Chapter 2A – Secrets of the Kingdom(Part 1), A Father's Curiosity(Part 1)
I am Bartfaust Grast Forterra, 36 years old, and currently the crown prince of the Kingdom of Forterra. I don’t know why but I feel like suddenly talking to myself and introducing my family and such in my own inner monologue.
My father, the king, Portemus Freyt Forterra, is 51 this year. He’s healthy enough that I would probably be dead before he’s old enough to pass the crown to someone else. A notion I have no issues with, since I find becoming a king more tiresome than my current job. With that in mind, I’m raising my only son, Leon Trey Forterra; 17 years old, to become the next king. I’m very thankful that Leon is at least willing to take the job. When he turns 21, I would definitely pass the heir’s crown to him. I will definitely not let him die before I do, or I will definitely be stuck as king… if my wife doesn’t kill me first. As for other relatives, sadly cousins don’t exist due to a few generations of our family only bearing a single child, miraculously male too. My grandparents, as well as my wife’s, are all peacefully resting in the afterlife, if there is one.
Moving on; there’s my wife Marthas Trey Forterra, my mother the queen; Daine Grast Forterra, my eldest daughter Alicia Trey Forterra, and youngest daughter Elisa Trey Forterra. In the royal family, it has been *painfully* drilled to the male members that mentioning the ages of our female family members are strictly forbidden. Well, thanks to that, I earned my wife’s attention, but that’s a story for another time. I am talking to myself right? Anyways, I’ve always wondered if I was the odd one out in our long line of male family members. My mother, in simple terms, could be described as tall (in a female standard) and well endowed; and so were the previous queens and wives of the family. Yet my lovely wife, though I do not really mind, could only be described as… vertically challenged and petite…
Hold on… wait for it… phew, she didn’t notice anything. Add to that, we have more than one child, and two of them are female; a fact which is unprecedented to our family’s long history. Heck, even my son’s girlfriend is tall and well endowed. Lately, I have been debating whether I truly am different from my ancestors, or did I unlock a hidden family trait? I have no idea. This issue has bothered me since my good friend Sven pointed it out. But enough of my worry rants, I have a job to do.
Currently, I am in front of our kingdom’s ultimate money maker. Predecessors of this installment were built by our ancestors a few centuries back in the golden era, and recently the latest update has been made by me and my crack team of researchers and crafters. Also serving as our kingdom’s first and last line of defense, as well as strategic and tactical information gathering device, this; the ‘Eye of Providence’.
Most of our citizens don’t thoroughly understand where the royal treasury finds the money to support the convenient lifestyle of our kingdom, but this thing is really our ace in the hole. It’s complete with holographic projections world-wide satellite imaging, information gathering and sorting to the smallest detail that doesn’t invade privacy, accurate predictions of various information networks like weather, geographic, economic, etc.; and more nifty functions. With my crack team of consultants and staff officers, the Eye of Providence has allowed us to micro-manage the kingdom by constantly adapting to local and international situations. I totally did not use the EoP(abbreviated) to stalk my waifu before I got her attention.
As for my (government)staffs that manage the EoP, they are divided into departments that handle different sectors. Basically, even if I’m not the king, I still run everything in this country except public diplomacy and military. Like I said earlier, not that I mind, since public diplomacy is practically the hardest thing to do in this country, due to our greedy neighbors. Oh, how I wish we bordered with that eastern island nation or that democratic country in the western continent; at least they’re less violent and more amiable than most of the countries here. I’ve been tempted multiple times already not to push that red button with the skull and cross bones and wipe out our greedy neighbors. I’m really glad that I don’t have to deal with them in public…
Since the EoP is the most tightly guarded secret of our kingdom, I have to offer my apologies to all the economists of our country who find out that all the government’s money come from (almost) honest trading and very intricate micromanagement. Well, enough of my inner monologue ranting, I should get back to work.
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As I turn my attention back to reality, I just can’t help but notice my subordinate’s concentration on their respective holographic work stations. ‘They’re working hard as always’ I thought in my head as I try to find an excuse to give them bonus salary for doing this hard work with not much complaint. I turn my sight to the central holographic platform in front of me, showing a convoy heading towards Forterra Academy. I wonder what ‘he’ has that caught Alicia’s attention.
I think it was two days ago. I was discussing the newest middle school trainees with my father due to the ‘The Witch of Serenity’s son being included in this year’s recruits. Ah, that embarrassing past where my wife and five others including ‘The Witch of Serenity’ were running around the country in colorful frilly outfits while blowing invaders up. Now that I think about it, only my wife doesn’t want to remember that past.
While father and I talk about the past over tea, Alicia drops by and hears our conversation. I handed over the recruitment list to her while explaining that we were just talking about. I’ll take this time to explain to her about engagements and stuff while I’m at it. For some reason, I also automatically placed the boy’s file under the list.
“Ah, Alicia, good timing. Your grandfather and I were just remembering about some events in the past. You see that boy’s name underlined in red ink? He’s the son of one of your mother’s colleagues back in her youth.” I said while thinking how to include the other topic.
“Colleague from mother’s youth? You mean, ‘that’?” Alicia says while slightly tilting her head sideways.
“Yeah… ‘that’… Ah, you mother was very cute at that time. Anyways, we were thinking if we should have Servo Eonian join the royal guards. According to his data, he’s a genius with both the sword and magic, while having a mature personality. Oddly enough, none of his peers know his combat and magical prowess, almost to a degree that I would have sent the Shinobi unit to investigate him if he wasn’t a dear friend’s child.”
“Well, don’t be so uptight, Bart. The child is still in middle school. Besides, his parents are properly reporting his progress after you asked them, right?” Father chimed in.
“Right… Ah, Alicia. I know it’s a family rule that everyone can marry whoever they want as long as the person is respectable and is of the opposite gender, but at least let me give out candidates for you. That person is one of them… or rather, the only candidate we can scrounge up that you could probably see as an equal. Oh right, I just remembered; we will be sending military instructors to accommodate the newest batch of recruits. Why don’t you take this opportunity to get to know him?” I said, then take a sip of tea afterwards to dampen my throat.
“Eh? Alicia? What’s wrong?” I said after noticing that Alicia is staring very intently at Servo Eonia’s profile. Alicia quickly snaps her gaze to me and replies.
“Honorable father, when do I go?” Alicia said with conviction, surprising me with her sudden polite speech. Unable to respond properly, I look at father for help. He’s as surprised as me, but he manages to speak out.
“Ah, the day after tomorrow. You already have full officer competency, so we’ll just attach you to your instructor’s unit as an assistant instructor then send them in for the job.” Father replies after a brief thought.
“Understood. I’ll look forward to that.” Alicia says, and then hurriedly leaves the room with the profile still with her. I don’t really mind since there are two more copies here.
“Bart, what’s with my granddaughter? This is the first time I’ve seen her so… excited.” My grandfather says after breaking out of the surprised atmosphere.
“Beats me… I still don’t fully understand women myself.” I said before sipping my tea again.
“Right you are my son… Right you are…” Father says then proceeds to sip his tea too and resume our discussion.
Author’s notes: The first person to point out the obvious gets a cookie. Also, "Secrets of the Kingdom" and "A Father's Curiosity" are two different side story series. The former just happened to lead to the latter. Other side story series may attach to other series in the future. Part 1 of both series make up Chapter 2A. Don't even ask me to split them, since I keep my chapter standards to 2.5k+ words. Any less and I'll compile them to a single chapter with multiple parts like so.
P.S. If you spot errors, don't hesitate to tell me.