Chapter 96

"Would it be alright if I joined you?"

While receiving the hot towel from Shinobu, Celestine asked with a look of apology.

"Father and son, alone. Then I don't think there would be any problem if Celestine joined."

As he watched the former emperor smile, Konrad was pondering what to order today. He had just eaten kushikatsu the other day, and it might be a bit heavy for his grandfather.

He had heard from Celestine that the food here was all delicious, but it was, after all, a foreign cuisine.

Even looking at the menu, he couldn't figure out what the dishes were.

He could order by guesswork, but if, for example, he ended up with two soup dishes or two pork dishes, it would be quite embarrassing.

He hadn't thought that dining with a woman would require so much consideration.

Usually, the women or his attendants would take care of such things, but today, among the three of them, Konrad was the one who had to be considerate.

Who would have thought that the Emperor of the Empire would be struggling with ordering at an izakaya?

As he racked his brain for a solution, a good idea came to Konrad.

"Sorry, I'll order the same as the next table."

The dishes that a father and son were sharing at a table in the back seemed just right for three people.

Eating from a single pot might seem vulgar by court standards, but this was not the capital.

"Water simmer, understood."

With a pleasant smile, Shinobu began to prepare the dish.

As a portable brazier was placed on the table, a ceramic pot was brought over.

"But they were in love, huh?"

"Love, or perhaps at first sight."

Blushing, Celestine leaned her head on Konrad, who was flustered.

After the announcement of Princess Regent Celestine de Orlia's removal from the royal family of the Eastern Kingdom was made public, Celestine gradually began to act more like a young girl.

This was endearing, and Konrad was enjoying his happy days.

"So, what do you intend to do about the Imperial Diet?"

"On that point, there are no mistakes. I have already taken action, Grandfather."

While watching the preparation of the pot, Konrad smiled.

When Konrad announced his engagement to Celestine to the nobles, the reaction was greater than expected.

An engagement to the Princess Regent of the Eastern Kingdom was already a significant matter, but the fact that the Princess Regent was coming to the Empire as just Celestine, having lost her status, naturally led to opposition.

Konrad skillfully dealt with the opposition, and of course, Celestine was also cooperating.

The core of the opposition was the great nobles who wanted to place their descendants on the throne after the childless Konrad.

While skillfully taking into account the opinions of the lower nobles who believed that the continuation of the imperial family would ensure peace, Konrad and Celestine's strategy continued.

They had liberalized the market for goods that the imperial family had long prohibited, such as vanilla, and emphasized that this was a special arrangement due to the marriage.

Among the great nobles, there were not a few who would benefit from the lifting of the ban on prohibited goods. This was a strategy to break their ranks and prevent the anti-marriage faction from uniting.

In terms of intrigue, Celestine's skills were top-notch.

She had not been framed by the forged documents but had been using them to her advantage.

This was taken advantage of by the young king Yugo.

Using the forged documents as evidence that Celestine had privatized the Odd Tales Collector, he used it as a reason to remove her from her position as Princess Regent. As the son of the Hero King, his strategy was quite clever.

It was a mistake not to have anticipated being outmaneuvered by his own brother, but Celestine didn't seem to mind much.

She was now enjoying the political maneuvering in the Empire.

She was deeply familiar with the Empire's affairs. By undermining the great nobles who were ostensibly cooperating and luring them over with the promise of benefits, she was showing her skill, which was impressive for a mere nineteen-year-old girl.

While she would be a terrifying enemy, she was an invaluable ally.

"It's ready."

At Shinobu's voice, Konrad looked at the pot, which was steaming invitingly.

Since coming to the ancient capital, he had been eating more warm food. One of the reasons he kept finding excuses to delay his return to the capital might be that he didn't want to go back to the cold meals.

As an emperor, he had to be cautious about poisoning, but the difference in vitality that came from eating warm food was surprising.

He was considering ordering the head chef to change the system to allow for warm meals when he returned to the capital.

While he could endure it himself, he felt it would be unfair to force Celestine to eat the same cold meals as before.

"Let's eat, shall we?"

The former emperor said this and skillfully demonstrated the use of chopsticks.

Neither Celestine nor Konrad could use chopsticks. Feeling a bit envious, he glanced at his grandfather's side profile, who smiled proudly. Perhaps he had been secretly practicing to show off.

He scooped some broth from the pot into a bowl and tried to hand it to Celestine, but he fumbled.

"Master Konrad, please let me have the ladle."

Celestine's handling of the ladle was impressive.

"You're quite something. As expected of a Princess Regent."

"Please don't tease me, Grandfather."

Somehow, Celestine had started calling the former emperor "Grandfather."

The quarrel between the former emperor and the current emperor, which began with the matchmaking incident, was now over, and they were even closer than before. Celestine had joined them during this time.

While the nobles opposing the marriage might say they were from enemy countries, it was a situation that was unthinkable just a few days ago.

The envoys Konrad had sent to the Eastern Kingdom to improve relations had all been ignored.

However, it seemed that immediate war could be avoided.

While the young king Yugo had immediately taken control of the government, he couldn't prevent all the chaos. With Celestine, who had been handling the government as the Princess Regent, now gone, the Eastern Kingdom couldn't afford to provoke the Empire. According to the reports from the spies in the Eastern Kingdom, it seemed that Yugo was just missing his sister.

Learning to use chopsticks by imitation, he brought a piece of simmered cabbage to his mouth.

Indeed, it was delicious. It had a different flavor from just a simple soup.

Cabbage was one of the main crops grown in the Empire, and there were many ways to eat it.

They chatted and enjoyed the pot. Just that was enough to make it a pleasant experience.

The chicken was also cooked.

With the chicken that Celestine, who had just taken up the role of Buji, had served, the former emperor was already sipping tria ezuna ma to quench his thirst. Watching the former emperor, who looked more like an old man of his age than the emperor who had carried the weight of the Empire, was quite amusing.

While ordering a few more dishes for his grandfather, Konrad also ate the simmered water.

It was delicious.

He had never thought about sharing a pot with others, but this deliciousness seemed to be something that was born from eating with someone.

With Celestine and his grandfather present.

How blessed he was now.

His grandfather seemed to have found a chicken ball at the bottom of the pot and happily put it in his mouth. It was the first time Konrad had seen his strict grandfather act this way.

"…Can I age like that?"

The words slipped out without him realizing it. Celestine looked surprised for a moment but then smiled.

"Yes, you can. If we are together."

Konrad's face felt hot, but was it because of the steam or something else?

The pleasant conversation from the neighboring table was also soothing to the ears.

Happiness, he thought, must be something like this. With this in mind, Konrad raised his hand to order some tria ezuna ma.