喵绅HCMOIC士网页版

Chapter 159

The festival was over, and somehow, I managed to survive the onslaught of final exams.

Now, all that was left was to enjoy a week or so of leisure before winter break.

And after that, another year would come to an end, and a new one would begin.

‘Of course, there will be more going on during this winter break than last summer.’

The news I’ve been hearing lately isn’t ordinary.

First, the Empire and the Holy See have decided to jointly issue a commemorative coin, with a limited distribution to a select few starting from the New Year’s ceremony.

I hear it’s Cardinals or higher in the Holy See, and Marquises or Counts in the Empire.

Of course, among the commoners, those who have received the Medal of Honor or certain other medals will be personally visited by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to receive the commemorative coin.

Damn it. My face is going to be plastered everywhere. It’s my fault for not stopping them.

At least the original image is objectively decent. If they had put an ugly mug on it, it would have been a permanent embarrassment for generations to come.

Or maybe the people who sculpted my face for the coin did some kind of Photoshop-like touch-up.

Thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you so much for giving birth to this handsome son of yours.

If I had heard that the face on the commemorative coin looked different from my real face, I might have dug myself a hole and crawled into it.

“Karl! There you are. What are you doing all by yourself?”

“We’ve been looking for you, and you didn’t even answer. You bad boy.”

The reason I didn’t answer is that I didn’t want to.

It wasn’t Selena, Lav, Eloise, or Lefia calling me, it was you four! Do I have to answer every time you call?! I’m not obligated to.

“Congratulations, guys.”

“What? Out of the blue.”

“Are you feeling weak, Karl?”

“Cut the crap. You’re finally graduating.”

That’s right. This damn quartet is finally graduating.

Last semester, they didn’t have enough scores to graduate. So, with the twisted logic that they were already a year behind, they decided to just repeat the year and enjoy themselves.

Anyway, these guys, who’ve stuck around until the 5th year of the academy, will finally graduate.

“What’s up, Karl? You don’t look sad at all that we’re graduating.”

“Why would I be sad? It’s not like we’ll never see each other again, or that we’re planning to avoid each other.”

“I know, but you seem too cheerful about it.”

“Hey, how about we repeat the year? We can spend the whole year messing with Karl. What do you think?”

Yeah, I’m not falling for that. And I’m the heir to a Count’s family, so don’t you think I’d know the rumors going around?

“Stop lying. I heard you all have all sorts of plans for next year. One of you is going on a tour of the territory, another is visiting somewhere else. And the mass exodus of your family vassals suggests they’re preparing for a new heir, right?”

“…Did you plant a spy in our families or something?”

“Yeah, how do you know all this stuff?”

Well, I asked your family heads when I met them, and they told me everything.

They even asked me to get along with their sons and maintain a good relationship with their families.

…Hahaha. Seriously, it’s quite absurd when I think about it.

Our Friedrich County, the Adelheit family, is said to be the top among the Empire’s Counties.

Plus, my sister became the Crown Princess and will eventually be Empress, so our blood ties with the Imperial family will solidify our position even further.

But that’s one thing, and above us, there are still the Duke families, Marquis families, and the Archduke’s family.

Marquis families, in particular, are so large that they can appoint Counts as their vassals. And the Duke’s family, well, there’s no need to even mention them.

In that situation, the heads of two Marquis families came to me, a mere heir of a Count’s family, and asked me to ‘be good friends with our children’ and ‘maintain a strong relationship with our families.’

I was so surprised and confused that I just stared blankly for a moment. Then they went even further and said, ‘Our heirs are still young and playful, but they’re not bad kids.’

‘It must be hard for parents to criticize their children in front of others.’

Hearing that, how could I possibly say, ‘I’ll think about it’?

I immediately shook their hands and replied with confidence, ‘Friedrich County will be a strong ally of your houses. And we, heirs, will forge close friendships.”

Thanks to that, I learned that these guys would be starting preparations to lead their families from next year.

After all, it’s highly likely that I’ll be taking over my family around the time I graduate too.

“Anyway, stop with the nonsense and focus on getting ready. You’re not planning to lead your families in your current state, are you? You guys seem to forget, two of you are future Marquises, and the other two are future Counts.”

“We know.”

“Know, my ass. There are less than ten Marquis families in the whole Empire, and the same goes for Counts. That means you idiots, as the future heads of those families, have the power to either rock the boat or steady it in high society.”

[TL/N: ‘to rock the boat’ → to cause trouble or create a disturbance in a situation that is otherwise stable and calm.]

To be honest, there’s no chance of anything I’m worried about happening.

These guys were the original protagonists. There’s zero chance of them doing anything bad or harboring evil desires. It’s like their fate is set in stone.

