“What are you thinking so hard about?”

That evening, Carl, who had finished his work and came to the palace of Sienna, asked, hugging her waist.

“Ah…it’s nothing.”

Sienna had been obsessed with the idea of ‘a banquet for Carl’ all day long. Although she decided to give a banquet, the banquet itself was not a special event for Carl and Sienna. Since it was held once or twice a month on a regular basis, it was clear that most banquets would be just imperial banquets, not for him.

Moreover, when preparing for a banquet, she prepared it with a light heart that she just had to meet the formalities, and this banquet was very burdensome. It was a present for Carl. It was of no use if he didn’t rejoice, so she couldn’t care less.

But anyway, she couldn’t tell him ‘I’m busy preparing a banquet for you.’ Carl mumbled, burying his head in Sienna’s shoulder.

“You certainly have a troubled face.”

It wasn’t until Sienna said several times that he didn’t have to worry about it that he brought up another story.

“Leah brought her paintings today, and I think she’s got a great talent for art.”

Sienna thought for a long time that she might have misheard Carl and finally asked back.

“Leah? At art?”

“I couldn’t think of it as coming from an eight-year-old. Such vivid energy and dynamism.”

Sienna briefly suspected that Leah might have deceived Anna’s painting as her own work. It was reasonable for her to think so. She obviously watched the children take art lessons and checked Leah’s paintings. If one can call it a painting at all.

“I sensed this militant spirit as if a knight was wielding a sword in combat. It’s more dynamic than the work of a skilled artist.”

Listening to his expression emphasizing dynamism, it seemed clear that Leah had shown her own painting, but Sienna still could not understand Carl’s praise. To her, it looked more like a scribble than a painting.

“How can you feel that Leah is talented in art when you look at her painting? I was really thinking about teaching Leah swordsmanship when I saw it.”

“The energy I feel in the picture is amazing. So, I hung it right in the Oval Office. As expected, the painting’s presence is enormous.”

Among the luxurious ornaments in the office, it was natural that Leah’s painting would show off a sense of ‘difference.’

“You’re too soft to Leah.”

“Not only Leah, but also you.”

Sienna turned and said, putting her arm around the neck of Carl.

“What, you don’t like it?”

“No. I want to be softer than now.”

Sienna, who grinned at the sly words, kissed him deeply. Feeling Carl’s mouth wriggle up, Sienna tiptoed and whispered in his ear.

“Let’s see how soft you can get with me.”

Her unusual sly remark made Carl laugh. Sienna dragged him to the bedroom.

*

“Have you decided what to do with the banquet?”

“Yes. I’m going to have a banquet to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Petrio.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

The Petrio War was a war against the Castro Empire five years ago.

Before Carl ascended the throne, he once led the war to victory by taking advantage of the river that was flooded. After that, he received a huge amount of war reparations. In the following negotiations, he decided to allow 20 years of repayment without having to pay at once.

Apparently, Castro decided that it would be beneficial to wage another war and win the war than to pay reparations for 20 years, so he started the war again. There may have been other reasons, but that was the judgment of the Leipsden Intelligence Department.

The Western invasion of the Castro Empire was abrupt without forewarning. They suddenly revealed their long-standing grudge in one day. The number of knights and soldiers mobilized by Castro was so great that a week later, Leipsden’s front line was penetrated.

Since most countries focus their troops on external fronts, it was difficult to tie the feet of enemy troops once the front was breached.

At that time, however, the Reich of Leipsden began to operate in the imperial army dispatched by the emperor in each of the territories, at the insistence of Carl. So, each territory had become a strategic point and the enemy troops, who expected to be able to invade the capital easily, were stranded in the Petrio territory near the border.

While Petrio’s camp blocked Castro’s army, the Imperial Army and the Territorial Army stationed nearby quickly provided support, pushing the enemy back.

At that time, Carl, who was observing the progress of the situation in the capital, took the Imperial Army himself and set out. Then, not only he defeated Castro’s army, but also subjugated part of their land.

The land was huge enough to make up five counts’ territories. Castro ended up with a landmass that can no longer be called an empire.

