The Princess in the Chicken Coop - Chapter 2.3
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Lady Mabeline.
In the absence of an Empress who should have stood at the pinnacle of social circles, it was she, the Duchess of Dalia, who held sway over society.
There was no need to elaborate on how solid her foundation was, being the eldest daughter of House Monk who had taken the place vacated by older ladies.
At the same time, she was also…
“Everyone is supporting you, Your Majesty.”
A valuable advisor to Lenok, whom everyone feared.
“Where could these rumors have started? Mabeline, do you think there’s someone in the imperial palace bold enough to gossip, or…”
“It would be stranger if there weren’t any rumors, so don’t persecute innocent subordinates. More than dozens of people witnessed Your Majesty entering the princess’s room and being chased out amid tremendous chicken squawking.”
Mabeline didn’t fail to mention that nobles were among those witnesses.
Lenok frowned. If nobles had spread the word, he could reprimand them for their loose tongues, but nothing beyond that.
He sighed while needlessly pulling at his sleeve. Underneath were bandages that the physician had frantically wrapped.
While Mabeline was sharp enough to guess the general situation, she was also discerning enough to pretend not to notice such matters. Maintaining an expression of complete ignorance, she sipped her tea and changed the subject.
“That’s not what’s important. Some ladies are already saying that Princess Soria would be suitable for the position of Empress.”
Lenok asked incredulously.
“…We’re talking about the position of Empress?”
“Your Majesty. You haven’t forgotten what you said to Marquis Cherian’s daughter previously, have you?”
He had forgotten. In fact, Lenok had to waste quite some time just remembering who she was.
While he could keep track of the noble heads of houses since they were his invisible tug-of-war opponents, Lenok wasn’t interested enough in social circles to memorize their daughters too.
After much struggling, he finally managed to recall her face vaguely. Memory is a curious thing – once he caught hold of one thread, others followed in succession. Having recalled everything about Marquis Cherian’s daughter, Lenok stroked his chin and asked.
“Ah, right. You’re not suggesting that became an issue?”
“…Your Majesty, it usually becomes an issue when someone asks if they could kill their father.”
“No, wait. That’s taking things completely out of context. She claimed she would abandon her family for the Empress position, so I merely asked how far that resolve went.”
Mabeline shrugged her shoulders.
“Do rumors ever consider context while spreading?”
Damn it. Lenok desperately missed Diowell, who had abruptly departed for the southern regions.
For Lenok, Diowell was about the only person he could freely express complaints to without worrying about face or propriety.
Even with Mabeline, whom he was relatively close with, he had to consider proper etiquette before speaking or acting.
Seeing Lenok’s intense indignation, Mabeline sipped her tea with a knowing expression.
‘Just being able to have conversations like this already makes Your Majesty an excellent ruler.’
While a tyrant was the worst, being simply good-natured wasn’t enough to make a good emperor either.
In that regard, the previous emperor’s excellence went beyond mere foresight.
The previous emperor had planned and acted with great precision. Not content with just having Lenok grow up close to the children of ducal houses, he sent them to the frontier battlefields as soon as they came of age.
Lenok, who had grown up lacking nothing and receiving abundant love from his parents and affection from his friends, was hardened through battlefield experience.
The previous emperor’s predictions were accurate. After all, it was his friends who formed the foundation that allowed Lenok to endure the bloody battlefield.
Though it was a secret from Lenok, everyone who fought alongside him knew. If Lenok had thrown down his sword and fled, they would have had to throw their bodies down to buy him time to escape.
Fortunately for them, Lenok didn’t run. Instead, he brilliantly demonstrated on the battlefield all the tactics and swordsmanship he had learned in theory.
It was he who persuaded the enemies who had been causing disturbances for decades and obtained their seal on a peace treaty.
The previous emperor hadn’t been idle during this time either. He had strengthened the internal affairs while waiting for his son to mature.
Given such a golden age had been created, it was natural that Lenok would have headaches over choosing an empress.
“To try becoming empress without even that level of resolve. If anything, they’re the ones lacking conscience.”
“Not everyone is as strong as Your Majesty. Surely you haven’t forgotten how the nobles rose up in protest when you said you would personally go to the cursed Syenn Kingdom?”
“Tch. Everyone’s such a coward.”
“Because we’ve had peace for so long.”
“Even when I was Crown Prince, there were endless small disturbances.”
“But the capital remained quiet then too. Your Majesty, ordinary people tend to feel at ease with what they can see.”
Lenok was about to object, but frowned at Mabeline’s quick counter.
She continued with a soft laugh.
“Besides, you should maintain a sterner expression at official events. The ministers were already gossiping about Your Majesty’s expression rather than the white chicken when you introduced Princess Soria.”
“…Everyone must truly have nothing better to do. What else is there?”
“I skipped the matter concerning Count Dott since I assumed you’d know about it. Would you like to hear it?”
Lenok frowned, recalling Count Dott who had been dragged out while screaming loud enough to shake the hall.
While his territory’s people were suffering from drought, that lord had only grown fatter.
He waved his hand to stop Mabeline from speaking.
“Skip that. So the social circles are pushing Princess Soria for Empress?”
Mabeline gave a small laugh. Even so, not everyone could be of one mind. In social circles, Lenok’s evaluation was already at rock bottom.
Mabeline glanced up to study Lenok’s face.
With such outstanding looks and the position of Emperor, there was no shortage of people aiming for his side.
She pulled out a book made of bound papers from her possession and pushed it toward Lenok while speaking.
“It’s not quite to that extent… But everyone is worried about the drought in the southern regions, saying we must break the curse. They’ve written their thoughts one by one, hoping it might be of help to Your Majesty, with their sincere hearts gathered together.”
Lenok opened the first page, then closed it with a rotten expression.
Mabeline smiled pleasantly as if she had expected this reaction.
“It’s anonymous, so you won’t be able to find out who wrote it even if you try. The handwriting is all done by proxy, so comparing handwriting won’t help either.”
“I didn’t know my reputation was so poor among the young ladies.”
“Oh my. Poor? Everyone just…”
Wants to see the cold-looking Emperor spreading around pink atmosphere.
Mabeline swallowed those words when she met Lenok’s red eyes, and simply smiled.
“They’re just praying for the drought in the southern regions to end.”
Lenok clicked his tongue and reached out his hand.
Though he said that, Mabeline smiled more deeply as she watched him tuck the book into his chest.
At that moment, Soria was furious.
Though she had succeeded in driving away Lenok who had spouted nonsense about kissing a hundred times, that wasn’t enough to satisfy her.
“Ko- kokoko!”
[Not only shameless but a pervert of an Emperor!]
The cursed princess was in a state of complete agitation.
She violently tore at the tassels at the end of a cushion while shouting loudly.
“Kok! Kokkiooo─!!”
[Become impotent!!]
Soria hurled the torn tassels at the slammed door while spewing the worst curse she knew.
To dare make statements about taking away the Emperor’s reproductive abilities. If anyone could have understood her words, she would have been severely punished.
But fortunately, all the attendants and nobles heard were chicken sounds. It was a strange situation where she could get away with insulting the Emperor because no one understood.
