Seduction☆Strategy
Translator: Kagura
Editor: Millinia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 12
At first glance, the royal castle had seemed small, but when the two knights showed me around, I was surprised to find that the interior was more spacious than I expected.
Gilliam, who was standing ahead of me to show me around, carefully explained how I would spend my time at the castle and that I’m basically free to come and go as I please, except for the wing in the innermost part where the royal family lives.
This world also has the one week calendar. The days of the week are also referred to in the Japanese way.
Work for five and a half days, and the rest of the week is off.
It’s the system called Saturday Half Day, right? Sakura-chan! (You didn’t introduce the weekend holidays…)
I was only needed to show up at the Knights Headquarters for the later half of the week for two and a half days: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Gilliam went on to explain that they would train me to ride a horse, which is necessary to travel in this world, and sword practice in the name of Sakura-chan support.
On Saturday mornings I’d be doing chores, but if the Knights’ schedule was free in the afternoon, he said they would show me around the city and the suburbs.
My Sundays were completely free.
“On days when you don’t have plans, I think it’s a good idea to go to the library.” Gilliam unfolded a hand-drawn map that he would give me later, and pointed across the courtyard. “It has the largest collection of books in the country. Lending is generally not allowed, but you should be allowed to do so. If there is a book you want to read in your room, you can ask the librarian, and then—”
“Sorry, Gilliam,” Farangis interrupted. “Speaking of books, I just remembered that the loan period for a book I borrowed has passed. I’ll go back to the dormitory for a while to return it. I’m relying on you to show Keigo around.”
“Farangis!”
The silver-haired man who had been following behind me turned on his heel, waving his hand.
“I guess I have no choice…” Gilliam, who was sending Farangis off with a furrowed brow, noticed my wondering gaze and muttered, “Ahh…”
He quickly composed himself and continued, “Farangis is the second son of the Prime Minister. His family is what is known as a leading aristocrat family, and has the privilege to borrow valuable books. I wonder if I could borrow one if I applied through the Knights…”
“You’ve never borrowed one before?”
“Well, I like to scour through the records of the Knights. There’s a reference room in the barracks.”
“Oh? Can I see it too?”
“Of course. I heard that successive generations of Sakura-sama also liked to read books and documents of this world. Don’t hesitate to ask. I can arrange for the reference room. Then, next is…”
I followed Gilliam’s back as he walked ahead.
I could tell just from watching him and the people around him that he was popular.
As we were passing people who looked like servants and officials, I could see them looking at the tall, slender figure with envy.
Farangis must be popular too.
I saw Farangis signaling to a boy, who looked like a servant, as he walked away saying he was going to the library.
The beautiful boy who’d ran up to him had flushed cheeks….. Yeah, it was a guy. As it should be.
Or rather, I hadn’t really seen any women since I entered the castle.
I had seen a few women here and there in town, but are there no maids or anything?
“Ahh, Cause there’s no female royalty right now,” Gilliam replied simply. “The Queen Dowager had already died, and although His Majesty had taken in two Queens, they had both died of illness. The third person has not been welcomed, and the princess is not here. If there were any female royalty, the daughters of noble families would come here to learn etiquette, but this is not the case now.”
“…Um, Are there such things as concubines or mistresses, or women like that in this world…”
“It is not allowed to bed women, of which there are only a few, outside of the legal wife. The only exception is the royal family, but it is widely rumored that His Majesty has not welcomed a third queen or concubine because of his reticence.”
“Ah, do the nobility have male mistresses?”
“Hm? Mistresses are men, usually. Ah, I don’t know if His Majesty or His Highness has a special mistress. The inner palace is unoccupied at the moment.”
However, It was said that the neighboring country has a huge harem of mistresses.
Gilliam smiled bitterly, and I had mixed feelings about the all-male harem…
At any rate, it seemed that there was not a single woman in this royal castle.
No, I was just curious. Somehow.
If I have a relationship with a woman, I’ll lose all the holy power I’ve accumulated in my body, so I definitely won’t have one!
Hahaha, I’ll get rid of my virginity when I get back to Japan… I need to find a girlfriend first, though.
No, prostitutes are also okay. I’ll definitely get rid of it!
The last place Gilliam showed me was the one that was going to be my private room.
It was located in the guest wing that provincial nobles can use when they visit the royal castle. It seemed that they would let me use the room on the first floor, at the far end of the corridor that connects to the other buildings.
“It is the furthest room from the hustle and bustle, and closest to the door that leads to the outside. So, coming and going won’t be a problem. If you’d prefer a different room, you can tell the person I’m about to call and they’ll have it changed.”
Gilliam pulled a string hanging from the ceiling, right after entering the room.
After a short wait, there was a light knock on the door.
A petite, pretty boy wearing a servant’s clothes appeared.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. Did you call for me?”
His unkempt, soft brown hair was cropped above his shoulders. His matching eyes were big and round, reminding me of a small animal.
The subtle freckles scattered over his nose and cheeks accentuated his youthfulness.
Gilliam gestured at the boy, “This person will be taking care of you during your stay from now on.”
“My name is Hans. I’m assigned to the first floor of the guest room wing. I have been ordered to attend to all of Keigo-sama’s needs. I look forward to working for you.”
Gilliam then gestured at the string he had just pulled and explained, “The same string as this one is hanging on the side of the bed in the bedroom. When you wake up in the morning and pull it, the bell in the waiting room should ring and he should bring you preparations for your wash. Then dressing, preparing breakfast, cleaning the room, preparing dinner and bathing… things like that?”
The pretty boy smiled sweetly, “Yes. I will be assisting you from the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to bed.”
Long working hours… I’m impressed with how exploitative the hospitality industry is everywhere.
I hope he’s getting lots of breaks at least. I’ll try not to be too much of a handful.
I went ahead and told him I could change my clothes by myself.
He smiled and replied that he would just help with the parts I didn’t understand then.
It made me wonder… are there any unique clothes in this world?
If that’s the case, I’ll ask him to teach me how to wear it then.
“Errr, will I have to eat my meals alone, having them brought to my room?”
Gilliam spoke up, “I’ve heard that Keigo is to be treated in the same way as the provincial lords. So, you are free to use the dining hall. You can also invite someone to your room for meals.”
Hans continued, “If you are inviting someone, I will make preparations, so please let me know a little in advance.”
“Well, I haven’t made any friends yet that I would invite…” in that brief moment I thought, Oh! That’s right! and I looked at Gilliam.
“Well, will you have a meal with me someday…?”
“… If it’s ok with you.”
The young man slipped out a chuckle.
Gilliam was a nice young man, although I felt he was difficult to approach.
Thanks to him, I’d be able to avoid eating alone for once.
I’d been living alone in Japan for a long time, so I didn’t really find it hard to eat alone.
However, I, an ordinary person, felt guilty about being treated like a noble…….
One of these days, I wanted to primarily eat at the dining hall.
T/N: Every character is bishounen or ikemen. Is there no plain person in Shuraorumu? I forgot the capital name that I have to check at chapter 2 again.
Thank you for reading. If you find something wrong with my translations, please leave a comment for me to improve. Have a good day.
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The goddess probably has a character customization screen when a new child is being born or something ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ
Thanks for the chapter! (◕ᴗ◕✿)
Remembering the goddess is a Fangirl and kind of fujoshi…. Nope. No ordinary looking man.
She even make the world full of men and less women. Such a fangirl. She is my idol
It’s probably because the goddess blessed the world with hot guys to fulfill her fujo fantasy.