“Yes! I, Beatrice! Swear unyielding! Loyalty! I will become your Majesty’s! Sword and I will bring glory to our! Grun Empire.”
Beatrice finished her oath somehow, with a few rather strange articulations.
“I recognize now the birth of a duke and duchess! Glory to our Grun Empire!”
“ “ “ “ “Glory to our Grun Empire!” “ “ “ “
(Is my pee-pee that glorious?)
And so, the title bestowing ceremony finally ended.
“Toto, when I tell you to be quiet, it also means you can’t send telepathic messages, you know?”
“Toto? I understand you can’t stay quiet in a dangerous situation, but otherwise you can, right?”
(Yes, I can!)
Some way or another, the ceremony ended safely.
We couldn’t stand up for a while…………..
We somehow recovered and were now walking towards the evening party grounds.
Once this party was over, it’ll mark the end of a series of exhausting events.
We will return to the Frontier Count’s domain, that I actually missed………Or, we won’t.
Since I will get my own domain now as a duke……..we will ‘return’ there…….
But in this case, where will the marriage ceremony take place? In my domain?
In the imperial capital’s cathedral?
I’ll just discuss it later with Bea.
The evening party was progressing well.
The maids were taking care of Toto, feeding her to her great delight.
You little! You really can be quiet, when you eat, that is.
The nobles gathered in a long line, waiting for me to greet them.
“Well, such wonderful achievements. I want to share your good luck. Oh right! You must definitely meet my daughter…………….”
“Since my domain is really close to the Frontier Count’s, I get along well with his Excellency. From now on, Lord Zest, I will certainly……….”
“I heard about Lord Zest’s military fame. Please, allow me to spar with you………”
They were all saying the same things……..
Don’t introduce me to your daughter! My legal wife is a duchess and my concubine is a princess, you know?
Aren’t you a viscount?…………It’s impossible…..Give up!
As one would expect, there was no fool around who dared to make advances at Bea.
There was only one noble who glared at Bea’s cleavage, but…
Toto sent him away flying.
I finally finished with this handshake ‘party’, and sent Bea off to her room, then immediately returned to mine.
I was reaching my limit.
I’ll go to sleep early tonight too.
Good night………..
The next day, I woke up in a wonderful mood.
No more bed-wetting, nor trespassing maids…..
It was a refreshing morning.
I changed my clothes and took Toto to Bea’s room.
We had plans to eat breakfast together.
We arrived in front of Bea’s room, and greeted the black knights who were guarding it.
“Good work. Is everything in order?”
Obviously, everything was all right; it was just lip service from my part.
“Beatrice-sama……has prepared……..the breakfast……………..”
My refreshing morning seems to have suddenly ended…………..
* * *
Translation: Nana
Proofreading: Carmina
DA BEST (among the worst): Mockii
Chapter 53: The Nightmare Weapon’s Revival
Yaa! (^.-)/
Chapter 53 is ready….It would have been ready earlier, but the last part of this chap was damn confusing, so it took me a while to figure it out. xD
* * *
Chapter 53: The Nightmare Weapon’s Revival
Bea made breakfast………
After hearing such a hopeless notice, I couldn’t stop from asking.
“Idiot, so you watched silently without doing anything to stop her? Couldn’t you just cause an ‘accident’ to ruin the food, or something?”
With an admiring expression, the black knight answered.
“Zest-sama, is just that lately, Beatrice-sama has become more sociable.”
With teary eyes, he continued.
“Such a lovely Beatrice-sama was doing her best to make the breakfast, I just couldn’t stop her!”
“………….Forget it.”
“………….I wish you the very best of luck.”
I shook his hand and silently entered the room.
“Morning Bea, it’s a great morning, isn’t it?”
“Good morning Zest-sama. Yes, it’s a wonderful morning.”
I cast some healing magic on my trembling feet as I tried to sit down on my chair.
“I made the breakfast today.”
Bea was showing an expression like she was begging for me to praise her.
Clad in strengthening magic, I tried to control my trembling while brushing her hair lightly.
“It smells delicious, Bea. However, didn’t you promise me you won’t cook again because it’s dangerous?”
“Haha. Since then, I did a lot of practice, so as not to worry Zest-sama anymore.”
Her smile was sparkling.
It can’t be helped.
Such a beautiful girl cooked for me…………
I have no choice but to eat it.