The newly occupied territory included a territory providing fifteen percent of Castro’s iron production. In addition, Castro’s war reparations increased.

Scholars agreed that the Castro Empire, financially troubled by the war, would not be able to wage war against the Leipsden Empire for at least a hundred years. It was Carl’s great achievement that made the Castro Empire—a long time enemy of Leipsden, lose its power.

“First of all, we’ll have to prepare a banquet invitation, right? What size would you like?”

The imperial banquet invited different groups of people depending on its size. The smallest unit of banquet invited only high-ranking aristocrats, and in some cases, only invited the nobles residing in the capital city. A large-scale event, like the coming-of-age ceremony, invited even nobles from a small province.

“We won’t have much time, so we’ll only invite nobles in the capital.”

“Let me help you!”

Hain shouted excitedly.

“I was trying to ask for help anyway. This banquet really has a lot to worry about.”

“What kind of banquet will you have?”

Asked Hain, shining his eyes. Sienna responded as if she had been waiting for someone to ask her because she had already worked out a pretty specific plan.

“Why don’t we call in the theater people and present a play on war? It explains the battle, and it directly shows Carl’s achievements.”

“That sounds good. But I think we’ll have to prepare a lot to get the stage in the banquet hall. Should we firstly find a writer who writes a play and have him write a screenplay for the stage? Oh! I think we should also cast the actors early. They’ll have to practice it, and a play set in the war background will require a lot of casts.”

“That’s right. There’ll be a lot to prepare for the stage, too. I’m going to make it fancy. And I need people to play music. Most of all, we have to set up a stage inside the banquet hall…”

“Right. The closer we get to the date, the more we’ll have to hurry up and prepare for the banquet!”

There was a lot of work to do. Nevertheless, Sienna’s smile was not erased from her face. All this was pleasant when she thought of Carl’s happy appearance.

*

As usual, Carl and Sienna, Sharillo and Leah had breakfast together. Lunch and dinner were not shared when Carl was busy with his work, but breakfast included the whole family no matter how busy Carl was.

As it was breakfast, the menu was relatively simple, with light white fish dishes and a warm stew.

“I heard Mr. Coretta quit on the grounds of his old age and hired a new history teacher. How is the new history teacher?”

Leah, who slept a lot in the morning, was dozing off with her spoon in her hand. Sharillo, who saw that Leah was not in a situation to answer, said.

“While Mr. Coretta used to focus on principles of kingship and teach it from the perspective of a ruler, it’s fun to see Mr. Samuel now going through history from various perspectives through more diverse feed.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun. It is important to learn from various perspectives because one-sided views can make an individual stubborn. Does Leah enjoy the class, too?”

“Well… …she’s particularly interested in past wars. Sometimes she comes up with the idea of what it would have been like to go to certain wars in a different way, and the teachers are surprised. She has a good understanding of battles and wars.”

Sharillo stepped out to defend Leah. But Carl and Sienna knew well what his words implied—that Leah was very bored with anything other than the topic of war or combat, and that she was not properly learning.

Nevertheless, their faces still kept their smiles. It was unfortunate that Leah was not interested in the history class, but it was not a big problem. The friendship between Sharillo and Leah was more lovely than that.

“Is there anything else interesting besides history?”

At Carl’s question, Sharillo looked troubled for a moment.

“Everything I’m learning is interesting so far.”

The word ‘everything is fun’ sounded like ‘everything is not fun.’

“But is there anything particularly interesting or something you want to learn?”

When Sienna asked, Sharillo shook his head. There seemed to be nothing particularly stimulating to him yet.

“I have! I have something I want to learn!”

Leah shouted with her eyes glistening as if she had woken up from being half-asleep.

Carl and Siena as well as Sharillo already knew what she wanted to learn. Nobody knew if it’s because of the colorful capes and shiny armor, or because the knights wielding the swords looked cool, but Leah was very interested in the training of the knights. So, she always begged Sienna and Carl to learn how to use swords. Still, Carl asked her.

“Yes, what does my princess want to learn?”