Princess of the Empire (JNC Edition)

by Hiroyuki Morioka

  “You really don’t know anything?”

  “Sorry, I really don’t.” The old man remained calm and composed. “I’m telling ya the truth. I’m trapped here. And nobody’s told me your story.”

  “But lonh-lym (the Honorable Baron) is your son, isn’t he?”

  “I ended up like this because he’s my son. He ain’t much for how I’m a Lander, genetically. And the ‘public’ here amounts to the servants, who don’t come in contact with me.”

  “Ugh, the more I hear, the less I get.” Jinto stroked his head, which hadn’t quite revved back up to full speed. That was when he noticed he didn’t have his decorative circlet on. Nor did he have his daüch to signify he was nobility. Not that he minded all that much. The disappearance of the compuwatch, now that he minded.

  “The man’s a walking inferiority complex,” Sruf asserted.

  “He didn’t look it to me.”

  “Maybe not, but believe you me. I’m his father, I should know. This Barony ain’t got a storied history, and I guess his inflated ego can’t handle that.”

  “But he’s a noble, with his own domain and everything.”

  “Yeah, a really tiny one.”

  “The size of the territory notwithstanding, it’s still a really high standing in society, isn’t it?”

  “Sure, but we were gentry only three generations ago. And he hates that. Oh, he probably locked me up here not so others don’t lay eyes on me, but that so he ain’t gotta. Can’t even stomach looking at his Lander daddy.”

  “Guess it isn’t someone else’s problem, then.”

  The former baron grinned.

  “The only thing I’ve been racking my head over all these years stuck here is where I went wrong raising him. I’ve had plenty of time, too. If ya want my parenting advice, I’m here for ya.”

  “I’m all ears later.” He wouldn’t be begetting a successor until much farther down the line. He was sure he had many a pearl of wisdom to share with him, but educational philosophy wasn’t the most pressing concern at the moment. “Right now, I need to focus on getting out of here.”

  Jinto tried to get up out of bed, but nearly stumbled and fell. He was tottering on his feet, as the effects of the drug hadn’t totally worn off. The former baron caught him and sat him back down.

  “Take it easy there, Lonh-Ïarlucec Dreur.”

  “Please, don’t call me that. It kinda puts me on edge.”

  “You’ve got some issues to sort, eh, boy.” The former baron complied without hesitation.

  “Yep.”

  “Gotta say, though... a count! That’s a grandee rank, ain’t it? Your father or mother, or your grans, or I dunno who, but somebody musta done good to go straight from imperial citizen to count!”

  “It was my dad. He wasn’t even an imperial citizen. He did really good.”

  “Hoo-wee, I’d love to hear that story if ya don’t mind.”

  “I’m sorry, but...”

  “Don’t wanna, eh? Now you’ve got me even more interested. But I’ve gotta respect your wishes. So never mind that, what say we get ya to a guzasec (GOOZAHS, bath)? You’re sweaty all over.”

  “I can do that whenever. Right now, I need to escape...”

  “I’m telling ya, you’re in no shape. Let’s get ya cleaned up and fed. Then we can tackle what needs tackling. I may even be of some assistance.”

  “Really?” He felt some aversion to hanging onto the hand the old man had extended. It wasn’t that this former baron didn’t look trustworthy. It was just that, given their experience gap, pulling the wool over Jinto’s eyes might have come as naturally to the man as slipping on a pair of shoes.

  Besides, how exactly would he even be able to help him, if he’d just said he was trapped here?

  “Have faith in what your elders have to say,” said Sruf. “You’ve gotta admit, washing with some hot water ain’t a bad idea. I swear I won’t do anything to ya. If I’d wanted to, I woulda already.”

  “But there’s no time!” Jinto was suddenly seized by a hair-raising anxiety. “How long was I knocked out for?”

  The old man looked at his wrist computer. “Lessee... It’s been around five hours since they brought you here. I dunno what’s got you in such a hurry, but I’m betting you’ve got an hour or two to spare. Otherwise, it’s already too late.”