(D…Dad….this is…)
Toto, you can’t say anything else…….I looked at her with a serious expression and she seemed to understand.
“Let’s eat…”
(Itadakimasu!) (1)
“Go ahead and eat.”
As for our breakfast, it contained bread, soup, salad and some dark liquid for drinking.
The outward appearance was pretty ordinary; there was nothing strange about it.
Timidly, I took a mouthful of soup.
“It’s good……”
!?The soup was a success!
I’m sure the maids helped her!
So, the first one was safe…..Toto was gulping repetitively as well.
Then, what about the bread? I took a bite.
“It’s…delicious…..”
This was a success too!
Such good fortune…..There are only two left…..
Eagerly, I started tasting the salad.
“It’s fresh and tasty……”
How can this be?………At last, only the dangerously looking ‘something’ was left………..
I glanced at Toto, but she was not approaching the black liquid.
I get it.
If I drink this, everything will be settled peacefully…..
I prepared myself for the worst, and took a sip from the dark liquid!
“It’s…..coffee……..”
Yes, it was actually coffee.
“Haha, in Japan, people often drink this, right? I looked up in an old book, and it was written there.”
Smiling, she was eating her breakfast.
“My cooking skills were very bad, so Zest-sama was worried about me, am I right?”
Bea was smiling kindly and I couldn’t reply to her.
“I knew it actually, that Zest-sama was being silent about it out of kindness. But still, I wanted to cook for you, so I kept on practicing…….on my grandfather.”
…………..Frontier Count, are you still alive?
“But since my grandfather is a busy man, he changed places with the black knights after a while……….”
That old geezer Frontier Count, he ran away.
“Thanks to them, I’ve become rather skillful, haven’t I, Zest-sama?”
Really now, this girl is…….
She’s really, really kind.
Because of the dark attribute’s influence, she went through a lot of terrible and painful situations.
And yet, she’s such a kind girl.
“Bea, thank you so much. Truly……”
I gazed at her firmly for a while, and before one knows, I kissed her…….
“Thank you for the meal.”
(Thank you for the meal.)
“You are very welcome.”
The food Bea prepared for us was in fact delicious.
We ate up everything and drank coffee after.
“Still, I really didn’t know there was coffee in this world. When did you buy it?”
I was in a great mood after drinking coffee again in such a long time, so, with a smile on my face, I asked her.
Having done so, with a smile on her face, Bea answered me.
“I didn’t buy it. It actually comes from Toto-chan’s bottom.”
…………..This is kopi luwak coffee. (2)
While thinking that this was indeed kopi luwak coffee, I drank it all up.
______________________________________________________
Takkurun-san’s note: Unfortunately, kopi luwak coffee, made of the excrements of the so-called civet cat, actually exists.
_______________
(1) Itadakimasu – a Japanese expression of gratitude said before a meal. It literally means ‘I humbly accept this food’.
(2) Kopi luwak is the name of a type of coffee beans. They kinda have a controversial story, so if you’re interested, cheek this link: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/sep/19/civet-cat-coffee-worlds-most-expensive-brew-made-sustainably-kopi-luwak
And yeah, it is poop. ><
* * *
Translation: Nana
Proofreading: Carmina
DA BEST (among the worst): Mockii
Chapter 54: If I Could Only Get Used to It……..
Chapter 54 is ready!
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┃╰━━┫┃┃┃┃╰╯┃╰━╯┣╮
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╱╱╱╱╱╱╭╯┃╱╱╭━╯┃
≧◠ᴥ◠≦✊
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Chapter 54: If I Could Only Get Used to It……..
Three days passed since I first drank this world’s coffee.
For me, it was a shocking fact, but for Bea…….no…
For this world’s inhabitants, it was only natural.
The spirits are the messengers of the gods, they are holy beings.
Thus, they bless people with their ‘Spirit Drops’ and ‘Spirit Pills’.
………..Or so it seems.
The books only talk about Spirit Drops and Spirit Pills, but since there were no spirits around in recent history, there weren’t many people who had an actual understanding about them.
Who would’ve thought that Spirit Drops and Spirit Pills were in fact spirit urine and feces…….
“Zest will leave soon…We won’t be able to drink Spirit Drops anymore…….”
The one complaining about this was the Emperor.
Since that time, he’s gotten completely addicted to it.
The legendary Spirit Drops.
He wanted to ask about them right after Toto’s birth, but he gave up, not wanting to ruin the spirit’s mood.