Then why am I even saying this? Because I just want to nag them a little!

“But Karl, I’m genuinely sad.”

“The two years I spent with you were way more fun than I expected.”

“Just fun? You were also influenced in a good way and learned a lot.”

“Oh, right. That too.”

I understand the fun part, but what good influence and what did you learn?

If you guys are planning to improve my image, could you please refrain? I’m already scheduled for another trip to the Imperial Palace for the commemorative coin and a fancy new uniform dripping with medals.

Whether they know my thoughts or not… No, they probably do. But they’re most likely doing this on purpose because they enjoy seeing me frustrated.

“Well, thanks to Karl, we got to experience military life, even if it was just for a short while, right?”

“Thanks to that, we were able to truly understand the immense duty the citizens of the Empire bear, and what kind of actions we should take as nobles of the Empire for them.”

“More than anything, it led to the opinion that the quality of meals definitely needs improvement.”

“If we could just slightly lower the quality of the bread the nobles eat, it could go a long way in improving the soldiers’ rations.”

Ah, that time comes to mind. I jokingly told them to enlist in the military, and they actually went.

The funniest part was that these guys put down ‘sick leave’ as the reason for their leave of absence. Seriously, just thinking about it makes my head spin.

By the way, our senior Marcus also said it was the most absurd thing he had ever experienced during his time as a teaching assistant. He got quite an earful from the professors because of it.

I wonder what he’s up to these days.

Last semester, he finished his time at the academy and moved on to become an academy official. He’s probably doing well, right?

“At the festival, you suddenly came up with those weird fish-shaped pastries. I was a bit confused at first.”

“Speaking of which, are the bungeoppang still selling well?”

“It’s that time of year again. It’s inevitably a popular winter snack.”

“Hotteok, was it? Those sell well all year round. It’s a shame.”

Yeah, that was a shame for me too.

Honestly, bungeoppang are delicious anytime, but they’re definitely better in winter. There’s something special about taking a bite of a hot bungeoppang when it’s cold outside.

“Next was the Pension Foundation, right?”

“The Karl Adelheit Veterans Pension Foundation! Haha! What a great choice that was!”

“Is it still doing well?”

“If it wasn’t, the inspection team would be all over them. I heard they brought in people from the former Imperial Treasury to handle the inspections.”

“Whoa. If you misuse even a single penny, they’ll send you straight to Goddess.”

The Imperial Treasury is scary indeed. Even the Ministry of War doesn’t have any actual military forces under its command, but the Treasury is the only one with such a subordinate organization.

Well, it makes sense, since taxes are a crucial matter.

Even in my past life, wasn’t the Secret Service of the United States initially created for tax purposes?

“And then—”

“Student Karl! Student Karl, ah! There you are!”

What? What’s going on? I was enjoying listening to the stories of these four guys.

The new teaching assistant, who had taken over from Marcus, was running towards us from afar.

“Student Karl! Right now! Prepare to enter the Imperial Palace immediately!”

“…Huh? Right now, sir?”

There were several matters that required me to visit the Imperial Palace.

The problem was, it was scheduled for tomorrow, not today. And even then, it was for the afternoon. Why the sudden change?

“It’s an urgent matter! The Imperial Palace has sent someone to find you!”

“The Imperial Palace?”

The Imperial Palace, the residence of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess—my brother-in-law and sister. They’ve sent an urgent message, requesting my presence.

‘Could it be…?’

A sudden, ominous thought flashes through my mind.

My sister is pregnant. Of course, it’s still a long way until my nephew or niece is born.

But if it’s an urgent matter at this time, and they’re looking for me at the Imperial Palace…

“I’ll get ready right away!”

* * *

“Y-Your Highness! Huff, huff!”

My heart felt like it was about to burst. I had become the crazy guy running through the palace, but I couldn’t help it.

As soon as I entered the Imperial Palace, I pushed past knights and servants alike, sprinting towards the garden.

“Brother-in-law, you’ve arrived?”

“Your Highness! You said there was an urgent matter—”

“Hmm? Ah, yes. There is. Of course there is. Follow me quickly.”

I hurried after the Crown Prince.

Could my sister be unwell? Did something happen to my niece or nephew?

Oh, Goddess! This can’t be happening! I prayed so hard…

“Actually, just this morning, Vee finally felt the baby kick!”

[TL/N: He calls Rika ‘Vee’ ]

[PR/N: So Rikata(OG name), Rika(Nickname), Vee(Only called by the Crown Prince)]

[TL/N: Yep]

“…Huh?”

“Our little one made its presence known this morning with a little kick! Bea felt it for the first time, and as soon as it happened, she wanted to tell you!”

“…Ah.”

Phew…

…Damn it! Sis! Brother-in-law! You just took ten years off my life!