  Five hours...

  There was still time to steal a march on the enemy fleet. But what was Lafier doing? If the Baron was enacting some villainous scheme, the enemy might just get the time they needed.

  “Could you lend me your compuwatch for a sec?” He’d memorized Lafier’s number for just such an emergency. If Lafier had hers on, and was within a light-second’s range, he ought to be able to contact her.

  “No problem at all.” Sruf removed his compuwatch and handed it over.

  But Jinto was soon disappointed. It was just a glorified watch.

  “Um, does this room have a phone?”

  “Yeah, it’s got one.”

  “Could you let me use it? Please,” said Jinto, coughing.

  “I don’t mind, but it only reaches the bandhorh garicr (BAHNDTHORR GAHREEK, homemakers’ office). You’re probably itching to talk to that girl, but you’d have to get her to that office first. Think ya can manage it?”

  Jinto drooped his shoulders and shook his head. It would be delusional to hope the Baron’s servants would be so amenable.

  “C’mon, let’s get ya to the lav.” Sruf sounded like he was twisting the arm of a difficult child. “It’ll clear your head. After that, ya can eat, get some strength back. Then we can cook up a real robust plan, the two of us.”

  “Sure. Fine,” Jinto agreed limply. He did, in all likelihood, need his strength back.

  Unlike Jinto, there was no grogginess when Lafier opened her eyes. She couldn’t have been sleeping for very long, yet she was coursing with energy from head to toe. She pushed aside her soft, warm futon and stood straight up amid the dark.

  “Lights,” she muttered.

  The lights came on. She could breathe easier; she was alone in her room.

  Those two servants from before had followed their lord’s orders and stayed by her side until she’d succumbed to sleep. She’d intended to pretend to fall asleep, but it appeared she’d been more worn out than she realized.

  She checked the time on her compuwatch. Normally, she would take off her circlet and compuwatch before tucking herself in, but fearing they would confiscate them, she made tonight an exception.

  She’d evidently been out for four hours. The Baron might actually have done her a favor: anything she attempted would have been undermined by all her mounting fatigue.

  But I can hardly forgive myself, thought Lafier, biting her lip, for actually falling asleep when I was trying to fake it. What am I, a child?

  Lafier was able to console herself, though, given it’d ultimately worked out in her favor. Besides, those thoughts were soon crowded out by her seething fury toward the Baron. That he was sabotaging her mission was cause enough for outrage, but she’d never felt so slighted by someone so gratuitously, by someone without any seniority over her. It stung her pride.

  She was quick to sing her own praises: I am being very resilient. For having been born an Ablïar, a clan whose souls are always blazing with imperatorial wrath, I clearly have a great amount of patience.

  But even her sizeable stores of perseverance had reached their limit. She would escape, even if only to teach the Baron his place.

  She opened the raüamh (RAHWAHF, clothing trunk) and found her uniform. There were many other beautiful outfits, but they didn’t distract her. Lafier was a royal princess, and once she returned to her flirich (FLEEREESH, palace court) she would be wearing such lavish dresses as casual everyday fare.

  In actuality, she wasn’t all that shocked that garments befitting noble princesses had been prepared in advance, though it was strange that there were no Abh women in this Baron’s household.

  Lafier slip
ped on her uniform.

  Now, where could Jinto be? Finding him was her priority. She activated her watch and tried to connect to Jinto’s.

  “The compuwatch you called is not currently equipped,” it whispered. It must have been swiped from Jinto’s possession.

  “Hmm.” Lafier turned hers off. It was plain to see the Baron was making it his policy to sever their bond.

  No matter; onto her next course of action. She activated the sotÿac (SOHTYOOA, information terminal) installed in this bedroom and loaded up a map of the estate.

  The main building of the Baron’s mansion was a three-tiered structure. It was divided into the living quarters, the office quarters, the storehouse, the hydroponic plantation, and the cultivation ranch.

  “Show me where I am,” Lafier ordered.