Having had no other option, the Emperor had to wait and see what was to happen, but he was unexpectedly made to drink those ‘Spirit Drops’.
‘Find that tea!’
That’s what he said after the so-called ‘pee in a cup’ incident. He instructed his people to look for it, but they couldn’t find ‘the tea’.
But then, the Emperor remembered that we were there at that time, so, reluctantly, he asked me about it.
‘Zest, what was the liquid in that cup?’
With a demonic expression on his face, the Emperor knelt down on the ground in front of me, making it for a great memory.
In reality, he wanted to drink it so badly that he grew desperate…..
“It’s truly regrettable, but we can’t restrain them any longer, can we?”
“Bea ane-sama, I will feel lonely…”
Empress Natasha and Tsubaki were already addicted too.
And because of that, our departure got postponed for a bit.
“Tsubaki, you’re such a spoiled child. But it’s all right, we’ll be able to meet again soon.”
Somehow, Princess Tsubaki got completely emotionally attached to Bea.
Even though Bea was brushing her hair gently, she had such a sorrowful expression on her face.
They’re just like mother and child.
But I can’t say that to Bea.
‘Do I really look that old?’
It’s been only yesterday when she started crying about this matter.
I would only end up prostrating myself in front of her again.
The woman’s heart is difficult to understand……
“For a short while, I’ll be in the care of the Frontier Count’s Household, so I won’t be able to visit too often, but I’ll make sure to come see you. You’re an important person after all.”
It was only a followup from my part, nothing more.
“It’s the first time I’m going shopping outside the castle!”
“You’re excited, right, Tsubaki? Look, you can see the water fountain from here!”
For some reason, we were inside the carriage on our way to the city.
I certainly told them I was about to go out to shop for presents, but it was too unexpected that the Princess will come along.
‘If she’s together with you and the black knights, she’s safer than inside the castle. No problems there!’
The much appreciated Emperor’s words.
…….But I actually wanted this to be a date….mine and Bea’s date.
But well, when I looked at how happy and excited Princess Tsubaki was about her first visit in the city, I decided I won’t give too much importance to the minor details.
I want to treat this child with great care as well.
We were shaken inside the carriage for about 30 minutes, when we finally arrived at the shop we wanted to visit.
This shop was recently opened in the imperial capital, but it already had a good reputation of offering a great customer service and an excellent variety of goods.
…….I read about this shop in the black knights’ ‘Date Spots Report’.
“Welcome to my shop, your Highness, Princess Tsubaki, your Excellency, Duke Zest, your Excellency, Duchess Beatrice.”
All the employees were standing in a line, and the one who greeted us was…
“It’s Tania! Was this your shop?”
The middle-aged woman was all smiles.
She was Tania, the shopkeeper who looked after us when we went to buy clothes for little Toto.
“Eh? So this was actually Tania’s shop. In that case I can really feel at ease.”
Princess Tsubaki was looking blackly, so we explained her the situation as we entered the shop.
“I used the connections I made with my clothing shop, so I opened this one too. I’m really sorry I was late in letting you know about it. What are you looking for today?”
She said and presented us the great variety of goods she was selling. As expected, ‘a great variety’ were the perfect words for it. There were a lot of things displayed in this shop, from alcohol and food to all sorts of magical tools.
Yes, it’s just like a department store; it has everything.
I was trying to look for the right souvenirs to buy, when my attention focused on the three girls, making a fuss over some very lovely ornaments.
Toto was there with them, you know? She was sitting on Princess Tsubaki’s shoulder.
She looked like Tsubaki’s cute little sister.
As for the souvenirs, I decided upon buying sak
e for the guys and clothing materials or cosmetics for the girls.
No one would complain if the guys get drunk.
However, if I offer odd things to women, it could turn into a really ugly situation.
I want to avoid that by all means.
As for myself, I’d really wanted a magical tool like an item box or something.
I bought a bracelet that lets me store inside it a large quantity of goods.
It doesn’t have an infinite storage space, but depending on someone’s magical powers the storage quantity grows; it was indeed a valuable item.
……..Since it was cheaper than I expected, I ended up buying more than one bracelet.
It only cost 1000 pieces of gold coins.
Was it actually cheap?
Since I received 50.000 pieces of gold coins from the Emperor, signifying my reserve found as a duke, it was actually pretty cheap.
Stranger's Handbook - WN Chapter 01-76 Page 26
