#069. Because He Is Such a Kind Person
“I heard you’ve been busy lately. Are you doing alright?”
Although she was the one who had sent the invitation, Lady Basque wore a worried expression. Probably she only sent the invitation out of courtesy, expecting it to be declined from the start.
It’s true that I recently declined invitations, but since I’m planning to enter the academy, it’s not like I’m completely cutting ties.
Wearing a smile I had grown quite used to by now, I spoke gently.
“That’s why I came to meet Lady Basque. Isn’t spending time with people you like the best kind of rest?”
Honestly, I felt I had gotten better at this kind of smooth talk over time. A low laugh echoed in response to my words, and the atmosphere softened considerably.
After that, the children—who hadn’t shown themselves for a while—began updating me on their well-being.
Since I only had one goal today, I didn’t rush but leisurely listened to each child’s news, giving fitting responses while waiting for the right moment.
The moment I waited for didn’t take long to come.
“Among us, Princess Blanche will be the first to make her debut in society.”
In the Empire, the usual age for a debutante ball is 17. But since children can’t be confined at home until then, families that are close to each other often hold tea parties for their children to socialize. Though it isn’t officially considered part of society yet.
So what Lady Dwyers said was right.
“Isn’t it a bit too early? Since His Highness the Grand Duke isn’t in a hurry for the debutante ball, wouldn’t it have been better for Princess Blanche to do hers at 15, and His Highness at 17?”
The fact that such a conversation could arise is because this was children’s social circle. If it were the official social scene, such words might be caught as dissatisfaction with the royal family’s decision.
That this remark wasn’t meant to find fault but came from pure curiosity was honestly quite naive. Probably due to their family atmosphere that focuses only on study rather than age.
Anyway, since this was the flow I was waiting for, I immediately jumped on it and put on a troubled face.
“I’m really anxious if I can do well. His Highness the Grand Duke encourages me, but he is such a kind person…”
Oh dear, kids, watch your expressions! I bit back the advice that was about to slip out as I trailed off.
That previous remark had been a bit politically risky, but now the kids were openly saying the Grand Duke was kind? With the same expression? Hm.
Now that they’re about to enter society, they should probably learn how to control their expressions and words. You never know when someone might pick a fight.
But I held back from giving them that advice sincerely. The elders at home would handle that. Right now, what’s important to me isn’t teaching the kids social tactics.
“It’d be nice if I could know some precautions in advance. I’m confident in my ability to learn.”
“Oh, that’s true. It’s easier to deal with people if you know what they like or dislike, even if you’re meeting them for the first time.”
I knew it. Scholar types who try to solve everything by studying fully agreed with my comment about learning.
Trying to solve human relations by study might not be a good attitude, but that’s not something I was going to lecture on.
“Then if we could know who will attend the hunting festival in advance, wouldn’t we be able to prepare ways to deal with them?”
“But the list of attendees changes every year. Some high nobles skip due to health or business in their territories.”
“We can probably get this year’s attendee list from His Highness the Grand Duke, but I don’t know anything about the Empire’s people besides you all, so it’s the same for me…”
As I raised my eyebrows slightly, I felt the children’s expressions soften. I thought ‘Blanche’ looked quite cold, but surprisingly, if she softened her expression, there was a reaction.
“Don’t worry about that—we’re here for you.”
Just the answer I wanted came back. I had to forcefully hold back the smile creeping up my lips.
“If you just give us the list, we’ll ask the elders in your family for you.”
“Really? Oh no, am I being too much trouble…?”
“What trouble? Between us? Feel free to count on us. If we can be of help to Princess Blanche, it’ll be a pleasure.”
The girl who said this wore a bright expression. Probably because they’re children untouched by worldly affairs. Their faces sincerely wanted to help.
Of course, I am thoroughly jaded by the world, so whatever information I receive, I intend to repay the favor appropriately.
Even if the other party has no intention of receiving anything, it feels uncomfortable if the balance isn’t properly kept.
“If you do that, I’d be truly grateful.”
I was calculating in my mind what sort of return I should give to each of them, but on the outside, I put on a sincere look.
“You really are the only ones I have.”
While saying ‘only,’ I thought there were quite a few people, but apparently that was enough to impress the children.
“Princess Blanche…”
Bright, shining eyes gathered on me.
Their gaze was pure enough to make an ordinary person feel guilty, but I’m an old fox who’s seen it all in the political arena.
So I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt, just smiled brightly.
I was able to get the list of attendees for the hunting festival from the Grand Duke, and from Paniya, a list of people who are hostile toward me.
Incidentally, the list I got from Paniya included both those who dislike the Grand Duke and those who are vying for the position of Grand Duchess.
To the children, I made an excuse that I was curious about the hunting festival attendees, but what I really wanted to know were the names on the latter list.
So I asked the children to look into those who appeared on both lists.
Then, well. True to their scholar family background, the kids made some sort of report and sent it to me.
Being good at research and being good at managing things are different, but reports and academic papers do share some similarities.
In other words, while excellent researchers don’t necessarily make excellent managers, diligent researchers have the potential to become good managers.
“It seems my friends have the seeds of diligent researchers.”
Even if about half of these people work for the royal family, the academic world wouldn’t suffer.
Advancement in scholarship is good, but first the country must be properly managed for all affairs to go smoothly…
No, I have no intention to devote myself to the country like before, so I won’t actively recruit talent. Still, habits are hard to break.
I licked my lips. Hmm, their management qualities do show.
“Is that so?”
I purposely showed Tula, who was sitting beside me, the forms the children had sent.
“See, the information is neatly organized by category. This really helps when sorting through necessary data. I’m giving this to you, so study the format. It’ll help when you write your own reports.”
Since Tula had so much to learn, I hadn’t taught her report writing yet. Until now, she could just verbally report directly to me.
But when I become empress later, I’ll have to write official reports, so it wouldn’t be bad to have her learn the method when the time comes.
“Now, try practicing by removing duplicate information in this report to condense its length.”
This document was perfect practice material for Tula.
There was plenty of time, so I could check it again, the information was neatly organized, and the kids used similar wording, making it easy to filter out redundancies.
“When should I finish by?”
Taking the pile of letters from my hand, Tula asked.
“There’s no deadline. I’ll check how long it takes you to finish the organization, so try planning your schedule yourself. I won’t take away your usual tasks, and this is just to see how much free time you have. Don’t overdo it.”
Even for practice, it would be hard without a deadline. People tend to either rush to finish quickly or procrastinate and forget.
So it would have been better to give a deadline like ‘this week’ or ‘this month,’ but I deliberately removed it. This was a good way to judge her aptitude for report writing.
“All right, I understand.”
Tula bowed her head calmly, without worry. Now, how long will it take? Three days? Or a month?
I smiled slyly, looking forward to the results.