  “On the second floor.” Then, a room towards the center of the top-view second-floor map turned red.

  “Show me where the Baron’s bedroom is.” A room directly adjacent to the one she’d been allotted turned red.

  “And the guest bedrooms?” About twenty rooms on their floor lit up.

  “Which of those are currently in use?” Only one remained red in color — her room.

  “Is there anybody held captive somewhere?” she asked, just in case.

  “I don’t understand the question.” As she expected, no answer.

  “Show me the names and positions of everyone in the mansion.”

  “I need my lord’s permission to help you with that. Would you like me to ask him for his permission? Note that he is currently resting. As such, you may need to wait until tomorrow morni—”

  “No, forget it,” she said, silencing it. I suppose if it’s come to this, I’m going to have to ask the Baron.

  She kicked herself for leaving her weapon aboard the vessel. Though the Baron definitely wouldn’t have allowed her to carry one with her.

  Oh, but I can go fetch it now! Lafier quickly made up her mind.

  According to the clock on her bedroom wall, it was the middle of the night by this barony’s time zone. There was little chance she would bump into a servant in the halls, and she knew the ferry was there for them. The only uncertainty was whether she could get there and inside.

  “Is it possible to enter the spaceport? Are there any pressurized passageways between the connecting vessels currently moored there?”

  “Yes, there are.”

  “Are they blocked off?”

  “They aren’t blocked off, but you would require the saigh daimhatr haita (SEHJ DEFAHT HEHTA, general-access electromagnetic wave crest-key).”

  “Is my EM crest registered?”

  “No.”

  “Can I register it now?”

  “I need my lord’s permission to help you with that. Would you like me to ask him for his permission? Note that he is currently resting—”

  “Whose crests are registered?” Lafier cut in.

  “The crests of my lord and of all of the servants are. The servants’ names are as follows...”

  “That’s enough.” She didn’t want to hear the terminal rattle through fifty names.

  Let’s just give it a try, thought Lafier.

  The situation wasn’t ideal, but that didn’t mean she could afford to get lost in thought in this bedroom. She loaded her compuwatch with the map of the estate.

  With this, her preparations were complete.

  Lafier made to exit the room, but something nagged at her as she was about to order the doors open. There was something she was missing.

  What could it be?

  She wracked her mind, and finally it dawned on her. There was another occupant besides the Baron and his servants.

  Lafier reactivated the terminal.

  “The Baron’s father is here, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, the honorable former baron resides at the Febdash Baron’s Estate.”

  “Is the Baron’s father’s EM crest registered?”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “Why isn’t it?”

  “On the orders of my lord.”

  “Why would the Baron order such a thing?”

  “I need my lord’s permission to answer that. Would you like me to ask him for his permission? Note that he is currently res—”

  “Yes, yes, I know,” she said, irritated. “Show me where the former baron is.”

  The top-view map of the third floor appeared. Its area was mostly taken up by the plantation and ranch. A single path led from the elevator section through the plantation to an isolated quarter, which glowed red on the map.

  “I would like to meet with him. Set up an appointment.”

  “I need my lord’s permission to help you with that. Would you like to—”

  “NO!” Lafier slammed the terminal’s desk with her open palms. “Why do I need the Baron’s permission to see the former baron!? You don’t think that’s strange!?”

  “I cannot judge that for myself.”

  “I suppose not.” Lafier let loose a string of words unbecoming of a royal princess. “Is there anybody else in the former baron’s quarters?”

  “Yes, there is one other person.”

  “What’s their name?”

  “They are unregistered.”

  “And they aren’t a servant, correct?”

  “They are not.”

  That must be Jinto!

  “Let me guess, I need an EM crest to go to the former Baron’s room, right?”

  “You would require either a general-access electromagnetic wave crest-key, or my lord’s permission. Would you—”

  “Stop right there,” she said gloomily. She hadn’t been seized by an urge to destroy this strong since she’d come free of her mechanical teachers.

  In any case, it looked as though a certain someone in this estate had father issues. That gave her no pause — strained relationships were hardly uncommon among noble families.

