YasashīShinjitsu to Seiryaku Kekkon Vol IChapter 7

Matilda tilted her head, looking atthe flowers.

T

he time they were together was short,but a person who seemed to be rather thoughtful and careful only sends witheredflowers, without a note. It seemed odd.

it was not that Matilda thought hetruly liked her, but she felt that Leandroth is not the one to behave this say.So…

Was he unwell?

Had something happened in his duties?

Matilda felt anxious, so decided to goand visit Leandroth. She turned to her maid to ask her to request a visit.Matilda did not bring her own maids with her from home, so when she was a.s.signed maids, she was a little nervous. She was always a bit reluctant to ask them to do anything, but the maid was delighted and said, ‘Iwill go and tell the Emperor’s aide immediately.’ And she rushed off.

Matilda gave an astonished smile atthe maid’s behaviour. She looked at the other maids who remained in the roomquietly waiting for her requests.

She realised when she arrived inBarenshiaga, the att.i.tude towards her was rather mild. There had been noincident of her being ridiculed or being hara.s.sed. Although, this was amarriage that Bareshiaga wanted, Icecoreta could only accept. If someone wantedto be derogatory Icecoreta was sometimes looked upon as Barenshiaga’s slave,based on their size, position and ratio of the export volume, but no one hadsaid anything unkind to her in the castle.

Everyone seemed rather welcoming. Itwas surprising. (Zuben: So you"ve finally pulled your head out of your a.r.s.e,huh)

Before leaving her home and all she’dknown, her father had nothing to say about the Barenshiaga Empire or itsEmperor Leandroth.

‘Be happy,’ was all he said. It wasstrange to think of how.

The princess of another country isusually treated like a diplomat of their country.

Although she have moved into herhusband’s house, life here was similar to that of her childhood home.

She was in Barenshiaga as arepresentative of the Icecoreta Kingdom. However, Matilda was treated well andwith care. Thankfully.

From what Leandroth told her, itseemed that she had been selected for the position of Empress by va.s.sals of theEmpire. The idea made her feel honoured. But what about the other va.s.sals andlords? There must be other high ranking citizens that would like their daughterto be Empress. And also the princesses of other neighbouring countries wouldsee “Empress Balenciaga” as an attractive position.

If you know that the princess of acountry like a genre such as a country of marriage gets married, it will surelyrise as if it is appropriate.

Trying to think objectively, thatmarriage might be a little out of her league.

First of all, age: it would be nice tohave children at a younger age than she was, and therefore look youthful andwell for longer.

Secondly, her intelligence and socialskills; while she was sure that she was somewhat intelligent, she wasn"t asconfident in her social skills. Maybe, she should have made friends with hermother in law. It would be easier to blend into the family more naturally.

Matilda sighed and rested her chin onher hand on the armrest of the wisteria chair.

‘Princess Matilda, are you well?’

One of the maids attending to herlooked at her expression worriedly. Matilda smiled at her,

‘I am fine, nothing is wrong.’ She didnot know if her smile looked right.

Her thought returned to the randomstuff,  she had began to study books thatshowcased the local produce and crafts of Barenshiaga and a guide of touristattractions. She had been thinking of going out to play by herself. From thetourist attractions, you can know the distinctive features of an area. From theenvironment, with animals and plants that grow, well-known products. InBarenshiaga’s climate, crops grow easily.

While thinking of this and that (Zuben:and other random nonsense that wasn"t cohesive¬.¬), the maid she had sent torequest an appointment with Leandroth returned. She looked rather worried,

‘What’s the matter?’ Matilda asked.

Her maid’s face grew flushed as shesaid quite quickly, ‘Princess, the Emperor would like your a.s.sistance at hisoffice.’

‘Eh?’ Matilda blinked twice.

But she was a Princess of anothercountry! Foreign royalty does not partic.i.p.ate in the political affairs of thecountry they are visiting. So why then?

She tilted her head (Zuben: Again…),‘Our Emperor is in a spot of a bother; he has not slept for two days! PrincessMatilda, please help.’

It seemed strange to be excited aboutthe turn of events, but Matilda rose from her chair with excitement ticklingher belly.

‘Bring me my navy blue dress. I willleave matching accessories to you. A light make up, as well. No strong perfumesbecause it would be distracting in the office. Also, may I have an hourgla.s.s?’

She had started throwing instructionsabout without thinking. They were citizens of the Balenciaga empire; a Princessfrom another country shouldn"t order them about like a matter of course.(Zuben: She must have been very sheltered.)

However, the attendants all togethergave a bright and cheerful, ‘Yes!’

Matilda blinked in surprise.

◇

She changed into her navy blue dress,it had a high collar and silver b.u.t.tons down the back. Black lace peeked fromsplits in the shoulders and lined the edges. She looked very smart. Once shewas dressed, she went straight to the Emperor’s office.

On entering the room, there was astrange smell. Going through the receiving room and into the office, she foundLeandroth buried under mountains of files and paperwork.

‘Mattie,’ his voice was tired. Hisexpression looked like he had been drained of energy, he had dark circles underhis eyes. He raised his hand weakly at her,

‘Your Majesty,’

‘Leandroth,’ he replied, he seemed towant to hear her call his name, but the office was not an appropriate place, soshe pushed, ‘I will refrain from calling you informally at the office.’ Shesaid primly. She really was not cute. But Leandroth laughed though sleepily.

He was useless in this state. For now,sleep was the best medicine.

Matilda begins to order the attendantsand secretaries in the office.

‘Please, shut all the curtains in theprivate room. Your Majesty you need to go and have a nap. Someone get a blanketso his Majesty doesn"t catch a cold,’

She turned to Leandroth with a bit ofan imperious att.i.tude,

‘Your Majesty, please have a nap fornow. We will wake you up in a little while.’

‘But…’

He seemed hesitant, but Matilda did notbudge,

‘It is useless, if you don’t sleep youwill only make more mistakes and it would only be more ha.s.sle to untangle.’

Without waiting for Leandroth’s reply,she turned to the maids,

‘Send for two guards. When theyarrive, tell them to take the doc.u.ments to the receiving room. When they aredone, we will divide the doc.u.ments into categories and then go from there,’

‘Mattie?’ Leandroth called. He’d beenwatching Matilda throw orders here and there

‘Your Majesty, if you don’t go tosleep now, your nap time will decrease.’

 Leandro laughed and said, ‘Alright, good luck,future wife,’ he chuckled as he went to his private room.

Outside the window, the sun had justgone past noon.

‘Princess, I have brought the guards.’

Matilda nodded. The guards shepresented where a young guard and an older more experienced looking guard.

Just right, she thought. Matilda smiledat them and said,

‘Gentlemen, I need your help to bringthe doc.u.ments from the office to the receiving room. These doc.u.ments as youknow are usually only handled by the Emperor and his aides, therefore, I wouldlike you to watch us for any restless movements.’

‘Restless?’ The elder palace guardasked.

‘If a doc.u.ment goes missing, you canbe witness that none of us took anything from these rooms.’

With that said, they began to move thedoc.u.ments to the receiving room.

Zuben: