him, and instead surely would have lead things in a better direction.
"Even after that, someone was born into the royal family with extraordinary abilities just like King Toujin once every few decades, but every one of them also possessed the same adverse effect in their heart. Though their ability was high, their emotions were scant, and they couldn't find interest in most things. They'd cling to the one thing that could grasp their interest to the ends of the earth. They were such existences. They were certainly double-edged swords. If the thing that captured their interest was a good influence, they'd become wise kings, but if it was a bad influence, they'd become a foolish king, or they might have disappeared even before that."
"The author of the book I read in that hidden library was one of those kings, right?"
There were numerous books stored inside the hidden library that I found before.
The information recorded there hadn't been revealed to the world yet nor should it be revealed.
They had the quality of books containing knowledge from the past hundreds of years, and it was definitely something that couldn't be discovered or thought of by ordinary people.
The names of the authors of those books, each and every of them contained the last name of [Alphasta].1
In short, it was the hidden knowledge that my ancestors wrote, concealing the dangers of their family, or even of themselves.
There certainly were a plethora of royalties in the past who had a similar mind as mine, interested in chemistry.
"Yeah, that's right. There is a lot of unused knowledge acquired by the past royals who were called geniuses. Since many of the people written about were ones who would persist in doing something that captured their own interest, they abandoned their right to the throne and immersed themselves in their studies, leaving politics."
"What were the other people like?"
"I also don't know everything, but there were people who were skilled at everything and became known as wise kings just like King Toujin. On the contrary, I heard that among those who could not find anything to hold their interest, some spent their life just like dolls, and also others who ended up severing their own life since they couldn't bear with their boredom."
"It was a horrifying story, huh?"
Especially since I knew that there was a possibility I could end up like that, I had goosebumps now just by thinking of it.
If we were to omit the few examples that had things gone smoothly, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that it was a story of the royal family's darkness.
As the royal family that should become the target of people's respect, it's not a good idea to let this information leak outside by any means.
"A short time after you were born, when it became clear you began to understand and speak words earlier than the other babies, I blanked out. Even though I understood that there was a possibility that such a child might be born, I had never thought that my own child would be like that."
"I guess you were surely dejected, right?"
Even I knew that I lacked human emotions as a child and wasn't a cute.
That was why a bitter smile floated to my face.
However, looking at me, my father slowly shook his head and denied my words.
"Rather than dejected, I was more worried. It was good if a child that could be called a genius were to be born to the royal family, but as expected, as a parent, I still wished for my child to experience many emotions and be happy."
My father, who responded to my self-deprecating words in a somewhat sad tone of voice, showed me a bitter smile containing a different meaning from mine.
"Even though you were lacking emotions ever since you were born, I knew there were several successful examples starting with King Toujin, that there was a possibility that you could learn human emotions bit by bit while growing and find happiness. Also, most of those people were more interested in [people] rather than [things]. Surely by finding someone precious to you, emotions would sprout more easily with that person as the focus. Therefore, I made a gamble."
"Was that gamble Bertia?"
"That's right."
Looking at my father who was slowly and firmly nodding, I sensed a refreshing feeling as if all the pieces fell into their places neatly.
Bertia is a hard worker, and there is no objection regarding her lineage for becoming the crown princess.
Considering that there are excellent people in her surrounding that want to be of help to her, it can be said that she was also quite popular.
However, I unfortunately can't deny that there are some idiotic parts to her.
No matter how much I keep that in mind and follow up for her, if someone were to ask if she was the most deserving to fill the position of crown princess, there'd be a question mark.
Especially since she was way too lively and would often behave recklessly like a child.
If one were to look only at personality and reputation, one could say that Lady Joanna was more suitable for the position.
Even so, why was she chosen?
It was probably since they judged that the noble daughters who merely possessed high abilities wouldn't be able to attract my interest.
"Lady Bertia may have some loose screws, but she also possesses interesting charm. She is a mysterious noble daughter who can fascinate people, isn't she? Her expressions are rich and her feelings are full of intense ups and downs. However, she is a deeply compassionate and gentle child. In a sense, it can be said that she is the total opposite of you. In addition, she doesn't hide her favor to you. I thought that if you were with her, then something would be able to sprout within you."
"And then, that prediction was accurate, wasn't it?"
If Bertia herself heard this, she'd probably deny it with all her might, but if I were to look at it, she was almost exactly as what my father said.
If I were to correct him, it wasn't that Bertia wasn't hiding her favor for me, it was that she intended to hide it, but couldn't hide it in the end… I guess it was just about that.
Just noticed that the previous translator romanized the surname of the royal family as Alfaster. However, in some previous chapters, we already romanized it as Alphasta, so we're going to stick with it. ↩