  She opened the clothing trunk back up and chose a daüch. The long robe would make it easier to conceal a weapon. She cinched the robe of deep crimson, which featured a bird with unfolded wings embroidered with silver thread, using a malachite-colored belt. For the epœzmec (AHPEHZ, sash clip), she took one studded with rubies on silver.

  Now it was finally time to step foot into the hallway.

  “Fïac Lartnér!” cried a voice the second she did. Startled, Lafier’s eyes darted to and fro.

  A servant got up out of a rough wickerwork chair and snapped a deep bow.

  She wasn’t one of the servants who had watched her fall asleep, but she remembered her face. “You’re the servant named ‘Seelnay,’ if I recall.”

  “Yes! I’m honored, Fïac Lartnér!” She all but swooned. “To think you would remember the name of a lowly worm like me!”

  Wearily, Lafier came to understand part of Jinto’s puzzlement, if faintly.

  While she had no desire to meddle in the family traditions of another’s household, the Febdash Baron’s Estate was in sore need of reform in order to safeguard the very concept of dignity. The attitude of the Baron’s servants towards her shot far past honor and respect.

  Of course, as a member of her royal family, the Cryb (Lartïéc-Crybr), Lafier had grown up surrounded by servants and chamberlains that waited upon her. But those servants knew the difference between loyalty and slavery.

  All she wanted was to conduct her business as normal, as an equal. But they were making her feel like a pompous ass.

  “What are you doing over there?” asked Lafier, shoving aside the matter of reforming the Febdash Barony’s family traditions for now. “Were you spying on me?”

  “I would never!” Seelnay’s eyes widened. “Why would I do something so disrespectful? I was simply waiting for Your Highness to awaken so that I could be of service.”

  Lafier didn’t doubt her words. There were more civilized ways to spy on somebody; no need to be glued to the other side of the door.

  “On the Baron’s orders?”

  “Yes. I have been
entrusted with your care for as long as you’re here with us.”

  “Don’t you need to sleep?”

  “Oh, I’m so honored you would worry over an ignoble maggot like me, Your Highness. But you don’t need to concern yourself; we are taking this duty in shifts.”

  “Good,” she said, but a hint of apathy crept in her voice. She probably should have sympathized with Seelnay, but she seemed satisfied with her lot. Not that Lafier liked that.

  Lafier just ignored her and started pacing away.

  “Please, Fïac Lartnér, wait a moment!” she panicked, rushing to catch up to her. “Where are you going?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I will do whatever it is you need done, so I implore you relax in your room, Your Highness.”

  “Never mind that. I need to go by myself.”

  “Where are you headed?” she repeated.

  “To my vessel,” she responded honestly. She couldn’t come up with a convincing lie in time, and if luck was on her side, she might be able to make use of Seelnay’s EM crest.

  “Heavens above!” Seelnay covered her mouth with her hands. “I’m terribly sorry, Fïac Lartnér, but my lord insisted he would like you to refrain from entering your connecting vessel—”

  She’d been half-expecting that response, so her reply was swift.

  “Don’t you think it’s strange? Granted, this is the Baron’s Estate, but he doesn’t own that connecting vessel. It belongs to the Star Forces, and it’s now under my command. Am I wrong, or does the Baron lack any authority to prevent me from accessing it?”

  “You... You’re not wrong,” said Seelnay, visibly befuddled.

  Everyone around her — including she herself, most likely — had grown accustomed to this home situation with the Baron, but it appeared it had occurred to her, just now, that Lafier comprised an outside element. She followed Lafier to the door to the passageway leading to the spaceport.

  This was her first barrier. Without an EM crest, she was stuck.

  “Could you to open the way for me? My EM crest isn’t registered,” Lafier asked Seelnay.

  Seelnay hesitated. “Fïac Lartnér, it’s not up to me to decide...”

  Lafier said nothing. No matter what she said here, it would only spark Seelnay’s self-hatred. So she crossed her arms and stared motionlessly at the door.